Fast fixed-time vertical plane motion control of autonomous underwater gliders in shallow water

Abstract

In this paper, a fast fixed-time vertical plane motion controller is proposed for autonomous underwater gliders (AUGs) gliding in shallow water. The influence of speed-sensorless conditions, model uncertainties, unknown time-varying external disturbances, input saturations, and state delay are taken into account. To improve control performance, a fast fixed-time stable system is first presented. Based on the system, an adaptive extended state observer (ESO) is developed for estimating speed, model uncertainties, and external disturbances. A fast fixed-time controller is designed for improving the gliding efficiency and reducing the risk of hitting the ocean floor. Moreover, an input saturation auxiliary system and an advance compensation method are presented to cope with input saturations and state delay. According to Lyapunov theory, it is proved that the AUG states can converge into a small neighborhood within a fixed time. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the rapidity and effectiveness of the designed control method.