ABCUnloc: Acoustic Backscatter Communication-based Underwater Localization

ABCUnloc：基于声学反向散射通信的水下定位

• 批准号: EP/X021211/1
• 负责人: Xiaoli Chu
• 金额: $ 24.26万
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX021211%2F1
• 关键词: ABCUnloc; Acoustic; Backscatter; Communication; based

As offshore industries and the Internet of underwater things continue to expand, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are expected to be in increasingly widespread use, carrying out various tasks in harsh marine environments. The autonomous operation of an AUV relies on accurately ascertaining its position along its route, but GPS does not work underwater. AUV navigation is typically supported by underwater acoustic positioning systems, e.g., long baseline (LBL) systems. However, batteries of LBL nodes need to be replaced periodically, thereby being operationally demanding and costly and posing a great threat to the marine environment. Eco friendly, low-cost and low-maintenance underwater localization systems are urgently needed by industry and scientific communities to support AUV navigation. Leveraging underwater acoustic backscatter communication (UABC) that allows a node to communicate at near-zero power by reflecting incident acoustic signals, this action will develop a novel acoustic backscatter communication-based underwater localization (ABCUnloc) system that deploys three or more multi-node subsurface buoys at known locations to backscatter localisation information to an AUV. The R&I objectives of the action are: (1) To model the UABC channel between a subsurface buoy and an AUV. (2) To design a novel multi-node subsurface buoy (each node comprising a piezoelectric array and ultra-low-power control circuits) and assess its feasibility for UABC-based AUV localization. (3) To devise UABC-based 3D localization algorithms that can support AUV navigation in dynamic underwater environments. (4) To optimise the ABCUnloc system (i.e. the number of nodes and inter-node distance per subsurface buoy, the number and placement of buoys for covering an underwater region) regarding AUV localization power consumption, accuracy and robustness and impact on marine environment. (5) To prototype and test the ABCUnloc system in controllable wave tanks and in the North Sea.

随着海上工业和水下物联网的不断扩展，自主水下航行器（AUV）预计将得到越来越广泛的使用，在恶劣的海洋环境中执行各种任务。 AUV 的自主操作依赖于准确确定其沿途位置，但 GPS 在水下不起作用。 AUV 导航通常由水声定位系统支持，例如长基线 (LBL) 系统。然而，LBL节点的电池需要定期更换，操作要求高、成本高，对海洋环境造成很大威胁。工业界和科学界迫切需要环保、低成本和低维护的水下定位系统来支持 AUV 导航。利用水声反向散射通信（UABC），允许节点通过反射入射声信号以接近零功率进行通信，这一行动将开发一种新型的基于声学反向散射通信的水下定位（ABCUnloc）系统，该系统部署三个或更多多节点已知位置的地下浮标将定位信息反向散射至 AUV。该行动的 R&I 目标是： (1) 对地下浮标和 AUV 之间的 UABC 通道进行建模。 （2）设计一种新型多节点水下浮标（每个节点包括压电阵列和超低功耗控制电路）并评估其基于UABC的AUV定位的可行性。 (3)设计基于UABC的3D定位算法，支持AUV在动态水下环境中的导航。 （4）优化ABCUnloc系统（即每个水下浮标的节点数量和节点间距离、覆盖水下区域的浮标数量和位置），包括AUV定位功耗、精度和鲁棒性以及对海洋环境的影响。 (5) 在可控波池和北海中对 ABCUnloc 系统进行原型设计和测试。