An Improved Algorithm for Motion Tomography by Incorporating Vehicle Travel Time

Motion Tomography (MT) is a novel method to estimate an ambient flow field experienced by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). MT formulates flow estimation as finding a solution to a set of nonlinear equations. In this paper, the MT algorithm is revised and extended to obtain more accurate results. We propose an additional step to use timing data to improve flow estimate. We define a new concept called the time integration error. We derive its dynamics and we prove that the error converges to zero when applying the MT algorithm. Furthermore, a comparison between the unmodified MT algorithm and the proposed algorithm is performed using simulation results.