A LSSVR Interactive Network for AUV Motion Control

Abstract

In view of the requirements on control precision of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in different operations, the improvement of AUV motion control accuracy is the focus of this paper. In regard to the unsatisfying robustness of traditional control methods, an interactive network based on Least Square Support Vector Regression (LSSVR) is therefore put forward. The network completed the identification of the strong nonlinear AUV dynamic characteristics based on the LSSVR theory and by virtue of the interactions between the offline and online modules, it achieved offline design and online optimization of the AUV control law. In addition to contrastive numerical simulations and sea trials with the classic S-plane method in AUV velocity and heading control, the LSSVR network was also tested in path following and long-range cruise. The precision and robustness and of the proposed network were verified by the high-accuracy control results of the aforesaid simulations and trials. The network can be of practical use in AUV control especially under unfamiliar water conditions with access to a limited number of control samples or little information of the operation site.