Path tracking control for aquaculture workshop transport unmanned vehicles considering delay characteristics

A high-precision path tracking control method considering delay characteristics was proposed to improve the path tracking accuracy of aquaculture transport unmanned vehicle in the process of transporting aquatic products. Firstly, the dynamics of the unmanned vehicle in the breeding workshop was analyzed. The dynamics model of the unmanned vehicle was built. Secondly, the communication delay and actuator delay were expressed as pure delay module and first order inertia delay model. The delay dynamic model was constructed. Through the model predictive control algorithm, the controller suitable for the intelligent breeding workshop scene was designed. The simulation platform was built by MATLAB/Simulink and CarSim, and verified based on the real transport unmanned vehicle and workshop layout. The results showed that compared with MPC controller without delay, MPC controller only considering actuator delay and LQR controller considering delay, the lateral error and course Angle error of the proposed method were reduced by 96% and 95%, 15% and 34%, 5% and 28%, respectively. The results showed that the proposed method performed better in path tracking when facing the delay problem. This study solves the delay problem of unmanned vehicles in aquaculture transportation, improves the path tracking accuracy, and ensures the accuracy and safety of unmanned vehicle transportation in aquaculture workshops.