Autonomous Underwater Vehicle navigation: A review

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have been focused on by research efforts because of their extensive applications in scientific, commercial as well as military fields. However, due to the complexity of underwater environments, AUV navigation remains a challenging problem. This review first presents a comprehensive description of the three classical techniques of AUV navigation, i.e., Dead Reckoning, Signal-Based Navigation, and Map-Matching Navigation. In what follows, an in-depth survey of Integrated Navigation is given. Furthermore, a thorough discussion on Cooperative Navigation is also detailed along with an analysis of its capabilities and limitations. Finally, recent significant challenges of AUV navigation and further research directions are summarized.