Enhancement of Autonomous Vehicle System with Underwater Acoustic Application

In this reserch, we will study how to combine an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with an acoustic platform. The modules includes an accelerometer, electronic compass, hydraulic gage and thermometer which provide the underwater environmental conditions surrounding the vehicle and the disposition of the vehicle towards the AUV. GPS can mark the location of the vehicle when the AUV floats on the water surface; therefore, the vehicle adjusts the heading, depth and the path control of the propulsors by the GPS parameter. Using a military requirement electroacoustic transducer as the active SONAR, it can transmit single frequency signals, chirp signals or even prerecorded audio files. When it is switched over to the passive SONAR, it can measure the underwater ambient noise and return the signals transmitted by another sound source in real time. The programming language of this vehicle is LabVIEW, published by National Instruments (NI). Its programming syntax can cut down the coding time, and the man-machine interface can monitor the experiment quickly. The single-chip processor, myRIO, made by NI was used by the platform main controller because of its multi-channel and ease of use. The industrial computer is used to single process and store data on the acoustic platform. The AUV in this article was tested at the water tank in ESOE, NTU. The data of the AUV control and the SONAR application was batter than the fisrt AUV.