AUV controller design and analysis using full-state feedback

This paper presents the design and development of a system controller for our USM Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (USM-AUV). The state space design approach was used because this design approach is most suitable for nonlinear system and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system set-up. The full state feedback control scheme under the state space design topic has been selected for the controller design. In the initial stage, the controller system was designed using the linearised equation of motion. For the USM-AUV vehicle design, the thruster motor output force was selected as the input with the depth position as the output. Analysis of the designed control system performances has been done via simulation in Matlab control simulation software. A satisfactory performance has been achieved from the designed controller system. Optimal parameters values have also been acquired for optimal performance of our USM-AUV platform.