Forward Scan & 3-D Forward Look Sonars for Ocean Explorer AUV's.

摘要

The long-term goals of this research are to develop Forward Looking Sonar Systems (FLSS) for the Ocean Explorer and mini classes of AUV s, with specific emphasis on operation in a shallow water environment. Two types of sonar are being investigated that generate different seafloor images, one is a Forward Scan Sonar, (FSS) that generates a scan image and the second is a 3-D Forward Look Sonar (3-D FLS) that generates a 3-D rendition of the sea floor terrain. The FSS acquires a complete beamformed image of the seafloor ahead of the AUV at a very fast frame rate (4 to 5 full forward sector frames per second) providing the information needed for obstacle avoidance, navigation, mine recognition and terrain mapping. The 3-D FLS generates images at a slower rate but can be very effective in target recognition. For the FLSS, different versions are developed to operate from low frequency (250 kHz) to high frequency (600 kHz or more).