Study on Extension of the 6-DOF Measurement Area for a Model Ship by Developing Auto-tracking Technology for Towing Carriage in Deep Ocean Engineering Tank

The deep ocean engineering basin (DOEB) of the Korea Research Institute of Ship and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) is equipped with an extreme-environment reproduction facility that can analyze the motion characteristics of offshore structures and ships. In recent years, there have been requirements for a wide range of six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion measurements for performing maneuvering tests and free-running tests of target objects (offshore structures or ships). This study introduces the process of developing a wide-area motion measurement technology by incorporating the auto-tracking technology of the towing carriage system to overcome the existing 6-DOF motion measurement limitation. To realize a wide range of motion measurements, the automatic tracking control system of the towing carriage in the DOEB was designed as a speed control method. To verify the control performance, the characteristics of the towing carriage according to the variation in control gain were analyzed. Finally, a wide range of motions was tested using a model test object (a remotely operated vehicle (ROV)), and the wide-area motion measurement technology was implemented using an automatic tracking control system for a towing carriage.