• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 2012

This research presents an analysis of algorithm for ship track-keeping along a given trajectory. The maneuver of a free running model ship guiding through a simple path are presented. In order to solve the above problem, a desired trajectory is usually determined by GPS points in a pre-fixed place then these points are set in a pre-programmed navigation so that the ship would be automatically tracked. Proportional-Derivative(PD) control which is useful for fast response controllers was used in this program as a course keeping system. A high accuracy GPS receiver was installed on the model ship that could provide positions frequently, the system will compare and give out the remaining distance and heading to the target way-point. The results of ship auto track-keeping experiment will be explained in order to illustrate the adjustment in controlling parameters. These results can be utilized as a preliminary step to carry out the experiment of ship collision avoidance system and automatic berthing in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.557-565
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• 2021

Path-following control is considered as one of the most fundamental skills to realize autonomous navigation of marine vessels in the ocean. This study addresses with the path-following control for a ship in which there are environmental disturbances in the directions of the surge, sway, and yaw motions. The guiding principle and back-stepping method was utilized to solve the ship's tracking problem on the reference path generated by a virtual ship. For path-following control, error dynamics is one of the most important skills, and it extends to the research fields of automatic collision avoidance and automatic berthing control. The algorithms for the guiding principles and error variables have been verified by numerical simulation. As a result, most error variables converged to zero values with the controller except for the yaw angle error. One of the most interesting results is that the tracking errors of path-following control between two ships are smaller than the existing safe passing distances considering interaction forces from near passing ships. Moreover, a trade-off between tracking performance and the ship's safety should be considered for determining the proper control parameters to prevent the destructive failure of actuators such as propellers, fins, and rudders during the path-following of marine vessels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2021

In the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the interest in autonomous ship technology is increasing as high-tech technologies are being increasingly utilized throughout the industry. Therefore, we conducted a basic study on autonomous ships. In particular, a passenger ship model was produced and an autonomous navigation system was established by applying the ardupilot used for drones. The possibility of automatic control of the autonomous ship operations was confirmed by executing various voyage plans using the built model ship. In the performance test for maintaining the course the model ship could not follow the designated course straight and sailed up to 5.4 m away from the course while navigating in a zigzag (S-shape); however, after the parameters were modified, the deviation distance was reduced to a maximum of 1.8 m. In the turning performance test, the maximum diameter of the turning sphere was found to be approximately 9.3 m, but no significant change could be confirmed even after the parameters were modified. However, the results of our tests on slowing down the ship before arriving at the WP confirmed that the diameter of the turning sphere was reduced to a maximum of approximately 3.2 m. In order to evaluate the stopping performance, the last scheduled stopping position of all experiments was compared with the actual stopping position of the model ship and it was confirmed that the model ship stopped at a point at least 0.4 m and a maximum of 6.2 m away from the stopping position. In the future, improvement of course stability, turning performance, and stopping performance is required through modification and supplementation of various parameters. Moreover, a study on automatic berthing of the model ship through automatic control is planned.