Longitudinal Control of Pirajuba Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Using Techniques of Robust Control LQG/LTR

This work presents a study on a robust controller design for the motion on the vertical plane of an AUV at low depths. The LQG/LTR control strategy is proposed for rejecting disturbances originated from sea waves on the depth, attitude and axial velocity of an AUV. The vehicle is an adapted version of the Pirajuba AUV, developed at the Unmanned Vehicles Laboratory, in the University of São Paulo. The plant modeling was based on previous studies on manoeuvrability predictions for the AUV, and a simplified model for wave disturbances. Modeling errors for manoeuvring coefficients were considered in the controller design. The validation is based on simulation studies using a set of non-linear equations of motion.