Roll Damping Using Voith Schneider Propeller: a Repetitive Control Approach*

Voith Schneider propellers are potential propulsion systems for dynamic positioning in offshore applications because of their fast and accurate thrust generation. An overlaid roll damping control by the same propulsion system is possible to reduce the influence of external disturbances. The paper at hand presents simulation results of roll damping control using a repetitive control approach. Repetitive control is a highly effective control technique for the compensation of periodic disturbances, or for exact tracking of periodic reference signals. Simulation results of repetitive control in roll damping will be compared with those from a classical approach. The simulation models as well as the disturbance signals are based on theoretical considerations as well as on verifying experiments in a towing tank. The robustness of the method has been investigated according to deviations from a purely periodic excitation as well as to the influence of propulsion saturation.