Automatic steering devices for ships, automatic steering systems for ships

Abstract

We provide technology that can flexibly respond to changes in shipping routes. [Solution] A ship's automatic steering system 11 that controls a ship 12 based on a planned route set by a route planning device 10, comprising: a receiving unit 100 that receives route information relating to the planned route from the route planning device 10; and an interruption determination unit 101 that determines that an interruption route is one in which the route indicated by the new route information is different from the planned route indicated by the old route information when the leg direction included in the old route information previously received by the receiving unit 100 is different from the leg direction included in the new route information newly received by the receiving unit 100, and the ship's automatic steering system 11 is in the process of turning the ship 12.

Description

【Technical Field】 【0001】 The present invention relates to a technology for automatically steering a ship. 【Background Art】 【0002】 In a control system of an automatic steering device for a ship that causes the hull position to follow a planned route, a heading control system (HCS: Heading Control System) that controls the rudder angle to make the bow heading follow a set azimuth, and a track control system (TCS: Track Control System) that tracks the hull position on the planned route are configured. The planned route is set, for example, in a device for setting a route plan such as an electronic chart information display device (ECDIS: Electronic Chart Display and Information System) or an electronic chart device (ECS: Electronic Chart System), and is transmitted to the automatic steering device for the ship. 【Prior Art Documents】 【Non-Patent Documents】 【0003】 【Non-Patent Document 1】 Furuhata Fuyuki, Estimation and Control of Tidal Currents in a Route Control System Based on a Heading Control System, Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control, Vol. 46, No. VIII, pp. 420-429, 2010. 【Non-Patent Document 2】 Furuhata Fuyuki, Estimation and Control of Tidal Currents in Curve Following, Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 326-335, 2013. 【Non-Patent Document 3】 Furuhata Fuyuki, Design of a Reference Signal Considering Heading Initial Conditions and Steering Constraints: Application to Course-Change Manoeuvring of a Ship's Hull, Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 333-342, 2008. 【Summary of the Invention】 【Problems to be Solved by the Invention】 【0004】 Conventional ship autopilot systems control the ship to follow a planned route. Therefore, even if a new route (interrupting route) different from the previously received planned route is received, the system does not react to this interrupting route and continues to follow the planned route. Consequently, conventional ship autopilot systems have the problem of not being able to flexibly respond to changes in the route. 【0005】 The problem that the embodiments of the present invention aim to solve is to provide a technology that can flexibly respond to changes in shipping routes, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. [Means for solving the problem] 【0006】 To solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment is an automatic steering system for ships that controls a ship based on a planned route set by a route planning device, and comprises a receiving unit that receives route information relating to the planned route from the route planning device, and an interruption determination unit that determines that the route indicated by the new route information is an interruption route, where the leg heading included in the old route information previously received by the receiving unit is different from the leg heading included in the new route information newly received by the receiving unit, and the automatic steering system for ships is controlling the ship to turn, and the route indicated by the new route information is different from the planned route indicated by the old route information. 【0007】 Furthermore, the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment is an automatic steering system for ships comprising a route planning device for setting a planned route and an automatic steering system for ships for controlling a ship based on the planned route, wherein the route planning device transmits route information relating to the planned route to the automatic steering system for ships, and the automatic steering system for ships comprises a receiving unit for receiving the route information from the route planning device and an interruption determination unit for determining that the route indicated by the new route information is an interruption route when the leg heading included in the old route information previously received by the receiving unit is different from the leg heading included in the new route information newly received by the receiving unit, and the automatic steering system for ships is controlling the ship to turn. [Effects of the Invention] 【0008】 According to the present invention, it is possible to flexibly respond to changes in the shipping route. [Brief explanation of the drawing] 【0009】 [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an automatic steering system for ships according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows the planned route and the interrupted route according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows the operation of the interrupt detection process according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows the operation of the needle change detection process according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing the operation of the reference signal generation process according to the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention] 【0010】 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 【0011】 (Configuration of a ship's automatic steering system) The configuration of the automatic steering system for ships, including the automatic steering device for ships according to this embodiment, will be described. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment. 【0012】 As shown in Figure 1, the automatic steering system 1 for ships according to this embodiment includes a route planning device 10 and an automatic steering device 11 for ships that automatically steers the ship 12. 【0013】 The route planning device 10 is, for example, a device equipped with a processor that functions as an ECDIS or ECS. The route planning device 10 is also capable of transmitting planned routes, including straight routes and curved routes, to the ship's automatic steering system 11, and is also capable of transmitting interrupt routes, which are routes set after the transmission of the planned routes, to the ship's automatic steering system 11. 【0014】 The vessel 12 has a rudder and propulsion system controlled by a ship's automatic steering system 11, and sensors for detecting the state of the vessel 12. The sensors include a speed log for detecting the vessel 12's speed relative to water, a gyrocompass for detecting the vessel 12's heading, and a GNSS sensor for detecting the vessel 12's hull position based on a satellite positioning system (GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System) such as GPS. 【0015】 The ship's automatic steering system 11 comprises a receiving unit 100, an interruption determination unit 101, a course change determination unit 102, a reference signal generation unit 103, a feedback control unit 104, and a feedforward control unit 105. The receiving unit 100 receives route information transmitted by the route planning device 10. The route information will be described later. The interruption determination unit 101 determines, based on the route information received by the receiving unit 100, whether an interruption has occurred to the planned route, or more specifically, whether an interruption route, which is a route different from the planned route, has been received by the ship's automatic steering system 11. If the interruption determination unit 101 determines that an interruption route has been received, the course change determination unit 102 determines whether or not a course change has occurred due to the interruption route. 【0016】 The reference signal generation unit 103 generates a trajectory plan and a reference signal. The feedforward control unit 105 takes the reference azimuth as an input and outputs a feedforward rudder angle. The reference signal includes the reference azimuth and the feedforward rudder angle in time series. The feedback control unit 104 reduces the azimuth error, which is the error between the reference azimuth and the bow azimuth, and outputs a feedback rudder angle that reduces the position error, which is the error between the planned route and the hull position. The command rudder angle applied to the rudder of the ship 12 is calculated by adding the feedforward rudder angle to the feedback rudder angle. 【0017】 (Route information) The route information according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the planned route and the interrupt route according to this embodiment. 【0018】 As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the planned route indicates point information to a destination such as WP1 to WP3, and is a route connecting a plurality of waypoints with an assigned order. In FIG. 2, the planned route is composed of a straight route that is a part of the line segment connecting WP1 and WP2, a straight route that is a part of the line segment connecting WP2 and WP3, and a curved route that connects these two straight routes. In FIG. 2, T1 to T3 indicate the waypoints that make up the interrupt route. 【0019】 The route planning device 10 transmits a command to the ship's autopilot device 11, that is, route information regarding the route, to the ship's autopilot device 11. The command to the ship's autopilot device 11 is transmitted using an HTC (Heading / track control command) sentence in a format defined by the iec standard. In this embodiment, the route information includes at least the leg azimuth and the turning mode. 【0020】 The leg bearing is based on true north and indicates the azimuth angle with respect to the line connecting the FROM-waypoint and TO-waypoint before turning, and the azimuth angle with respect to the line connecting the TO-waypoint and NEXT-waypoint during and after turning. The turning mode indicates the mode related to the turning control of the ship's automatic steering system 11 and can be set to one of the following: radius turning, rate turning, or no turning control. 【0021】 (Interrupt detection process) The interrupt detection process by the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the interrupt detection process according to this embodiment. 【0022】 As shown in Figure 3, first, the interrupt determination unit 101 acquires the route information received by the receiving unit 100 and control information indicating the control status of the ship 12 by the ship's automatic steering system 11 (S201), and determines whether the leg heading in the route information acquired immediately before is different from the leg heading in the route information acquired this time (S202). 【0023】 If the leg headings are different (S202, YES), the interruption determination unit 101 determines, based on the control information, whether or not the ship's automatic steering system 11 is controlling the ship 12 to turn (S203). 【0024】 If the automatic steering system 11 for ships is controlling the ship 12 to turn (S203, YES), the interruption determination unit 101 determines that the route indicated by the route information is an interruption route (S204), the course change determination unit 102 performs a course change determination process (S205), the reference signal generation unit 103 performs a reference signal generation process (S206), and the interrupt determination process for the current cycle is completed. The reference signal generation process and the course change determination process will be described later. 【0025】 On the other hand, if the automatic steering system for ships 11 is not controlling the ship 12 to turn (S203, NO), the interruption determination unit 101 determines whether the turning mode is "no turning control" or not (S207). 【0026】 If the turning mode is not "no turning control," that is, if the turning method is either "radial turning" or "rate turning" (S207, NO), the interrupt determination unit 101 determines that the route indicated by the route information is the planned route (S208), the conventional processing is performed (S209), the reference signal generation processing by the reference signal generation unit 103 is performed (S206), and the interrupt determination processing for the current cycle is completed. The conventional processing determines the amount of course change from the leg heading in the route information acquired immediately before and the leg heading in the route information acquired this time. For details regarding the conventional processing, please refer to Non-Patent Literature 3. 【0027】 On the other hand, if the turning mode is "no turning control" (S207, YES), the interruption determination unit 101 determines that the route indicated by the route information is an interrupt route (S204). 【0028】 Furthermore, in step S202, if the leg orientations are the same (S202, NO), the interrupt determination process for the current cycle is terminated. 【0029】 Thus, the interrupt determination process allows the route planning device 10 to determine whether or not an interrupt route has been set, using route information that is commonly used in various ECDIS or ECS systems, more specifically, HTC sentences. 【0030】 (Curve change detection process) The course change determination process by the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the course change determination process according to this embodiment. 【0031】 As shown in Figure 4, first the course change determination unit 102 acquires the current reference bearing and the leg bearing in the route information (S301). 【0032】 Next, the direction change determination unit 102 calculates the difference between the current reference direction and the leg direction as the direction change amount (S302), and determines whether the direction change amount is less than a preset direction change threshold (S303). Here, the direction change threshold is set to a relatively small value, for example, 1 to 3 degrees. 【0033】 If the amount of change in direction is not less than the change in direction threshold (S303, NO), the change in direction determination unit 102 determines that the ship 12 should be controlled by changing direction (S304), and the change in direction determination process for the current period is terminated. 【0034】 On the other hand, if the amount of change in direction is less than the change in direction threshold (S303, YES), the change in direction determination unit 102 determines that the ship 12 should be controlled to maintain its direction (S305), and the change in direction determination process for the current period is terminated. 【0035】 (Reference signal generation process) The reference signal generation process by the automatic steering system for ships according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the reference signal generation process according to this embodiment. 【0036】 As shown in Figure 5, the reference signal generation unit 103 determines whether or not the ship 12 is controlled by changing course (S401). 【0037】 If the ship 12 is controlled by changing course (S401, YES), the reference signal generation unit 103 determines whether the ship's automatic steering system 11 is in turning control, that is, whether the ship 12 is turning (S402). 【0038】 If the vessel 12 is turning (S402, YES), the reference signal generation unit 103 sets the parameters related to the course change conditions on which the current reference signal is based (course change amount, rudder angle, rudder speed, angular velocity, angular acceleration) to initial values ​​(S403), calculates the turning angular velocity based on the ground speed and turning radius (S404), constructs a trajectory plan based on the initial values, the turning angular velocity and hull parameters (S405), calculates a reference signal based on the trajectory plan (S406), and the reference signal generation process for the current period is completed. 【0039】 On the other hand, if the ship 12 is not turning (S402, NO), the reference signal generation unit 103 sets the amount of change in direction and sets initial values ​​other than the amount of change in direction to zero (S407), calculates the turning angular velocity (S404), constructs a trajectory plan (S405), calculates a reference signal based on the trajectory plan (S406), and the reference signal generation process for the current period is completed. 【0040】 Furthermore, in step S401, if the vessel 12 is not controlled by changing course (S401, NO), that is, if the vessel 12 is controlled by keeping course, the reference signal generation unit 103 sets the leg heading of the route (planned route or interrupted route) as the reference heading, sets the feedforward rudder angle to zero (S408), and the reference signal generation process for the current cycle is completed. 【0041】 According to this reference signal generation process, when the receiving unit 100 receives route information related to an interrupted route, it generates a reference signal based on the course change conditions on which the reference signal at the time of reception is based, thereby generating a reference signal that is continuous with the reference signal generated for the planned route. For further details regarding the generation of reference signals, please refer to Non-Patent Document 3. 【0042】 The embodiments of the present invention are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be carried out in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols] 【0043】 1. Automatic steering system for ships 10. Route planning device 11. Automatic steering systems for ships 100 Receiver 101 Interrupt judgment section 102 Needle change detection unit 103 Reference signal generation section 104 Feedback Control Unit 105 Feedforward Control Unit

Claims

[Claim 1] An automatic steering system for ships that controls a ship based on a planned route set by a route planning device, A receiving unit that receives route information relating to the aforementioned planned route from the route planning device, An interruption determination unit determines that an interruption route is one in which the route indicated by the new route information is different from the planned route indicated by the old route information when the leg direction included in the old route information previously received by the receiving unit is different from the leg direction included in the new route information newly received by the receiving unit, and the ship's automatic steering system is in the process of turning the ship. A ship's automatic steering system equipped with the following features. [Claim 2] The aforementioned route information further includes a turning method that specifies a mode for turning control of the automatic steering system for the ship, The ship's automatic steering system according to claim 1, characterized in that the interruption determination unit determines that the route indicated by the new route information is the interruption route when the leg direction included in the old route information is different from the leg direction included in the new route information, the ship's automatic steering system is in the process of keeping the ship on course, and the turning mode is no turning control. [Claim 3] The automatic steering system for ships according to claim 1, further comprising a course change determination unit which determines that the course indicated by the new course information is an interrupted course, and that the amount of course change, which is the difference between the current reference bearing and the leg bearing of the interrupted course, is less than a preset course change threshold, then determines that the ship should be controlled to maintain its course. [Claim 4] The aforementioned ship's automatic steering system is, A reference signal generation unit generates a reference signal, which is time-series data of a reference bearing, based on the planned route set by the aforementioned route planning device. A feedback control unit that outputs a feedback rudder angle to make the ship's heading follow the reference heading, The system further comprises a feedforward control unit that outputs a feedforward rudder angle with the aforementioned reference direction as input, The course change determination unit determines that if the amount of course change is equal to or greater than the course change threshold, the vessel should be controlled by changing course. The automatic steering system for ships according to claim 3, characterized in that when the course change determination unit determines that the ship should be controlled by changing course, the reference signal generation unit calculates a new reference signal based on a trajectory plan calculated based on parameters relating to the course change conditions on which the current reference signal is based. [Claim 5] A ship's automatic steering system comprising a route planning device for setting a planned route and a ship's automatic steering device for controlling a ship based on the planned route, The route planning device transmits route information relating to the planned route to the ship's automatic steering system. The aforementioned ship's automatic steering system is, A receiving unit that receives the aforementioned route information from the route planning device, An interruption determination unit determines that an interruption route is one in which the route indicated by the new route information is different from the planned route indicated by the old route information when the leg direction included in the old route information previously received by the receiving unit is different from the leg direction included in the new route information newly received by the receiving unit, and the ship's automatic steering system is in the process of turning the ship. An automatic steering system for ships, characterized by being equipped with the following features.

Images