Multi-AUV Control and Adaptive Sampling in Monterey Bay
E. Fiorelli, N.E. Leonard, P. Bhatta, D. Paley, R. Bachmayer, D.M. Fratantoni
Proc. IEEE Autonomous Underwater Vehicles 2004: Workshop on Multiple AUV
Operations (AUV04),
Sebasco, ME, June 2004
Multi-AUV operations have much to offer a variety of underwater
applications. With sensors to measure the environment and
coordination that is appropriate to critical spatial and temporal
scales, the group can perform important tasks such as adaptive
ocean sampling. We describe a methodology for cooperative control
of multiple vehicles based on virtual bodies and artificial
potentials (VBAP). This methodology allows for adaptable formation
control and can be used for missions such as gradient climbing and
feature tracking in an uncertain environment. We discuss our
implementation on a fleet of autonomous underwater gliders and
present results from sea trials in Monterey Bay in August 2003.
These at-sea demonstrations were performed as part of the
Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN) II project.