The development of an integrated GPS/INS/sonar navigation system for autonomous underwater vehicle navigation

Abstract

The need to successfully navigate in an underwater environment is rapidly becoming an important concern in the 1990's. This paper presents the development of an integrated navigation system for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) using GPS, INS and sonar. This paper discusses the existing problems with sub-sea navigation, the motivation for an integrated system, the mathematical derivation for an integrated GPS/INS/sonar system, and the results obtained from extensive testing.