Improved APF-based real-time path planning and control of underactuated AUVs in complex marine environments

Abstract This paper proposes an integrated path planning and tracking method for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to maintain a path without collision in complex marine environments. For the path planning approach, an improved artificial potential field algorithm is proposed by introducing and combining a logarithmic function, a distance compensation term, a virtual obstacle construction method, and a velocity repulsive potential field function, which effectively solves the problem of the goal non-reachable with obstacle nearby, local minimum and dynamic obstacles avoidance. For the tracking control method, an adaptive fixed-time integral sliding mode controller is presented to track the planned path for collision avoidance maneuvers. Stability analysis proves that the proposed control strategy can make the tracking errors of the AUV converge to arbitrarily small neighborhood of the origin within a fixed-time independent of the initial conditions. The results of the simulation show that the proposed approach is capable of effectively achieving real-time path planning and tracking control of AUVs in marine environments with complex obstacle.