Robust Heading Stabilization and Control for a class of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles using Nonlinear State Estimators

The problem addressed in this research is robust heading stabilization and control of a class of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Mathematical formulation of this control problem starts from the six degree of freedom model of AUV. AUV model is then decoupled in heading plane and is considered for further investigation for suitable control design. This heading plane model is then transformed into an equivalent feedback linearizable normal form based on input to output linearizable system. Robust controller that is SMC is then designed for the stabilized heading control of AUV. Furthermore, Extended High Gain Observer is used to transform the feedback control into output feedback control. Computer Simulated responses of designed robust controller and robust output feedback controller are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed controllers in different conditions.