Navigation without GPS

Hii, I am a student at Rutgers University. I am currently working on making the BlueROV2 autonomous. We do the testing for our algorithms in the pool where GPS is not available. The robot is not able to follow a straight path. Therefore, I need to implement some error correction algorithms. To do this, I need to make it closed loop without the use of GPS. Is there any sensor which I can use to get a sense of the vehilce’s direction and orientation. Are there any onboard sensors which can help correct the vehicles path?

There are a variety of Inertial Motion Units that you can buy that can give you compass heading, roll, pitch, yaw … the kitchen sink etc. You have to be careful with external magnetic fields from motor and anything else that could be drawing a lot of current through conductors etc. close t the sensor. The hard part is coming up with calibration routines for the module and establishing a feedback control system.

Vibration you name it can screw with even the most expensive military hardware. A lot of “damping” is done with software to basically smooth out your data for your control systems.

If you can give ET a starting point, it will phone home … you just have to deal with dead reckoning which is only as good as your pocket book and the quality of the sensors that you buy. I would go for a good gyro unit and a Doppler speed log for starters.