Watercraft Propulsion Control for Faster Target Spot Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automated control systems for watercraft take a long time to move the vessel to a target spot due to the position of the watercraft relative to the target, necessitating improvements for efficient and easy location maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilizes a marine propulsion device, input device, and controller to select between bow, stern, and compass direction modes based on the watercraft's position relative to the target spot, efficiently guiding the watercraft to and maintaining it at the target location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If conventional keeping control is used with preliminarily set bow mode or stern mode, then the watercraft can be controlled to move to the target spot, but it takes a long time for the watercraft to move to the target spot depending on the position of the watercraft
Solution Approach 1:
The control mode is dynamically selected based on the watercraft's current position relative to the target spot. The controller automatically switches between bow mode and stern mode depending on whether the target is ahead or behind the watercraft, making the system adaptive rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter (control mode) based on the position parameter. When the target spot is determined to be behind the watercraft, the controller switches to stern mode; when ahead, it uses bow mode. This parameter-based adaptation optimizes movement time.
2Productivity
If the watercraft is remote from the target spot, then movement is necessary, but the movement time increases depending on the position of the watercraft relative to the target
Solution Approach 1:
The controller changes the operational parameter (control mode) based on the spatial relationship between the watercraft and target spot. This dynamic parameter adjustment optimizes the movement efficiency by selecting the appropriate mode (bow or stern) based on position.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller continuously determines the position of the target spot relative to the watercraft and uses this feedback information to select the appropriate control mode, creating a closed-loop system that optimizes movement time based on real-time position data.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system includes a marine propulsion device, an input device, and a controller. The input device outputs an operating signal indicating a first mode selected in accordance with an operation thereof. The controller receives the operating signal. When it is intended to move the watercraft to a target spot from a first spot under selection of the first mode, the controller selects in which of modes, composed of a bow mode orienting a bow of the watercraft toward the target spot and a stern mode orienting a stern of the watercraft toward the target spot, the marine propulsion device is controlled depending on a position of the target spot with respect to the first spot so as to control the marine propulsion device such that the watercraft is moved from the first spot to the target spot in one selected from the bow mode and the stern mode.