Robust Adaptive Nn Control of Ship Course Autopilot Based on DSC

The problem of adaptive control design of ship autopilot with rudder dynamics is studied. The model is described by a third order nonlinear model for parametric uncertainties. An adaptive neural network (NN ) control algorithm based on dynamic surface control (DSC) is developed. With only one learning parameter and reduced computation load, the proposed algorithm can avoid both problem of explosion of complexity in the conventional backstepping method and singularity problem. In addition, the boundedness stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed and tracking error can be made arbitrary small. The effectiveness of the presented autopilot has been demonstrated in the simulation.