A Sliding Mode Tracking Control for Under-actuated Surface Vessel Based on Pre-set Performance

This paper studies the problem of tracking control of under-actuated surface vessel (USV) with given trajectory under external disturbances. A backstepping sliding mode control method based on pre-set performance is proposed to improve the transient response performance. Firstly, by introducing the performance function, the USV error model is transformed into an equivalent conversion error model, so that the original restricted system is converted into an equivalent non-restricted system. Secondly, the position error is stabilized by a virtual velocity and a second-order integral sliding surface based on the velocity error is introduced to design the speed tracking controller. Using Lyapunov stability analysis, it can be concluded that the designed controller can ensure gradual convergence of the error signal of the whole closed-loop system. Finally, the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the design controller and robustness under external disturbances.