Heading control method and experiments for an unmanned wave glider

The control system designing of unmanned wave glider (UWG) is challenging since the control system is weak maneuvering, large time-lag and large disturbance, which is difficult to establish accurate mathematical model. The control system for the “Ocean Rambler” UWG is studied in this work. A heading control method based on S-surface controller is designed. For the “rudder zero drift” problem in trials, an improved S-surface control method based on rudder angle compensation is proposed, which can compensate the adverse effects from environmental forces and installation error. The tank test and sea trial results prove that the proposed control method has favorable control performance, and the feasibility and reliability of the designed control system are also verified.