Abstract
In this paper, depth and course controllers of autonomous underwater vehicles using H$_{\infty}$ servo control are proposed. An H$_{\infty}$ servo problem is formulated to design the controllers satisfying a robust tracking property with modeling errors and disturbances. The solution of the H$_{\infty}$ servo problem is as follows: first, this problem is modified as an H$_{\infty}$ control problem for the generalized plant that includes a reference input mode, and then a sub-optimal solution that satisfies a given performance criteria is calculated by LMI(Linear Matrix Inequality) approach. The H$_{\infty}$ depth and course controllers ate designed to satisfy with the robust stability about the modeling error generated from the perturbation of the hydrodynamic coefficients and the robust tracking property under disturbances(wave force, wave moment, tide). The performances(the robustness to the uncertainties, depth and course tracking properties) of the designed controllers are evaluated with computer simulations, and finally these simulation results show the usefulness and application of the proposed H$_{\infty}$ depth and course control systems.
