Using Common LISP in the EAVE autonomous underwater vehicle

The Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory of the University of New Hampshire has ported the University of Utah´s Portable Common LISP Subset (PLCS) to the experimental autonomous vehicle (EAVE) underwater autonomous vehicle. Using Common LISP in the EAVE autonomous vehicle is expected to improve programmer productivity and software portability. Using the LISP interpreter allows for software changes to be made while in the field, thus saving time during vehicle operations. Issues concerning the operation of LISP in a real-time environment, such as the impact of garbage collection (GC), have been resolved by using an efficient version of Common LISP and by using LISP) at the high-end of a time-based software hierarchy