Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control Method for AUV Buoyancy Regulation System

This paper investigates the control problem of the buoyancy regulation system for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). There are some problems to be considered in the oil-water conversion-based buoyancy regulation system, including the external seawater pressure, the pressure fluctuations, and the slow switching speed of the ball valve. The control accuracy of the buoyancy regulation under the traditional PID controller cannot meet the requirements of the project. In this paper, a fuzzy sliding mode control scheme is developed for the buoyancy regulation system to solve the abovementioned problems. At first, a mathematical model of the buoyancy regulation system is established, and the stability of the system is analyzed. Then, the sliding mode control algorithm is combined with the fuzzy system to improve the control accuracy. Finally, the pool-experiment results on a prototype show that the developed control scheme can meet the requirements of the control accuracy for the buoyancy regulation system.