Application of Robust Adaptive Output Tracking Control in Ship Maneuvering Autopilot

For the ship motion nonlinear control system model with unknown control gain, constant parameter uncertainty and the exogenous disturbances, a novel robust adaptive control strategy which combines Nussbaum gain with backstepping techniques was proposed, and then ship-course asymptotic tracking control was achieved. The desired performance of the closed-loop system under the derived adaptive robust controller can be satisfied by an appropriate choice of design parameters, and the controller singular problem can be avoided simultaneously. The design procedure and simulation results all demonstrate that the designed adaptive nonlinear tracking controller owns super robustness and adaptability to uncertainty.