Horizontal path following for underactuated AUV based on dynamic circle guidance

Abstract

SUMMARYA 2D path following control method for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) based on dynamic circle heading modification (DCHM) is presented. The method makes a dynamic auxiliary circle, whose radius depends on the cross-track error e, to intersect the desired path to get a new expected path point, and then determines a modified expected heading for the AUV. The guidance function is achieved by a direct mapping between e and the heading modification value Ψm. Several cases are tested in order to demonstrate the performance of the guidance and control method based on DCHMs for a real AUV. Results show that methods using a convex mapping function between e and Ψm based on our new idea can easily achieve a better convergence of path following, and reduce the error between the actual and desired heading angles. We can also customize a discretionary mapping between e and Ψm to get better path following performance.