The simulation model uses the HIL method applied for studying the motion of 6 degrees of freedom of container ships

Abstract

This article presents the construction of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation model to research and test trajectory controllers for container ships. The proposed model consists of a 3D virtual control object and a real trajectory controller. The virtual object is a 3D dynamic model built based on 6 degrees of freedom (6-DOF) equations, technical records of the ship, and Unity software. Meanwhile, the controller is built using Matlab/Simulink software. The controller and control object communicate with each other using the Modbus TCP/IP protocol with a physical Ethernet link. Besides, the proposed model also fully includes the main turbulence components of the environment affecting the ship that many previous studies on ship trajectory control have ignored. The test results show that the model operates reliably, and accurately, and can be applied to research and test trajectory controllers for ships.