Publication: Stability control for sea drone
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Date
2024-07
Authors
Teh, Yi Wen
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Abstract
This project focuses on developing a gyrostabilizer-based stability control system to enhance sea drone performance in challenging marine environments.
Leveraging the advanced technology of Seakeeper, known for its effectiveness in large marine vessels, this project aims to adapt and miniaturize the gyrostabilizer for use in small-sized unmanned surface vehicles (USV). The system integrates gyrostabilizers to counteract destabilizing forces like waves, employing Proportional-Integral (PI) and Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controllers to optimize and compare performance under varying sea conditions between both controllers. The project unfolds in four stages: fabricating the gyrostabilizer, tuning and simulating the controllers, testing their effects and conducting field tests on a monohull USV. The active control system uses an MPU6050 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to detect wave motion, a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor to operate the flywheel and a servo motor to control the gyrostabilizer's precession angle, dissipating wave disturbances. Evaluation results show the PI controller outperforms the LQR controller, reducing stabilization time by 95.42% when an external force applied on the USV while mean
roll angle reduces by 34.19% and roll variability reduces by 56.32% in rough sea conditions. Conversely, the LQR controller reduces stabilization time by 91.15% when an external force applied but increases the mean roll angle by 135.87% and reduces roll variability by 58.12% in rough sea conditions. These findings highlight the PI controller's superior performance in enhancing sea drone stability in rough sea conditions.