A ROBUST LINEAR DYNAMIC POSITIONING CONTROLLER FOR A MARINE SURFACE VEHICLE

Author

Thomas P. DeRensis, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Date of Award

2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)

Department

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor

Richard Vaccaro

Abstract

The autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) owned by the University of Rhode Island currently uses a PID controller that is insucient for its maneuvering goals. The goal was to develop a robust linear controller based on state space dynamic positioning models that is able to follow a given path with minimal error in the presence of environmental disturbances and model perturbations. A controller was designed for the linear Cybership II model in MATLAB and then tested in Simulink with these disturbances on a nonlinear Cybership II model. The linear controller uses a feedfoward inverse lter to follow a desired elliptical path with high accuracy and uses new methods for choosing feedback gains to provide greater H1 robustness than MATLAB's place function. It was found that these new methods tracked the desired ellipse with lower error than existing pole placement methods. These methods show promise for real world implementation of linear controllers on URI's ASV and other surface vehicles.

Recommended Citation

DeRensis, Thomas P., "A ROBUST LINEAR DYNAMIC POSITIONING CONTROLLER FOR A MARINE SURFACE VEHICLE" (2013). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 132.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/132