An AUV Formation Control Method Based on Distributed Nonlinear Model Prediction

Cooperative control of autonomous underwater vehicles is widely used in many ocean missions. This paper studies the distributed model predictive formation tracking control problem for a group of autonomous underwater vehicles. Firstly, a nonlinear model predictive control method is proposed based on the dynamic characteristics of AUV motion. Secondly, the formation trajectory tracking problem is decomposed into the optimization problem of each individual in the formation, and the corresponding reference trajectories are designed for each individual at each position in the formation. The follower AUV should track the leader according to the specified formation mode. Finally, the optimization problem of each individual is solved in a distributed manner, which effectively reduces the complexity of the calculation problem. At the same time, a cost function is designed to calculate the control input of each individual based on the individual optimization problem, which maintains a balance between computational complexity and control performance, and the control input should depend on the actual constraints. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and theoretical results.