Design of automatic thruster assisted mooring systems for ships

Abstract

This paper addresses the mathematical modelling and controller design of an automatic thruster assisted position mooring system. Such control systems are applied to anchored floating production offloading and storage vessels and semi-subs. The controller is designed using model based control with a LQG feedback controller in conjunction with a Kalman filter. The controller design is in addition to the environmental loads accounting for the mooring forces acting on the vessel. This is reflected in the model structure and in the inclusion of new functionality.