Autonomous Docking of Electric Boat

Sammanfattning: In recreational boating, docking is one of the most stressful and accident prone situations. Due to the loss of maneuverability at low speeds, it is a procedure that requires experience. There are mainly two problems when it comes to autonomous docking of a boat, these are identifying a berth’s position as well as keeping the boat on its intended path and correcting any deviations. Autonomous docking in recreational boating is still quite uncommon, with companies still exploring different solutions. This thesis proposes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) system combined with Pulsed Coherent Radar technology, equipped on an under-actuated boat model, to achieve autonomous docking. A major part of this thesis was to evaluate the amount and placement of radar sensors, as well as determining whether these are suitable in a water environment. In order to test this, the sensors were placed alongside the hull of the boat. It was found that the placement of sensors had a bigger impact than the amount when it came to correctly detecting the position of a berth. Once the placement of sensors and the berth position algorithmhad been done, a closed-loop MPC was used. This controller got constant feedback of the boat’s position relative the berth, in order to calculate the thruster control inputs for the next time step. The developed autonomous docking system was then implemented on the boat which was tested in a swimming pool. The optimal radar configuration combined withMPC, made it possible to successfully dock a boat autonomously without any modification to the berth.