Safe Sliding Mode Control for Marine Vessels Using High-Order Control Barrier Functions and Fast Projection

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24281v1
• Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 15:10:37 GMT
• Title: Safe Sliding Mode Control for Marine Vessels Using High-Order Control Barrier Functions and Fast Projection
• Abstract summary: This paper presents a novel safe control framework that integrates Sliding Mode Control (SMC), High-Order Control Barrier Functions (HOCBFs) with state-dependent adaptiveness and a lightweight projection for collision-free navigation of an over-actuated 3-DOF marine surface vessel subjected to strong environmental disturbances (wind, waves, and current)<n>For small marine robots and surface vessels with limited onboard computational resources-where execution speed and computational efficiency are critical-the SMC-HOCBF framework constitutes a strong candidate for safety-critical control.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: This paper presents a novel safe control framework that integrates Sliding Mode Control (SMC), High-Order Control Barrier Functions (HOCBFs) with state-dependent adaptiveness and a lightweight projection for collision-free navigation of an over-actuated 3-DOF marine surface vessel subjected to strong environmental disturbances (wind, waves, and current). SMC provides robustness to matched disturbances common in marine operations, while HOCBFs enforce forward invariance of obstacle-avoidance constraints. A fast half-space projection method adjusts the SMC control only when needed, preserving robustness and minimizing chattering. The approach is evaluated on a nonlinear marine platform model that includes added mass, hydrodynamic damping, and full thruster allocation. Simulation results show robust navigation, guaranteed obstacle avoidance, and computational efficiency suitable for real-time embedded use. For small marine robots and surface vessels with limited onboard computational resources-where execution speed and computational efficiency are critical-the SMC-HOCBF framework constitutes a strong candidate for safety-critical control.

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