Ship Navigation Control for Smooth Low-Speed Direction Changes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic navigation systems at low speeds face challenges in maintaining ride comfort and precise direction control due to high responsiveness, leading to overshoot and difficulty in setting the desired direction.
Innovation Solution
A ship control device with an input unit, navigation control unit, and propulsion force adjustment unit that allows for changing propulsion force and rudder angle control ranges based on navigation modes, reducing responsiveness during automatic navigation to improve comfort and direction control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If high responsiveness is set for ship movement to joystick operation, then manual navigation responsiveness is improved, but ride comfort deteriorates and overshoot occurs during automatic navigation mode transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the responsiveness parameter based on the current navigation mode. During automatic navigation mode, responsiveness is reduced to improve ride comfort and prevent overshoot. During manual navigation mode, responsiveness is increased to ensure responsive control. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize performance for each operational context without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the responsiveness parameter according to the navigation mode state. When transitioning to or from automatic navigation mode, the responsiveness parameter is modified to appropriate values. This parameter change enables the system to maintain high responsiveness in manual mode while ensuring comfort and stability in automatic mode, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
2Speed
If high responsiveness is maintained during automatic navigation mode, then manual navigation responsiveness is preserved, but direction control precision deteriorates due to overshoot
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically modifies the responsiveness parameter based on the navigation mode. During automatic navigation mode, when direction changes are detected, the responsiveness is temporarily reduced to prevent overshoot and improve direction control precision. This dynamic adjustment ensures that direction control precision is maintained without permanently sacrificing responsiveness in manual mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary reduction of responsiveness before executing direction changes during automatic navigation mode. By anticipating the need for precise direction control and proactively reducing responsiveness in advance, the system prevents overshoot from occurring in the first place, thereby improving direction control precision while maintaining manual navigation responsiveness when needed.
3Ease of operation
If responsiveness is reduced during automatic navigation mode, then ride comfort is improved, but manual navigation responsiveness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic responsiveness adjustment that is mode-dependent. During automatic navigation mode, responsiveness is reduced to improve ride comfort. During manual navigation mode, responsiveness is restored to high levels to ensure responsive control. The system seamlessly switches between these states based on the operational mode, ensuring that ride comfort is improved in automatic mode while manual navigation responsiveness is preserved when the operator needs it.
Data Source
AI summary
The ship control device is provided with processing circuitry. The processing circuitry receives operation inputs from an actuator that controls the propulsion state of the ship, including the propulsion force and moving direction. The processing circuitry controls the navigation of the ship in a plurality of navigation modes, including a manual navigation mode using the operation inputs and an automatic navigation mode that maintains the propulsion state. When the processing circuitry receives a direction change operation input to change the moving direction in the operation input in the automatic navigation mode, the propulsion force of the ship is changed from the maintained propulsion force.