Suave: Swarm underwater autonomous vehicle localization

Abstract

Swarms of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) forming mobile underwater networks often operate in moving currents, which introduce severe turbulence that interferes with coordinated and stealthy navigation of fleet. Therefore, individual AUV must adjust their heading whenever needed to ensure it can reach a pre-determined destination. To achieve accurate navigation, AUVs must maintain precise knowledge of their locations. This paper develops the “Suave” (Swarm underwater autonomous vehicle localization) algorithm to localize swarms of AUVs operating in rough waters. The purpose of Suave is to ensure that all AUVs arrive at their destinations by preserving localization throughout the entire mission. Suave lowers the probability that an AUV swarm is detected by reducing the number of occasions that vehicles must surface to obtain accurate location information from external sources such as satellites. The Suave algorithm also achieves better energy conservation through improved control of localization reference messages. Simulations show Suave significantly improves localization accuracy, lowers energy consumption, and the probability of swarm detection.