Design and simulation of a two stage towing system

This paper presents a design for a two stage towing system which will be used to measure small-scale ocean turbulence. The science application introduces stringent requirements for tilt regulation. In addition to standard and specialized sensors, the towed platform includes an on-board computer and independently actuated stern planes for pitch and roll disturbance rejection. To validate a PID tilt regulation scheme, a six degree of freedom mathematical model is implemented in Matlab/Simulink. Using a simplified model for the towing cable effects, the controller effectiveness is evaluated over a range of towing speeds and sea states