针对自主水下机器人(AUV)面向海底起伏地形跟踪的实际应用需求,设计了基于预设性能制导律的鲁棒时滞跟踪控制器,实现执行机构时滞下的AUV起伏地形跟踪,同时可提升其航行安全性能.首先,基于航行安全性能函数对地形跟踪误差进行转换,结合时变视线制导角在运动学层面设计了预设性能制导律,为AUV动力层提供参考状态输入.其次,为处理执行机构时滞问题并降低精确建模需求,结合径向基函数(RBF)神经网络设计了鲁棒时滞动力学控制器. 最后,采用李雅普诺夫理论证明了基于预设性能制导律的鲁棒时滞跟踪控制系统闭环稳定性.仿真结果表明:所设计的控制器可实现AUV起伏地形鲁棒跟踪,且瞬态跟踪误差时刻处于预设性能范围之内,可提升AUV在跟踪海底起伏地形时的航行安全性能.

To address the uneven seabed following control problem under the time delay constraint of the actuator for the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), a robust time-delay controller with prescribed performance guidance law is proposed in this paper, which can improve the safety of the AUV during navigation. First, the seabed following error conversion is firstly performed based on a navigational safety barrier function. Then, by integrating the time-varying line-of-sight guidance angle, the prescribed performance guidance law is designed at the kinematics level to provide reference state input for the AUV. After that, to tackle the time delay problem of actuators and reduce demand for accurate modeling, a robust time-delay dynamic controller is designed using the radial basis function (RBF) neural network. Finally, based on the Lyapunov theory, the stability of the closed-loop system is proved. The simulation results illustrate that the designed controller can achieve uneven seabed following control. Moreover, the following errors are always confined to the preset limits, which can also enhance the safety performance of the AUV when following the uneven terrain of the seabed.