An Integrated Precision Control System (IPCS) for Marine Vessels

SSCI, in collaboration with MIT (Profs. C. Chryssostomidis and M. Triantafyllou), Olin College (Prof. D. Barrett), and Harvard University (Prof. G. Lauder), proposes to develop and implement a novel Integrated Precision Control System (IPCS) for marine vessels employing secondary propulsors as a part of the overall control authority. The IPCS will have unique capabilities since it will explicitly address the following issues: (i) Problem of control inputs affecting the dynamics in a nonlinear fashion that arises in the implementation of azimuthing thrusters; (ii) Nonlinear control allocation for the case of over-actuation of the vessel resulting from the use of additional control effectors characterized by nonlinear dynamics; (iii) Singularity avoidance and satisfaction of control effector constraints using one-step-ahead optimal nonlinear control strategy; and (iv) Retrofit adaptive fault-tolerant implementation allowing the azimuthing thrusters to be added to or removed from the overall control system with ease. In the base period of Phase I, the focus of the SSCI''s uniquely strong team will be on problem formulation, development of a control design model, IPCS design, and initial performance evaluation, while in the option period further performance testing will be carried out. Phase II will focus on implementation and in-water testing of the IPCS.