Model Predictive Controller Design for the Dynamic Positioning System of a Semi-submersible Platform

This paper researches how to apply the advanced control technology of model predictive control （MPC） to the design of the dynamic positioning system （DPS） of a semi-submersible platform. First, a linear low-frequency motion model with three degrees of freedom was established in the context of a semi-submersible platform. Second, a model predictive controller was designed based on a model which took the constraints of the system into account. Third, simulation was carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the controller. The results show that the model predictive controller has good performance and good at dealing with the constraints or the system.

Dynamic Positioning System Design for A Marine Vessel with Unknown Dynamics Subject to External Disturbances Including Wave Effect

In this paper, a new control system is proposed for dynamic positioning(DP) of marine vessels with unknown dynamics and subject to external disturbances. The control system is composed of a substructure for wave filtering and state estimation together with a nonlinear PD-type controller. For wave filtering and state estimation, a cascade combination of a modified notch filter and an estimation stage is considered. In estimation stage, a modified extended-state observer(ESO) is proposed to estimate vessel velocities and unknown dynamics. The main advantage of the proposed method is its robustness to model uncertainties and external disturbances and it does not require prior knowledge of vessel model parameters. Besides, the stability of the cascade structure is analyzed and input to state stability(ISS) is guaranteed. Later on, a nonlinear PD-type controller with feedforward of filtered estimated dynamics is utilized. Detailed stability analyses are presented for the closed-loop DP control system and global uniform ultimate boundedness is proved using large scale systems method. Simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed method for wave filtering and state estimation and comparisons are made with two conventional methods in terms of estimation accuracy and the presence of uncertainties. Besides, comparisons are made in closed-loop control system to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method compared with conventional methods. The proposed control system results in better performance in the presence of uncertainties,external disturbance and even in transients when the vessel is subjected to sudden changes in environmental disturbances.

Portable Dynamic Positioning Control System on A Barge in Short-Crested Waves Using the Neural Network Algorithm

This paper develops a nonlinear mathematical model to simulate the dynamic motion behavior of the barge equipped with the portable outboard Dynamic Positioning （DP） system in short-crested waves. The self-tuning Proportional- Derivative （PD） controller based on the neural network algorithm is applied to control the thrusters for optimal adjustment of the barge position in waves. In addition to the wave, the current, the wind and the nonlinear drift force are also considered in the calculations. The time domain simulations for the six-degree-of-freedom motions of the barge with the DP system are solved by the 4th order Runge-Kutta method which can compromise the efficiency and the accuracy of the simulations. The technique of the portable alternative DP system developed here can serve as a practical tool to assist those ships without being equipped with the DP facility while the dynamic positioning missions are needed.

Optimal Filtering Correction forMarine Dynamical Positioning Control System

This paper focuses on the problem of control law optimization for marine vessels working in a dynamical positioning （DP） regime. The approach proposed here is based on the use of a special unified multipurpose control law structure constructed on the basis of nonlinear asymptotic observers, that allows the decoupling of a synthesis into simpler particular optimization problems. The primary reason for the observers is to restore deficient information concerning the unmeasured velocities of the vessel. Using a number of separate items in addition to the observers, it is possible to achieve desirable dynamical features of the closed loop connection. The most important feature is the so-called dynamical corrector, and this paper is therefore devoted to solving its optimal synthesis in marine vessels controlled by DP systems under the action of sea wave disturbances. The problem involves the need for minimal intensity of the control action determined by high frequency sea wave components. A specialized approach for designing the dynamical corrector is proposed and the applicability and effectiveness of the approach are illustrated using a practical example of underwater DP system synthesis.

Novel disturbance compensating dynamic positioning of dredgers based on adaptive backstepping

In order to deal with the dynamic positioning system control problems of dredgers working under strong dredging reaction or harsh environments,an adaptive backstepping method is proposed.Disturbances are estimated and compensated for by the adaptive method without extra sensors on dredging equipment,and the control mechanism is simplified.Adaptive control is used to compensate for the reaction and environmental disturbances on the dredger,so the dredger can maintain the desired position with a minimum error and shock.The proposed adaptive robust controller guarantees the global asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system and rapid position tracking of the dredger.The simulation results show that the proposed controller has superior performance in position tracking and robustness to large disturbances.

Fully Coupled Time-Domain Simulation of Dynamic Positioning Semi-Submersible Platform Using Dynamic Surface Control

A fully coupled 6-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamic model is presented to analyze the dynamic response of a semi-submersible platform which is equipped with the dynamic positioning(DP) system. In the control force design, a dynamic model of reference linear drift frequency in the horizontal plane is introduced. The dynamic surface control(DSC) is used to design a control strategy for the DP. Compared with the traditional back-stepping methods, the dynamic surface control combined with radial basis function(RBF) neural networks(NNs) can avoid differentiating intermediate variables repeatedly in every design step due to the introduction of a first order filter. Low frequency motions obtained from total motions by a low pass filter are chosen to be the inputs for the RBF NNs which are used to approximate the low frequency wave force. Considering the propellers' wear and tear, the effect of filtering frequencies for the control force is discussed. Based on power consumptions and positioning requirements, the NN centers are determined. Moreover, the RBF NNs used to approximate the total wave force are built to monitor the disturbances. With the DP assistance, the results of fully coupled dynamic response simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Robustifying Dynamic Positioning of Crane Vessels for Heavy Lifting Operation

Construction crane vessels make use of dynamic positioning(DP)systems during the installation and removal of offshore structures to maintain the vessel’s position.Studies have reported cases of instability of DP systems during offshore operation caused by uncertainties,such as mooring forces.DP"robustification"for heavy lift operations,i.e.,handling such uncertainties systematically and with stability guarantees,is a long-standing challenge in DP design.A new DP method,composed by an observer and a controller,is proposed to address this challenge,with stability guarantees in the presence of uncertainties.We test the proposed method on an integrated cranevessel simulation environment,where the integration of several subsystems(winch dynamics,crane forces,thruster dynamics,fuel injection system etc.)allow a realistic validation under a wide set of uncertainties.

Global Robust and Adaptive Output Feedback Dynamic Positioning of Surface Ships

A constructive method was presented to design a global robust and adaptive output feedback controller for dynamic positioning of surface ships under environmental disturbances induced by waves, wind, and ocean currents. The ship's parameters were not required to be known. An adaptive observer was first designed to estimate the ship's velocities and parameters. The ship position measurements were also passed through the adaptive observer to reduce high frequency measurement noise from entering the control system. Using these estimate signals, the control was then designed based on Lyapunov's direct method to force the ship's position and orientation to globally asymptotically converge to desired values. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control system. In conclusion, the paper presented a new method to design an effective control system for dynamic positioning of surface ships.

Design and Reliability Analysis of DP-3 Dynamic Positioning Control Architecture

As the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas proliferate throughout deepwater area, the requirements on the reliability of dynamic positioning system become increasingly stringent. The control objective ensuring safety operation at deep water will not be met by a single controller for dynamic positioning. In order to increase the availability and reliability of dynamic positioning control system, the triple redundancy hardware and software control architectures were designed and developed according to the safe specifications of DP-3 classification notation for dynamically positioned ships and rigs. The hardware redundant configuration takes the form of triple-redundant hot standby configuration including three identical operator stations and three real-time control computers which connect each other through dual networks. The function of motion control and redundancy management of control computers were implemented by software on the real-time operating system VxWorks. The software realization of task loose synchronization, majority voting and fault detection were presented in details. A hierarchical software architecture was planed during the development of software, consisting of application layer, real-time layer and physical layer. The behavior of the DP-3 dynamic positioning control system was modeled by a Markov model to analyze its reliability. The effects of variation in parameters on the reliability measures were investigated. The time domain dynamic simulation was carried out on a deepwater drilling rig to prove the feasibility of the proposed control architecture

Virtual Reality Simulation of Fuzzy-logic Control during Underwater Dynamic Positioning

In this paper, graphical-user-interface （GUI） software for simulation and fuzzy-logic control of a remotely operated vehicle （ROV） using MATLABTM GUI Designing Environment is proposed. The proposed ROV＇s GUI platform allows the controller such as fuzzy-logic control systems design to be compared with other controllers such as proportional-integral-derivative （PID） and sliding-mode controller （SMC） systematically and interactively. External disturbance such as sea current can he added to improve the modelling in actual underwater environment. The simulated results showed the position responses of the fuzzy-logic control exhibit reasonable performance under the sea current disturbance.

Adaptive Observer Based Backstepping Controller Design for Dynamic Ship Positioning

Modified adaptive observer based backstepping control system for dynamic positioning of ship is proposed. As an improvement, the adaptive observer takes the first-order wave frequency model and the bias term which represent the slowly varying environmental disturbances and the unmodeled dynamics. Thus, the wave-frequency motions are filtered out, and only the reconstructed low-frequency motions are sent as inputs of the controller. Furthermore, as the ship dynamics parameters are unknown, the adaptive estimation law is designed for both the unknown ship dynamics and the unmeasured state variables. Based on the estimated states and parameters, backstepping controller considering the integral action is designed. Global exponential stability （GES） for the total system is proved using Lyapunov direct method. Simulation results show a good performance of the observer and control system.

Nonlinear observer-controller design for dynamic positioning of ships

The main focus is nonlinear model-based dynamic positioning (DP) control system design. A nonlinear uniform global exponential stability (UGES) observer produces noise-free estimates of the position, the slowly varying environmental disturbances and the velocity, which are used in a proportional-derivative (PD) + feedforward control law. The stability of this observer-controller system is proved by introducing a specific nonlinear cascaded system. The simulation results have successfully demonstrated the performance of designed DP control system.

Representation of Dynamic Positioning on Hovering Type Autonomous Underwater Vehicle in Precise Welding Operations

This paper proposes dynamic positioning(DP) on a hovering autonomous underwater vehicle(HAUV) to perform accurate underwater processes such as welding operations. High maneuverability, high controllability, and hovering of the robot were the prerequisites of this operation, which increase its accuracy and velocity and reduce costs and human health risks. Other types of thrusters were used in this robot to reduce the number of thrusters and controller’s complexity. Controlling every 6 degrees of freedom to perform this type of operation was done. Furthermore, such a delicate operation required controlling the translational and rotational movements together. There was also a need to control the velocities to travel in a prescribed distance at a reasonable time. The possibility of dynamic positioning for welding and maintaining position at a point was defined for the robot. Then the robot’s performance under a defective state-servo motor failure, thruster malfunction-and the subsequent effects on the performance during the predetermined missions were investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that the HAUV has the capability to perform dynamic positioning operations. In this article, one of the prevalent classic control methods called PID controller was employed for controlling the movements of the robot.

Coupled Dynamics and Integrated Control for Position and Attitude Motions of Spacecraft:A Survey

Inspired by the integrated guidance and control design for endo-atmospheric aircraft,the integrated position and attitude control of spacecraft has attracted increasing attention and gradually induced a wide variety of study results in last over two decades,fully incorporating control requirements and actuator characteristics of space missions.This paper presents a novel and comprehensive survey to the coupled position and attitude motions of spacecraft from the perspective of dynamics and control.To this end,a systematic analysis is firstly conducted in details to show the position and attitude mutual couplings of spacecraft.Particularly,in terms of the time discrepancy between spacecraft position and attitude motions,space missions can be categorized into two types:space proximity operation and space orbital maneuver.Based on this classification,the studies on the coupled dynamic modeling and the integrated control design for position and attitude motions of spacecraft are sequentially summarized and analyzed.On the one hand,various coupled position and dynamic formulations of spacecraft based on various mathematical tools are reviewed and compared from five aspects,including mission applicability,modeling simplicity,physical clearance,information matching and expansibility.On the other hand,the development of the integrated position and attitude control of spacecraft is analyzed for two space missions,and especially,five distinctive development trends are captured for space operation missions.Finally,insightful prospects on future development of the integrated position and attitude control technology of spacecraft are proposed,pointing out current primary technical issues and possible feasible solutions.

Positioning planning of high-intensity-focused ultrasound surgery platform using Bezier curve

A positioning volume ellipsoid method is proposed to represent tumor volume in the workspace of a high-intensity-focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery platform during the platform's positioning motion. To this simplified tumor model, a nearest neighbor search method is used to determine intermediate configuration and goal configuration, which the treatment head and ultrasound focus must pass in their localization to target volume. Based on the decided configurations, the continuity condition of combined Bezier curve in Euclidean space and De Casteljau algorithm on Lie group SO(3) are integrated to construct a combined Bezier positioning path of C2 continuity at junctional configuration, and an illustration of different positioning path planning is analyzed based on a liver tumor case.

A first-order dynamical model of hierarchical triple stars and its application

For most hierarchical triple stars, the classical double two-body model of zeroth-order cannot describe the motions of the components under the current observational accuracy. In this paper, Marchal＇s first-order analytical solution is implemented and a more efficient simplified version is applied to real triple stars. The results show that, for most triple stars, the proposed first-order model is preferable to the zerothorder model both in fitting observational data and in predicting component positions.

Improving polyp detection at colonoscopy: Non-technological techniques

Colonoscopy and polypectomy remain the gold standard investigation for the detection and prevention of colorectal cancer.Halting the progression of colonic adenoma through adequate detection of pre-cancerous lesions interrupts the progression to carcinoma.The adenoma detection rate is a key performance indicator.Increasing adenoma detection rates are associated with reducing rates of interval colorectal cancer.Endoscopists with high baseline adenoma detection rate have a meticulous technique during colonoscopy withdrawal that improves their adenoma detection.This minireview article summarizes the evidence on the following simple operator techniques and their effects on the adenoma detection rate;minimum withdrawal times,dynamic patient position change and proximal colon retroflexion.

Random Weighting Estimation Method for Dynamic Navigation Positioning

This paper presents a new random weighting estimation method for dynamic navigation positioning. This method adopts the concept of random weighting estimation to estimate the covariance matrices of system state noises and observation noises for controlling the disturbances of singular observations and the kinematic model errors. It satisfies the practical requirements of the residual vector and innovation vector to sufficiently utilize observation information, thus weakening the disturbing effect of the kinematic model error and observation model error on the state parameter estimation. Theories and algorithms of random weighting estimation are established for estimating the covariance matrices of observation residual vectors and innovation vec- tors. This random weighting estimation method provides an effective solution for improving the positioning accuracy in dynamic navigation. Experimental results show that compared with the Kalman filtering, the extended Kalman filtering and the adaptive windowing filtering, the proposed method can adaptively determine the covariance matrices of observation error and state error, effectively resist the disturbances caused by system error and observation error, and significantly improve the positioning accu- racy for dynamic navigation.

Optimal Thrust Allocation Logic Design of Dynamic Positioning with Pseudo-Inverse Method

This article presents a method named pseudo-inverse to solve the optimal thrust allocation of dynamic positioning (DP) system,proposes to optimally determine the azimuth angle of thrusters instead of man-control or semi-auto control,and combines with the pseudo-inverse methods to get the optimal solutions for dynamic positioning control system.It is able to greatly reduce the risk of manual mode.Three different kinds of modes are proposed and detailedly illuminated,and can be used to solve much more complex nonlinear constraint problems,such as typical forbidden vector boundary.Several illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed thrust allocation modes.

Robust Fuzzy Sampled-Data Control for Dynamic Positioning Ships

A robust H∞sampled-data stabilization problem for nonlinear dynamic positioning(DP) ships with Takagi-Sugeno(T-S) fuzzy models is discussed in this paper. Input delay approach is used to convert the sampleddata DP ship system to a fuzzy system with time-varying delay. Adequate conditions are derived to determine the system's asymptotical stability and achieve H∞performance via Lyapunov stability theorems. Then, the fuzzy sampled-data controller is obtained by analyzing the stabilization condition. Simulation result shows that the proposed method and the designed controller for a DP ship are effective so that the DP ship can maintain the desired position, heading and velocities in the existence of varying environment disturbances.