Marine Propulsion Control with Lateral Drive for Sway and Yaw
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current marine propulsion systems face inefficiencies in controlling lateral and rotational movements due to rear drives being mounted closer together, which reduces steering angles and increases noise and vibrations during joysticking.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a lateral marine drive with independently steerable rear drives, allowing for coordinated control of thrust and steering to optimize lateral and rotational movements, with the lateral drive operating additively or oppositively to the rear drives based on demand inputs to enhance velocity and acceleration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If rear drives are mounted closer together to optimize on-plane performance, then compactness and on-plane efficiency are improved, but steering angles are reduced and noise and vibrations increase during joysticking
Solution Approach 1:
The propulsion system is divided into two independent segments: rear drives for on-plane propulsion and a lateral drive for lateral and rotational control. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, with the lateral drive positioned away from the rear drives to provide adequate steering angles without compromising compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral drive acts as an intermediary component that mediates between the compact rear drive arrangement and the need for effective joysticking control. By positioning the lateral drive at the bow or stern, it provides the necessary lateral thrust and yaw moment without interfering with the rear drives' compact configuration, thereby reducing noise and vibrations during maneuvering.
2Productivity
If rear drives are mounted closer together, then on-plane performance is optimized, but steering angles are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the control functions by assigning rear drives to on-plane propulsion and a lateral drive to lateral movement and steering. This allows the rear drives to be mounted close together for optimal on-plane performance while the lateral drive, positioned at the bow or stern, provides adequate steering angles for effective joysticking operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral drive introduces a new dimension of control by providing lateral thrust perpendicular to the direction of the rear drives. This dimensional addition enables effective steering and yaw control without requiring increased separation between the rear drives, thus maintaining both on-plane performance and steering capability.
3Speed
If lateral drive operates additively with rear drives, then velocity and acceleration are enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system merges the operations of the rear drives and lateral drive into a unified joysticking control mechanism. The controller coordinates all drives based on a single user input device, enabling enhanced sway and yaw velocity through additive operation while presenting a simplified interface to the user. This integration manages device complexity by consolidating control functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral drive serves multiple functions: it provides lateral thrust for sway movement, generates yaw moments for rotational control, and can operate additively or oppositively with rear drives to enhance or reduce velocity and acceleration. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by delivering comprehensive maneuvering capability from a single component.
Data Source
AI summary
A marine propulsion system for propelling a marine vessel includes at least two steerable rear marine drives that each generate forward and reverse thrusts, wherein each rear marine drive is independently steerable to a range of steering angles, and a lateral marine drive configured to generate starboard and port thrusts on the marine vessel. The system further includes a user input device, such as a joystick, operable by a user to provide a propulsion demand input commanding lateral movement of the marine vessel and rotational movement of the marine vessel. A control system is included that is configured to control steering and thrust of each of the at least two rear marine drives and thrust of the lateral marine drive based on the propulsion demand input so as to generate the lateral movement and/or the rotational movement commanded by the user.