Path Following Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Using Nonlinear Model Predictive Control

The path following control of an AUV considering arrival times at waypoints is proposed in this paper. The temporal constraint is considered by adding the surge velocity and the nominal thrust force as reference trajectory in the objective function of the nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). The proposed control strategy uses fewer reference variables than conventional trajectory tracking problems. The simulated results of the proposed control strategy are compared to the NMRI Cruising AUV#4 actual dive data. The simulated arrival times of waypoints were matched well to the measured data. Two guidance laws, the line of sight with lookahead-based steering law and the pure pursuit guidance law, are also applied to NMPC to determine reference yaw angle.