Design and experiment of a small boat auto-berthing control system

This work is concerned with the design analysis and experiment of a small boat-based auto-berthing control system. The autopilot system is implemented using an Internal Model Control (IMC) structure, in which the ship model parameters and the value of the IMC design parameter β are estimated from MATLAB/Simulink simulations performed using the data acquired from a series of real-world maneuvering trials performed using a small fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) boat. In the berthing stage, both the yaw angle and the sway distance are used as feedback signals to activate the bow and stern thrusters, and proper thrust allocation is employed to achieve smooth sideway movements towards the berthing wall. The experimental results revealed that the auto-berthing control system successfully mimics the actions of a human pilot in accomplishing the approach and berthing maneuvers of a small boat in a real-world harbor environment.