Modeling and identification of open-frame variable configuration unmanned underwater vehicles

A lumped parameter model of open-frame unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV's) including the effects of propeller-hull and propeller-propeller interactio ns is presented. The identification of the model parameters consists of a l east squares method using only on-board sensor data without requiring any t owing tank tests. The identification scheme is based on separate tests for the estimation of drag and thruster installation coefficients, taking into account propeller-hull and propeller-propeller effects first and inertia pa rameters subsequently. The scheme has been experimentally implemented on RO MEO, the latest UUV developed by CNR-IAN, Experimental results show both th e effectiveness of the proposed method and the relevance of the propeller-h ull and propeller-propeller interactions that are usually neglected in stan dard UUV models.