Navigation and Control of Unmanned Boat via GPS

K. Tu, F. Chang, L. Wang, G. Song

Abstract:	DGPS(Differential Global Positioning System), fuzzy control and wireless data link are combined to achieve the object of navigation and control of an unmanned boat. The position of the unmanned boat is obtained from the on-board DGPS receiver. The navigation and fuzzy control computations are performed by offshore reference station computer. The radio communication equipment plays the role of a bridge between the boat and the reference station: the coordinate of the boat is reported to the reference station, while the control command is sent to the boat. The error between the measured position of the unmanned boat and the desired path is fed into the fuzzy controller, which generates a rudder command at the reference station. The command is then transmitted to the boat via the wireless data link. On the other hand, on the unmanned boat, a single-board computer based on 386 CPU takes care of the control command. Through 805 1 single-chip microprocessor, PWM(Pulse Width Modulation) signals are generated to control the rudder angle. In addition, a fathometer is installed in the unmanned boat to detect the depth of the water. The measured data together with the corresponding position coordinate are sent back to the reference station via wireless communication. At reference station, the trajectory of the unmanned boat is displayed on the computer screen in real time. Through which, we can monitor the whole process of our experiment. A field-test has been performed to measure the depth of the water at Taichung harbor, Taiwan, R. 0. C. The experimental results show that our system is sound in the practical application. Moreover, the system is cheaper and more efficient than the conventional one.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 14 - 16, 1997 Loews Santa Monica Hotel Santa Monica, CA
Pages:	617 - 621
Cite this article:	Tu, K., Chang, F., Wang, L., Song, G., "Navigation and Control of Unmanned Boat via GPS," Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Santa Monica, CA, January 1997, pp. 617-621.
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