Physical Implementation and Experimental Validation of the Compensation Mechanism for a Ramp-Based AUV Recovery System

In complex marine environments, ramp-based recovery systems for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) often encounter engineering challenges such as reduced docking accuracy and success rate due to disturbances in the capture window attitude. In this study, a desktop-scale physical experimental plat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhaoji Qi, Lingshuai Meng, Haitao Gu, Ziyang Guo, Jinyan Wu, Chenghui Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/7/1349
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In complex marine environments, ramp-based recovery systems for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) often encounter engineering challenges such as reduced docking accuracy and success rate due to disturbances in the capture window attitude. In this study, a desktop-scale physical experimental platform for recovery compensation was designed and constructed. The system integrates attitude feedback provided by an attitude sensor and dual-motor actuation to achieve active roll and pitch compensation of the capture window. Based on the structural and geometric characteristics of the platform, a dual-channel closed-loop control strategy was proposed utilizing midpoint tracking of the capture window, accompanied by multi-level software limit protection and automatic centering mechanisms. The control algorithm was implemented using a discrete-time PID structure, with gain parameters optimized through experimental tuning under repeatable disturbance conditions. A first-order system approximation was adopted to model the actuator dynamics. Experiments were conducted under various disturbance scenarios and multiple control parameter configurations to evaluate the attitude tracking performance, dynamic response, and repeatability of the system. The results show that, compared to the uncompensated case, the proposed compensation mechanism reduces the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>M</mi><mi>S</mi><mi>E</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> by up to 76.4% and the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>M</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>x</mi><mi>A</mi><mi>E</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> by 73.5%, significantly improving the tracking accuracy and dynamic stability of the recovery window. The study also discusses the platform’s limitations and future optimization directions, providing theoretical and engineering references for practical AUV recovery operations.
ISSN:2077-1312