Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synchronized path following control of multiple homogenous underactuated AUVs

  • Published:
Journal of Systems Science and Complexity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of synchronized path following of multiple homogenous underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The dedicated control laws are categorized into two envelopes: One is steering individual underwater vehicle to track along predefined path, and the other is ensuring tracked paths of multiple vehicles to be synchronized, by means of decentralized speed adaption under the constraints of multi-vehicle communication topology. With these two tasks formulation, geometric path following is built on Lyapunov theory and backstepping techniques, while injecting helmsman behavior into classic individual path following control. Synchronization of path parameters are reached by using a mixture of tools from linear algebra, graph theory and nonlinear control theory. A simple but effective control design on direct inter-vehicle speed adaption with minimized communication variables, enables the multi-AUV systems to be synchronized and stabilized into an invariant manifold, and all speeds converge to desired assignments as a byproduct. Simulation results illustrate the performance of the synchronized path following control laws proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. R. Beard, J. Lawton, and F. Hadaegh, A coordination architecture for spacecraft formation control. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 1999, 9(6): 777–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. I. Kaminer, O. Yakimenko, A. Pascoal, and R. Ghabcheloo, Path generation, path following and coordinated control for time critical missions of multiple UAVs. Proceeding of the IEEE American Control Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 14–16 June, 2006.

  3. J. Desai, J. Otrowski, and V. Kumar, Controlling formations of multiple robots, Proceeding of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA98), Leuven, Belgium, 16–20 May, 1998.

  4. P. Ogren, E. Fiorelli, and N. E. Leonard, Cooperative control of mobile sensor networks: Adaptive gradient climbing in a distributed environment, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2004, 49(8): 1292–1302.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. N. E. Leonard and E. Fiorelli, Virtual leaders, artificial potentials and coordinated control of groups, Proceeding of the IEEE Control and Decision Conference, Orlando, FL, 2001.

  6. F. Zhang, D. M. Fratantoni, D. Paley, J. Lund, and N. E. Leonard, Control of coordinated patterns for ocean sampling, International Journal of Control, 2007, 80(7): 1186–1199.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  7. R. M. Murray, Recent research in cooperative control of multi-vehicle systems, ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 2006, 129(5): 571–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. K. Y. Wichlund, O. J. Sordalen, and O. Egeland, Control of vehicles with second-order nonholonomic constraints: Underactuated vehicles, Proceedings of the European Control Conference, Rome, Italy, Sep., 1995.

  9. A. M. Bloch, J. Baillieul, P. Crouch, and J. Marsden, Nonholonomic Mechanics and Control, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2003.

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. R. Murray and S. Sastry, Nonholonomic motion planning: Steering using sinusoids, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 1993, 38(5): 700–716.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  11. Z. P. Jiang, Iterative design of time-varying stabilizers for multi-input systems in chained form, Systems Control Letters, 1996, 28(5): 255–262.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. I. F. Akyildiz, D. Pompili, and T. Melodia, Underwater acoustic sensor networks: Research challenges, Ad Hoc Networks, 2005, 3(3): 257–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. D. Schoenwald, AUVs: In space, air, water, and on the ground, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 2000, 20(6): 15–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. P. Encarnacao and A. Pascoal, 3D path following for autonomous underwater vehicle, Proceedings of the 39th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Sydney, Australia, 12–15, Dec., 2000.

  15. L. Lapierre, D. Soetanto, and A. Pascoal, Coordinated motion control of marine robots, Proceedings of the 6th IFAC Conference on Manoeuvering and Control of Marine Craft, Girona, Spain, 2003.

  16. D. Stilwell and B. Bishop. Platoons of underwater vehicles, IEEE Control System Magazine, 2000, 20(6): 45–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. A. Fax and R. Murray, Graph Laplacians and stabilization of vehicle formations, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2004, 49(9): 1465–1476.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  18. R. O. Saber and R. M. Murray, Consensus problems in networks of agents with switching topology and time-delays, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2004, 49(9): 1520–1533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. L. Moreau, Stability of multiagent systems with time-dependent communication links, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2005, 50(2): 169–182.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. W. Ren and R. W. Beard, Consensus seeking in multiagent systems under dynamically changing interaction topologies, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2005, 50(5): 655–661.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  21. R. Olfati-Saber, Flocking for multi-agent dynamic systems: Algorithms and theory, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2006, 51(3): 401-420.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Craig W. Reynolds, Flocks, herds and schools: A distributed behavioral model, Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, New York, NY, USA, 1987.

  23. A. Jadbabaie, J. Lin, A. S. Morse, Coordination of groups of mobile autonomous agents using nearest neighbor rules, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2003, 48(6): 988–1001.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  24. R. Ghabcheloo, A. Pascoal, C. Silvestre, and I. Kaminer, Coordinated path following control of multiple wheeled robots using linearization techniques, International Journal of Systems Science, 2005, 37(6): 399–414.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  25. R. Ghabcheloo, A. Pascoal, C. Silvestre and I. Kaminer, Nonlinear coordinated path following control with bidirectional communication constraints, Group Coordination and Cooperative Control, Springer Series on Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, 2006.

  26. R. Skjetne, S. Moi, and T. Fossen, Nonlinear formation control of marine craft, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Las Vegas, NV., 2002.

  27. L. Lapierre, D. Soetanto and A. Pascoal, Nonlinear path following with applications to the control of autonomous underwater vehicles, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision Control, Maui, Hawaii, Dec. 9–12, 2003.

  28. C. Samson, Path following and time-varying feedback stabilization of a wheeled mobile robot, Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Computer Vision, Singapore, 1992, 13(1): 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  29. M. Egerstedt, X. Hu, and A. Stotsky, Control of mobile platforms using a virtual vehicle approach, IEEE Transactionon Automatic Control, 2001, 46(11): 1777–1782.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  30. C. Silvestre, Multi-objective optimization theory with application to the integrated design of controllers/ plants for autonomous vehicle, Ph.D. dissertation, Robot. Dept., Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST), Lisbon, Portugal, Jun. 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  31. T. Fossen, Guidance and Control of Ocean Vehicles, Wiley, New York, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  32. T. Fossen, M. Breivik, and R. Skjeme, Line-of-sight path following of underactuated marine craft, Proceedings of the 6th IFAC Conference on Manoeuvering and Control of Marine Craft, Girona, Spain, 2003.

  33. M. Krstic, I. Kanellakopoulos, and P. Kokotovic Nonlinear and Adaptive Control Design, John Willey & Sons Inc., New York, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  34. L. Lapierre and B. Jouvencel, Robust nonlinear path-following control of an AUV, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 2008, 33(2): 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. C. Godsil and G. Royle, Algebraic Graph Theory, Graduated Texts in Mathematics, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  36. H. K. Khalil, Nonlinear Systems, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Xianbo Xiang

  2. Department of Robotics, LIRMM-CNRS-UMII, UMR 5506, 161 rue Ada, Montpellier Cedex, 534095, France

    Xianbo Xiang

  3. Department of Robotics, LIRMM-CNRS, UMR 5506, 161 rue Ada, Montpellier Cedex, 534095, France

    Chao Liu, Lionel Lapierre & Bruno Jouvencel

Authors
  1. Xianbo Xiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lionel Lapierre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bruno Jouvencel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xianbo Xiang.

Additional information

This research was partially supported by the EU FP6 FreeSubNet project under Grant No. 036186, the National Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51079061, and the Key Laboratory of Education Ministry for Image Processing and Intelligent Control, Huazhong University of Science and Technology under Grant No. 200804. The first author was supported by the European Marie Curie Fellowship.

This paper was recommended for publication by Editor Yiguang HONG.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Xiang, X., Liu, C., Lapierre, L. et al. Synchronized path following control of multiple homogenous underactuated AUVs. J Syst Sci Complex 25, 71–89 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-012-0109-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-012-0109-2

Key words

Search

Navigation