Dorsal and pectoral fin control of a biorobotic autonomous underwater vehicle

This thesis involves an in-depth research on the maneuvering of bio-robotic autonomous undersea vehicles (BAUVs) using bio-mimetic swimming mechanisms. Motivation was derived from the amazing flexibility and agility the fish inherit with the help of their pectoral and dorsal fins; In the first part of the thesis, control of BAUVs using dorsal fins is considered. The force produced by the cambering of the dorsal fins is used for control. An indirect adaptive controller is designed for depth tracking along constant trajectories even when the system parameters are not known. Next, for following time-varying trajectories, an adaptive control system for yaw plane control of BAUVs is developed. It is capable of working efficiently even when large uncertainties in the system parameters are present and system nonlinearities are dominant; In the second part of the thesis, pectoral fin control of BAUVs is considered. The flapping of these oscillating fins provides the necessary force and moment for control. A discrete-time optimal controller for set point (constant path) control and inverse controller for tracking time varying trajectories in the yaw plane are derived. Further, an indirect adaptive control system that can accomplish depth trajectory tracking even when the model paramters are completely unknown is developed; The performance evaluation of the controllers is done by simulation using matlab/simulink