Outboard Engine Perception Sensor Layout for Stable Steering View
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mounting perception sensors on outboard engine units of marine vessels poses challenges due to changes in field of view and orientation during steering, complicating the use of these sensors for navigation and safety applications.
Innovation Solution
Integrating perception sensors on the outboard engine unit with a fixed spatial relationship to the thrust direction, utilizing orientation sensors and actuators to maintain a consistent field of view, and employing image processing units for real-time navigation assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If perception sensors are mounted on the outboard engine unit, then the sensor can capture images of the surrounding environment for navigation and collision avoidance, but the field of view changes during steering operations making visualization complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs feedback by continuously monitoring the thrust direction via orientation sensors and using this information to adjust or compensate for field of view changes. The control system receives feedback about the engine unit's orientation and automatically adjusts the perception sensor's viewing direction or processes images with transformed coordinates to maintain a stable visual representation despite steering movements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamics by making the perception sensor's field of view adaptable to the engine unit's steering movements. Instead of a fixed mounting, the sensor system dynamically adjusts its orientation or the processed image coordinates change in real-time based on the thrust direction, allowing the field of view to remain consistent with the vessel's heading despite physical movements during steering.
2Reliability
If multiple perception sensors are used to provide 360-degree field of view, then navigation and collision avoidance capabilities are enhanced, but computational resources required for image processing increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies segmentation by dividing the 360-degree surveillance task among multiple specialized perception sensors positioned at different locations on the engine unit. Each sensor covers a specific sector, and the system processes only the relevant segment of the environment with each sensor, rather than requiring every sensor to process the entire 360-degree view, thereby reducing total computational energy consumption while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements universality by designing a centralized image processing system that handles multiple sensor inputs through a unified coordinate transformation framework. The same processing algorithms and reference frame transformations are applied universally to all sensor data, allowing efficient handling of multiple perception sensors without proportionally increasing computational complexity, thus reducing energy consumption while maintaining 360-degree navigation reliability.
3Measurement precision
If the perception sensor maintains a fixed spatial relationship with the thrust direction, then accurate image capture during maneuvers is improved, but the mechanical coupling and orientation sensing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses an intermediary approach by introducing orientation sensors and coordinate transformation algorithms as mediators between the physically mounted perception sensor and the navigation system. Rather than requiring complex mechanical coupling to maintain fixed spatial relationships, the orientation sensors measure the actual thrust direction and the intermediary software transforms the sensor images into a stable reference frame, achieving accurate image capture with simpler mechanical mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies mechanics substitution by replacing complex mechanical coupling mechanisms with electronic and software-based solutions. Instead of using intricate mechanical linkages to maintain a fixed spatial relationship between the perception sensor and thrust direction, the system uses orientation sensors to detect thrust direction electronically and employs software coordinate transformations to achieve the same effect, thereby improving image capture accuracy while reducing mechanical complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An outboard engine unit for a marine vessel may, in addition to including an engine and a thrust unit, be outfitted with one or more perception sensors configured to capture images of a field of view, where the field of view maintains a fixed spatial relationship with the thrust direction in which the thrust unit is providing thrust for the marine vessel. Further, the outboard engine unit may further include an orientation sensor configured to sense the orientation of the thrust direction relative to the vessel.