High frame rate acoustic navigation of AUV based on range ambiguity suppression

Abstract Underwater acoustic navigation is extensively utilized across many industries due to its exceptional dependability and continuous real-time functionality. Due to the swift advancement of technology in recent years, the velocity of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) has progressively increased. A high frame rate is required for the underwater acoustic navigation system in order to precisely obtain the trajectory of the AUV. Nevertheless, the discrepancy lies in the fact that the high frame rate and the unambiguous measurement could be seen as contradictory. Higher frame rates greatly raise the probability of range ambiguity, leading to various potential pseudo solutions that exacerbate the difficulty of accurate positioning and noticeably impact navigation performance. To address the aforementioned issue, a high frame rate acoustic navigation technique that relies on the suppression of range ambiguity has been studied in this paper. Initially, the relationship between measurements were investigated, specifically the time delay and Doppler shift, and the confusing periodic leap. Subsequently, the coupling model was employed to develop a high-precision acoustic navigation model, taking into account the statistical characteristics of measurements. We also examined a high-precision solving approach. Ultimately, the proposed method was validated through both simulation analysis and field testing to confirm its practicality and efficiency. The results demonstrate that it can attain a high level of accuracy in resolving the ambiguous problem and achieve high-precise acoustic navigation.