Joystick device for a vehicle
AssigneeCpac Systems AB
InventorsJonathan Persson, Eric Gustafsson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A joystick device is operable to provide speed, direction and steering commands for controlling a marine vessel. A marine propulsion control system controls a set of propulsion units carried by a hull of a marine vessel, wherein the marine propulsion control system is adapted to receive an input command from such a joystick device.
Claims15
A joystick device operable to control a vehicle, the joystick device having a movable steering member extending on an axis and adapted to be tilted from a neutral position in at least two directions including a forward and a backward direction, wherein the joystick device comprises a control unit, the control unit comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the control unit to:
- define a forward gear engagement position between the neutral position and a maximum forward end position,
- monitor a position of the movable steering member,
- generate control commands to increase and then maintain an increased forward speed of the vehicle if the movable steering member is moved from the forward gear engagement position towards the maximum forward end position, and
- detect a mechanical spring-back of the movable steering member from a position towards the maximum forward end position to the forward gear engagement position, wherein the control unit is configured to maintain the increased forward speed upon detection of said spring-back, wherein
- the movable steering member is configured to be self-centered to the forward gear engagement position by a biasing force acting on the movable steering member when the movable steering member is positioned between the forward gear engagement position and the maximum forward end position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.