Robust Control of a Micro-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (μAUV) Using Low-Tolerance Components

This paper is concerned with the robust control of micro-autonomous underwater vehicles that have been constructed using low-tolerance components. Problems such as imbalanced, time varying thrust force and thruster misalignment have the effect of coupling individual degrees of freedom in an unwanted manner. The effects of these problems on the plant model used for controller design is discussed and the robust control strategy employed is detailed. Experimental results using a prototype vehicle are also presented.