Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems 25: 79–94, 1999.

79
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

DC Thruster Controller Implementation with

Integral Anti-wind up Compensator for Underwater
ROV

JOHN N. LYGOURAS
Electronics and Digital Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
67100 Xanthi, Greece

(Received: 26 May 1998; in final form: 30 October 1998)

Abstract. This paper presents the implementation and experimental results of different conventional
position control schemes for positioning an experimental model, the THETIS Underwater Remotely
Operated Vehicle (UROV). To achieve minimum response time and in order to avoid the so-called
Integral Wind-up phenomenon, Proportional-Integral (PI) plus integral antiwind-up compensation
is used. Hardware implementation of the design is described and experimental results of a digital
position control system over one direction using two dc thrusters fed by four quadrant (PWM-Driven)
transistor choppers are given. All control algorithms are implemented using a TI’s Digital Signal
Processor (DSP). The actual position and orientation of the vehicle in a 3-D space is derived through a
combination of an ultrasonic scanning system, a direction gyrocompass, and a pressure depth sensor.
The vehicle’s use at the present stage of development is to perform water pollution measurements.

Key words: remotely operated vehicle (ROV), underwater technology, DC thrusters, integral wind-
up compensation, position control.

1. Introduction
In the past few years, the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) has rapidly
increased due to the development of these vehicles to perform operations in deeper
and riskier areas where human divers cannot reach. Applications of ROVs include
ocean surveying, maintenance and construction of underwater structures, mainte-
nance of nuclear plants, water pollution measurements, etc. [1–6]. The design of
a high performance position control system for an ROV is of interest both from
the view of motion stabilisation as well as manoeuvring and tracking performance.
The dynamic response provided by such controllers should satisfy a set of strict
specifications in terms of speed, precision, overshoot, and interactions among the
controlled and/or uncontrolled coordinates. The controller should also be able to
cope with environmental disturbances, such as sea current and turbulence near
subsea structures, normally acting on the ROV.
Several ROV controlling methods have been proposed in the literature. It is
well known that conventional controllers with fixed gains do not guarantee high

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quality response of the overall system when significant changes occur in the vehicle
dynamics. Most of the controlling methods are designed on the basis to reduce
the inherent coupling between the vehicle response modes that naturally exist in
ROVs. The approach leads to a set of separate designs for the steering, diving, and
speed control systems. Simulations are then executed based on the dynamics of the
vehicle to illustrate the robustness and validity of the concept.
Among the variety of possible control strategies proposed in the relevant papers,
two of them, the conventional linear P-PI controller is preferable for its simplicity
and has been shown to give good results in position control, at least when the vehi-
cle parameters are constant and no external disturbance exists. On the other hand,
the state-feedback Variable Structure Control (VSC) algorithm gives better results
since precise modelling of the ROV is not needed and unmodelled perturbations
can be effectively rejected [7, 8]. Recently, neural network-based controllers for
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV’s) have been proposed [9], and fuzzy
logic has been adopted to control the ballast of Unmanned Undersea Vehicles
(UUV’s) [10]. Most of the above control schemes, however, are not implemented
in real ROV models and their performance is verified only by simulation.
Although conventional controllers have some disadvantages as it was mentioned
above, they are preferable in many cases due to the simplicity of implementation. In
this paper, the P-PI controller with an integral antiwind-up compensator has been
used for position control of an ROV for every degree of freedom. It consists of an
inner velocity control loop and an outer positioncontrol loop. Another advantage of
the P-PI controller is its ability to reject step disturbances, i.e., to eliminate offset
provoked by step disturbance by means of the integral action of the inner loop [7].
An experimental model, 1.4 m long underwater ROV using DC thrusters (com-
bination of DC motor with a propeller) has been constructed. The model is a
remotely controlled submersible vehicle, rectangular in shape and composed of
a Ferrum-Aluminum framework which encloses and supports all components. The
configuration of the vehicle is of an open-frame type with buoyant material on its
top. The water flow around the vehicle of this type is complex, and it is very difficult
to estimate its hydrodynamic characteristics by computation. So, hydrodynamic
tests provide the only way to determine the derivatives which are necessary for the
evaluations of manoeuvrability.

2. ROV Model Structure

The ROV system can be described by the following equation:
     
F   u̇v   u̇r
= Mij + Aij , (1)
M ω̇v ω̇r
where F, M are the external forces and moments, Mij is the basic inertia matrix of
the vehicle, Aij is the added inertia matrix (including the added moments of inertia
and cross coupling terms such as force coefficients due to angular acceleration), uv

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 81

and wv are the linear and angular velocity of the vehicle, respectively, and ur , wr
are the linear and angular velocity with respect to the fluid, respectively.
This is the general model for the ROV system. In fact the model is similar in
structure to the models for objects which are not underwater. The main difference
is caused by the presence of the additional mass and the drag forces for underwater
vehicles. The external force is given as the sum of the hydrodynamic force Ff , grav-
ity force Fg , thrust Ft and the tension Fc of the tether cable at the cable termination
point. Thus:
F = Ff + Fg + Ft + Fc = Ff + Fb + Fw + 6Fti + Fc , (2)
where Fb is the buoyancy, Fw is the weight force of the vehicle, and Fti is thrust
of the ith thruster. The general ROV model is simplified by many authors not
considering, for example, the cable tension Fc (considering the influence of the
cable on ROV as disturbances) since the forces and the torques arising from the
cable are difficult to specify. However, if the external forces due to the cable are to
be considered, a number of force models can be found in the literature [11].
When the dynamics of the ROV and the thrusters are considered, a complex
nonlinear system is obtained, even when the craft dynamics is assumed to be linear
(for instance, hover), due to the nonlinear features of the thrusters at low speed op-
eration. Thus, when a control system for the thrusters of an ROV is to be designed
one must take into account all the existing nonlinearities.
To apply linear control theory, it is necessary to obtain a linear model for the
ROV. The nonlinear model describing an ROV can be written as follows [12, 13]:
ẋ = f (x, u), (3)
where x is a state vector, and u is the input, which are forces and moments pro-
duced by the thrusters. Given an operating point: x0 = (u0 , v0 , w0 , p0 , q0 , r0 )T
with inputs: Th = (t10 , t20 , t30 , t40 , t50 , t60 )T , a small variation around this can be
approximated by a linear model usually written as:
 
 
δ ẋ = (∂f/∂x) x=x δx + (∂f/∂u) x=x δu (4)
0 0
u=u0 u=u0

where x0 and u0 are nominal output and input which satisfy:

ẋ0 = f (x0 , u0 ). (5)
For the ROV model, the state is defined by x1 = [u v w p q r]T and x2 =
[ϑ̇, ϕ̇, φ̇]T , hence,
   
ẋ1 f1 (x1 , x2 , u)
= , (6)
ẋ2 f2 (x1 , x2 )
where u, v and w denote the three components of the absolute translational velocity
in the Oxyz system attached to the centre of the mass of the vehicle, p, q and

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82 J. N. LYGOURAS

r denote the three components of the absolute angular velocity W in the Oxyz
system and ϑ, ϕ and φ are the Euler angles.
Considering an input of the form:

u = u0 + δu (7)

where u0 is the nominal input, and δu is the difference between the actual and
nominal, we can evaluate x0 = f (x0 , u0 ). Then, nominal input and nominal state
should satisfy the ROV nonlinear model, namely

ẋ0 = f (x0 , u0 ), (8)

so x0 can be obtained through the above equation. In this case, the range in which
the linear model coincides with the nonlinear one can be investigated. Based on the
simulation results of linear velocities of the ROV given in [11], this range can be
limited as follows: if U10 , W10 , q10 and Un , Wn , qn , the velocity u, w and q from the
linear model with zero inputs as the nominal one and the ones from the nonlinear
model, respectively, the ROV nonlinear model can be approximated by a linear one
with satisfactory precision, i.e., U10 ∼= Un and q10 ∼ = qn if
Un < 0.5 m/s, wn < 0.02 m/s and qn < 0.03 rad/s

and W10 ∼
= Wn and q10 ∼
= qn if
Un < 0.01 m/s, wn < 0.2 m/s and qn < 0.012 rad/s

if the above conditions are satisfied, the nonlinear model can be approximated by
the linear one with satisfactory precision.
There are practical reasons why the dynamic models of DC motors cannot
be applied directly to model the motors of the DC thrusters. Although many of
the characteristic parameters are provided by the motor manufacturer, there are
parameters (e.g., the moment of inertia of the load, frictional torque, the dumping
constant, the drag forces, the gravity and buoyancy forces and moments) that must
be obtained experimentally after the motors are built into the vehicle.
Underwater vehicles are generally equipped with thrusters which consist of a
propeller driven by a torque source τ . In normal operation, the rotational velocity
of the propeller n and the advance velocity of the vehicle, VA , are both positive (first
quadrant operation). The load torque Q from the propeller and the thrust force T
are then usually written as:

Q = ρD 5 KQ (J0 )n|n|, (9)

T = ρD 4 KT (J0 )n|n|, (10)

where ρ is the mass density of water, D is the propeller diameter, KQ and KT

are the torque and the thrust coefficients of the propeller and J0 is the advance
ratio: J0 = VA /nD. If both n and VA are negative (fourth quadrant), the thruster

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 83

characteristics are quite similar to those in the first quadrant. In general, however,
the thrust and torque coefficients are not equal in these two quadrants (i.e., sym-
metrical), since positive thrust is usually greater than negative thrust. It is assumed
that an algebraic relation, although complicated, exists between the thrust Ti of
propeller i and the physical input. Therefore, the thrust will be chosen as input in
the system:

ui = Ti . (11)

This means that the system will be linear in the inputs. In order to adjust the output
torque of each thruster the motor’s speed must be controlled.
The control system for the ROV thrusters has to consider two aspects. The
first one is related to the nonlinear character of its dynamics, as it is described by
Equations (9) and (10). The influence of the nonlinear term |n|n is reflected in time
responses of the thrusters to different amplitude step functions. For larger inputs
the response is more rapid so that at hover, where the nominal force required is
minimum, the time response of the thruster is higher. The second aspect is related
to the operating condition of the thrusters at hover.
One major problem that dc motors introduce, when driven by low input voltages
directly or using a PWM driver circuit, is that of dead-band nonlinearity. Consider-
ing as static this nonlinearity, it is cancelled in our application by specially designed
logarithmic networks. These circuits are designed in a way to present a nonlinear
transfer characteristic, symmetric to the axis y = x, to the static nonlinearity of
the dc motor. When such a circuit is connected in series with the dc motor driver
circuit, the dead-band nonlinearity of the motor is cancelled [14].

3. Position Control System Using DC Thrusters

There has been a lot of research work on the analysis of position controllers using
brush dc servomotors [15–17] using either conventional or modern control tech-
niques. The basic requirements in a position control system are the properties of
small overshoot and fast settling time to a step input change. Commonly, several
combinations of P (Proportional), I (Integral) and D (Derivative) terms are used. In
the sequel the implementation of a position controller of the underwater vehicle,
based on the information derived from suitable sensors is described. The control
system is responsible for the overall system performance because it determines
the movement on a specific trajectory path. This trajectory is determined either
manually or automatically by the trajectory planning algorithm of the vehicle. The
vehicle is controllable through brush DC thrusters and is capable to move in the 3-
D space and to turn around the z axis. The position control of the vehicle in space
is achieved through the torque control of its thrusters.
The measured sensor signals used for position control feedback are depth, ori-
entation, and distance from surrounding objects by means of an ultrasonic scanner
system [18]. This system provides the capability to scan the 3-D space around the

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84 J. N. LYGOURAS

(a)

(b)
Figure 1. (a) The THETIS ROV propeller placement and (b) the Position Error Transforma-
tion (PET) technique to drive the system.

vehicle and to represent the scanned profile on the controlling computer screen.
The scanning ultrasonic tranceiver can be stopped in any desired direction if an
obstacle has been detected. The actual position in the 3-D space of the ROV can be
derived using combined information of the above sensors.
In Figure 1(a) the THETIS ROV considered is equipped with four propellers
(p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 ) which allow us to control the vehicle on the horizontal plane
(xh , yh ), the depth zh , and the heading φ. The remaining degrees of freedom (pitch

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 85

θ and roll ϕ angles) cannot be directly controlled. However, the system uses passive
stability keeping the metacentric height of the vehicle sufficiently large resulting in
small pitch and roll angles.
The ROV control inputs, denoted as uj (j = x, y, z, φ) are the signals that
are applied to the command unit of the ROV propellers. In manual control, those
inputs are produced by the tele-operator through a joystick. Using the Position
Error Transformation (PET) technique to drive the system, (Figure 1(b)) the posi-
tion error and the ROV velocity measured in inertial coordinates are transformed
to body coordinates and the controller gives directly the ROV control inputs uj .
Assuming that θ and ϕ are zero, the position error in body coordinates is given by
the following transformation:
[ex ey ez ]T = Tz (φ)(Pref − P), eφ = φref − φ, (12)
" #
cos φ sin φ 0
Tz (φ) = − sin φ cos φ 0 . (13)
0 0 1
A block diagram of the digital position control system is shown in Figure 2. It is
composed of the power circuit, the controlled thruster, the controlling DSP, suitable
sensors and the appropriate interface. Using the ultrasonic scanning system the
actual distance of the vehicle from the surrounding environment is displayed. If a
stable target is detected, the vehicle is capable of keeping a constant distance xd
from it. The respective thrusters are then actuated in a direction so that to make the
position error xd −xr zero. In the same way the heading φr is read from a gyroscope
and the respective thrusters P1 and P2 can be actuated to turn the vehicle about the
z axis.

Figure 2. Ultrasonics, depth sensor, and a gyrocompass-based ROV position control system.

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86 J. N. LYGOURAS

Table I. Thrusters specifications

Type DC motor

Input DC ±25 V, ±6 A main power and

DC ±12 V for electronic module
Output 120 W at ±3000 rpm
Output torque 1.6 Nm
Control method Output torque control via PWM
Size 80 mm (diameter) × 150 mm
Propeller diameter 10 cm, two-blade

The power circuit that allows us to control the vehicle on the horizontal plane
(xh , yh ) consists of two dc thrusters P1 and P2 which can be operated together
or separately driven by four quadrant choppers and using the PWM technique.
Four-quadrant operation is necessary for accelerating and braking the motors in
both directions. The choppers operate at a fixed frequency of 10 KHz with a vari-
able duty cycle controlled by an input voltage (−10 V < Vin < + 10 V). Specially
designed D/A converters are used to convert the desired control word into the
corresponding input voltage for the chopper. The characteristics of the thrusters
used in our experiments are listed in Table I.
We have made the following assumptions on the position control system:

• The whole system is a linear system.

• The time response of back emf of the motor is considered very slow vs. time
response of the current loop, thus it has been omitted.
• The time delays of the chopper (bridge) and ultrasonic transceiver (when it
measures the distance of a stable target) have also been omitted.

4. PI Controller Implementation with Integral Antiwind-up Compensator

The implemented control scheme is shown in Figure 3(a). According to the PET
presented in the previous paragraph, an algorithm was implemented to control the
four DC thrusters for positioning the vehicle in each direction. Three different
position control schemes have been implemented and tested, more thoroughly the
following:

• Position and velocity feedback with P and PI controllers, respectively,

• Position, velocity and current feedback with P, PI and PI controllers, respec-
tively, and

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 87

(a)

(b)
Figure 3. The implemented position control schemes: (a) position and velocity feedback and
(b) integral antiwind-up compensator.

• Position and velocity feedback with P and PI controllers, respectively, plus an

integral antiwind-up compensator.

A severe problem in analogue controllers including an I-term is the so-called

“integral wind-up” phenomenon, caused by persistent offset between the mea-
sured and set values. This saturation-type nonlinearity is not considered in most
conventional methods of analysis and design of position controllers, though such
nonlinearity practically exists in the current reference input node. The effect of this
is to lengthen the system settling time and to cause large overshoots. Fortunately, it

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88 J. N. LYGOURAS

is simple to include mechanisms for the exact adjustments of the integral term into
digital controllers.
To overcome the integral wind-up problem of the speed controller with PI-
action, integral antiwind-up compensation is used and extensively tested. Accord-
ing to this technique, the controller employs the PI-action when the magnitude of
the velocity error is smaller than a prescribed value. Otherwise, the controller gen-
erates the maximum permissible control signal with the integrator being forced to
reset. The design, which is experimentally verified, proves that the speed controller
of this type provides a fast settling time property with small overshoots regardless
of the magnitude of the reference input signal. In this way, the integral wind-up is
prevented and also the maximum ratings of hardware components are utilized.
The purpose of the speed control loop is to reduce the effects of hydrodynamic
and drag forces and also to compensate for the load carried by the thruster. The
vehicle’s actual speed is obtained by numerical differentiation of the translational
displacement along the axis during a fixed time interval. The required position
and velocity accuracy depend on the specific application. Although this method
does not provide so accurate results, since position measurements can be noisy,
it is the simplest way since it is difficult to derive the linear and angular speed
of the vehicle in all directions. Moreover, the accuracy achieved by the ultrasonic
scanning system (1 cm) is enough for our application. The number representing the
speed for the ith sampling period is given by:
[u(i) − u(i − 1)]
v(i) = KuF , (14)
1t
where KuF is the feedback gain of the speed.
The implementation of the PI-controllers for the speed control and current con-
trol loops is achieved by using the incremental trapezoidal integration algorithm
which computes the integrals of the errors with an increased accuracy:
vu = vu−1 + 1vu (15)
    
T T
1vu = Kx eu 1 + − eu−1 1 − (16)
2Ti 2Ti
The gain of the outer position controller has been estimated using the Zigler–
Nichols technique operating the system only with the position control loop. The
selection of time constants of the PI controllers is based on the conventional analy-
sis.
The transfer function of this type of controller is given by the following equa-
tion:   
 Ku (eu (t) + (1/Tu )I ), for eu (t) 6 k,
u(t) = Emax and I = 0 for eu (t) > k, (17)

−Emax and I = 0 for eu (t) < −k,
where

• u(t) is the output of the controller,

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 89

• eu (t) is the speed error,

• Emax is the maximum allowable R t voltage to the thruster,
• I is the integrators output = 0 eu (t) dt,
• Ku is the forward velocity gain,
• Tu is the integration time constant,
• k is a user defined small positive number.

The above algorithm describes the bang-bang control action which in a block
diagram is shown in Figure 3(b). The desired speed here is compared with the
actual speed resulting from differentiation of the distance signal derived from the
ultrasonic scanning system. If the absolute value of the error is less than or equal
to the prescribed value k then the error is given via the PI controller to the motor.
When the error is greater than k, then the maximum allowable voltage is given
to the motor while keeping the integrator reset. From the implementation of the
above control algorithm two significant advantages are resulting. The first one is
the minimization of response time of the system while keeping the overshoot low,
and the second is avoidance of the so-called Integral Wind-up phenomenon. The
threshold k used in the PI speed controller is experimentally determined as in the
other relevant applications.

5. Experimental Results
The modelling, design and control of an open-frame underwater remotely operated
vehicle have been described in this paper. Under the assumption that the linear
velocity of the vehicle along the axis of motion is low, the ROV model can be
considered as linear. This assumption is not far away from reality since the velocity
of this kind of vehicles is rarely higher than 0.5 m/s. The flow round the vehicle
of this type is complex, and it is difficult to estimate its hydrodynamic charac-
teristics by simulations. So, hydrodynamic tests were conducted to determine the
derivatives which are necessary for the evaluations of manoeuvrability. Since the
thruster parameters are unknown, experimental data are acquired to identify the
continuous-time model. The order of the model is chosen to ensure acceptable ac-
curacy, without increasing the complexity of the controller. Velocity step response
of the dc thruster was made to identify the transfer function from pulse width to
velocity. Velocity measurements are taken every 5 ms. The dominant time constant
of the motor is found to be 120 ms. The motor exhibits nonlinear saturation at the
maximum velocity (4000 rpm in no load conditions, 1500 rpm inside the water)
and a frictional dead zone at small command inputs (|Vin | < 2.0 V).
The above described control schemes in Figure 3 have been experimentally im-
plemented and extensively tested. The ROV system has been tested in a water-pool,
in the laboratory of Hydraulics. Artificial water-pool bed profile on the controlling
computer screen, using the ultrasonic scanning system, is illustrated in Figure 4.
This image enables the user to know the distances of the objects surrounding the

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90 J. N. LYGOURAS

Figure 4. Artificial water-pool bed profile on the controlling computer screen, using the
ultrasonic scanning system.

vehicle on a plane including the X-axis and rotated at an angle β relatively to the
x-z plane. The scanning transceiver can be rotated round the x axis and in this way
it can scan the space around the vehicle over almost a hemisphere. The two-way
scanning time for the ultrasonic transducer is about 1.0 s.
Step input response is taken moving the vehicle longitudinally along the x axis.
Nonlinearities in the control system (motor saturation and position quantization)
have been neglected in the controller design. The nonlinearity caused by friction
and moment of inertia of the rotor (dead-band nonlinearity) is cancelled using the
circuit described in reference [14] with very satisfactory results. Controller gains
have been selected to satisfy the design goals of minimum overshoot and settling
time. Experimental results showing the response of the P-PI controller to step
inputs in the x direction are shown in Figure 5. Obviously, the last response is
a better one since it has the minimum response time and smaller overshoot. The
satisfying system response is achieved with small overshoot while no disturbances
exist.

6. Conclusions
The position controller using PI plus integral antiwind-up compensation has been
implemented and successfully tested for control of the thrusters of the constructed
ROV. Initial experimental results have been presented in this paper. This control
law is simple and can be very easily implemented. Even though the presented ROV
is essentially an experimental, test-bed vehicle, it is still capable of performing

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 91

(a)

(b)
Figure 5. Step input response of the three tested configurations: (a) large signal step response
for the case where position and velocity feedback is used with P and PI controller, respectively.
Here, Kx = 13, Ku = 1.1 and Kx = 21.5, Tu = 20; (b) position, velocity and current
feedback with P, PI and PI controllers, respectively. Here Kx = 10, Ku = 1.1, Tu = 30,
Kc = 1, Tc = 70 and Kx = 12, Ku = 1.0, Tu = 25, Kc = 1.1, Tc = 60 and (c) position and
speed feedback with P, PI controllers, respectively, with integral antiwind-up compensation.
Here, Kx = 15, Ku = 0.8, Tu = 5 and n = 0.55 V.

various shallow water tasks. It is equipped with a B/W video-camera and other
suitable sensors and its primary use, at the present stage of development, is to
perform water pollution measurements. It is a low-cost, efficient and reliable ve-
hicle which can prove a good subsea support system for underwater site surveys
(wrecks, coral, shells, pipelines, etc.), in heavily polluted water up to 100 m deep.
It can also be used for surface monitored underwater tasks as well as diver support,

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92 J. N. LYGOURAS

(c)

(d)

(e)
Figure 5. (Continued.)

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DC THRUSTER CONTROLLER FOR UNDERWATER ROV 93

Figure 6. The constructed THETIS ROV.

thus improving diver efficiency and safety. A photograph of the constructed ROV
is shown in Figure 6.

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