Trajectory tracking control of underactuated USV based on modified backstepping approach

This paper presents a state feedback based backstepping control algorithm to address the trajectory tracking problem of an underactuated Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) in the horizontal plane. A nonlinear three Degree of Freedom (DOF) underactuated dynamic model for USV is considered, and trajectory tracking controller that can track both curve trajectory and straight line trajectory with high accuracy is designed as the well known Persistent Exciting (PE) conditions of yaw velocity is completely relaxed in our study. The proposed controller has further been enriched by incorporating an integral action additionally for enhancing the steady state performance and control precision of the USV trajectory tracking control system. Global stability of the overall system is proved by Lyapunov theory and Barbalat’s Lemma, and then simulation experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller designed.