617results about "Steering initiations" patented technology

An electric power assisted steering assembly comprises a steering mechanism which operatively connects a steering wheel to the roadwheels of a vehicle, a torque sensing means adapted to produce a first output signal indicative of the torque carried by a portion of the steering mechanism, a means for producing a second output signal indicative from a signal indicative of the angular velocity of the portion of the steering mechanism, an electric motor operatively connected to the steering mechanism, a signal processing unit adapted to receive the two output signals and to produce therefrom an overall torque demand signal representative of a torque to be applied to the steering mechanism by the motor, and a motor drive stage adapted to provide a drive current to the motor responsive to the torque demand signal. The overall torque demand signal includes a damping component that is dependent upon the second output signal. The means for producing the yaw damping component includes a filter having one pole and one zero, and in use the second signal is passed through the filter to produce the damping component, the frequency of the pole and zero being selected such that the filter provides a band between the pole and zero within which the phase of the filtered second signal and the velocity signal are further out of phase or in phase than within the band.

In one aspect, a wireless remote controller for a personal watercraft is provided that includes a watertight body and a rotatable thumbwheel disposed on an upper surface of the watertight body. The remote controller includes at least one magnet affixed to the thumbwheel such that the at least one magnet rotates with the thumbwheel. The remote controller includes a magnetic sensor configured to produce magnetic field data in at least two axes. The remote controller includes a processor operably coupled to the magnetic sensor and communication circuitry configured to communicate control signals to an associated personal watercraft. The processor is configured to determine an angular position of the thumbwheel based at least in part on the magnetic field data in each of the at least two axes and to generate a control signal based at least in part on the determined position of the thumbwheel.

To provide a navigation monitoring robot for a ship and an avoidance navigation maneuvering system of an automatic navigation single-screw twin-rudder ship capable of ensuring safety navigation by assessing the collision risk in an extended warning sea area.SOLUTION: A navigation monitoring robot 300 for a ship acquires present positional information of an own ship, analyzes real time image data of a synthetic aperture radar image photographing a navigation sea area including the own ship, calculates a distance between a target object affecting the navigation and a present position of the own ship as a target separation distance, identifies whether or not the target object is a ship by collating an image pattern of a far-infrared camera image of the target object, image patterns of the far-infrared camera image of various target objects where temperature information of the far-infrared camera image is stored in a library, and the temperature information of the far-infrared camera image, recognizes the target separation distance as an influence degree that the ship gives to the safety navigation, and sends alarm information when it is determined that the target separation distance is within a dangerous area impairing the safety navigation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

A hull motion control unit performs steering for a pinwheeling swing such that a bow distance and a stern distance that are measured by a quay separation distance measuring device are made equal to each other and the fore-and-aft direction of a ship is parallel to a target quay, and then the ship is caused to laterally approach and dock in the target quay while keeping the parallel state.

A marine vessel includes a vessel steering system including a boat controller configured or programmed to include an automatic vessel steering mode and a manual vessel steering mode as vessel steering modes. When a password to release a locked state is input to a multifunction display in a locked state where the vessel steering mode is fixed in the automatic vessel steering mode, the boat controller is configured or programmed to shift the automatic vessel steering mode to the manual vessel steering mode.

The information processing device includes an acquisition means, a cluster generation means and a straight line generation means. The acquisition means acquires measurement data which is a set of data representing a plurality of measured points of a berthing place measured by a measurement device provided on a ship. The cluster generation means generates one or more clusters obtained by dividing the plurality of measured points by clustering. The straight line generation means configured to generate a straight line along the berthing place of the ship, based on the one or more clusters.

The invention is an unmanned ground vehicle, comprising a frame section (1) with a deck (2) and a bottom section (3), and a mobility arrangement (4) with an engine (12) in order to propel the vehicle, and which ground vehicle is equipped to be operated via remote controls. The ground vehicle comprises a waterjet assembly for propulsion in water.

An outboard motor includes a steering mechanism switchable between a state in which a pinion is rotated by a first drive source such that an outboard motor body is steerable within a first steering angle range, and a state in which the pinion is rotated by a second drive source such that the outboard motor body is steerable within a second steering angle range different from the first steering angle range.

Systems and method for providing navigational control of a watercraft are provided herein. The system comprises a display, processor and memory. The memory including computer program code is configured to cause presentation of a chart on the display including at least a portion of the body of water. The system further receives user input indicating initiation of a drift protocol, including indication of a boundary area for which the watercraft will drift through, and causes presentation of the boundary area on the chart. The system determines an instance when the watercraft drifts outside of the boundary area and provides an alert when the watercraft exits or nears the boundary area. The system determines a starting position corresponding to the boundary area and engages an autopilot to cause the watercraft to navigate to the starting position or provides instructions to enable the user to navigate the watercraft to the starting position.

The controller 13 of the information processing device 1 functions as an acquisition unit, an extraction unit, and a straight line calculation unit. The acquisition unit acquires point cloud data, which is a set of data generated by a lidar 3 provided in a target ship, identified by a pair of a horizontal number being an index representing a position in a horizontal direction, and a vertical number being an index representing a position in a vertical direction. The extraction unit extracts, for each horizontal number, i.e., for each vertical line, the data representing a nearest neighbor point nearest to the target ship among data representing measured points of a berthing place. The straight line calculation unit calculates a berthing side straight line Ls alongside the berthing place, based on a neighbor point set, which is a set of data representing the nearest neighbor point.

An input device for navigational control of a marine vessel has processing circuitry to obtain a requested input device input in response to a maneuvering of the input device; obtain a distance between the marine vessel and a closest obstacle located in a direction indicated by the requested input device input; and control saturation of the input device at least based on the distance. The processing circuitry is integrated in the input device and configured to control the saturation independently of control circuitry of the marine vessel external to the input device.

A method for assisting a user operating a marine vessel, the marine vessel having an image sensor configured to collect imaging data for an area outside the marine vessel. The method includes collecting imaging data via the image sensor for the area outside the marine vessel and analyzing the imaging data to identify a wave within the area outside the marine vessel. The method further includes determining a size of the wave and / or a location of the wave relative to the marine vessel and determining whether the size and / or the location of the wave is beyond one or more thresholds. The method further includes automatically modifying an operation of the marine vessel when the size and / or location of the wave is beyond the one or more thresholds to thereby assist the user in managing an effect of the wave on the marine vessel.

A marine maneuvering system for a marine vessel is provided. The marine maneuvering system comprises a marine vessel control unit configured to: obtain a requested movement of a joystick indicating a speed value and a direction value for an upcoming navigation of the marine vessel; obtain proximity signals from a proximity sensor in response to a target being sensed in at least portions of an environment surrounding the marine vessel at least towards a direction indicated by a direction value of the joystick; determine a distance between the marine vessel and the target based on the proximity signals; and control a force feedback device to apply a force feedback to the joystick based on the determined distance.

To provide a device for greatly improving accuracy and efficiency of steering of a boat by providing a precise and speedy reaction through a system for remotely steering the boat based on an operation of a user.SOLUTION: A remote control system includes: a joy stick module for converting operation information of a user into a voltage signal; a PC module for fulfilling a roll of processing a signal received from the joy stick module and receiving and monitoring status information of a boat; a water surface integrated GSC for bidirectionally relaying a remote control signal and the status information of the boat; a boat mission computer for transmitting the remote control signal transmitted from the water surface integrated GSC to an integrated controller; the integrated controller for adjusting a speed and a direction of a motor based on the operation information received from the boat mission computer; and a right side BLDC motor controller and a left side BLDC motor controller for adjusting a movement and a direction of the boat.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

A marine maneuvering system for maneuvering a vessel body includes a steering including a steering wheel, a manual operator on the steering to cause predetermined functions to the vessel body to be executed, and a controller configured or programmed to change the predetermined functions executed by an operation of the manual operator in accordance with maneuvering modes in which behaviors of the vessel body are mutually different.

A marine drive may include a frame configured to support the marine drive with respect to the marine vessel, a cowling enclosing a portion of the frame in a cowling interior, a steering arm configured such that movement of the steering arm causes rotation of the marine drive with respect to the steering axis, and a flexible rigging connector extending from the cowling interior to a location in the marine vessel. The flexible rigging connector may extend through a guide passage in the steering arm. Additionally or alternatively, the steering arm may include a base member and a mounting member selectively movable relative to the base member to adjust the length of the steering arm.

A system includes a vision system camera mounted to a marine vessel with an associated field of view of the vessel's environment. The system receives image data from the camera and identifies waves in the marine vessel's environment based on the image data. When the system determines that a wave's height exceeds a threshold and that the current heading of the marine vessel is misaligned with the wave's heading, the system automatically adjusts the vessel's heading to align more closely with the wave's heading.

A boat control system includes a plurality of boat propulsion devices each being steerable by 180 degrees or more about a steering axis, a controller configured or programmed to control a thrust and a steering angle of each of the plurality of boat propulsion devices, an operator to accept an operation request to move a boat body and output an operation signal to the controller, and a sensor to detect a turning of the boat body and output a detection signal to the controller. The controller is configured or programmed to perform, when the sensor detects a turning of the boat body in a status where the operator is not accepting an operation request to turn the boat body, a steering angle change process to change the steering angle of at least one of the plurality of boat propulsion devices to cancel the turning of the boat body.

A computer system has processing circuitry to control a force feedback unit to progressively increase a force feedback applied to the input device in response to a manual maneuvering of the input device towards a virtual stop position being defined in between an equilibrium position and a mechanical end position of the input device. The virtual stop position is a software-defined set point acting as an intermediate trigger for the input device. The force feedback is progressively increased until it reaches a maximum force feedback at the virtual stop position; and control the force feedback unit to reduce the force feedback applied to the input device at the virtual stop position in response to a force of a manual maneuvering of the input device exceeding the maximum force feedback value.

A method for maintaining a marine vessel at a target position in a body of water, the method being carried out by a processing system and including: estimating at least one roughness condition of the body of water based on measurements related to an attitude of the marine vessel; calculating a desired linear velocity based on a difference between an actual position of the marine vessel and the target position; filtering an actual linear velocity of the marine vessel based on the roughness conditions; and operating a propulsion system of the marine vessel to move the marine vessel to minimize a difference between the desired linear velocity and the filtered actual linear velocity. A method for maintaining a marine vessel at a target heading in a body of water is also disclosed.

A device for steering a trolling motor of a watercraft is provided. The device comprises a housing and a joystick attached to the housing, pivotably supported for movement from a neutral position in directions radial to an axis of the joystick. The movement from the neutral position generates a steering command for the trolling motor. The device has a transmitter within the housing and a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the joystick. The device may further include a memory including a computer program code. The computer program code is configured when executed by the processor to receive movement data from the joystick, generate a steering command from the movement data, and transmit the steering command to the trolling motor. The steering command causes the trolling motor to rotate to aim in the steer direction to cause the watercraft to travel based on the joystick movement.

A support system for outboard marine motors at the transom of a boat includes a support device having a first part that is integral with the transom and a second part that is integral with the outboard motor. The second part is translatable with respect to the first part, so that the second part moves according to an orientation in the distancing or approaching direction of the water line of the boat. A control unit is configured to set the position of the second part with respect to the first part and to generate control signals, so as to move the second part in the direction of immersion of the propeller of the outboard motor.

An automatic docking device for automatically docking a boat. The boat includes a boat propulsor configured to generate a propulsion force of the boat, a propulsion direction variable mechanism configured to change a left-right direction of the propulsion force, and a joystick boat maneuvering device including an operation lever, a manual operation processor, and a propulsion controller. The manual operation processor is configured to detect a displacement of the operation lever in a case where the operation lever is operated, and output a lever operation signal corresponding to the detected displacement of the operation lever to the propulsion controller, and the propulsion controller is configured to control the boat propulsor and the propulsion force variable mechanism, based on the lever operation signal, to move the boat.

The utility model provides a steering system based on a yoke steering wheel and electronic steering gear box connecting structure, which comprises a steering unit, a steering unit and a control unit, the steering unit comprises a yoke steering wheel, an electronic steering gear box and a limiting mechanism, the steering unit and the control unit are installed in a ship cockpit, the steering unit is installed on a stern, and the electronic steering gear box is installed on the steering unit. The steering unit and the steering unit are both in electric control and communication connection with the control unit, and the control unit receives user operation information and actual steering data and outputs corresponding adjusting instructions through a PID algorithm. The connecting structure is compact in design, an electronic feedback system is strictly closed, the accuracy and reliability of the steering process are guaranteed, and the control performance of the ship is improved.

Improve the operability of ships in terms of switching between automatic and manual navigation modes. [Solution] A control device for a vessel, comprising a shift lever for instructing the vessel to move forward and backward, a throttle lever for instructing an increase or decrease in the vessel's engine speed, and a steering unit for instructing the vessel's rudder angle, and a control unit for switching between an automatic navigation mode in which the vessel's thrust and rudder angle are automatically controlled, and a manual navigation mode in which the vessel's thrust and rudder angle are instructed by the vessel operator, and the control unit switches to the manual navigation mode when, during the automatic navigation mode, the shift lever is operated to a state different from when it was switched to the automatic navigation mode, or when the amount of operation of the steering unit exceeds a predetermined threshold.

According to an embodiment a personal watercraft includes a hull, an engine, a steering device, a water jetting nozzle, a control unit, a throttle mechanism, and a detection unit including an inertial measurement unit. When the hull turns, an angular velocity and an angular acceleration around a yaw axis are detected by the inertial measurement unit. When at least one of the angular velocity and the angular acceleration exceeds each threshold value, a deceleration control for decelerating the engine is performed by the control unit.

A steering control system of a marine vessel includes a controller configured or programmed to perform a control to turn the marine vessel so as to change a target orientation in an automatic marine vessel maneuvering mode to hold a course in which the marine vessel is moved to the target orientation, and an operator to receive an operation to cause the controller to turn the marine vessel to the target orientation. The controller is configured or programmed to perform a control to increase a turning amount of the marine vessel according to an operation duration time in which a predetermined operation state of the operator continues.

A docking system for a marine vessel includes a user input device configured to facilitate user selection of a docking surface, the user input device comprising a direction indicator display including at least two direction indicators each configured to visually indicate a direction with respect to the marine vessel and a control system. The control system is configured to determine a direction of a potential docking surface with respect to the marine vessel and control at least one of the at least two direction indicators on the direction indicator display to indicate the direction of the potential docking surface with respect to the marine vessel.

A watercraft propulsion system includes a first propulsion device attachable to a hull, a second propulsion device attachable to the hull adjacent to the first propulsion device, a first steering device to steer the first propulsion device, a second steering device to steer the second propulsion device, and a controller configured or programmed to control the first propulsion device, the second propulsion device, the first steering device, and the second steering device. The controller is configured or programmed to determine whether or not a predetermined load torque increase condition is satisfied in which a steering load torque of the second propulsion device is likely to be increased by a water jet generated by the first propulsion device, and to perform a propulsive force restricting control to restrict the propulsive forces of the first propulsion device and the second propulsion device if the predetermined load torque increase condition is satisfied.

A personal watercraft includes a watercraft body provided with a deck, a hood, and a locking mechanism. The deck includes a driver boarding portion and an opening forming portion where an opening is formed forward of the driver boarding portion and an engine room is partitioned below the opening. The hood, to which a steering shaft is attached to cause a handle to be exposed upward, covers the opening from above to allow opening and closing by pivoting with respect to the deck by using a front end supported by the opening forming portion as a fulcrum. The locking mechanism is a mechanism that fixes the rear end of the hood to the deck with the opening closed, and includes a first locking part and a second locking part disposed with spacing in the left-right direction.