Automatic steering of ships using neural networks

Ship steering control system design presents challenges because the dynamic properties of the vessel itself vary significantly. The use of an artificial neural network as a controller which incorporates the properties of a series of conventional controllers designed for different operating conditions could provide an alternative to adaptive control or gain scheduling in this application. Local model network methods could also provide a basis for efficient modelling of the vessel over a range of operating conditions. The paper describes an investigation of radial basis function networks for ship steering control and of local model networks for representation of ship dynamics. Performance is demonstrated by a series of simulation studies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.