Communication Distance Correlates Positively with Electrode Distance in Underwater Electrocommunication

Abstract

Underwater wireless communication technology has been restricting the development of undersea resources for decades. We have proposed an effective underwater communication method (electrocommunication) for small underwater robots in our previous studies. In this article, we further study how electrode distance/spacing affects the communication range of electrocommunication between the robotic fish models. The working principle of electrocommunication is simplified by an electric dipole model. Based on the electric dipole model, the maximum theoretical distance of electrocommunication is derived as $r=K\sqrt[3]{d_{2}}$ where $d_{2}$ is the distance between the receiving electrodes, and $K$ is a constant related to the system and environmental parameters. Extensive experiments were conducted by varying the distance between the transmitting electrodes. The results show that the maximum experimental distance is basically consistent with the theoretical predictions, and that the communication distance is positively correlated with the electrode distance.