Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470 www.elsevier.

com/locate/oceaneng

Dynamics and control of a towed underwater vehicle system, part I: model development
B. Buckham a, M. Nahon c,, M. Seto b, X. Zhao a, C. Lambert a
b a Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 6K8 Defence Research Establishment Atlantic, P.O. Box 1012, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2Y 3Z c Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 2K6

Abstract Autonomous vehicles are being developed to replace the conventional, manned surface vehicles that tow mine hunting towed platforms. While a wide body of work exists that describes numerical models of towed systems, they usually include relatively simple models of the towed bodies and neglect the dynamics of the towing vehicle. For systems in which the mass of the towing vehicle is comparable to that of the towed vehicle, it becomes important to consider the dynamics of both vehicles. In this work, we describe the development of a numerical model that accurately captures the dynamics of these new mine hunting systems. We use a lumped mass approximation for the towcable and couple this model to non-linear numerical models of an autonomous surface vehicle and an actively controlled towsh. Within the dynamics models of the two vehicles, we include non-linear controllers to allow accurate maneuvering of the towed system. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Lumped mass; Underwater vehicle; Cable dynamics; Numerical simulation

1. Introduction The use of towed cable systems in acoustic surveying, mine hunting, and undersea cable laying applications has precipitated extensive research into the behaviour of marine cables. Because of non-linear cable geometry and the dominance of the nonlinear hydrodynamic forces, the solution of the cable dynamics equations in the time

Corresponding author. E-mail address: meyer.nahon@mcgill.ca (M. Nahon).

0029-8018/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 2 9 - 8 0 1 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 2 9 - X

454

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

domain requires that numerical models be used to approximate the governing nonlinear differential motion equations. Over the last thirty years, a signicant body of research has led to the development of numerical cable models which can assist in the accurate positioning and navigation of long (kilometer scale), submerged towed systems. In general, numerical models of towed cables are obtained by spatially discretizing the cable into nite linear segments. Walton and Polacheck (1960) described a lumped parameter, or lumped mass, approach in which the cable was considered as a concatenation of inextensible linear elements. The mass of the cable was concentrated, or lumped, at frictionless spherical joints connecting these linear elements. Applying an heuristic procedure, the hydrodynamic, buoyancy, and gravitational forces acting over the linear elements were also lumped at the node points. This lumping of the mass and environmental forces allowed the motion of the cable node points to be represented by a series of ordinary differential equations. The main advantages of such a scheme are the relative ease of dealing with the strong nonlinearities associated with the hydrodynamic loads, and the ability to assemble a compact numerical model from the linear elements. As reported by Kamman and Huston (1999), the transfer of inertia that occurs when dening the discrete cable elements in this way results in a computationally efcient and accurate discrete representation of a towcable. For these reasons the lumped mass approach has formed the basis for a large body of towed systems research. In earlier works, the lumped mass cable model was used to simulate the motion of towed systems during relatively steady towship manoeuvers. Paul and Soler (1972) presented a two dimensional formulation in which the inertial forces were considered insignicant. This quasi-static implementation was used to solve for the motion of a towed system during straight tows at a steady speed. Both Chapman (1984) and Sanders (1982) presented three-dimensional quasi-static lumped parameter models. Chapman calculated the steady state prole of a towcable during straight tows and turns of varying diameters. This work showed that a towed system undergoes large transient motions as it enters and exits the turns. This emphasized the need for cable models to include inertial effects in order to accurately capture these transient motions. Such lumped mass implementations have been presented by Huang (1994); Vaz and Patel, (1995); Vaz et al. (1997), and Driscoll et al. (2000). Both Driscoll and Huang accounted for the elasticity of the towcable by using linear spring elements. In both cases, the spring stiffnesses were calculated from the material properties of the towcable. Towed systems continue to play an increasingly important role in many marine measurement and salvage operations. This is especially true in the case of mine countermeasures, a task for which semi autonomous towed vehicle systems are being developed. These systems, such as International Submarine Engineerings DOLPHIN-AURORA conguration, remove the human operator from a dangerous workspace, and this presents obvious advantages over conventional methods (Seto et al., 1999). The DOLPHIN-AURORA system consists of a semi-autonomous, high speed (up to 15 knots) DOLPHIN semi-submersible towing an actively controlled AURORA towsh outtted with sidescan sonar (Houle and Seto, 1999). In order to design

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

455

the system, and devise control methodologies that provide reliable service, knowledge of the systems dynamic response is essential. Such an evaluation must consider the response of the surface vehicle to control inputs and surface effects, the dynamics of the elastic tow cable, the response of the towsh to control surface deections, and the interactions between all three components of the system. As it is much less expensive than prototype testing, a computer model that accurately captures all of these considerations is a preferred design tool. The developments of previous works fall short of meeting these requirements. Existing cable models have not considered the interaction of the towcable with both the towing vehicle and the towed body. In a majority of earlier works the towed body considered was a passive object: a spherical or cylindrical body with constant drag coefcients. In this case, the towed body dynamics can easily be incorporated into the cable dynamics model at a node point as demonstrated by Paul and Soler (1972); Sanders (1982); Huang (1994); Palo et al. (1983), and Delmer et al. (1983). Recently, more realistic representations of the towsh have been coupled to the bottom end of numerical cable models. In these cases the full six degree of freedom motion equations for the towsh are formed independent of the cable model and the tension of the towcable is applied as a thrust force within the towed vehicle model. Such formulations have been given by Kamman and Huston (1999); Makarenko et al. (1997); Banerjee and Do (1994); Sun and Leonard (1998), and Wu and Chwang (2000 & 2001). However, in all of the surveyed literature it was assumed that the towcable forces had an insignicant effect on the dynamics of the towing vehicle. As such, the towing vehicle dynamics were replaced with a set of kinematic boundary conditions. With the advent of smaller unmanned semi-autonomous towing vehicles this assumption is no longer valid. In this paper, Part I of a two part work, a lumped mass model of a towed, armoured cable is developed and coupled to models of a semi-submersible DOLPHIN and a neutrally buoyant AURORA towsh. The series of differential equations dening the motion of the lumped mass nodes and the two vehicles are solved using an explicit integration scheme in which all time differentials are expressed in terms of values from the previous time step. We describe how the numerical models of two streamlined vehicles are assembled to include the effects of the hull geometry and the control surfaces. We also present a non-linear control methodology for the system that determines the control inputs to the towing vehicle and the towsh based on feedback of the vehicle state vectors. In Part II, the mathematical model will be validated and then used to optimize turning maneuvers.

2. Cable model To aid in the modelling of the cable, we dene an inertial reference frame, and a sequence of moving frames attached at points along the cable. Referring to Fig. 1 which illustrates the towed system, the inertial reference frame (X, Y, Z) is xed at the surface. A horizontal direction, X, is dened positive to the right, the vertical direction, Z, is dened positive downward, and the Y direction completes this right

456

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

Fig. 1. An illustration of the towed system taken from Houle and Seto (1999). In this planar view the p2 axis is into the page for each body xed frame.

handed coordinate system. The armoured cable is discretized into a series of n elastic elements with the element mass lumped at the n+1 node points. The lumped mass approximation allows for the motion of each node to be calculated independently in the three degrees of freedom, but the elastic internal force of the element constrains this motion of the nodes. The calculation of the elastic tension, damping, and hydrodynamic drag forces is performed in a body-xed reference frame. Each cable element has a body frame p1, p2, and q attached to it where p1 is normal, p2 is binormal, and q is tangent to the cable element. 2.1. Kinematics The orientation of each discretized cable element is represented using a Z-Y-X (yi, qi, fi) Euler angle set (Etkin, 1972). These successive rotations align the inertial frame with the ith body frame. The torsion of the cable is not considered in the simulation, and, as a result, only two of the three Euler angles are required to specify the orientation of each cable element. As such, the initial yi rotation about the inertial Z axis is constrained to zero, an approach that is consistent with a wide body of works (Ablow and Schechter, 1983) (Burgess, 1992). The orthogonal rotation matrix, RiIB, describes the mapping from the local, body-xed frame of the ith cable element to the inertial frame. Applying the specied Euler angle set, the rotation matrix from the body xed frame of the ith cable element to the inertial frame becomes:

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

457

RiIB 0
i

cosqi

sinqisinfi sinqisinfi cosfi

i i

sinfi
i i

sinq cosq sinf cosq cosf

(1)

The Euler angles can be calculated at any instant in the simulation provided that the endpoints of the cable element are known. For example, consider the ith element of the cable, shown in Fig. 2, that is bounded by nodes i-1 and i. When expressed in terms of the body xed frame, the only non-zero component of the vector li is in the tangential direction. Therefore we have:

RiIB 0 riYriY li riZriZ

0 riXriX
i i i Z i1 Z

(2)

where li, the length of the ith element, at any instant in time is given by,
1 2 ) (riYriY1)2 (riZriZ1)2 li (riXriX

and ri is the position vector, with components riX, riY, riZ, describing the location of the ith node in the inertial frame. Substitution of (1) into (2) results in the following set of non-linear equations:
1 ) li sin qi cosfi (riXriX

(3) (4)

li sin fi (riYriY1) l cosq cosf (r r

i

(5)

Combining Eqs. (3) and (5),

1 i qi atan2(riXriX ,rZriZ1)

(6)

Fig. 2.

The ith element of the discretized cable is bounded by the i-1st and ith nodes.

458

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

The solution for fi can now be found from Eq. (4) and either of (3) or (5). We therefore choose to use the combination that leads to the best numerical stability, as follows: if cosqi sinqi

fi tan1 (riYriY1), if cosqi sinqi

(riZriZ1) , cosqi

(7)

fi tan1 (riYriY1),

1 (riXriX ) , sinqi

(8)

Thus Eqs. (6), (7), and (8) are our desired relations which allow us to nd the Euler angles from the node positions of the discretized cable. 2.2. Internal forces Internal forces are generated by the cables elastic behaviour. The methodology for calculating these forces in three dimensional cable modelling applications has been presented by Huang (1994). With this approach, the tension within the cable element, Ti, acts in the tangential direction q of the element, and is modeled by a linear function of the strain within and the axial stiffness of the discrete cable elements: Ti EAei ei liliu liu

where liu is the unstretched length of the ith cable element, A is the cross section area of the cable element, E is the effective Youngs modulus of the cable, and ei is the strain experienced within the ith element. The friction between the braids of the cable, along with the polymer coatings that protect the conductors contained in the cable core, create a damping effect. This effect is assumed to be linear with the following relationship between tangential strain rate and damping force. The axial force in the ith element generated by damping is: Pi Cv(viqviq1) where viq is the component of the ith node velocity in the tangential direction q, and Cv is an internal viscous damping coefcient for the ith element. 2.3. External forces The external forces acting on a cable element are those generated by the surrounding environment. These include hydrodynamic drag, weight, and buoyancy. The drag forces on the ith cable element can be calculated according to:

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

459

vip1 1 Dip1 rwCddcliufp|vi|2 i 2 2 (vp1) (vip2)2 vip2 1 Dip2 rwCddcliufp|vi|2 i 2 2 (vp1) (vip2)2 1 Diq sgn(viq) rwCddcliufq|vi|2 2 where Dip1, Dip2 and Diq are the components of the hydrodynamic drag when represented in the body-xed frame; rw is the density of the water; dc is the cable diameter; Cd is the normal drag coefcient of the cable; and vi is the velocity of the geometric centre of the ith cable element with respect to the surrounding uid, with components vip1, vip2, and viq. The drag coefcient is modied by loading functions fp and fq, which are functions of, h, the relative angle between the ith cable element and the incident uid ow. The loading functions account for the non-linear breakup of drag between the normal and tangential directions as discussed by Driscoll and Nahon (1996). fp 0.50.1cos(h) 0.1sin(h)0.4cos(2h)0.11sin(2h) fq 0.01(2.0080.3858h 1.9159h24.1615h3 3.5064h41.1873h5 p where h is expressed in radians and 0h . The relative velocity of the ow over 2 a particular cable element is found by using the equations of relative motion between points on the elements and the end nodes to interpolate the velocity of the geometric centre of the element. Once the drag for ith and and i+1st element are calculated, half of each value is applied to the ith node that joins the two elements. The mass and buoyancy of the ith cable element are given by, mic rcVic Bi rwVic where rc is density of the cable, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and Vic is the volume of the ith cable element. The effects of added mass are accounted for in the cable element mass matrix. Assuming there are no added mass effects in the tangential direction, the mass matrix for the ith cable element, expressed in terms of the ith body frame, becomes:

M 0
i B

mic mia 0
i c i a

0 mic

m m 0 0

where mia rwVic is the added mass of the cylindrical cable element. In the govern-

460

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

ing equations of motion, we require a representation with respect to the inertial frame. The mass matrix is therefore transformed using the rotation matrix RiIB. The mass attributed to the ith node is formed from contributions of elements above and below the node. Thus, the ith nodal mass matrix, expressed in terms of the inertial frame, becomes: 1 1 i+1 i+1 i+1T MiI RiIBMiBRiT IB RIB M B RIB 2 2 2.4. Assembly of forces Applying Newtons Second Law to each node of the cable, a series of equations governing the motion of each node in the inertial frame is created. To evaluate this equation of motion, the nodal forces described above are resolved into inertial representation for use in the equations of motion of the cable element.
1 1 i (Ti+1 Pi+1)(Ti Pi) (Di Di+1 micg mic+1g) (Bi Bi+1) MiIr 2 2

(9)

where Di is the hydrodynamic drag on the ith element expressed in the inertial frame, Ti is the elastic tension force generated in the ith element, Pi is the internal damping force generated in the ith element, and Bi is the buoyancy force on the ith element. Eq. (9) is applied over the interior nodes of the discretized towcable, 1in1. At the boundaries of the cable, the terminations to the towing vehicle and the towsh, the cable motion is dened by the dynamics of the two vehicles. Considering the vehicles to behave as rigid bodies, the motion of the cable terminations can be derived from the motion of the two vehicles. Thus, we eliminate the top (i 0) and bottom (i n) cable nodes from the analysis and introduce dynamics models for the towing vehicle and towsh.

3. Vehicle modelling Referring to Fig. 3, one can see that the DOLPHIN and AURORA vehicles are both streamlined and possess a longitudinal plane of symmetry. The DOLPHIN semisubmersible is a diesel-powered vehicle. The faired mast houses an air intake and the keel contains a winch that controls the payout of the towcable. The AURORA towsh is actively controlled by a large hydrodynamic depressor (depth control) and four tailplanes (attitude control). The tailplanes can be congured in either a standard cross-conguration or in an X-conguration (shown). Fortunately, for these vehicle geometries it is possible to construct an accurate non-linear dynamics model using the approach outlined by Nahon (1996). The numerical non-linear models are constructed by decomposing each vehicle into its constituent elements. We consider the hydrodynamic forces to act through a reference point on each of the component surfaces, called the centre of pressure. We apply kinematic relationships to determine the velocity of these reference points,

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

461

Fig. 3. The DOLPHIN (a) and Aurora (b) vehicles (Seto et al., 1999). A vehicle frame of reference (x, y, z) is dened for each vehicle.

and empirical relations to calculate the resulting hydrodynamic forces for the individual components. Summing these component effects with the gravitational and buoyancy forces attributed to each of the vehicles, we calculate the forces and moments acting on the vehicles. Writing Newtons Second Law and Eulers equations in terms of the vehicle frames of reference, we solve for the resulting six degree of freedom vehicle motion. Since this method does not linearize the hydrodynamic characteristics, it captures the non-linear behaviour of the vehicle. 3.1. Vehicle kinematics The orientation of the vehicle frames with respect to the inertial reference frame is dened by a Z-Y-X (V, V, V) Euler sequence of rotations. The superscript V has been introduced to differentiate between vehicles. As we are replacing the top cable node with the towing vehicle dynamics, all quantities associated with the towing vehicle will be identied by V 0. Likewise, for the towsh, V n. Referring to Fig. 3, the vehicle reference frames are right handed systems attached to the hulls at the mass centres. In each case, the surge direction, x, points to the nose of the vehicle, the heave direction, z, points to the bottom of the vehicle, and the y axis completes the coordinate system. Within these frames the vehicles translational velocities in the x, y, and z directions are given by u, v, and w respectively. The angular rates about the x, y, and z axes are dened as p, q, and r respectively. The transformations between the vehicle frames and the inertial frames are dened V V V by RV IV, which is the rotation matrix generated from the Z-Y-X ( , , ) Euler

462

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

angle set. At any instant, the body rates p, q, and r can be used to obtain the time rates of change of the Euler angles according to: V p V Q q , b V r 1 sinVtanV cosVtanV sinV

Q 0 cosV

(p) z V

0 sinVsecV cosVsecV

(10)
V z

3.2. Formulation of the motion equations Applying Newtons Second Law to the towing vehicle and towsh results in translational equations of motion of the form:
(h) (p) fx (mVgbV)sinV mV fx qwrv) x (u (h) (p) fy fy (mVgbV)sinVcosV mV rupw) y (v

(h) z

(m gb )cos cos m (w pvqu)

V V V

(h) (h) (h) , fy , and fz in the where f is the overall hydrodynamic force (with components fx (p) (p) (p) , and vehicle frame), f is the overall propulsive force (with components fx , fy (p) ), and mVg and bV are the magnitudes of the gravitational and buoyancy forces, fz respectively, which act in the Z direction. The plane of symmetry of each vehicle reduce Eulers equations to: (h) (p) V V mx (zbsincos)bV IV mx (IV pq) xx p yyIzz)qrIxz(r (h) (p) V V 2 2 my my (xbcoscos zbsin)bV IV (IV yy q zzIxx) prIxz(r p ) (h) (p) V V mz mz (xbsincos)bV IV (I V qr) zz r xxIyy) pqIxz (p

(h)

(11) where m is the net moment of the hydrodynamic forces (with components m , (h) (h) , and mz in the vehicle frame) about the vehicles mass centre, m(p) is the my moment produced by the propulsive device, and the buoyancy centre of the vehicle is dened in terms of the vehicle frame by the vector, rb {xb 0 zb}T. Added mass coefcients were calculated for the towing vehicle and towsh based on the component surfaces of the vehicles. The added mass for each of the component bodies in all three axes of the vehicle frame was calculated based on the expressions presented by Newman (1977) for the added masses of cylinders and ellipsoids that bounded each of the components. The added mass quantities were included in the inertial terms of Eqs. (10) and (11). For example,
(h) (h) x

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

V A mV x m mx

463

where mA x is the added mass produced by acceleration of the vehicle in the x direction. To evaluate Eqs. (10) and (11) for both the towing vehicle and towsh, it remains to dene the hydrodynamic and propulsive forces and moments. 3.3. Towing vehicle The DOLPHIN is decomposed into ten basic components: the streamlined hull, four horizontal planes (two forward and two aft), the upper and lower vertical tailplanes, the mast, the keel, and the streamlined bulb attached to the bottom of the keel. As described by Nahon (1996), the hydrodynamic forces acting over each component are calculated as follows: 1. Determine the angle of attack the horizontal planes and the angle of sideslip for the rudder, keel and the mast, based on the velocity of the centre of pressure of each surface. In terms of the vehicle frame, the kth component surface has a centre k k T of pressure located at rk {rk x ry rz } . The velocity of the centre of pressure is given by:

k Vk v rk xrrz p

k u rk z qryr

k w rk yprxq

The angle of attack, ak, for the four horizontal planes, and the angle of sideslip, bk, for the keel, mast and rudder, are given by: ak tan-1 bk tan-1

vk z vk x vk y vk x

2. Superimpose the control deections of each active surface, dk, with the angle of attack of the four horizontal planes and with the angle of sideslip of the rudder to produce effective angles of attack, ak, and sideslip, bk, for these active surfaces. ak ak dk , bk bkdk 3. Calculate the three dimensional lift and drag coefcients of the surfaces, based on the effective angles of attack and sideslip, for the horizontally and vertically oriented surfaces respectively. 4. Using empirical relationships, calculate the lift and drag coefcients for the hull and the keel bulb. 5. Dimensionalize the lift and drag forces for each component using the velocity of the centre of pressure of each surface.

464

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

6. Evaluate f(h) by transforming the resulting lift and drag forces through the angles of attack and sideslip into a vehicle frame representation. 7. Sum the moments of the lift and drag forces about the vehicle centre of mass to solve for m(h). The modelling of the mast involves some additional intricacies. The vehicle operates at a depth of 2.5 to 3 hull diameters to its hull centreline, at which point the mast is approximately 70% submerged. The mast consists of a vertical pipe faired by free-swiveling drag-reducing sections that pivot about the pipes centreline. Since they are free to swivel, it is assumed that the chord line of the mast will remain parallel to the ow. This implies that side forces will not be generated and only the drag need be considered. The wave drag acting on the mast is included in the model as a discrete, velocity-dependent drag force acting on the mast at the free surface. The magnitude of the wave drag is taken to be proportional to the speed squared and is determined from measured data on a scaled model of DOLPHIN (Butt et al., 1998). The DOLPHIN vehicle is propelled by an engine-propeller combination which is represented by including a thrust, tp, directly in the vehicle motion equations. As this thruster is in line with the surge axis of the vehicle, it produces no moment about the mass centre of the DOLPHIN. The effect of the towcable on the towing vehicle is included in the propulsion term. The termination of the towcable on DOLPHIN is dened by a constant vector, rtow, expressed in the vehicle frame of reference. The termination point is coincident with the rst node, node 0, of the discretized towcable, and the internal and external forces associated with the top cable node are applied at this point on the towing vehicle. Referring to Eq. (9), the DOLPHIN propulsive force is thus dened by:

(p) fx

tp 0

f f

(p) y (p) z

1 1 1 1 1 1 RT IV (T P ) (D mc gB ) 2

(12)

3.4. Towsh The AURORA towsh is decomposed into six components: the hull, the hydrodynamic depressor, and the four tailplanes. For the hydrodynamic depressor and hull, the calculation of the hydrodynamic forces and moments follows the process outlined above. However, the X conguration of the tailplanes requires an additional reference frame to be introduced. As shown in Fig. 4, this new frame is aligned with the tailplanes and facilitates a calculation of the tailplane forces that is consistent with the procedure outlined for the towing vehicle. The tailplane forces are transformed back to a vehicle frame representation prior to the assembly of the vehicle hydrodynamic forces. The tailplane frame is related to the vehicle frame by a rotation about the towsh x-axis of 45.

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

465

Fig. 4. The X conguration of the AURORA tailplanes requires an additional tailplane xed frame of reference (tp) to be used in the calculation of the tailplane hydrodynamic forces.

The towing vehicle propels the towsh vehicle via the tension in the towcable. Analogous to the case of the towing vehicle, the internal and external forces attributed to the last cable node, node n, are applied at the cable termination point. Thus, the propulsive force for the towsh becomes:

(p) fx

(p) fy RT IV

(p) z

1 n n n n (D mn c gB )(T P ) 2

(13)

The propulsive moment for the AURORA is found by taking the moment of the force given in (13) about the mass centre of the AURORA.

4. Control methodology The control surfaces of the towing vehicle and towsh are actively controlled using both closed loop feedback of the vehicle state, which is provided by on board instrumentation, and open loop control signals. To facilitate the study of turning manoeuvers, the controller is designed to provide: 1. 2. 3. 4. constant power propulsion. a desired operating depth for the towing vehicle and the towsh. a level pitch and roll of both the towing vehicle and the towsh. tracking of a turn prole, dened by waypoints.

466

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

4.1. Towing vehicle controllers The constant power is the product of the equilibrium thrust, TE, and steady speed, Usteady, during a straight steady tow. During manoeuvering, the thrust, T, for an instantaneous speed U is calculated using: T TE Usteady U

Since the forces and moments transferred from the towcable are too large for the horizontal tailplanes (tp) to equalize, active control of the front (fb) and rear (rb) ballast is also required in order to maintain a desired depth and level attitude. To dedicate the foreplanes (fp) to depth correction, the tailplanes are used to maintain a level attitude and a zero roll angle by superimposing a differential aileron deection over the tailplane deection produced for the correction of the vehicle pitch. The desired path of the towing vehicle is dened by a series of waypoint locations that were calculated along the desired ight path of the towing vehicle. To manoeuver the towing vehicle through the waypoints, rudder (r) inputs were generated based on proportional feedback of the difference between the current heading of the towing vehicle and the direction to the next waypoint location. As shown in Fig. 5, V is the current vehicle heading and P is the direction to the desired waypoint. Both angles are measured relative to the X axis of the inertial frame of reference. When the towing vehicle reaches within two meters of the desired waypoint, it is considered to have reached its target and the next waypoint in the sequence becomes the new target. To ensure a straight steady tow of the system at the nominal speed it is necessary to also make provision for open loop control inputs for the horizontal tailplanes, a fb rb fp aileron deection, front and rear ballast, foreplanes, and rudder, dtp 0 , d0, d0 , d0 , d0 , r and d0 respectively. We combine the closed loop PID feedback and the open loop inputs into the following control scheme:

Fig. 5.

Denition of waypoint navigation angles.

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

467

dtp da dtp 0 da 0 dfb 0 dfp 0 dr 0 dfb dfp dr drb drb 0

tp a fb rb fp
n

0 0

0 0

K Ptp KDtp 0

0
0 Pa

0
0 Da

0
0
0

0
0
0

K 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 K Pr

Z Z KZ Pfb KIfb KDfb KPfb KDfb 0

Z Z KZ Prb KIrb KDrb KPrb KDrb 0

Z Z KZ Pfp KIfp KDfp 0

0 0

0 0

r0 Zdt r 0 Z
0

r0 Z

0 0

where d , d , d , d , d , and d are the closed loop horizontal tailplane deections, aileron deection, buoyancy changes of the front and rear ballast, foreplane deections, and rudder deections respectively; r0 r0 0 Z, Zdt, and r Z are the DOLPHIN depth error, integral of depth error, and time derivative of depth error; 0 0 are the VP is the error in the heading of the DOLPHIN; 0 and 0 0 DOLPHIN pitch angle error and its time derivative; and are the DOLPHIN roll angle error and its time derivative; and dk 0 is the open loop control input for the kth control surface. 4.2. AURORA controllers The control scheme for the AURORA is similar to that of the DOLPHIN. Referring to Fig. 4 for the tailplane numbering, the controller is implemented in the form:

dtp1 dtp2 dtp3 d
tp4 K Ptp KPtp 0
1 1

n Ptp
n

n Ptp
n

K Dtp KDtp KDtp

1 1

K Ptp KPtp 0
3 3

n n

n Dtp
n

n Dtp
n

n Dtp
n

K Dtp KDtp KDtp

3 3

n Ptp

n Ptp

n Dtp

n Dtp

n Dtp

n n n

Since the tailplanes are arranged in an X-conguration, the task of maintaining level ight is distributed over the entire arrangement. The hydrodynamic depressor (w) is used to attain the desired depth. The separate PID scheme for the depressor deection is:

Z Z Z d w dw 0 [KPw KIw KDw]

rn

rn

rn

r n Zdt r n Z

r n Z

468

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

where dw 0 is a set equilibrium wing deection established during the approach to the turn.

5. Implementation Eqs. (10) and (11) are rewritten in augmented form for each vehicle Mvq fv: where q {u v w p q r}T is the vector of generalized body-frame velocities, MV is the vehicle mass matrix including added mass and inertia, and fV is the assembled, generalized force vector, composed of the hydrodynamic, gravitational, buoyancy, and propulsive forces acting on the vehicle. Numerical solution of the six coupled equations for each vehicle produces the body frame accelerations of each vehicle. For the purposes of coupling the vehicle models to the cable model, it is desirable to represent the accelerations in the inertial frame of reference. This is accomplished by application of the global transformation, T. q v Tq T X T

RIV 0 0
V X

V V where xV {r rV V V}T denes the vehicle state in the inertial frame. Y rZ The complete system, including a cable composed of n visco-elastic elements, the towing vehicle, and towsh is modeled by 3(n 1) 6 second order differential equations. For implementation of a fourth order RungeKutta integration scheme, these equations are rewritten as a system of 6(n 1) 12 rst order equations. The corresponding global state vector, XG, is: 0 0 0 1 0, 0, 0, 0, r 0, 0, XG { 0 0 0 1 X, rX, r Y, rY, r Z, rZ, r X, rX, n n n n n n n n n , r n n n X, rX, r Y, rY, r Z, rZ, , , , , , }

where the vectors r0 and rn have been used to represent the positions of the towing vehicle and towsh, respectively, rather than the top and bottom cable node positions. Assembly of the rst order equations, and implementation of the RungeKutta integrator was done in C/C++ on a Pentium III 700Mhz desktop computer.

6. Conclusions A mathematical model for a semi-submersible towing vehicle pulling a towsh has been developed and implemented. The dominant component of the system, the

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

469

armoured towcable, is represented using a lumped mass method that treats the cable as a series of point masses and elastic elements. Taking advantage of the modularity of the lumped mass discretization, the vehicle dynamics have been seamlessly included as boundary conditions within the cable model. After decomposing the streamlined vehicles into component surfaces, empirical relationships have been used to dene the hydrodynamics within each vehicle representation. As such, the system model is non-linear and can be used in long time domain simulations during which the system is traversing a wide range of operating conditions. A controller has been implemented which governs the deections of the towing vehicle and towsh control surfaces based on both open loop inputs and closed loop PID feedback of the vehicle states. By incorporating realistic, active vehicles at the cable boundaries, while maintaining the non-linear capabilities of the lumped mass cable model, this work captures the complexity of this modern towed vehicle system and thus allows detailed study and optimization of the systems design and operation.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank International Submarine Engineering and Defence Research Establishment Atlantic for permission to publish this work.

References
Ablow, C.M., Schechter, S., 1983. Numerical Simulation of Undersea Cable Dynamics. Ocean Engineering 10 (6), 443457. Banerjee, A.K., Do, V.N., 1994. Deployment Control of a Cable Connecting a Ship to an Underwater Vehicle. Journal of Guidance. Control and Dynamics 17 (6), 13271332. Burgess, J.J. 1992. Equations of Motion of a Submerged Cable with Bending Stiffness. Proceedings International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Calgary, Canada. 283-290. Butt, M., Bode, N., Datta, I., 1998. Mast/Snorkel Tests for the DOLPHIN Semi-submersible. American Towing Tank Conference, Iowa. Chapman, D.A., 1984. Towed Cable Behaviour During Ship Turning Manoeuvers. Ocean Engineering 11 (4), 327361. Delmer, T.M., Stephens, T.C., Coe, J.M., 1983. Numerical Simulation of Towed Cables. Ocean Engineering 10 (2), 119132. Driscoll, R., Nahon, M. 1996. Mathematical Modelling and Simulation of a Moored Buoy System. Proceedings of the MTS/IEEE OCEANS 96, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 1, 517-523. Driscoll, R., Lueck, R., Nahon, M., 2000. Development and Validation of a Lumped-Mass Dynamics Model of a Deep Sea ROV System. Applied Ocean Research 22 (3), 169182. Etkin, B., 1972. Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight. John Wiley & Sons, Toronto. Houle, J., Seto, M., 1999. AURORAAn Active Towbody for Instrumentation. Sea Technology 40 (4), 5560. Huang, S., 1994. Dynamics Analysis of Three-Dimensional Marine Cables. Ocean Engineering 21 (6), 587605. Kamman, J.W., Huston, R.L., 1999. Modeling of Variable Length Towed and Tethered Cable Systems, Journal of Guidance. Control and Dynamics 22 (4), 602608. Makarenko, A.I., Poddubnyi, V.I., Kholopova, V.V., 1997. Study of the Nonlinear Dynamics of SelfPropelled Submersibles Controlled by a Cable. International Applied Mechanics 33 (3), 9198.

470

B. Buckham et al. / Ocean Engineering 30 (2003) 453470

Nahon, M. 1996. A Simplied Dynamics Model for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology, Monterey, CA. 373-379. Newman, J.N., 1977. Marine Hydrodynamics. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Palo, P.A., Meggitt, D.J., Nordell, W.J., 1983. Dynamic Cable Analysis Models. Proceedings of the Offshore Technology Conference 1, 487491. Paul, B., Soler, A.I., 1972. Cable Dynamics and Optimum Towing Strategies for Submersibles. MTS Journal 6 (2), 3442. Sanders, J.V., 1982. A Three Dimensional Dynamic Analysis of a Towed System. Ocean Engineering 9 (5), 483499. Seto, M.L., Watt, G.D., Hopkin, D., 1999. A Fully Interactive Dynamic Simulation of a Semi-Submersible Towing a Large Towsh. Proceedings of the MTS/IEEE OCEANS 1999 3, 1194-1204. Sun, Y., Leonard, J.W., 1998. Dynamics of Ocean Cables with Local Low-tension Regions. Ocean Engineering 25 (6), 443463. Vaz, M.A., Patel, M.H., 1995. Transient Behaviour of Towed Marine Cables in Two Dimensions. Applied Ocean Research 17, 143153. Vaz, M.A., Witz, J.A., Patel, M.H., 1997. Three Dimensional Transient Analysis of the Installation of Marine Cables. Acta Mechanica 124, 126. Walton, T.S., Polacheck, H., 1960. Calculation of Transient Motion of Submerged Cables. Mathematics of Computation 14 (69), 2746. Wu, J., Chwang, A.T., 2000. A Hydrodynamic Model of a Two-Part Underwater Towed System. Ocean Engineering 27 (5), 455472. Wu, J., Chwang, A.T., 2001. Investigation on a Two-Part Underwater Manoeuvrable Towed System. Ocean Engineering 28 (8), 10791096.