Adaptive sliding mode control of autonomous underwater vehicles in the dive plane

The problem of controlling an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in a diving maneuver is addressed. Having a simple controller which performs satisfactorily in the presence of dynamical uncertainties calls for a design using the sliding mode approach, based on a dominant linear model and bounds on the nonlinear perturbations of the dynamics. Nonadaptive and adaptive techniques are considered, leading to the design of robust controllers that can adjust to changing dynamics and operating conditions. The problem of using the observed state in the control design is addressed, leading to a sliding mode control system based on input-output signals in terms of drive-phase command and depth measurement. Numerical simulations using a full set of nonlinear equations of motion show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.