Application of LS and EKF techniques to the identification of underwater vehicles

The modelling and identification of an open-frame underwater vehicle for marine applications is considered. The goal of this work is to demonstrate that modelling and identification of small underwater vehicles is feasible at low cost: the identification has been accomplished using only standard on-board devices. First, the selection of a model for such vehicles is discussed, as well as a suitable identification method. The parameters of the selected model are identified in two steps: based on least squares (LS) and extended Kalman filter (EKF) techniques. The results of the identification applied to experimental data are presented and discussed.