Fuzzy Controller for a Container Ship Autopilot

Fuat Alarçin

Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Yildiz Technical University, 34349 Beşiktaş, Istanbul
E-mail: alarcin@yildiz.edu.tr

Abstract

A containership course-keeping autopilot based on Proportional-Derivative (PD) and Fuzzy Logic (FL) controllers is studied in this paper. The fuzzy autopilot is of Mamdani type [3]. Control inputs are produced by the measurements of heading and yaw rate signals. The effectiveness of this autopilot is verified by the comparison with PD and Fuzzy control schemes through a series of simulation studies. It is demonstrated that the autopilot using Fuzzy Logic control can provide significant performance advantages when compared to the conventional PD autopilot through the simulation results obtained.

Keywords: proportional-derivative, fuzzy logic control, ship course autopilot