Trajectory Planning for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

This is the problem we want to solve in this chapter. For this purpose, a novel approach is developed which is inspired from a level set method that originally emerged within the image processing community. This method, called Fast Marching (FM) algorithm, is analyzed and extended to improve the trajectory planning process for mobile robots. Theory and algorithms hold for any kind of autonomous mobile robot. Nonetheless, since this research work has been supported by the Oceans Systems Laboratory, the trajectory planning methods are applied to the underwater environment. Simulations and results are given assuming the use of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).