Path following for underactuated marine craft using line of sight algorithm

This work provides algorithms for underactuated ship path guidance using nonlinear control theory. Path following is achieved by a geometric assignment based on a line-of-sight projection algorithm for minimization of the cross-track error to the path. The control laws in surge and yaw are derived using backstepping. This results in a dynamic feedback controller where the dynamics of the uncontrolled sway mode enters the yaw control law. Uniform Global Asymptotic Stability (UGAS) is proven for the tracking error dynamics in surge and yaw while the controller dynamics is bounded. To show the effectiveness of the controller and guidance systems, we simulate our algorithm using Simulink on a marine craft model.