CA2069803C - Accurate tuning of marine control systems - Google Patents
Accurate tuning of marine control systemsInfo
- Publication number
- CA2069803C CA2069803C CA 2069803 CA2069803A CA2069803C CA 2069803 C CA2069803 C CA 2069803C CA 2069803 CA2069803 CA 2069803 CA 2069803 A CA2069803 A CA 2069803A CA 2069803 C CA2069803 C CA 2069803C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- lever
- control
- switch
- station
- manual
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
- 230000007935 neutral effect Effects 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
- B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
- B63H21/00—Use of propulsion power plant or units on vessels
- B63H21/21—Control means for engine or transmission, specially adapted for use on marine vessels
- B63H21/213—Levers or the like for controlling the engine or the transmission, e.g. single hand control levers
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
- Feedback Control In General (AREA)
- Mechanical Control Devices (AREA)
Abstract
A lever actuated marine control systems is fine tuned using at least one manual switch which can be operated independently in the position of the manual lever. The manual switch and the lever provide control signals to a CPU. Operation of the manual switch acts to increment the position of the manual lever by controlling a lever motor and increments the parameter to be controlled by transmitting an incremented value to the control apparatus.
Description
TITLE OF THE lNv~NllON
ACCURATE TUNING OF MARINE CONTROL SYSTEMS
FIELD OF lNV~NLlON
The invention relates to lever actuated marine control systems.
More particularly, the invention relates to a system of fine tuning a lever actuated marine control system.
BACKGROUND OF THE 1NV~N11ON
Marine control systems generally rely on the use of one or more ~nu~l levers. For example, the speed of the engine is - controlled by a manual lever at the control station. The RPM
setting signal to the engine governor is directly proportional to the position of the lever at the control station. Another vessel control parameter that is typically controlled by -nllAl levers is the pitch of the propeller.
It is often desirable in navigating a vessel to control certain parameters with varying degrees of accuracy. For example, a greater degree of accuracy in the speed of the vessel will generally be desired when maneuvering into a dock, a marina, near other vessels, or when towing certain cargo. Unfortunately, -nuAl control levers have essentially only one degree of accuracy in that the control signal is proportional to the lever position. While theoretically it may be possible to carefully control the speed by minuscule incl~ -nts in the position of the lever, in practice this is difficult to do -nllAlly and may result in overshooting or overcompensating.
: .
There is therefore a need for a marine control system which enables the operator to finely tune the speed or other controlled parameter otherwise than by manually adjusting the position of the manual control lever.
ACCURATE TUNING OF MARINE CONTROL SYSTEMS
FIELD OF lNV~NLlON
The invention relates to lever actuated marine control systems.
More particularly, the invention relates to a system of fine tuning a lever actuated marine control system.
BACKGROUND OF THE 1NV~N11ON
Marine control systems generally rely on the use of one or more ~nu~l levers. For example, the speed of the engine is - controlled by a manual lever at the control station. The RPM
setting signal to the engine governor is directly proportional to the position of the lever at the control station. Another vessel control parameter that is typically controlled by -nllAl levers is the pitch of the propeller.
It is often desirable in navigating a vessel to control certain parameters with varying degrees of accuracy. For example, a greater degree of accuracy in the speed of the vessel will generally be desired when maneuvering into a dock, a marina, near other vessels, or when towing certain cargo. Unfortunately, -nuAl control levers have essentially only one degree of accuracy in that the control signal is proportional to the lever position. While theoretically it may be possible to carefully control the speed by minuscule incl~ -nts in the position of the lever, in practice this is difficult to do -nllAlly and may result in overshooting or overcompensating.
: .
There is therefore a need for a marine control system which enables the operator to finely tune the speed or other controlled parameter otherwise than by manually adjusting the position of the manual control lever.
2~69803 Moreover, larger vessels include several control stations including an engine room control station, a bridge control station and occasionally auxiliary control stations. It is therefore necessary to ensure that any fine tuning of the operating control station is also transmitted in the other control stations to ensure bumpless transfer of control from one station to another.
SUMMARY OF THE lNv~NlION
The invention involves using the manual lever to provide a lever control signal which is proportional to the lever position. One or more separate switches are provided which, when activated, provide a signal which is added to or subtracted from to the lever control signal and which represents small increments over that signal. This processing is done by a CPU which produces a combined signal used to control the desired parameter. The CPU
also generates a signal to reposition the manual control lever by means of a lever motor. AS a result, the use of the switches provides fine adjustment of the signal supplied by the ~nn~l control lever. The use of more than one switch allows one of the ;switches to be used for coarse adjustment, another for finer adjustment, and so on.
Where the system is used in the multiple control station environment, control signals between the operating control station and the slave stations ensure that the slave station levers are reset to correspond to the setting of the operating control station lever.
,,' ' ; ~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be more fully appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which:
~s .
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a two control station system according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a flow chart representing the basic ' processing steps at each control station CPU.
., DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates a vessel contxol system including an engine 10 and two control stations, namely a centre bridge control station 12 and an engine room control station 14. For the purpose of simplicity, the control stations are illustrated and described as controlling only the RPM of the engine.
Each control station includes a control head 16 and an associated -nu~l control lever 18 whose position is set by the operator to determine a gross setting for the RPM.
A fine adjustment switch 20 and a coarse adjustment switch 22 are provided for optional use in conjunction with the -nn~l lever 18. Both the fine adjustment switch 20 and the coarse adjustment switch 22 are three position switches, having a neutral position, a position 24 ; n~; c~ting an increase in RPM and a position 26 ; n~; c~ting a decrease in RPM.
The position of the manual lever 18 is transduced into a lever output signal 28 by a potentiometer 30. The voltage of the lever output signal 28 will be proportional to the position of the lever 18. The signal 28 is directed to a CPU 32 which is provided at the control station and which interprets the voltage of the signal 28 as a gross ba~eline setting of the desired RPM.
When the fine adjustment switch 20 is pushed to position 24 ;n~;c~ting an increase in RPM, a switch signal 21 is sent to the CPU which then inoL -nts the gross baseline setting from the signal 28 by a pre-determined amount. If the switch is pushed and released several times, several increments will be :
.
206~803 successively added by the CPU to the baseline setting. In the case of the coarse adjustment switch 22, the CPU will increment or decrement the baseline setting by larger pre-det~ ;ne~
increments thereby establishing the coarser adjustment. In the preferred embodiment the CPU 32 will periodically poll the lever output signal and the switch signals to determine the magnitude of the lever output signal and the existence or not of switch signals. It will then recalculate the new position taking into account the switch signals representing increments over the lever position.
A lever motor 34 is provided in the control head 16 to provide repositioning of the lever 18 corresponding the combination of the previous lever position and the operation of the switches 20 or 22, or both.
.
In a multiple control station environment, one of the control stations will be designated as the master station from which the vessel is being controlled for the time being while the other stations will be the slave stations. In such an embo~; -nt there is provided a central control unit 36 which cl n;c~tes with the CPUs at each control station to inform them which station is the master station in control. As discussed above, the repositioning signal to the lever motor of each station is generated by the CPU
at the master station based on the new position calculated from the lever output signal and the switch signals. However, in the case of a slave station, the CPU at the slave station will not use its own station's lever output and switch signals to reposition its lever. Rather, it will act on information about the required repositioning which is received from the central control unit 36.
r Figure 2 is a flowchart of the basic processing steps undertaken by the CPU 32. The basic sequence begins with the CPU polling the input lines for the lever output signal 28 and the switch signals 21 and 23 as represented by block 40. The software in the CPU will assign numerical values to the signals, taking into ~, 2~69803 account the weighting to be given to the operation of the lever and of the switches. These values are used to recalculate a new position (NEWPOSTN) value according to:
NEWPOSTN = L + K1 S1 + K2 S2 + ~ ~ ~ + KN + SN
Where L = lever position value Sl = switch signal (0 or 1) for 1st switch S2 = switch signal (0 or 1) for 2nd switch SN = switch signal (0 or 1) for Nth switch Kl = weighting factor for switch 1 K2 = weighting factor for switch 2 KN = weighting factor for switch N
as represented by block 42.
It will be appreciated that there may be a varying number of switches associated with the manual lever. The signals from the switches may be weighted (by the CPU) to provide varying degrees of coarseness in their effect and the weighting may be negative to ;n~;c~te a de~L~ -nt of the lever position rather than an inoL~ "t.
In a single control station environment, the calculated NEWPOSTN
is used by the CPU to control the lever motor (block 44) to reposition the lever 18 to the new position taking into account the increments or de~LI -nts from the actuation of the switches.
The above basic sequence is iterated repeatedly during operation.
In a multiple control station environment, additional steps 46 are included in the basic sequence. The calculated NEWPOSTN is transmitted to the central control unit 36 (block 48). Prior to using NEWPOSTN to actuate the lever motor 34 to reposition the lever 18, the CPU will determine whether its station is a master or a slave station as informed by the central control unit (block 50). If it is a master station, it will move to step 44. If it is a slave station, it will use the new position transmitted from the central control unit to the CPU as the NEWPOSTN which it will use to actuate the lever motor 34 (block 52).
In the preferred embodiment, the software in the CPU and (if applicable) in the central control unit may include a variety of ~ subroutines, the general approaches to which are known in the act, such as:
- detecting a stable operator setting - detecting operator induced -,v, -nt of the lever - protecting the lever motor if the operator overpowers it . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that :. modifications or deviations from the preferred embo~; -nt might ~' be practised without departing from the principles of the invention.
' <., :
SUMMARY OF THE lNv~NlION
The invention involves using the manual lever to provide a lever control signal which is proportional to the lever position. One or more separate switches are provided which, when activated, provide a signal which is added to or subtracted from to the lever control signal and which represents small increments over that signal. This processing is done by a CPU which produces a combined signal used to control the desired parameter. The CPU
also generates a signal to reposition the manual control lever by means of a lever motor. AS a result, the use of the switches provides fine adjustment of the signal supplied by the ~nn~l control lever. The use of more than one switch allows one of the ;switches to be used for coarse adjustment, another for finer adjustment, and so on.
Where the system is used in the multiple control station environment, control signals between the operating control station and the slave stations ensure that the slave station levers are reset to correspond to the setting of the operating control station lever.
,,' ' ; ~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be more fully appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which:
~s .
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a two control station system according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a flow chart representing the basic ' processing steps at each control station CPU.
., DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates a vessel contxol system including an engine 10 and two control stations, namely a centre bridge control station 12 and an engine room control station 14. For the purpose of simplicity, the control stations are illustrated and described as controlling only the RPM of the engine.
Each control station includes a control head 16 and an associated -nu~l control lever 18 whose position is set by the operator to determine a gross setting for the RPM.
A fine adjustment switch 20 and a coarse adjustment switch 22 are provided for optional use in conjunction with the -nn~l lever 18. Both the fine adjustment switch 20 and the coarse adjustment switch 22 are three position switches, having a neutral position, a position 24 ; n~; c~ting an increase in RPM and a position 26 ; n~; c~ting a decrease in RPM.
The position of the manual lever 18 is transduced into a lever output signal 28 by a potentiometer 30. The voltage of the lever output signal 28 will be proportional to the position of the lever 18. The signal 28 is directed to a CPU 32 which is provided at the control station and which interprets the voltage of the signal 28 as a gross ba~eline setting of the desired RPM.
When the fine adjustment switch 20 is pushed to position 24 ;n~;c~ting an increase in RPM, a switch signal 21 is sent to the CPU which then inoL -nts the gross baseline setting from the signal 28 by a pre-determined amount. If the switch is pushed and released several times, several increments will be :
.
206~803 successively added by the CPU to the baseline setting. In the case of the coarse adjustment switch 22, the CPU will increment or decrement the baseline setting by larger pre-det~ ;ne~
increments thereby establishing the coarser adjustment. In the preferred embodiment the CPU 32 will periodically poll the lever output signal and the switch signals to determine the magnitude of the lever output signal and the existence or not of switch signals. It will then recalculate the new position taking into account the switch signals representing increments over the lever position.
A lever motor 34 is provided in the control head 16 to provide repositioning of the lever 18 corresponding the combination of the previous lever position and the operation of the switches 20 or 22, or both.
.
In a multiple control station environment, one of the control stations will be designated as the master station from which the vessel is being controlled for the time being while the other stations will be the slave stations. In such an embo~; -nt there is provided a central control unit 36 which cl n;c~tes with the CPUs at each control station to inform them which station is the master station in control. As discussed above, the repositioning signal to the lever motor of each station is generated by the CPU
at the master station based on the new position calculated from the lever output signal and the switch signals. However, in the case of a slave station, the CPU at the slave station will not use its own station's lever output and switch signals to reposition its lever. Rather, it will act on information about the required repositioning which is received from the central control unit 36.
r Figure 2 is a flowchart of the basic processing steps undertaken by the CPU 32. The basic sequence begins with the CPU polling the input lines for the lever output signal 28 and the switch signals 21 and 23 as represented by block 40. The software in the CPU will assign numerical values to the signals, taking into ~, 2~69803 account the weighting to be given to the operation of the lever and of the switches. These values are used to recalculate a new position (NEWPOSTN) value according to:
NEWPOSTN = L + K1 S1 + K2 S2 + ~ ~ ~ + KN + SN
Where L = lever position value Sl = switch signal (0 or 1) for 1st switch S2 = switch signal (0 or 1) for 2nd switch SN = switch signal (0 or 1) for Nth switch Kl = weighting factor for switch 1 K2 = weighting factor for switch 2 KN = weighting factor for switch N
as represented by block 42.
It will be appreciated that there may be a varying number of switches associated with the manual lever. The signals from the switches may be weighted (by the CPU) to provide varying degrees of coarseness in their effect and the weighting may be negative to ;n~;c~te a de~L~ -nt of the lever position rather than an inoL~ "t.
In a single control station environment, the calculated NEWPOSTN
is used by the CPU to control the lever motor (block 44) to reposition the lever 18 to the new position taking into account the increments or de~LI -nts from the actuation of the switches.
The above basic sequence is iterated repeatedly during operation.
In a multiple control station environment, additional steps 46 are included in the basic sequence. The calculated NEWPOSTN is transmitted to the central control unit 36 (block 48). Prior to using NEWPOSTN to actuate the lever motor 34 to reposition the lever 18, the CPU will determine whether its station is a master or a slave station as informed by the central control unit (block 50). If it is a master station, it will move to step 44. If it is a slave station, it will use the new position transmitted from the central control unit to the CPU as the NEWPOSTN which it will use to actuate the lever motor 34 (block 52).
In the preferred embodiment, the software in the CPU and (if applicable) in the central control unit may include a variety of ~ subroutines, the general approaches to which are known in the act, such as:
- detecting a stable operator setting - detecting operator induced -,v, -nt of the lever - protecting the lever motor if the operator overpowers it . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that :. modifications or deviations from the preferred embo~; -nt might ~' be practised without departing from the principles of the invention.
' <., :
Claims (5)
1. Apparatus for controlling a control parameter in a marine vessel, comprising:
a manual control lever providing a lever output signal which defines a value for the parameter according to the position of the manual lever;
at least one manual switch operable independently of the position of the manual lever and having at least a neutral position and an active position wherein the active position of the switch produces a switch output signal;
said lever output signal and switch output signal being directed to a CPU;
said CPU being adapted to process the signal to increment the value by a weighting factor each time a switch control signal is detected and to produce a control signal for controlling the parameter.
a manual control lever providing a lever output signal which defines a value for the parameter according to the position of the manual lever;
at least one manual switch operable independently of the position of the manual lever and having at least a neutral position and an active position wherein the active position of the switch produces a switch output signal;
said lever output signal and switch output signal being directed to a CPU;
said CPU being adapted to process the signal to increment the value by a weighting factor each time a switch control signal is detected and to produce a control signal for controlling the parameter.
2. Apparatus as in claim 1, further comprising:
a motor for controlling the position of the manual control lever in response to the control signal from the CPU.
a motor for controlling the position of the manual control lever in response to the control signal from the CPU.
3. Apparatus as in claim 1 comprising:
a plurality of manual switches each of which has at least a neutral position and an active position, and wherein the active position of each switch produces a switch output signal and wherein different weighting factors are associated with each of the switch output signals.
a plurality of manual switches each of which has at least a neutral position and an active position, and wherein the active position of each switch produces a switch output signal and wherein different weighting factors are associated with each of the switch output signals.
4. Apparatus as in claim 2 comprising:
a plurality of manual switches each of which has at least a neutral position and an active position, and wherein the active position of each switch produces a switch output signal and wherein different weighting factors are associated with each of the switch output signals.
a plurality of manual switches each of which has at least a neutral position and an active position, and wherein the active position of each switch produces a switch output signal and wherein different weighting factors are associated with each of the switch output signals.
5. A method for controlling the position of a manual lever at a station in a multi-station marine vessel, comprising the steps of:
(a) selecting a value corresponding to the position of the lever;
(b) incrementing the value in response to the operation of a manual switch to produce a control value;
(c) determining whether the station is the station in control of the vessel and;
i) if the station is in control of the vessel operating a motor to reposition the lever according to the control value;
ii) if the station is not in control of the vessel transmitting a repositioning control value to the station from a central control unit in the vessel, and operating the motor according to said repositioning control value.
(a) selecting a value corresponding to the position of the lever;
(b) incrementing the value in response to the operation of a manual switch to produce a control value;
(c) determining whether the station is the station in control of the vessel and;
i) if the station is in control of the vessel operating a motor to reposition the lever according to the control value;
ii) if the station is not in control of the vessel transmitting a repositioning control value to the station from a central control unit in the vessel, and operating the motor according to said repositioning control value.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069803 CA2069803C (en) | 1992-05-28 | 1992-05-28 | Accurate tuning of marine control systems |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069803 CA2069803C (en) | 1992-05-28 | 1992-05-28 | Accurate tuning of marine control systems |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2069803A1 CA2069803A1 (en) | 1993-11-29 |
| CA2069803C true CA2069803C (en) | 1997-12-23 |
Family
ID=4149925
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2069803 Expired - Fee Related CA2069803C (en) | 1992-05-28 | 1992-05-28 | Accurate tuning of marine control systems |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2069803C (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20100280685A1 (en) * | 2009-04-29 | 2010-11-04 | Pierre Garon | Method and system for increasing or decreasing engine throttle in a marine vessel |
-
1992
- 1992-05-28 CA CA 2069803 patent/CA2069803C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20100280685A1 (en) * | 2009-04-29 | 2010-11-04 | Pierre Garon | Method and system for increasing or decreasing engine throttle in a marine vessel |
| US8930050B2 (en) * | 2009-04-29 | 2015-01-06 | Marine Canada Acquisition Inc. | Method and system for increasing or decreasing engine throttle in a marine vessel |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CA2069803A1 (en) | 1993-11-29 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |