Active Disturbance‐Rejection Multi‐Stage Dynamic Positioning Control of Overactuated AUVs: Theory and Experiments

ABSTRACT This paper presents an active disturbance rejection dynamic positioning (DP) control scheme of overactuated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for inspection missions. The proposed control scheme consists of dynamic control and control allocation. First, the DP process of the slender‐shaped AUV is decomposed into three sequential stages: yaw regulation, path following and position keeping. The tracking error calculation and control allocation are distinctively designed based on the motion performance of the AUV in each stage. Second, the adaptive line‐of‐sight (ALOS) guidance and extended state observer (ESO) are constructed to estimate and compensate for external disturbances to meet the high‐accuracy positioning requirements. A stability analysis is provided to establish the local UUB property of the closed‐loop system. Third, the thruster dead‐zone effect is compensated by shifting the control commands, and smooth control allocation between rudder and thrusters is achieved using a smooth transition function. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed DP control scheme are verified through comparative lake trials. Compared to the conventional PID controller, the proposed method achieves statistically significant tracking error reductions () and substantially reduces equivalent control effort during steady‐state station‐keeping by suppressing actuator chattering.