Adaptive Formation Control of Underactuated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles with Multiple Constraints

This study investigates an adaptive formation control scheme for multiple underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) considering model constraints and ocean currents. Firstly, extended disturbance observers (EDOs) are constructed to estimate ocean velocity components accurately. Then, a novel observed-based guidance law, which uses the estimated values and constant bearing guidance method, is introduced to eliminate the drift effect of ocean currents. Next, to guarantee the model constraints, dynamic surface control and barrier Lyapunov function are adopted to design a dynamic controller. The adaptive fuzzy technique is also incorporated to enhance the robustness of the designed dynamic controller against model uncertainties and disturbances. The overall system’s stability is proved through the Lyapunov theorem, and the feasibility of the proposed control scheme is verified by numerical simulation results.