EP0277737A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Autopilot with adaptive weather adjustment for marine vessels
Assignee: Litton Marine Systems Inc
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Filing: 1988-01-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-01-22
Abstract
Abstract Heading keeping apparatus for a marine vessel autopilot that compares the RMS yaw to a plurality of yaw increments and compares the instantaneous yaw to a plurality of yaw increments to provide respective gain controlling signals in accordance with the increments in which the RMS yaw and instantaneous yaw resides. The gain controlling signal representative of the highest gain is selected to control the gain of the autopilot.
Inventors
- 👤 Charles R. Wesner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 02:04
CPC Classifications
G; G05; G05D; G05D1/00; G05D1/02; G05D1/0206
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
147 words
Heading keeping apparatus for a marine vessel autopilot having an adjustable gain, characterised in that the apparatus comprises: means (13,14,16) for providing a signal representative of the RMS yaw motion of the vessel, means (10) for providing a signal representative of the instantaneous yaw motion of the vessel, first comparator means (18) responsive to the RMS yaw signal for providing a first gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the RMS yaw signal, second comparator means (18) responsive to the instantaneous yaw signal for providing a second gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the instantaneous yaw signal, and selector means (18) for selecting the first of second gain step control signal in accordance with the highest gain associated therewith, thereby providing a selected gain step control signal, the selected gain step control signal being utilised to adjust the autopilot gain.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
147 words
Heading keeping apparatus for a marine vessel autopilot having an adjustable gain, characterised in that the apparatus comprises: means (13,14,16) for providing a signal representative of the RMS yaw motion of the vessel, means (10) for providing a signal representative of the instantaneous yaw motion of the vessel, first comparator means (18) responsive to the RMS yaw signal for providing a first gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the RMS yaw signal, second comparator means (18) responsive to the instantaneous yaw signal for providing a second gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the instantaneous yaw signal, and selector means (18) for selecting the first of second gain step control signal in accordance with the highest gain associated therewith, thereby providing a selected gain step control signal, the selected gain step control signal being utilised to adjust the autopilot gain.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
96 words
Apparatus of claim 1, characterised in that the first comparator means (18) comprises a first plurality of comparators for determining in which of a respective plurality of yaw increments the magnitude of said RMS yaw signal resides and for providing one of a respective plurality of gain step signals corresponding thereto, and the second comparator means (18) comprises a second plurality of comparators for determining in which of a respective plurality of yaw increments the magnitude of the instantaneous yaw signal resides and for providing one of a respective plurality of gain step signals corresponding thereto.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
Apparatus according to claim 2, characterised in that the selector means comprises a priority encoder (18) responsive to the gain step signals provided by the first and second plurality of comparators and selecting the gain step thereof having the highest gain associated therewith, thereby providing the selected gain step control signal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the signal representative of the instantaneous yaw motion of the vessel comprises a signal representative of the heading error of the vessel.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
74 words
Apparatus according to claim 4, characterised in that the RMS yaw means comprises an integrator (13) responsive to the heading error signal for providing the integral thereof, subtractor means (14) responsive to the heading error signal and to the integral thereof for providing the difference therebetween, and RMS computer means (16) responsive to the difference for providing the root-mean-square value thereof, thereby providing the signal representative of the RMS yaw motion of the vessel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the autopilot includes adjustable gain proportional, integral and derivative channels responsive to the selected gain step control signal for adjusting the gain of each channel.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
13 words
An autopilot embodying heading keeping apparatus according to any of the preceding claims.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
110 words
A method of adjusting the gain of an autopilot for a marine vessel, characterised in that it comprises the steps of:- deriving a signal representative of the RMS yaw motion of the vessel; deriving a signal representative of the instantaneous yaw motion of the vessel; providing a first gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the RMS yaw signal; providing a second gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the instantaneous yaw signal; and selecting the first or second gain step control signal in accordance with the highest gain associated therewith to provide a selected gain step control signal for adjusting the autopilot gain.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
110 words
A method of adjusting the gain of an autopilot for a marine vessel, characterised in that it comprises the steps of:- deriving a signal representative of the RMS yaw motion of the vessel; deriving a signal representative of the instantaneous yaw motion of the vessel; providing a first gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the RMS yaw signal; providing a second gain step control signal in accordance with the magnitude of the instantaneous yaw signal; and selecting the first or second gain step control signal in accordance with the highest gain associated therewith to provide a selected gain step control signal for adjusting the autopilot gain.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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