Optimizing Seaglider Performance Utilizing a Variable Incidence Wing
(Room 275-276)
02 May 16
1:30 PM
-
2:00 PM
Tracks:
Academic, Maritime, Research and Development, Technical Track: Underwater Vehicles Research
Underwater gliders are a family of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) that utilizes the modulation of buoyancy and center of gravity in order to manipulate their pitch and depth. During these vertical excursions wings are used for propulsion and directional control. This low impact, low energy propulsion makes seagliders well suited for oceanography, and extended environmental research. In these extended deployments the seaglider is expected to autonomously collect data about the surrounding water column, including temperature, salinity, and current, and every few oscillations surface and transmit the collected data. The saw tooth profile the seagliders fly allows them to cover many thousands of miles and remain in the field for many months at a time. However, the vertical excursions often occur at high angles of attack. This in turn limits the usefulness of the seaglider in terms of both endurance and as a sensing platform. The optimization of glide angle and the angle of the platform during transit would improve the usefulness of this type of AUV as a sensing platform, in terms of the quality of data collected and distances it is able to cover. This research proposes addressing this problem by using a variable incidence wing that can vary its angle relative to the AUV’s body. This configuration has been used multiple times in the aerospace industry. By varying the angle of incidence, the seaglider will be able to optimize its glide slope while maintaining an attitude more conducive to data collection. This paper discusses the method of implementation of a variable incidence wing on an autonomous seaglider as well as its impact in terms of glide slope performance and body position. To achieve this a simulation was developed in which various parameters, including center of gravity, center of buoyancy, and angle of incidence can be varied and their impact on performance tabulated. These results are then compared to experimental results.