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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MEMS IMU inertial measurement unit one-way-travel-time inertial measurement unit autonomous underwater vehicles

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Recent advances in acoustic navigation methodologies are enabling the way for AUVs to extend their submerged mission time and maintain a bounded XY position error. Additionally, advances in inertial sensor technology have drastically lowered the size, power consumption, and cost of these sensors. Nonetheless, these sensors are still noisy and accrue error over time. This thesis builds on the research and recent developments in single beacon one-way-travel- time (OWTT) acoustic navigation and investigates the degree of bounding position error for small AUVs with a minimal navigation strap-down sensor suite, relying mostly on a consumer grade microelectromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a vehicle's dynamic model velocity. An implementation of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) that includes IMU bias estimation and coupled with a range filter, is obtained in the field on two OceanServer Technology, Inc. Iver2 AUVs and one Bluefin Robotics SandShark [mu]AUV. Results from these field trials on Ashumet Pond of Falmouth, Massachusetts, the Charles River of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Monterey Bay near Santa Cruz, California show a navigation solution accuracy comparable to current standard navigation techniques.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Joint Program in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2017

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Kepper, James H., IV
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • James C. Kinsey.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113756
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/113756

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Kepper, James H., IV. MEMS IMU inertial measurement unit one-way-travel-time inertial measurement unit autonomous underwater vehicles. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113756