Research of Algorithms for Approaching and Docking Underwater Vehicle with Underwater Station

Authors consider problem of maintenance and service of underwater vehicles. Usually, underwater station or accompanying ship is required for such operations. Docking is one of the most difficult tasks on the vehicle path from the outer space to the servicing bay. Algorithms allowing docking were presented in the earlier paper, and in this paper authors prove their stability. Movement control is based upon the path regulator. The stability of the closed-loop system according to Liapunov with the given control and limitations is proven. Equations, showing that vehicle will complete the positioning task with account to given limitations and staying stable are given. The criterion for switching movement and "positioning to point" algorithms is proposed. Achievement of the developed criterion was researched theoretically and in computer simulation. Experiments provide deviation of actual coordinates and velocity from the required ones and proved that achieving of criterion is enough to claim that system will be stable while performing algorithms with limitations for controls.