Optimizing autonomous underwater vehicle routes with the aid of high resolution ocean models

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2019-06-17

Authors

Miguel Aguiar (Author) FEUP; João Borges de Sousa (Author) FEUP; João Dias (Author) Other; Jorge Estrela da Silva (Author) Other; Renato Mendes (Author) FCUP; Américo Ribeiro (Author) Other

Conference proceedings International

Title: OCEANS 2019 MTS/IEEE Seattle, OCEANS 2019

Pages: 1-7

2019 OCEANS MTS/IEEE Seattle, OCEANS 2019

27 October 2019 through 31 October 2019

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 3 Citations

ISI Web of Science - Citations

Scopus - 4 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00R-PWX

DOI: 10.23919/oceans40490.2019.8962569

Abstract (EN): In underwater vehicle operations in areas such as estuaries, vehicles may face currents with magnitudes equal to or exceeding the vehicle's maximum forward speed. We propose a method which generates vehicle routes taking into account ocean current forecasts from high resolution ocean models, in order to both take advantage of the ocean current velocity and avoid its negative effects. We formulate the problem in an optimal control setting and derive the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman partial differential equation (PDE). We solve this PDE using a parallelized C++ implementation of a numerical method which allows us to obtain the solution in a few minutes on a mainstream computer. After obtaining the solution of the PDE, optimal trajectories with any initial condition can be computed efficiently. The method is illustrated using data from high-resolution ocean models of the Sado river estuary in Portugal. Two mission scenarios are analyzed, which highlight the influence of ocean currents on optimal trajectories and the benefits of considering ocean current forecasts in mission planning.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 7