Abstract:Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) is an autonomous navigation device developed using the Doppler effect to provide velocity information and measure the range of surface and underwater vehicles. The current status of DVL development was analysed and the characteristics and performance of the four DVL serialised products currently produced by Teledyne RDI in the USA were elaborated. An analysis was conducted on key technical difficulties in current research, such as the contradiction between bottom track range and limited volume of DVL, reduced range due to energy attenuation caused by cavitation effect, ship attitude sway and installation errors, and calculation errors caused by atypical seafloor topography. Future research development trends and challenges were prospected and analyzed to provide useful references for the design of high-precision DVL products.