Integral vector field control for three-dimensional path following of autonomous underwater vehicle

Abstract

A new control method for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is developed to achieve three-dimensional (3D) path following under ocean current disturbances when AUV lacks lateral and vertical driving forces. To make the control system more convenient for practical application and reduce the energy consumption of AUV, the controller is designed with relative velocities. To avoid the singularity problem of curve path following, the Serret–Frenet frame is introduced as virtual target and the error model is defined. The adaptive law of the virtual target and an integral vector field (IVF) guidance law are designed in the kinematic controller. The back-stepping method and adaptive dynamical sliding mode control (BADSMC) technology are applied in the design of dynamic controller. The Lyapunov theory and nonlinear cascade system theory are applied to prove the closed-loop stability. Finally, the performances of the IVF + BADSMC and ILOS + PID algorithm are compared through simulation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed controller can realize the path following of AUV under disturbances of ocean current and can improve the following quality.