Bioinspired Underwater Navigation Using Polarization Patterns Within Snell’s Window

摘要

Aiming at the requirement of autonomous navigation capability of the underwater unmanned vehicle(UUV),a novel bionic method for underwater navigation based on polarization pattern within Snell’s window is proposed.Inspired by creatures,polarization navigation is a satellite-free navigation scheme and has great potential to be used in the water.However,because of the complex underwater environment,whether UUV polarization navigation can be realized is doubtful.To illustrate the feasibility of underwater polarization navigation,we firstly establish the model of under-water polarization patterns to prove the stability and predictability of the underwater polarization pattern within Snell’s window.Then,we carry out static and dynamic experiments of underwater heading determination based on developed polarization information detection equipment.Finally,we obtain underwater polarization patterns and conduct the tracking experiment at different water depths.The experimental results of the underwater polarization patterns are consistent with the simulation,which proves the correctness of the proposed model.At the water depth of 5 m,the average angle and position error of the tracking experiment are 14.3508°and 4.0812 m,respectively.It is illustrated that underwater polarization navigation is realizable and the precision can meet the real-time navigation requirements of UUV.This study promotes the improvement of underwater navigation ability and the development of marine equipment.