<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The unmanned surface vehicles (USV) are required to perform a dynamic obstacle avoidance during fulfilling a task. This is essential for USV safety in case of an emergency and such action has been proved to be difficult. However, little research has been done in this area. This study proposes an emergency collision avoidance algorithm for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) based on a motion ability database. The algorithm is aimed to address the inconsistency of the existing algorithm. It is proposed to avoid collision in emergency situations by sharp turning and treating the collision avoidance process as a part of the turning movement of USV. In addition, the rolling safety and effect of speed reduction during the collision avoidance process are considered. First, a USV motion ability database is established by numerical simulation. The database includes maximum rolling angle, velocity vector, position scalar, and steering time data during the turning process. In emergency collision avoidance planning, the expected steering angle is obtained based on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), and the solution space, with initial velocity and rudder angle taken as independent variables, is determined by combining the steering time and rolling angle data. On the basis of this solution space, the objective function is solved by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and the optimal initial velocity and rudder angle are obtained. The position data corresponding to this solution is the emergency collision avoidance trajectory. Then, the collision avoidance parameters were calculated based on the afore mentioned model of motion. With the use of MATLAB and Unity software, a semi-physical simulation platform was established to perform the avoidance simulation experiment under emergency situation. Results show the validity of the algorithm. Hence results of this research can be useful for performing intelligent collision avoidance operations of USV and other autonomous ships</p></abstract>

The unmanned surface vehicles (USV) are required to perform a dynamic obstacle avoidance during fulfilling a task. This is essential for USV safety in case of an emergency and such action has been proved to be difficult. However, little research has been done in this area. This study proposes an emergency collision avoidance algorithm for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) based on a motion ability database. The algorithm is aimed to address the inconsistency of the existing algorithm. It is proposed to avoid collision in emergency situations by sharp turning and treating the collision avoidance process as a part of the turning movement of USV. In addition, the rolling safety and effect of speed reduction during the collision avoidance process are considered. First, a USV motion ability database is established by numerical simulation. The database includes maximum rolling angle, velocity vector, position scalar, and steering time data during the turning process. In emergency collision avoidance planning, the expected steering angle is obtained based on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), and the solution space, with initial velocity and rudder angle taken as independent variables, is determined by combining the steering time and rolling angle data. On the basis of this solution space, the objective function is solved by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and the optimal initial velocity and rudder angle are obtained. The position data corresponding to this solution is the emergency collision avoidance trajectory. Then, the collision avoidance parameters were calculated based on the afore mentioned model of motion. With the use of MATLAB and Unity software, a semi-physical simulation platform was established to perform the avoidance simulation experiment under emergency situation. Results show the validity of the algorithm. Hence results of this research can be useful for performing intelligent collision avoidance operations of USV and other autonomous ships

Method of Emergency Collision Avoidance for Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Based on Motion Ability Database

Key Laboratory of High Performance Ship Technology (Wuhan University of Technology)

Polish Maritime Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The unmanned surface vehicles (USV) are required to perform a dynamic obstacle avoidance during fulfilling a task. This is essential for USV safety in case of...

Method of Emergency Collision Avoidance for Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Based on Motion Ability Database

Published Online: Jul 12, 2019

Page range: 55 - 67

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pomr-2019-0025

Keywords
Unmanned surface vehicle, emergency collision avoidance, velocity obstacle method, motion ability

© 2019 Lifei Song et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Method of Emergency Collision Avoidance for Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Based on Motion Ability Database

Published Online: Jul 12, 2019

Page range: 55 - 67

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pomr-2019-0025

KeywordsUnmanned surface vehicle, emergency collision avoidance, velocity obstacle method, motion ability

© 2019 Lifei Song et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Unmanned surface vehicle, emergency collision avoidance, velocity obstacle method, motion ability