Manoeuvring control for pusher barge in restricted water

Abstract

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism widely used in industrial control systems. This paper presents more robust control technique applied to a ship manoeuvring system using PID only and combined PID and Active Force Controls (AFC) strategies. A PID controller attempts to correct the error between a measured actual position and a desired set point by calculating and then outputting a corrective action that can adjust the process accordingly. AFC feeds corrective signal to PID controller based on the force of the rudder and actual ship position. A fast time domain simulation program was developed as an analysis tool for a pusher-barge manoeuvring in restricted water with current. It was found that ship manoeuvring control system with combined PID and AFC yields superior performance compared to the PID applied individually