Experimental Verification of Underwater Glider Maneuvering in Constrained Environments

Abstract

This paper presents experimental ground truth data validation of the ability of Underwater Gliders (UGs) to maneuver in constrained environments through starting, stopping, and maintaining turning motions on demand. This capability has been validated in a pool on a custom made highly maneuverable underwater glider, ROUGHIE, using an underwater motion capture system for ground truth pose tracking. The experiments indicate that ROUGHIE is capable of robust and repeatable operation on complex paths due to its ability to effectively transition between stable flights and follow concatenated flight patterns. These maneuvers are accomplished on ROUGHIE through the injection of a neutrally buoyant vehicle state that enables ROUGHIE to maintain stability while transitioning between stable flights. Other internally actuated gliders can perform similar operations if they rapidly and efficiently start, stop, and maintain turns at different moments during the operation. The ground truth data presented here forms a basis for future work on data-driven modelling of UGs to enable complex mission operations.