Motion Control System Design for Barge-Type Surface Ships Using Tugboats

Abstract

Barge ships are designed to transport and assemble heavy and massive pieces of equipment at sea. Active propulsion systems are not installed in this type of ship, so the desirable motion and positioning of these ships can only be achieved with the assistance of several tugboats. In this study, the dynamical characteristics of barge conveying systems were formulated and robust control systems were designed to ensure efficient barge operation. To achieve these objectives, we first developed a mathematical model of a barge ship, which incorporated a novel conveying system configuration using tugboats. We then designed a robust controller for the tugboats that used the sliding mode law to deliver the desired barge motion performance. Finally, the usefulness of the proposed configuration and controller was verified via simulation studies using another system with an H∞ controller. The proposed sliding mode controller showed superiority, especially in terms of robustness against disturbances.