Collaborative estimation of gradient direction by a formation of AUVs under communication constraints

Abstract

This work deals with the source-seeking problem in which the task is to locate the source of some signal using a fleet of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The present paper proposes a distributed solution in which a group of vehicles uniformly distributed in a fixed circular formation, estimates the gradient direction of the signal propagation. The distributed algorithm takes into account the communication constraints and depends on direct signal measurements. Our approach is based on the previous results in formation control to stabilize the fleet in a circular formation with time-varying center and in a collaborative source-seeking algorithm. The results are supported through computer simulations.