Output-feedback path-following control of underactuated AUVs via singular perturbation and interconnected-system technique.

This paper focuses on the output-feedback control for path-following of underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles subject to multiple uncertainties and unmeasured velocities. First, a novel extended state observer is proposed to estimate the mismatched lumped disturbance and recover the unmeasured velocities. Based on this premise, to overcome the limitation of relying solely on the accurate kinematic model, a disturbance observer-based stabilizing controller is developed.

Multibody System-Based Adaptive Formation Scheme for Multiple Under-Actuated AUVs.

Underwater vehicles' coordination and formation have attracted increasing attention since they have great potential for real-world applications. However, such vehicles are usually under-actuated and with very limited communication capabilities. On the basis of the multibody system concept, a multiple autonomous underwater vehicle formation and communication link framework has been established with an adaptive and radial basis function (RBF) strategy.

Underwater Target Tracking Using Forward-Looking Sonar for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

In the scenario where autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) carry out tasks, it is necessary to reliably estimate underwater-moving-target positioning. While cameras often give low-precision visibility in a limited field of view, the forward-looking sonar is still an attractive method for underwater sensing, which is especially effective for long-range tracking. This paper describes an online processing framework based on forward-looking-sonar (FLS) images, and presents a novel tracking approach based on a Gaussian particle filter (GPF) to resolve persistent multiple-target tracking in cluttered environments.