Modeling, Controlling & Stabilization of An Underactuated Air-Cushion Vehicle (ACV)

Underactuated systems are very difficult to control and stabilize due to fewer number of control inputs as compared to degrees of freedom (DOF). Thus, this research manuscript presents a comparative analysis of two major control schemes for an underactuated air cushion vehicle (ACV) commonly known as hovercraft. By studying the translational and angular dynamics of proposed underactuated mechatronic system, the mathematical model had been derived using Newton Euler formalism. The validity and effectiveness of proportional integrated differentiator (PID) control design is compared with the Fuzzy based PID (F-PID) scheme. Thus, with provided simulation results, paper concludes that the proposed algorithm of fuzzy based PID (F-PID) is better solution for achieving robust transient and steady state performances than simple PID control scheme even in the availability of bounded uncertainties with quick convergence rate.