Autonomous underwater pipeline inspection in AUTOTRACKER PROJECT: the navigation module

This paper presents the design considerations and posterior development of the software architecture for the autonomous navigation of an underwater vehicle. Particularly, the desired trajectory generation module is described. The vehicle is robust enough to allow surveys at depths of several thousands of meters. The objective of the project was to evaluate experimentally if the current technology is able to face autonomous inspections in deep water, practically with minimum human intervention. Recent trials were performed successfully in the North Sea. The article presents the navigation module, from its initial form, as a state machine to its actual implementation stage, based on an expert system. Results of this module performance from these sea trials are discussed.