Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON)
Abstract
The Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON) program provided continuous, Global Positioning System (GPS)-level positioning accuracy to submarines and autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs) in the ocean over extended periods of time. Undersea navigation cannot use GPS because the water blocks its signals. At shallower depths, masts can be raised to receive GPS signals, but masts present a detection risk. Typically, the alternative to GPS for undersea navigation has been inertial navigation systems (INS), but INS accuracy can degrade unacceptably over time. The POSYDON program distributed a small number of acoustic sources, analogous to GPS satellites, around an ocean basin at known locations. Undersea platforms equipped with a passive acoustic receiver and appropriate processing software are capable of obtaining and maintaining location. By transmitting specific acoustic waveforms and developing accurate acoustic propagation models to predict and interpret the complex arrival structure of the acoustic sources, the submarine or AUV could determine its range from each source and thus calculate its position. Technologies developed under this program transitioned to the Navy's Maritime Surveillance Systems Program Office for fleet experimentation and future Office of Naval Research (ONR) research as endorsed by the Undersea Rapid Capabilities Insertion effort.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2022
- Source ID
- b3dcb665a502974c635027d00262045d