Simulation environment for the coordinated operation of multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

A simulation environment of the coordinated operation of multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) is presented. The primary application of this simulation environment is the specification and analysis of an innovative approach to coastal oceanography based on the Generalized Vehicle [GV] concept. A Generalized Vehicle is a group of vehicles whose spatial and logic organization is coordinated in such a way that the group behaves as a single entity. The simulation environment was developed in SHIRT, a new specification language for describing dynamic networks of hybrid automata. These constitute the most adequate modeling formalism for this problem domain. The expressive power of SHIFT provides a compact notation for modeling spatial and logical relationships in a dynamic environment and for modeling and analyzing control strategies governing object interactions.