| Abstract | The objective of our research is to develop and validate a new model for the prediction of the behaviour of an ocean glider during steady-state gliding. The analytical model is a combination of (i) expressions for the hydrodynamic loads on the hull as obtained from towing tank experiments with a Planar Motion Mechanism (PPM), and, (ii) expressions for the hydrodynamic loads on the whole vehicle; the latter are formulated in terms of three parameters whose values are unknown. The role of the at-sea experiments with an ocean glider is to determine values for these three parameters from measurements of the net bouyancy, pitch angle and rate of ascent and descent, through the use of a specially-formulated parameter-identification scheme. Recent in-water experiments, in a collaboration with NRC-IOT and MUN, gathered oceanographic data as well as making the above measurements. Finally the model is validated by performing simulations of steady-state gliding, from which we can verify that the results are in agreement with the full-scale observations. |
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