Thrust system for steering marine vessels

A thruster system for providing improved maneuverability of a marine vessel when the marine vessel is operating at relatively low speeds including pre-programmed maneuvers, wherein the marine vessel is a pontoon boat having a port pontoon and a starboard pontoon, the thruster system comprising:

• a first thruster unit positioned at an aft portion of the port pontoon;
• a second thruster unit positioned at an aft portion of the starboard pontoon;
• a third thruster unit positioned at a fore portion of the port pontoon;
• and
• a fourth thruster unit positioned at a fore portion of the starboard pontoon
• wherein each thruster unit is mounted above a bottom portion of the pontoon to which it attached, each thruster unit comprising:
• an electric motor;
• and
• a thruster apparatus comprising a tube and a plurality of thruster blades attached to the electric motor, positioned within the tube, and configured to provide thrust to the thruster unit;
• an electrical control system for controlling the thruster units, the electrical control system comprising electrical circuit components configured to independently control the electric motor of each thruster unit to apply a desired directional thrust to the marine vessel;
• and
• a control mechanism electrically coupled to the electrical control system, the control mechanism comprising a program configured to provide pre-programmed commands to the electrical control system to control the electric motor of each thruster unit to provide directional thrust and perform a pre-programmed maneuver of the marine vessel, wherein the pre-programmed commands comprise:
• activation of the first thruster unit and the third thruster unit in a forward direction, and activation of the second thruster unit and the fourth thruster unit in a reverse direction or neutral, causing the marine vessel to move laterally towards the starboard side of the marine vessel;
• or
• activation of the second thruster unit and the fourth thruster unit in a forward direction, and activation of the first thruster unit and the third thruster unit in a reverse direction or neutral, causing the marine vessel to move laterally towards the port side of the marine vessel.

A thruster system for providing improved maneuverability of a marine vessel when the marine vessel is operating at relatively low speeds including pre-programmed maneuvers, the thruster system comprising:

• a plurality of thruster units, wherein each thruster unit is mounted at a location on a hull of the marine vessel apart from one or more other thruster units, wherein each thruster unit is mounted above a bottom portion of the marine vessel and/or is mounted so as to produce thrust along a vector parallel to a transom of the marine vessel, each thruster unit comprising:
• an electric motor;
• and
• a thruster apparatus comprising a plurality of thruster blades attached to the electric motor that form a propeller to provide thrust to the thruster unit;
• an electrical control system for controlling the thruster units, the electrical control system comprising electrical circuit components configured to independently control the electric motor of each thruster unit to apply a desired directional thrust to the hull of the marine vessel;
• and
• a control mechanism electrically coupled to the electrical control system, the control mechanism comprising a program configured to provide pre-programmed commands to the electrical control system to control the electric motor of each thruster unit to provide directional thrust and perform a pre-programmed maneuver of the marine vessel,
• wherein a first thruster unit is mounted aft of the hull on a port side of the marine vessel to provide directional thrust to the port side of the hull at the hull's aft, and a second thruster unit is mounted aft of the hull on a starboard side of the marine vessel to provide directional thrust to the starboard side of the hull at the hull's aft,
• wherein the pre-programmed commands comprise a dock hold sequence, wherein the dock hold sequence comprises:
• activation of the first thruster unit in forward and activation of the second thruster unit in neutral;
• or
• activation of the second thruster unit in forward and activation of the first thruster unit in neutral.