NN-adaptive output feedback for course tracking control of a waterjet propulsion ship

An adaptive output feedback controller based on neural network(NN) is proposed, which forces a waterjet propulsion ship to track a desired course. A nonlinear course model of waterjet propulsion ship is proposed. The proposed control method only need the measurable information of course angle, and the unknown disturbances in the complicated sea states are estimated by neural network, so the control method can deal with the waterjet propulsion ship course control problem better in the complicated sea states. The stability analysis will be given by Lyapunov theorem. Finally, an example with a waterjet propulsion ship is shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller. Simulation results illustrate that the design controller has good dynamic performances without overshooting and strong robustness, and will meet the engineering requirement of the ship course in real-time control.