DYNAMIC POSITIONING SYSTEM NIDHIL MOHAMED A R HAREESH R
Slide 2
Dynamic positioning system is a computer controlled system
which is used to maintain the position and heading of a vessel by
using her own propellers and thrusters. DPS allows operation at sea
where anchoring or mooring is not possible due to water
depths,congestion on the sea bottom or other problems.
Slide 3
Dynamic positioning is much used in the offshore oil
industry,for example in the North sea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of
Mexico, West Africa and Brazil. Now a days there are more than 1000
DP ships
Slide 4
APPLICATIONS DPS is used in Aids to navigation. Cable layer
Crane vessels Cruise vessels Diving support vessels Dredgers
Drillships
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FPSOs Flotels Landing platform docks Mine sweepers Pipe laying
ships Platform supply vessels Sea launch Sea based X band
Radar
Slide 6
SCOPE The Dynamic positioning system is concerned only about
the motion of the ship in the horizontal plane. So the DPS controls
only 3 dofs of the system ie i) surge. ii) sway. iii) yaw.
Slide 7
A ship that is to be used for DP requires: To maintain position
and heading, first of all the position and heading need to be
known. A control computer to calculate the required control actions
to maintain position and correct for position errors. Thrust
elements to apply forces to the ship as demanded by the control
system.
Slide 8
REDUNDANCY Redundancy is the ability to cope with a single
failure without loss of position. A single failure can be Thruster
failure Generator failure Powerbus failure (when generators are
combined on one powerbus) Control computer failure Position
reference system failure Reference system failure
Slide 9
CLASSES The Classification Societies have issued rules for
Dynamic Positioned Ships described as Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3.
Equipment Class 1 has no redundancy. Loss of position may occur in
the event of a single fault.
Slide 10
Equipment Class 2 has redundancy so that no single fault in an
active system will cause the system to fail. Loss of position
should not occur from a single fault of an active component or
system such as generators, thruster, switchboards, remote
controlled valves etc. But may occur after failure of a static
component such as cables, pipes, manual valves etc.
Slide 11
Equipment Class 3 which also has to withstand fire or flood in
any one compartment without the system failing. Loss of position
should not occur from any single failure including a completely
burnt fire sub division or flooded watertight compartment.
Slide 12
AHT HALUL OFFSHORE SPECIFICATION The vessel is fitted with a
DPS that can hold the vessel in position in any of the loading
conditions and following environmental conditions. Water Depth -
300 meters Wind Velocity - 30 Knots. Significant wave height -3.0 m
(Frequency of 6 -8 seconds equivalent to a force 6 gale on Beaufort
Scale) Current velocity - 1.0 m/sec
Slide 13
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The system to have interfacing to a) Gyro
compass x 2 nos. b) Wind sensor x 2 nos. c) Motion Reference unit x
2 nos. d) DGPS x 2 nos. e) Laser type (Radius) reference system x 1
no.
Slide 14
Following operational modes shall be included: Standby mode
Joystick Mode Manual/Joystick mode Mixed manual/Auto mode Auto
Heading Mode Auto Position Mode Auto pilot Mode
Slide 15
Following interfaces shall be provided. All thrusters. Main
Switch board Joystick Power Management system Two Gyro compasses
Two Wind sensors Two Motion reference units Two DGPS One Laser
reference unit.
Slide 16
D YNAMIC P OSITIONING Position Reference Systems Heading
Reference Systems Other Inputs
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Slide 17
P OSITION R EFERENCE S YSTEMS Traditional methods used for
navigation are not accurate enough for dynamic positioning Hence
the requirement for state of the art Position Measuring Equipment /
Position Reference Systems arises
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Slide 18
S OME EXAMPLES Differential GPS Acoustic systems Riser angle
monitoring Light taught wire Laser based PRS Radar based systems
Differential absolute relative positioning system Inertial
navigation systems
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Slide 19
D IFFERENTIAL GPS ( DGPS ) An enhancement to Global Positioning
System that uses a network of fixed, ground-based reference
stations to broadcast the difference between the positions
indicated by the satellite systems and the known fixed positions.
These stations broadcast the difference between the measured
satellite pseudoranges and actual (internally computed)
pseudoranges, and receiver stations may correct their pseudoranges
by the same amount. DGPS is used in aircraft navigation as well
Wide Area Augmentation System European Geostationary Navigation
Overlay Service Japan's Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation
System Canada's CDGPS Commercial systems like VERIPOS, StarFire,
OmniSTAR
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Slide 20
A COUSTIC S YSTEMS Consists of one or more transponders placed
on the seabed and a transducer placed in the ship's hull The
transducer sends an acoustic signal to the transponder, which is
triggered to reply. As the velocity of sound through water is known
(preferably a soundprofile is taken regularly), the distance is
known. Because there are many elements on the transducer, the
direction of the signal from the transponder can be determined. Now
the position of the ship relative to the transponder can be
calculated. Disadvantages are the vulnerability to noise by
thrusters or other acoustic systems. Furthermore, the use is
limited in shallow waters because of ray bending that occurs when
sound travels through water horizontally.
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Slide 21
Three types of HPR systems are commonly used USBL (Ultra Short
Base Line) Because the angle to the transponder is measured, a
correction needs to be made for the ship's roll and pitch. These
are determined by Motion Reference Units. Because of the nature of
angle measurement, the accuracy deteriorates with increasing water
depth. LBL (Long Base Line) This consists of an array of at least
three transponders. The initial position of the transponders is
determined by USBL and/ or by measuring the baselines between the
transponders. Once that is done, only the ranges to the
transponders need to be measured to determine a relative position.
The position should theoretically be located at the intersection of
imaginary spheres, one around each transponder, with a radius equal
to the time between transmission and reception multiplied by the
speed of sound through water. Because angle measurement is not
necessary, the accuracy in large water depths is better than USBL.
SBL (Short Base Line) This works with an array of transducers in
the ship's hull. These determine their position to a transponder,
so a solution is found in the same way as with LBL. As the array is
located on the ship, it needs to be corrected for roll and pitch.
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Slide 22
R ISER A NGLE M ONITORING On drillships, riser angle monitoring
can be fed into the DP system It may be an electrical inclinometer
or based on USBL (ultra short base line), where a riser angle
monitoring transponder is fitted to the riser and a remote
inclinometer unit is installed on the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) and
interrogated through the ships HPR.
Slide 23
L IGHT T AUGHT W IRE The oldest position reference system used
for DP is still very accurate in relative shallow water. Horizontal
LTWs are also used when operating close to a structure.
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A clumpweight is lowered to the seabed. By measuring the amount of
wire paid out and the angle of the wire by a gimbal head, the
relative position can be calculated. Care should be taken not to
let the wire angle become too large to avoid dragging. For deeper
water the system is less favorable, as currents will curve the
wire. There are however systems that counteract this with a gimbal
head on the clumpweight.
Slide 24
L ASER B ASED S YSTEMS A small prism needs to be installed on a
nearby structure or ship. Lasers can be used for very accurate
positioning Risks are the system locking on other reflecting
objects and blocking of the signal. Range depends on the weather,
but is typically more than 500 meters Examples Fanbeam, CyScan
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Slide 25
R ADAR B ASED S YSTEMS A unit is placed on a nearby structure
and aimed at the unit on board the ship The range is several
kilometers Advantage is the reliable, all-weather performance
Disadvantage is that the unit is rather heavy Examples Artemis,
RADius, RadaScan
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Slide 26
D IFFERENTIAL A BSOLUTE R ELATIVE P OSITIONING S YSTEM ( DARPS
) Commonly used on shuttle tankers while loading from a FPSO Both
will have a GPS receiver As the errors are the same for the both of
them, the signal does not need to be corrected The position from
the FPSO is transmitted to the shuttle tanker, so a range and
bearing can be calculated and fed into the DP system
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Slide 27
I NERTIAL N AVIGATION S YSTEM An inertial navigation system
(INS) is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors
(accelerometers) and rotation sensors (gyroscopes) to continuously
calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and
velocity (direction and speed of movement) of a moving object
without the need for external references. It is used on vehicles
such as ships, aircraft, submarines, guided missiles, and
spacecraft. Inertial navigation is very useful in combination with
GPS (Seapath) and Hydroacoustics (HAIN).
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Slide 28
H EADING R EFERENCE S YSTEMS Gyrocompasses are normally used to
determine heading More advanced methods are: - Ring-Laser
gyroscopes - Fibre optic gyroscopes - Seapath, a combination of GPS
and inertial sensors.
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Slide 29
G YROCOMPASS A gyrocompass is similar to a gyroscope. It is a
compass that finds true north by using an (electrically powered)
fast-spinning wheel and friction forces in order to exploit the
rotation of the Earth. Gyrocompasses are widely used on ships. They
have two main advantages over magnetic compasses: - They find true
north - They are far less susceptible to external magnetic fields
Fun Fact A gyrocompass is essentially a gyroscope, a spinning wheel
mounted on gimbals so that the wheel's axis is free to orient
itself in any way. Suppose it is spun up to speed with its axis
pointing in some direction other than the celestial pole. Because
of the law of conservation of angular momentum, such a wheel will
maintain its original orientation. Since the Earth rotates, it
appears to a stationary observer on Earth that a gyroscope's axis
is rotating once every 24 hours. Such a rotating gyroscope cannot
be used for navigation. The crucial additional ingredient needed
for a gyrocompass is some mechanism that results in applied torque
whenever the compass's axis is not pointing north.
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Slide 30
Cutaway of Anschtz gyrocompass
Slide 31
A Gyro Compass Repeater
Slide 32
O THER I NPUT S ENSORS Motion Reference Unit (MRU) Wind Sensor
Draught Sensor
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Slide 33
M OTION R EFERENCE U NIT Motion Reference Units, Vertical
Reference Units, and Vertical Reference Sensors are IMUs An
inertial measurement unit, or IMU, is an electronic device that
measures and reports on a craft's velocity, orientation, and
gravitational forces, using a combination of accelerometers and
gyroscopes. IMUs are typically used to maneuver aircraft, including
UAVs, among many others, and spacecraft, including shuttles,
satellites and landers. The IMU is the main component of inertial
guidance systems used in aircraft, spacecraft, and watercraft,
including guided missiles. In this capacity, the data collected
from the IMU's sensors allows a computer to track a craft's
position, using a method known as dead reckoning.
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Slide 34
Slide 35
W IND S ENSOR Measures Wind Speed Wind Direction Using
Anemometer Wind Vane
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Slide 36
Slide 37
C ONTROL S YSTEMS
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Slide 38
P OWER & P ROPULSION For maintaining position Azimuth
thrusters (L-drive or Z-drive) Azipods Bow thrusters Stern
thrusters Water jets Rudders Propellers DP ships are usually at
least partially diesel-electric, as this allows a more flexible
set-up and is better able to handle the large changes in power
demand, typical for DP operations.
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