Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Su, Tsung-Chow
Abstract
This dissertation concerns the dynamics and control of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) which uses internal actuators to stabilize its horizontalplane motion. The demand for high-performance AUVs are growing in the field of ocean engineering due to increasing activities in ocean exploration and research. New generations of AUVs are expected to operate in harsh and complex ocean environments. We propose a hybrid design of an underwater vehicle which uses internal actuators instead of control surfaces to steer. When operating at low speeds or in relatively strong ocean currents, the performances of control surfaces will degrade. Internal actuators work independent of the relative ows, thus improving the maneuvering performance of the vehicle. We develop the mathematical model which describes the motion of an underwater vehicle in ocean currents from first principles. The equations of motion of a body-fluid dynamical system in an ideal fluid are derived using both Newton-Euler and Lagrangian formulations. The viscous effects of a real fluid are considered separately. We use a REMUS 100 AUV as the research model, and conduct CFD simulations to compute the viscous hydrodynamic coe cients with ANSYS Fluent. The simulation results show that the horizontal-plane motion of the vehicle is inherently unstable. The yaw moment exerted by the relative flow is destabilizing. The open-loop stabilities of the horizontal-plane motion of the vehicle in both ideal and real fluid are analyzed. In particular, the effects of a roll torque and a moving mass on the horizontal-plane motion are studied. The results illustrate that both the position and number of equilibrium points of the dynamical system are prone to the magnitude of the roll torque and the lateral position of the moving mass. We propose the design of using an internal moving mass to stabilize the horizontal-plane motion of the REMUS 100 AUV. A linear quadratic regulator (LQR) is designed to take advantage of both the linear momentum and lateral position of the internal moving mass to stabilize the heading angle of the vehicle. Alternatively, we introduce a tunnel thruster to the design, and use backstepping and Lyapunov redesign techniques to derive a nonlinear feedback control law to achieve autopilot. The coupling e ects between the closed-loop horizontal-plane and vertical-plane motions are also analyzed.
Extent
278 p.
Recommended Citation
Li, Bo, "Dynamics and Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles with Internal Actuators" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 1441.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/1441
Identifier
FA00004738
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.