A New Fuzzy Autopilot for Way-point Tracking Control of Ships

A new fuzzy control design for way-point tracking control problem of ship autopilot is proposed. To effectively control ships in a designed trajectory is always an important task for ship manipulators. The paper gives the design method of a kind of fuzzy autopilot for way-point tracking control system. The fuzzy control rules are constructed based on human operator´s manipulating experience. This control design approach greatly simplifies the control design process and the control algorithm, and is easily applied to practical ship tracking system. Simulation results show that the proposed fuzzy autopilot has desired performance with high accuracy of course keeping, short time of rudder actions and less frequency of changing rudder direction.