Dynamic modeling and three-dimensional motion simulation of a disk type underwater glider

Disk type underwater gliders are a new type of underwater gliders and they could glide in various directions by adjusting the internal structures, making a turnaround like conventional gliders unnecessary. This characteristic of disk type underwater gliders makes them have great potential application in virtual mooring. Considering dynamic models of conventional underwater gliders could not adequately satisfy the motion characteristic of disk type underwater gliders, a nonlinear dynamic model for the motion simulation of disk type underwater glider is developed in this paper. In the model, the effect of internal masses movement is taken into consideration and a viscous hydrodynamic calculation method satisfying the motion characteristic of disk type underwater gliders is proposed. Through simulating typical motions of a disk type underwater glider, the feasibility of the dynamic model is validated and the disk type underwater glider shows good maneuverability.