Bioinspired Jet Propulsion for Disturbance Rejection of Marine Robots

Abstract

This investigation takes the first step toward characterizing autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) behavior trying to perform station keeping using bioinspired thrusters under the influence of disturbances with multiple amplitudes and frequencies. We describe the similarities between periodic disturbance rejection and the frequency response of the AUV performing oscillating maneuvers, and the significance of maneuvering regimes previously identified for this type of propulsion. We measured the exact position/orientation of the AUV using an underwater motion capture system and provide position data to the AUV controller in real time for feedback control. A wave disturbance generator was developed for this study in order to characterize the vehicle tracking performance in the presence of both high-amplitude low-frequency disturbances and low-amplitude high-frequency disturbances. The bioinspired maneuvering technique is demonstrated to provide adequate control capabilities for both types of disturbances maintaining in all cases position errors less than half the vehicle diameter, and proved especially adept at compensating for low-amplitude high-frequency disturbances, which can be difficult to overcome using traditional marine thrusters.