Variable Structure Control for the Roll Stabilization of the AUV During the Diving Process with a Constant Speed

This paper presents a variable structure controller for the autonomous underwater vehicle at low speed to reduce the roll during the diving process. Considering the diving of the autonomous underwater vehicle diving with a low speed near surface, the vehicle will experience roll because of the disturbance from waves. Intense roll motion will not only seriously affect the normal operation of underwater vehicles, but also increase navigational resistance. According to the conventional work mode of the fin stabilizer, it is difficult for the underwater vehicle to generate sufficient lift to resist the wave influence at a low speed. So a variable structure controller is proposed to reduce the roll by using the horizontal rudder of AUV on the basis of the underwater vehicle roll model. The simulation results show that the presented method can reduce the roll of the AUV effectively.