AUV Docking Method in a Confined Reservoir with Good Visibility

Underwater docking technology enables autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to execute long-term observation missions by periodically recovering and recharging AUVs. The conventional AUV homing and docking operations utilize acoustic and optical sensors at different ranges relative to the docking station. However, this method cannot perform perfectly in confined water regions because of the acoustic reflection and multipath effect. Thus, this paper proposes a novel navigation system, which fuses downward-looking visual odometry and model-based velocity for homing, and recognizes and tracks the light marker for terminal docking, in order to overcome the defects of the conventional navigation method. The reservoir experiment result verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method and shows good potential to extended applications in underwater routine cruise.