A semi-physical simulation framework for multiple unmanned underwater vehicles

A semi-physical simulation framework for multiple unmanned underwater vehicles' (UUVs) coordinate operation, which can complete large-scale reconnaissance in civil, academic military application, is presented. The structure of simulation framework consists of virtual environment unit, vision display unit and UUV control unit. The primary motivation of this simulation framework is test the UUV control unit in order to transplant the control unit in real UUV fleetly and reliably. The software architecture of control unit which is based on multi-agent system, consists of coordination layer, task layer, behavior layer and physical layer, is developed in real-time operation system VxWorks. The significant power of the semi-physical simulation framework is provide a platform to validate the coordinate operation and control strategy of UUV in dynamic environment, and the maturity and stability of the entire control system.