JP2011005888A - Automatic steering system and automatic steering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic steering system that quickly deals with a state of the sea, and controls a ship with proper control sensitivity.SOLUTION: The automatic steering system 10 includes: a GPS compass 11; a GPS plotter 12; a wind direction wind speed meter 13; a radar device 14; a rudder control valve 15; and an automatic steering control device 17. The automatic steering control device 17 finds an argument indicating an angle made by an azimuth of a bow detected by the GPS compass 11 and an azimuth of the destination input in the GPS plotter. The automatic steering control device 17 finds correction coefficient to be applied to the argument based on the wind direction and wind speed at a present location detected by the wind direction wind speed meter 13, and the height and direction of the waves that are obtained by the radar device 14 and are on a progress schedule route set by the GPS plotter 12. Afterward, the automatic steering control device 17 changes the travel direction of the ship by controlling the rudder control valve 15 using an indication rudder angle obtained by applying the correction coefficient to the argument.

Description

  The present invention relates to a ship automatic steering system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a configuration including an automatic steering system that automatically steers a set destination in a ship is known. As this automatic steering system, for example, there is a system that detects the amount of deviation of the heading with respect to the direction of the destination, and performs automatic steering so as to go straight to the destination while correcting this. In addition to the above, as an automatic steering system, a route for the ship to sail is set in advance, the amount of deviation from the route is detected, and the ship is moved along the route while correcting the amount of deviation. A configuration for automatically steering to a destination is known. Patent Document 1 discloses the latter automatic steering system.

  Usually, when a ship operator steers a ship, when the sea is rough, it is desirable to turn the steering sensitively to the amount of deviation in order to correct the detected amount of deviation early. On the other hand, if the sea is calm, it is preferable to turn the rudder so as to correct the detected displacement little by little in order to avoid unnecessarily shaking the hull. Also in the automatic steering system, control is performed in which the control sensitivity is set according to the current state of the sea and the amount of deviation is corrected.

  On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 discloses an individual wave prediction / warning system as a configuration for predicting future sea conditions and displaying warnings, rudder angles, etc. on a display mounted on a ship. To do. Patent Document 2 is configured to acquire wave information after a predetermined time by analyzing an image obtained from a radar, and to display the wave information, in particular, a ship maneuvering guideline corresponding to a large individual wave.

JP-A-5-256654 Japanese Patent No. 3992101

  However, in the configuration of the automatic steering system as shown in Patent Document 1, even if there is a sea area that is rough on the route that is going to travel, the control sensitivity to the sea that is rough is not changed until the sea area enters. I'm starting to ask. As a result, the response to the beginning of rough seas was delayed, and there was a risk that the planned route would deviate significantly or the hull would become unstable. Similarly, in such a configuration of an automatic steering system, the control sensitivity for a calm sea begins to be obtained only after passing through a rough sea area. For this reason, the response to the start of calming of the sea was slow, and there was a risk that it would deviate significantly from the planned route or that the hull would become unstable.

  Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, the future sea situation is foreseen, but it is only necessary to display a ship maneuvering guide and the like, and a steering operator needs to manually correspond to the maneuvering maneuver.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic steering system that quickly responds to sea conditions and controls a ship with appropriate control sensitivity.

Means and effects for solving the problems

  The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, means for solving the problems and the effects thereof will be described.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, an automatic steering system having the following configuration is provided. That is, the automatic steering system includes an orientation detector, a navigation device, a disturbance detection device, a radar device, a steering angle change device, and an automatic steering control device. The bearing detector detects the heading of the ship. The navigation device can acquire the current location of the ship, and sets a scheduled travel route by inputting a destination. The disturbance detection device detects a disturbance element due to the natural environment of the current location and acquires it as current disturbance information. The radar apparatus obtains information on disturbance elements around the current location by transmitting a signal and detecting the reflected wave. The rudder angle changing device changes the traveling direction of the ship. The automatic steering control device obtains a correction amount to be corrected for the traveling direction based on the current position and the current bow direction and the destination or the planned travel route. Then, the automatic steering control device uses at least the current disturbance information and information on the surrounding disturbance elements acquired by the radar device as the correction coefficient to be applied to the correction amount, and information on the scheduled travel route. Is obtained based on future disturbance information. Thereafter, the automatic steering control device changes the traveling direction by applying the correction coefficient to the correction amount and controlling the steering angle changing device.

  This makes it possible to control the rudder angle change device with an appropriate correction factor that matches the current sea conditions, using the current disturbance information when correcting the traveling direction of the ship, and the hull is unstable. Can be prevented. Further, by using the disturbance information in the future, it is possible to control the rudder angle changing device in response to a change in the sea condition of the planned travel route.

  In the automatic steering system, the automatic steering control device may control the rudder angle changing device in consideration of the future disturbance information before the ship reaches the position where the future disturbance information is acquired. preferable.

  That is, if the correction coefficient is greatly changed in a short time, the hull tends to become unstable. In this regard, in the above-described configuration, the correction coefficient is changed early in accordance with the state of the ocean ahead, so that an appropriate value can be reached while gradually changing the correction coefficient. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the hull from becoming unstable.

  The automatic steering system preferably has the following configuration. That is, the automatic steering control device obtains a current correction coefficient, which is a correction coefficient for responding to the sea condition determined from the current disturbance information, from the current disturbance information, and determines the sea level determined from the future disturbance information. A future correction coefficient, which is a correction coefficient for coping with the situation, is obtained from the future disturbance information. Then, the automatic steering control device changes the correction coefficient based on a difference between the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient and a distance from the current position to the position where the future disturbance information is acquired.

  Thereby, when the own ship reaches the position where the disturbance information is acquired in the future, the correction coefficient can be changed so that the correction coefficient applied to the own ship becomes a value close to the future correction coefficient.

  In the automatic steering system, it is preferable that the radar device transmits information on a sea surface reflected wave on the planned travel route to the automatic steering control device.

  That is, when the sea is rough, the movement of the waves becomes intense and the sea surface reflected waves become strong. Therefore, since the information on the reflected wave is sent from the radar device to the automatic steering control device, the roughness of the sea ahead can be detected, and the steering angle changing device can be controlled accordingly. In addition, the detection of the sea surface reflected wave can be easily realized by utilizing or diverting the sea surface reflected wave removal function of a general radar device, so that the cost can be reduced.

  In the automatic steering system, it is preferable that the future disturbance information is at least one of a wave height and a wave direction on the travel route.

  Thereby, the rudder angle changing device can be favorably controlled by using a disturbance element that easily affects the behavior of the ship. Specifically, the height of the wave has a high correlation with the wind force, and it is possible to predict the influence of the ship from the wind force and the wave. By knowing the direction of the waves, it is possible to estimate the direction and extent to which the hull is affected by the wind and waves.

  In the automatic steering system, the correction coefficient is preferably obtained based on the current disturbance information and a value obtained by a table from the future disturbance information.

  Thereby, since the process which calculates | requires a correction coefficient can be simplified, the amount of calculations can be reduced.

  In the automatic steering system, it is preferable that the automatic steering control device corrects the table based on a past control result.

  As a result, it is possible to obtain a table with good accuracy in consideration of various control characteristics (for example, control characteristics peculiar to a ship).

  In the automatic steering system, the future disturbance information preferably includes tide information.

  Thereby, since the influence which a tidal current has on the own ship can be taken into consideration, the rudder angle changing device can be controlled well.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, an automatic steering apparatus having the following configuration is provided. That is, the automatic steering device includes an orientation detector, a disturbance detection device, a rudder angle changing device, and an automatic steering control device. The bearing detector detects the heading of the ship. The disturbance detection device detects a disturbance element due to the natural environment of the current location and acquires it as current disturbance information. The rudder angle changing device changes the traveling direction of the ship. The automatic steering control device can set a target direction and obtains a correction amount to be corrected for the traveling direction based on the target direction and the heading. In addition, the automatic steering control device has a correction coefficient to be applied to the correction amount, at least the current disturbance information, and future disturbance information that is information on a disturbance element received from the outside and is information on the target direction. , Based on. The automatic steering control device changes the traveling direction by applying the correction coefficient to the correction amount and controlling the steering angle changing device.

  As a result, by using the current disturbance information and the future disturbance information, it is possible to control the rudder angle changing device with an appropriate correction coefficient in accordance with the sea conditions of the current position and the planned travel route, and the hull becomes unstable. And the departure from the planned route can be prevented.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic steering system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The top view explaining the advancing plan route of a ship. The graph which explains conceptually the relationship between the roughness of the sea and a correction coefficient, and the position on the planned travel route. The top view explaining the deflection angle in automatic steering control.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an automatic steering system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment maintains the traveling direction of the ship 1 toward a set destination or automatically sets a preset route even under the influence of disturbance such as waves and winds. Or to sail to. Hereinafter, the automatic steering system 10 will be described.

  This automatic steering system 10 includes a GPS compass (direction detector) 11, a GPS plotter (navigation device) 12, an anemometer (disturbance detection device) 13, a radar device 14, a rudder angle control valve (steer angle change) Device) 15, a steering 16, and an automatic steering control device 17.

  The GPS compass 11 includes a plurality of GPS antennas fixed to the ship 1 and can obtain the heading from the relative positional relationship of the GPS antennas. The heading detected by the GPS compass 11 is sent to the automatic steering control device 17 as needed.

  The GPS plotter 12 mainly includes a GPS receiver 31, an operation unit 32, a calculation unit 33, and a display unit 34.

  The GPS receiver 31 receives a positioning signal from a GPS antenna (not shown) and acquires current position information of the ship 1. The operation unit 32 is used for inputting various settings of the GPS plotter 12, and can input a destination when performing automatic steering, a relay point (intermediate destination) passing on the way to the destination, and the like. It is configured.

  The computing unit 33 determines a scheduled travel route that the ship 1 should proceed from on the basis of the set destination. This scheduled travel route is determined so as to connect the current location and the destination with a straight line, and if there is a point where an island or the like cannot travel on the way, it is determined so as to bypass it. The determined progress route is displayed on the display unit 34. The GPS plotter 12 is configured to be able to display the tide information at each point in a graph or the like. The tide information, the destination, and the scheduled travel route are sent to the automatic steering control device 17 as needed.

  The anemometer 13 has a configuration in which a vertical tail and a propeller are attached to a rotatable main body. With this configuration, the vertical tail receives the wind and rotates the main body so that the propeller faces the windward. Accordingly, the wind direction can be detected from the direction of the main body at this time, and the wind speed can be detected from the rotation speed of the propeller. The wind direction anemometer 13 is connected to an unillustrated ship anemometer, and detects the wind speed and the wind direction by removing the influence of the ship speed. This wind speed and direction are sent to the automatic steering control device 17 as needed.

  The radar apparatus 14 includes a radar antenna (not shown). The radar antenna transmits a microwave to the surroundings, and a reflected wave (echo) obtained by reflecting this signal on a target or the like is input to the receiving unit 42. The receiving unit 42 converts a weak high-frequency signal received by the radar antenna into an intensity and frequency suitable for processing and outputs the converted signal to the signal processing unit 43. The signal processing unit 43 acquires the distance to the target from the time difference between the timing at which the radar antenna transmits the microwave and the timing at which the reflected wave is received.

  The signal processing unit 43 generates an echo image based on the distance obtained as described above and the direction of the radar antenna at the time of microwave emission. The echo image is stored in the internal memory, and an appropriate image process is performed on the echo image to generate a radar image, which is displayed on a display unit (not shown) provided in the radar device 14.

  The data output from the receiving unit 42 to the signal processing unit 43 includes echoes based on reflected waves from the sea surface around the ship 1. This sea surface reflected wave can be removed separately from the reflected wave from the target by an appropriate method. For example, by using the fact that a sea surface reflected wave is detected without regularity without appearing at the same position for each scan, the reflected wave is detected irregularly without temporal continuity at a certain position. A method of determining that the reflected wave is a sea surface reflected wave is conceivable.

  In the echo image of the internal memory, the sea surface reflected wave appears like a stripe pattern, and the direction of the stripe pattern changes depending on the wind direction. Further, the strength of the echo of the sea surface reflected wave is almost proportional to the wind speed at that portion. The signal processing unit 43 removes the echo corresponding to the sea surface reflected wave from the echo image of the internal memory by the above processing and outputs it as a radar image, while analyzing the striped pattern image to analyze the wave information. Looking for. Note that a method for obtaining wave information by image analysis of a striped pattern is well known, and details thereof are omitted.

  The wave information obtained in this way may include wave height, wave direction, wave velocity, and the like. However, in the radar device 14 of the present embodiment, the wave height and wave direction are obtained. It has been. The wave height and wave direction are sent to the automatic steering control device 17 as needed.

  In addition to the above, as a method for obtaining wave information, there is a method for obtaining by analyzing a vector of a sea surface reflected wave by a known method. The height of the wave can be obtained from the magnitude of the vector of the sea surface reflected wave, and the direction of the wave can be obtained from the direction of the vector of the sea surface reflected wave.

  The ship 1 includes an unillustrated engine and a hydraulic pump. The power of the engine is transmitted to the hydraulic pump, and hydraulic oil can be discharged. The rudder 16 includes a pivotable rudder plate attached to the rear of the propulsion unit, and a hydraulic cylinder coupled to the rudder plate. Further, the steering 16 includes a steering angle control valve 15 for switching the supply of hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder.

  The hydraulic pump is connected to a hydraulic cylinder for driving a rudder plate via appropriate piping and a rudder angle control valve 15. The rudder angle control valve 15 is configured, for example, as an electromagnetic valve. When the rudder angle control valve 15 is switched, the rudder plate turns by driving the hydraulic cylinder, and the direction of the water flow generated by the propulsion device of the ship 1 is changed. Thus, the traveling direction of the ship 1 can be changed.

  The automatic steering control device 17 is configured as a microcomputer and includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. As described above, various types of information are input to the automatic steering control device 17 from the marine equipment, and based on this information, an instruction rudder angle indicating in which direction and how much the steering 16 is moved is determined. The rudder angle control valve 15 is controlled in accordance with the instructed rudder angle, whereby the rudder 16 operates.

  Next, a configuration for automatically steering the ship 1 using the automatic steering system 10 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining a planned travel route of the ship 1.

  First, the steering person operates the operation unit 32 of the GPS plotter 12 to set the destination. In this explanation, no relay point is set, and it is assumed that there is no sea area such as an island between the starting point and the destination. Therefore, the scheduled travel route is represented by connecting the starting point and the destination with a straight line as shown in FIG.

  Instead of setting the destination, automatic steering can be performed by setting a setting direction (target direction) in the automatic steering control device 17. In this case, the scheduled travel route is a region ahead of the set direction. In this case, the effect of the present invention can be realized without using the GPS plotter 12.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the position on the planned route and the degree of sea roughness. FIG. 3 is a graph for conceptually explaining the relationship between the roughness of the sea, the correction coefficient, and the position on the planned travel route. In FIG. 3, when the roughness of the sea is large, it represents that the wind is strong and the waves are high. In this explanation, as shown in the upper graph of FIG. 3, the sea is calm from the starting point to the point A, but on the other side from the point A, the sea gradually becomes rough as it approaches the destination, and the constant It is rough. And on the other side of the point B, as the destination is approached, the sea gradually becomes calm and is almost equal to the original calmness.

  After setting the destination, the steering wheel switches from manual steering to automatic steering using a switch (not shown). When switching to automatic steering, the automatic steering control device 17 obtains a declination (correction amount) based on the above-mentioned current location and destination and the heading input from the GPS compass 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the declination is an angle formed by the direction of the destination viewed from the current location and the heading. If this declination is not 0, the ship 1 is not heading to the destination. Therefore, the automatic steering control device 17 applies a correction coefficient (sensitivity, gain) to the declination to change the indicated steering angle. Calculate and output to the rudder 16. The rudder 16 controls the rudder angle control valve 15 so as to realize the instructed rudder angle, and changes the traveling direction of the ship 1.

  Hereinafter, the correction coefficient will be described in detail. The correction coefficient is like the sensitivity of the automatic steering control with respect to the deflection angle. When the correction coefficient is large, the command steering angle with respect to the deflection angle is large, and when the correction coefficient is small, the command steering angle with respect to the deflection angle is small.

  This correction factor generally needs to be increased when the sea is rough and small when the sea is calm. That is, it is necessary to use an appropriate correction coefficient according to the state of the sea, otherwise it becomes difficult to keep the ship 1 stable. Further, the correction coefficient is preferably set to a different value depending on the wind direction and the like when turning to the left and turning to the right. For example, when the wind is blowing from the left side of the traveling direction, the ship 1 is likely to flow to the right. Therefore, the correction coefficient in the direction for correcting this (the direction in which the ship 1 is directed to the left) is the opposite direction (the ship It is preferable that the correction coefficient be larger than the correction coefficient in the direction of 1 to the right.

  In addition, this correction coefficient is used not only for the sensitivity of the rudder but also for the hitting rudder. The guessing is to adjust the traveling direction by steering to the opposite side when it seems to turn more than the target. The speed at which the rudder is started and the amount of turning the rudder at the rudder can be determined by the correction coefficient.

  Next, how to obtain the correction coefficient will be described. The correction coefficient is obtained based on the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient.

  First, a method for obtaining the current correction coefficient will be described. The current correction coefficient means a correction coefficient for dealing with the state of the sea determined from current disturbance information (information of disturbance caused by the natural environment at the current location). In the present embodiment, the wind speed and the wind direction detected by the wind direction anemometer 13 are used as the current disturbance information. It is necessary to increase the current correction coefficient as the wind speed increases, and the wind direction is used to determine how to apply the current correction coefficient obtained from the wind speed to the direction of turning the rudder. In order to prevent the current correction coefficient from changing suddenly under the influence of sudden disturbance, the current correction coefficient is obtained by, for example, averaging the wind direction and wind speed for a predetermined time (for example, the latest several tens of seconds). It has been.

  Further, as the current disturbance information, the current shaking of the ship 1 may be used instead of the above. When the current correction coefficient is obtained from the shake of the ship 1, the magnitude of the shake is used to obtain the current correction coefficient in the same manner as the wind speed. The direction of the sway is used to determine how the current correction coefficient is applied to the direction in which the rudder is turned, similarly to the wind direction.

  It is conceivable that the shaking of the ship 1 is detected by, for example, a posture angle detection sensor using GPS. This attitude angle detection sensor includes, for example, three GPS antennas, and is configured to calculate the ship's shake based on two vectors based on one antenna. In addition, the attitude angle detection sensor includes two GPS antennas and one acceleration sensor. By calculating one of the two vectors in place of the gravity vector detected by the acceleration sensor, the vibration of the ship 1 is detected. It can also be configured to detect. Since the GPS compass 11 used as the azimuth detector in the present embodiment has the same configuration as this attitude angle detection sensor, the GPS compass 11 can be used to detect the shake of the ship 1 and can be used as current disturbance information.

  Furthermore, some recent radars are equipped with such an attitude angle sensor to correct the fluctuation of the ship, and the displacement of the attitude angle per predetermined time can be used as current disturbance information.

  Next, a method for obtaining a future correction coefficient will be described. The future correction coefficient means a correction coefficient for coping with the situation of the sea determined from future disturbance information (information of disturbance caused by the natural environment on the planned travel route). In the present embodiment, the wave height and wave direction detected by the radar device 14 on the planned travel route are used as future disturbance information. As with the wind speed, the wave height needs to be increased in the future as the wave becomes higher. In addition, since the influence of the wave on the ship 1 varies depending on the direction of the wave, the influence of the future correction coefficient determined from the wave height on the ship 1 can be estimated.

  Further, as the future disturbance information, weather information (for example, wave information and wind speed information) obtained from land transmitters and satellites may be used in addition to those exemplified above. This meteorological information is received by a wireless device or the like provided in the ship 1. Then, the automatic steering control device 17 determines the state of the sea from the weather information on the planned travel route, and obtains a future correction coefficient based on the state of the sea. In this case, the future correction coefficient can be obtained without using the radar device 14.

  The influence of the wave height and the wave direction is calculated in advance, and the automatic steering control device 17 stores a table in which the wave height and the wave direction are associated with the future correction coefficient. ing. And the automatic steering control apparatus 17 calculates | requires a future correction coefficient by referring to this table from the height and the direction of a wave which were input. In order to prevent the future correction coefficient from changing suddenly due to sudden disturbance, the future correction coefficient is the height of the wave detected at a predetermined distance (for example, several tens of meters on the planned travel route). And the direction of the wave is averaged. Alternatively, the future correction coefficient may be obtained by averaging the wave height and wave direction for a predetermined time (for example, several tens of seconds) at the position.

  A correction coefficient is obtained based on the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient obtained as described above. Further, the correction coefficient changes as the input disturbance information is updated, but the hull may become unstable if the gradient of the change is steep. Therefore, it is desirable to change the correction coefficient with a gentle gradient.

  As described above, the automatic steering control device 17 obtains the correction coefficient by taking into account the current disturbance and taking the future disturbance into consideration in advance. Hereinafter, specific control of the correction coefficient will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 2, consider a case where a ship 1 starts from a starting point and navigates to a destination along a scheduled travel route. Information on the roughness of the sea at the current position of the ship 1 is input from the anemometer 13 to the automatic steering control device 17. The automatic steering control device 17 is input from the radar device 14 with information on the roughness of the sea at a position that precedes a predetermined distance from the current position of the ship 1 by a predetermined distance (hereinafter referred to as a pre-read position). At the time immediately after the departure of the ship 1, there is a sufficient distance to the area where the sea begins to be rough (point A), so the sea is calm both at the current position and at the pre-reading position. Accordingly, both the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient are set to small values, and the correction coefficient is also reduced.

  As described above, the correction coefficient takes different values depending on whether the rudder is turned to the left or to the right. However, in order to simplify the explanation in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the wind direction and the wave direction are constant. Assuming that the correction coefficient when a declination occurs in a certain direction is shown.

  The ship 1 continues to navigate and eventually passes a position (point a) that is a predetermined distance from the point A. Then, the look-ahead position is beyond the point A, and the radar device 14 outputs the roughness of the sea at the position to the automatic steering control device 17, so that the ship 1 is in front of the point A and the ship 1 Although the sea is calm around the future, the correction coefficient increases in the future in the automatic steering control device 17, and the correction coefficient increases due to the influence. Therefore, when the ship 1 actually passes through the point A and enters the area where the sea is rough, the correction coefficient has already been increased to a certain degree, so that the course of the ship can be easily stabilized. The slope at which the correction coefficient increases is determined based on the difference between the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient, and the distance to the point where the wave height and wave direction are detected.

  More specifically, as the future correction coefficient is larger than the current correction coefficient, the gradient at which the correction coefficient increases is increased. Even if the difference between the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient is the same, the inclination at which the correction coefficient increases is increased as the distance to the point where the wave height and the wave direction are detected is shorter. In this way, by changing the slope at which the correction coefficient increases according to the situation, it is possible to quickly cope with the sea situation of the planned route destination.

  However, as described above, it is desired that the inclination at which the correction coefficient increases / decreases be not more than a certain amount, and it is particularly desired that the inclination is reduced as the boat speed increases. Therefore, an allowable upper limit value of the inclination at which the correction coefficient increases or decreases is determined for a predetermined range of ship speed (for example, every 5 knots). That is, the upper limit value with respect to the ship speed is determined so as to change stepwise. And when the inclination by which the correction coefficient calculated | required by said method increases / decreases exceeds this upper limit, the said upper limit is made into a correction coefficient. In this way, the inclination of the correction coefficient increasing / decreasing is suppressed.

  The ship 1 further continues to sail, and eventually passes a position (point b) that is a predetermined distance before the point B. Then, the look-ahead position is beyond the point B, and the radar device 14 outputs the sea roughness at the position to the automatic steering control device 17, so that the ship 1 is in front of the point B and the ship 1 Although the sea is rough around, the future correction coefficient decreases in the automatic steering control device 17 and the correction coefficient becomes smaller due to the influence. Therefore, when the ship 1 actually passes through the point B and enters the area where the sea is calm, the correction coefficient has already been reduced to a certain degree, so that the course of the ship can be easily stabilized. When the ship 1 arrives near the destination, the correction coefficient is low corresponding to the actual calmness of the sea.

  As described above, by using the automatic steering system 10 of the present invention, it is possible to change the correction coefficient following the roughness of the sea and perform automatic steering with an appropriate correction coefficient according to the sea condition.

  Note that the transition of the correction coefficient in the conventional automatic steering system is indicated by a chain line in the graph of FIG. 3 for reference. As shown in this graph, the automatic steering system of the conventional example detects and responds to the change in the sea roughness only after the ship actually reaches point A or point B. Inability to respond quickly to changes. In addition, if the correction coefficient is changed suddenly, the hull may become unstable, so the change in the correction coefficient must be moderate to some extent. In this respect, it is difficult to follow the rough sea conditions. is there. On the other hand, since the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment can make a pre-reading judgment, the correction coefficient changes gradually, and the automatic steering is accurately followed by flexibly following the change in the roughness of the sea. Can be done.

  The automatic steering control device 17 of this embodiment is configured to monitor the correction coefficient and the control result obtained by applying the correction coefficient. When a good result is obtained by the applied correction coefficient, the correction coefficient is stored and the above-described table is updated. As an object to be monitored by the automatic steering control device 17, for example, there is a transition of a declination, and when the declination is quickly reduced, it can be determined that the correction coefficient is good.

  In addition, tide information is input from the GPS plotter 12 to the automatic steering control device 17. From this tide information, the tide fullness is known, and the ship 1 is also affected by the tide generated by the fullness. Therefore, this tidal information can be used as future disturbance information in place of the wave height and wave direction or in addition to the wave height and wave direction.

  As described above, the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment includes the GPS compass 11, the GPS plotter 12, the anemometer 13, the radar device 14, the steering angle control valve 15, and the automatic steering control device 17. And comprising. The GPS compass 11 detects the heading of the ship 1. The GPS plotter 12 can acquire the current location of the ship 1 and sets the scheduled travel route by inputting the destination. The wind direction anemometer 13 detects the wind direction and the wind speed at the current location and acquires the current disturbance information. The radar apparatus 14 transmits information and detects the reflected wave, thereby acquiring information on surrounding disturbance elements. The rudder angle control valve 15 changes the traveling direction of the ship 1. The automatic steering control device 17 obtains a correction amount to be corrected for the traveling direction of the ship 1 based on the current position and the current heading and the destination or the planned travel route. Then, the automatic steering control device 17 uses at least the current disturbance information and the information on the disturbance element acquired by the radar device 14 as the correction coefficient to be applied to the correction amount, and the future disturbance information which is information on the scheduled travel route. And based on. Thereafter, the automatic steering control device 17 changes the traveling direction of the ship 1 by controlling the steering angle control valve 15 by applying this correction coefficient to the correction amount.

  Thus, by using the wind direction and the wind speed when correcting the traveling direction of the ship 1, the rudder angle control valve 15 can be controlled with an appropriate correction coefficient in accordance with the sea condition at the current location, and the hull is not suitable. It can prevent becoming stable. Further, by using the disturbance information in the future, it is possible to control the rudder angle control valve 15 in response to a change in the sea condition of the planned travel route quickly.

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the automatic steering control device 17 controls the steering angle control valve 15 in consideration of the future disturbance information before the ship 1 reaches the position where the future disturbance information is acquired. .

  That is, if the correction coefficient is greatly changed in a short time, the hull tends to become unstable. In this regard, in the above-described configuration, the correction coefficient can be changed quickly in accordance with the state of the sea ahead, so that an appropriate value can be reached while gradually changing the correction coefficient. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the hull from becoming unstable.

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the automatic steering control device 17 obtains a current correction coefficient, which is a correction coefficient for dealing with the sea condition determined from the current disturbance information, from the current disturbance information, and generates a future disturbance. A future correction coefficient, which is a correction coefficient for coping with the sea situation determined from the information, is obtained from the future disturbance information. Then, the correction coefficient is changed based on the difference between the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient and the distance from the current location to the position where the future disturbance information is acquired.

  Thereby, when the ship 1 reaches the position where the disturbance information is acquired in the future, the correction coefficient can be changed so that the correction coefficient applied to the ship 1 becomes a value close to the future correction coefficient.

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the radar device 14 transmits the information of the sea surface reflected wave on the planned travel route to the automatic steering control device 17.

  That is, when the sea is rough, the movement of the waves becomes intense and the sea surface reflected waves become strong. Accordingly, since the information on the reflected wave is sent from the radar device 14 to the automatic steering control device 17, it is possible to detect the roughness of the sea in front, and the steering angle control valve 15 can be controlled accordingly. Further, the detection of the sea surface reflected wave can be easily realized by using the function of separating and removing the sea surface reflected wave from other echoes in the radar device 14, and thus the cost can be reduced.

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the future disturbance information is at least one of the wave height and the wave direction on the planned travel route.

  Thereby, the rudder angle control valve 15 can be favorably controlled by using a disturbance element that easily affects the behavior of the ship 1. Specifically, the height of the wave has a high correlation with the wind force, and the influence of the ship 1 from the wind force and the wave can be predicted. By knowing the direction of the waves, it is possible to estimate the direction and extent to which the hull is affected by the wind and waves.

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the correction coefficient is obtained based on the current disturbance information and a value obtained by a table from the future disturbance information.

  Thereby, since the process which calculates | requires a correction coefficient can be simplified, the amount of calculations can be reduced.

  In the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the automatic steering control device 17 corrects the table based on the past control results.

  As a result, it is possible to obtain a table with good accuracy in consideration of various control characteristics (for example, control characteristics peculiar to a ship).

  Further, in the automatic steering system 10 of the present embodiment, the future disturbance information includes tide information.

  Thereby, since the influence which a tidal current exerts on the ship 1 can be considered, the steering angle control valve 15 can be favorably controlled.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the above configuration can be modified as follows, for example.

  Instead of the GPS compass 11 in this embodiment, a gyro compass or the like can be used. In addition, it can be set as the structure which uses the direction detector integrated with the other marine apparatus.

  The GPS plotter 12 and each marine equipment (GPS compass 11, wind direction anemometer 13 and radar device 14) can be connected to display the information on the display unit 34. In particular, by connecting the GPS compass 11 and the radar device 14, the GPS plotter 12 can also extract the wave height and wave direction on the planned travel route and send them to the automatic steering control device 17.

  In the present embodiment, the steering 16 is operated by turning the steering plate by switching the steering angle control valve 15, but the present invention is also applicable to a configuration in which the direction of the propeller is changed to change the traveling direction of the ship. The invention can be applied. In this case, the automatic steering control device may change the direction of the propelling device by controlling an appropriate steering angle changing device.

  Instead of creating the scheduled route by entering only the destination and connecting it with a straight line as the method of creating the scheduled route, select multiple points and move to the destination via the relay points You can also create a scheduled route as follows.

  In the present embodiment, the declination is used as the correction amount. However, instead of this, the deviation amount of the position of the ship 1 from the created planned travel route can be used as the correction amount. In this case, automatic steering may be performed so that the amount of deviation is eliminated and the ship 1 follows the planned travel route.

1 Ship (own ship)
10 Automatic steering system 11 GPS compass (azimuth detector)
12 GPS plotter (navigation device)
13 Wind direction anemometer (disturbance detector)
14 Radar device 15 Steering angle control valve (steering angle changing device)
16 Rudder 17 Automatic steering control device

Claims (9)

A bearing detector that detects the heading of the ship,
A navigation device capable of acquiring the current location of the ship and setting a scheduled travel route by inputting a destination;
A disturbance detection device that detects a disturbance element due to the natural environment of the current location and acquires it as current disturbance information;
A radar apparatus that obtains information on disturbance elements around the current location by transmitting a signal and detecting the reflected wave;
Rudder angle changing device for changing the traveling direction of the ship,
Based on the current location and the current heading and the destination or the planned travel route, a correction amount to be corrected for the traveling direction is obtained,
The correction coefficient applied to the correction amount is based on at least the current disturbance information and future disturbance information that is information on the surrounding disturbance element acquired by the radar apparatus and is information on the planned travel route. Ask
An automatic steering control device that changes the traveling direction by controlling the rudder angle changing device by applying the correction coefficient to the correction amount;
An automatic steering system comprising: The automatic steering system according to claim 1,
The automatic steering control system controls the rudder angle changing device in consideration of the future disturbance information before the ship reaches the position where the future disturbance information is acquired. The automatic steering system according to claim 1 or 2,
The automatic steering control device obtains a current correction coefficient, which is a correction coefficient for dealing with a sea condition determined from the current disturbance information, from the current disturbance information, and determines the sea condition determined from the future disturbance information. Obtaining a future correction coefficient that is a correction coefficient to cope with from the future disturbance information,
An automatic steering system, wherein the correction coefficient is changed based on a difference between the current correction coefficient and the future correction coefficient and a distance from the current position to a position where the future disturbance information is acquired. The automatic steering system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The radar apparatus transmits information of a sea surface reflected wave on the planned travel route to the automatic steering control apparatus. An automatic steering system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
5. The automatic steering system according to claim 1, wherein the future disturbance information is at least one of a wave height and a wave direction on the planned travel route. An automatic steering system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The automatic steering system, wherein the correction coefficient is obtained based on the current disturbance information and a value obtained by a table from the future disturbance information. The automatic steering system according to claim 6, wherein
The automatic steering control apparatus corrects the table based on a result of past control. An automatic steering system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An automatic steering system characterized in that the future disturbance information includes tide information. A bearing detector that detects the heading of the ship,
A disturbance detection device that detects a disturbance element due to the natural environment of the current location and acquires it as current disturbance information;
Rudder angle changing device for changing the traveling direction of the ship,
A target azimuth can be set, and based on the target azimuth and the bow azimuth, a correction amount to be corrected for the traveling direction is obtained, and a correction coefficient applied to the correction amount is at least the current disturbance information Information on disturbance elements received from outside and obtained based on future disturbance information that is information on the target direction,
An automatic steering control device that changes the traveling direction by controlling the rudder angle changing device by applying the correction coefficient to the correction amount;
An automatic steering apparatus comprising:

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