Multi-thread technology based autonomous underwater vehicle

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is implemented with multi-thread technology under QNX Neutrino Real time Operating System. The hybrid system and autonomous control principle of AUV are introduced. The event generator thread and event analysis and decision making thread are two key threads in the autonomous control system to handle discrete events, which are described in detail. Also the histogram in motion mapping algorithm with growth rate operator is adopted to process the sonar data and to express the uncertainty of sonar data. The obstacle avoidance algorithm based on sonar data is designed to enable vehicle to avoid obstacle immediately, effectively and safely. Finally we verify this autonomous control system with simulation study and experiment in lake. The simulation and experiment results show that the proposed AUV autonomous control system can fulfill the missions effectively.