Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm Applied to Ship Steering Control

The article describes the application of an ant algorithm to optimize parameters of the ship course controller, based on the algorithm of PID control. The ant algorithm is a method of combinatorial optimization, which utilizes the pattern of ants search for the shortest path from the nest to the place where the food is located. The procedure of parameter tuning for the ship course controller was applied to the case when the controller was changing the course of the ship and the integral action was turned off. Tuned parameters of the ship course controller are evaluated by the ant colony algorithm, which makes use of the course error based objective function and a given rudder deflection. The results were compared with equivalent results obtained using a genetic algorithm. Moreover, the effectiveness of PID controller parameter tuning was assessed using the ant colony optimization algorithm.