PRELIMINARY SIMULATION STUDIES OF A NEW FOUR-QUADRANT PROPELLER THRUST CONTROLLER APPLIED TO UNDERWATER VEHICLES

Abstract In this paper a recently reported four-quadrant nonlinear thrust controller for marine propellers is applied to the velocity control of an underwater vehicle. The controller, designed for fixed pitch electrically driven propellers, is based on a shaft speed control and employs an estimate of the propeller torque loss. A simulation study is performed in order to compare the presented approach with the conventional shaft speed and torque propeller controllers.