Composite Path Following Control of AUV with Multiple Disturbances and Input Constraints

This study introduces an innovative control approach for path following of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in a horizontal plane, considering multiple disturbances and input constraints. The proposed method combines a stochastic disturbance observer (SDO), a fuzzy system, and auxiliary dynamic compensators. Firstly, to effectively address different disturbances on the system and choose appropriate control strategies, and achieve better control effects, multiple disturbances in marine environment are divided into two categories in this paper, i.e., the slow time-varying environmental disturbances with partial known information and the stochastic disturbances. Secondly, a new control strategy based on the SDO, fuzzy system and auxiliary dynamic compensators is constructed. The SDO to mitigate the slow time-varying environmental disturbances with partial known information in stochastic situation, the fuzzy system approximates the nonlinear terms of the AUV model, and the auxiliary dynamic compensators tackle the input constraints. Finally, through numerical simulations, we substantiate the efficacy of the control method, highlighting its novel design.