GREX sea trials: first experiences in multiple underwater vehicle coordination based on acoustic communication

Abstract

As unmanned marine vehicles rapidly establish themselves as powerful and reliable tools in an ever increasing number of tasks, the focus of research has shifted towards simultaneous operation of coordinated fleets of vehicles. The GREX project joins this development effort with a comprehensive and ambitious development plan. This paper gives account of the first sea trials experience involving a fleet of two AUVs performing a simple coordination task relying on inter-vehicle acoustic communication.