The independent cabling operation of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in complex submarine terrain should balance cabling quality with self-safety, which means that the AUV should maintain a stable height relative to the seabed. To this end, this paper designs an optimal obstacle avoidance design for a cable-laying AUV based on model prediction control (MPC).

First, the method establishes a path-following control model based on MPC. It then classifies different obstacles into topographic bulges or depressions, and establishes a simplified mathematical model of the obstacles. Second, the method designs multiple objective optimization functions for different topographic environments according to the feature points, allowing the AUV to choose the shortest path with the minimum variation in cable-laying height.

The results show that this method achieves the most minimal changes in cable-laying height while also choosing the most optimal path to avoid obstacles.

The proposed method not only ensures the safety of AUVs in complex submarine terrain, but also greatly improves the laying quality of submarine cables.