Title: Robust controller with a fixed compensator for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems including thruster dynamics

Authors: Yuichiro Taira; Shinichi Sagara; Masahiro Oya

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sojo University, 4-22-1 Ikeda, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan ' Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1 Sensui, Tobata, Kitakyushu 804-8550, Japan ' Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1 Sensui, Tobata, Kitakyushu 804-8550, Japan

Abstract: This paper deals with a control scheme for underwater vehicle-manipulator systems with the dynamics of thrusters in the presence of uncertainties in its system parameters and bounded disturbances. The authors have developed a robust controller that overcomes thruster nonlinearities, which cause an uncontrollable system. However, the controller has disadvantages in its performances (e.g., steady-state errors). In this paper we develop a robust controller with a fixed compensator including an integral action. The objective of the compensator is to improve the performances of the controller. The ultimate boundedness of a tracking error is theoretically ensured in the control system. Furthermore, simulation results support the theoretical one.

Keywords: underwater vehicles; manipulator systems; UVMS; underwater robots; robust control; thruster dynamics; marine thrusters; fixed compensators; robot control; uncertainties; simulation; controller design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMECHS.2015.074786

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, 2015 Vol.6 No.6, pp.258 - 268

Received: 30 Dec 2014
Accepted: 30 Sep 2015
Published online: 17 Feb 2016 *

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