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and Control
Control of
of Marine
Marine Craft
Craft
10th
10th Conference
August on
on Manoeuvring
24-26, 2015.
2015.
Conference Copenhagen, and
Manoeuvring Control
Control of
Denmark
and of Marine
Marine Craft
Craft
August
10th 24-26,
Conference on Copenhagen,
Manoeuvring Denmark
and Control of Marine Craft
August
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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
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2015. Copenhagen,
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ScienceDirect
IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183
Dynamic Positioning with Active Roll
Dynamic
Dynamic Positioning
Positioning with Active
Active Roll
withSchneider
Roll
Reduction
Reduction using
using Voith
Voith Schneider
Reduction using Voith
Propeller  Schneider
Propeller 
Propeller
Philipp
Philipp Koschorrek,
Koschorrek, Charlotte
Charlotte Siebert,
Siebert, Adel
Adel Haghani,
Haghani, Torsten
Torsten Jeinsch
Jeinsch
Philipp
Philipp Koschorrek, Charlotte Siebert, Adel Haghani, Torsten Jeinsch
Philipp Koschorrek, Charlotte Siebert, Adel Haghani, Torsten Jeinsch
Koschorrek, Charlotte Siebert, Adel Haghani, Torsten Jeinsch
Institute
Institute of
of Automation,
Automation, University
University of
of Rostock,
Rostock,
Institute
Institute of Automation,
of Automation, University
Richard-Wagner-Str. University of Rostock,
of Rostock,
Institute of Automation,31,
Richard-Wagner-Str. 31, 18119
University
18119 Rostock
of
RostockRostock,
e-mails: Richard-Wagner-Str.
Richard-Wagner-Str.
{philipp.koschorrek, 31,
31, 18119
18119 Rostock
Rostock
charlotte.siebert, adel.haghani,
Richard-Wagner-Str. 31,charlotte.siebert,
18119 Rostock adel.haghani,
e-mails: {philipp.koschorrek,
e-mails: {philipp.koschorrek, charlotte.siebert, adel.haghani,
e-mails: {philipp.koschorrek,
e-mails: charlotte.siebert,
charlotte.siebert, adel.haghani,
torsten.jeinsch}@uni-rostock.de
{philipp.koschorrek,
torsten.jeinsch}@uni-rostock.de adel.haghani,
torsten.jeinsch}@uni-rostock.de
torsten.jeinsch}@uni-rostock.de
torsten.jeinsch}@uni-rostock.de
Abstract:
Abstract: The
The need
need for fast and precise positioning of marine vessels is growing when it comes
Abstract:
Abstract:
to offshore The
The need for
need
applications. for fast
for fast
fast
Voith
and
and
and
precise
precise positioning
precise
Schneider positioning
positioning
Propellers
of
of
of
marine
marine
marine
have huge
vessels
vessels
vessels
is
is growing
is
potential growing
growing
for
when
when
when
those
it
it comes
it
tasks comes
comes
since
Abstract:
to offshore The need
applications. for fast
Voith and precise
Schneider positioning
Propellers of marine
have huge vessels is
potential growing
for when
those it
tasks comes
since
to
theiroffshore
to offshore
offshore applications.
applications.
technical setup allows
allows Voith
Voith Schneider
Schneider faster
significantly Propellers
Propellers
faster have
have than
reaction huge potential
huge propeller-based
than for
potential for those
for those
propeller-based those tasks since
tasks since
thrusters. since
This
to
their applications.
technical setup Voith Schneider
significantly Propellers have
reaction huge potential tasks
thrusters. This
their technical
their technical
contribution setup allows
setup
presents allows
a system significantly
significantly
for Dynamic faster
faster reaction
reaction
Positioning than
than
using propeller-based
propeller-based
this propulsion thrusters.
thrusters.
system. A This
This
PID
their technical
contribution setup allows
presents a system significantly
for Dynamic faster reaction using
Positioning than propeller-based
this propulsion thrusters.
system. A This
PID
contribution
contribution
control presents
presents
structure with adynamic
a system allocation
system for Dynamic
for Dynamic of Positioning
Positioning
the manipulatingusing
using this propulsion
this propulsion
variable to severalsystem.
system.
thrustersA PID
A PID
was
contribution
control presents
structure with adynamic
system allocation
for Dynamic of Positioning
the manipulatingusingvariable
this propulsion
to severalsystem.
thrustersA PID
was
control structure
control
developed structure
to with accurate
with
achieve dynamic allocation
dynamic allocation
positioning. of Furthermore,
of the manipulating
the manipulating a variable
variable
control to several
to
loop several thrusters
thrusters
extension for was
was
active
control
developed structure
to with
achieve dynamic
accurate allocation
positioning. of the manipulating
Furthermore, a variable
control to
loop several thrusters
extension for was
active
developed
developed
roll damping to
to achieve
achieve
was accurate
accurate
investigated. positioning.
positioning.
Lumped parameterFurthermore,
Furthermore,
models aarea
a control
control
are loop
loop
used for
for extension
extension
controller for
for active
active
synthesis. A
developed
roll to was
achieve accurate Lumped positioning. Furthermore, control loop extension for active
roll damping
roll damping was investigated.
investigated. Lumped parameter
parameter models
models are used
used for controller
controller synthesis.
synthesis. A A
roll damping
simulation
damping
simulation was
based
based investigated.
was validation
investigated.
validation of
of Lumped
the
Lumped
the control
control parameter
approach
parameter
approach models
is
is are
are used
presented.
models
presented. used for
for controller
controller synthesis.
synthesis. A A
simulation based
simulation based validation
validation of of the
the control
control approach
approach is is presented.
presented.
simulation based validation of the control approach is presented.
© 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Dynamic
Keywords: Dynamic Positioning,
Positioning, Voith Voith Schneider
Schneider Propeller, Model Model Based ControlControl Design,
Keywords:
Keywords: Dynamic Positioning,
Dynamic Voith Schneider Propeller,
Propeller, Model Based Based Control Design,
Design,
Dynamic Dynamic Positioning,
Keywords:Allocation,
Dynamic Allocation, Roll
Roll Damping
Positioning,
Damping Voith
Voith Schneider
Schneider Propeller,
Propeller, Model
Model Based
Based Control
Control Design,
Design,
Dynamic
Dynamic Allocation, Roll Damping
Dynamic Allocation,
Allocation, Roll Roll Damping
Damping
1. INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
1.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
When it
When it becomes
becomes necessary
necessary forfor ships
ships to to maintain
maintain aa specificspecific
When it becomes
When becomes necessary for ships to maintain
maintain aaa specific
specific
When it
position
position and
it becomes
and necessary
technical
necessary
technical for
for ships
solutions
solutions such
ships
such to
to as jack-ups
maintain
as jack-ups or an-
specific
or an-
position
position
choring and
and
are nottechnical
technical
possible solutions
solutions
due to such
such as
as
environmental jack-ups
jack-ups or an-
or
conditions an-
position are
choring andnot technical
possible solutions
due to such as jack-ups
environmental or an-
conditions
choring
choring are
are not possible due to environmental conditions
(depth, are not
etc.)
choring etc.)
(depth, not possible
dynamic
possible due
due to to environmental
positioning (DP) is
environmental is needed.
needed. conditions
DP is
conditions is
(depth,
(depth, etc.) dynamic
etc.) dynamic positioning
positioning (DP)
(DP) is needed. DP
DP is is
the
(depth,
the etc.) dynamic
capability
capability of
dynamic
of a
a positioning
ship to hold
positioning
ship to hold (DP)
its
(DP)
its is
is needed.
position
position needed. under
under DP
DPthe is
the
the capability
the capability
influence of of aa ship
of
external ship to hold
to hold its
disturbances, itse.g.
position
position
waves, under
under
wind the
the
and
the capability
influence of of a ship to hold itse.g. position under the
influence of
influence of external
external disturbances,
disturbances, e.g. waves,
waves, wind
wind and and
current.
influenceThis
current. of external
This is done
external
is done disturbances,
only by active
disturbances,
only by active e.g.
e.g. waves,
usage
usage of
waves,
of its
its wind
wind and
propulsion
propulsion and
current. This
current. is done
done only by active
active usage of its
its propulsion
current. This
systems.
systems. This is
Typical
is done
Typical only
only by
applications such usage
by active
applications such usage
as of
of its propulsion
as offshore
offshore drilling or
propulsion
drilling or
systems. Typical
systems.
construction, Typical
cable applications
applications
laying, such supplying,
such
platform as offshore
as offshoreetc. drilling
drilling
requireor
or
systems. Typical
construction, cable applications
laying, such supplying,
platform as offshoreetc. drilling
requireor
construction,
construction,
accurate DP cable laying,
cable
(Samad laying,
and platform supplying,
platform
Annaswamy supplying,
(2011)). etc. require
etc. require
construction,
accurate DP cable laying,
(Samad and platform supplying, etc. require
accurate DP
accurate DP (Samad
(Samad and and Annaswamy
Annaswamy (2011)). (2011)).
(2011)).
Aaccurate
special DP
kind (Samad
of and Annaswamy
propulsion Annaswamy
system is (2011)).
the Voith
A special
A special kind
special kind
kind of propulsion
of propulsion
propulsion system
system is the
is the
the Voith Schneider
Voith Schneider
Schneider
APropeller
A special kind
Propeller (VSP),
(VSP), of see Fig.
of propulsion
see Fig. 1.
1. system
It consists
system
It consists is
is the of
of Voith
aa rotating
Voith Schneider
disk
Schneider
rotating disk
Propeller
Propeller (VSP),
which (VSP), see blades
see Fig. 1.are
Fig. It consists of aaparallel
rotating disk
on
Propeller
on which outer end
(VSP),
outer end Fig. 1.
see blades It
It consists
1.are connected
consists
connected of rotating
of aparallel
rotating to
to disk
the
disk
the
onon which
which outer
outer end
end blades
blades are
are connected
connected parallel
parallel to
to the
rotation axis.
on whichaxis.
rotation The
outerThe pitch
endpitch angle
bladesangle of the
are connected
of the blades
blades
parallelis to the
is variable
variable
the
rotation
rotation axis.
axis. The pitch
The angle of of thethe blades is variable
variable
and
and fulfills
rotation an
axis.
fulfills an The pitch
overlaid
overlaid pitch angle
motion
anglewhen
motion of the
when doing
doing blades
one
blades
one is
revolution.
is variable
revolution.
and
and fulfills an overlaid motion when doing one revolution.
and fulfills
This
This motion
fulfills an
ancanoverlaid
overlaid motion
motion when
be influenced to
when doing
doing one
generate one a revolution.
a thrust
revolution.in aa
This motion
This motion can
can be be influenced
influenced to generate
toofgenerate
generate thrust
aaa thrust
thrust in
insetaaa
This motion
desired
desiredmotion can
can be
direction.
direction. Theinfluenced
be
The magnitude
influenced
magnitude to
toof the thrust
generate
the thrust can be
thrust
can bein
inset
desired
desired direction. speed
direction. The magnitude
The of Since
the thrust can be set
by the rotational
desired
by the rotational
direction. speedThe magnitude
of the
the disk.
magnitude
of disk. of the
the thrust
of Since the blade
thrust
the can
can be
blade set
pitch
be set
pitch
byby the
can the
be rotational
rotational
set nearly speed of
speed
step-lessof within
the disk.
the disk.a Since time,
Since
short the blade
the blade
the pitch
pitch
thrust
by the
can rotational speed of within
the disk. Since time,
the blade pitch
can be
can be set
set nearly
nearly step-less
step-less within a short
short
aaa short time, the thrust
the thrust
can be
be set
generation
generationset nearly
and
nearly
and step-less
step-less within
maneuvering
maneuvering within is
is very
very short fast
fasttime,
time,and
and the
the thrust
accurate
thrust
accurate
generation toand
generation and maneuvering propulsions.
maneuvering is very fast
is fast Thisand property
accurate
compared
generation to
compared and propeller-based is very
maneuvering propulsions.
propeller-based very fast This and accurate
and property
accurate
compared
compared
makes to
to
VSPtohighlypropeller-based
propeller-based
highly suitable for propulsions.
propulsions.
for DP applications. This
This
applications. property
property
Due to to
compared
makes VSP propeller-based
suitable propulsions. This property
makes
makes VSP
VSP highly
highly suitable for
suitable for DPDP applications.
applications. Due Due
Due to
the
makes
the fast
fastVSPthrust
highly
thrust generation
generation for DP
suitable active
active DProll-damping
applications.becomes
roll-damping Due to
becomes to Fig. Fig. 1.
1. Voith
Voith Schneider
Schneider Propeller
Propeller (gCaptain
(gCaptain (2013))
(2013))
the fast thrust
the thrust generation active roll-damping becomes Fig. 1. Voith Schneider Propeller (gCaptain (2013))
the fast
possible, as
fast thrust
possible, as well,
well, generation
even for
generation
even for low
lowactive
or
active
or roll-damping
zero speed
roll-damping
zero speed cases
cases becomes
(Palm
becomes
(Palm Fig.
Fig. 1.
1. Voith
Voith Schneider
Schneider Propeller
Propeller (gCaptain
(gCaptain (2013))
(2013))
possible,
possible, as well,
as even for lowlow or zero zero speed cases cases (Palm
and
and Jürgens
possible,
Jürgensas well,
(2009)).
well,
(2009)).even
even for
for low or or zero speed speed cases (Palm (Palm
and Jürgens (2009)).
and (2009)).
and Jürgens
Jürgens (2009)).
State-of-the-art DP systems consist of different modules: ments
ments needed
needed to
to maintain
maintain the
the position.
position. The
The control
control allo-
allo-
State-of-the-art
State-of-the-art DP
DP systems
systems consist
consist of
of different
different modules:
modules: ments
ments
cation needed
needed
algorithm to is
to maintain
maintain
used to the
the position.
position.
distribute the The
The controlforces
control
requested allo-
allo-
State-of-the-art
controller, DP
aState-of-the-art
a DP controller,
DP systems
control
DP systems
control consist
allocation
consistand
allocation andof
of different
a sensor/observer
a modules:
sensor/observer
different modules: cation ments
cation needed
algorithm to maintain
is used to the position.
distribute the The control
requested allo-
forces
a DP
DP controller,
controller, control allocation andthe a sensor/observer
sensor/observer cation
over algorithm
algorithm
all available is
is used
used to
to
propulsion distribute
distribute
units. the
the
Sensors requested
requested
such as forces
forces
differ-
asystem.
system. The
a DP controller,
The DP
DP control
controller
control
controller allocation
calculates
allocation
calculates and
andthe a forces
a sensor/observer
forces and
and mo-
mo- cation
over algorithm
all available is used to
propulsion distribute
units. the
Sensors requested
such as forces
differ-
system. The
system. The DP DP controller
controller calculates
calculates the the forces
forces and mo- over
and mo- over
ential
over
ential
all
all
GPS,
all
GPS,
available
available
available
propulsion
propulsion
Integrated
propulsion
Integrated
units.
units.
Navigation
Navigation
Sensors
Sensors
Systems,
such
Sensors such
units.Systems,
as
as
Gyros,
such
differ-
differ-
as hydro-
Gyros, differ-
hydro-
system. The DP controller calculates the
 The authors want to express their gratitude to the German Federal
forces and mo- ential
acousticGPS,
ential GPS,
GPS, Integrated
Integrated
sensors, etc. areNavigation
Navigation
used to Systems,
Systems,
measure Gyros,
Gyros,
the stateshydro-
hydro-
of the
the
 The authors want to express their gratitude to the German Federal ential
acoustic Integrated
sensors, etc. areNavigation
used to Systems,
measure Gyros,
the stateshydro-
of

 The authors want to express their gratitude to the German Federal acoustic
acoustic
system. sensors,
sensors,
Due to etc.
etc. are
are
measurement used
used to
to measure
measure
noise and the
the states
states
disturbances of
of the
the
acting
Ministry
 The
Ministry of Economics
authors want
of Economics
The authors to
want to andand Technology
express their
Technology
express (BMWi)
gratitude
(BMWi)
their gratitude to which
the
towhich
the Germanhas
German supported
Federal
has supported
Federal acoustic
system. sensors,
Due to etc. are
measurement used to measure
noise and the states
disturbances of the
acting
Ministry
this work
Ministry of Economics
under
of Grant
Economics and Technology
DPMotion
and Technology(No. (BMWi)
03SX351).
(BMWi) which
which has
has supported
supported system.
system.
on the Due
Due
ship, to
to measurement
measurement
observers are noise
noise
needed and
and
to disturbances
disturbances
fuse these dataacting
acting
and
this workofunder
Ministry Grant and
Economics DPMotion
Technology(No.(BMWi)
03SX351). which has supported system.
on the Due to
ship, measurement
observers are noise and
needed to disturbances
fuse these dataacting
and
this work under Grant DPMotion (No. 03SX351). on
on the ship, observers are needed to fuse these data and
this
this work
work under
under Grant
Grant DPMotion
DPMotion (No. (No. 03SX351).
03SX351). on the
the ship,
ship, observers
observers areare needed
needed toto fuse
fuse these
these data
data and
and
Copyright
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IFAC 2015 178 Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control)
178
Copyright
Peer review©
Copyright © IFAC
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178
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IFAC responsibility
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178Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.10.277
IFAC MCMC 2015
Philipp Koschorrek et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183
August 24-26, 2015. Copenhagen, Denmark 179

estimate desired states, see also Samad and Annaswamy
(2011); Fossen (2011).
Different control structures have been investigated over
the past years. A common approach is the nonlinear PID
controller, as presented in Fossen (2011). Different tuning
methods for this control structure have been tested, such
as pole-placement or LQ design, Fossen (2011); Jürgens
et al. (2012). Katebi et al. (1997) presented a robust
design approach with a H∞ -controller. Disturbances like
waves, wind and current have been taken into account and
rejected for low-frequent control action. DP control with
LQG design was investigated by Balchen et al. (1980). A
model-based control design with LQG feedback and model
reference feedforward controller for DP can be found in the
work of Sørensen et al. (1996). Stochastic optimal control
theory has been adopted to DP by Grimble et al. (1980).
A survey for DP control can be found in Sørensen (2011).
Allocation in 3 degrees of freedom (3dof) - surge, sway,
yaw - has been examined by De Wit (2009). Optimal
allocation in terms of energy and minimal thrust difference
was considered for different propulsion systems, e.g. tunnel
thruster, azimuth propeller, fixed thruster, etc. Allocation
for ships with VSP was not investigated. This topic is
covered by Brandner (2014); Jürgens et al. (2012). Optimal
control and allocation for VSP was developed, tested and
compared to steerable, propeller-based propulsions.
For state estimation different observer structures are pos-
sible. Fossen and Perez (2009); Balchen et al. (1980);
Grimble et al. (1979) used Kalman filtering techniques
to estimate the wave-free position in closed-loop control.
Another approach using a passive nonlinear observer with
full-scale experiments was presented by Fossen and Strand
(1999).
For the reduction of roll motion in cruise Perez (2006)
uses various constellations of rudders and fins. An example
of combined DP and roll control with static allocation is
shown in Sørensen and Strand (2000). First tests with VSP
roll-damping have been done by Palm and Jürgens (2009).
This paper presents a closed-loop control system for DP
using VSP and dynamic allocation in 3dof. Furthermore,
a method for incorporating roll damping in such a system
is presented and its interaction with the DP system in-
vestigated. The control structure is tested on a nonlinear
simulation model representing a model-scale tug with two
VSP.
2. PRELIMINARIES
For simplicity, the motions in DP and roll have been mod-
eled decoupled for controller design. This is necessary since
the chosen allocation algorithm works in 3dof. Results of
roll control have to be added separately on the allocation
results. Lumped parameter models for DP and roll have
been used for controller and observer design.
2.1 DP model
The model of a 3dof DP vessel is based on the definition of
the body-fixed frame {b} and the earth-fixed North-East-
Down frame {n}. The position [x, y]T and orientation ψ
of a vessel is defined as η = [x, y, ψ]T and its velocity
is ν = [u, v, r]T as proposed by The Society of Naval
Architects and Marine Engineers (1950). The degrees of
freedom are surge u, sway v and yaw r, neglecting the
motions in pitch, roll and heave.
N u
ψ
x
r v
E
y
Fig. 2. Definition of the body and earth fixed frames
The velocity is defined in {b} whereas position and ori-
entation of the vessel are defined in {n}, see Fig. 2. The
transformation from {b} to {n} is done by the rotation
matrix Rnb (ψ), Eq. (1).
 
cos ψ − sin ψ 0
Rnb (ψ) = R(ψ) = sin ψ cos ψ 0 (1)
0 0 1
The mathematical model of the vessels velocity is de-
scribed by the nonlinear rigid body equations of motion
in Eq. (2) (Fossen (2011)).
M RB ν̇ + C RB (ν)ν = τ RB (2)
M RB is the mass matrix, C RB the matrix of Coriolis and
centripetal forces and τRB the vector of external forces
and moments. Integration to earth-fixed position is done
by Eq. (3).
η̇ = R(ψ)ν (3)
Following Fossen (2011) τ RB can be defined as
τ RB = τ hs + τ hyd + τ wind + τ wave + τ thr (4)
where τ thr is the control force. The disturbing forces
generated by wind and waves are considered in τ wind and
τ wave , respectively. The vector of hydrostatic forces τ hs
containing restoring forces g(η) and the buoyancy g 0 is
defined as
τ hs = −g(η) − g 0 (5)
but can be neglected for DP case since it has no effective
parts. Hydrodynamic forces, summarized in τ hyd , are
defined as
τ hyd = −M A ν̇ − C A (ν)ν − D(ν)ν (6)
with M A the added mass, C A (ν) the matrix of Coriolis
and centripetal forces due to added masses and D(ν)
linear and nonlinear damping terms.
For DP case, the√ velocity equations can be linearized in an
operating point u2 + v 2 ≤ X where X is depending on
the ships size (X = 2 m
s for full-scale ships, Fossen (2011)).
The Coriolis and centripetal forces C(ν) = C RB (ν) +
C A (ν) can be neglected and the damping matrix D(ν) can
be assumed constant in the operating point. The complete
3dof model becomes
η̇ = R(ψ)ν
(7)
M ν̇ + Dν = τ thr + τ current + τ wave + τ wind
with M = M RB + M A the sum of rigid-body and
hydrodynamic masses. Moreover, complete linearization of

179
IFAC MCMC 2015
180 Philipp Koschorrek et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183
August 24-26, 2015. Copenhagen, Denmark
Eq. 7 can be achieved for small yaw rates ψ̇ ≈ 0 rad
s and
usage of vessel-parallel coordinates, see Fossen (2011).
2.2 Roll model
In order to model roll motions the buoyancy g 0 and the
restoring forces g(η) have to be considered. The resulting
physical differential equation is nonlinear due to changing
hydrostatic and hydrodynamic behavior for different roll
angles. Complete descriptions of the roll motion can be
found in Perez (2006) but are omitted here. However,
an approximation with a second-order system is valid for
control system design and suitable for small roll angles
(Perez (2006)). Couplings between roll and sway/yaw are
omitted due to the separate controller design of DP and
roll controller. The transfer function Groll (s) for the roll
angle φ depending on the roll torque Tx can be written as
φ Kω02
Groll (s) = = 2 (8)
Tx s + 2ξω0 s + ω02
where K is the system gain, ξ the dimensionless roll damp-
ing coefficient and ω0 the ships natural roll frequency. The
model for the roll rate p can be obtained by differentia-
tion of Eq. (8). Parametrization can be done by simple
experiments, e.g. heeling or decay tests, using standard
identification methods as proposed by Ljung (1999).
2.3 Thruster modeling of VSP
A common way of describing a propulsion system is by
its open-water characteristic, i.e. considering wide and
deep water, neglecting interaction effects, etc. Contrary to
propeller-based, steerable thruster, with which the thrust
vector is generated by the propeller revolution, direction
and sometimes the blade pitch angle, the VSP uses a
X/Y-logic. This means the thrust can be generated by
T
setting a pitch vector p = [px , py ] , consisting out of the
driving pitch px and the rudder pitch py , see Fig. 3. This is
significantly faster than any action possible with propeller-
based thruster since only the angle of the blades on a
rotating disk has to be set. With zero inflow a given pitch
p will generate a thrust in the same direction. Assuming
the propeller and ship frame are aligned a positive driving
or rudder pitch will lead to a positive force in x- or y-
direction, respectively.
Fig. 3. VSP pitch definition
180
The magnitude of the thrust can be adjusted with the revo-
lution rate, as well, which however is a slower process than
pitch-only thrust generation. Depending on the inflow, e.g.
current or the ships velocity, the angle between inflow and
resulting thrust may change significantly compared to the
zero-inflow case. Hence, the direction of pitch and thrust
may not be aligned anymore.
The VSP characteristic is described by a look-up table
with pre-calculated values for the different combinations of
pitch vector, revolution rate and inflow under open-water
conditions, see Eq. (9).
 
Fx  
Fy = V SP p, n, vb (9)
PD
where F{x,y} and PD are the forces in x- and y-direction
at the propeller location and the delivered power, respec-
 T
tively, and vb = vxb vyb is representing the inflow vector
in body-fixed coordinates.
3. CONTROL AND ALLOCATION
The control system consists of two main parts: a DP con-
trol and an independent roll control system. The first one
controls the ship’s position on the water surface; whereas
the second one reduces the roll motion. The outputs of
the controller are forces and moments to fulfill the given
tasks. Separate control allocation modules convert the
controller demands to actuator configurations. The task
of the DP allocation is to find the energy-optimal solution
for this problem in the case of multiple propulsions. The
roll allocation will alternate this solution and add a zero-
mean high-frequency signal on the VSP to damp the roll
rate. The complete structure can be seen in Fig. 4.
3.1 Optimization-based DP allocation
For calculation of the actuator settings the approach
of Brandner (2014); Jürgens et al. (2012) is used. This
algorithm uses a constrained, multi-criteria optimization
to not only provide the settings leading to the desired
force τ̂ but also to do this in an energy-optimal way, i.e.
minimize the needed power P . The allocation is using a
sequential 2-step procedure as described by (10).
(I) J1 (x) → min ⇒ x̂
(II) J2 (x) → min, s.t.J1 (x) = J1 (x̂)
 T
2
J1 (x) = τ̂ − τthr (x)2 dt (10)
0
 T
2
J2 (x) = P (x) − Pmin 2 dt
0
The first step (I) is the minimization of the difference
between desired and generated thrust τthr (x) calculated
by using the open-water characteristic. The optimization
variable is the VSP configuration x consisting of the pitch
vector p and the revolution rate n. With success of step
(I) the power is minimized (II), under the requirement
that (I) holds. Depending on the environmental conditions,
the actual configuration and the desired force it cannot be
guaranteed to meet the request in every time step. In this
IFAC MCMC 2015
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Philipp Koschorrek et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183
Roll-controller Roll-allocation
DP-controller Allocation
DP Observer/
Filter
Fig. 4. Structure of the DP-control system with separate roll damping controller
case, additional weights make sure that importance is paid
to provide the needed torque for holding the heading.
Constraints of the allocation are set by the minimal
and maximal values of the pitch, the revolution and the
maximum power. Furthermore, there are limits for the
pitch and revolution rate given which define the dynamic
behavior of the thruster. Hence, the dynamics of the VSP
are implemented due to usage of internal integrators.
3.2 DP-controller and observer
As DP controller the nonlinear PID controller of Fossen
(2011) in 3dof was chosen, see Eq. 11. Inputs to the
controller are the position and velocity estimates, η̂ and
ν̂ resp. The output is the force-moment vector τP ID which
is needed to keep the ship on desired position ηset . Hence,
the control error is ê = ηset − η̂
 T
τP ID = RT (ψ̂)KP ê − KD ν̂ + RT (ψ̂)KI êdt (11)
0 controller tuned with Ziegler-Nichols method as in Åström
The controller output is forwarded to the allocation which
calculates the optimal actuator configuration and the
resulting thrust vector τthr acting on the ship.
For controller design the thruster dynamics can be ne-
glected since the thrust generation of the VSP is fast com-
pared to the ships dynamic. Furthermore, it is assumed
that the allocation will provide the needed thrust in every
time-step. Thus, a complete linear representation of the
plant is possible for the operating point DP. The linear
model of the process, Eq. (7), in vessel-parallel coordinates
is used to parametrize the controller for station-keeping
and disturbance rejection. The pole placement method,
Eq. (12), as presented by Fossen (2011) has been chosen
to parametrize the controller,
KP = Mωn2
ωn
KI = KP (12)
10
KD = 2ζωn M − D
where ωn and ζ have been determined by requirements
set to the over-shoot and settling time of the closed-loop
system.
The waves acting on the ship will lead to first and second
order effects, i.e. high-frequent displacements and drift.
The displacements will lead to bad control performance
and unnecessary stress on the actuators since a standard
181
181
VSP-
model
... Vessel
dynamics
VSP-
model
PID controller tries to eliminate every single wave. Con-
sidering this, a module is needed to regain the wave-free
position η̂ from the disturbed measurements η̃. A Kalman
filter as proposed in Fossen and Perez (2009) was chosen
to estimate the low frequency motion on the water surface,
the velocities needed for control and the drift force acting
on the ship.
3.3 Roll reduction
Roll reduction is done by adding a high-frequency modula-
tion on the rudder pitch resulting from the DP allocation.
Since the ship’s roll motion is oscillating around a certain
attitude the necessary pitch for roll-damping will also be
a mean-free oscillation around the DP pitch. Of course,
this procedure is only possible if there is a pitch reserve in
the rudder pitch. This method is not energy-optimal but
is a simple one. Since the bias in heeling (due to cargo,
etc.) is not known the roll rate will be controlled. A PD
and Hägglund (2006) was chosen to reduce the roll rate
modeled by Eq. (8). The resulting moment is input to a
roll allocation.
3.4 Roll allocation
Main task of the roll allocation is to find control variables
which generate the required roll torque Tx . Therefore the
roll torque is transformed into an equivalent force ∆fy
at the propeller location. Depending on the direction of
the roll moment either the portside or starboard VSP is
used to generate Tx in order to avoid mutual interaction.
By knowing the actual rudder pitch py and the actual
revolution rate n determined by the DP system a look-
up table calculates an offset rudder pitch ∆py which is
necessary to compensate the disturbance roll torque, see
Fig. 5. This variable is added to the DP rudder pitch of
the used thruster.
The look-up table has been parametrized by numerical
optimization. For a given operating point determined by
py and n the necessary value ∆py is calculated which
minimizes the cost function
    2
0 0
J = (fyDP + ∆fy ) − V SP  , n,
py 0
with py = py + ∆py . Optimization has been done for
zero inflow and constraints set by the maximal achievable
IFAC MCMC 2015
August 24-26, 2015. Copenhagen, Denmark
182 Philipp Koschorrek et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183

Geometric
LUT
transformation
Roll allocation

Fig. 5. Structure of roll-allocation

power and the maximum possible rudder pitch. The force
fyDP is the lateral force generated in DP control by py
and n.

4. SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Simulations have been carried out on a nonlinear model of

a 2.4m long model-scale version of a Voith water tractor by
Fig. 7. DP control results: controller output τP ID
Detlefsen et al. (2015). Effects such as hydrostatics, viscous
drag forces, drift based on second-order wave excitation
and current are taken into account and most have been
verified with basin experiments. Two VSP drive the ship
and are located symmetric to the longitudinal axis, 0.5
ahead from the center of gravity.
The simulation environment has been built up as shown
in Fig. 4. Disturbances acting on the ship are current and
waves defined by properties shown in Table 1.
Table 1.
Current νcx = −0.2 ms
νcy = −0.1 ms
Wave spectrum hs = 0.2m
Ts = 1.425s
αs = 125◦
Nf = 75

Fig. 8. Roll control results: Roll angle φ

with the current vector νc and the significant height hs ,
period Ts and angle αs of a JONSWAP wave spectrum
with Nf discrete frequencies. A linear model of the process
has been identified for controller design and for usage in
the Kalman filter. DP control is activated the complete
simulation time whereas roll damping starts at t = 20s.
Fig. 6. DP control results: measured and estimated posi-
tion, η̃ and η̂ resp.
Fig. 6 shows that the ship can maintain its position
without significant error. Although the current is not
known at t = 0s and has to be estimated, the control
error remains small when roll-damping is turned off. The
components of τP ID , depicted in Fig. 7, compensate the
drift force caused by current and second-order wave effects.
With enabling the roll rate controller the roll motion is
damped, as it is shown in Fig. 8. The reduction of roll
motion at resonance (RRR, see Perez (2006)) is 75%,
yet the roll damping is achieved on cost of displacements
in sway and yaw due to unmodeled couplings. The roll
allocation can provide the required torque in most cases
by setting the rudder pitch value of one VSP, see Fig. 9.
The amplitude of the damped roll motion is not constant.
This is caused by the structure of the control system.
Roll damping action is added after the DP allocation.
Hence, it can only use the available pitch reserve. This is
rather important considering applications such as transfer
processes from offshore platforms. First priority has to be
to hold the position to avoid crashes with the structure or
other severe damages.
This requirement has been met although there are other
drawbacks in this solution. The DP allocation sets pitch
and revolution rate of each VSP, possibly leaving capa-
bilities for roll damping. This is also done in an energy-
optimal way, hence, with the lowest possible revolution
rate. This DP-optimal configuration may not be the
best to also achieve roll reduction since other operating
points (higher rate, lower pitch) would results in the

182
IFAC MCMC 2015
Philipp Koschorrek et al. / IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-16 (2015) 178–183
August 24-26, 2015. Copenhagen, Denmark
Fig. 9. Roll control results: requested and provided torque
Tx , py of VSP portside (ps), py of VSP starboard (sb)
same force/moment vector but leave more reserve for roll
damping. A bilateral communication would be necessary
to compensate for this behavior. Besides that, the VSP
are affected by current, making the lateral force not only
a function of py but also of px . This should be taken into
account to minimize effects as the high-frequent thrust
changes shown in Fig. 7.
5. CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK
A method for combined DP and roll control has been
presented in this paper. The control structure is able to
hold the position of the ship and reduce the roll motion
although there are mutual interferences having a negative
impact on the DP control error. Thus, the next step should
be the tighter integration of both controllers and allocation
to minimize the problems arising from the separate roll
reduction. An example for this would be an allocation
and controller design in 4dof. Moreover, since DP and roll
control may not concur, an anti-windup is necessary for
the DP controller. With integration of these changes and
add-ons, experiments on the real ship should be done to
validate the results of the simulation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank all project partners of DPMotion.
Common discussions and their assistance during design,
implementation and running of the simulations were most
appreciated.
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