Accurate Aerial Object Localization Using Gravity and Gravity Gradient Anomaly

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have been widely used in diverse contexts, especially military affairs. The smooth operation of the AUV requires accurate localization of surrounding objects, especially the aerial objects. In this letter, a novel and practical method is presented for aerial object localization by using gravity and gravity gradient anomaly. Different from the state-of-the-art methods, such as GPS, radar, and laser, the proposed method runs in a passive manner and achieves AUV invisibility without energy emission. Compared with the object localization methods based on gravity and gravity gradient inversion, the proposed method is more practical as no large area gravity and gravity gradient measurements are needed to estimate the object mass. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method performs better than the existing methods.