The Bilinear Model Predictive Method-Based Motion Control System of an Underactuated Ship with an Uncertain Model in the Disturbance

Ship transportation plays an increasingly important role in and accounts for a large proportion of cargo transport. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of the trajectory control system of the ship for improving the transport efficiency and ensuring maritime safety. This paper deals with the advanced control system for the three-degrees-of-freedom model of the underactuated ship in the condition of uncertain disturbance. Based on the three-degrees-of-freedom model of the underactuated ship, the authors built a bilinear model of the ship by linearizing each nonlinear model section. Then, the authors used the state estimator to compensate for uncertain components and random disturbances in the model. Finally, the authors built the output-feedback predictive controller based on the channel-separation principle combined with direct observation of the continuous model for controlling the motion of the underactuated ship in the case of uncertain disturbance and the bound control signals. The result is that the movement quality of the underactuated ship is very good in the context of uncertain disturbance and bound control signals.

High-Precision Multi-UAV Teaming for the First Outdoor Night Show in Singapore

Advancement in the development of automation in aerial robotics has created endless applications today by utilizing autonomous drones, or in other words, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Motivated by the idea of the entertainment robots, in this paper, we present a robust and safe multi-UAV formation system for the purpose of entertainment in the form of a night multi-UAV teaming light show. The performance includes a 5-minutes flight show with 16 UAVs, changing patterns with background music, and with synchronized visual lighting from each of the UAVs. The high-precision autonomous formation flight is achieved with a centralized control method with a single ground control station (GCS). The system includes offline trajectory generation, safety features such as collision avoidance and UAV states monitoring, geo-fencing for out-of-bound control and many more which will be discussed in this paper. The live performance of the multi-UAV teaming night show was successfully presented to the public in conjunction with The Future of Us Exhibitions held in January 2016, in Singapore.