Straight Path Following Control for an Under-Actuated AUV

Abstract

An engineering approach of path following control for the type of under-actuated AUV, such as REMUS, was proposed. The path following control was separated into 2 parts: heading guidance and heading control. The heading guidance was designed based on the cross-track error and line of sight guidance, and sideslip angle was proposed to compensate the disturbance of the ocean current. The turning criterion was proposed when the vehicle approach the waypoint. A PD control algorithm was presented to the heading control and its parameters variable with the speed. Simulation and field experiments data show that the vehicle follows the path accurately in the environment of current and different speed, and the vertical rudder keeps steady without large scope and high frequency oscillation which is fit for the long-time working AUV. Engineers can debug the parameters based on the experiment data efficiently for their explicit physical meaning.