Adaptive Pitch-Tracking Control with Dynamic and Static Gains for Remotely Operated Towed Vehicles

The pitch angle regulation in Remotely Operated Towed Vehicles (ROTVs) is essential to ensure the robustness of emitted signals within the maritime surveillance domain. Characterized by inherent nonlinear dynamics and stochastic uncertainties, the pitch angle model poses significant challenges to conventional tracking controls relying on linearization. This study introduces an adaptive pitch-control algorithm designed for ROTVs, which adeptly manages nonlinear dynamics as well as unmeasurable states through a synergistic integration of dynamic and static gains. A key feature of our approach is the incorporation of a high-order observer that adeptly estimates the system’s unmeasurable states, thereby enhancing control precision. Our proposed algorithm greatly exceeds traditional PID and fuzzy PID methods in both settling time and steady-state error, particularly in high-order nonlinear and unmeasurable state scenarios. Compared to sliding mode control, the proposed control strategy improved the settling time by 74% and the steady-state error was enhanced from 10−6 to 10−8, as confirmed by numerical simulations. The efficacy of the algorithm in achieving the desired tracking trajectories highlights its potential for deep-water operations and fine-tuned attitude adjustments for ROTVs.