Sliding-PD control performance on autonomous underwater gliders

The response of the ROGUE underwater glider controlled by a scheme called Sliding PD control is shown and described. This control law has been widely used in robot manipulators, quadrotors and underwater ROV's. This is a model-free and chattering-free controller that makes motion robust to disturbance and uncertainty. The ROGUE dynamic model calculated on the vertical plane take into account a ballast tank fixed at the buoyancy center, a movable mass capable of motion just along the longitudinal axis and eliminates the offset static point mass. These considerations simplify significantly the equations of motion. Through simulation results this nonlinear controller demonstrates that it ensures a steady glide by directly controlling the movable mass position along with the ballast mass.