Cooperative Control of Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator Systems Based on the SDC Method

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Control Engineering
• Ocean Engineering

Background:

• Cooperative control of multiple underwater vehicle-manipulator systems (UVMS) is crucial for complex underwater tasks.
• Existing methods often struggle with the nonlinear dynamics and transient effects inherent in UVMS operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel cooperative control synthesis method for N UVMS performing trajectory-based cargo manipulation.
• To address the challenges posed by nonlinear dynamics and state-dependent system matrices in UVMS control.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a state-dependent coefficient (SDC) form representation for nonlinear UVMS dynamics.
• Applied suboptimal control with feedback based on the state-dependent differential Riccati equation (SDDRE) solution.
• Investigated two implementation architectures: a general controller and independent subcontrollers for each UVMS.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the effectiveness of the SDC-form and SDDRE-based control for cooperative cargo manipulation.
• Showcased similar performance between the general and independent subcontroller approaches.
• Identified optimal implementation strategies based on the number of UVMS in the complex.

Conclusions:

• The proposed cooperative control method is effective for UVMS cargo manipulation tasks.
• The choice between a general controller and independent subcontrollers depends on the scale of the UVMS complex.
• Simulation results confirm the practical applicability and robustness of the developed control strategy.