MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System
Zhe Du, Vasso Reppa, Rudy R. Negenborn
Transport Engineering and Logistics
Collision avoidance plays a vital role in autonomous vehicle systems. As the complexity and scale of missions increase, multi-vehicle systems are adopted in practice. However, there is limited research on collision avoidance of a physically interconnected multi-vessel system. This paper proposes a control scheme for tugboats to tow a ship in congested port areas ensuring collision avoidance that is compliant with COLREGS. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy is used to optimize the towing angles, towing forces, and tugboats' thruster forces and moment. The COLREGS rules are integrated into the ship reference system by altering predefined waypoints to guide the towing system in a safe and lawful way. By designing the cost function for the ship and tugboats in the MPC controller system, the proposed control scheme makes the ship-towing system stay away from the obstacles and follow the calculated waypoints, achieving collision avoidance. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed method can deal with static and dynamic obstacle situations in complex water traffic environments, and the collision avoidance operations comply with the COLREGS rules.
Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021)
https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
2021 European Control Conference (ECC) - Virtual , Netherlands
Duration: 29 Jun 2021 → 2 Jul 2021
2021 European Control Conference (ECC)
10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
ECC-finalAccepted author manuscript, 800 KB
Dive into the research topics of 'MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Model predictive control Engineering & Materials Science 100%
Collision avoidance Engineering & Materials Science 99%
Tugboats Engineering & Materials Science 98%
Ships Engineering & Materials Science 80%
Cost functions Engineering & Materials Science 18%
Water Engineering & Materials Science 10%
Controllers Engineering & Materials Science 10%
Du, Z., Reppa, V., & Negenborn, R. R. (2021). MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System. In Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021) (pp. 1857-1862). IEEE . https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
Du, Zhe ; Reppa, Vasso ; Negenborn, Rudy R. / MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System. Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021). IEEE , 2021. pp. 1857-1862
@inproceedings{db850e192e264f109a60a8646fedf1ef,
title = "MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System",
abstract = "Collision avoidance plays a vital role in autonomous vehicle systems. As the complexity and scale of missions increase, multi-vehicle systems are adopted in practice. However, there is limited research on collision avoidance of a physically interconnected multi-vessel system. This paper proposes a control scheme for tugboats to tow a ship in congested port areas ensuring collision avoidance that is compliant with COLREGS. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy is used to optimize the towing angles, towing forces, and tugboats{\textquoteright} thruster forces and moment. The COLREGS rules are integrated into the ship reference system by altering predefined waypoints to guide the towing system in a safe and lawful way. By designing the cost function for the ship and tugboats in the MPC controller system, the proposed control scheme makes the ship-towing system stay away from the obstacles and follow the calculated waypoints, achieving collision avoidance. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed method can deal with static and dynamic obstacle situations in complex water traffic environments, and the collision avoidance operations comply with the COLREGS rules.",
author = "Zhe Du and Vasso Reppa and Negenborn, {Rudy R.}",
note = "Accepted Author Manuscript; 2021 European Control Conference (ECC) ; Conference date: 29-06-2021 Through 02-07-2021",
doi = "10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021)",
publisher = "IEEE ",
Du, Z, Reppa, V & Negenborn, RR 2021, MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System. in Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021). IEEE , pp. 1857-1862, 2021 European Control Conference (ECC), Virtual , Netherlands, 29/06/21. https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System. / Du, Zhe; Reppa, Vasso; Negenborn, Rudy R.
Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021). IEEE , 2021. p. 1857-1862.
T1 - MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System
AU - Du, Zhe
AU - Reppa, Vasso
AU - Negenborn, Rudy R.
N1 - Accepted Author Manuscript
N2 - Collision avoidance plays a vital role in autonomous vehicle systems. As the complexity and scale of missions increase, multi-vehicle systems are adopted in practice. However, there is limited research on collision avoidance of a physically interconnected multi-vessel system. This paper proposes a control scheme for tugboats to tow a ship in congested port areas ensuring collision avoidance that is compliant with COLREGS. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy is used to optimize the towing angles, towing forces, and tugboats' thruster forces and moment. The COLREGS rules are integrated into the ship reference system by altering predefined waypoints to guide the towing system in a safe and lawful way. By designing the cost function for the ship and tugboats in the MPC controller system, the proposed control scheme makes the ship-towing system stay away from the obstacles and follow the calculated waypoints, achieving collision avoidance. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed method can deal with static and dynamic obstacle situations in complex water traffic environments, and the collision avoidance operations comply with the COLREGS rules.
AB - Collision avoidance plays a vital role in autonomous vehicle systems. As the complexity and scale of missions increase, multi-vehicle systems are adopted in practice. However, there is limited research on collision avoidance of a physically interconnected multi-vessel system. This paper proposes a control scheme for tugboats to tow a ship in congested port areas ensuring collision avoidance that is compliant with COLREGS. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy is used to optimize the towing angles, towing forces, and tugboats' thruster forces and moment. The COLREGS rules are integrated into the ship reference system by altering predefined waypoints to guide the towing system in a safe and lawful way. By designing the cost function for the ship and tugboats in the MPC controller system, the proposed control scheme makes the ship-towing system stay away from the obstacles and follow the calculated waypoints, achieving collision avoidance. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed method can deal with static and dynamic obstacle situations in complex water traffic environments, and the collision avoidance operations comply with the COLREGS rules.
U2 - 10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
DO - 10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091
BT - Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021)
PB - IEEE
T2 - 2021 European Control Conference (ECC)
Y2 - 29 June 2021 through 2 July 2021
Du Z, Reppa V, Negenborn RR. MPC-based COLREGS Compliant Collision Avoidance for a Multi-Vessel Ship-Towing System. In Proceedings of the European Control Conference (ECC 2021). IEEE . 2021. p. 1857-1862 https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655091