A Method of Pathing for Underwater Glider Cluster Based on Optimization Algorithm

Underwater gliders have become one of the iconic technologies in ocean environmental monitoring, which relies on adjusting buoyancy to achieve buoyancy control and gliding through the water using hydrodynamics. They can be used for long-term and wide-range observation and detecting complex ocean environments. Meanwhile, underwater gliders have the advantages of low cost, long endurance, reusability, and certainly trajectory control capabilities. However, in the current cooperative detection, due to the complexity and large disturbances of ocean currents, there exists a problem of high energy consumption and a non-optimal path in the underwater glider cluster. To address this issue, this paper combines cluster size optimization and path planning, proposes a method that combines the classic path optimization problem in the plane with the special motion mode of the glider, and then extends it to the optimization method in three-dimensional motion, and conducts relevant simulation experiments for verification. The simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively obtain the path with the minimum energy consumption of the glider under a three-dimensional trajectory.