Course Compensation for Underwater Glider with a New Dynamic Recurrent Algorithm

Abstract: Underwater glider (UG) is a novel, efficient and long endurance ocean observation tool. Influenced by ocean current and biofouling, the course of UG will change during its operation, thus leading to the deviation of flight trajectory and bringing about extra energy consumption. Therefore, this paper proposes a new dynamic recurrent algorithm (DRA) to address this problem, which takes the energy consumption of the course adjustment unit as the constraint to make adaptive compensation for the course based on historical data. Firstly, the configuration and working process of UG are introduced, and the energy consumption model of the course adjustment unit is also established. Afterwards, the DRA of course compensation is proposed based on the flight parameters and motion characteristics of UG. Finally, the zero-compensation value and energy saving of course adjustment unit in different recurrent periods are analyzed with sea trial data collected in the South China Sea. The results show that the energy consumption of a single profile can be saved by about 70% with the proposed DRA, and this method can be applied to other marine vehicles.