Cooperative Tracking of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle with Quantized Relative Measurement

Cooperative control of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is becoming increasingly important in ocean exploration and underwater operations, one important control objective is ensure a group of AUVs to maintain formation and track the predefined trajectory. This paper proposes a cooperative tracking controller for a group of AUVs with quantized relative measurement information. By using the backstepping methods, the position controller is first designed and then a suitable angle controller is derived such that the problem of cooperative formation tracking of AUVs is solved. Under the proposed control laws, Lyapunov function method is used to prove the stability of the closed-loop system. Compared to existing approaches, the quantized relative measurements are considered, in which the continuous communication among the AUVs is avoided. Simulation results show that the proposed controller can achieve the control objectives.