A Novel Kinematic Model of Under-Actuated Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) for Trajectory Planning

This paper presents a novel kinematic model for the trajectory planning of under-actuated Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV s), addressing the critical oversight in existing models where the physical size of the UUV is not considered. Tra-ditional models often simplify the UUV to a particle point, which, while sufficient for straightforward tasks, falls short in complex underwater environments where precise navigation and obstacle avoidance are essential. This research validates the effectiveness of the model in simulation scenarios by comparing it to both the results of A * and traditional particle-point-based models. Results highlight that the proposed model outperforms in achieving accurate and safe paths, which is crucial for tasks requiring high navigation levels of precision, such as environmental monitoring, underwater mapping, and other critical underwater missions. This work lays a foundational step towards more sophisticated navigation for UUV s, promising significant improvements in the efficiency and safety of underwater operations.