Implementation guidelines for terrain aided navigation on underwater vehicles

Underwater terrain aided navigation (TAN) is a geophysical navigation method studied by many researchers, and working prototypes have been demonstrated. Although TAN’s capabilities are shown in multiple cases using different hardware configurations, most research is focused on how to implement it in specific mission scenarios. The guidelines for implementing TAN into an underwater vehicle have yet to be discussed. This paper established a simulation platform for an underwater vehicle equipped with a multibeam echosounder to conduct bathymetric surveys while utilizing TAN to estimate its location accurately. The software framework is tested with various conditions, and different algorithm implementations are compared. Guidelines are formed on implementing TAN for underwater vehicles, and a modified algorithm following these guidelines is presented.