Sampled-data output regulation for ships

In navigation and control of vehicles such as automotives, ships and airplanes, control of attitude and/or trajectories is important. In this paper we consider the stabilization and the step tracking control problems of a ship. Using the output regulation of constant exogenous signals for linear sampled-data systems with time-varying measurement matrices, we design step tracking controllers. Then we apply the designed controllers to the set-point stabilization and the way-point tracking of an experimental ship that is a small boat with plural electric thrusters. By experimental results we show the effectiveness of the designed controllers.