Stability and performance of underwater gliders

Underwater gliders are efficient mobile sensor platforms that can be deployed for months at a time, traveling thousands of kilometers. As with any vehicle, different applications impose different mission requirements which impact vehicle design. In this paper, we consider a conventional glider configuration and investigate the relationship between geometry and the stability and performance characteristics. We consider two specific flight conditions: minimum drag and maximum horizontal speed. Configuration parameters of interest include the fineness ratio of the hull; the wing position, wingspan, and aspect ratio; and the area and position of the vertical stabilizer.