Design and Simulation of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV)

Overview

Autonomous maritime systems are inherently interdisciplinary, so one of the primary challenges that engineering teams face is the need to plan, communicate, and integrate the different aspects of their designs. In this talk, we will demonstrate how MATLAB and Simulink can help provide a unified environment for the development and simulation of autonomous surface vessels (ASV). The webinar will be centered around a reference application that simulates an ASV navigating from one dock to another in a canal. We will discuss how MathWorks tools are used to create different modules in this reference application, including scenario simulations, vehicle models and hydrodynamics, autonomy stack, and user interfaces. We will highlight how the physics-based simulation in Simulink can be connected to photorealistic simulators such as Unity^® to create a powerful framework for testing and validation of ASVs. We will also show how you can connect your existing work to Simulink and leverage the power of this simulation framework.

Highlights

In this session, we will use a reference application of a simulated ASV navigating from one dock to another in a canal to discuss how you can use MATLAB and Simulink to:

• Create a digital twin that incorporates the ASV’s power and propulsion systems
• Model and simulate hydrodynamics and wave-vessel interactions to predict the ASV’s performance
• Develop autonomous algorithms such as perception and COLREGs-based navigation
• Test models and algorithms in simulated scenarios, either a simple cuboid environment or a photorealistic environment such as Unity^®
• Implement test harnesses to automatically track and verify design requirements throughout development iterations
• Integrate or connect with your existing work in other development environments

About the Presenters

Martin Luo – Application Engineer, MathWorks

Martin Luo is an application engineer at MathWorks based in Sweden and a specialist in model-based design for robotics and autonomous systems. Before joining MathWorks, Martin worked as a flight control engineer for civil aircraft and developed navigation systems for quadcopters. Martin holds an MS in Robotics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and an MS in Guidance, Navigation, and Control from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Carlos Osorio – Aerospace and Defense Principal Application Engineer, MathWorks

Carlos Osorio received a B.S. from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and an M.S. from the University of California at Berkeley, both in Mechanical Engineering. He specializes in Automatic Control Systems, Robotics, and Vehicle Dynamics. Before joining The MathWorks in October of 2007, he worked in the automotive industry in the Advanced Chassis Technology Division first at Ford Motor Company and later at Visteon Corporation, where he was involved in the development and implementation of prototype electronic active and semi-active suspensions as well as steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems for passenger vehicles. At MathWorks Carlos primarily works with Aerospace and Defense customers and focuses on mechanical and electrical/electronic systems and advanced control applications.

Russell Graves – Application Engineer, MathWorks

Russell is an Application Engineer at MathWorks focused on machine learning and systems engineering. Before joining MathWorks, Russell worked with the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in intelligent transportation systems research with a focus on multi-agent machine learning and complex systems controls. Russell holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tennessee.

Mike Rudolph – Aerospace and Defense Industry Manager, MathWorks

Michael Rudolph has been the Aerospace and Defense Industry Manager at MathWorks since 2019. In his role, he works with engineering leadership throughout the industry to understand ongoing and emerging technology trends from autonomous systems to multifunction RF systems. Before joining MathWorks, he spent a decade at Raytheon BBN Technologies performing interdisciplinary research on various sensor and RF systems for DoD customers like Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He holds bachelor’s and master's degrees in engineering from Penn State University, and an MBA from University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

You Wu – Robotics Industry Manager, MathWorks

Dr. You Wu is a robotics evangelist and the Robotics Industry Manager at MathWorks, promoting best practices in robot development processes to industrial clients. Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. degree from MIT with a focus on underwater soft robotics and a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. Before joining MathWorks in 2020, he was CTO of Watchtower Robotics, a startup that put inspection robots into municipal water pipe networks.