Localization of Drag Anchor in Mooring Systems Via Magnetic Induction and Acoustic Wireless Communication Network

In this paper, localization for the drag anchor is presented using magnetic induction (MI) and acoustic wireless communication networks for the tension leg mooring system and the catenary mooring system. For the tension leg mooring system, the drag anchor's location can be easily calculated using the traditional triangulation method. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the straight-line distance between the surface vessel and the drag anchor, the triangulation method cannot be directly used for the catenary mooring system. To solve this problem, a recursive localization method is developed for the catenary mooring system to deduce the locations of the transceivers one by one, until the location of the drag anchor is obtained. Numerical simulation is provided to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods.