Using a Lateral-Line Inspired Sensory System for Ocean Flow Mapping and Improved Vehicle Performance
Abstract
Sampling the flow field throughout the ocean is critical to maintaining high accuracy predictive models. Unmanned systems such as se agliders and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are a critical component in a network of sensor platforms allowing the mapping of underwater flow features. This project will develop a sensory system for these autonomous platforms capable of sensing coherent str uctures in the surrounding flow. Unlike existing flow sensing technology, which is largely acoustic based, this project will develop a flow sensory system inspired by the lateral line sensing found in fish, where changes in pressure and shear stress over the surfa ce of the body, measured by a distributed sensor array, is used to interpret the surrounding flow. Since this technique is based on interpreting the hydrodynamic imprint on a vehicle surface, it is a passive remote sensing technique, which is both more stealthy an d consumes less energy than active acoustic sensing. Additionally, the novel sensory system provides information about hydrodynamic forces that drastically improves motion control of these vehicles. There are an abundance of complications that make autonomous oper ation of underwater vehicles in coastal and littoral regions difficult. Aside from a high density of both marine life and commercial vessels, these regions are cluttered with natural obstacles and contain chaotic high energy waves and fluid currents. This system w ill provide unprecedented sensing of the surrounding fluid environment including real-time measurement of the induced hydrodynamic f orces, local fluid velocity, vortex, and wave patterns, and features in the flow indicative of nearby obstacles. This information wi ll primarily be used to measure fluid states for ocean/climate models and improve performance of lower level motion controllers, but can also be utilized to improve mission path planning, whereby vehicles utilize existing fluid currents rather than fighting agains t them.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 07, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112870
Entities
People
- Michael Krieg
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Hawaiʻi System