Optimal control of an autonomous underwater vehicle using IPSO_SQP algorithm

An optimal control for an AUV (only pitch channel) based on IPSO_SQP algorithm is achieved. The control input (fin angle) is assumed to be bounded and piecewise constant. In the first stage of the optimization process by using the IPSO algorithm, the chance of converging to the global optimum is significantly increased. In the second stage, the code is switched to a SQP algorithm. This is shown improve the speed of convergence and accuracy. The combined technique gains benefits of its both original algorithms. To control an AUV a pitch programming is investigated in this paper. To track a desired pitch angle in the pitch programming problem a PID controller with optimal gain is used. The gain of PID controller is also optimized through an IPSO-SQP algorithm. Simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.