Backstepping and Sliding Mode Control for AUVs Aided with Bioinspired Neurodynamics

Research on tracking control has been on-going for many years. The accuracy and the practicality of the tracking control method has always been one of the most important aspects when designing the control strategy. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are becoming increasingly important in the applications of ocean surveillance and military, etc. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a control method for autonomous underwater vehicles based on bioinspired neural dynamics. The proposed method practically solves the speed jump and chattering issues that are respectively in conventional backstepping and sliding mode controls with the aid of the bioinspired neural dynamics. In addition, the proposed control method also takes the dynamic uncertainties for the autonomous underwater vehicle into the consideration. The combined tracking method has relatively good overall performance for autonomous underwater vehicle against model uncertainties and disturbances.