Trajectory Planning for the ARIES AUV

This thesis supports ongoing ONR research in the area of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Mine Warfare. It shows a simulation of a two-vehicle autonomous rendezvous using both along track and cross track position controllers. Conducting open water experiments with the ARIES AUV identified the added mass matrix and hydrodynamic coefficients of the longitudinal equation of motion. The results indicate that it will be possible to maneuver an AUV to a specific rendezvous point at a specified time. Two-vehicle rendezvous maneuvers are likely to be needed in multi-vehicle operations when data transfer between range-limited communications modems are used.