Mission Planning and Motion Models for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in OMNeT++

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are well suited to perform underwater work that is too dangerous or inaccessible for humans. In order to better plan, test, and optimize AUV missions, simulations with adequate models are essential. In this paper, we review existing motion models for the OMNeT++ simulation environment. We determine their ability to store and navigate to the waypoints of a planned mission. Based on the review results, we present a tool and workflow (i) to extract waypoint data from AUV mission plans created in the Neptus software, (ii) to check the planned trajectories for plausibility, and (iii) to convert the data into the appropriate formats for selected motion models. Finally, we demonstrate and evaluate our tool and workflow in a case study.