Small Vessel Parametric Model Coefficient Estimation

Initial dissertation research in the area of real-time system identification of ship hydrodynamic coefficients is presented. In accordance with the naval initiative of Seabasing requiring automation of small vessels, a real-time coefficient system identification method is being researched. Ship coefficient system identification has been relatively neglected with efforts limited only to Kalman filtering application on one degree of freedom ship models. In this paper, the effectiveness of Least Squares technique is researched for a 3 DOF model of the FAU R/V Stephan. Utilizing this simulation program of the vessel, various maneuvers are performed for parameter estimation. Results show that the degradation of Least Squares, with increasing ship speed and maneuver complexity, indicate that this technique is not suitable for development into a real-time system identification system.