Modeling and simulation of a novel autonomous underwater vehicle with glider and flapping-foil propulsion capabilities

HAISHEN is a long-ranged and highly maneuverable AUV which has two operating modes: glider mode and flapping-foil propulsion mode. As part of the vehicle development, a three-dimensional mathematical model of the conceptual vehicle was developed on the assumption that HAISHEN has a rigid body with two independently controlled oscillating hydrofoils. A flapping-foil model was developed based on the work done by Georgiades et al. (2009). Effect of controllable hydrofoils on the vehicle stable motion performance was studied theoretically. Finally, a dynamics simulation of the vehicle in both operating modes is created in this paper. The simulation demonstrates that: (1) in the glider mode, owing to the independent control of the pitch angle of each hydrofoil, HAISHEN travels faster and more efficiently and has a smaller turning radius than conventional fix-winged gliders; (2) in the flapping-foil propulsion mode, HAISHEN has a high maneuverability with a turning radius smaller than 15 m and a forward motion velocity about 1.8 m/s; (3) the vehicle is stable under all expected operating conditions.