Apparatus for the automatic navigation of a sailing vessel

Claim 2

An automatic navigation system for sailing a vessel to a given destination, said vessel having a hull, a sail, and a rudder, the structure of said vessel determining a close haul angle of plus or minus M with respect to the wind direction, said system comprising: means for generating a first set of signal waves corresponding to the present location of said vessel; means for generating a second set of signal waves corresponding to said destination; a signal wave comparator for comparing said first set of signal waves and said second set of signal waves and for providing a signal wave corresponding to the bearing from the present location to said destination; means for generating signal waves corresponding to the wind direction; signal processing means responsive to said signal waves corresponding to the wind direction and to said signal wave corresponding to the bearing from the present location to the destination for providing a signal wave corresponding to the angle B of the bearing from said present location to said destination with respect to said wind direction; a sail servomechanism including a sail positioning device coupled to said sail, said sail servomechanism being responsive to said signal processing means; and a rudder servomechanism including a rudder positioning device coupled to said rudder, said rudder servomechanism being responsive to said signal processing means; said sail servomechanism and said rudder servomechanism positioning said sail and said rudder to sail said vessel directly to said destination from said present location when the value of said angle B is greater than the value of said angle M, and said sail and said rudder being positioned by said sail and rudder servomechanism to sail said vessel on two or more tacks to said destination from said present location when the value of said angle B is less than the value of said angle M.

Claim 3

The system according to claim 1 wherein the sail of said vessel comprises a rigid or semi-rigid airfoil structure.

Claim 4

The system according to claim 1 wherein the hull of said vessel comprises a substantially circular structure.

Claim 5

The system according to claim 1, further comprising means responsive to said first and second set of signal waves for providing a signal wave coRresponding to the range between the present location and said destination.

Claim 6

The system according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating said first set of signal waves includes navigation information signal waves from at least one earth orbiting satellite.

Claim 7

An automatic navigation system for sailing a vessel to a given destination, said vessel having a hull, a sail and a rudder, the structure of said vessel determining a close haul angle of plus or minus M with respect to the wind direction, the system comprising: means including at least one earth orbiting satellite for periodically generating a first set of signal waves corresponding to the present location of said vessel; means for generating a second set of signal waves corresponding to said destination; means responsive to said first and second set of signal waves for periodically providing a third and fourth set of signal waves corresponding respectively to the bearing and range from said present location to said destination; means for generating a signal wave corresponding to the wind direction; signal processing means responsive to said signal wave corresponding to the wind direction and to said third set of signals for periodically providing a fifth set of signal waves corresponding to the angle B of the bearing from said present location to said destination with respect to the wind direction; a sail servomechanism including a sail positioning device coupled to said sail, said sail servomechanism being responsive to said fourth and fifth set of signal waves; and a rudder servomechanism including a rudder positioning device, coupled to said rudder, said rudder servomechanism being responsive to said fourth and fifth set of signal waves; said sail servomechanism and said rudder servomechanism positioning said sail and said rudder to sail said vessel directly to said destination from said present location when the value of said angle B is greater than the value of said angle M, said sail and said rudder being positioned by said sail and rudder servomechanisms to sail said vessel on two or more tacks to said destination when the value of said angle B is less than the value of said angle M, and said sail and rudder servomechanisms positioning said sail and rudder to maintain the position of said vessel in the vicinity of said destination.

Claim 8

An automatic navigation system for sailing a vessel to a given destination, said vessel having a hull, a sail and a rudder, the structure of said vessel determining a close haul angle of plus or minus M with respect to the wind direction, the system comprising: means including at least one earth orbiting satellite for periodically generating a first set of signal waves corresponding to the present location of said vessel; means for generating a second set of signal waves corresponding to said destination; means responsive to said first and second set of signal waves for periodically providing a third and fourth set of signal waves corresponding respectively to the bearing and range from said present location to said destination; means for generating a signal wave corresponding to the wind direction; signal processing means responsive to said signal wave corresponding to the wind direction and to said third set of signals for periodically providing a fifth set of signal waves corresponding to the angle B of the bearing from said present location to said destination with respect to the wind direction; a sail servomechanism including a sail positioning device coupled to said sail, said sail servomechanism being responsive to said fourth and fifth set of signal waves; and a rudder servomechanism including a rudder positioning device, coupled to said rudder, said rudder servomechanism being responsive to said fourth and fifth set of signal waves; said sail servomechanism and said rudder servomechanism positioning said sail and said rudder to sail said vessel directly to said destination from said present location when the value of said angle B is greater than the value of said angle M, said sail and said rudder being positioned by said sail and rudder servomechanisms to sail said vessel on two or more tacks to said destination when the value of said angle B is less than the value of said angle M, and said sail and rudder servomechanisms positioning said sail and rudder to maintain the position of said vessel in the vicinity of said destination.

Claim 9

The system according to claim 6, wherein the sail of said vessel comprises a rigid or semi-rigid airfoil structure.

Claim 10

The system according to claim 6, wherein the hull of said vessel comprises a substantially circular structure.

Claim 11

The system according to claim 6, wherein said means for periodically determining the present location of said vessel comprises: a source of radio frequency signal waves, located on said at least one satellite for periodically providing a plurality of reference signal waves, said reference signal waves being encoded with navigation information; a receiver, located on said vessel, for receiving said reference signal waves; data processing means, coupled to said receiver, for extracting said navigation information from said plurality of reference signal waves and for providing a corresponding plurality of navigation information signal waves; and means responsive to said plurality of navigation information signal waves for periodically computing the coordinates of the present location of said vessel and for providing said first set of signal waves.