An intelligent control system for remotely operated vehicles

The application of a neural network controller to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is described. Three learning algorithms for online implementation of a neural net controller are discussed with a critic equation. These control schemes do not require any information about the system dynamics except an estimate of the inertia terms. Selection of the number of layers in the neural network, the number of neurons in the hidden layer, initial weights for the network and the critic coefficient were done based on the results of preliminary tests. The performances of the three learning algorithms were compared by computer simulation. The effectiveness of the neural net controller in handling time-varying parameters and random noise is shown by a case study of the ROV system