Nonlinear Navigation System for underactuated autonomous surface ships in adverse weather conditions

Abstract

This project aims to develop a nonlinear navigation system for autonomous ships that can offer a reliable solution for autonomous ships navigating in high-frequency dynamic systems. It solves the time delay and low-rate signal output of conventional GPS stand-alone-based navigation systems. Both time and output signal rate are important because the ship’s dynamic motion is sensitive to environmental disturbance. The environmental loads on the vessel’s motion are not only a slow dynamic but also include high-frequency oscillations. This system also maintains the local and global stability performance of the navigation system of underactuated marine autonomous surface ships in adverse weather conditions. The theoretical analysis and experimental validation of the proposed navigation system will be presented. The proposed navigation system will be implemented on the autonomous ship model and the free-running ship model tests will be carried out with the real environmental disturbance.