A collision avoidance controller for autonomous underwater vehicles

Author

Williams, Glen ; Lagace, Glenn ; Woodfin, Alfred

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Sci., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX, USA

fYear

1990

fDate

5-6 Jun 1990

Firstpage

206

Lastpage

212

Abstract

A 3D collision avoidance controller for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that uses a forward-looking high-frequency active sonar is described. Multiple objects are differentiated by clustering sonar returns, and Kalman filters are then used to track both stationary and moving obstacles. A minimum safe distance must be maintained between the AUV and any obstacle, and a modified potential field is used to determine appropriate maneuvers. The merit function which defines this potential field is based on obstacle bearing, distance, and visit count, as well as the AUV heading, the depth, and the direction of the goal

Keywords

Kalman filters; computerised pattern recognition; marine systems; position control; sonar; transport computer control; 3D collision avoidance controller; Kalman filters; autonomous underwater vehicles; forward-looking high-frequency active sonar; multiple object differentiation; obstacle bearing; obstacle distance; obstacle visit count; sonar returns clustering; Acoustic noise; Collision avoidance; Frequency; Logic; Noise level; Sonar detection; Sonar measurements; Target tracking; Underwater vehicles; Vehicle safety;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology, 1990. AUV '90., Proceedings of the (1990) Symposium on

Conference_Location

Washington, DC

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AUV.1990.110458

Filename

110458