Model predictive control of remotely operated underwater vehicles

This paper describes the implementation of a model predictive controller novel in an underwater robot vehicle. This work also shows the development of an underwater vehicle model that accounts for physical, hydrodynamic and restorative effects, while the damping coefficients are neglected in the prediction of the vehicle position and orientation. The vehicle kinematic and dynamic models are linearized and arranged into the state space form inside the predictive controller. The model helps to determine the future position and orientation of the vehicle to track a predefined underwater trajectory in an optimal way. The results show that the predictive controller offered significant benefits compared to PID controllers by reducing the MSE and RMS by 40% and 76% respectively.