Leader-follower control of underwater vehicles over acoustic communications

The problem of leader-follower control of two underwater vehicles communicating via acoustic modems is formulated and solved in the framework of sliding mode control techniques. In this problem the path of the leader is not known in advance by the follower. The problem is formulated and solved using nonlinear control techniques and non-linear models of underwater vehicles evolving in six degrees of freedom. Linear estimators were used to address the problems arising from intermittent communications over an acoustic channel. Simulations illustrate the proposed control scheme.