Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Trajectory Tracking

Abstract

This paper develops a trajectory tracking control method for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with four degrees of freedom (DOFs) using a Nonlinear Model Predictive Controller (NMPC). The NMPC is implemented for a nonlinear AUV system and an advanced CasADi framework is applied to accomplish the nonlinear optimization required in the control strategy. Simulations are conducted to verify the tracking effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm, where satisfactory accuracy and efficiency are performed even with physical constraints and environmental disturbances involved, thus guaranteeing the robustness of the method.