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

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.

Nonlinear Dynamic Characteristics of the Vectored Thruster AUV in Complex Sea Conditions

The mobility of the vectored thruster AUV in different environment is the important premise of control system design. The new type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with rudders and vectored thrusters which are combined to control the course is studied. Firstly, Euler angles representation and quaternion method are applied to establish six-DOF kinematic model respectively, then Newton second law and Lagrangian approach are used to deduce the vectored thruster AUV’s nonlinear dynamic equations with six degrees of freedom (DOF) respectively in complex sea conditions based on the random wave theory according to the structural and kinetic characteristics of the vectored thruster AUV in this paper. The kinematic models and dynamic models based on different theories have the same expression and conclusion, which shows that the kinematic models and dynamic models of the vectored thruster AUV are accurate. The Runge-Kutta arithmetic is used to solve the dynamic equations, which not only can simulate the motions such as cruise and hover but also can describe the vehicle’s low-frequency and high-frequency motion. The results of computation show that the mobility of the vectored thruster AUV in interference-free environment and the integrated signals including low-frequency motion signal and high-frequency motion signal in environmental disturbance accord with practical situation, which not only solve the problem of especial singularities when the pitch angle θ = ±90° but also clears up the difficulties of computation and display of the coupled nonlinear motion equations in complex sea conditions. Moreover, the high maneuverability of the vectored thruster AUV equipped with rudders and vectored thrusters is validated, which lays a foundation for the control system design.

Analysis and innovation of key technologies for autonomous underwater vehicles

As the mission needs of the autonomous underwater vehicles(AUV) have become increasingly varied and complex,the AUVs are developing in the direction of systematism, multifunction, and clustering technology, which promotes the progress of key technologies and proposes a series of technical problems. Therefore, it is necessary to make systemic analysis and in-depth study for the progress of AUV's key technologies and innovative applications. The multi-functional mission needs and its key technologies involved in complex sea conditions are pointed out through analyzing the domestic and foreign technical programs, functional characteristics and future development plans. Furthermore, the overall design of a multi-moving state AUV is proposed. Then, technical innovations of the key technologies, such as thrust vector, propeller design, kinematics and dynamics, navigation control, and ambient flow field characteristics, are made, combining with the structural characteristics and motion characteristics of the new multi-moving state AUV. The results verify the good performance of the multi-moving state AUV and provide a theoretical guidance and technical support for the design of new AUV in real complex sea conditions.