Autonomous coordination of Dynamic Positioned vessels: A practical study on cooperative control algorithms

Abstract

As offshore operations grow in scale and complexity, there is a rising demand for an increased number of agents, including vessels and equipment, to work cooperatively. In this context, the ability to coordinate these elements safely will eventually reach human limits, thereby limiting the achievable complexity. To address these challenges, higher levels of autonomy are being developed, supporting safer, larger, and more cost-effective operations. This study introduces cooperative control algorithms specifically designed for Dynamic Positioned vessels. In this framework, DP vessels are conceptualized as “drone ships”, capable of maintaining their position and executing trajectory tracking tasks collaboratively. The proposed methodologies incorporate robust nonlinear techniques formulated as cooperative protocols, including Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and the Super Twisting Algorithm (STA), to address a multi-agent consensus problem. These approaches consider the impacts of geometric and dynamic nonlinearities, as well as environmental disturbances that influence DP systems. Proposed methods have been extensively validated through a series of case studies, tested in simulations and small-scale models.