OE3036
Maneuvering and Control of Marine Vehicles
From the equations of motion of a marine vehicle to directional stability, heading control, and rudder design.
The course starts from the governing equations of motion of a marine vehicle and builds toward simulating its maneuvers, analysing directional stability, designing heading controllers, and understanding how a rudder produces control forces.
Course content
Maneuvering
- Kinematics of rotating frames; nonlinear 6-DoF and 3-DoF rigid-body equations of motion
- Hydrodynamic derivatives and linearised equations of motion for ships
- Stability indices; stability and control in the horizontal and vertical planes
- Definitive maneuvers and turning tests; influence of ship features on controls-fixed stability
- Experimental and numerical determination of hydrodynamic derivatives
- IMO rules and recommendations; maneuvering sea trials
Control
- Linear system representation, Laplace transforms, and performance metrics
- State-space modelling and stability; transfer-function ↔ state-space interchange
- PID controllers and gain tuning
- Observability and state observers; controllability and state-feedback controllers
Rudder
- 2D aerofoil theory and finite-span effects on lift and drag
- Rudder–propeller interaction
Learning objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the governing equations of motion of a marine vehicle
- Calculate the straight line stability of a marine vehicle
- Explain the importance of hydrodynamic derivatives and their impact on maneuvering stability of a marine vehicle
- Explain the experimental model tests and full-scale tests used in the design of marine vehicles
- Characterize the motion control problem for a marine vehicle
- Design and tune a heading controller for a marine vehicle
- Simulate and demonstrate the combined dynamics of a marine vehicle and a controller
- Explain the different types of rudders and the working principle of a rudder
Lecture notes for the course are at oe3036.mavlab.in. Video lectures remain available online.