A Pitch-Depth Bottom Following Controller for AUVs using Eigenstructure Assignment∗

This paper addresses the problem of bottom following by the MARES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, and presents the derivation of a controller able to cope with the peculiarities of such problem. In specifc, the main requirement for the controller is the existence of no overshoot both in the depth and pitch outputs of the system. The existence of such time-domain requirements motivates the use of Eigenstructure Assignment techniques in the formulation of the controller. Simulation results obtained with a dynamic model of the MARES AUV are presented and discussed, indicating the validity of the proposed approach.