Parameter identification of ship maneuvering models using recursive least square method based on support vector machines

Determination of ship maneuvering models is a tough task of ship maneuverability prediction. Among several prime approaches of estimating ship maneuvering models, system identification combined with the full-scale or free- running model test is preferred. In this contribution, real-time system identification programs using recursive identification method, such as the recursive least square method (RLS), are exerted for on-line identification of ship maneuvering models. However, this method seriously depends on the objects of study and initial values of identified parameters. To overcome this, an intelligent technology, i.e., support vector machines (SVM), is firstly used to estimate initial values of the identified parameters with finite samples. As real measured motion data of the Mariner class ship always involve noise from sensors and external disturbances, the zigzag simulation test data include a substantial quantity of Gaussian white noise. Wavelet method and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) are used to filter the data corrupted by noise, respectively. The choice of the sample number for SVM to decide initial values of identified parameters is extensively discussed and analyzed. With de-noised motion data as input-output training samples, parameters of ship maneuvering models are estimated using RLS and SVM-RLS, respectively. The comparison between identification results and true values of parameters demonstrates that both the identified ship maneuvering models from RLS and SVM-RLS have reasonable agreements with simulated motions of the ship, and the increment of the sample for SVM positively affects the identification results. Furthermore, SVM-RLS using data de-noised by EMD shows the highest accuracy and best convergence.