Autonomous navigation and control for a sustainable vessel: A wind-assisted strategy

Zhang，Guoqing1,2; Li，Jiqiang1,2; Chang，Tengyu1; Zhang，Wenjun1,2; Song，Lan3

2025-03-01

10.1016/j.horiz.2024.100117

Sustainable Horizons   影响因子和分区

2772-7378

The emission of carbon dioxide from the maritime transportation sector accounts for a significant proportion of the total emissions within the entire industry. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has carried out a world's inaugural preliminary strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gases from shipping transportation, and the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee has pointed out that renewable energy (wind, solar, hydrogen) can provide a whole or assisted thrust for a marine surface vessel concerning the energy efficiency. One observes that the research of a sustainable vessel, which is powered by a wind-assisted thrust, is still in the early stage. This paper investigates an autonomous navigation and control strategy for a sustainable vessels for a reduction of consumption of fossil fuel, leading to a lower emission of carbon dioxide. For this purpose, two kinds of wind-assisted vessels, the wing sail-assisted vessel and rotor sail-assisted vessel are described from three aspects, the principles, installation and the mathematical model of the wind-assisted vessels. On the basis of the nonlinear mathematical model, an autonomous control scheme is proposed that uses a Backstepping technique. In addition, the adjustment strategies for the wing sail and rotor sail are discussed, which can achieve the objective of energy-saving by reducing the thrust from the propeller. From a numerical example by utilization of a rotor sail-assisted vessel, the explicitly result that a good energy-saving performance with 13% energy optimization ratio is achieved while a path following operation is carried out in the presence of the simulated wind environment. Furthermore, the feasibility of the application of wind-assisted vessel in practical engineering is discussed. Finally, the future applications and key techniques are examined to expedite the real implementation of theoretical advancements in the field of the wind-assisted vessel.

Autonomous control Energy-saving Maritime transportation Wind-assisted vessels

英语

其他

2-s2.0-85200899374

Scopus

1.Navigation College,Dalian Maritime University,Dalian,Liaoning,116026,China
2.State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety,Dalian,Liaoning,116026,China
3.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,Guangdong,518055,China

Zhang，Guoqing,Li，Jiqiang,Chang，Tengyu,et al. Autonomous navigation and control for a sustainable vessel: A wind-assisted strategy[J]. Sustainable Horizons,2025,13.

Zhang，Guoqing,Li，Jiqiang,Chang，Tengyu,Zhang，Wenjun,&Song，Lan.(2025).Autonomous navigation and control for a sustainable vessel: A wind-assisted strategy.Sustainable Horizons,13.

Zhang，Guoqing,et al."Autonomous navigation and control for a sustainable vessel: A wind-assisted strategy".Sustainable Horizons 13(2025).