Path following of a surface ship sailing in restricted waters under wind effect using robust H∞ guaranteed cost control

Abstract The path following problem of a ship sailing in restricted waters under wind effect is investigated based on Robust H∞ Guaranteed Cost Control (RHGCC). To design the controller, the ship maneuvering motion is modeled as a linear uncertain system with norm-bounded time-varying parametric uncertainty. To counteract the bank and wind effects, the integral of path error is augmented to the original system. Based on the extended linear uncertain system, sufficient conditions for existence of the RHGCC are given. To obtain an optimal robust H∞ guaranteed cost control law, a convex optimization problem with Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) constraints is formulated, which minimizes the guaranteed cost of the close-loop system and mitigates the effect of external disturbance on the performance output. Numerical simulations have confirmed the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control strategy for the path following goal of a ship sailing in restricted waters under wind effect.