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TuP08-3
Nonlinear Path Following with Applications to the Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
L. Lapierre, D. Soetanto, A. Pascoal
Institute for Systems and Robotics and
Dept. Electrical Engineering and Computers
Instituto Superior Tkcnico
AV. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
E-mail: {lpl, didik, antonio} @isr.ist.utl.pt
Abslracl-This paper derives a control law to steer the
dynamic model of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
along a desired path. The methodology adopted for path
following deals explicitly with vehicle dynamics. Furthermore, it
overcomes stringent initial condition constraintsthat are present
in a number of path follo-ing control strategies described in
the literature. Controller design builds on Lypaonov theory
and backstepping techniques. The multing nonlinear feedback
control law yields convergence of the path follo-ing error trajectories to zero. Simulation results illustrate the performance
of the control system proposed.
I. INTRODUCTION
Fast paced progresses in marine robotics are steadily
affording scientists advanced tools for ocean exploration and
exploitation. However, much work remains to be done before
marine robots can roam the oceans freely, acquiring scientific
data at the temporal and spatial scales that are naturally
imposed by the phenomena under study. To meet these goals,
robots must be equipped with systems to steer them accurately and reliably in the harsh marine environment. For this
reason, there has been over the last few years considerable
interest in the development of advanced methods for marine
vehicle motion control. Namely, point stabilization, trajectory
tracking, and path following control.
Point stabilization refers to the problem of steering a vehicle to a final target point, with a desired orientation. Trajectory tracking requires a vehicle to track a time-parameterized
reference curve. Finally, path following control aims at
forcing a vehicle to converge to and follow a desired spatial
path, without any temporal specifications. The latter objective
occurs for example when it is required that an AUV examine
an area by performing a lawn mowing maneuver along
desired tracks with great accuracy, at speeds determined
by a scientific end-user. The underlying assumption in path
following control is that the vehicles forward speed tracks a
desired speed profile, while the controller acts on the vehicles orientation to drive it to the path. Typically, smoother
convergence to a path is achieved when path following
strategies are used instead of trajectory tracking control laws,
and the control signals are less likely pushed to saturation.
This paper proposes a new methodology for the design
of path following systems for AUVs. The reader is referred
to [8], [9] and the references therein for related ground
breaking work in the field of land robots, where powerful
nonlinear path following control structures were introduced.
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X = tJtCOS($Mr)
Y = ut sin(+w)
(2)
$w=r+p
where
mu
m,
m,
m-XC
= m-Y,
= I, - N+
mu? = m - Y ,
-X =,U2 - X""W2
-Y,uu - Y"l"l"l"/
= -N,,uu - N,~&J
-Nrur
d,
d,
d,
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(s),=
(g),
= ($)F
+ (g)
F +WF
Fig. I .
path; {F} plays the role of the body axis of a "virtual target
vehicle" that should he tracked by the "real vehicle". Using
this set-up, the abovementioned distance and angle become
the coordinates of the ermr space where the control problem
is formulated and solved. In this paper, however, a Frenet
frame {F} that moves along the path to be followed is used
with a significant difference: the Frener frame is not attached
to the point on the path that is closest to the vehicle.,Instead,
the origin OF = P of {F} along the path is made to evolve
according to a conveniently defined control law, effectively
yielding an extra controller design parameter. As will be seen,
this seemingly simple procedure is instrumental in lifting the
stringent initial condition constraints that are present in the
work of [9] for path following of wheeled robots and in that
of [51 for marine vehicles. The notation that follows is by
now standard.
Consider Figure 1, where P is an arbitrary point on the
path to be followed. Associated with P, consider the corresponding Serret-Frenet frame {F}. The signed curvilinear
abscissa of P along the path is denoted s. Clearly, Q can
either be expressed as q = [z, y, 0IT in {U} or as [SI, y1, 0IT
in {F}. Stated equivalently, Q can be given in ( q y ) or
(SI,y1) coordinates. Let
E=
cos$^
sin$F
cosGF 0
0
1
be the rotation matrix from {U} to {F}, parameterized
-sin$F
0
W F = +F.
= 4 F = C&)S
CdS) = gc(s)j.
WF
[a]
($)"=
[ ;]
($)F=
(5)
R
Solving for
[] [
=
i ( 1- C&)Yl)
y 1 +c,(s)Ss~
0
s1
SI and y1 yields
= - B ( 1 - C&)
w,cos$
yl = -c&l
ut sin@
$ = W W - c,B
s1
Then,
(7)
(4)
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2.
SI. and
h($
C. Problem Formulation
~ = 6 - P - k1(11,-6)+cc(s)S
makes VI = -kl(O - 6) 5 0. Since VI is positive and
VI ( t ) is well
monotonically decreasing function, limt,,
defined. Moreover, since VI is uniformly continuous, an,
application of,Barbalats lemma allows for the conclusion
V, = 0. A simple argument shows that with
that limt,,
the control laws proposed the variables y ~ ? s l and
,
d~ are
hounded and approach the set E defined by V, = 0. Examine
now the motion of the feedback control system restricted
to E. To do this, consider the candidate Lyapunov function
candidate V , = $(s:
y:) and compute its derivative
VE = ylut sinJ-K.& 5 0. Since VE is bounded, Barbalats
lemma allows for the conclusion that limt-,
V , = 0. This
in turn implies that all trajectories in E satisfy 1imf-- y1 =
0 and limt4, SI = 0. An argument of continuity can now
be used to conclude the proof of the theorem.
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where
a, = 8 - j - (kl+ k3)($ - 8)
- ( k 5 + k 1 k 3 ) ( $ - 6 ) + c c S + %i,
C=s-p-kl($-s)+c,(s)S
1
v,= kSV, + 21 , + -(u
2
--t
- Ud),
(11)
- k i k s ( $ - 6)'
- k3ez
-kq(U - ud)'
50
-'
a.
Simulation ~ S U I I S
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VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Portuguese FCT POSI
Programme under framework QCA I11 and by projects
MAROV of the FCT and MAYA of the A d . The first author
benefited from a grant of the EC, under project FREESUB.
The second author was partially supported by a post doctoral
grant from the FCT.
P
.
VII. REFERENCES
TABLE I
THE INFANTE AUV. MOOEI. PARAMETERS
V. CONCLUSIONS
A nonlinear control law was developed for accurate path
following of autonomous undenvater vehicles (AWs). The
key idea behind the new control law developed was to control
explicitly the rate of progression of a virtual target to be
tracked along the path, thus overcoming the singularity
problems that arise when the position of the virtual target is
simply defined by the projection of the actual vehicle on that
path. Controller design relied on backstepping techniques.
The paper offered a formal proof of convergence of the
vehicles trajectory to the path. Simulation results illustrated
the performance of the control system proposed.
The controller derived relies heavily on accurate knowledge of the vehicle dynamics. Future work will address the
problems of reducing the complexity of the controller as well
as evaluating its robustness against parameter uncertainty.
The problem of precise path following in the presence of
unknown sea currents warrants also further consideration.
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