Robust Consensus of Constrained AUVs With Non-Uniform Time-Varying Delays and Disturbances

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Control Systems
• Networked Systems

Background:

• Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) networks face challenges in formation tracking due to communication delays and marine disturbances.
• Ensuring network stability and achieving formation objectives under these uncertainties is critical for AUV operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a systematic design framework for robust consensus formation tracking of AUV networks.
• To address nonholonomic constraints, communication delays, and marine disturbances.
• To enhance AUV motion control and ensure overall system stability.

Main Methods:

• Applied coordinate transformation to AUV kinematics to handle nonholonomic constraints.
• Utilized a distributed consensus protocol for coordinated motion control.
• Employed graph representation and Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional method for stability analysis, deriving criteria using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs).
• Developed a novel sequential optimization procedure for online robust performance optimization.

Main Results:

• Derived a robust stability criterion for delayed networks with disturbances.
• Demonstrated improved AUV motion control quality through sequential optimization.
• Established the overall stability of the formation system.
• Comparative simulations verified the proposed method's effectiveness and superiority.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework effectively achieves constrained consensus formation tracking for AUV networks under uncertainties.
• The novel optimization procedure enhances control performance and respects motion constraints.
• The method provides a robust and stable solution for complex underwater AUV operations.