Control strategies applied to autonomous underwater vehicle for inspection of dams

Hydroelectric power plants need to ensure an uninterrupted energy supply. To achieve this objective, activities of maintenance and inspection are done periodically. The use of divers to do these maintenance in submerged areas, implied high risks for them. In this sense, the automated inspection of such facilities through underwater vehicles can be a satisfactory solution. This article presents a comparison between two control techniques applied to underwater vehicle, Feedback Linearization and Sliding Mode. These strategies are responsible to ensure the following two requirements. First, to make the vehicle overcome the velocity gradient caused by dam´s water intakes. Second, to follow the desired trajectory. The control laws were tested by analysing their performance in a helical reference trajectory with the presence of disturbance caused by water intakes.