Sea Trial Validation of the ROS-DESERT Middleware with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

2026-05-22

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of poor acoustic communication connectivity among heterogeneous autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) operating in complex underwater environments. The authors propose a modular software architecture that, for the first time, enables a cross-layer configurable underwater communication stack. By integrating the ROS 2 application layer with the DESERT Underwater communication framework through a custom-developed rmw_desert middleware, the system supports environment-aware adaptive communication while maintaining backward compatibility with ROS 1 to interface with existing controllers. Leveraging onboard environmental perception and AUV maneuverability, the architecture dynamically optimizes communication strategies at runtime. Sea trials involving three AUVs conducted in the Gulf of La Spezia, Italy, demonstrated that the proposed depth-adaptive relocation method significantly improves packet reception rates over distances of approximately one kilometer, validating the feasibility, modularity, and real-world deployment effectiveness of the proposed architecture.

Abstract

This paper presents a modular software architecture that enables environmental-aware coordination of heterogeneous Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to improve underwater acoustic connectivity. The architecture combines a Robot Operating System 2 application layer with the DESERT Underwater communication framework through the rmw_desert middleware, and integrates a Robot Operating System 1 bridge to ensure interoperability with legacy vehicle front-seat controllers. This design enables fine-grained, cross-layer configurability of the communication stack and supports onboard processing of environmental measurements to inform adaptive communication behaviors. As a representative use case, this architecture is used to implement a lightweight depth-optimization strategy that exploits environmental awareness and AUV mobility to improve acoustic link performance. The complete software stack is validated through sea trials conducted off the Gulf of La Spezia in littoral water with an average depth of approximately 100m using a deployment involving three AUVs with distinct operational roles. Experimental results indicate that depth-adaptive repositioning yields measurable gains in packet reception at horizontal separation of approximately 1km, while differences are negligible at shorter ranges where the received signal energy remains above demodulation thresholds. Beyond link-level performance the sea trials confirm the feasibility, modularity, and practical deployability of the proposed architecture on existing AUV platforms.

Problem

• Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
• underwater acoustic connectivity
• environmental-aware coordination
• heterogeneous AUVs
• communication stack

Innovation

• ROS-DESERT middleware
• environment-aware coordination
• adaptive underwater communication
• heterogeneous AUVs
• depth-optimization strategy