The Polarized Light Field Enables Underwater Unmanned Vehicle Bionic Autonomous Navigation and Automatic Control

Abstract

In response to the critical need for autonomous navigation capabilities of underwater vehicles independent of satellites, this paper studies a novel navigation and control method based on underwater polarization patterns. We propose an underwater course angle measurement algorithm and develop underwater polarization detection equipment. By establishing the automatic control model of an ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) with polarization information, we develop a strapdown navigation method combining polarization and inertial information. We verify the feasibility of angle measurement based on polarization in the water tank. The measurement accuracy of polarization azimuth is less than 0.69°. Next, we conduct ROV navigation at different water depths in a real underwater environment. At a depth of 5 m, the MSE (Mean Square Error) and SD (Standard Deviation) of angle error are 16.57° and 4.07°, respectively. Underwater navigation accuracy of traveling 100 m is better than 5 m within a depth of 5 m. Key technologies such as underwater polarization detection, multi-source information fusion, and the ROV automatic control model with polarization have been broken through. This method can effectively improve ROV underwater work efficiency and accuracy.