Feedback linearization control of undersea vehicles

In this paper, a feedback linearization technique is applied to the control of an undersea vehicle. Linearization and decoupling of the dynamic equations result in six second-order subsystems, each of which is unstable but controllable. A linear PD compensator is added to each subsystem to render it stable. An optimal error correcting term is also added to improve the robustness of the controller. Simulation results show that the proposed controller is robust in the presence of model uncertainties and possesses good trajectory tracking performance