Backstepping control method for the path following for the underactuated surface vehicles

A method of Backstepping path following control was presented for the path following control problem of the underactuated surface vehicle (USV) under Serret-Frenet frame. The system consists of the rudder actuator dynamics. It transformed the original underactuated system into an actuated nonlinear system based on simplified analysis. A Backstepping path following controller was proposed based on Backstepping method. By means of Lyapunov stability theory, it was proven that the proposed controller can guarantee the path following control system globally asymptotically stable. Simulation results were provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller and to demonstrate its robustness with respect to system uncertainties.