JPS598593A - Automatic steering apparatus for sailing ship - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve highly accurate direction control and maximum sailing speed, by operating the maximum sailing speed and future sailing direction on the basis of signals from sensors for sailing direction, wind direction and water flow and feedback controlling the sail and steering. CONSTITUTION:An arithmetic unit 9 will store the setting direction provided from a course indicator 1 to operate the future sailing direction in accordance to the optimal formula selected on the basis of signals from the direction and wind direction sensors 6, 7 while employing the relation between the maximum realizable speed, direction and wind direction as a parameter in addition to the signal from a ship speed operating unit 4 produced from the signals provided from a water flow sensor 2 and a time signal generator 3. Then the control signal in accordance to the difference between the stored direction is arranged to function the drive controllers 11, 15 for the sail and steering. The angle of the sail 13 and steering 17 are detected by detectors 14, 18 and fedback to the signal corrector 8 to correct the response error of the operation results caused by the wind or wave. Consequently it can sail with the maximum speed while controlling the direction with high accuracy.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention relates to an automatic pilot system for a sailing ship.

□ Conventional devices of this type are generally configured as follows. That is, the sailing vessel sails with the rudder set in a predetermined direction taking into account the sailing direction and wind direction, and thereafter the sailing direction is checked at predetermined intervals to determine the actual sailing direction and the preset sailing course. When the deviation exceeds a predetermined value, a warning is issued and the operator corrects the sailing direction, then sets the rudder again and continues sailing in the same way.

In this type of sailing system, it is not easy to continue unmanned sailing because the deviation between the preset sailing course and the actual sailing direction is not automatically controlled.

This invention has been made to solve these problems. An embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

In the figure, (1) is the course indicating device. It is constructed so that the course of the sailing vessel can be arbitrarily set, and also generates a signal according to the set direction. (2) is a water flow sensor, (3) is a time signal generator, and (4) is a ship speed calculation device, which calculates the ship speed based on the signal from the water flow sensor (2) and the signal from the time signal generator (3). At the same time, a ship speed target signal (5) given by a calculation device to be described later.
The system calculates the deviation between the two and gives a corresponding signal to the arithmetic unit d to control the speed. (6) is an azimuth sensor for determining the sailing direction of a sailing vessel, which is composed of a well-known gyroscope and a signal generator that generates a signal according to the detected azimuth. (7) is a wind direction sensor, which is composed of a well-known wind vane that detects the wind direction and a signal generator that generates a signal according to the wind direction.

(8) receives the signals from the azimuth sensor (6) and wind direction sensor (7), and further corrects the signals from the wind direction sensor and azimuth sensor by feeding back the angle signals of the sail and O/rudder, which will be described later, and sends them out. , a signal correction device. (9) is a calculation device that performs calculations by receiving signals from the above-mentioned course indicating device (1), ship speed calculation device (4), direction sensor (6), and wind direction sensor (7). It is structured as follows. First of all,
It has a memory for storing signals corresponding to the set heading from the course indicating device (1). Next, the direction sensor (6
) and wind direction sensor (7) to calculate the maximum speed that can be achieved under the current wind direction and wind force, and also receives signals from the direction sensor and wind direction sensor to calculate the sailing direction and wind direction of the sailing vessel. It has a calculation element that detects the relative relationship with the wind direction and calculates the subsequent sailing direction in that wind direction. The output of the calculation element that calculates the maximum speed is sent to the ship speed calculation device (4) as the target value (5) for reaching the ship speed limit.
) is given to Regarding the sailing direction of a sailing ship, the relative relationship between the actual sailing direction and the wind direction determines which direction the sailing ship will be propelled towards. Otherwise, a different arithmetic expression is required. Therefore, a plurality of calculation formulas are prepared using the relative relationship between the sailing direction and the wind direction as parameters, and the relative relationship between the sailing direction and the wind direction is detected. In addition to the information from 4), the calculation formula most suitable for the conditions at that time is selected, and the sailing direction of the sailing ship is calculated using this formula. It also has a device that compares the sailing direction derived as a result of such calculations with the set direction from the course indicating device (1) stored in the memory and generates an output signal according to the deviation. . (10) is the gist of the arithmetic device, (11
) is a sail drive control device that receives the output signal of the above calculation device and arranges it into a signal for controlling the angle of the sail; (12) is a sail drive control device that receives a signal from the sail drive control device and drives the sail (13);
The sail drive device (14) is a sail angle detector that generates a signal corresponding to the actual sail angle, and is configured to feed back the signal to the signal correction device (8) described above. Further, (15) is a rudder drive control device that receives the output signal of the arithmetic device and arranges it into a signal for controlling the angle of the rudder;
(16) receives a signal from the rudder drive control device and the rudder (17)
), and (18) is a rudder angle detector that generates a signal corresponding to the actual rudder angle, which is fed back to the signal correction device (8) described above.

In other words, in sailing conditions, there is a strong possibility that the responsiveness to the calculation results will change due to the influence of wind strength, wave conditions, etc., resulting in errors, so the actual sail and rudder angle signals are sent to the signal correction device (8). The signals from the wind direction sensor (7) and the direction sensor (6) are fed back and corrected depending on the degree of error, and then input to the arithmetic unit.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it is possible to sail at maximum speed while controlling the direction of the sailing vessel with extremely high precision.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, (1) is the course indicator, (2) is the water flow sensor, (
3) is a time signal generator, (4) is a ship speed calculation device, (6)
is a direction sensor, (7) is a wind direction sensor, (8) is a signal correction device, (9) is a calculation device, (10) is a power source, (11) is a
) is the sail drive control device, (12) is the sail drive device, (14)
is the sail angle detector, (15) is the rudder drive control device, (17
) is a rudder drive device, and (18) is a rudder angle detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A course indicating device that determines the sailing course of the sailing vessel and generates a course signal corresponding to the course, a direction sensor that detects the sailing direction of the sailing vessel and generates a signal according to that direction, and a direction sensor that detects the wind direction and generates a signal corresponding to the direction. a wind direction sensor that generates a signal;
A ship speed calculation device that calculates the speed of a sailing boat based on a water flow sensor that detects water flow and generates a signal corresponding to the water flow, and a time signal, and a maximum speed that can be achieved under the conditions based on the signals from the azimuth sensor and wind direction sensor. is calculated, and this is used as a target value for ship speed control, and the relative relationship between the sailing direction of the sailing vessel and the wind direction is detected, and the subsequent sailing direction in that wind direction is calculated, and the signal corresponding to that direction and the above are calculated. A computing device that generates drive signals for the rudder and sails of the sailing boat in accordance with the deviation from the course signal; and the wind direction sensor that detects the angles of the sails and rudder of the sailing boat and feeds back signals corresponding to each. An autopilot system for a sailing ship, characterized in that it is equipped with a device for correcting the signal of the direction sensor, and is capable of sailing at maximum speed while constantly correcting the sailing direction.