Adaptive asymptotic tracking control for autonomous underwater vehicles with non-vanishing uncertainties and input saturation.

This article provides an adaptive asymptotic backstepping-based tracking control algorithm for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) under the situation of non-vanishing uncertainties and input saturation. Firstly, the adaptive asymptotic control algorithm is developed to compensate the non-vanishing uncertainties. And then, virtual control stabilizing functions are reconstructed to improve the system performance by virtue of variable substitutions. Next, the hyperbolic tangent function is applied to handle the unknown input saturation problem. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the asymptotic stability of AUVs is proven. Finally, simulation results illustrate that the control strategy can effectively inhibit the effect of unknown model dynamics on the system. • A novel adaptive backstepping control strategy is proposed for autonomous underwater vehicles. • The proposed control strategy achieves the asymptotic tracking control. • Compared with other works, the proposed control strategy has higher control precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]