Directional control of a streamlined underwater vehicle by feedback passivation

This paper describes a model-based technique for stabilizing the directional motion of a streamlined underwater vehicle controlled in surge, roll, pitch, and yaw. The six degree of freedom vehicle model allows for a broad range of viscous force and moment representations. The control law, which is derived using feedback passivation, makes steady, streamlined translation in a desired inertial direction globally asymptotically stable.