Computation of feasible control trajectories for the navigation of a ship around an obstacle in the presence of a sea current

A ship has to move from a point A to a point B and, on its way, has to circumvent an obstacle. In addition, the presence of a sea current is assumed. Using a realistic model of a tanker ship, a method is proposed for computing feasible control trajectories for the navigation of the ship.     

Maximin Approach to the Ship Collision Avoidance Problem via Multiple-Subarc Sequential Gradient-Restoration Algorithm

The ideal strategy for ship collision avoidance under emergency conditions is to maximize wrt the controls the timewise minimum distance between a host ship and an intruder ship. This is a maximin problem or Chebyshev problem of optimal control in which the performance index being maximinimized is the distance between the two ships. Based on the multiple-subarc sequential gradient-restoration algorithm, a new method for solving the maximin problem is developed.Key to the new method is the observation that, at the maximin point, the time derivative of the performance index must vanish. With the zero derivative condition being treated as an inner boundary condition, the maximin problem can be converted into a Bolza problem in which the performance index, evaluated at the inner boundary, is being maximized wrt the controls. In turn, the Bolza problem with an added inner boundary condition can be solved via the multiple-subarc sequential gradient-restoration algorithm (SGRA).The new method is applied to two cases of the collision avoidance problem: collision avoidance between two ships moving along the same rectilinear course and collision avoidance between two ships moving along orthogonal courses. For both cases, we are basically in the presence of a two-subarc problem, the first subarc corresponding to the avoidance phase of the maneuver and the second subarc corresponding to the recovery phase. For stiff systems, the robustness of the multiple-subarc SGRA can be enhanced via increase in the number of subarcs. For the ship collision avoidance problem, a modest increase in the number of subarcs from two to three (one subarc in the avoidance phase, two subarcs in the recovery phase) helps containing error propagation and achieving better convergence results.     

Un problème hyperbolique du 2ème ordre avec contrainte unilatérale: La corde vibrante avec obstacle ponctuel

We consider the small transverse vibrations of a string that is constrained to stay on one side of a moving peg (clou in french). We give an appropriate modelization. Existence and uniqueness for the Cauchy Problem are proved. Conservation of energy is a consequence of the set of inequations which describe the model. Continuous dependence on initial data, convergence of penalization are proved and a variational formulation is given. A number of generalizations are presented. A continuous obstacle cannot be approximated by a point obstacle made out of a large number of pegs.     

Optimal Control of a Ship for a Course-Changing Maneuver

The steering control of a ship during a course-changing maneuver is formulated as a Bolza optimal control problem, which is solved via the sequential gradient-restoration algorithm (SGRA). Nonlinear differential equations describing the yaw dynamics of a steering ship are employed as the differential constraints, and both amplitude and slew rate limits on the rudder are imposed. Two performance indices are minimized: one measures the time integral of the squared course deviation between the actual ship course and a target course; the other measures the time integral of the absolute course deviation. Numerical results indicate that a smooth transition from the initial set course to the target course is achievable, with a trade-off between the speed of response and the amount of course angle overshoot.     

Optimal Trajectories and Guidance Schemes for Ship Collision Avoidance

The best strategy for collision avoidance under emergency conditions is to maximize wrt the controls the timewise minimum distance between the host ship and the intruder ship. In a restricted waterway area, two main constraints must be satisfied: the lateral deviation of the host ship from the original course is to be contained within certain limits; the longitudinal distance covered by the host ship is to be subject to a prescribed bound. At the maximin point of the encounter, the time derivative of the relative distance vanishes; this yields an inner boundary condition (orthogonality between the relative position vector and the relative velocity vector) separating the main phases of the maneuver: the avoidance and recovery phases. In this way, the optimal trajectory problem (a Chebyshev problem) can be converted into a Bolza problem with an inner boundary condition. Numerical solutions are obtained via the multiple-subarc sequential gradient-restoration algorithm (SGRA). Because the optimal trajectory is not suitable for real-time implementation, a guidance scheme approximating the optimal trajectory in real time is to be developed. For ship collision avoidance, the optimal trajectory results show that the rudder angle time history has a bang-bang form characterized by the alternation of saturated control subarcs of opposite signs joined by rapid transitions. Just as the optimal trajectory can be partitioned into three phases (avoidance phase, recovery phase, steady phase), a guidance trajectory can be constructed in the same way. For the avoidance and recovery phases, use of decomposition techniques leads to an algorithm computing the time lengths of these phases in real time. For the steady phase, a feedback control scheme is used to maneuver the ship steadily. Numerical results are presented. Portions of this paper were presented by the senior author at the 13th International Workshop on Dynamics and Control, Wiesensteig, Germany, 22-26 May 2005, in honor of George Leitmann. This research was supported by NSF Grant CMS-02-18878.     

A Model of the joint motion of agents with a three-level hierarchy based on a cellular automaton

The collective interaction of agents for jointly overcoming (negotiating) obstacles is simulated. The simulation uses a cellular automaton. The automaton’s cells are filled with agents and obstacles of various complexity. The agents' task is to negotiate the obstacles while moving to a prescribed target point. Each agent is assigned to one of three levels, which specifies a hierarchy of subordination between the agents. The complexity of an obstacle is determined by the amount of time needed to overcome it. The proposed model is based on the probabilities of going from one cell to another.     

浅水亚临界航速舰船水压场计算方法研究

基于浅水波动势流理论和薄船假定,建立了浅水亚临界航速舰船水压场理论数学模型．采用有限差分方法,对浅水亚临界航速舰船水压场分布特征进行了数值计算．分析了航道岸壁、Froude数、色散效应对舰船水压场的影响,利用虚拟长度法改善了计算结果．通过与源汇分布法、Fourier积分变换法以及实验结果进行比对,验证了所建立的舰船水压场数学模型和计算方法的正确性．     

Two methods of characterizing the visibility of a moving point

Two methods are presented of determining the visibility (observability) of an object moving in space with an obstacle that hinders the motion and the perception of the object by an observer. The first method is based on taking into account the distance from the object to all possible observers. The second method uses not only the distance but also the size of the circular cone with the vertex at the observation point that contains a spherical neighborhood of the object. The directional differentiability of the functions characterizing the visibility of the object is established. The calculation of the derivatives is reduced to an extremal problem, for which “refinement” theorems are given.     

Motion of a string vibrating against a rigid fixed obstacle

We consider a string, fixed at both ends and moving in a plane in presence of a straight fixed obstacle placed on the equilibrium position of the string; the rebound of the string on the obstacle obeys the law of perfect reflection. The string being initially at rest in an arbitrary shape, we prove that the motion is periodic with the same period that the free oscillations.     

Optimal Control of a Ship for Collision Avoidance Maneuvers

We consider a ship subject to kinematic, dynamic, and moment equations and steered via rudder under the assumptions that the rudder angle and rudder angle time rate are subject to upper and lower bounds. We formulate and solve four Chebyshev problems of optimal control, the optimization criterion being the maximization with respect to the state and control history of the minimum value with respect to time of the distance between two identical ships, one maneuvering and one moving in a predetermined way.Problems P1 and P2 deal with collision avoidance maneuvers without cooperation, while Problems P3 and P4 deal with collision avoidance maneuvers with cooperation. In Problems P1 and P3, the maneuvering ship must reach the final point with a given lateral distance, zero yaw angle, and zero yaw angle time rate. In Problems P2 and P4, the additional requirement of quasi-steady state is imposed at the final point.The above Chebyshev problems, transformed into Bolza problems via suitable transformations, are solved via the sequential gradient-restoration algorithm in conjunction with a new singularity avoiding transformation which accounts automatically for the bounds on rudder angle and rudder angle time rate.The optimal control histories involve multiple subarcs along which either the rudder angle is kept at one of the extreme positions or the rudder angle time rate is held at one of the extreme values. In problems where quasi-steady state is imposed at the final point, there is a higher number of subarcs than in problems where quasi-steady state is not imposed; the higher number of subarcs is due to the additional requirement that the lateral velocity and rudder angle vanish at the final point.     

Two methods of characterizing the visibility of a moving point

Two methods are presented of determining the visibility (observability) of an object moving in space with an obstacle that hinders the motion and the perception of the object by an observer. The first method is based on taking into account the distance from the object to all possible observers. The second method uses not only the distance but also the size of the circular cone with the vertex at the observation point that contains a spherical neighborhood of the object. The directional differentiability of the functions characterizing the visibility of the object is established. The calculation of the derivatives is reduced to an extremal problem, for which “refinement” theorems are given.     

Detecting a hidden obstacle via the time domain enclosure method. A scalar wave case

The characterization problem of the existence of an unknown obstacle behind a known obstacle is considered by using a singe observed wave at a place where the wave is generated. The unknown obstacle is invisible from the place by using a visible ray. A mathematical formulation of the problem using the classical wave equation is given. The main result consists of two parts: (a) one can make a decision whether the unknown obstacle exists or not behind a known impenetrable obstacle by using a single wave over a finite time interval under some a‐priori information on the position of the unknown obstacle; (b) one can obtain a lower bound on the Euclidean distance of the unknown obstacle to the center point of the support of the initial data of the wave. The proof is based on the idea of the time domain enclosure method and employs some previous results on the Gaussian lower/upper estimates for the heat kernels and domination of semigroups.     

Motion of a vibrating string in the presence of a convex obstacle: A free boundary problem

Here we study the motion of a vibrating string in the presence of an arbitrary obstacle. We show that if the string always rebounds on the concave parts of the obstacle, it can either rebound or roll on the convex parts. The latter is the case if the velocity of the string is null at the contact point just before contact, or if the contact point propagates at a characteristic speed. Four examples are given. The three first correspond to the same obstacle, a sinusoidal arc, but with different initial conditions. In the first case, the string rebounds on the whole of the obstacle and the motion is explicitly determined when it is periodic. In the second case, the string rolls on the convex part of the obstacle up to the inflexion point and then rebounds on the concave part and unwinds on the convex part. In the third case, the string is initially at rest on the obstacle; then it instantaneously leaves the concave part while it unwinds progressively on the convex part. The fourth case is similar to the third but with a different obstacle; the motion, which is periodic, is determined explicitly.     

Chaotic responses of a harmonically excited spring pendulum moving in circular path

In this paper, the chaotic response of a harmonically excited spring pendulum that is moving in circular path is studied. This system is a nonlinear multi-degrees-of-freedom system and is a good example for several engineering applications such as ship motion. Using the multiple scales (MS) method [A. Nayfeh, Perturbation Methods, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1973], the original non-autonomous system is reduced to a third-order approximate autonomous system. The approximate system is shown to have bifurcation leading to chaos.     

Two dimensional incompressible ideal flow around a thin obstacle tending to a curve

In this work we study the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the incompressible two dimensional Euler equations in the exterior of a single smooth obstacle when the obstacle becomes very thin tending to a curve. We extend results by Iftimie, Lopes Filho and Nussenzveig Lopes, obtained in the context of an obstacle tending to a point, see [D. Iftimie, M.C. Lopes Filho, H.J. Nussenzveig Lopes, Two dimensional incompressible ideal flow around a small obstacle, Comm. Partial Differential Equations 28 (1–2) (2003) 349–379].     

Non-Markovianity of the Boltzmann-Grad limit of a system of random obstacles in a given force field

In this paper we consider a particle moving in a random distribution of obstacles. Each obstacle is absorbing and a fixed force field is imposed. We show rigorously that certain (very smooth) fields prevent the process obtained by the Boltzmann-Grad limit from being Markovian. Then, we propose a slightly different setting which allows this difficulty to be removed.     

Diffraction of the Electromagnetic Wave on a Small Obstacle of Elliptic Form in a Layer

The problem on the diffraction of the electromagnetic plane wave on a small obstacle included in a layer is investigated. The obstacle is assumed to be an elliptic cylinder whose diameter and focal distance are small in comparison with the length of the incident wave. It is proved that the small obstacle radiates as a point source, and its amplitude is proportional to the area of the cross-section and the jumps of the dielectric and magnetic constants on the interfaces. Bibliography: 5 titles.     

Multiobjective optimal control of a four-body kinematic chain

Optimal control of mechanical systems is an active area of research. However, so far, most contributions are taking only one single objective into account, whereas for many practical problems, one is interested in optimizing several conflicting objectives at the same time. Applying singleobjective optimization to each of them leads to several trajectories each being optimal for one objective, but ignoring all others. In contrast to that, combining all objectives and using multiobjective optimization leads to a variety of trade off solutions taking all objectives into account simultaneously. We use the direct discretization method DMOCC (Discrete Mechanics and Optimal Control for Constrained systems) to approximate trajectories of the underlying optimal control problems, resulting in restricted optimization problems of high dimension. For the multiobjective part, we apply a reference point technique which successively utilizes an auxiliary distance function to gain the trade off solutions. The presented approach is illustrated by the multiobjective optimal control of a constrained multibody system. A four-body kinematic chain is controlled in a rest to rest maneuver, for which minimal control effort and minimal required maneuver time are the conflicting objectives. (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Evasion of a fixed sphere by a dynamical object driven by a bounded force

A solution is obtained of the problem of synthesizing the control of the motion of a dynamical object (a point mass) evading a fixed spherical obstacle under the action of a bounded force. The set of all points for which evasion is possible is constructed in phase space (of arbitrary dimension), and control modes are constructed for bounded (fixed) and unbounded time intervals. The characteristics of the optimal motion, in particular, the time and minimum distance, are determined for specific initial data. The qualitative properties of the controlled motion are established.     

Optimal Control of a Ship for Course Change and Sidestep Maneuvers

We consider a ship subject to kinematic, dynamic, and moment equations and steered via rudder under the assumptions that the rudder angle and rudder angle time rate are subject to upper and lower bounds. We formulate and solve four Mayer problems of optimal control, the optimization criterion being the minimum time.Problems P1 and P2 deal with course change maneuvers. In Problem P1, a ship initially in quasi-steady state must reach the final point with a given yaw angle and zero yaw angle time rate. Problem P2 differs from Problem P1 in that the additional requirement of quasi-steady state is imposed at the final point.Problems P3 and P4 deal with sidestep maneuvers. In Problem P3, a ship initially in quasi-steady state must reach the final point with a given lateral distance, zero yaw angle, and zero yaw angle time rate. Problem P4 differs from Problem P3 in that the additional requirement of quasi-steady state is imposed at the final point.The above Mayer problems are solved via the sequential gradient-restoration algorithm in conjunction with a new singularity avoiding transformation which accounts automatically for the bounds on rudder angle and rudder angle time rate.The optimal control histories involve multiple subarcs along which either the rudder angle is kept at one of the extreme positions or the rudder angle time rate is held at one of the extreme values. In problems where quasi-steady state is imposed at the final point, there is a higher number of subarcs than in problems where quasi-steady state is not imposed; the higher number of subarcs is due to the additional requirement that the lateral velocity and rudder angle vanish at the final point.