A Fuzzy PID Algorithm for a Novel Miniature Spherical Robots with Three-dimensional Underwater Motion Control

We proposed and developed a small bionic amphibious spherical robot system for tasks such as coastal environment monitoring and offshore autonomous search and rescue.Our third-generation bionic small amphibious spherical robots have many disadvantages,such as the lack of maneuverability and a small operating range.It is difficult to accomplish underwater autonomous motion control with these robots.Therefore,we proposed a fourth-generation amphibious spherical robot.However,the amphibious spherical robot developed in this project has a small and compact design,with limited sensors and external sensing options.This means that the robot has weak external information collection capabilities.We need to make the real time operation of the robot's underwater motion control system more reliable.In this paper,we mainly used a fuzzy Proportional-Integral-Derivative(PID)control algorithm to design an underwater motion control system for a novel robot.Moreover,we compared PID with fuzzy PID control methods by carrying out experiments on heading and turning bow motions to verify that the fuzzy PID is more robust and exhibits good dynamic performance.We also carried out experiments on the three-dimensional(3D)motion control to validate the design of the underwater motion control system.

Dynamics Modeling and Simulation of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles with Appendages

To provide a simulation system platform for designing and debugging a small autonomous underwater vehicle＇s （AUV） motion controller, a six-degree of freedom （6-DOF） dynamic model for AUV controlled by thruster and fins with appendages is examined. Based on the dynamic model, a simulation system for the AUV＇s motion is established. The different kinds of typical motions are simulated to analyze the motion performance and the maneuverability of the AUV. In order to evaluate the influences of appendages on the motion performance of the AUV, simulations of the AUV with and without appendages are performed and compared. The results demonstrate the AUV has good maneuverability with and without appendages.

Methods for bearings-only underwater target motion analysis

The problem of estimation of underwater target motion parameters via bearings only is the most of ten encountered and most difficult to solve in the underwater target motion analysis.As the bearings-only target motion analysis is a nonlinear and multiextremal global optimization problem, so most classical estimation methods often lead the solution to convergence to one of the local extremes other than the global extreme, especially, when the noise of target bearing observation is added. In this paper we propose to use the Generalized Least Square method on the rough estimation of target motion parameters, and then use the Sequential Uniform Design method to gain a more precise estimation on the bases of rough estimation.The latter ensures that the result convergences to the global extreme. The algorithm based on the above two methods is profitable for the bearings-only target motion analysis even under conditions of large bearing observation error.