CAREER: A Unified Research and Outreach Program in Nonlinear Vessel Dynamics

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）项目旨在开发分析和计算工具，帮助船舶设计师了解和防止危险的船舶现象，如倾覆。 该项目侧重于三个主要目标。(1)推进船舶动力学现象的分析方法，特别是Melnikov方法的应用。(2)为非线性操纵和耐波性模拟建立一套验证和确认工具。 (3)开发基于神经网络的实时运动预测工具。 神经网络的组合，选择一个适当的理想化的物理系统，优化，参数识别，将用于系统动态的真实的时间建模。 这第三个目标有助于统一前两个目标。 通过将神经网络绑定到物理上有意义的方程，这种方法对于计算工具的验证是有价值的。 此外，通过识别系统的实时理想化物理特性，可以应用分析方法来研究血管行为。 所有这三个目标将进一步加深我们对船舶运动和其他混沌动力系统的行为和建模的理解。虽然海上旅行是最古老的交通方式之一，但船舶不稳定性每年都会夺去生命，货物和船只。倾覆是一种高度非线性、动态甚至混沌的现象，其中有许多方面我们还没有完全理解。 上述研究目标具有广泛的影响，在多个学科的潜力，从海军工程动力系统理论应用数学。在这个职业生涯项目的基础研究是再加上积极的推广，以招募和留住优秀的大学预科和大学生进入工程一般和海军工程具体。 这三个外展部分包括：（1）与当地高中合作，以西南弗吉尼亚州州长学校为目标，培养学生参与SeaPerch计划，这是一个实践计划，教授大学预科生机器人技术和水下航行器。(2)参与和支持由工程多样性的增强中心举办的活动，如妇女的周末和大学前的学术经验的学生。 (3)保持一个互动和令人兴奋的学习环境与课程直接相关的研究课题在这个项目。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project aims to develop analytical and computational tools that will help ship designers understand and prevent dangerous vessel phenomena such as capsizing. The project focuses upon three primary objectives. (1) Advance the state of the art in the application of analytical approaches, specifically Melnikov's method, to vessel dynamics phenomena. (2) Establish a suite of verification and validation tools for nonlinear maneuvering and seakeeping simulations. (3) Develop real-time, neural network based, motion prediction tools. A combination of neural networks, to choose an appropriate idealization of the physics of the system, and optimization, for parameter identification, will be used for real time modeling of system dynamics. This third objective serves to unify the first two. By tying a neural network to physically meaningful equations, this approach is valuable for computational tool validation. Moreover, by identifying real-time idealized physics of the system, analytical methods can be applied to study vessel behavior. All three of these objectives will further our understanding of the behavior and modeling of ship motions and other chaotic dynamical systems.Although travel by sea is one of the oldest means of transportation, ship instabilities claim lives, cargo, and craft every year. Capsize is a highly nonlinear, dynamic, even chaotic, phenomenon of which there are many facets we do not fully understand. The research objectives described above have the potential for broad impact in multiple disciplines from naval engineering to dynamical systems theory to applied mathematics. The fundamental research in this CAREER project is coupled with active outreach to recruit and retain outstanding pre-college and college students into engineering in general and naval engineering specifically. The three outreach components include: (1) Work in collaboration with local high schools, targeting the Southwest Virginia Governor's School, to build student participation in the SeaPerch program, a hands-on program that teaches pre-college students about robotics and underwater vehicles. (2) Participate and supporting events organized by the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity such as Women's Weekend and pre-college academic experiences for students. (3) Maintain an interactive and exciting learning environment with courses directly related to the research topics in this project.