Abstract: Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) are important tools for exploration and development of Marine resources. AUV's advanced navigation and control, communications, sensors and other technologies have enabled humans to make a big leap in understanding the ocean. The control system is the core component of the underwater vehicle, which is also the key to determine whether the working state of the underwater vehicles are stable and reliable. The paper summarizes and analyzes the development process and research status of AUV at home and abroad, introduces the control technology of AUV and summarizes the causes of the difficult control of AUV. The main control technologies of AUV are systematically discussed, and the basic principles of several main control methods are briefly introduced. At the same time, the motion control of AUV are further analyzed in detail, which can provide some certain references for the selection of the operation control methods, the design of the corresponding controllers and the construction of the control system for underwater vehicle. Finally, the potential application of the continuous advancement of AUV's development technology in the future marine development field is prospected.

Key words: Autonomous, Underwater Vehicle, Control Technology, Control System