Marine Vessel Reverse-Path Navigation for Emergency Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Marine vessels face challenges in navigating away from undesired situations due to limited maneuvering space, unexpected obstacles, and the need for quick responses in stressful conditions, particularly for inexperienced operators.
Innovation Solution
A control unit with processing circuitry and storage medium that receives path data from sensors and triggers autonomous navigation in reverse along a previously traveled path, using input devices like buttons or portable devices, to avoid obstacles and return to a man-over-board location, incorporating GPS, radar, lidar, and vision-based sensors for robust navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual maneuvering is used in stressful situations, then the operator can respond quickly, but inexperienced operators may lack the skills to navigate safely away from obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the vessel to navigate itself automatically along the recorded path in reverse direction without requiring manual intervention. The control unit autonomously generates control commands for the rudder and engine based on the stored path data, allowing the vessel to service itself in emergency situations
Solution Approach 2:
The system records the forward path data before the emergency situation occurs, storing the safe route information in advance. When an emergency triggers the reverse maneuver function, the pre-recorded path is immediately available for autonomous navigation, eliminating the need for real-time decision-making under stress
2Productivity
If the vessel turns around in limited maneuvering space, then it can navigate away from the undesired situation, but the maneuvering space may be insufficient for safe turning
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of turning the vessel around in the limited space near the obstacle, the system navigates the vessel in reverse along the previously traveled path back to the starting point. This inverted approach avoids the need for tight turning maneuvers in constrained spaces by utilizing the already-safe forward path in reverse
Solution Approach 2:
The forward path is recorded in advance during normal navigation when the vessel is moving safely. This pre-recorded path information is stored and later used for reverse navigation, eliminating the need for real-time path planning and turning maneuvering in emergency situations
3Reliability
If autonomous reverse navigation is implemented, then inexperienced operators can safely navigate away from obstacles, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a digital copy of the forward path by recording position data from sensor devices during normal navigation. This copied path information is stored in the control unit and used to guide the reverse maneuver, eliminating the need for complex real-time obstacle detection and path planning algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit performs multiple functions: it controls normal forward navigation, records path data during cruising, and executes reverse navigation when triggered. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity by using existing navigation infrastructure for multiple purposes
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit for controlling a marine vessel to avoid an emergency situation, the control unit comprising processing circuitry and a storage medium, wherein the control unit is configured to receive path data from one or more sensor devices indicative of a path traveled by the marine vessel in a forward direction and to store the received path data by the storage medium, characterized in that the control unit is configured to receive a trigger signal from an input device, and, in response to the trigger signal, determine a location for turning the vessel around, navigating to the location, turning the vessel around at the location, and navigating the vessel along the path in reverse direction.