• identification
• LQR
• submarine
• robust control

The best way to save money in a submarine design project is to identify ways in which the design can be improved, at an early stage as possible. A powerful method to achieve this goal is to simulate the design in a numerical computing environment. The aims of this thesis are therefore the evaluation of the performance of DRASS DG160 Midget Submarine, designed by Drass Galeazzi, and the realization of its autopilot system with particular attention to the use of the compensation tanks. In order to achieve these goals it has been necessary to make a preliminary identification of the dynamic parameters of the craft, based on the $3$D CAD, and to integrate these in a simulator which implements the dynamic equation of motion, to test the developed controller. Since the control system shall have a high grade of safety in its main functions a controller must be chosen from the robust controllers family. Two types of control will be presented, the PID controller made robust through the choice of phase and gain margins and the intrinsically robust LQR controller. For a better visual understanding the simulator was equipped with a 3D graphic interface realized through the Simulink 3D Animation and Guide.