Depth advanced control of an autonomous underwater robot

Abstract

Autonomous underwater robot control is a very challenging task because of autonomous underwater robot system nonlinearity, time-variance, uncertain external disturbance and difficulty in hydrodynamic modelling. Based on detailed autonomous underwater robot control survey and description of autonomous underwater robot dynamics, in this article we have used a high order sliding modes controller (HOSMC) for depth control of the autonomous underwater robot, based on the third order sliding modes. High order methods allow overcoming the chattering effect by removing the discontinuity of the control vector. We show that these high order controllers hold the properties of classical SM control laws and remove chattering problem. Different simulations have been carried out to show the performance and effectiveness of the proposed method.