• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.58-68
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• 2009

The increased use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) has led to the development of alternative navigational methods that do not employ acoustic beacons and dead reckoning sensors. This paper describes a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) scheme that uses range sonars mounted on a small UUV. A SLAM scheme is an alternative navigation method for measuring the environment through which the vehicle is passing and providing the relative position of the UUV. A technique for a SLAM algorithm that uses several ranging sonars is presented. This technique utilizes an unscented Kalman filter to estimate the locations of the UUV and surrounding objects. In order to work efficiently, the nearest neighbor standard filter is introduced as the data association algorithm in the SLAM for associating the stored targets returned by the sonar at each time step. The proposed SLAM algorithm was tested by experiments under various three degrees of freedom motion conditions. The results of these experiments showed that the proposed SLAM algorithm was capable of estimating the position of the UUV and the surrounding objects and demonstrated that the algorithm will perform well in various environments.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.170-178
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• 2017

This paper proposes an improved path-planning technique based on the $A^*$ algorithm. The conventional $A^*$ algorithm only considers the optimality of the planned path and sometimes produces a path that an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) cannot navigate due to its dynamic constraint such as the limit of the radius of gyration. It is because that the previous method evaluate the moving cost based on the straight distance between nodes. We enhance the conventional method by evaluating the moving cost on the basis of the practically navigable trajectory, which is generated by the waypoint-tracking control of the UUV dynamics. The simulation examples indeed show the effectiveness of the proposed technique.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.682-687
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• 2013

Navigation is a crucial capability for all types of manned or unmanned vehicles. However, vehicle navigation in underwater environments still remains a challenging problem since GPS signals for position fixes are not available in the water. Terrain-referenced underwater navigation is an alternative navigation technique that utilizes geometric information of the subsea terrain to correct drift errors due to dead-reckoning or inertial navigation. Terrain-referenced navigation requires the description of an undulating terrain surface as a mathematical function or table, which often leads to a highly nonlinear estimation problem. Recently, PFs (Particle Filters), which do not require any restrictive assumptions about the system dynamics and uncertainty distributions, have been widely used for nonlinear filtering applications. However, PF has considerable computational requirements which used to limit its applicability to problems of relatively low state dimensions. This study proposes the use of a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter that is computationally more efficient than the standard PF for terrain-referenced underwater navigation involving a moderate number of states, and its performance is compared with that of the extended Kalman filter algorithm. The validity and feasibility of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through numerical simulations.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.51-59
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• 2017

In the early design stage of underwater vehicles, it is important to estimate the vehicle's underwater motion performance. The key design elements for the motion are propellers, battery power, and underwater resistance of the vehicle. Small thrusters with motor and propeller are usually used for the UUV(unmanned underwater vehicles). In this study, a multiphysics thruster model combining electro-mechanical and hydrodynamics characteristics was proposed to estimate the thruster performance. To show the applicability of the mathematical model, an sample thruster was used for the derive the unknown parameters of thruster. Hydrodynamic parameters were calculated for a 3D geometry model of the propeller by ANSYS/CFX program. Finally, Matlab/simulink program was used for the numerical simulation to predict the thruster performance from the given voltage/current input to the motor. Also, proved validity of simulation model by experiment test. Test were done by 2 mode(middle/high speed, reverse). The thruster performance curves obtained from this simulation were confirmed to be similar with experiment results.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.109.5-109
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• 2002

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are unmanned underwater vessels to investigate sea environments, oceanography and deep-sea resources autonomously. Docking systems are required to increase the capability of the AUVs to recharge the batteries and to transmit data in real time in underwater. This paper presents a visual servo control system for an AUV to dock into an underwater station with a camera. To make the visual servo control system , this paper derives an optical flow model of a camera mounted on an AUV, where a CCD camera is installed at the nose center of the AUV to monitor the docking condition. This paper combines the optical flow equation of the camera with the AUV's equation o...

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.172-177
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• 2004

This paper presents the results of the structural analysis and optimal design of frames of the UUV(Unmanned Underwater vehicle) to be operated at 6000m depth in the ocean. The structure of the UUV system can be classified into two structure, Launcher ana ROV. Frame of the launcher will be made by Galvanized Steel which has high strength and corrosion-resistant but this material has high specific gravity for tile object to be weight in the water Similarly, ROV will be made by AI6061-T6, and frame of the ROV will be fix many instruments and syntactic buoyancy materials. Before fabrication of tile frame, we performed sensitivity analysis - change in weight due to $\pm1\%$ change in design variables, for easy choice by change of dimension of the frame.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.359-363
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• 2011

In this paper, automatic control system for the Manta UUV are constructed for the diving and steering maneuver. PID controller and Fuzzy controller are adopted in this system. Based on the 6DOF dynamic equation, simulation program has been developed using the Matlab. Using this program, depth control system and heading control system with tidal current are evaluated.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.367-373
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• 2016

This paper describes the development of a navigation HILS (hardware in the loop simulation) system for an integrated navigation performance analysis of a large diameter unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV). The HILS system was used for the performance analysis of the LDUUV. When a conventional HILS system is used, it is not possible to calculate the velocity and position using an inertial navigation system (INS). To cope with this problem, an external acceleration was generated. To evaluate the proposed method, we compare the results of a Monte Carlo simulation and navigation HILS experiment.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.400-404
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• 2016

This paper presents experimental results for the vibration characteristics of the small unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) OPKO 300, which was designed and manufactured by Daewoo ship and Marine Engineering Ltd. The autonomy of UUVs has led to an increase in their use in scientific, military, and commercial areas because their autonomy makes it possible for UUVs to be utilized instead of humans in hazardous missions such as mine countermeasure missions (MCM). Since it is impossible to use devices based on electromagnetic waves to gather information in an underwater environment, only sonar systems, which use sound waves, can be used in underwater environments, and their performance can strongly affect the autonomy of a UUV. Since a thruster system, which combines a motor and propeller in a single structure, is widely used as the propulsion system of a UUV and is mounted on the outside of a UUV’s stern, it can generate vibration, which can be transferred throughout the shell of the UUV from its stern to its bow. The transferred vibration can affect the performance of various sonar systems such as side-scan sonar or forward-looking sonar. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the effect of the transferred vibration of the UUV on the sonar systems. Even if various numerical methods were used to analyze the vibration problem of a UUV, it would be hard to predict the vibration phenomena of a UUV at the initial design stage. In this work, an experimental study using OKPO 300 and an impact hammer was carried out to analyze the vibration feature of a small real UUV in the air. The frequency response function of the vibration based on the experimental results is presented.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2016

In this technical note, the issues and challenges for the launch and recovery systems (LARS) and related techniques for the operation of an underwater robot from a manned platform are considered. Various types of LARS fitted to specific manned platforms, surface or sub-surface, are surveyed and categorized. The current UUV launch and recovery systems from surface ships and submarines utilize time consuming processes. As underwater robot technologies evolve and their roles are defined, safe and effective launch and recovery methods should be developed capable of reliable and efficient operations, particularly at a high sea state. To improve the existing underwater robot capabilities, LARS technology maturation is required in the near term, leading to the ability to incorporate autonomous LARS for an underwater robot on a manned platform. In the near term, particular emphasis should be placed on UUV LARS, which are surface ship based, with submarine based systems in the long term. Furthermore, for a dedicated LARS ship, independent of the existing host ship type, particular emphasis should be given to fully utilizing the capabilities of underwater robots.