Path Planning of Ship Collision Avoidance for Minimized Energy Consumption

The energy consumption and fuel pollution in ship navigation have brought great pressure to the development of shipping industry. In order to further reduce the energy consumption of ships in navigation, this paper proposes a ship path planning model based on genetic algorithm (GA). In this model, the ship maneuverability is considered. A ship collision avoidance path is composed of two distances, two steering angles and three rudder angles. The collision avoidance path includes three curved sections and two straight sections. Experimentally, the trajectory of ship turning motion is simulated by a ship motion mathematical model called NOMOTO model. We adapt GA to optimize ship collision avoidance path. A collision avoidance path of the least energy consumption can be found with meeting ship safety and the international regulations for preventing collision at sea (COLREGs: Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea). This method helps to promote the development of ship energy optimization and ship collision avoidance path planning.