Добірка наукової літератури з теми "Underwater Acoustic Localisation"

This article proposes a holistic localisation framework for underwater robotic swarms to dynamically fuse multiple position estimates of an autonomous underwater vehicle while using fuzzy decision support system. A number of underwater localisation methods have been proposed in the literature for wireless sensor networks. The proposed navigation framework harnesses the established localisation methods in order to provide navigation aids in the absence of acoustic exteroceptive sensors navigation aid (i.e., ultra-short base line) and it can be extended to accommodate newly developed localisation methods by expanding the fuzzy rule base. Simplicity, flexibility, and scalability are the main three advantages that are inherent in the proposed localisation framework when compared to other traditional and commonly adopted underwater localisation methods, such as the Extended Kalman Filter. A physics-based simulation platform that considers environment’s hydrodynamics, industrial grade inertial measurement unit, and underwater acoustic communications characteristics is implemented in order to validate the proposed localisation framework on a swarm size of 150 autonomous underwater vehicles. The proposed fuzzy-based localisation algorithm improves the entire swarm mean localisation error and standard deviation by 16.53% and 35.17%, respectively, when compared to the Extended Kalman Filter based localisation with round-robin scheduling.

This paper describes an underwater acoustic sensor network consisting of a heterogeneous robotic swarm used for long-term monitoring of underwater environments. The swarm consists of a large number of underwater robots acting as sensor nodes with limited movement capabilities, and a few surface robots aiding them in accomplishing underwater monitoring scenarios. Main interactions between two types of robots include underwater sensor deployment and relocation, energy and data exchange, and acoustic localisation aiding. Hardware capabilities of each vehicle are described in detail. Inter-agent communication is split into two layers: surface and underwater communication. Surface communication utilises wireless communication using WiFi routers configured for decentralised routing. Underwater communication mainly uses acoustic communication which, when used within a large swarm, poses a challenging task because of high probability of interference and data loss. The acoustic communication protocol used to prevent these issues is presented in detail. Finally, more complex functionalities of the robotic swarm are presented, including several results from real-life experiments.

Cooperative Localisation (CL) technology is required in some situations for Multiple Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (MUUVs) missions. During the CL process, the Relative Localisation Information (RLI) of the master UUV is transmitted to slave UUVs via acoustic communication. In the underwater environment, the RLI is subject to a random time delay. Considering the time delay characteristic of the RLI during the acoustic communication, a Moving Horizon Estimation (MHE) method with a Delayed Extended Kalman Filter (DEKF)-based arrival cost update law is presented in this paper to obtain an accurate and reliable estimation of present location. Additionally, an effective computation method for the MHE method is employed, in which the “Lower Upper” (LU) factorization is used to compute the solution of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) system. At the end of this paper, simulation results are presented to prove the superiority and practicality of the proposed MHE algorithm.

Underwater navigation presents crucial issues because of the rapid attenuation of electronic magnetic waves. The conventional underwater navigation methods are achieved by acoustic equipment, such as the ultra-short-baseline localisation systems and Doppler velocity logs, etc. However, they suffer from low fresh rate, low bandwidth, environmental disturbance and high cost. In the paper, a novel underwater visual navigation is investigated based on the multiple ArUco markers. Unlike other underwater navigation approaches based on the artificial markers, the noise model of the pose estimation of a single marker and an optimal algorithm of the multiple markers are developed to increase the precision of the method. The experimental tests are conducted in the towing tank. The results show that the proposed method is able to localise the underwater vehicle accurately.

To reduce human risk and maintenance costs, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are involved in subsea inspections and measurements for a wide range of marine industries such as offshore wind farms and other underwater infrastructure. Most of these inspections may require levels of manoeuvrability similar to what can be achieved by tethered vehicles, called Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). To extend AUV intervention time and perform closer inspection in constrained spaces, AUVs need to be more efficient and flexible by being able to undulate around physical constraints. A biomimetic fish-like AUV known as RoboFish has been designed to mimic propulsion techniques observed in nature to provide high thrust efficiency and agility to navigate its way autonomously around complex underwater structures. Building upon advances in acoustic communications, computer vision, electronics and autonomy technologies, RoboFish aims to provide a solution to such critical inspections. This paper introduces the first RoboFish prototype that comprises cost-effective 3D printed modules joined together with innovative magnetic coupling joints and a modular software framework. Initial testing shows that the preliminary working prototype is functional in terms of water-tightness, propulsion, body control and communication using acoustics, with visual localisation and mapping capability.

Particle swarm optimisation (PSO) is a swarm intelligence algorithm used for controlling robotic swarms in applications such as source localisation. However, conventional PSO algorithms consider only the intensity of the received signal. Wavefield signals, such as propagating underwater acoustic waves, permit the measurement of higher order statistics that can be used to provide additional information about the location of the source and thus improve overall swarm performance. Wavefield correlation techniques that make use of such information are already used in multi-element hydrophone array systems for the localisation of underwater marine sources. Additionally, the simplest model of a multi-element array (a two-element array) is characterised by operational simplicity and low-cost, which matches the ethos of robotic swarms. Thus, in this paper, three novel approaches are introduced that enable PSO to consider the higher order statistics available in wavefield measurements. In simulations, they are shown to outperform the standard intensity-based PSO in terms of robustness to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and convergence speed. The best performing approach, cross-correlation bearing PSO (XB-PSO), is capable of converging to the source from as low as −5 dB initial SNR. The original PSO algorithm only manages to converge at 10 dB and at this SNR, XB-PSO converges 4 times faster.

L’objectif de ces travaux de thèse est de proposer une approche de conception d’antenne pour de la localisation de sources acoustiques aériennes ou sous-marines. Dans un premier temps, nous verrons comment décrire la propagation des ondes émises par les sources. Puis nous dresserons les différentes méthodes permettant d’estimer les positions des sources à partir des mesures acquises par les capteurs et du modèle de propagation. Le travail bibliographique sur le domaine de la localisation de sources acoustiques mettra en évidence l’importance des positions des capteurs dans les performances des estimateurs de positions de sources. Cela amènera donc à un second travail bibliographique sur la conception d’antenne, et plus précisément sur la sélection de positions de capteurs. L’état de l’art sur les méthodes de conception d’antenne nous permettra de proposer la méthode suivante : une sélection séquentielle bayésienne orientée par les données. Cette approche prend en compte l’information contenue dans les mesures acquises précédemment dans l’antenne pré-conçue, afin de sélectionner les futurs capteurs. L’application de cette approche est innovante dans un contexte de localisation de sources acoustiques. Dans un deuxième temps, des premiers résultats réalisés sur données synthétiques s’avèrent prometteurs quant à l’application de cette approche dans un cadre de localisation de sources acoustiques sous-marines. Les analyses fournies dans ce manuscrit permettront de juger la pertinence de cette approche dans le contexte testé, ainsi que d’évaluer et de comparer la performance de cette conception d’antenne par rapport à la littérature. Pour finir, nous appliquerons cette approche sur des données réelles provenant d’une expérience mise en place lors de la thèse. Le milieu de propagation sera aérien dans une salle fermée réverbérante avec un grand nombre de capteurs disponibles. Acquérir des données réelles permettront, en plus de l’évaluation des performances de notre approche, de fournir une nouvelle conception d’antenne. Celle-ci est conçue à partir de données synthétiques et est appliquée ensuite sur les données réelles
The objective of this thesis work is to propose an approach of array design for the localization of aerial or underwater acoustic sources. First, we will see how to describe the propagation of waves emitted by the sources. Then we will draw up the different methods allowing to estimate the positions of the sources from the measurements acquired by the sensors and from the propagation model. The bibliographic work on the field of acoustic source localization will highlight the importance of the sensors’ positions in the performance of the source position estimators. This will lead to a second bibliographic work on antenna design, and more precisely on the selection of sensor positions. The state of the art on antenna design methods will allow us to propose the following method: a sequential Bayesian data-driven selection. This approach takes into account the information contained in the measurements previously acquired in the pre-designed antenna, in order to select the future sensors. The application of this approach is innovative in the context of acoustic source localization. In a second step, first results realized on synthetic data prove to be promising for the application of this approach in an underwater acoustic source localization context. The analyses provided in this manuscript will allow to judge the relevance of this approach in the tested context, as well as to evaluate and compare the performance of this antenna design with the literature. Finally, we will apply this approach on real data from an experiment set up during the thesis. The propagation environment will be aerial in a closed reverberant room with a large number of available sensors. Acquiring real data will allow, in addition to evaluating the performance of our approach, to provide a new antenna design. This is designed from synthetic data and then applied to real data

The aim of the project is to explore 3D localisation of a sensor “pill”, contained in an enclosed vessel, using multiple acoustic transducers mounted on the pill‟s surface. The thesis suggests strategies for placement, excitation and synchronisation of the transmitters on the pill and receivers on the vessel wall to deliver 3D localisation. Motivation for the project has emerged from the desire to develop wireless sensor networks to monitor the internals of industrial processes. A major challenge relates to the ability to accurately determine the location of the pill within the vessel, in the presence of multipath reflections. The main challenges relate to the determination of suitable transmission methodologies and synchronisation strategies to allow accurate localisation. The pill has to be a finite size in order to contain the required sensor hardware and transducers must be mounted on the surface of the pill such that signals are able to propagate directly to receivers on the vessel wall. This presents challenges in optimising the transmitter and receiver layout to maximise signal strength and also to determine how the separation of multiple transmitters on the pill impacts localisation accuracy. Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDOA) has been investigated as a localisation technique, with simulations revealing that the separation of transmitters on the pill influences the accuracy. By modifying the standard TDOA equations with offset knowledge it has been demonstrated, in simulation, that this error can be reduced and by uniquely coding transmitters it is possible to resolve rotation of the pill in the vessel allowing further reduction in localisation error. Simulations have investigated how the location of receivers on the vessel wall influences the localisation error when the TDOA values are compromised by noise. It has been demonstrated that by mounting receivers at the extremities of the vessel the localisation error of the pill can be reduced. Work has also been undertaken to characterise both the vessel reflection properties and also the transmitter beam profile to allow a suitable transmitter layout on the pill to be determined. Simulations, supported by experimental results, have shown that a curved vessel surface can focus the reflected signals and therefore compromise peak detection signal methodologies. As a result amplitude thresholding is suggested for detecting received signals. The research is substantiated with a simple demonstrator that suggests, for both Time-of-Flight (TOF) and Time-Difference-of-Arrival techniques, that the location of the pill can be determined with an accuracy of ± 5 cm throughout a 250 litre vessel. This is the first time that underwater localisation in a confined space using multiple transmitters on the surface of a sensor “pill” has been reported.

Le bruit rayonné par le trafic maritime étant la principale source de nuisance acoustique sous-marine dans les zones littorales, la Directive-Cadre Stratégie pour le Milieu Marin de la Commission Européenne promeut le développement de méthodes de surveillance et de réduction de l'impact du bruit du trafic maritime. Le besoin de disposer d'un système industriel d'imagerie du bruit rayonné par les navires de surface a motivé la présente étude, il permettra aux industriels du naval d'identifier quels éléments d'un navire rayonnent le plus de bruit.Dans ce contexte, ce travail de recherche porte sur la mise en place de méthodes d'imagerie acoustique sous-marine passive d'un navire de surface au passage au-dessus d'une antenne linéaire et fixe au nombre réduit d'hydrophones. Deux aspects de l'imagerie acoustique sont abordés : la localisation de sources acoustiques et l'identification de la contribution relative de chacune de ces sources dans la signature acoustique du navire.Tout d'abord, une étude bibliographique sur le rayonnement acoustique d'un navire de surface au passage est menée afin d'identifier les principales sources acoustiques et de pouvoir ensuite simuler des sources représentatives d'un navire. La propagation acoustique est simulée par la théorie des rayons et intègre le mouvement des sources. Ce simulateur de rayonnement acoustique de navire au passage est construit afin de valider les algorithmes d'imagerie acoustique proposés et de dimensionner une configuration expérimentale. Une étude sur l'influence du mouvement des sources sur les algorithmes d'imagerie acoustique a conduit à l'utilisation d'un algorithme de formation de voies pour sources mobiles pour la localisation des sources et une méthode de déconvolution pour accéder à l'identification de la contribution des sources. Les performances de ces deux méthodes sont évaluées en présence de bruit de mesure et d'incertitudes sur le modèle de propagation afin d'en connaître les limites. Une première amélioration de la méthode de formation de voies consiste en un traitement d'antenne à ouverture synthétique qui exploite le mouvement relatif entre le navire et l'antenne pour notamment améliorer la résolution en basses fréquences. Un traitement de correction acoustique de la trajectoire permet de corriger la trajectographie du navire au passage qui est souvent incertaine. Enfin, la dernière partie de cette thèse concerne une campagne de mesures de bruit de passage d'une maquette de navire de surface tractée en lac, ces mesures ont permis de valider les méthodes d'imagerie acoustique proposées ainsi que les améliorations proposées, dans un environnement réel maîtrisé
Since the surface ship radiated noise is the main contribution to the underwater acoustic noise in coastal waters, The Marine Framework Strategy Directive of the European Commission recommends the development of the monitoring and the reduction of the impact of the traffic noise. The need for developing an industrial system for the noise mapping of the surface ship have motivated this study, it will allow the naval industries to identify which part of the ship radiates the stronger noise level.In this context, this research work deals with the development of passive noise mapping methods of a surface ship passing-by above a static linear array with a reduced number of hydrophones. Two aspects of the noise mapping are considered: the localization of acoustic sources and the identification of the relative contribution of each source to the ship acoustic signature.First, a bibliographical study concerning the acoustic radiation of a passing-by surface ship is conducted in order to list the main acoustic sources and then to simulate representative ship sources. The acoustic propagation is simulated according to the ray theory and takes the source motion into account. The simulator of the acoustic radiation of a passing-by ship is built in order to validate the proposed noise mapping methods and to design an experimental set-up. A study about the influence of the source motion on the noise mapping methods led to the use of the beamforming method for moving sources for the source localization and a deconvolution method for the identification of the source contribution. The performances of both methods are assessed considering measurement noise and uncertainties about the propagation model in order to know their limitations. A first improvement of the beamforming method consists of a passive synthetic aperture array algorithm which benefits from the relative motion between the ship and the antenna in order to improve the spatial resolution at low frequencies. Then, an algorithm is proposed to acoustically correct the trajectography mismatches of a passing-by surface ship. Finally, the last part of this thesis concerns a pass-by experiment of a towed-ship model in a lake. These measurements allowed us to validate the proposed noise mapping methods and their proposed improvements, in a real and controlled environment

Les travaux présentés s'intéressent à la discrimination en immersion d'une source acoustique sous-marine monochromatique ultra basse fréquence (UBF, 0-500 Hz) à l'aide d'une antenne horizontale d'hydrophones. La discrimination en immersion consiste à déterminer si un signal reçu a été émis à proximité de la surface ou par une source immergée. Cette problématique est particulièrement intéressante pour la lutte sous-marine (discrimination entre bâtiments de surface et sous-marins) ou la biologie marine (discrimination entre espèces vocalement actives à la surface et en profondeur). Le champ acoustique généré par une source UBF peut être décomposé en modes, dont les caractéristiques dépendent de l'environnement et de la position de la source. Cette propagation modale est source de dispersion modale : les différents modes se propagent à différentes vitesses. Cela empêche d'utiliser les techniques classiques de traitement d'antenne. Cependant, l'antenne horizontale peut être utilisée comme un filtre spatial pour estimer les propriétés des différents modes : on parle alors de filtrage modal. Si l'antenne est suffisamment longue, les modes sont résolus et les modes filtrés peuvent servir à localiser la source (matched-mode processing). Dans le cas d'une antenne trop courte, les modes sont mal filtrés et la localisation est impossible. Nous cherchons donc une information moins précise mais plus robuste sur la position de la source, d'où le problème de la discrimination en immersion.Dans ces travaux, nous cherchons à exploiter les modes mal filtrés pour prendre une décision sur le caractère immergé ou non de la source. Nous proposons de baser cette décision sur la valeur estimée du taux d'énergie piégée, i.e. la proportion de l'énergie acoustique qui est portée par les modes piégés. Le problème de la discrimination est alors posé comme un test d'hypothèses binaire sur la profondeur de la source. Cette formulation physique du problème permet d'utiliser des méthodes de Monte Carlo pour prédire, à l'aide de simulations, les performances en discrimination dans un contexte donné. Cela permet de comparer diverses méthodes d'estimation du taux d'énergie piégée, et surtout de choisir un seuil auquel comparer ce taux pour décider si la source est en surface ou immergée.La méthode développée pendant la thèse est validée sur des données expérimentales marines. Les résultats alors obtenus sont cohérents avec les conclusions tirées des simulations. La méthode proposée permet notamment d'identifier avec succès une source de surface (le bruit d'un navire en déplacement) ainsi qu'une source immergée (une source UBF tractée à 30 m de profondeur), à l'aide d'une antenne horizontale de 360 m
This work focuses on acoustic source depth discrimination in the ultra-low frequency range (ULF, 0-500 Hz), using a horizontal line array. Depth discrimination is a binary classification problem, aiming to evaluate whether a received signal has been emitted by a source near the surface or by a submerged one. This could serve applications such as anti-submarine warfare or marine biology.The acoustic field generated by a ULF source can be described as a sum of modes, which properties depend on environment and source location. This modal propagation leads to modal dispersion: the different modes propagate at different velocities. This forbid the use of classical beamforming schemes. However, the horizontal array can be used as a spatial filter to estimate the properties of the modes: this is modal filtering. With a sufficient array length, modes are resolved, and the filtered modes can be used to localise the source using matched-mode processing. If the array is too short, the poorly-filtered modes cannot be used for localisation. Therefore, we are looking for a less precise but more robust information on source location, which leads to source depth discrimination.In this work, the poorly-filtered modes are used to decide whether the source is near the surface or submerged. Because some of the modes (the "trapped modes") are weakly excited by a surface source, we propose this decision relies on the estimation of the trapped energy ratio, i.e. the ratio of acoustic energy borne by trapped modes to the total acoustic energy. The problem of depth discrimination is then formulated as a binary hypothesis test on source depth. This physical formulation allows using Monte-Carlo methods and simulations to predict performance in a given context. This enables comparison between several estimators of the trapped energy ratio and the choice of a relevant threshold which this ratio is compared to in order to decide between the two hypotheses. The approach developped in the manuscript is validated by its application to marine experimental data. The results are consistent with the conclusions drawn from simulations. The proposed method enables the succesfull identification of both a surface source (the noise of a travelling ship) and a submerged source (a ULF source towed 30 m below the surface), using a 360-m horizontal array

L'amelioration de la precision de localisation angulaire des systemes de navigation base-courte et ultra-courte necessite de considerer des bruits correles ou non sur les deux capteurs de reception selon la taille de la base acoustique par rapport au rayon de correlation spatiale du bruit

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude de la localisation d'objets enfouis dans acoustiques sous-marins en utilisant les méthodes de traitement d'antenne et les ondes acoustiques. Nous avons proposé un modèle bien adapté en tenant compte le phénomène physique au niveau de l'interface eau/sédiment. La modélisation de la propagation combine donc la contribution de l'onde réfléchie et celle de l'onde réfractée pour déterminer un nouveau vecteur directionnel. Le vecteur directionnel élaboré à partir des modèles de diffusion acoustique est utilisé dans la méthode MUSIC au lieu d'utiliser le modèle d'onde plane habituel. Cette approche permet d'estimer à la fois coordonnées d'objets (angle et distance objet-capteur) de forme connue, quel que soit leur emplacement vis à vis de l'antenne, en champ proche ou en champ lointain. Nous remplaçons l'étape de décomposition en éléments propres par des algorithmes plus rapides. Nous développons un algorithme d'optimisation plus élaboré consiste à combiner l'algorithme DIRECT (DIviding RECTangles) avec une interpolation de type Spline, ceci permet de faire face au cas d'antennes distordues à grand nombre de capteurs, tout en conservant un temps de calcul faible. Les signaux reçus sont des signaux issus de ce même capteur, réfléchis et réfractés par les objets et sont donc forcément corrélés. Pour cela, nous d'abord utilisons un opérateur bilinéaire. Puis nous proposons une méthode pour le cas de groupes indépendants de signaux corrélés en utilisant les cumulants. Ensuit nous présentons une méthode en utilisant la matrice tranche cumulants pour éliminer du bruit Gaussien. Mais dans la pratique, le bruit n'est pas toujours gaussien ou ses caractéristiques ne sont pas toujours connues. Nous développons deux méthodes itératives pour estimer la matrice interspectrale du bruit. Le premier algorithme est basé sur une technique d'optimisation permettant d'extraire itérativement la matrice interspectrale du bruit de la matrice interspectrale des observations. Le deuxième algorithme utilise la technique du maximum de vraisemblance pour estimer conjointement les paramètres du signal et du bruit. Enfin nous testons les algorithmes proposés avec des données expérimentales et les performances des résultats sont très bonnes
This thesis is devoted to the study of the localization of objects buried in underwater acoustic using array processing methods and acoustic waves. We have proposed a appropriate model, taking into account the water/sediment interface. The propagation modeling thus combines the reflected wave and the refracted wave to determine a new directional vector. The directional vector developed by acoustic scattering model is used in the MUSIC method instead of the classical plane wave model. This approach can estimate both of the object coordinates (angle and distance sensor-object) of known form, in near field or far field. We propose some fast algorithms without eigendecompostion. We combine DIRECT algorithm with spline interpolation to cope with the distorted antennas of many sensors, while maintaining a low computation time. To decorrelate the received signals, we firstly use a bilinear operator. We propose a method for the case of independent groups of correlated signals using the cumulants. Then we present a method using the cumulants matrix to eliminate Gaussian noise. But in practice, the noise is not always Gaussian or the characteristics are not always known. We develope two iterative methods to estimate the interspectral matrix of noise. The first algorithm is based on an optimization technique to extract iteratively the interspectral matrix of noise. The second algorithm uses the technique of maximum likelihood to estimate the signal parameters and the noise. Finally we test the proposed algorithms with experimental data. The results quality is very good

With the advancement of the field of underwater robotics, the amount of autonomy embodied in the vehicles themselves have considerably increased while making it possible to build and deploy swarms of small autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Apart from the many environ- mental and mechanical challenges encountered in the underwater domain, the swarming paradigm demands the need for each vehicle to be aware of the positions of at least its near neighbours. The Serafina AUV project which was initiated with the goal of developing swarming technology for the small and highly agile Serafina class AUVs requires a localisation system which could cope with the dynamic and fast changing vehicle configurations while being small, reliable, robust, and energy efficient and not dependent on pre-deployed acoustic beacons. The acoustical relative localisation system proposed here uses hyperbolic and spherical localisation concepts and provides each vehicle with the azimuth, range and heading of its near neighbours. The implementation utilises an acoustically transmitted maximum length sequence (MLS) signal which provides extremely high robustness against interference by stochastic and systematic disturbances which are typical for underwater environments. The azimuth is obtained via hyperbolic positioning with improved resolution and accuracy with respect to conventional methods. Range and heading estimation is performed utilising two independent methods for increased robustness. The first method uses the implicit synchronisation provided by the underlying inter-vehicle communication scheduling system to measure the difference in time of arrival of the acoustic and long-wave radio signals to estimate the time of flight (TOF) of the acoustic signal and hence measure range. The second method relies on multiple time differences of arrival (TDOA) and a reverse hyperbolic localisation scheme to measure range without any explicit knowledge of the sending times of the acoustic signals. The localisation system performance with regard to accuracy, precision and robustness against interference is experimentally evaluated. Results of experiments conducted at a test tank as well as those obtained during open water lake experiments are presented along with detailed analyses of the behaviour of the errors associated with the measurements.