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Energy-Efficient and Actuator-Friendly Control Under Wave Disturbances: Model Reference vs. PID for Thruster Surge

Anıl Erdinç Türetken, Hakan Ersoy, Aslihan Kartci

TL;DR

The paper tackles surge-velocity control for thruster-driven marine platforms under wave disturbances and sensor noise by comparing model-reference control (MRC) methods against optimally tuned PID controllers. It leverages a high-order identified thruster-vehicle model and analyzes four controllers (PID with filtered derivative, MRC, energy-oriented MRC, and IMC) through a common disturbance framework and a multi-scenario, energy-penalized objective. Key findings show that energy-oriented MRC (MRC--R*) and IMC achieve substantially lower actuation energy and smoother commands compared to tuned PID, while maintaining acceptable tracking, especially under wave and noise conditions; PID with heuristic tuning can offer strong tracking but at the cost of higher actuator activity. The work provides practical guidance for selecting controllers in marine systems where energy efficiency and actuator longevity are critical, highlighting trade-offs between tracking performance and actuator health in realistic disturbance environments.

Abstract

In this study, we compare a model reference control (MRC) strategy against conventional PID controllers (tuned via metaheuristic algorithms) for surge velocity control of a thruster-driven marine system, under combined wave disturbance and sensor noise. The goal is to evaluate not only tracking performance but also control energy usage and actuator stress. A high-order identified model of a Blue Robotics T200 thruster with a 2~kg vehicle is used, with an 8~N sinusoidal wave disturbance applied and white noise ( added to the speed measurement. Results show that the optimized MRC (MRC-R*) yields the lowest control energy and smoothest command among all controllers, while maintaining acceptable tracking. The IMC-based design performs closely. In contrast, PID controllers achieve comparable RMS tracking error but at the cost of excessive actuator activity and energy use, making them impractical in such scenarios. Future

Energy-Efficient and Actuator-Friendly Control Under Wave Disturbances: Model Reference vs. PID for Thruster Surge

TL;DR

The paper tackles surge-velocity control for thruster-driven marine platforms under wave disturbances and sensor noise by comparing model-reference control (MRC) methods against optimally tuned PID controllers. It leverages a high-order identified thruster-vehicle model and analyzes four controllers (PID with filtered derivative, MRC, energy-oriented MRC, and IMC) through a common disturbance framework and a multi-scenario, energy-penalized objective. Key findings show that energy-oriented MRC (MRC--R*) and IMC achieve substantially lower actuation energy and smoother commands compared to tuned PID, while maintaining acceptable tracking, especially under wave and noise conditions; PID with heuristic tuning can offer strong tracking but at the cost of higher actuator activity. The work provides practical guidance for selecting controllers in marine systems where energy efficiency and actuator longevity are critical, highlighting trade-offs between tracking performance and actuator health in realistic disturbance environments.

Abstract

In this study, we compare a model reference control (MRC) strategy against conventional PID controllers (tuned via metaheuristic algorithms) for surge velocity control of a thruster-driven marine system, under combined wave disturbance and sensor noise. The goal is to evaluate not only tracking performance but also control energy usage and actuator stress. A high-order identified model of a Blue Robotics T200 thruster with a 2~kg vehicle is used, with an 8~N sinusoidal wave disturbance applied and white noise ( added to the speed measurement. Results show that the optimized MRC (MRC-R*) yields the lowest control energy and smoothest command among all controllers, while maintaining acceptable tracking. The IMC-based design performs closely. In contrast, PID controllers achieve comparable RMS tracking error but at the cost of excessive actuator activity and energy use, making them impractical in such scenarios. Future

Paper Structure

This paper contains 23 sections, 14 equations, 6 figures, 5 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. System Model and Disturbances
  3. Thruster Dynamics
  4. Plant Model
  5. Surge Motion Control and Plant Model
  6. Closed-Loop Interconnection
  7. Plant Transfer Function
  8. Controller Structures
  9. PID with Filtered Derivative
  10. Model-Reference Control (MRC)
  11. Energy-Oriented MRC (MRC--R$^{\ast}$)
  12. Internal Model Control (IMC)
  13. Disturbance and Noise Models (for Reproducibility)
  14. Metaheuristic Tuning and Cost Function
  15. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (6)

  • Figure 1: Enter Caption
  • Figure 2: Generic Closed Loop
  • Figure 3: Case-1: System Response
  • Figure 4: Case-1: Absolute Error
  • Figure 5: Case-2: System Response (Disturbed)
  • ...and 1 more figures