Ship track-keeping: experiments with a physical tanker model

Abstract Two autopilots for ship track-keeping along a given trajectory are presented, namely a linear quadratic output feedback controller and a robust cascade controller. In both of them, the rudder is used as the only control actuator. The paper presents the mathematical foundation of the problem, the filtering techniques applied in its solution, and selected results of the simulations carried out on a physical ship model on the Silm Lake.