Path planning is an important issue for autonomous underwater vehicles （AUVs） traversing an unknown environment such as a sea floor, a jungle, or the outer celestial planets. For this paper, global path planning usi...Path planning is an important issue for autonomous underwater vehicles （AUVs） traversing an unknown environment such as a sea floor, a jungle, or the outer celestial planets. For this paper, global path planning using large-scale chart data was studied, and the principles of ant colony optimization （ACO） were applied. This paper introduced the idea of a visibility graph based on the grid workspace model. It also brought a series of pheromone updating rules for the ACO planning algorithm. The operational steps of the ACO algorithm are proposed as a model for a global path planning method for AUV. To mimic the process of smoothing a planned path, a cutting operator and an insertion-point operator were designed. Simulation results demonstrated that the ACO algorithm is suitable for global path planning. The system has many advantages, including that the operating path of the AUV can be quickly optimized, and it is shorter, safer, and smoother. The prototype system successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, proving it can be applied to surveys of unstructured unmanned environments.展开更多
An improved spherical, movable transfer skirt for autonomous submersibles has been devised. It was designed to permit the transfer of equipment and personnel from a submersible to the pressure chamber of an oil storag...An improved spherical, movable transfer skirt for autonomous submersibles has been devised. It was designed to permit the transfer of equipment and personnel from a submersible to the pressure chamber of an oil storage sea-bed structure. It also allowed mating at large vertical angles while the submersible remained horizontal. Seal failure modes and procedures for analyzing the sealing ability of the mating flange of the hull transfer skirt were thoroughly analyzed using conservative estimation methods. In the analysis, sea currents and mating angles were considered. Results showed that when considering the effects of currents, spherical radius and mating angle, their influence on seal ring failure should be considered first. The critical mating depth for a seal ring failure was larger than for either sliding or rotational failure modes. The critical mating depth can be used to determine the mating method of the submersible. The analytical procedures and results can be used as a reference for the design of spherical hull transfer skirts.展开更多
基金Supported by State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System (HIT) under Grant No.SKLRS200706the Heilongjiang Scientific Research Foundation for Postdoctoral Financial Assistance under Grant No.323630221the Project of Harbin Technological Talent Research Foundation under Grant No.RC2006QN009015
文摘Path planning is an important issue for autonomous underwater vehicles （AUVs） traversing an unknown environment such as a sea floor, a jungle, or the outer celestial planets. For this paper, global path planning using large-scale chart data was studied, and the principles of ant colony optimization （ACO） were applied. This paper introduced the idea of a visibility graph based on the grid workspace model. It also brought a series of pheromone updating rules for the ACO planning algorithm. The operational steps of the ACO algorithm are proposed as a model for a global path planning method for AUV. To mimic the process of smoothing a planned path, a cutting operator and an insertion-point operator were designed. Simulation results demonstrated that the ACO algorithm is suitable for global path planning. The system has many advantages, including that the operating path of the AUV can be quickly optimized, and it is shorter, safer, and smoother. The prototype system successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, proving it can be applied to surveys of unstructured unmanned environments.
文摘An improved spherical, movable transfer skirt for autonomous submersibles has been devised. It was designed to permit the transfer of equipment and personnel from a submersible to the pressure chamber of an oil storage sea-bed structure. It also allowed mating at large vertical angles while the submersible remained horizontal. Seal failure modes and procedures for analyzing the sealing ability of the mating flange of the hull transfer skirt were thoroughly analyzed using conservative estimation methods. In the analysis, sea currents and mating angles were considered. Results showed that when considering the effects of currents, spherical radius and mating angle, their influence on seal ring failure should be considered first. The critical mating depth for a seal ring failure was larger than for either sliding or rotational failure modes. The critical mating depth can be used to determine the mating method of the submersible. The analytical procedures and results can be used as a reference for the design of spherical hull transfer skirts.
