This thesis discusses the use of a cooperative multiple robot system as applied to distributed tracking and sampling of a boundary edge. Within this system the boundary edge is partitioned into subsegments, each allocated to a particular robot such that workload is balanced across the robots. Also, to minimize the time between sampling local areas of the boundary edge, it is desirable to minimize the difference between each robot’s progression (i.e. phase) along its allocated sub segment of the edge. The paper introduces a new distributed controller that handles both workload and phase balancing. Simulation results are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the controller in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) under ice edge sampling application. Successful results from experimentation with three iRobot(R) Creates are also presented.

Due to the conditions peculiar to underwater, distinctive approaches are required to solve the navigation and path planning problem of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). In this study, first of all, a detailed 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) mathematical model is formed, including the coupled non-linear forces and moments acting on an underwater vehicle. The hydrodynamic coefficients which correspond to the geometry of the vehicle which the model is based on are calculated using the strip theory. After the mathematical model is obtained, by applying appropriate linearization on the model, &ldquo / Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR)&rdquo / control method is implemented to govern the surge, heave, pitch and yaw motions of the underwater vehicle. Path planning algorithm of the vehicle is based on tracking the waypoints. Permutation of the waypoints is obtained by solving the &ldquo / Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP)&rdquo / via genetic algorithm. Linked with that, &ldquo / Rapidly-Exploring Random Trees (RRT)&rdquo / algorithm is introduced into the path planning algorithm to avoid collisions in environments with obstacles. Underwater navigation solution is based on the &ldquo / Inertial Navigation System (INS)&rdquo / outputs, located on the vehicle. To correct the long-term drift of the inertial solution, &ldquo / Kalman Filter&rdquo / based integration algorithm is used and external aids such as &ldquo / Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)&rdquo / , &ldquo / Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL)&rdquo / acoustic navigation system and attitude sensors have been utilized. The control method, path planning and navigation algorithms used in this study are verified by simulation results.

The objective of the master’s thesis work is to investigate how an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) should act in an underwater tunnel environment. The thesis proposes sensors, control strategies, mission statement, among others, required for tunnel assignments. A behavior-based control (BBC) strategy has been developed to control the AUV. The BBC is used in the middle level of the vehicle control, i.e. the reactive control system which describes how the AUV navigates through a tunnel, while other events are considered. The control strategy has also been separated into two parts, and these are: controlling the AUV’s heading and controlling the AUV to a desired distance from the tunnel wall. To be able to evaluate the performance of the system, a graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed. The GUI enables the operator to change control settings during simulations. Two proposed control strategies are presented with simulated results. / Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka hur en autonom undervattensfarkost (AUV) bör agera i en undervattenstunnel miljö. Avhandlingen föreslår sensorer, reglerstrategier, uppdragsbeskrivning med mera som krävs för tunneluppdrag. En beteendebaserad (behavior-based) reglerstrategi har utvecklats för att styra AUV:n. Reglerstrategin används i mellersta nivån i farkostens reglering, det vill säga den reaktiva regleringen som beskriver hur farkosten ska styra genom en tunnel samtidigt som andra händelser beaktas. Reglerstrategin har även delats upp i två delar: reglering av AUV:ns kurs och reglering av AUV:n till ett önskat avstånd från tunnelns vägg. För att kunna verifiera funktionaliteten av systemet så har även ett grafiskt användargränssnitt utvecklats. Gränssnittet möjliggör att man kan ändra reglerparametrar under en simulering. Två föreslagna reglerstrategier presenteras med tillhörande resultat.

This thesis involves modeling, controller design, and test case simulations for an underwater vehicle. Firstly, a complete dynamic model of the vehicle is developed with six degrees of freedom. The model includes the nonlinearities associated with the hydrodynamic forces and moments. The thrusters of the vehicle are also modeled. Then, using appropriate linearizations of the model, position and rate controllers are designed for the forward, downward, and turning motions of the vehicle. Finally, the designed controllers are tested for various maneuvers by means of simulations using the nonlinear dynamic model of the vehicle. The simulation results show that the designed controllers are quite satisfactory for the intended maneuvers.

Adaptive path planning of an autonomous marine vehicle (surface or subsurface) in the role of a communication and navigation aid (CNA) for multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for survey missions is studied. This path planning algorithm can be run before deployment, based on the planned paths of the survey AUVs, or underway, based on information transmitted by the survey AUVs. The planner considers the relative depth of the CNA and survey AUVs (not previously done) allowing the CNA to better aid survey AUVs that maintain a set distance over the ocean floor while surveying. Results are presented from simulations and in-water trials for both pre-deployment and underway planning modes, the latter being preferred since it can adapt to the survey AUV path during the mission. The necessity of bounding the distance between the CNA and any survey AUV in order to bound survey AUV position error is also described.

Scleractinian cold-water corals are widely distributed in seaways and basins of the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Straits of Florida. These corals can form extensive biogenic mounds, which are biodiversity hotspots in the deep ocean. The processes that lead to the genesis of such cold-water coral mounds and control their distribution and morphology are poorly understood. This work uses an innovative mapping approach that combines 130 km2 of high resolution geophysical and oceanographic data collected using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) from five cold-water coral habitats in the Straits of Florida. These AUV data, together with ground-truthing observations from eleven submersible dives, are used to investigate fine-scale mound parameters and their relationships with environmental factors. Based on these datasets, automated methods are developed for extracting and analyzing mound morphometrics and coral cover. These analyses reveal that mound density is 14 mound/km2 for the three surveyed sites on the toe-of-slope of Great Bahama Bank (GBB); this density is higher than previously documented (0.3 mound/km2) in nearby mound fields. Morphometric analyses further indicate that mounds vary significantly in size, from a meter to up to 110 m in relief, and 81 to 600,000 m2 in footprint area. In addition to individual mounds, cold-water corals also develop in some areas as elongated low-relief ridges that are up to 25 m high and 2000 m long. These ridges cover approximately 60 and 70% of the mapped seafloor from the sites at the center of the Straits and at the base of the Miami Terrace, respectively. Morphometrics and current data analyses across the five surveyed fields indicate that mounds and ridges are not in alignment with the dominant current directions. These findings contradict previous studies that described streamlined mounds parallel to the northward Florida Current. In contrast, this study shows that the sites dominated by coral ridges are influenced by unidirectional flowing current, whereas the mounds on the GBB slope are influenced by tidal current regime. The GBB mounds also experience higher sedimentation rates relative to the sites away from the GBB slope. Sub-surface data document partially or completely buried mounds on the GBB sites. The sediments burying mounds are off-bank material transported downslope by mass gravity flow. Mass gravity transport creates complex slope architecture on the toe-of-slope of GBB, with canyons, slump scars, and gravity flow deposits. Cold-water corals use all three of these features as location for colonization. Coral mounds growing on such pre-existing topography keep up with off-bank sedimentation. In contrast, away from the GBB slope, off-bank sedimentation is absent and coral ridges grow independently of antecedent topography. In the sediment-starved Miami Terrace site, coral ridge initiation is related to a cemented mid-Miocene unconformity. In the center of the Straits, coral ridges and knobs develop over an unconsolidated sand sheet at the tail of the Pourtales drift. Coral features at the Miami Terrace and center of the Straits have intricate morphologies, including waveform and chevron-like ridges, which result from asymmetrical coral growth. Dense coral frameworks and living coral colonies grow preferentially on the current-facing ridge sides in order to optimize food particle capture, whereas coral rubble and mud-sized sediments accumulate in the ridge leesides. Finally, this study provides a method using solely acoustic data for discriminating habitats in which cold-water corals are actively growing. Results from this method can guide future research on and management of cold-water coral ecosystems. Taken together, spatial quantitative analyses of the large-scale, high-resolution integrated surveys indicate that cold-water coral habitats in the Straits of Florida: (1) are significantly more diverse and abundant than previously thought, and (2) can be influenced in their distribution and development by current regime, sedimentation, and/or antecedent topography.

abstract: The ocean is vital to the health of our planet but remains virtually unexplored. Many researchers seek to understand a wide range of geological and biological phenomena by developing technologies which enable exploration of the deep-sea. The task of developing a technology which can withstand extreme pressure and temperature gradients in the deep ocean is not trivial. Of these technologies, underwater vehicles were developed to study the deep ocean, but remain large and expensive to manufacture. I am proposing the development of cost efficient miniaturized underwater vehicle (mUV) with propulsion systems to carry small measurement devices and enable deep-sea exploration. These mUV's overall size is optimized based on the vehicle parameters such as energy density, desired velocity, swimming time and propulsion performance. However, there are limitations associated with the size of the mUV which leads to certain challenges. For example, 2000 m below the sea level, the pressure is as high as 3000 psi. Therefore, certain underwater vehicle modules, such as the propulsion system, will require pressure housing to ensure the functionality of the thrust generation. In the case of a mUV swimming against the deep-sea current, a thrust magnitude is required to enable the vehicle to overcome the ocean current speed and move forward. Therefore, the size of the mUV is limited by the energy density and the propeller size. An equation is derived to miniaturize underwater vehicle while performing with a certain specifications. An inrunner three-phase permanent magnet brushless DC motor is designed and fabricated with a specific size to fit inside the mUV's core. The motor is composed of stator winding in a pressure housing and an open to water ring-propeller rotor magnet. Several ring-propellers are 3D printed and tested experimentally to determine their performances and efficiencies. A planer motion optimal trajectory for the mUV is determined to minimize the energy usage. Those studies enable the design of size optimized underwater vehicle with propulsion to carry small measurement sensors and enable underwater exploration. Developing mUV's will enable ocean exploration that can lead to significant scientific discoveries and breakthroughs that will solve current world health and environmental problems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2014

The increasing reliance on oceans, rivers and waterways in a spectrum of human activities have demonstrated the large demand for advanced marine technologies that facilitate multifarious in-water services and tasks. The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a representative marine technology which has been contributing continuously to many ocean-related fields. An elaborate control system is essential to AUVs. However, AUVs present difficult control system design problems due to their nonlinear dynamics, the unpredictable environment and the poor knowledge about the hydrodynamic coupling of the vehicle degrees of freedom. When designing the motion controller, the practical constraints on the AUV system such as limited perceiving, computing and actuating capabilities should also be respected. The model predictive control (MPC) is an advanced control technology that leverages optimization to calculate the control command. Thanks to the optimization nature, MPC can conveniently handle the complex nonlinearity in system dynamics as well as the state and control constraints. MPC takes the receding horizon control paradigm which gains satisfactory robustness against model uncertainties and external disturbances. Therefore, MPC is an ideal candidate for solving the AUV motion control problems. On the other hand, since the optimization is solved by iterative numerical algorithms, the obtained control signal is an implicit function of the system state, which complicates the characterization of the closed-loop properties. Moreover, the nonlinear system dynamics makes the online optimization nonlinear programming (NLP) problems. The high computational complexity may cause an issue on the real-time control for embedded platforms with limited computing resources. In order to push the advanced MPC technology towards real-world AUV applications, this PhD dissertation is concerned with fundamental AUV motion control problems and attempts to address the aforementioned challenges and provide novel solutions. This dissertation proceeds with Chapter 1 by providing state-of-the-art introductions to related research areas. The mathematical model used for the AUV motion control is elaborated in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we consider the AUV navigation and control problem in constrained workspace. A unified receding horizon optimization framework consisting of the dynamic path planning and the nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) tracking control is developed. Although the NMPC tracking controller well accommodates the practical constraints on the AUV system, it presents a brand new design philosophy compared with the existing control systems that are implemented on real AUVs. Since the existing AUV control systems are reliable controllers, AUV practitioners tend not to fully replace them but to improve the control performance by adding features. By considering this, in Chapter 4, we develop the Lyapunov-based model predictive control (LMPC) scheme which builds on the existing AUV control system and invoke online optimization to improve the control performance. Chapter 5 focuses on the path following (PF) problem. Unlike the trajectory tracking control which equally emphasizes the spatial and temporal control objectives, the PF control often prioritizes the path convergence over the speed assignment. To incorporate this objective prioritization into the controller design, a novel multi-objective model predictive control (MOMPC) scheme is developed. While the MPC technique provides several salient features (e.g., optimality, constraints handling, objective prioritization, robustness, etc.), those features come at a price: a computational bottleneck is formed by the heavy burden of solving online optimizations in real time. To explicitly address this issue, in Chapter 6, the computational complexity of the MPC algorithms is particularly emphasized. Two novel strategies which potentially alleviate the computational burden of the MPC-based AUV tracking control are proposed. In Chapter 7, some conclusive remarks are provided and a few avenues for future research are identified. / Graduate

Este trabalho trata do controle dos movimentos de um Veículo Submersível Autônomo (VSA). Veículos submersíveis são difíceis de controlar devido à alta não linearidade de seus modelos, ao forte acoplamento de movimentos, ao desconhecimento de certas dinâmicas, às incertezas do próprio modelo, devido a distúrbios externos impostos pelo ambiente e devido ao ruído de sensores. A dificuldade de controle pode ser exacerbada quando o veículo é subatuado. Para realização deste trabalho foi escolhido um VSA do tipo torpedo, cujo modelo matemático disponível na literatura foi devidamente modificado para garantir uma melhor descrição de seus movimentos em seis graus de liberdade (6-GL). O modelo foi então validado através de simulações numéricas. Para a síntese dos controladores utilizou-se uma técnica de controle avançada. Mais especificamente, utilizou-se a abordagem do controle H1 para sistemas multivariáveis. Assim foram obtidos controladores centralizados capazes de superar o problema do forte acoplamento de movimentos. Técnicas de controle avançado permitem também considerar as informações disponíveis sobre perturbações, incertezas, ruídos e diferentes tipos de entrada já na fase de síntese, o que permite obter controladores com desempenho adequado numa ampla faixa de operação. Neste trabalho, em particular, a técnica da Sensibilidade Mista foi escolhida para a síntese de controladores robustos. Nesta abordagem, formatam-se algumas funções de malha fechada ligadas a sensibilidade do sistema buscando garantir estabilidade e desempenho robusto para o sistema controlado. Usando a mesma técnica de controle desenvolveu-se ainda um controlador de dois graus de liberdade (2-GL), apropriado para aplicação no problema de guiagem, onde procura-se seguir trajetórias tridimensionais. Os controladores desenvolvidos foram testados em simulações numéricas, produzindo-se uma grande quantidade de resultados. A análise destes resultados revela o poder e flexibilidade das técnicas escolhidas. / This work focuses the motion control of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Underwater vehicles are difficult to control due to high non-linearities of its model, coupling between dynamics, unknown dynamics, model uncertainties, disturbances and sensor noises. Difficulty is greater, when the system is subactuated. In this work, a mathematical model of a torpedo-like AUV available in the bibliography was chosen and refined, leading to a six degree of freedom (6-DOF) model. The model was further analyzed and validated by a number of numerical simulations. Advanced approaches were used for the synthesis of controllers. Speciffically, a H1 approach for multivariable systems was used. Thus, a centralized controller was developed, able to avoid the problem of high coupling between the variables. This advanced approach is also able to use informations about perturbations, uncertainties, noises and different types of input signals in the synthesis stage, leading to controllers with better performance in a large operation bandwidth. In this work, a Mixed Sensitivity approach was employed. This control approach is based on the shapping of well known closed-loop sensitivity functions, seeking to achieve stability and performance robustness. Using a similar technique, a controller with two degree of freedom (2-DOF) was also synthesised, to tackle the guidance problem tracking of 3-D trajectories was then fully achieved. The controllers developed were tested in a number of numerical simulations. Analyses of results reveals the power and flexibility of the employed techniques.

O planeta Terra tem aproximadamente três quartos submersos em água, ainda assim, estima-se que somente são conhecidos 5% dos mares e oceanos. Nas últimas décadas, os AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) se converteram em uma ferramenta útil para a exploração dos oceanos por levar a bordo vários equipamentos com um relativo baixo custo de operação. A parte estrutural dos AUVs, usualmente cascas cilíndricas, tem sido estudada. De modo geral, os objetivos desses estudos visam a manter a rigidez e deixar a estrutura mais leve, sob o critério de resistência a flambagem. A falha por flambagem, normalmente, ocorre antes da falha por resistência do material em cascas devido à sua geometria e à influência de imperfeições iniciais. Uma forma de aumentar a rigidez das cascas é o uso de enrijecedores, os quais geralmente são soldados à casca. No entanto, o uso desses enrijecedores em um veículo de pequeno porte diminui o espaço utilizados por diferentes dispositivos e instrumentos do veículo, além de resultar em possíveis inconvenientes na fabricação, tais como aumento do custo e produção de tensões residuais relativas aos processos de soldagem. Portanto, alternativas ao enrijecedor convencional devem ser buscadas para esse tipo de veículo. É possível substituir os enrijecedores convencionais por uma estrutura interna ao vaso de pressão e comum em submersíveis, a prateleira de acomodação da eletrônica. Essa estrutura, chamada aqui de enrijecedores deslizantes, possui cavernas circunferenciais que podem fornecer rigidez à casca e evitar os inconvenientes de redução de volume e de fabricação que os enrijecedores convencionais trazem. No entanto, tal substituição para o aumento de rigidez ainda não foi analisada. Portanto, neste trabalho se propõe analisar o comportamento do enrijecedor deslizante quando utilizado em substituição ao enrijecedor convencional, considerando que ambos fornecem resistência à compressão embora não apresentem as mesmas restrições de graus de liberdade. A análise é feita através de métodos analíticos e numéricos, tipicamente utilizados no estudo de enrijecedores convencionais. / The planet Earth has about three quarters of water, yet it is estimated that only 5% of the seas and oceans are known. In the last decades, the AUVs have become useful tools for the exploration of the oceans by carrying on board several equipment with a relative low cost of operation. The structural part of the AUV\'s, usually cylindrical shells, has been studied as well. In general, the objectives of these studies are to maintain rigidity and to leave the structure lighter, under the criterion of buckling resistance. The buckling failure occurs prior to failure by yielding due to its geometry and the influence of initial shell imperfections. One way to increase the stiffness of the shells is to use stiffeners, which are usually welded to the shell. However, the use of these stiffeners in a small vehicle reduces the space used for different devices and instruments of the vehicle, in addition there are manufacturing drawbacks as residual stresses related to the welding processes. Therefore, alternatives to the conventional stiffener should be sought for this type of vehicle. It is possible to replace conventional stiffeners by an internal structure to the pressure vessel and common in submersibles, the shelf of accommodation of the electronics. This structure, referred to here as sliding stiffeners, has circumferential frame bulkheads that can provide stiffness to the shell and avoid the drawbacks of volume reduction and fabrication that conventional stiffeners bring. However, such substitution for increased rigidity has not yet been analyzed. Therefore, in this work it is proposed to analyze the behavior of the sliding stiffeners when used in substitution of the conventional stiffeners, considering that both provide compressive strength although they do not present the same restrictions of degrees of freedom. The analysis is done by analytical and numerical methods, typical of conventional stiffeners.