Terrain Aided Navigation for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles with Local Gaussian Processes

• Main Author: Chowdhary, Abhilash
• Other Authors: Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Format: Others
• Published: Virginia Tech 2017
• Subjects: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles; Navigation; Gaussian Processes
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78278

Navigation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in the subsea environment is particularly challenging due to the unavailability of GPS because of rapid attenuation of electromagnetic waves in water. As a result, the AUV requires alternative methods for position estimation. This thesis describes a terrain-aided navigation approach for an AUV where, with the help of a prior depth map, the AUV localizes itself using altitude measurements from a multibeam DVL. The AUV simultaneously builds a probabilistic depth map of the seafloor as it moves to unmapped locations. The main contribution of this thesis is a new, scalable, and on-line terrain-aided navigation solution for AUVs which does not require the assistance of a support surface vessel. Simulation results on synthetic data and experimental results from AUV field trials in Panama City, Florida are also presented. === Master of Science