Intelligent Control for Ship Manoeuvering

Abstract

In ship manoeuvering, the only two actuators are rudder and propeller revolution for the whole system. Therefore, by controlling these two for a designated purpose, automation in ship manoeuvering could be established. Classical control system like PID for track keeping or course changing has widely been used by on-board autopilot system. However, there are number of sophisticated ship manoeuveres, where the classical control systems fail and thus, the intelligent controllers are often encouraged to take over the classical systems. This paper is aimed to point out the application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controller for automatic ship berthing and Fuzzy Logic controller for waypoint controller in particular. Strategies as well as the formation of the two controllers are discussed briefly. In addition, simulations and experiments results are presented and compared to ensure the practical applicability of these intelligent controllers.