Preliminary design and cycle verification of a digital autopilot for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles/

Abstract

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) are being considered for a diversity of U.S. Navy missions. They protend the advantages of cost effective fleet mUltiplication, minimal detectability, and reduced risk to personnel and high-value fleet assets. In response to the Department of the Navy and DARPA interests, AUV research and development by a number of pUblic and private sector organizations has intensified in recent years. The Naval Postgraduate School has now built the first of a series of AUV models which will be used as "test-beds" for evolving automated control technologies. This thesis documents the results of initial efforts to install an on-site facility to support the design and development of a model-based digital autopilot for control of the NPS test vehicle. using an IBM PC/AT and analog-digital interfacing, the development methodology has been implemented and verified by a simplified model reference control program for AUV dive plane commands.