Decoupled PD set-point controller for underwater vehicles

A set-point controller for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is proposed in this paper. The controller is expressed in transformed equations of motion with a diagonal inertia matrix. It takes into account the dynamics of the system and it can be applied for fully actuated AUVs. The stability of the designed control law is demonstrated by means of a Lyapunov-based argument. Some advantages arising from the use of the controller are considered too. The performance of the proposed controller is validated via simulation on a 6-DOF underwater vehicle.