Development of 6-DOF Floating Body Motion Reduction System (1st Report)

The attitude stability of a floating body in response to disturbances, such as waves, is of significant importance for maritime activities especially when transporting personnel. There have been several developments for motion reduction/control, yet existing technologies are not readily applicable to floating bodies like small boats. Moreover, these technologies cannot reduce high-frequency motion or heaving. In this research, the authors proposed stabilizing mechanisms to reduce the 6-DOF motion of a floating body, and conducted fundamental theoretical and experimental studies, which proved motion reduction effects of the proposed auxiliary float devices and propeller units.