Reconfigurable control of pipe-laying vessels after sensor faults

A new method for the control reconfiguration of pipe-laying vessels after sensor faults is described. The pipe-laying vessel is a kind of special operation vessel coordinated with dynamic positioning system. The new reconfiguration approach uses a virtual sensor as a reconfiguration block that permits to keep the nominal controller in the loop. A systematic procedure for virtual sensor design is presented that guarantees Lyapunov stability theory. The feasible and effective of the proposed approach is experimentally verified in the simulation of a pipe-laying vessel.