PATH FOLLOWING OF STRAIGHT LINES AND CIRCLES FOR MARINE SURFACE VESSELS

摘要

This paper addresses the problem of path following for marine surface vessels. A guidance-based approach which is equally applicable for land, sea and air vehicles is presented. The main idea is to explicitly control the velocity vector of the vehicles in such a way that they converge to and follow the desired geometrical paths in a natural and elegant manner. Specifically, straight lines and circles are considered. A nonlinear model-based controller is designed for a fully actuated vessel to enable it to comply with the guidance commands. The vessel is exposed to a constant environmental force, so integral action is added by means of parameter adaptation. A full nonlinear vessel model is used in the design. By introducing sideslip compensation and a dynamic controller state, the results are extended to underactuated vessels.