Retrieval of an autonomous underwater vehicle: An interception approach

Guidance and navigation of airborne missiles has been reported extensively in the literature; however, little attention has been paid to the issue of guidance and docking of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The retrieval of an AUV to a mother submarine (target) is conceived as a target interception problem and is considered herein. The design problem is solved in two stages: first, the guidance technique is demonstrated assuming zero lag AUV dynamics; next, the AUV-controller dynamics is included in the guidance loop. Thus, the issue of guidance, navigation and control is solved in a unified framework. This is necessary for a realistic evaluation of the AUV-target engagement envelope without causing the actuators to saturate. The effectiveness of the guidance law is demonstrated in simulation studies with various AUV-target engagement geometries. Finally, the effectiveness of the guidance scheme in presence of disturbances is also illustrated.