Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm

ObjectivesTo enhance the safety and efficiency of maritime traffic, this paper proposes an autonomous collision avoidance decision-making method for unmanned ships based on an enhanced Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm. Methods In order to address the issues of low data utilization...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wei GUAN, Shuhui HAO, Zhewen CUI, Miaomiao WANG
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Ship Research 2025-02-01
Series:Zhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ship-research.com/en/article/doi/10.19693/j.issn.1673-3185.03929
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850240479606603776
author Wei GUAN
Shuhui HAO
Zhewen CUI
Miaomiao WANG
author_facet Wei GUAN
Shuhui HAO
Zhewen CUI
Miaomiao WANG
author_sort Wei GUAN
collection DOAJ
description ObjectivesTo enhance the safety and efficiency of maritime traffic, this paper proposes an autonomous collision avoidance decision-making method for unmanned ships based on an enhanced Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm. Methods In order to address the issues of low data utilization and poor convergence in traditional DDPG algorithms, we employ Priority Experience Replay (PER) to dynamically adjust experience priority, reduce sample correlation, and utilize the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to improve the algorithm convergence. Based on the domain knowledge of ships and adhering to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), a model for determining meeting situations and a novel set of reward functions that consider urgent scenarios when other ships fail to comply with the COLREGs are introduced. Generalization experiments are conducted involving two-ship and multi-ship encounters to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Results As the experimental results demonstrate, compared to traditional DDPG algorithms, our improved approach enhances the convergence speed by approximately 28.8%. Conclusions The trained model enables autonomous decision-making and navigation while ensuring compliance with the COLREGs, thereby providing valuable insights for intelligent decision-making in the field of maritime transportation.
format Article
id doaj-art-3d9a645f6f8a4a38873e1d45a6ca5dba
institution OA Journals
issn 1673-3185
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Ship Research
record_format Article
series Zhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu
spelling doaj-art-3d9a645f6f8a4a38873e1d45a6ca5dba2025-08-20T02:00:51ZengEditorial Office of Chinese Journal of Ship ResearchZhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu1673-31852025-02-0120117218010.19693/j.issn.1673-3185.03929ZG3929Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithmWei GUAN0Shuhui HAO1Zhewen CUI2Miaomiao WANG3Navigation College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, ChinaNavigation College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, ChinaNavigation College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, ChinaNavigation College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, ChinaObjectivesTo enhance the safety and efficiency of maritime traffic, this paper proposes an autonomous collision avoidance decision-making method for unmanned ships based on an enhanced Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm. Methods In order to address the issues of low data utilization and poor convergence in traditional DDPG algorithms, we employ Priority Experience Replay (PER) to dynamically adjust experience priority, reduce sample correlation, and utilize the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to improve the algorithm convergence. Based on the domain knowledge of ships and adhering to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), a model for determining meeting situations and a novel set of reward functions that consider urgent scenarios when other ships fail to comply with the COLREGs are introduced. Generalization experiments are conducted involving two-ship and multi-ship encounters to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Results As the experimental results demonstrate, compared to traditional DDPG algorithms, our improved approach enhances the convergence speed by approximately 28.8%. Conclusions The trained model enables autonomous decision-making and navigation while ensuring compliance with the COLREGs, thereby providing valuable insights for intelligent decision-making in the field of maritime transportation.http://www.ship-research.com/en/article/doi/10.19693/j.issn.1673-3185.03929unmanned vehiclesdeep deterministic policy gradient (ddpg) algorithmautonomous collision avoidance decision-makingpriorit-ized experience replay (per)international regulations forprevent-ing collisions at sea (colregs)collision avoidance
spellingShingle Wei GUAN
Shuhui HAO
Zhewen CUI
Miaomiao WANG
Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
Zhongguo Jianchuan Yanjiu
unmanned vehicles
deep deterministic policy gradient (ddpg) algorithm
autonomous collision avoidance decision-making
priorit-ized experience replay (per)
international regulations forprevent-ing collisions at sea (colregs)
collision avoidance
title Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
title_full Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
title_fullStr Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
title_full_unstemmed Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
title_short Autonomous decision-making method of unmanned ship based on improved DDPG algorithm
title_sort autonomous decision making method of unmanned ship based on improved ddpg algorithm
topic unmanned vehicles
deep deterministic policy gradient (ddpg) algorithm
autonomous collision avoidance decision-making
priorit-ized experience replay (per)
international regulations forprevent-ing collisions at sea (colregs)
collision avoidance
url http://www.ship-research.com/en/article/doi/10.19693/j.issn.1673-3185.03929
work_keys_str_mv AT weiguan autonomousdecisionmakingmethodofunmannedshipbasedonimprovedddpgalgorithm
AT shuhuihao autonomousdecisionmakingmethodofunmannedshipbasedonimprovedddpgalgorithm
AT zhewencui autonomousdecisionmakingmethodofunmannedshipbasedonimprovedddpgalgorithm
AT miaomiaowang autonomousdecisionmakingmethodofunmannedshipbasedonimprovedddpgalgorithm