Ship Collision Avoidance Based on the Vulnerability Assessment for Small Vessels in Bad Weather

Abstract

In the conditions of bad weather, the small vessels maneuvering ability of collision avoidance is seriously reduced and the vulnerability to maritime accidents increases due to the influence of strong wind and wave. This paper proposes a collision avoidance decision-making and control method for small vessels using the integrated collision risk assessment based on fuzzy logic. First, the speed of wind and height of wave in the bad weather conditions are fuzzified. Then, the collision risk indices are selected for fuzzy inference to get the basic collision risk which will be integrated with the vulnerability to collision accidents and it helps to improve the accuracy of collision risk assessment. According to the current multi-ships encounter situations, the similar cases are retrieved from the case database, and the collision avoidance decision is given after fuzzy adjustments. To implement collision avoidance actions, a fuzzy algorithm for nonlinear ship heading dynamic surface control (DSC) control considering input saturation and uncertainties is designed. The problem of “computational expansion” that may occur in high-order systems is avoided by using DSC technology. Finally, simulation experiments are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the collision avoidance method.

Keywords

• Collision avoidance
• bad weather
• fuzzy logic
• multi-ships encounter
• heading control