Coordinating a Group of Autonomous Robotic Floats in Shallow Seas

Shallow seas are extremely difficult environments for autonomous underwater profiling floats. These robots possess no thrusters and only one actuator for their buoyancy control, and are thus entirely dependent on sea currents for lateral motion. As a further restriction, underwater acoustic communication is very limited. Taking into account these challenges, a novel co-operative underwater multi-robot system has been designed and implemented for use in shallow waters. A coordination strategy and a localization method have been developed and tested using a detailed simulation of the Baltic Sea. These methods allow the system to operate safely and to map underwater currents and other environmental variables with relatively high accuracy.