NPS Phoenix AUV software integration and in-water testing

The NPS Phoenix autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a student research testbed for shallow-water minefield mapping missions. We discuss implementation of the execution, tactical and strategic levels of the rational behavior model robot architecture. Simulation-based design using an underwater virtual world has been a crucial advantage permitting rapid development of disparate software and hardware modules. Details are provided on process coordination, navigation, real-time sonar classification, path replanning around detected obstacles, networking, sonar and hydrodynamics modeling, and distributable computer graphics rendering. In-water experimental results are presented and evaluated.