Marine Vessel Positioning Control for Automatic Station Keeping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing marine vessel positioning systems require active manual control to maintain a selected position or heading, especially in the absence of an anchor, which can be labor-intensive and inefficient, particularly when dealing with disturbances like currents and winds.
Innovation Solution
A marine vessel control system comprising propulsion units, steering, shift, and throttle actuators, along with sensors for position and heading detection, uses a controller to automatically adjust thrust and direction to maintain a selected position or heading by calculating and counteracting position and heading errors, allowing for automatic station keeping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual control is used to maintain vessel position and heading, then the operator can respond to disturbances, but the operator workload increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system automatically maintains vessel position and heading by using sensors to detect disturbances and actuators to counteract them without continuous operator intervention. The system serves itself by autonomously correcting position and heading errors based on sensor feedback, freeing the operator from manual control tasks while maintaining operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors vessel position and heading using sensors, compares actual values to target values, and automatically adjusts propulsion units to eliminate errors. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables automatic response to disturbances without increasing operator workload, thereby improving operational efficiency.
2Extent of automation
If automatic control systems are implemented, then operator workload is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is integrated into the existing vessel management architecture, sharing sensors, processors, and communication interfaces with other vessel systems. By making the control system multi-functional and compatible with existing infrastructure, the patent reduces the additional complexity that would normally accompany automatic control implementation.
Solution Approach 2:
The position and heading control functions are merged into a single integrated control system that manages multiple propulsion units through unified actuation. This consolidation reduces the complexity that would arise from separate control systems for each function, while still providing automatic control capability.
3Measurement precision
If multiple actuators are used for precise control, then positioning accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system independently manages multiple propulsion units, with each unit having its own actuator for precise control. By segmenting the control of each propulsion unit while maintaining unified system management, the system achieves high positioning accuracy without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system dynamically adjusts the operation of multiple actuators based on real-time vessel position and heading errors. This dynamic coordination of multiple actuators enables precise positioning while the system adapts to minimize the complexity of managing multiple control elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A marine vessel control system comprises a propulsion unit and a steering actuator for steering the propulsion unit. There is a shift actuator for shifting gears in the propulsion unit and a throttle actuator for increasing or decreasing throttle to the propulsion unit. There is an input device for providing user inputted steering commands to the steering actuator and for providing user inputted shift and throttle commands to the shift actuator and the throttle actuator. There is a sensor for detecting a global position and a heading direction of the marine vessel. A controller receives position and heading values of the marine vessel from the sensor. The controller compares the received position value to a pre-programmed position value to determine a position error difference. The controller also compares the received heading value to a pre-programmed heading value to determine a heading error difference.