• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2002.08a
• /
• pp.483-486
• /
• 2002

Injection of microbubbles and/or polymer solution has been known to be a promising method for the reduction of frictional drag of water-borne vehicles. Naval Architects have been interested in friction drag reduction technology, since the friction drag of a commercial ship can be over $70{\%}$ of total resistance. The reduction of friction drag is also important for autonomous underwater vehicles and naval submarines to improve their durability and survivability In this study two sets of experiments were carried out for the friction drag reduction of 2-D channel wall and flat plate in the circulating water channels in Chungnam National University. Preliminary results from the experiments are presented and discussed.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2016

In this paper we present (1) analysis of imaging sonar measurement for two-view relative pose estimation of an autonomous vehicle and (2) bundle adjustment and 3D reconstruction method using imaging sonar. Sonar has been a popular sensor for underwater application due to its robustness to water turbidity and visibility in water medium. While vision based motion estimation has been applied to many ground vehicles for motion estimation and 3D reconstruction, imaging sonar addresses challenges in relative sensor frame motion. We focus on the fact that the sonar measurement inherently poses ambiguity in its measurement. This paper illustrates the source of the ambiguity in sonar measurements and summarizes assumptions for sonar based robot navigation. For validation, we synthetically generated underwater seafloor with varying complexity to analyze the error in the motion estimation.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.179-189
• /
• 2000

Recently, due to the increasing interests in deep sea development, all possible efforts to the development of underwater unmanned working vehicles such as AUV(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) or underwater robot are exerted. This paper proposes a new efficient acoustic-based underwater image data communication system, which ensures a certain level of maximum throughput regardless of the propagation delay of ultrasonic and allowsfast data transmission through the multiple ultrasonic communication channel. Proposed system consists of an acoustic transducer which operates at 136kHz center frequency and it's 10kHz bandwidth, pre-amplifier, $\pi/4 QPSK$(Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation/demodu-lation method, image compressing method using JPEG technique and modified Stop & Wait protocol. The experimental result of the system make it possible to transfer the underwater image as a high throughput at the basin test. The results of test are also verified which allows to desirable transmission performance compared with the existing developed system and the possibility to put the practical use of survey and investigation in the water.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.65 no.11
• /
• pp.1868-1878
• /
• 2016

This paper proposes a novel velocity estimator for long-term underwater navigation of autonomous underwater vehicles(AUVs). Provided that an external position fix is not given, a viable goal in designing a underwater navigation algorithm is to reduce the divergence rate of position error only using the sporadic velocity information obtained from Doppler velocity log(DVL). For such case, the performance of underwater navigation eventually depends on accuracy and reliability of external velocity information. This motivates us to devise a velocity estimator which can drastically enhance the navigation performance even when the DVL measurement is unavailable. Incorporating the Gertler-Hagen hydrodynamics model of an AUV with the measurement models of velocity and depth sensors, the velocity estimator design problem is resolved using the extended Kalman filter. Different from the existing methods in which an AUV simulator is regarded as a virtual sensor, our approach is less sensitive to the model uncertainty often encountered in practice. This is because our velocity filter estimates the simulator errors with sensor aids and furthermore compensates these errors based on the indirect feedforward manner. Through the simulations for typical AUV navigation scenarios, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.19 no.2 s.63
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2005

This paper describes depth, heading and speed control of an underwater vehicle that has four stern thrusters of which forces are coupled in the diving and, steering motion, as well as the speed of the vehicle. The optimal linear quadratic controller is designed based on a linearized- state space model, developed by combining the dynamic equations of speed, steering and diving motion. The designed controller gives provides an optimal thrust distribution, minimizing the given performance index to control speed, depth and heading simultaneously. To validate the performance of the controller, a simulation and tank-test are carried out with DUSAUV (Dual Use Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), developed by KORDI as a test-bed for testing new underwater technologies. Optimal gains of the controller are tuned, using a computer simulation environment with a nonlinear 6-DOF numerical DUSAUV model, developed by PMM (Planner Motion Mechanism) test. To verify the performance of the presented controller in experiment, a tank-test with DUSAUV is carried out in the ocean engineering basin in KORDI. The experimental results are also compared with the simulation results to investigate the accordance of the numerical and the real mode.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.391-407
• /
• 2019

Tracking the location (position) of a surface or underwater marine vehicle is important as part of guidance and navigation. While the Global Positioning System (GPS) works well in an open sea environment but its use is limited whenever testing scaled-down models of such vehicles in the laboratory environment. This paper presents the design, development and implementation of a low energy ultrasonic augmented single beacon-based localization technique suitable for such requirements. The strategy consists of applying Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to achieve location tracking from basic dynamic distance measurements of the moving model from a fixed beacon, while on-board motion sensor measures heading angle and velocity. Iterative application of the Extended Kalman Filter yields x and y co-ordinate positions of the moving model. Tests performed on a free-running ship model in a wave basin facility of dimension 30 m by 30 m by 3 m water depth validate the proposed model. The test results show quick convergence with an error of few centimeters in the estimated position of the ship model. The proposed technique has application in the real field scenario by replacing the ultrasonic sensor with industrial grade long range acoustic modem. As compared with the existing systems such as LBL, SBL, USBL and others localization techniques, the proposed technique can save deployment cost and also cut the cost on number of acoustic modems involved.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.287-290
• /
• 2022

Compressed-water-type launching devices convert the force from compressed water into force-launching underwater structures, such as torpedos and autonomous underwater vehicles. In particular, the overpressure wave in the launching tube is a critical design factor for the launching device. This paper presents a simplified formula for simulating overpressure waves in the launching tube of a compressed-water-type launching device. Scaled model experiments were performed to obtain actual measurement data of overpressure waves in a launching tube with varying piston speeds to examine the practical applicability of the simplified formula. The main factor of the simplified formula was estimated using an optimization technique. The time history of the overpressure waves was satisfactorily simulated using the estimated factor values and showed consistency with the measurement data. In addition, the trend of change by the piston speed of the estimated factors was reviewed, and the practical applicability was demonstrated. A systematic study of the factors influencing the overpressure waves in launching tubes will be possible using experimental data for more various conditions and the proposed simplified formula.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.352-360
• /
• 2019

This paper proposes a docking assessment algorithm for an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with sensor uncertainties. The proposed algorithm consists of two assessments, state assessment and probability assessment. The state assessment verifies the reachability by comparing forward distance to the docking station with expected distance to reach same depth as the docking station and necessity for correcting its route by comparing calculated inaccessible areas based on turning radius of the AUV to position of the docking station. When the AUV and the docking station is close enough and the state assessment is satisfied, the probability assessment is conducted by computing success probability of docking based on the direction angle, relative position to the docking station, and sensor uncertainties of the AUV. The final output of the algorithm is decided by comparing the success probability to threshold whether to try docking or to correct its route. To verify the validation of the suggested algorithm, the scenario that the AUV approaches to the docking station is implemented through Matlab simulation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.57-68
• /
• 2024

Offshore wind power is increasingly regarded as a viable solution for reducing greenhous emissions due to the construction of wind farms and their superior power generation efficiency. Submarine power cables play a crucial role in transmitting the electricity generated offshore to land. To monitor cables and identify points of failure, analyzing the location or depth of burial of submarine cables is necessary. This study reviewed the technology and research for detecting submarine power cables, which were categorized into seismic/acoustic, electromagnetic, and magnetic exploration. Seismic/acoustic waves are primarily used for detecting submarine power cables by installing equipment on ships. Electromagnetic and magnetic exploration detects cables by installing equipment on unmanned underwater vehicles, including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and remotely operated vihicles (ROV). This study serves as a foundational resource in the field of submarine power cable detection.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.148-153
• /
• 2014

Submerged bodies such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) or remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are widely used in various fields of exploring underseas. Those bodies keep ballasting and deballasting for stable navigation and operation. Identifying the internal volumetric spaces of the bodies is a primary step for such an operation. Unfortunately, most CAD models given to the engineer do not properly represent the compartments since each face of a compartment exists as an independent entity rather than as a face that belongs to the compartment. In this paper, an algorithm that automatically identify the faces as a group that forms a closed volumetric space, i.e., a compartment is presented. A submerged body is sliced into a number of cross sections. Each sliced section is analyzed to yield closed loops that are sections of the compartment. Then, the associated closed loops are gathered along the longitudinal direction to form a compartment. The algorithm presented is shown to provide a practical and reasonable solution that can readily be used in various applications.