Predefined-Time Fault-Tolerant Trajectory Tracking Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Considering Actuator Saturation

This paper presents the design of two predefined-time active fault-tolerant controllers for the trajectory tracking of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) which can address actuator faults without causing actuator saturation. The first controller offers improved steady-state trajectory tracking precision, while the second ensures a nonsingular property. Firstly, a predefined-time sliding mode controller is formulated based on a predefined-time disturbance observer by integrating a novel predefined-time auxiliary system to prevent the control input from exceeding the actuator’s physical limitations. Subsequently, a non-singular backstepping controller is introduced to circumvent potential singularities in the sliding mode controller, guaranteeing that the trajectory tracking error is uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) within the predefined time. Additionally, theoretical analysis and simulation results are presented to illustrate the advantages of the proposed method.