Active Disturbance Rejection Control for Trajectory Tracking of a Seagoing USV: Design, Simulation, and Field Experiments

TL;DR

This paper develops and validates an Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) strategy for USVs, demonstrating improved trajectory tracking in simulations and real sea trials, despite increased energy use.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ADRC-based controller for USVs, validated through realistic simulations and field experiments, enhancing trajectory accuracy under environmental disturbances.

Findings

ADRC reduces cross-track error compared to PID control.

ADRC increases control effort and energy consumption.

Field trials confirm simulation results with higher energy use at sea.

Abstract

Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) face significant control challenges due to uncertain environmental disturbances like waves and currents. This paper proposes a trajectory tracking controller based on Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) implemented on the DUS V2500. A custom simulation incorporating realistic waves and current disturbances is developed to validate the controller's performance, supported by further validation through field tests in the harbour of Scheveningen, the Netherlands, and at sea. Simulation results demonstrate that ADRC significantly reduces cross-track error across all tested conditions compared to a baseline PID controller but increases control effort and energy consumption. Field trials confirm these findings while revealing a further increase in energy consumption during sea trials compared to the baseline.