JPH04342693A - Automatic maneuvering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the turning speed of a ship by the operation of an operating part. CONSTITUTION:A maneuvering remote controller 6b sets a target turning speed, and an ideal course management part 12 outputs an ideal course according to the set turning speed. An automatic steering control part 4 controls the steering angle according to the difference (deflection angle) between the ideal course and the output (bow direction) of a compass 11.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic ship steering system that automatically steers a ship by operating an operating section.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a so-called autopilot device has been used as a ship maneuvering assist device. In general, an autopilot device uses the difference (declination) between the set course and the heading of the ship.
The system automatically steers the ship so that it becomes 0, which is useful when navigating straight ahead in safe sea areas. A steering remote control (remote control device) is also connected to the autopilot device, and manual steering is performed using the steering remote control in bays and areas with heavy ship traffic.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in manual steering using a steering remote control, if the type of ship, ship speed, cargo condition, etc.
responses) are different. Therefore, it is impossible to know how much turning speed will be obtained by turning the rudder unless you actually try to steer it, and it requires many years of experience and intuition to predict how the ship will react to the amount of steering from the steering remote control. It was.

[0004] Furthermore, even if the rudder angle is set to 0 by setting the steering knob on the steering remote control to the 0 position, the ship may not always go straight due to the ship's habits, the influence of disturbances (wind, current), uneven cargo, etc. . Generally, in such cases, the zero point of the rudder is adjusted (trim adjustment) by shifting the zero point by a certain angle so that the ship sails straight, but sea conditions and ship speed affect trim adjustment, so changes in sea conditions and ship speed Then I had to adjust the trim each time.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an automatic ship maneuvering device that can cause a ship to react in accordance with the amount of operation of the operating section even under different conditions.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In view of the fact that in general manual boat maneuvering, what the boat operator needs is not the amount of steering but the turning speed of the boat, the present invention provides a method for setting the turning speed. , the ship would automatically turn around at that speed.

[0007] The automatic ship maneuvering device of the present invention includes means for setting a turning speed, means for detecting the turning speed, means for determining an ideal course from the turning speed setting value, and automatic steering in accordance with the ideal course. and automatic steering means.

[0008]

[Operation] In the automatic ship steering system of the present invention, by setting a turning speed, an ideal course for the ship to turn at that speed is determined, and the automatic steering means automatically steers the ship in accordance with this ideal course. Since the automatic steering means follows an ideal course regardless of conditions such as ship speed and cargo status, the ship can be automatically turned at that speed by simply setting the turning speed. Furthermore, by setting the turning speed to 0, the ship will proceed straight due to automatic steering even if there is a tendency of the ship, a disturbance, a deviation of the cargo, etc., for example.

[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. The part indicated by 100 in FIG. 1 corresponds to a conventional autopilot device. First, the configuration and operation of this part will be explained. The course setting section 1 is a setting section that numerically sets a target course for 0 to 360 degrees, and uses, for example, an absolute type rotary encoder. Switch 2 is a switch for switching whether this device operates as an automatic ship maneuvering device according to the present invention (automatic ship maneuvering mode) or as an autopilot device (autopilot mode). Switch switch 2 to the course setting section 1 side.

The adder 3 calculates the difference between the target course set by the course setting section 1 and the heading which is the output of the compass 11;
In other words, the deviation angle from the target course is determined. The automatic steering control unit 4 uses the deflection angle as an input value to determine a necessary steering angle based on PID control. The switch 5 is a switch for switching between an autopilot (or automatic ship steering to be described later) mode and a manual steering mode, and is switched to the automatic steering control section 4 when the mode is other than the manual steering mode. The adder 7 calculates the difference between the target steering angle output from the automatic steering control section 4 and the actual steering angle output from the follow-up transmitter 9. The steering gear 8 drives the rudder 10 according to the deviation between the target steering angle and the actual steering angle. A feedback loop of the steering gear 8, the rudder 10, the follow-up transmitter 9, and the adder 7 performs steering control corresponding to the given steering angle signal. The heading of the ship changes according to the rudder angle of the rudder 10, and the yaw angle input to the automatic steering control section 4 also changes. The broken line from the rudder 10 to the compass 11 in the figure represents that feedback. Since the automatic steering control section 4 determines the steering angle according to the input yaw angle, automatic steering is performed so as to always maintain the course set by the course setting section 1.

Now, the ship maneuvering remote control 6b shown in FIG. 1 outputs a set turning speed value to the ideal course management section 12 and turning speed verification section 13. The ideal course management section 12 first reads the current heading from the compass 11 and stores it when the knob on the ship steering remote control 6b is set to 0 and the mode is switched to automatic ship maneuvering mode. Thereafter, the ideal course management section 12 outputs the ideal course as time passes in accordance with the set turning speed value given from the ship operation remote control 6b. For example, the ship operation remote control 6
When the turning speed set by b is 1 degree/second in the rudder direction,
The ideal course management section 12 performs control corresponding to the operation of changing (increasing) the target course at a rate of 1 degree per second in the course setting section 1 in the autopilot mode. When in the automatic maneuvering mode, the switch 2 is switched to the ideal course management section 12 side, so the ideal course data is given to the adder 3. The automatic steering control section 4 uses the difference (yaw angle) between the ideal course output from the ideal course management section 12 and the heading output from the compass 11 as an input value to obtain a necessary steering angle. Therefore, the ship will follow the ideal course. In FIG. 1, the turning speed verification section 13 extracts the actual turning speed from the turning speed calculation section of the rudder (differential rudder) control section in the automatic steering control section 4, and calculates the difference from the turning speed set by the boat steering remote control 6b. , the automatic steering control unit 4 according to the difference.
Switch the rudder angle ratio (rudder angle/yaw angle) of the proportional rudder. For example, when the boat speed is slow and the set turning speed is relatively high, the rudder angle ratio is increased to make the boat follow the ideal course. However, when the ship's speed is extremely low, even when the rudder angle ratio is set to the highest value, the difference between the actual turning speed and the set turning speed increases, and the yaw remains at a constant value (for example, 30 degrees). If it exceeds the ideal course management unit 12, it is detected and
outputs a warning signal. When the ideal course management section 12 receives this warning signal, it stops changing the course as time passes.

[0012] The above-mentioned ship steering remote control 6b, steering remote control 6a
, the configuration of a remote control device for operating switches 2 and 5 is shown in FIG. In Fig. 2, 22 is a mode selection switch, and if it is set to the "auto" position, it will be in autopilot mode.
If you set it to the ``steer'' position, it will be in automatic ship steering mode, and if you put it in the ``steering'' position, it will be in manual steering mode. Reference numeral 21 denotes a knob that is operated to set the turning speed in the automatic ship steering mode and to set the rudder angle in the manual steering mode. In this way, the knob 21 is used for both the automatic ship steering mode and the manual steering mode, and the numbers on the inside of the scale represent the turning speed in the automatic ship maneuvering mode, and the numbers on the outside of the scale represent the rudder angle in the manual steering mode. Therefore, in the state shown in the figure, the turning speed in the rudder direction is set to 1 degree/second in the automatic ship maneuvering mode.

Next, the control procedure of the ideal course management section 12 and turning speed verification section 13 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 3 as a flowchart. First, the ideal course management unit 12 reads the heading of the ship from the compass 11 and stores it (n1). Next, the ideal course management section 12 and the turning speed verification section 13 each read the turning speed set by the ship operation remote control 6b (n2).
. The turning speed verification unit 13 extracts the actual turning speed from the automatic steering control unit 4 and calculates the difference from the set turning speed (n3
→n4). Then, the automatic steering control unit 4
The steering angle ratio is set (n5). Further, it is determined whether the declination angle given to the automatic steering control unit 4 is less than the maximum value (for example, 30 degrees) (n6). If the yaw angle is less than the maximum value, the ideal course management unit 12 updates the ideal course according to the set turning speed (n7). By repeating steps n2 to n7, the ideal course changes at a speed corresponding to the set turning speed. However, when the declination reaches the maximum value, the ideal course is not updated according to the set turning speed (n6→n2).

It should be noted that the ideal course management section 12 shown in FIG.
Various calculations of the turning speed verification section 13, the adder 3, the automatic steering control section 4, etc. can be performed under program control using a microprocessor.

[0015]

[Effect of the invention] According to this invention, the type of ship, the speed of the ship,
Regardless of the state of the cargo, etc., the ship turns at a turning speed that corresponds to the amount of operation of the operating section, so the ship can be easily maneuvered at a desired turning speed without the need for experience or intuition. Furthermore, even if there is a disturbance such as the tendency of the ship, wind, current, or uneven loading, the ship will continue to go straight if the set turning speed is set to 0. Therefore, there is no need to perform so-called trim adjustment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an operating section in the device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the ideal course management section 12 and turning speed verification section 13 in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

10- Rudder 21-Pick 22-Mode selector switch 100-Autopilot device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Means for setting a turning speed, means for detecting a turning speed, means for determining an ideal course from a turning speed setting value, and automatic steering means for automatically steering in accordance with the ideal course. An automatic ship maneuvering device.