Design and Application of an Adaptive Neural Network to Dynamic Positioning Control of Ship

This paper presents an adaptive neural network based controller and its application to Dynamic Positioning (DP) control system of ship. The proposed neural network based controller is developed for station-keeping and low-speed maneuvering control of ship. At first, the DP system configuration is described. And then, to validate the proposed DP system, computer simulations of station-keeping and low-speed maneuvering performance of a multi-purpose supply ship are presented under the influence of measurement noise, external disturbances such as sea current, wave, and wind. The simulations have shown the feasibility of the DP system in various maneuvering situations.