Passive fault tolerant control allocation for small unmanned underwater vehicle

摘要

The paper presents methods of control allocation in a multi-thruster propulsion system of a small torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle. It concentrates on finding an optimal thrust distribution among thrusters for demanded values of propulsive forces and moments. The approach is directed towards minimisation of energy expenditures necessary to obtain required control. Special attention is paid to the unconstrained thrust allocation for both a faultless and faulty work of the propulsion system. The developed algorithms are designed to be modular, interchangeable and highly computationally efficient. Illustrative examples are inserted to demonstrate correctness and simplicity of proposed thrust allocation methods.