Numerical simulations of motion prediction and manoeuvring rules for underwater vehicles navigating near seabed

The flow field surrounding an underwater vehicle will change due to the influence from seabed terrains, when it navigates near seabed. The hydrodynamic coefficients of the underwater vehicle will change, and then produce a force and pitch moment, which could pull the underwater vehicle to the seabed. So it´s very important for the safety of underwater vehicles while navigating near seabed to predict the motion and study the manoeuvring rules. In this paper, a 3DVR simulation system is developed to provide an intuitionistic, real-time, reality 3D GUI tools for researching the manoeuvring motion and rules of underwater vehicles navigating near the seabed and in infinite water. The slide controllers for pitch and heave motion are designed. Several terrains are investigated to obtain the different control method. The simulations show that these two slide controllers are robust, and can adapt to the variety of the hydrodynamic coefficients of underwater vehicles. With the controllers, the underwater vehicle can trace seabed terrains maneuverably. And the further research object is also presented.