Path following of a model ship using Model Predictive Control with experimental verification

This paper presents an experimental implementation of a Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy for path following on a model ship. The objective of the proposed algorithm is to control cross-tracking error and heading angle using the rudder control. The MPC is designed and implemented using both linearized and nonlinear model. The implementation is performed experimentally via Integrated Perturbation Analysis and Sequential Quadratic Programming (InPA-SQP) algorithm. The InPA-SQP solver can meet the computational efficiency demand and the effectiveness of the designed MPC has been verified with experimental results.