This project is developing underwater acoustic tracking strategies for locating and tracking particular species of tagged sharks that have long distance migratory paths. A unique aspect of this project is that receivers will be onboard a team of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), enabling them to cooperatively estimate the shark position, thereby allowing the AUVs to track and follow the shark for sustained periods of time. The AUV team's mobility and ability to modify its own path in response to shark movement allows it to obtain in-situ measurements that cannot be obtained from static receiver systems typically used for monitoring shark behavior.
Due to its interdisciplinary nature, this project will make contributions in both Engineering (AUV autonomy and control) and Biological Sciences (shark behavior characterization, life history, and habitat utilization). New approaches to state estimation are being developed. A key to creating a successful estimator for this application will be incorporating kinematic and dynamic models of shark locomotion. Novel control strategies are also necessary given the difficulty of tracking sharks that can travel at high speed. Tracking controllers don't typically consider the additional constraint of maintaining a separation distance to ensure the AUV doesn't affect shark behavior. The end goal of conducting shark tracking experiments will be the first of its kind. Additionally, much merit will be derived from the actual data the experiments yield. Specifically, the engineering within this project is driven by the goal of determining the relationships between local ocean environment variables (e.g. temperatures, current velocities) and shark behavior (e.g. migration path choices, habitat use). While there is considerable knowledge of shark physiology and behavior, there are no fine scale time studies of shark motion and its associated energy use within different behaviors.
This work includes developing new AUV sampling technologies that can be generalized and applied to studying various forms of marine life, and in addition to the ecological contributions, the research is applicable to other tasks associated with safe marine navigation, homeland security, and the military.
