Path planning for autonomous underwater vehicle in time-varying current

Due to the complexity of underwater environment, the navigation of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is affected by current. Although some traditional methods can plan the non-collision path for AUV to reach the destination, it cannot overcome the influence of current on AUV navigation. In order to solve this problem, a velocity vector synthesis method combining belief function (BF) method is proposed. Among them, the BF method is used to dynamically plan the non-collision path. The velocity vector synthesis method is used to adjust the AUVs movement direction to offset the effect of time-varying current. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is effective and can overcome the problem of ‘current influence’. At the same time, compared with other methods, the proposed algorithm can guide AUV to achieve more efficient and adaptive path planning.