Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents

This article considers underwater sonar scans that utilize a sonar-equipped Autonomous Marine Ship (AMS). The AMS finds an underwater object by towing a tow fish, having active sonars for imaging the sea bottom. This paper tackles the autonomous generation of the AMS’s coverage path, such that the A...

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Main Author: Jonghoek Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/118
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author Jonghoek Kim
author_facet Jonghoek Kim
author_sort Jonghoek Kim
collection DOAJ
description This article considers underwater sonar scans that utilize a sonar-equipped Autonomous Marine Ship (AMS). The AMS finds an underwater object by towing a tow fish, having active sonars for imaging the sea bottom. This paper tackles the autonomous generation of the AMS’s coverage path, such that the AMS scans the entire survey region once it moves along the generated path. The presence of currents introduces undesired vehicle motion that can greatly complicate sonar data collection, especially when sonar data are to be processed into high-resolution SAS imagery. If the tow fish moves opposite to the current’s direction, then the tow fish can move straight along its intended course without using crabbing motions. In this situation, one can derive a clear sonar image appropriate for finding underwater objects. We planned the AMS’s coverage path so that the tow fish’s heading is opposite to the current’s changing direction, while covering the entire workspace. As far as we know, this paper is novel in planning the AMS’s coverage path adaptively, such that the tow fish’s heading is opposite to the current’s changing direction. Using computer-based simulations, we verify the outperformance of the proposed adaptive path planner by comparing it with a case where varying sea current was not considered by the path planners.
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spelling doaj-art-b15e57515280414f8948cbaa1e77000a2025-01-24T13:36:55ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-01-0113111810.3390/jmse13010118Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing CurrentsJonghoek Kim0System Engineering Department, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Republic of KoreaThis article considers underwater sonar scans that utilize a sonar-equipped Autonomous Marine Ship (AMS). The AMS finds an underwater object by towing a tow fish, having active sonars for imaging the sea bottom. This paper tackles the autonomous generation of the AMS’s coverage path, such that the AMS scans the entire survey region once it moves along the generated path. The presence of currents introduces undesired vehicle motion that can greatly complicate sonar data collection, especially when sonar data are to be processed into high-resolution SAS imagery. If the tow fish moves opposite to the current’s direction, then the tow fish can move straight along its intended course without using crabbing motions. In this situation, one can derive a clear sonar image appropriate for finding underwater objects. We planned the AMS’s coverage path so that the tow fish’s heading is opposite to the current’s changing direction, while covering the entire workspace. As far as we know, this paper is novel in planning the AMS’s coverage path adaptively, such that the tow fish’s heading is opposite to the current’s changing direction. Using computer-based simulations, we verify the outperformance of the proposed adaptive path planner by comparing it with a case where varying sea current was not considered by the path planners.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/118adaptive path planautonomous surface vehiclechanging currentunderwater searchsynthetic aperture sonarcoverage path plan
spellingShingle Jonghoek Kim
Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
adaptive path plan
autonomous surface vehicle
changing current
underwater search
synthetic aperture sonar
coverage path plan
title Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
title_full Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
title_fullStr Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
title_full_unstemmed Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
title_short Adaptive Coverage Path Planning for Underwater Sonar Scans in Environments with Changing Currents
title_sort adaptive coverage path planning for underwater sonar scans in environments with changing currents
topic adaptive path plan
autonomous surface vehicle
changing current
underwater search
synthetic aperture sonar
coverage path plan
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/118
work_keys_str_mv AT jonghoekkim adaptivecoveragepathplanningforunderwatersonarscansinenvironmentswithchangingcurrents