Command filtered path tracking control of saturated ASVs based on time‐varying disturbance observer

Abstract

AbstractThis paper investigates the path‐tracking control problem for an autonomous surface vessel (ASV) with unknown time‐varying disturbances and input saturation. A robust nonlinear control law is proposed based on a disturbance observer and an auxiliary system in the context of command filtered control. The disturbance observer is constructed to estimate the unknown time‐varying disturbances, the auxiliary dynamic system is employed to handle input saturation, and the compensator based command filtered control technique makes the designed path‐tracking control law simple and easy to implement in practice. It is proved that the nonlinear control law can track the desired vessel's position and heading, while guaranteeing the uniform ultimate boundedness of all signals in the path‐tracking control system. Simulation results further demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.