A Ship Manoeuvring Desktop Simulator for Developing and Validating Automatic Control Algorithms

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a user-friendly simulator developed based on Windows Forms and deployed as a test bed for validating automatic control algorithms. The effectiveness of some of the integrated track controllers has been tested with free running experiments carried out in the Towing Tank for Manoeuvres in Shallow Water in Ostend, Belgium. The controllers enable a ship to follow predefined random paths with high accuracy. Ship-to-ship interaction is considered in some cases. Simulator environments provide useful tools for extending the number of validation scenarios, supplementing the work performed in the towing tank. The simulator is presented with a graphical user interface, aiming at providing a good user experience, numerous test scenarios and an extensively-validated library of automatic control algorithms. With the usage of the simulator, further evaluation of developed control algorithms by implementing extensive test runs with different ships and waterways could be made. Case studies are shown to illustrate the functionality of the simulator.

KEYWORDS: Automatic Control, Optimal Tracking Algorithms, Manoeuvring Simulator, Anti-Collision Maneuvering, Autonomous Ship Controller (ASC), Model Predictive Control (MPC), Waypoint Path Controller, Authonomy of Ships

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Citation note:

He H., Lataire E., Zwijnsvoorde T.V., Delefortrie G.: A Ship Manoeuvring Desktop Simulator for Developing and Validating Automatic Control Algorithms. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 17, No. 3, doi:10.12716/1001.17.03.12, pp. 607-616, 2023

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Authors in other databases:

Hongwei He: ORCID iD icon

orcid.org/0000-0001-8598-5168 Scopus icon

57219443934

Evert Lataire: ORCID iD icon

orcid.org/0000-0002-3551-6686 Scopus icon

35299737600

Thibaut Van Zwijnsvoorde: ORCID iD icon

orcid.org/0000-0001-5745-6672 Scopus icon

57192070984

Guillaume Delefortrie: ORCID iD icon

orcid.org/0000-0003-4109-3330 Scopus icon

10739448300

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