Predefined Time Trajectory Tracking Control of Underactuated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle*

In this paper, the problem of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) trajectory tracking control with predefined time convergence is investigated. A novel predefined-time control strategy is proposed to eliminate the singularity and reduce the computational complexity, whose convergence time can be preset by setting the time parameter, and the system state can be converged to zero within the predefined time. A predefined time backstepping controller is designed for AUV trajectory tracking control. Theoretical analysis shows that the upper limit of the convergence time is only determined by a constant, which reduces the complexity of parameter tuning compared to existing finite/fixed time control methods. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method are verified through further simulation studies.