Position/attitude control of a jet-propelled surface-vessel prototype via the simplex-vector sliding-mode approach

This note concerns the design and implementation of a position/attitude sliding-mode controller for a surface vessel prototype. The prototype is equipped with a special, recently patented (V. Arrichiello, et al., 2005), propulsion system based on hydrojets with variable output section. The sliding mode control design is based on the vector simplex method (G, Bartolini, et al., 1997). First we describe the structure and the working principle of the prototype. Then, we present an approximate dynamic model and describe the detailed derivation of the motion controller. Finally, the major implementation issues are discussed and some experimental results are shown.