Fast Indicators for Robust Acoustic Communication and Navigation in a Double-Ducted Polar Environment

A floating ice-buoy system equipped with GPS and acoustic modems provided communication and navigation to a Bluefin 21 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) for under-ice operations in the Beaufort Sea, in March 2020. Acoustic modems were placed above and below the “Beaufort Lens,” at 30 and 90 m, where a data- and model-based autonomy selected which depth to use for transmitting messages to the AUV. Similarly, the AUV ran a depth adaptive path planning behavior to maintain acoustic communications with the ice buoy modems. The untethered mission showed a non-diverging navigation solution with the average error roughly 0.1% of the total 11 km traveled. This talk will summarize key metrics introduced for automated, on-the-fly processing of acoustic packets to navigate within a reliable acoustic channel and minimize navigation error. [Supported by Office of Naval Research.]