Single Rear Drive and Bow Lateral Thrust for Full Joystick Maneuvering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Marine vessels with a single rear drive are unable to perform a full range of joystick control, particularly lacking control over sideways movement and turning in place, as they cannot generate lateral and rotational movements efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A marine propulsion system featuring a steerable rear drive and a fixed lateral drive at the bow, controlled by a single user input device to optimize starboard and port thrusts, enabling sway and yaw movements by coordinating the steering and thrust of both drives based on user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single rear drive is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ability to perform lateral and rotational movements is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The propulsion system is segmented into two functional components: a rear drive for primary propulsion and a lateral drive for transverse thrust. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific maneuvering tasks, enabling full joystick control capability while maintaining relatively simple system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral drive serves multiple functions: it provides lateral thrust for sideways movement, assists in turning operations, and can compensate for asymmetric thrust conditions. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve versatile maneuvering capability without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple steerable drives are used for full joystick control, then the maneuvering capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments steering functionality across two drives with different degrees of freedom: the rear drive provides rotational steering capability while the lateral drive provides transverse positioning. This segmentation achieves full 3-DOF joystick control without requiring all drives to be fully steerable, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system dynamically coordinates the two drives based on joystick input, automatically distributing thrust commands to achieve desired vessel movement. This dynamic coordination allows full maneuvering capability with minimal mechanical complexity, as the control software handles the complexity rather than mechanical steering mechanisms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a lateral drive is added to enable sideways movement, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The propulsion system is segmented into a rear drive for longitudinal propulsion and a lateral drive for transverse thrust. This functional segmentation enables independent optimization of each component, allowing lateral movement capability to be added without redesigning the entire propulsion system.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral drive acts as an intermediary component that bridges the gap between traditional single-drive propulsion and full joystick control. By introducing this intermediate element with specific lateral thrust capability, the system achieves enhanced adaptability while maintaining manageable complexity through focused functional addition rather than comprehensive system redesign.
Data Source
AI summary
A marine propulsion system for a marine vessel includes one steerable rear marine drive positioned along the center line of the marine vessel and a lateral marine drive positioned at a bow region of the marine vessel. The rear marine drive is steerable about a vertical steering axis to a range of steering angles. The lateral marine drive is positioned at a fixed angle with respect to the marine vessel and configured to generate lateral thrust on the marine vessel. A user input device is operable by a user to provide a propulsion demand input commanding surge movement, sway movement, and yaw movement of the marine vessel, and the control system is configured to control steering and thrust of the rear marine drive and thrust of the lateral marine drive based on the propulsion demand input to generate the surge movement, sway movement, and/or the yaw movement commanded by the user.