Finite-time output feedback path following control of underactuated MSV based on FTESO

The paper designs a finite-time output feedback path following control strategy of underactuated marine surface vehicle (MSV) with the unavailable velocity, the unknown dynamic and unknown external environment disturbances. Firstly, a new finite time extended state observer (FTESO) is devised to accurately observe the unknown velocity and unknown lumped disturbances within finite time. Secondly, depending on the output of FTESO, the velocity observation-based finite-time LOS guidance approach is raised to acquire the reference yaw angle. Thirdly, the finite-time output feedback path following controllers are constructed through the backstepping method to track the desired path with precise tracking performance. It has been demonstrated that the observation error of FTESO is capable of converging to zero and the path following error is able to converge to an arbitrarily small domain near zero in finite time according to the homogeneous theory and the Lyapunov theory. Simulation comparison researches are performed to demonstrate the availability of the designed finite-time output feedback path following strategy.