Path Following Method for Curved Waterways Based on Electronic Navigational Charts
摘要
This paper addresses the challenges of trajectory tracking accuracy and adaptive control for vessels navigating curved waterways by proposing an integrated approach combining a digital twin environment derived from Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) and a curvature-adaptive Model Predictive Control. First, a high-precision digital twin model of the waterway is constructed through the extraction, filtering, and fusion of multi-source static elements (e.g., shorelines, depth contours, and navigation marks) from S-57 ENCs, establishing an environmental perception foundation for autonomous navigation. Subsequently, to overcome the limitations of conventional Line-of-Sight (LOS) guidance—such as fixed look-ahead distances and neglect of vessel dynamics in curved waterways—a curvature-adaptive dynamic LOS algorithm is developed. This algorithm dynamically adjusts the look-ahead distance by coupling real-time vessel speed with local waterway curvature. Furthermore, an adaptive PID control strategy is integrated to update the model and optimise heading control based on real-time vessel response data, thereby enhancing adaptability to time-varying dynamics and unknown disturbances. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves superior tracking accuracy and robustness in curved waterway scenarios.