Depth control of AUV using active disturbance rejection controller

The intelligent motion control technology of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is the basis of long-distance voyage for AUV. The motion control capability in vertical plane is an important technical for AUV to complete multifarious missions. So, it is important and realistic significance to research on motion control in vertical plane of AUV. Motion control problem of AUV in vertical plane, especially depth control problems is researched based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) method in this paper. The kinetic and dynamic model in vertical plane of AUV is established and simplified. The active disturbance rejection controller design method is introduced. Detailed algorithms of each part for active disturbance rejection controller are discussed according to separability principle of ADRC. Based on ADRC, the depth controller is designed and applied in AUV. At last, simulation results indicate that the method is feasibility and effectiveness for AUV depth control.