Stochastic Path Planning for Autonomous Underwater Gliders with Safety Constraints Autonomous underwater gliders frequently execute extensive missions with high levels of uncertainty due to limitations of sensing, control and oceanic forecasting. Glider path planning seeks an optimal path with respect to conflicting objectives, such as travel cost and safety, that must be explicitly balanced subject to these uncertainties. In this paper, we derive a set of recursive equations for state probability and expected travel cost conditional on safety, and use them to implement a new stochastic variant of FMTast  in the context of two types of objective functions that allow a glider to reach a destination region with minimum cost or maximum probability of arrival given a safety threshold. We demonstrate the framework using three simulated examples that illustrate how userprescribed safety constraints affect the results.

ModelAided Localization and Navigation for Underwater Gliders Using SingleBeacon TravelTime Differences An accurate motion model and reliable measurements are required for autonomous underwater vehicle localization and navigation in underwater environments. However, without a propeller, underwater gliders have limited maneuverability and carrying capacity, which brings difficulties for modeling and measuring. In this paper, an extended Kalman filter (EKF)based method, combining a modified kinematic model of underwater gliders with the traveltime differences between signals received from a single beacon, is proposed for estimating the glider positions in a predictupdate cycle. First, to accurately establish a motion model for underwater gliders moving in the ocean, we introduce two modification parameters, the attack and drift angles, into a kinematic model of underwater gliders, along with depthaveraged current velocities. The attack and drift angles are calculated based on the coefficients of hydrodynamic forces and the sensormeasured angle variation over time. Then, instead of satisfying synchronization requirements, the traveltime differences between signals received from a single beacon, multiplied by the sound speed, are taken as the measurements. To further reduce the EKF estimation error, the RauchTungStriebel (RTS) smoothing method is merged into the EKF system. The proposed method is tested in a virtual spatiotemporal environment from an ocean model. The experimental results show that the performance of the RTSEKF estimate is improved when compared with the motion model estimate, especially by 46% at the inflection point, at least in the particular study developed in this article.