Nonlinear sampled-data stabilization control for ships

In this paper we consider the nonlinear sampled- data stabilization control for ships. Using the nonlinear sampled-data control theory developed by Nesic et al and the integrator backstepping technique for the Euler approximate model, we design both semiglobally practically asymptotically (SPA) stabilizing state feedback laws and SPA stabilizing output feedback controllers. We give a numerical example to illustrate the design methods.