Three-Dimensional Path-Following Control for an Underwater Vehicle

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of guidance and control of an underwater vehicle. Guidance and control is achieved by introducing a control architecture with three modules: path generation, path following, and vehicle autopilot. This paper provides a formulation for the path-following algorithm, featuring an easily adjustable parameter that affects how aggressively the vehicle converges to a desired path. The framework for the path-following algorithm is built upon the Special Orthogonal Group SO(3) and introduces a path-following variable that allows the position of a target point moving along the desired path to be adjusted according to a specified control law. This paper derives guaranteed performance bounds of the path-following algorithm and considers limits on the vehicle’s angular rates, as well as limited performance of the vehicle autopilot. The resulting convergence properties are demonstrated with simulations using both a simple vehicle model and a vehicle modeled using computational fluid dynamics.