11th

11th IFAC
IFAC Conference
Conference onon Control
Control Applications
Applications in
in
11th IFAC Conference on Control Applications in
Marine
11th
Marine Systems,
IFAC Robotics,
Conference
Systems, and
and Vehicles
on Control
Robotics, Applications
Availableinonline at www.sciencedirect.com
Vehicles
Marine
11th Systems,
IFAC Robotics,
Conference on and Vehicles
Control Applications in
Opatija,Systems,
Marine
Opatija, Croatia, September
Croatia, September 10-12,
Robotics, and 2018
Vehicles
10-12, 2018
Opatija, Croatia, September
Marine Systems, 10-12,
Robotics, and 2018
Vehicles
Opatija, Croatia, September 10-12, 2018
Opatija, Croatia, September 10-12, 2018
ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-29 (2018) 268–273

Development
Development of UUV Platform and its
Development of
of UUV
UUV Platform
Platform and
and its
its
Control
Control Method
Development to
of UUV
Method to Overcome
PlatformStrong
Overcome and its
Strong
Control Method to Overcome Strong
Currents: Simulation
Control Method
Currents: and Experimental
to Overcome Strong
Currents: Simulation
Simulation and
and Experimental
Experimental
Studies
Currents: Simulation and Experimental
Studies 
Studies
∗ ∗
Studies ∗∗ ∗ ∗
J.
J. H.
H. Li,
∗
Li, ∗∗ M.
∗
M. G. G. Kim,
Kim, ∗∗ H.
∗
H. J. J. Kang,
Kang, ∗∗ M. M. J. J. Lee,
Lee, ∗∗ G.G. R. R. Cho
Cho ∗∗∗
J. H. Li, ∗ M. G. Kim, ∗ H. J. Kang, ∗ M. J. Lee, ∗ G. R. Cho ∗
J.∗ H. Li, M. G. Kim, H. J. Kang, M. J. Lee, G. R. Cho
∗
∗ Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence, Gigok-Ro 39, Nam-Gu,
∗ Korea
Korea Institute of
of Robot
Institute Korea Robot and
and Convergence,
Convergence, Gigok-Ro
Gigok-Ro 39,
39, Nam-Gu,
Nam-Gu,
∗ Pohang 37666,
Pohang (e-mail: {jhli5, zxdwa0817, hjkang, mcklee,
Korea 37666,
Institute Korea
of Robot (e-mail:
and
Pohang 37666, Koreasandman}@kiro.re.kr).
(e-mail: {jhli5, zxdwa0817,
Convergence,
{jhli5, Gigok-Ro
zxdwa0817, hjkang, mcklee,
39, Nam-Gu,
hjkang, mcklee,
sandman}@kiro.re.kr).
(e-mail: {jhli5, zxdwa0817, hjkang, mcklee,
Pohang 37666, Koreasandman}@kiro.re.kr).
sandman}@kiro.re.kr).
Abstract:
Abstract: This This paper
paper presents
presents the the development
development of of aa sort
sort of
of UUV
UUV platform
platform and and its
its motion
motion
Abstract:
control
control method
methodThis to
topaper
overcome
overcome presents
strong
strongthe development
sea
sea current.
current. To
Toof a sort
minimize
minimize of UUV
the
the platform
hydrodynamic
hydrodynamic and its motion
damping,
damping, the
the
Abstract:
control
vehicle method
has This
a topaper
overcome
flattened presents
strong
ellipsoidal theexterior.
development
sea current.
And Toofminimize
four a horizontal
sort oftheUUV platform
hydrodynamic
thrusters, eachand its
damping,
of motion
them the
has
vehicle
control has
methoda flattened
to overcome ellipsoidal
strong exterior.
sea current. And four
To horizontal
minimize thrusters,
the thrusters,
hydrodynamic each of them
damping, has
the
vehicle
the
the same
same has a
thrust
thrust flattened
dynamics
dynamics ellipsoidal
in both exterior.
forward
in both exterior.
forward and And
and four
reverse
reverse horizontal
directions, are
directions,thrusters, mounted
are mounted each of them
symmetrically has
vehicle
the
so same
as to has a flattened
thrust
distribute dynamics
the ellipsoidal
in
vectored both forward
thrust forces And
and fouruniformly
reverse
almost horizontal
directions, in are
all mounted
of eachsymmetrically
horizontal of directions.
them has
symmetrically
so
the as to distribute the vectored thrust forces almost uniformly in are
all of horizontal directions.
so assame
Three
Three to thrust
distribute
vertical
vertical
dynamics
the vectored
thrusters
thrusters are
are
inalso
both
also
forward
thrust
mounted
mounted forces
to
to
and reverse
almost
handle
handle the
the
directions,
uniformly
vehicle’s
vehicle’s in
roll,
roll,
mounted
allpitch
of
pitch horizontal
and
and
symmetrically
heave
heave directions.
motions.
motions.
so
Threeas to
Control distribute
vertical
laws for the three
thrusters
these vectored
are also thrustthrusters
mounted
vertical forces
to almost
handle
are theuniformly
vehicle’s
designed in allpitch
roll,
separately offrom
horizontal
and heave
the onesdirections.
motions.
applied
Control
Three laws
vertical for these
thrusters three
are alsovertical
mounted thrusters are
to handle designed
the vehicle’sseparately
roll, pitchfromand the ones
heave applied
motions.
Control
to
to the
the four laws
four for these
horizontal
horizontal three
thrusters.
thrusters.vertical thrusters
Numerical
Numerical are designed
simulations,
simulations, separately
where
where hydrodynamic
hydrodynamicfrom the ones applied
coefficients
coefficients are
are
Control
to the
calculated laws
four for
through these
horizontal both three
thrusters.
of vertical thrusters
Numerical
theoretical and are designed
simulations,
empirically-derived separately
where hydrodynamic
formulas, from
and the ones applied
coefficients
experiments in are
the
calculated
to the four through
horizontal both of theoretical
thrusters. and
Numerical empirically-derived
simulations, whereformulas, and
hydrodynamic experiments
coefficients in the
are
calculated
circulating
circulating through
water
water channelboth
channel of theoretical
are
are carried
carried out and
out toempirically-derived
demonstrate
toempirically-derived the formulas,
vehicle’s
demonstrate the vehicle’s and experiments
capability
capability of in
overcoming
of overcoming the
calculated
circulating
strong through both of theoretical and formulas,
water channel are carried out to demonstrate the vehicle’s capability of overcoming
currents. and experiments in the
strong
circulating currents.
water channel are carried out to demonstrate the vehicle’s capability of overcoming
strong currents.
© 2018,currents.
strong IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Keywords: UUV UUV (unmanned
(unmanned underwater
underwater vehicle),
vehicle), marine
marine systems,
systems, vehicle
vehicle dynamics,
dynamics,
Keywords:
optimization
optimization UUV (unmanned
problems,
problems, PD
PD underwater
controllers.
controllers. vehicle), marine systems, vehicle dynamics,
Keywords: UUV
optimization (unmanned
problems, underwater vehicle), marine systems, vehicle dynamics,
PD controllers.
optimization problems, PD controllers.
1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
In the area of sea around the korean peninsula, especially
In
In the
the area
area of
of sea
sea around
around the korean peninsula, especially
in the area of Yellow Sea, the
strong korean peninsula,
sea currents especially
usually pose
in
In
in the
the
the area
area
area of
of
of Yellow
sea
Yellow aroundSea,
Sea, strong
the
strong sea
korean
sea currents
peninsula,
currents usually pose
especially
usually pose
difficult
difficult technical
technical challenges
challenges in
in the
the salvage
salvage operations
operations as
as
in the
difficult
well as area
in of various
the Yellow
technical Sea,
challenges strong
scientific in sea salvage
the currents
activities. In usually
operations
both of ROKSpose
as
well as
difficult in the various scientific activities. In both of ROKS
well as intechnical
Cheonan the various
sinking challenges
on scientific
26 March inactivities.
the
2010salvage operations
andInsinking
both of of
ROKS MVas
Cheonan
well as
Cheonan in sinking
the various
sinking on
on 26 March
scientific
26 March 2010
activities.
2010 and
and In sinking
both
sinking of of
ROKS
of MV
MV
Sewol on 16 April 2014, one of the most difficulty during
Sewol
Cheonan
Sewol on
on 1616 April
sinking
Aprilon 2014,
2014, one
one of
26 March ofwasthe
2010
the most
and
most difficulty
sinking
difficulty during
of MV
during
the
the initial
initial response
response of
of salvage
salvage was that
that there
there was
was notnot any
any
Sewol
the
UUV on
initial
which16 April
response
can be2014,
of one
salvage
deployed ofwasthe
in most
that
the difficulty
there
strong was
sea during
not any
current
UUV which
the initial can
response be deployed in the strong sea current
UUV which
environment canas be
so toofcollect
salvage
deployed thewasin
swift that
the theredisaster
strong
on-site was
sea not any
current
scene
environment
UUV which
environment so
can
so as
as to
be
to collect
deployed
collect the
the swift
in
swiftthe on-site
strong
on-site disaster
sea
disaster scene
current
scene
information.
information.
environment so as to collect the swift on-site disaster scene
information.
In June 2016, KIRO (Korea Institute of Robot and Con- Fig.
information. Fig. 1.
1. UUV
UUV platform
platform developed
developed in in the
the KIRO.
KIRO.
In
In June
June 2016,
2016, KIRO
KIROa (Korea (Korea Institute of Robot and Con-
Con- Fig. 1. UUV platform developed in the KIRO.
vergence) launched project Institute
to developofan Robot
UUVand platform
vergence)
In June
vergence) launched
2016, KIRO
launched aa (Korea
project
project to develop
Institute ofan UUV
Robot Con- all
platform
and Fig.horizontal directions,
1. UUV platform and this
developed in is
thebeneficial
KIRO. for easily
and
and its
its control
vergence) control
launched
technology
technology
a project forto
for
to
develop
the
the purpose
purpose
develop
an
an
UUV
of
UUV
platform
of overcoming
overcoming
platform
all
all horizontal
horizontal
stabilizing the
directions,
directions,
vehicle’s
and
and this
horizontal
is
is beneficial
this motion
beneficial
in the
for
for easily
easily
dynamic
and
strongits sea
control technology
current. To minimizefor theitspurpose of overcoming
hydrodynamic damp- stabilizing
all horizontal the vehicle’s
directions, horizontal
and this motion
is in
beneficialthe dynamic
for easily
strong
and its sea current.
control To
technology minimize
fortothe its hydrodynamic damp- stabilizing
sea current the vehicle’s
environment. horizontal
Also, motion
there arein the
three dynamic
vertical
strong
ing, thesea current.
vehicle To minimize
is designed itspurpose
have of overcoming
hydrodynamic
flattened damp- sea
ellipsoidal currentthe
stabilizing environment.
vehicle’s Also, there
horizontal motion areinthree
the vertical
dynamic
ing, the vehicle is designed to sea current
damp- thrusters environment.
designed Also, there
for the purpose are three
of vehicle’s vertical
horizon and
strong
ing, theseaseecurrent.
vehicle
Fig. is
To minimize
1. designed to have
have flattened
its thrusters
hydrodynamic
flattened ellipsoidal
areellipsoidal
mounted thrusters designed for the purpose of
exterior,
exterior,
ing, the see Fig.
vehicle
1.
is
Four
Four horizontal
designedhorizontal
to have thrusters
flattened
are mounted
ellipsoidal
sea
depth current
thrusterskeeping environment.
designed
in theforcase
the of Also,
purpose
high of vehicle’s
there
speed vehicle’s horizon
are three
horizon
horizontal
and
vertical
and
motion.
exterior,
symmetrically
symmetricallysee Fig.
in
in 1.1. Four
xy-plane
xy-plane horizontal
with each thrusters
of
with eachthrusters them
of them has are
has mounted
the
the same
same depth depth
thrusterskeeping in
designed the case
forcase of
the of high
purpose speed horizontal
of vehicle’s motion.
horizon and
exterior, see Fig. Four horizontal are mounted keeping in the high speed horizontal motion.
symmetrically
thrust dynamics in inxy-plane
both ofwith forwardeachand of them
reversehasdirections.
the same The depth control
keepingstrategy
in the case for of
this vehicle
high speedto overcomemotion.
horizontal strong
thrust dynamics
symmetrically
thrust dynamics in
in in both
xy-plane of forward
with
both ofthrustforwardeach and reverse
of them
and reversehas directions.
the same The
directions. The control
control strategy for this vehicle to overcome strong
This kind of horizontal mechanism can guaran- current is to strategy
maximizefor its this vehiclevectored
horizontal to overcomethruststrong
force
This
thrust
This kind
kind of
dynamics
of horizontal
in both
horizontal ofthrust
forward
thrust mechanism
and
mechanism reversecan
can guaran-
directions.
guaran- current
The
current is
is to
control maximize
to strategy
maximize its
for horizontal
this
itsusually vehicle
horizontal vectored
to overcome
vectored thrust
thrust force
strong
force
tee
tee the
the almost
almost uniform
uniform distribution
distribution of
of thrust
thrust forces
forces in
in along
along certain
certain direction,
direction, usually against
against the
the sea
sea current,
current,
This
tee thekind of
almost horizontal
uniform thrust
distribution mechanismof can
thrust guaran-
forces in current
along
while is to
certain
keeping maximize
direction,
its its
heading. horizontal
usually
Three vectored
against
verticalthe thrust
sea force
current,
thrusters, as

 Research supported by the project titled ”Development of Un- while keeping direction,
its heading. Three vertical thrusters, as
tee

 the
Research almost
supporteduniformby thedistribution
project titled of thrust
”Development
Research supported by the project titled ”Development of Un- forces
of in
Un- along
while
mentionedcertain
keeping its
before, heading.
are usedusually
Three
for against
horizonvertical
and the sea current,
thrusters,
depth keeping. as
Research
derwater supported
Robot Platform by the
and project
its Control titled ”Development
Technology to of
Overcome Un- mentioned before, are used for horizon and depth keeping.
derwater
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derwater Robot Platform
Robot Platform and
supported
and its
by and
its Control
the its
Control Technology
project
Technology to
titled ”Development
to Overcome
Overcome
of Un- while
mentionedkeeping
Well known PDitscontrollers
before, heading.
are used for Three
horizon
(Bennett, vertical
and
1996; thrusters,
depth keeping.
Astrom andas
derwater
up to Robot
3.5knots ofPlatform
Sea Current,” Control
funded byTechnology
the Ministryto Overcome
of Oceans
up
up to
to 3.5knots
derwater3.5knots
Robot
of Sea
Sea Current,”
ofPlatformCurrent,”
and its
funded
funded
Control
by the
the Ministry
byTechnology
Ministryto
of
of Oceans
Oceans
Overcome
Well
Well known
mentioned
known PD
before,
PD controllers
are used
controllers (Bennett,
for horizon
(Bennett, 1996;
and
1996; Astrom
depth and
keeping.
Astrom and
up
andtoFisheries
and 3.5knots(MOF)
Fisheries of Sea Current,”
(MOF) and Koreafunded
and Korea Institute
Instituteby the
of Ministry
of Marine
Marine of Oceans
Science
Science and
and
Murray,
Murray, 2008)
2008) are
are applied for
for both
applied (Bennett, both of of horizontal
horizontal and
and
up toFisheries
3.5knots
Technology
and Fisheries
(MOF)
Promotion
(MOF)
and
of Sea Current,” Korea
(KIMST),
and
Institute
Koreafunded
Korea
Instituteby of
the Marine
Ministry
(20160148);
of Marine
Science
Also,
Science
and
ofpartially
Oceans
and
Well
Murray,
verticalknown2008)
groups PDof controllers
are applied for both 1996;
thrusters. Astrom and
of horizontal and
Technology
Technology
and Fisheries
Promotion
Promotion
(MOF)
(KIMST),
(KIMST),
and Korea
Korea
Korea
Institute
(20160148);
(20160148);
of Marine
Also,
Also, partially
partially
Science and vertical
Murray, groups
2008) of of thrusters.
arethrusters.
applied for both of horizontal and
Technology
supported
supported by
byPromotion
the
the project
project (KIMST),
No.
No. Korea
17-CM-RB-16
17-CM-RB-16 (20160148);
titled
titled Also, partially
”Development
”Development of
of vertical groups
supported
Technologyby the project No. 17-CM-RB-16 titled ”Development of To demonstrate
groups ofthe performance
supported
Multi-sensor
Multi-sensor
Multi-sensor
byPromotion
the project
Fusion
Fusion
Fusion
based
based
(KIMST),
basedNo. AUV’s
AUV’s
AUV’s
Korea
17-CM-RB-16
Terminal (20160148);
Terminal Guidance
Terminal Guidance
Guidance
Also,
titled ”Development
and partially
and Docking
and Docking
Docking
of vertical
To demonstrate the performance of
thrusters. of the
the platform
platform andand its
its
supported
Multi-sensor
Technology,” by the
Fusion
fundedproject
based
by theNo. 17-CM-RB-16
AUV’s
Agency Terminal
for Defense titled
Guidance”Development
and
Development Docking
(ADD) of To demonstrate
control
control method,
method, the performance
some
some of
of simulation
simulation ofand
and theexperimental
platform and
experimental its
stud-
stud-
Technology,”
Technology,” funded by
funded based the Agency
by the AUV’s for
AgencyTerminal Defense
for Defense Development
Development (ADD)
(ADD) To demonstrate the In performance ofandtheexperimental
platform and its
Multi-sensor
Technology,”
in the
in the Korea.
the Korea.
Korea.
Fusion
funded by the Agency for Defense Guidance and Docking
Development (ADD) control
ies are method,
carried some
out. of simulation
the simulation, the stud-
hydrodynamic
in
Technology,”
in the Korea. funded by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD)
ies
ies are
control carried
carried out.
are method, someIn
out. Inofthe simulation,
simulation
the the
the hydrodynamic
and experimental
simulation, stud-
hydrodynamic
2405-8963
in the Korea.© 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting ies are bycarried
Elsevierout.
Ltd. In
All the
rightssimulation,
reserved. the hydrodynamic
Copyright
Peer review©
Copyright © 2018
2018 IFAC 268
Copyright 2018 IFAC
© under 268
responsibility of International Federation of Automatic
IFAC 268 Control.
Copyright © 2018 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.09.514 268
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 268
IFAC CAMS 2018

Opatija, Croatia, September 10-12, 2018 J. H. Li et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-29 (2018) 268–273 269

coefficients are calculated through both of theoretical and 

empirically-derived formulas (Newman, 1977; Prestero, 0 0 0
2001; Fossen, 2002). The main contribution of this paper  0 0 0

is the experimental studies carried out in the water tank  0 0 00
CRB =
and circulating water channel to evaluate its capability of  −mzg r mw m(zg p − v)
 0 −mzg r mzg q
overcoming strong current. The performance of designed
automatic horizon(roll, pitch, and depth) and heading 0 0 0

keeping control methods while keeping its maximum for- mzg r mw −mv
ward speed are investigated in the real conditions. −mw mzg r mu 

−m(zg p − v) −m(zg q + u) 0 
, (5)
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 0 Izz r −Iyy q 

II describes the vehicle’s kinematic and hydrodynamic −Izz r 0 Ixx p 
model, and automatic horizon and heading keeping con- Iyy q −Ixx p 0
trollers are designed in Section III. In Section IV, some of
simulation studies are presented, and experimental stud- where m is the rigid body mass, and Ixx , Iyy , and Izz
ies carried out in the water tank and circulating water denote the inertia moments each along the X, Y , and Z
channel are discussed in Section V, and Section VI briefly axes, and calculated as in table 1.
concludes the paper.
Table 1. Inertia Moments
2. VEHICLE MODEL
Parameters Value Unit
2.1 Vehicle Kinematics and Dynamics Ixx 3.33e + 000 kgm2
Iyy 3.33e + 000 kgm2
Izz 7.45e + 000 kgm2
In general, the underwater vehicle’s kinematics and dy-
namics can be expressed as follows (Fossen, 2002):
In (2), the sum of external forces and moments can be
expressed as
η̇ = Cbn ν, (1) 
 Fext = Fhydrostatics + Fdrag + Fadded mass + Fcontrol ,
MRB ν̇ + CRB ν = Fext , (2)
(6)
where η = [x, y, z, φ, θ, ψ]T is the position and attitude where Fhydrostatics = [0, 0, 0, −zg W cθsφ, −zg W sθ, 0]T
vector defined in the navigation frame (local NED-frame), with W the rigid body weight.
and ν = [u, v, w, p, q, r]T is the linear and angular velocity
vector defined in the vehicle’s body-fixed frame; and Cbn
denotes the coordinate transformation matrix from the 2.2 Hydrodynamic Damping Fdrag
body-fixed frame to the navigation frame, and expressed
as As seen in Fig. 1, the vehicle is symmetric along all
three of X, Y , and Z axes. Therefore, we can neglect the
  movement-induced moments Ab|b| with A = {K, M, N }
J1 03×3
Cbn = (3) and b = {u, v, w}, and the rotation-induced forces Ba|a|
03×3 J2 with B = {X, Y, Z} and a = {p, q, r}. In addition, to
where simplify the vehicle’s model and therefore can avoid com-
 
cψcθ −sψcφ + cψsθsφ sψsφ + cψsθcφ plicated mathematical calculations, we make the following
J1 = sψcθ cψcφ + sψsθsφ −cψsφ + sψsθcφ , assumptions similar to the Prestero (2001)
−sθ cθsφ cθcφ
  • We neglect linear and angular coupled terms.
1 sφtθ cφtθ • We neglect any damping terms greater than second-
J2 = 0 cφ −sφ , order.
0 sφ/cθ cφ/cθ
Consequently, Fdrag is simplified as
with s(·) = sin(·), c(·) = cos(·), t(·) = tan(·).
Fdrag = [Xu|u| u|u|, Yv|v| v|v|, Zw|w| w|w|,
For the vehicle developed in the KIRO, its body-fixed
frame is centered at the vehicle’s buoyancy center (Pres- Kp|p| p|p|, Mq|q| q|q|, Nr|r| r|r|]T . (7)
tero, 2001) and the weight center is located at (xg , yg , zg ) =
Corresponding coefficients are calculated using the follow-
(0, 0, 4.51mm) after being neutrally ballasted. Therefore,
ing formulas
the rigid-body inertia matrix MRB and Coriolis and cen- 
tripetal matrix CRB can be simplified as Xu|u| = Yv|v| = −0.5ρcdc πaR − 4(0.5ρsD cdD ) , (8)
  Zw|w| = −0.5ρcdc πR2 − 4(0.5ρsF cdF ) , (9)
m 0 0 0 mzg 0 
 0 m 0 −mzg 0 0   R
  Kp|p| = Mq|q| = 2 −0.5ρcdc D(r)r3 dr
 0 0 m 0 0 0 
MRB = , (4)
 0 −mzg 0 Ixx 0 0   0

 mzg 0 0 0 Iyy 0 
−2x3T F (0.5ρsF cdF ) , (10)
0 0 0 0 0 Izz

269
IFAC CAMS 2018
270
Opatija, Croatia, September 10-12, 2018 J. H. Li et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-29 (2018) 268–273

  
R
 
3
Nr|r| = 2 −0.5ρcdc D (r)r dr − 2x3T D (0.5ρsD cdD ) ,
0
(11)

where a = 0.128m, R = 0.435m, xT F = xT D =

0.543m, sF = 0.163m2 , sD = 0.023m2 , and the drag
coefficients are derived through empirical graph as Fig.

2.4 in Newman (1977), and selected as cdc = 1.12, cdc =
0.3, cdF = 0.63, cdD = 0.9.
Calculated hydrodynamic damping coefficients are as in
table 2.
Table 2. Hydrodynamic Damping Coefficients

Parameters Value Unit

Xu|u| −6.74e + 001 kg/m
Yv|v| −6.74e + 001 kg/m
Zw|w| −5.38e + 002 kg/m Fig. 2. Vertical thrusters arrangement.
Kp|p| −3.73e + 001 kg · m2 /rad2
Mq|q| −3.73e + 001 kg · m2 /rad2 C1. V Tr1 · cos15o = −V Tr2 · cos45o − V Tr3 · sin15o .
Nr|r| −6.92e + 001 kg · m2 /rad2 C2. V Tr1 · sin15o + V Tr2 · cos45o = V Tr3 · cos15o .

Here, C1 is to balance the right and left torques about

2.3 Added Mass Fadded mass the x-axis, and C2 is to neutralize the pitch torque during
the roll motion control. From C1 and C2, we can easily
Due to its symmetric in all three axes, the diagonal terms calculate that
of the vehicle’s added mass matrix are only considered.
And the coefficients are estimated through empirical graph
as Fig. 4.8 in Newman (1977), and chosen as in table 3. V Tr2 = −1.1547V Tr1 , (13)
V Tr3 = −0.5774V Tr1 . (14)
Table 3. Added Mass Coefficients
Pitch Motion Control Design procedure is very similar
Parameters Value Unit
Xu̇ −1.75e + 001 kg
to the one in Roll motion control. First, we choose the
Yv̇ −1.75e + 001 kg pitch motion control component for V T3 as
Zẇ −2.09e + 002 kg
Kṗ −5.03e + 000 kg · m2 /rad
Mq̇ −5.03e + 000 kg · m2 /rad
V Tp3 = Kvp (rP itch − θ) + Kvd q, (15)
Nṙ −1.17e + 000 kg · m2 /rad
where rP itch is the reference pitch value.
Control law is that to simultaneously satisfy the following
3. CONTROLLER DESIGN two conditions

As previously mentioned, three vertical thrusters are in
charge of the vehicle’s horizon keeping, while the horizon-
tal four thrusters are focus on the maximization of the
horizontal vectored thrust force against the sea current as
well as heading keeping. These two control algorithms are
applied independently.
3.1 Horizon Keeping
C3. −V Tp3 · cos15o = V Tp2 · cos45o + V Tp1 · sin15o .
C4. V Tp1 · cos15o = V Tp2 · cos45o + V Tp3 · sin15o .
Here, C3 is to balance the pitch torque about the y-axis,
and C4 is to neutralize the roll torque during the pitch
motion control. So, the other two pitch motion control
components can calculated as

The three vertical thrusters are mounted as seen in Fig. 2. V Tp1 = −0.5774V Tp3 , (16)
V Tp2 = −1.1547V Tp3 . (17)
Roll Motion Control The roll motion control component
for V T1 is designed as Depth Control The following simple PD controller is
designed for depth control
V Tr1 = Kvp (rRoll − φ) + Kvd p, (12)
d d
where rRoll is the reference roll value, Kvp and Kvd are V Tdi = Kvp (rDepth − z) + Kvd w, i = 1, 2, 3, (18)
control gain parameters.
where V Tdi is the depth control component for the thruster
d d
For the vehicle’s roll motion control, the design law is that V Ti , rDepth is the reference depth value, and Kvp and Kvd
to simultaneously satisfy the following two conditions are control gain parameters.

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else if 45o ≤ δψ < 135o

FHTf r = FHTbr = FHT (5).
if dt ≥ 0
FHTbl = FHT (5 − dt),
FHTf l = FHT (5),
else
FHTbl = FHT (5),
FHTf l = FHT (5 + dt),
end

else if 135o ≤ δψ < 225o

FHTbr = FHTbl = FHT (5).
if dt ≥ 0
FHTf l = FHT (5 − dt),
FHTf r = FHT (5),
else
FHTf l = FHT (5),
FHTf r = FHT (5 + dt),
end

else
FHTbl = FHTf l = FHT (5).
Fig. 3. Horizontal thrusters arrangement. if dt ≥ 0
FHTf r = FHT (5 − dt),
Vertical Thruster Model For each vertical thruster, its FHTbr = FHT (5),
thrust vs. input relationship is follows. else
 FHTf r = FHT (5),
74.5N · sat(x/5), if x ≥ 0 FHTbr = FHT (5 + dt),
FV T (x) = (19) end
−31.4N · sat(x/5), if x < 0
end
where sat(·) denotes the saturation function.
where rY aw denotes the heading angle against the sea
Consequently, the thrust force provided by each vertical current as seen in Fig. 3, δψ = rY aw−ψ and dt = Khp δψ+
thruster can be calculated as Khd r with Khp , and Khd gain parameters, and FHTab with
a = {f, b}, b = {l, r} denotes the thrust force provided by
each horizontal thruster HTab as seen in Fig. 3.
FV Ti = FV T (V Tri + V Tpi + V Tdi ), i = 1, 2, 3. (20)
According to the above control law, the vehicle’s maximum
3.2 Maximization of Horizontal Vectored Thrust Force turn angle to encounter the sea current from any direction
against Current while Keeping Heading is less than 45o , and this is the main idea of control law
proposed in this paper to overcome strong sea current.
Horizontal Thruster Model For each of four horizontal
thrusters, its forward and reverse thrusts have the same 3.3 Calculation of Fcontrol
dynamics as of
Consequently, the control force Fcontrol in (6) can be
calculated by
FHT (x) = 245.15N · sat(x/5). (21)
√
Control Law As mentioned before, the control strategy 2
to overcome strong current is to maximize its horizon-  2 (FHT f l + FHT f r + FHT bl + FHT br )
√
tal vectored thrust force along certain direction, usually  2
against the sea current, while keeping its heading. For this  (FHT f l − FHT f r − FHT bl + FHT br )

purpose, we apply the following control law Fcontrol = 2
 −F V T 1 − FV T 2 − FV T 3
F o o
 V T 1 Rv cos15 − FV T 2 Rv cos45
 FV T 1 Rv sin15o + FV T 2 Rv cos45o
if (0 ≤ δψ < 45o ) || (315o ≤ δψ < 360o )
FHTf l = FHTf r = FHT (5). Rh (FHT f l − FHT f r + FHT bl − FHT br )
if dt ≥ 0 
FHTbr = FHT (5 − dt), 
FHTbl = FHT (5), 

else  (22)
o
FHTbr = FHT (5), −FV T 3 rv sin15 
FHTbl = FHT (5 + dt), +F r cos15o 
V T3 v
end

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Fig. 4. Simulation result of self-stabilization capability.
Fig. 5. Control forces in the maximum speed simulation.
4. SIMULATION STUDIES
At first, we investigate the vehicle’s stability on the
horizontal plane. The initial condition is set as η =
[1.54, 0, 0, 10o , 20o , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]T , and simulation result
is shown in Fig. 4, from which we can see the vehicle
possesses suitable stability. Obviously, this kind of stability
is caused by the fact that the vehicle’s gravity center is
designed to lower than the buoyancy center.
Also, we carry out the maximum forward speed simulation
combined with horizon and heading keeping tests. In the
simulation, the control gain parameters are set as Kvp =
d d
5, Kvd = −10, Kvp = 15, Kvd = −45, Khp = 2.5, Khd =
−3, and other parameters are as rRoll = rP itch =
0, rY aw = 30o , rDepth = 1.5m, and sampling time is
Tp = 0.1sec. Fig. 5 shows the calculated control force
Fcontrol using (22), and Fig. 6 presents the corresponding
vehicle motion. From Fig. 6, we can see that the vehicle’s
maximum speed is about 3.2m/s. However, in practice,
this maximum speed might be reduced due to the fact that
the thruster’s efficiency will be dropped if we increase the
vehicle’s speed (Kim and Chung, 2006). And this will be
further discussed in the next section.
5. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
Experimental tests are carried out in the water tank and
circulating water channel in the Underwater Construction
Robotics R&D Center (UCRC) in the Korea Institute of
Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST)(Kim et al, 2017).
272
Fig. 6. Vehicle’s motion convergence in the maximum
speed simulation.
Fig. 7. Maximum forward speed test in the engineering
basin.
Fig. 7 shows the engineering basin where we take the
maximum forward speed with heading keeping test. Ex-
perimental result is shown in Fig. 8, from which we can
see the vehicle’s maximum forward speed is about 2.1m/s.
This is much less than the simulation result of 3.2m/s. This
might be caused by several reasons. One is that there are
quite number of coupled and complicated hydrodynamic
terms neglected to include in the vehicle’s model in the
simulation. The second is that the drag component caused
by the tether cable does not considered in the simulation.
Indeed, this drag term might be significant in the case
of small size of underwater vehicles. The third reason,
which might be most important one according to the
authors’ knowledge, is that the thruster’s efficiency drop
followed by the vehicle’s increasing speed. According to the
thruster’s specifications (Tecnadyne, 2017), if the vehicle’s
speed approach to 6knots, then the thrust efficiency will
drop to about 0.5. This means that 6knots (about 3m/s)
√ maximum speed in practice will drop to about 3m/s ×
of
0.5 ≈ 2.1m/s, which is the similar result observed in our
water tank test. Fig. 9 shows the control inputs for four of
horizontal thrusters in this maximum forward speed test.
Also, we install the vehicle in the circulating water channel
as in Fig. 10, and investigate if the vehicle can take
the forward speed motion while keeping its heading in
the strong current environment. In the test, we adjust
the current speed from 1.0knots to 2.0knots and further
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J. H. Li et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-29 (2018) 268–273 273
Fig. 8. Experimental result of maximum forward speed
with heading keeping.
Fig. 9. Control inputs for four of horizontal thrusters in
the maximum forward speed test.
Fig. 10. The test in the circulating water channel.
to 2.5knots. From experimental result shown in Fig. 11,
it can be concluded that the vehicle can take forward
motion even in the case where the current increased up
to 2.5knots.
6. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have introduced the development of an
UUV platform and its control method to overcome strong
current. The vehicle has been designed to have a flat-
tened ellipsoidal exterior to minimize the hydrodynamic
damping. And vectored thrust force control algorithm also
has been developed to maximize its horizontal speed. All
of these technologies have been evaluated through both
simulation and experimental tests. Especially, through the
273
Fig. 11. Vehicle’s forward motion test results in the circu-
lating water channel.
experimental studies carried out in the water tank and
circulating water channel, we found that, for our current
version of vehicle platform, more strong roll and pitch
moments might be needed to guarantee its horizontal
stabilization.
During the next step of our research works, current version
of platform will be upgraded to have four vertical thrusters
mounted symmetrically and each of thruster, similar to
the horizontal thrusters, has the same forward and reverse
dynamics. Moreover, each thruster will be more powerful
compare to current version and mounted more apart from
the center point. All of these will significantly increase the
vehicle’s capability of stabilizing horizontal motion in the
strong current environment.
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