Control Of Underactuated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Research Articles

Parameter identification and model prediction path following control of underactuated AUV: Methodology and experimental verification

This paper explores the integrated optimal control scheme from the identification of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system dynamics model parameters to the application of Model Predictive Control (MPC) technology in underactuated AUV motion control, and presents the simulation and field test results. First, the AUV kinematics and dynamics models are introduced to represent the horizontal plane motion characteristics. Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation and overset mesh technology, AUV plane motion is simulated to determine the unknown hydrodynamic coefficients in the model, and the accuracy of the mathematical model is validated by comparing the maneuverability simulation and field test results. After that, an adaptive line-of-sight (ALOS) guiding algorithm with exponentially variable forward distance is utilized in the guidance layer to reconcile the rapidity and stability of tracking. The path following problem is formulated as an MPC optimization problem that takes into account multiple realistic constraints and then converted into a standard convex quadratic programming structure, permitting for online real-time optimization. Simulation and field test results indicate that the control algorithm proposed in this paper provides a more effective control strategy than the traditional LOS+PID controller in tracking effect and robustness.

Adaptive Saturated Path Following Control of Underactuated AUV With Unmodeled Dynamics and Unknown Actuator Hysteresis

This article addresses the three-dimensional (3-D) path-following problem of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in the presence of multiple uncertainties and nonlinearities, including unmodeled dynamics, actuator hysteresis, input saturation, and oceanic disturbance. First, the AUV kinetic model is reconstructed as a second-order nonlinear system by coupling the smooth saturation function and hysteresis dynamics of actuators. Second, the 3-D tracking error is derived in a simplified manner based on the relative motion theory. Then the approach angle-based symmetrical hyperbolic-tangent line-of-sight (SHLOS) guidance and kinematic control scheme are designed to ensure the global asymptotic stability of the kinematic system. Third, two sets of kinetic control schemes are designed without prior knowledge of AUV dynamics and disturbance, where the Nussbaum gain technique is applied to deal with the unknown hysteresis parameter. The application of the reconstructed kinetic model avoids the degraded performance caused by actuator nonlinearities. The first scheme is improved by adaptively estimating the bound of the generalized disturbance-like term which lumps the unmodeled dynamics, external disturbance, and saturation approximation error. The improved scheme guarantees the global stability of the system and transient tracking performance. Finally, comparative simulation studies under dynamic oceanic environments prove the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control schemes.

Three-dimensional formation–containment control of underactuated AUVs with heterogeneous uncertain dynamics and system constraints

This paper investigates the formation–containment (FC) control problem of networked underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in three-dimensional space. The multi-AUV system under consideration has directed topology, heterogeneous uncertain dynamics and system constraints. To achieve the leaders’ formation and followers’ containment, a two-layer control framework is adopted to decouple the FC problem into two subproblems: reference trajectory generation and trajectory tracking. In the upper layer, a distributed estimator is designed for each AUV to generate a reference trajectory in accordance with the FC objective. Subsequently, a model-free trajectory tracking strategy is developed in the lower layer, where adaptive neural networks combined with an auxiliary compensator are involved not only to approximate the heterogeneous system dynamics, but also to preserve the velocity and input constraints simultaneously. Input-to-state stability is employed to analyze the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, comparative simulations are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed two-layer control protocol.

Spatial curvilinear path following control of underactuated AUV with multiple uncertainties

This paper investigates the problem of spatial curvilinear path following control of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with multiple uncertainties. Firstly, in order to design the appropriate controller, path following error dynamics model is constructed in a moving Serret–Frenet frame, and the five degrees of freedom (DOFs) dynamic model with multiple uncertainties is established. Secondly, the proposed control law is separated into kinematic controller and dynamic controller via back-stepping technique. In the case of kinematic controller, to overcome the drawback of dependence on the accurate vehicle model that are present in a number of path following control strategies described in the literature, the unknown side-slip angular velocity and attack angular velocity are treated as uncertainties. Whereas in the case of dynamic controller, the model parameters perturbations, unknown external environmental disturbances and the nonlinear hydrodynamic damping terms are treated as lumped uncertainties. Both kinematic and dynamic uncertainties are estimated and compensated by designed reduced-order linear extended state observes (LESOs). Thirdly, feedback linearization (FL) based control law is implemented for the control model using the estimates generated by reduced-order LESOs. For handling the problem of computational complexity inherent in the conventional back-stepping method, nonlinear tracking differentiators (NTDs) are applied to construct derivatives of the virtual control commands. Finally, the closed loop stability for the overall system is established. Simulation and comparative analysis demonstrate that the proposed controller exhibits enhanced performance in the presence of internal parameter variations, external unknown disturbances, unmodeled nonlinear damping terms, and measurement noises.