A New Moving Target Interception Algorithm for an AUV in the Ocean Current Environment

For the interception problem of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the ocean current environment, it is not only necessary to plan the intercept path of the AUV but also to determine the moving trajectory of the target. In this paper, an artificial potential field method integrating Kalman filter and velocity vector synthesis (APF-VS-KF) is proposed to solve this problem. For the underwater environment with ocean current, artificial potential field method integrated velocity synthesis (APF-VS) can modify the moving direction of AUV that is affected by ocean current, so that AUV can intercept target faster. Kalman filter (KF) approach can filter out the underwater noise and make the target move along the ideal trajectory. The simulation results show that the AUV can quickly intercept the moving target and the noise has little effect on the moving trajectory of the target through APF-VS-KF.