Survey of and problems with acoustically pulsed transponder navigation systems

This paper presents a brief survey of ideas about acoustic transponder navigation based on experience with working systems used in oceanographic research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). These systems have been designed to work effectively because of the presence of an operator. The vehicular navigation has its base of operations aboard a surface ship that sets a network of transponders and surveys the net. The survey data is reduced onboard the surface ship to produce the relational positions for navigating an underwater vehicle. In most cases, the underwater vehicle is actually navigated from aboard the ship. If it can be assumed that the setting and surveying of the transponder net is independent of navigating an underwater vehicle, techniques can be logically extended to navigate a remote, independent submersible by acoustically pulsed transponders. Problems of acoustic pulse transmission and reception, environmental noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and considerations of effective range must be overcome to nagivate effectively. Once these are overcome for a remote underwater vehicle, the problem is reduced to one of guidance.