Underwater navigation via spiral wave front beacon

Experiments carried out at NUWC’s Seneca Lake facility in the summer of 2020 demonstrate the efficacy of navigating via a single spiral wave front (SWF) beacon. A set of experiments were performed where an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) operating in Seneca Lake under various channel conditions receives a regular signal from a single SWF beacon. The UUV’s aspect relative to the beacon and its radial velocity can be determined by comparing the phase of a specially generated spiral wave front signal to that of an omnidirectional reference signal. Comparison of the SWF navigation solutions to the UUVs inertial/GPS navigation solutions will be presented for various geometries. This talk will also discuss how this technology can be used to navigate the UUV in GPS denied environments, how it compares to other acoustic navigation systems, and its robust operation in multipath environments. (Work sponsored by the Office of Naval Research.)