AUV's have a limited range due to limited power availability and tend to have dynamical constraints, such as loss of controllability at low speeds, that require fast access to information about the environment for safe navigation. Thus, adaptive strategies are especially benefical for AUV's. Further, due to the low rate of information obtained from a sonar, adaptive strategies are useful in robotic applications based on sonar sensing.
Adaptive echolocation is motivated by echolocating animals.
Adaptive echolocation is seen in the way dolphins use sonar to localize and navigate by moving their heads from side to side. Bats adaptively increases the number of sound pulses emitted as they approach a prey. The term cholocation, was first coined by Donald Griffin in 1944. It refers to the use of sound reflections to localize objects and orient in the environment Echolocating animals transmit acoustic signals and process information contained in the reflected signals, permitting the detection, localization and identification of objects. The use of echolocation has been documented in bats, marine mammals , some species of nocturnal birds and to a limited extent in blind or blindfolded humans.