Adaptive Position and Attitude Tracking of an AUV in the Presence of Ocean Current Disturbances

The problem of tracking the position and attitude of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the horizontal plane, under the presence of ocean current disturbances is discussed. The effect of the gradual variation of the parameters is taken into account, saturation of rudders is examined, and a condition under which saturation will not occur is derived by simulation studies. The effectiveness of the adaptive controller is compared with a feedback linearization approach.