Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test

We investigated the attitude control of a towfish to enhance the image quality of its sound navigation ranging system. The target towfish is equipped with two elevators on the horizontal tail wing, and attitude control is performed using these actuators. In particular, when a high-resolution sonar s...

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Main Authors: Jihyeong Lee, Min-Kyu Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/5/834
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author Jihyeong Lee
Min-Kyu Kim
author_facet Jihyeong Lee
Min-Kyu Kim
author_sort Jihyeong Lee
collection DOAJ
description We investigated the attitude control of a towfish to enhance the image quality of its sound navigation ranging system. The target towfish is equipped with two elevators on the horizontal tail wing, and attitude control is performed using these actuators. In particular, when a high-resolution sonar system is mounted on the towfish, any irregular movement can cause defocusing; thus, attitude control of the towfish is essential. Because the towfish has no thrust of its own and moves by being connected to a mother vessel via a cable, its attitude must be controlled by comprehensively analyzing its towing force and equation of motion. Herein, we propose a method for calculating the region where the attitude of the towfish can be controlled based on changes in the center of gravity, towing speed, and towing point. We conducted a water tank test to verify this method and confirmed that the attitude of the towfish could be controlled in controllable areas but not in uncontrollable regions.
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publisher MDPI AG
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series Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
spelling doaj-art-232286a3a6284dde834fe73a794085a52025-08-20T02:33:50ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-04-0113583410.3390/jmse13050834Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank TestJihyeong Lee0Min-Kyu Kim1Maritime ICT & Mobility Research Department, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, Busan 49111, Republic of KoreaMaritime Robotics Test & Evaluation Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, Pohang 37553, Republic of KoreaWe investigated the attitude control of a towfish to enhance the image quality of its sound navigation ranging system. The target towfish is equipped with two elevators on the horizontal tail wing, and attitude control is performed using these actuators. In particular, when a high-resolution sonar system is mounted on the towfish, any irregular movement can cause defocusing; thus, attitude control of the towfish is essential. Because the towfish has no thrust of its own and moves by being connected to a mother vessel via a cable, its attitude must be controlled by comprehensively analyzing its towing force and equation of motion. Herein, we propose a method for calculating the region where the attitude of the towfish can be controlled based on changes in the center of gravity, towing speed, and towing point. We conducted a water tank test to verify this method and confirmed that the attitude of the towfish could be controlled in controllable areas but not in uncontrollable regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/5/834towfishelevatorcontrollable regionattitude controltowing point
spellingShingle Jihyeong Lee
Min-Kyu Kim
Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
towfish
elevator
controllable region
attitude control
towing point
title Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
title_full Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
title_fullStr Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
title_full_unstemmed Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
title_short Derivation of the Controllable Region for Attitude Control of Towfish and Verification Through Water Tank Test
title_sort derivation of the controllable region for attitude control of towfish and verification through water tank test
topic towfish
elevator
controllable region
attitude control
towing point
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/5/834
work_keys_str_mv AT jihyeonglee derivationofthecontrollableregionforattitudecontroloftowfishandverificationthroughwatertanktest
AT minkyukim derivationofthecontrollableregionforattitudecontroloftowfishandverificationthroughwatertanktest