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US 12,668,346 B1Granted
Propulsion system of marine vessel and marine propulsion method of marine vessel
AssigneeYamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYuji Ikegaya
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A propulsion system for a marine vessel includes a controller configured or programmed to perform a control to automatically steer the marine vessel, and to control a propulsion device to decelerate the marine vessel based on an orientation of the marine vessel with respect to a target position and a current position of the marine vessel with respect to the target position.
Claims17
A propulsion system for a marine vessel, the propulsion system comprising:
- a propulsion device;
- and
- a controller configured or programmed to acquire a target position of the marine vessel, a current position of the marine vessel, and an orientation of the marine vessel, and to perform a control to automatically steer the marine vessel based on the target position, the current position of the marine vessel, and the orientation of the marine vessel that have been acquired;
- wherein
- the controller is configured or programmed to control the propulsion device to decelerate the marine vessel based on the orientation of the marine vessel with respect to the target position and the current position of the marine vessel with respect to the target position;
- in response to the marine vessel approaching the target position, the controller is configured or programmed to control the propulsion device to decelerate the marine vessel with respect to the target position, that is a final position of the marine vessel at which there is no object, as a distance between the target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes equal to or less than a first distance threshold in a case that the orientation of the marine vessel is approaching toward the target position;
- the controller is configured or programmed to set the first distance threshold to a larger value as a current speed of the marine vessel increases;
- as the distance between the target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes less than or equal to the first distance threshold, the controller is configured or programmed to control the marine vessel to reach the target position at a speed of zero by sequentially:
- (a) slowing down the marine vessel while navigating the marine vessel in a semi-planing condition in which only a bow is lifted by water resistance, (b) maintaining the marine vessel at a constant speed, (c) slowing down the marine vessel, and then (d) stopping the marine vessel;
- and
- the controller is configured or programmed to, during the control to decelerate the marine vessel and the target position is changed to a new target position, control the propulsion device to not accelerate the marine vessel as a distance between the new target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes greater than the first distance threshold, and is configured or programmed to control the propulsion device to decelerate the marine vessel based on the orientation of the marine vessel with respect to the target position as the distance between the new target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes equal to or less than the first distance threshold.
8 more elements
A propulsion control method for a marine vessel comprising:
- acquiring a target position of the marine vessel, a current position of the marine vessel, and an orientation of the marine vessel;
- automatically steering the marine vessel based on the target position of the marine vessel, the current position of the marine vessel, and the orientation of the marine vessel that have been acquired;
- in response to the marine vessel approaching the target position, decelerating the marine vessel with respect to the target position and the current position of the marine vessel with respect to the target position, that is a final position of the marine vessel at which there is no object, as a distance between the target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes equal to or less than a first distance threshold in a case that the orientation of the marine vessel is approaching toward the target position;
- setting the first distance threshold to a larger value as a current speed of the marine vessel increases;
- as the distance between the target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes less than or equal to the first distance threshold, controlling the marine vessel to reach the target position at a speed of zero by sequentially:
- (a) slowing down the marine vessel while navigating the marine vessel in a semi-planing condition in which only a bow is lifted by water resistance, (b) maintaining the marine vessel at a constant speed, (c) slowing down the marine vessel, and then (d) stopping the marine vessel;
- and
- during the decelerating of the marine vessel and the target position is changed to a new target position, not accelerating the marine vessel as a distance between the new target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes greater than the first distance threshold, and decelerating the marine vessel based on the orientation of the marine vessel with respect to the target position as the distance between the new target position and the current position of the marine vessel becomes equal to or less than the first distance threshold.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.