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UW Technologies Available for Licensing

Technology Disclosure: 08-094 Rudder Roll Stabilization by Nonlinear Dynamic Compensation

Motion on a ship’s roll axis can have several detrimental effects including cargo damage, reductions in crew effectiveness, and increased pilot workload in helicopter landings. Because they do not require modifications to the vessel, one popular method to attenuate this effect is the use of rudder roll stabilizers (RRS). However, drawbacks to a RRS system is the lack of performance at low speed, need for a high speed rudder mechanism, and the feedback limitations of the roll control loop. Several automated gain tuning algorithms have been suggested to improve the performance of RRS controllers, but nothing yet has been able to effectively solve this problem.

Fortunately, researchers at the University of Wyoming have developed a high-order rudder roll controller with nonlinear dynamic compensation. The design of this system provides up to 20 – 40% improved performance over other designs and has been proven to be extremely stable, a critical factor of the RRS system. Additionally, this system may be specifically designed to reduce roll in lower performance steering mechanisms, such as commercial boats and ships.

If you would like to learn more about this Rudder Roll Stabilization by Nonlinear Dynamic Compensation and how your company may apply it in commercial situations, please contact the Director of the University of Wyoming Research Product Center, Davona Douglass. We would be please to share further details.