Publications       Rudy Negenborn
Full Professor, Head of Section
Main
Publications
Team & Themes
Education
Resume

Title:Manoeuvring modelling and control design of autonomous vessels on inland waterways
Authors:C. Zhang, A. Dhyani, J.W. Ringsberg, F. Thies, V. Reppa, R.R. Negenborn

Conference:43rd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2024)
Address:Singapore
Date:June 2024

Abstract:Autonomous inland shipping has great potential to enable intelligent and sustainable freight transport. At the same time, with the increasing traffic on confined waterways, ensuring safe operations of these autonomous inland vessels within limited operational spaces becomes imperative. This will require considering hydrodynamic effects during control design stages. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of an autonomous inland vessel's manoeuvrability and controller design. The ship’s motions are modelled using an enhanced Manoeuvring Modelling Group (MMG) model to account for the hydrodynamic effects of inland waterways, including water depths, river currents, and bank effects. A verification study is conducted utilising a pusher-barge prototype model in shallow water to verify the model's accuracy. Through the implementation of a controller, a course-keeping study is conducted to assess the vessel's steering performance across various inland waterway scenarios, including sailing along river bends and waterway intersections. The results show that the manoeuvring model can generate fast and accurate vessel trajectory predictions. It is found that the proposed control technique proves effective in mitigating the confinement effects and countering disturbances caused by river currents, thereby ensuring efficient course-keeping suitable for the considered type of autonomous vessels on inland waterways.

Reference:Manoeuvring modelling and control design of autonomous vessels on inland waterways. C. Zhang, A. Dhyani, J.W. Ringsberg, F. Thies, V. Reppa, R.R. Negenborn. Accepted for the 43rd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2024), Singapore, June 2024.
Request:A copy of this publication.


Send me any comments.