JPH04268480A - Automatic steering apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate execution of automatic parallel sailing without any special exchange of information with a target ship by a method wherein the velocity of the own ship is made to be in accord with a moving speed of a target to be tracked and the course of the own ship to be in accord with a direction of movement of the target by controlling a steering machine and a propelling engine. CONSTITUTION:Based on various data from a gyrocompass 2, a log 3 and a navigation device 8, an automatic steering control element 1 determines the state of motion (a ship velocity, a bow bearing and a course) of the own ship and also writes the wake of the own ship in a memory for display provided in a display control element 7. The control element 1 reads out the course and velocity of each of other ships, the distance and direction thereof from the own ship and the absolute position thereof, likewise, from APRA 4 and writes the wake of each of them in the memory for display. Besides, the control element 1 reads the content of a key operation of an operating element 11 and controls a steering control element 9 to conduct automatic steering, while controlling a propelling force control element 10 to conduct an automatic propelling force control. When a target ship is set as a target to be tracked, parallel sailing can be executed, in this way, with the distance from the own ship kept fixed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ship maneuvering system that uses radar to automate the maneuvering of its own ship.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called autopilot devices have been used to automate part of ship maneuvering operations. This device drives an automatic steering gear based on the difference between the current course determined by the course setting device and the set course, and automatically steers the ship so that the heading always matches the set course. Furthermore, a device combined with a navigation aid device such as a navigation device or a track display device automatically steers the vehicle while correcting deviations from a set course due to drifting currents or deviations in direction relative to the destination.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned automatic steering system automates a part of the ship maneuvering until reaching the target point, but for example, if two or more ships form a convoy and the automatic steering system Conventional automatic steering systems cannot be used when vehicles are traveling side by side at a distance. To do this, for example, position information must be exchanged between the own ship and the target ship so that the positional relationship between the target ship and the own ship is constant.

[0004] Another method may be to manually maneuver the ship by checking the positional relationship between the own ship and the target ship using radar images. However, even if radar is used, the movement of the target ship in the radar image is only perceived as relative movement to the own ship, and it is difficult to maneuver the target ship while keeping the direction and distance to the target ship constant. , they can run side by side only in a rough positional relationship.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ship maneuvering device that can automatically run alongside a target ship without exchanging any special information with the target ship.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The automatic ship maneuvering device of the present invention includes a radar that detects a target object, a target tracking means that extracts a target object from a radar echo signal, and continuously identifies the same target object. A tracking target information extraction means for determining the moving direction, speed, and distance of the tracking target from the own ship, a means for measuring the course of the own ship, and a means for controlling the steering gear and propulsion engine to control the own ship's ship. Automatic ship maneuvering control means that matches the moving speed of the tracked target, matches the course of the own ship with the moving direction of the tracked target, and maintains a constant distance between the own ship and the tracked target. It is characterized by

[0007]

[Operation] In the automatic ship maneuvering system of the present invention, the radar detects targets around the own ship, and the target tracking means performs tracking by continuously identifying the target from radar echo signals. The tracking target information extraction means obtains the moving direction, moving speed, and distance of the tracking target from the own ship. The automatic ship maneuvering control means ensures that the measured speed of the own ship matches the moving speed of the tracked target, the course of the own ship matches the moving direction of the tracked target, and the distance between the own ship and the tracked target is constant. The steering gear and propulsion engine are controlled so that the steering gear and propulsion engine are maintained at

[0008] With the above-described effects, if a target ship is used as a target to be tracked, it is possible to travel alongside the target ship while maintaining a course and speed equal to that of the target ship and keeping a constant distance from the own ship.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an automatic ship maneuvering system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, gyro compass 2
measures own ship's heading. Log 3 measures the speed of own ship. The radar 5 obtains radar echo signals in all directions around the own ship. ARPA4 extracts targets from radar echo signals, predicts the position of each target, and tracks each target by continuously identifying the same target. The display unit 6 displays radar images, own ship's track, and the tracks of other ships. The display control unit 7 includes a display memory,
The contents of the memory are read out in synchronization with the scan of the display section 6 to create a display signal. The navigation device 8 positions the own ship using GPS, Loran C, or the like. The steering control section 9 controls the steering gear according to steering control data given from the automatic ship maneuvering control section 1. The thrust control section 10 controls the propulsion engine according to thrust control data given from the automatic ship maneuvering control section 1. The operation unit 11 includes a key for instructing the start of side-by-side running, and provides various instructions regarding automatic ship maneuvering.

[0010] The automatic ship maneuvering control unit 1 includes a gyro compass 2,
Based on the log 3 and various data from the navigation device 8, the state of motion of the own ship (vessel speed, heading, and course) is determined, and the own ship's track is written in the display memory in the display control unit 7. Similarly, the automatic ship maneuvering control unit 1 reads the course, speed, distance from the own ship, direction from the own ship, and absolute position of the other ship from the ARPA 4, and writes the wake of each other ship in the display memory. Further, the automatic ship maneuvering control section 1 reads the contents of key operations on the operation section 11, and controls the steering control section 9 to perform automatic steering through processing described later, and also controls the thrust control section 10 to perform automatic thrust control.

Next, the operation of the automatic ship maneuvering control section 1 is shown in flowcharts in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main processing procedure, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure at the time of an interrupt.

As shown in FIG. 3, first, the content of key operations on the operating section 11 is read (n1). When the parallel running start key is operated, a flag F1 indicating that the automatic ship maneuvering mode has been entered is set (n2→n3). Next, the course of the other ship that is the target ship, the relative direction of the other ship as seen from the own ship, and the distance from the own ship are read and memorized from ARPA4 (n4
). If an interrupt occurs, the process shown in FIG. 4 is performed. First, determine the cause of the interrupt. If the interrupt is from a navigation device, navigation data (current position of own ship) is read from the navigation device 8 (n10→n11→n12). Next, a new own ship's track and course are calculated from the relationship between the current position of the own ship read and the past own ship position read so far, and the ship's speed is also read and displayed based on these contents. Create data and write it to display memory (n13→n14→n
15). If the interrupt is from ARPA4, AR
Display the track, speed, and course of each other ship by reading the position, course, speed, direction, and distance of each other ship from the PA4, creating display data from these data, and writing it to the display memory (n10 →n16→n17). If it is a timer interrupt that is applied at regular intervals,
First, the state of flag F1 is determined (n10→n11→n
18). If F1=1, that is, in automatic maneuvering mode, the target ship's course, speed, distance from own ship, relative direction of the target ship as seen from own ship, own ship's course, and own ship's direction are already determined. Control data for automatic steering and control data for automatic thrust control are calculated based on the ship speed, and these are output to the steering control section 9 and the thrust control section 10, respectively (n19→n20).

If it is not the automatic ship maneuvering mode, no control data is output to the steering control section 9 and the thrust control section 10 (n18→RET).

FIG. 2 shows an example of a display resulting from the processing described above. FIG. 2 is an example in which information and radar images of own ship and other ships are displayed superimposed in north-up true motion. In the figure, A is a mark representing the current position of own ship, and A'
is a vector mark whose direction is the own ship's course and whose length is the own ship's speed. Also, a is the own ship's wake.

B1 to B4 are marks representing the current positions of other ships, and B1' to B4' are vector marks representing the course and speed of the other ships, respectively. Marks B1 to B4 are displayed overlapping the radar image. b1 to b4 are the wakes of other ships. Further, C is a mark indicating that the vessel is traveling alongside another vessel indicated by B1 as a target vessel. In the automatic ship maneuvering mode, the vectors indicated by A' and B1' are equal, and this positional relationship (the relative direction of the other ship B1 as seen from the own ship and the distance from the own ship) is maintained thereafter.

In the above-described embodiment, the automatic maneuvering mode is entered by operating the parallel running start key when the own ship is running side by side with the target ship. The direction of the target ship relative to the target ship and the distance from the own ship to the target ship) can be entered numerically directly using a numeric keypad, etc., and ship maneuvering up to the point where they are running side by side can also be automated.

[0018]

According to the present invention, as long as the target ship exists within the detectable range of the radar, the relative direction and distance of the target ship from the own ship are automatically maintained constant. Therefore, for example, when hauling nets using multiple fishing boats,
It is possible to reliably run alongside the target ship while maintaining a constant positional relationship between the target ship and own ship. Furthermore, for example, when a fleet of ships searches the ocean floor, it is possible to precisely search a predetermined sea area.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an automatic ship maneuvering device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of the automatic ship maneuvering device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the automatic ship maneuvering device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the automatic ship maneuvering device according to the embodiment.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A radar for detecting a target; a target tracking means for extracting a target from a radar echo signal and continuously identifying the same target; A tracking target information extraction means for determining the distance from the target, a means for measuring the course of the own ship, a steering gear and a propulsion engine are controlled to match the speed of the own ship to the moving speed of the target to be followed,
An automatic ship maneuvering device comprising automatic ship maneuvering control means for aligning the course of the own ship with the moving direction of the tracked target and maintaining a constant distance between the own ship and the tracked target.