Optimal course tracking control of USV with input dead zone based on adaptive fuzzy dynamic programing

In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy optimal course tracking control problem is studied for the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) system with input dead zone. Firstly, input dead zone is split into input-dependent and time-varying bounded functions to treat as system uncertainties. Secondly, when the ship sailing on the sea, the complex marine environment brings a great challenge to ship course control. In order to conquer this challenge, the controller is divided into feedforward controller and optimal feedback controller. The feedforward controller is developed to improve the course tracking performance, and the optimal feedback controller is developed to achieve the optimal control based on adaptive fuzzy dynamic programing (AFDP). Finally, the course tracking performance is guaranteed and all signals in the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) based on Lyapunov theory. Simulation results demonstrate remarkable effectiveness.