Evaluating the capabilities of a flight-style awarm AUV to perform emergent and adaptive behaviours

Through simulation, this paper evaluates the capabilities of the EcoSUB μ , a small, low cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), to perform emergent and adaptive behaviours for environmental monitoring. It is assumed in realistic environments the vehicles cannot communicate simultaneously, leading to the development of a communication overhead. The limitations of an optical modem are found to be too extensive to conduct a flocking behaviour while an acoustic modem of increased range allows the EcoSUB μ to perform the flocking behaviour and locate a maxima, simulating tracking a chemical plume. The performance of large swarms degrades due to the communication overhead, whereas the performance of smaller swarms is comparable to an individual vehicle. The results highlight the heavy reliance of an emergent behaviour on communication and how the limitations of underwater communication mean this behaviour is unlikely to be suitable for the control of an AUV swarm in realistic ocean environments.