Robust Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Ship Dynamic Positioning Using Laguerre Function

This paper is devoted to the issue of computationally efficient and robust nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for ship dynamic positioning (DP) systems subjected to input constraints and unknown environmental disturbances. The Laguerre functions, typically applied to the linear systems, are introduced to the constrained NMPC design of the nonlinear DP system to reduce the computational burden. The unscented Kalman filter is adopted to estimate the unknown disturbances and states; thus, the disturbance estimates are utilized as the cancellation signal to achieve robust offset-free control. Simulations of the proposed Laguerre function-based NMPC scheme are implemented and compared with the performance of typical Laguerre function-based linear model predictive control (LMPC) for the DP system. Simulation results well demonstrate the effectiveness, robustness and superiority of the proposed controller.