Real-Time Parameter Estimation of a Nonlinear Vessel Steering Model Using a Support Vector Machine

The least-square support vector machine (LS-SVM) is used to estimate the dynamic parameters of a nonlinear marine vessel steering model in real-time. First, maneuvering tests are carried out based on a scaled free-running ship model. The parameters are estimated using standard LS-SVM and compared with the theoretical solutions. Then, an online version, a sequential least-square support vector machine, is derived and used to estimate the parameters of vessel steering in real-time. The results are compared with the values estimated by standard LS-SVM with batched training data. By comparison, a sequential least-square support vector machine can dynamically estimate the parameters successfully, and it can be used for designing a dynamic model-based controller of marine vessels.