Robust trajectory tracking control of underactuated unmanned surface vehicles with exponential stability: theory and experimental validation

Purpose Trajectory tracking is an important issue to underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). However, parametric uncertainties and environmental disturbances bring great challenges to the precise trajectory tracking control of USVs. This paper aims to propose a robust trajectory tracking control algorithm with exponential stability for underactuated USVs with parametric uncertainties and unknown environmental disturbances. Design/methodology/approach In this method, the backstepping method and sliding mode control method are combined to ensure that the underactuated USV can track and maintain the desired trajectory. In addition, a modified switching-gain adaptation algorithm is adopted to enhance the robustness and reduce chattering. Besides, the global exponential stability of the closed-loop system is proved by Lyapunov’s direct method. Findings The proposed method in this paper offers a robust trajectory tracking solution to underactuated USVs and it is verified by simulations and experiments. Compared with the traditional proportion-integral-derivative method and several state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed method has superior performance in simulation and experimental results. Originality/value This paper proposes a robust trajectory tracking control algorithm with exponential stability for underactuated USVs. The proposed method achieves exponential stability with better robustness and transient performance.