Adaptive fuzzy depth control with trajectory feedforward compensator for autonomous underwater vehicles

This article presents a computed-torque controller plus adaptive fuzzy trajectory feedforward compensator suitable for the trajectory tracking control of uncertain underwater vehicle. To address the issue of unavailable normalization factor, an adaptive fuzzy trajectory feedforward compensator is proposed and assembled at the input trajectory level of the computed-torque controller rather than at the joint drive torque position. The compensator serving as a low-pass filter is implemented outside the inner control loop by adjusting the desired characteristic depth. Due to the nearly unchanged internal control algorithm, the adaptive fuzzy compensator is feasible to implement and is robust when varying the feedback gain in the inner control loop. Moreover, an adaptive dead zone fuzzy compensator is designed to reduce the effect of the dead zone on the actuators of underwater vehicles according to the unknown input dead zone characteristics. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller, simulations are conducted for a desired characteristic depth, and the performance of the proposed controller has been compared with conventional controllers to illustrate the usefulness and efficiency of the proposed controller