3D Trajectory Tracking for Under-actuated AUV Using Guidance-based PD Controller

This paper adopts a new guidance and control framework to address the problem of 3D trajectory tracking for an under-actuated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). First, based on the error dynamics in the time-dependent trajectory frame, the desired surge speed, pitch angle and yaw angle of the AUV are deduced in kinematics by the improved Line-of-Sight (LOS) guidance law that makes full use of the essentially equivalent coordinate rotation transform. Subsequently, a simplified proportional-derivative (PD) controller based on the feedback linearization technique that can eliminate the system nonlinearity is proposed in kinetics to force the speed and orientation of the under-actuated AUV to attain their desired profiles generated by 3D guidance law, such that the AUV tracks the desired 3D Cartesian trajectory with the size and orientation of its resultant speed identical with that of the time-dependent partial on the trajectory. Finally, numerical simulation results illustrate the satisfactory 3D tracking performance of the proposed guidance and control framework as well as the feedback linearization PD controller.