Cooperative Control for Ocean Sampling: The Glider Coordinated Control System

The glider coordinated control system (GCCS) uses a detailed glider model for prediction and a simple particle model for planning to steer a fleet of underwater gliders to a set of coordinated trajectories. The GCCS also serves as a simulation testbed for the design and evaluation of multivehicle control laws. In this brief, we describe the GCCS and present experimental results for a virtual deployment in Monterey Bay, CA and a real deployment in Buzzards Bay, MA.

I. Introduction

Effective monitoring of the ocean enables oceanographers to make new discoveries that improve our understanding of the environment. An emerging method for sustained ocean monitoring is automatic and coordinated control of autonomous sensor platforms such as underwater gliders. Autonomous underwater gliders are small, unmanned submersibles characterized by reliability and endurance. In a typical glider deployment, multiple gliders survey a region of interest for weeks or months in order to sample the ever-changing ocean processes with adequate frequency in space and time. Feedback controls that coordinate the glider sampling trajectories to optimally distribute measurements increase the collective survey performance [1]. To meet this objective, we have designed the Glider Coordinated Control System (GCCS), which builds on previous experience with real-time glider coordination [2].