The Influence of ISW on the AUV Control System and Stability in the Bali Deep Sea

This paper examines how the deep-sea current of Bali, or Internal Solitary Waves (ISW), affects the stability of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) controlled with the Sliding Mode Control (SMC) algorithm. Since Indonesia, one of the world’s largest maritime nations, has most of its marine wealth underwater, more technological development is needed to explore these resources. Developing AUV technology is a cost-effective alternative. However, AUVs must perform accurate trajectory tracking for practical exploration. This requirement depends on a well-designed control algorithm that can handle external disturbances. In this paper, numerical simulations are conducted on the BlueROV2 model controlled using the SMC algorithm with different external disturbances caused by the ISW at Bali Sea. Simulation results show that the extreme Bali Deep Sea wave can destabilize AUVs, even with only 25% of the total ISW disturbance. Increasing the thrust of each thruster, or Thruster Allocation Matrix (TAM), did not significantly improve the stability. Therefore, the SMC control algorithm is not recommended for deep-sea missions, and developing an optimal control algorithm is suggested for further research.