Nonlinear trajectory tracking control of a new autonomous underwater vehicle in complex sea conditions

Abstract

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) navigating in complex sea conditions usually require a strong control system to keep the fastness and stability. The nonlinear trajectory tracking control system of a new AUV in complex sea conditions was presented. According to the theory of submarines, the six-DOF kinematic and dynamic models were decomposed into two mutually non-coupled vertical and horizontal plane subsystems. Then, different sliding mode control algorithms were used to study the trajectory tracking control. Because the yaw angle and yaw angle rate rather than the displacement of the new AUV can be measured directly on the horizontal plane, the sliding mode control algorithm combining cross track error method and line of sight method was used to fulfill its high-precision trajectory tracking control in the complex sea conditions. As the vertical displacement of the new AUV can be measured, in order to achieve the tracking of time-varying depth signal, a stable sliding mode controller was designed based on the single-input multi-state system, which took into account the characteristic of the hydroplane and the amplitude and rate constraints of the hydroplane angle. Moreover, the application of dynamic boundary layer can improve the robustness and control accuracy of the system. The computational results show that the designed sliding mode control systems of the horizontal and vertical planes can ensure the trajectory tracking performance and accuracy of the new AUV in complex sea conditions. The impacts of currents and waves on the sliding mode controller of the new AUV were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by comparing the trajectory tracking performance of the new AUV in different sea conditions, which provides an effective theoretical guidance and technical support for the control system design of the new AUV in real complex environment.