The control of specific actuators for fast ferry vertical motion damping

Abstract

The vertical motions of fast ships, which have a negative effect on comfort and safety, can be attenuated using moving actuators. There is the need of a control strategy to move the actuators in the most convenient way, considering several objectives. The paper considers this problem, studying a practical real example. Experiments with a scaled down replica of a fast ferry has been done, first for modeling purposes and second for control studies. Linear control shows serious application problems. Taking this into consideration, a nonlinear control approach is devised, with satisfactory results.