Invention:
This invention involves using remote microwave sources to generate thermoacoustic pulses coded with precise location and timing information to compute an underwater vehicle’s position. This localization system uses hydrophones to receive and decode embedded information from the signals to compute their position through multilateration. The system creates an ad-hoc, GPS-like constellation of acoustic signals that can be reconfigured dynamically, enabling flexible deployment for a range of applications, including defense, commercial use, and research.
Background:
Currently, localization for self-driving underwater vehicles is important but challenging to do. Unlike land and air terrains, underwater environments lack global navigation satellite systems due to radio wave attenuation in water. Alternative localization techniques include sonar, Doppler velocity log, cameras, and more; however, underwater environmental factors such as waves, turbidity, and sound disturbances can affect sensor performance. Complicating this further is the fact that different operations require distinct localization accuracies which may impact vehicle and sensor choices. This novel approach enables more accurate localization while maintaining flexibility for use in defense, research, and commercial applications.
Applications:
- Underwater vehicle navigation
- Defense
- Research
- Commercial
- Underwater localization
- Hydrophone-equipped underwater vehicles
- Self-localization
Advantages:
- More flexible deployment
- Easier to compute position of underwater vehicle
- More precise location of signals
- More precise timing of signals
- Dynamic reconfiguration
- Allows for operation in GPS-denied environments
