Position Tracking Control of an Unactuated Surface Vessel Guided by a Swarm of Tugboats: Elimination of Velocity Measurements
Conference paper > Full Text · 2025
Authors: Çağrı HİNDİSTAN, Buis Bidikli, Enver TATLICIOĞLU, Erkan Zergeroglu
5th Conference on Modeling, Estimation and Control (MECC), United States, Pittsburgh, International, Verbal, Full Text, 2025-2025, vol 59, pp 221-226
DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2025.12.240
Summary
This study focuses on the tracking control problem of an unactuated surface vessel guided by six uni-directional tugboats. The control problem is further complicated as the velocity of the center of mass of the unactuated ship is considered to be unavailable. Specifically, a nonlinear model-free velocity observer formulation is designed to eliminate the reliance on direct velocity measurements in the control formulation. A model-based nonlinear control strategy is then developed based on the estimated velocity to achieve accurate trajectory tracking. The closed-loop stability of the system is rigorously analyzed using Lyapunov-based techniques. The proposed method guarantees the asymptotic convergence of the tracking error to the origin. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is validated through comprehensive numerical simulation studies.