Model Predictive Control of an Autonomous Semi-Submersible Vehicle for Depth Control

In the past few decades, with the advancement of technology, using autonomous robots has been receiving growing interest. Autonomous semi-submersible vehicles are a subset of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). This type of vehicle operates near the surface of the water and is semi-submerged. For this reason, depth control of these vehicles in the presence of environmental disturbances is crucial. This paper addresses the design of a depth controller for an autonomous semi-submersible vehicle using Model Predictive Control (MPC). MPC as one of the advanced control methods in the field of robotics is increasingly developing. This control method has several advantages over the classical methods, including the ability to apply system constraints explicitly to the problem. To bring the simulation results closer to the realistic scenarios, we evaluate the control performance by applying output noise, perturbations, and dynamic model uncertainties. The research results in the appropriate performance of the controller.