Abstract
Navigational simulation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is important for the navigational planning of the AUVs to confirm operational safety and navigational quality.
This paper presents examples of the situation method of cruising AUVs, which is based on the maneuvering mathematical modeling group (MMG) model proposed for estimating ship maneuvering. The AUV motion equations of external forces in the simulation method are consist of the sum of thrust forces, hydrodynamic ones of the main hull and rudders. Hydrodynamic coefficients in the motion equations were decided by towing and forced oscillation tests using a small AUV model, and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation.
The calculated results were compared with sea trial test ones conducted at Suruga Bay in Japan. The validity and effectiveness of the simulation method are enough shown by the comparison, in which the simulation and sea trial results have coincided with each other. As a result, it was confirmed that the presented simulation method using simple linear mathematical formulation is useful and has no large problem.
