Method and system for controlling attitude of a marine vessel
AssigneeBrunswick Corporation
InventorsMatthew E. Derginer, David D. Dochterman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of controlling attitude of a marine vessel includes identifying a natural roll frequency of the marine vessel, measuring a roll motion of the marine vessel with an attitude sensor, and then determining that the roll motion exceeds the threshold roll where no corresponding steering input is present. The method further includes determining a counteracting drive movement for at least one propulsion device based on the measured roll motion and the natural roll frequency of the marine vessel. A steering actuator is then controlled to move the at least one propulsion device to effectuate the counteracting drive movement so as to counteract an environmentally-induced roll motion of the marine vessel.
Claims20
A method of controlling attitude of a marine vessel, the method comprising:
- measuring a roll motion of the marine vessel with an attitude sensor;
- determining that the roll motion exceeds a threshold roll, where no corresponding steering input is present;
- determining a counteracting drive movement for at least one propulsion device based on the measured roll motion and a natural roll frequency of the marine vessel, wherein the counteracting drive movement includes a frequency of rotation of the propulsion device;
- and
- controlling a steering actuator to move the at least one propulsion device to effectuate the counteracting drive movement so as to counteract the roll motion of the marine vessel.
A system for controlling attitude of a marine vessel, the system comprising:
- a plurality of propulsion devices connected to a transom of the marine vessel;
- for each of the plurality of propulsion devices, a steering actuator configured to rotate that propulsion device about a vertical axis;
- a vessel attitude sensor configured to measure at least a roll motion of the marine vessel;
- a controller configured to:
- receive a roll motion measurement of the marine vessel from the attitude sensor;
- determine that the roll motion measurement exceeds a threshold roll where no corresponding steering input is present;
- determine a counteracting drive movement for at least one of the plurality of propulsion devices based on the roll motion measurement and a natural roll frequency of the marine vessel, wherein the counteracting drive movement includes a frequency of rotation of the propulsion device;
- and
- control the steering actuator for the at least one of the plurality of propulsion devices to effectuate the counteracting drive movement so as to counteract the roll motion of the marine vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.