A Robust Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller for Remotely Operated Vehicles

Abstract

In order to apply the sliding mode control to a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), prior knowledge of exact bounds for parameter uncertainties and external disturbances is a prerequisite. However, these bounds may not be easily obtained because of the complexity and unpredictability of the structure of uncertainties in the dynamics of ROVs. In order to overcome such a difficulty in the control of ROVs, we propose a new robust adaptive sliding mode for dynamic positioning and trajectory tracking of ROVs. By applying this adaptive sliding mode controller, prior knowledge is not required because the controller is able to estimate the bounds of uncertainties and external disturbances. The stability of the control algorithm can be easily verified by using Lyapunov theory. The effectiveness of this design control method is demonstrated by means of numerical experiments.