Patent Grant
11235847
The present disclosure relates to marine vessels, and more particularly to systems and methods for controlling trim angle and steering position of marine drives on a marine vessel.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,857 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses systems for optimizing operation of a marine drive of the type whose position may be varied with respect to the boat by the operation of separate lift and trim/tilt means.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,404 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses a Hall effect rotational position sensor is mounted on a pivotable member of a marine propulsion system and a rotatable portion of the rotational position sensor is attached to a drive structure of the marine propulsion system. Relative movement between the pivotable member, such as a gimbal ring, and the drive structure, such as the outboard drive portion of the marine propulsion system, cause relative movement between the rotatable and stationary portions of the rotational position sensor. As a result, signals can be provided which are representative of the angular position between the drive structure and the pivotable member.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,456 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses an automatic trim control system that changes the trim angle of a marine propulsion device as a function of the speed of the marine vessel relative to the water in which it is operated.
The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,234,853; 7,267,068; and 7,467,595 are hereby incorporated herein by reference and disclose methods and apparatuses for maneuvering multiple engine marine vessels.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 9,290,252 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses systems and methods for controlling trim position of a marine propulsion device on a marine vessel. The system comprises a trim actuator having a first end that is configured to couple to the marine propulsion device and a second end that is configured to couple to the marine vessel. The trim actuator is movable between an extended position wherein the marine propulsion device is trimmed up with respect to the marine vessel and a retracted position wherein the marine propulsion device is trimmed down with respect to the marine vessel. Increasing an amount of voltage to an electromagnet increases the shear strength of a magnetic fluid in the trim actuator thereby restricting movement of the trim actuator into and out of the extended and retracted positions and wherein decreasing the amount of voltage to the electromagnet decreases the shear strength of the magnetic fluid thereby facilitates movement of the trim actuator into and out of the extended and retracted positions. A controller is configured to adapt the amount of voltage to the electromagnet based upon at least one condition of the system.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 9,381,989 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses a method for positioning a drive unit on a marine vessel that includes receiving an initiation request from a user input device to operate the marine vessel in a desired operating mode and storing a first trim position of the drive unit in a memory upon receiving the initiation request. The method includes trimming the drive unit to a second trim position in response to the initiation request and subsequently operating the marine vessel in the desired operating mode with the drive unit in the second trim position. The method includes receiving a termination request to cancel the desired operating mode and trimming the drive unit to the first trim position automatically upon receiving the termination request. A system for positioning the drive unit is also disclosed.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 9,751,605 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses a method for controlling a trim system on a marine vessel that includes receiving an actual trim position of a trimmable marine device at a controller and determining a trim position error by comparing the actual trim position to a target trim position with the controller. The method also includes determining an acceleration rate of the marine vessel. In response to determining that the trim position error exceeds a first error threshold and the magnitude of the acceleration rate exceeds a given rate threshold, the controller commands the marine device to the target trim position. In response to determining that the trim position error exceeds the first error threshold and the acceleration rate does not exceed the given rate threshold, the controller commands the marine device to a set point trim position that is different from the target trim position. An associated system is also disclosed.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 9,919,781 is hereby incorporated herein by reference and discloses systems and methods for controlling position of a trimmable drive unit with respect to a marine vessel. A controller determines a target trim position as a function of vessel or engine speed. An actual trim position is measured and compared to the target trim position. The controller sends a control signal to a trim actuator to trim the drive unit toward the target trim position if the actual trim position is not equal to the target trim position and if at least one of the following is true: a defined dwell time has elapsed since a previous control signal was sent to the trim actuator to trim the drive unit; a given number of previous control signals has not been exceeded in an attempt to achieve the target trim position; and a difference between the target trim position and the actual trim position is outside of a given deadband.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
One example includes a method of controlling a marine drive on a marine vessel includes receiving a trim position instruction to adjust a trim position of the marine drive and determining an allowable steering angle range based on the trim position instruction or the adjusted trim position of the marine drive. A trim actuator is controlled to adjust the trim position of the marine drive based on the trim position instruction and a steering actuator is controlled to automatically adjust steering position of the marine drive such that it remains within the allowable steering range.
In another example, a system for controlling the position of the marine drive on a marine vessel includes a user input device operable by a user to input a trim position instruction to adjust a trim position of the marine drive, a trim actuator configured to adjust the trim position of the marine drive in response to the trim position instruction, a steering actuator configured to adjust a steering position of the marine drive, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the trim position instruction generated at the user input device and to determine an allowable steering angle range based on the trim position instruction. The controller is further configured to control a trim actuator to adjust the trim position of the marine drive based on the trim position instruction and to automatically control a steering actuator to adjust a steering position of the marine drive to remain within the allowable steering angle range.
In yet another example, a system for controlling position of a marine drive on a marine vessel includes a user input device operable by user to input a trim position instruction to adjust a trim position of the marine drive, a trim actuator configured to adjust the trim position of the marine drive in response to the trim position instruction, a steering actuator configured to adjust the steering position of the marine drive, and a controller configured to control the trim position and the steering position simultaneously so as to force the marine drive toward a centered steering position as the trim position increases toward a maximum trim position.
Various other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.
The present disclosure is described with reference to the following Figures.
The inventors have recognized that a problem exists with drive collision where, in marine vessels with multiple independently steerable drives (e.g., multiple outboard drives configured for joystick steering), the drives can collide with one another at certain steering and trim positions. The chance for drive collision becomes greater when the drives are mounted close together, such as where several drives are mounted to the transom or where two or more drives are mounted close together at the center of the vessel's stern. Drive collision can damage the propeller, gear case, or other portions of either or both of the colliding drives, and can even leave one or more of the colliding drives inoperable. Thus, avoidance of drive collision is extremely important.
On many current multi-engine vessels, drive collision is avoided by utilizing a mechanical tie bar (such as a collapsible tie bar) or other mechanical link between the drives that prevents the drives from being steered into positions where they might collide with peer drives. These tie bar solutions connect adjacent drives together in such a way so as to physically prevent adjacent drives from moving into positions where they can collide with one another. However, tie bar solutions and other solutions that mechanically link two drives are not workable for drive configurations where the steerable portion of the drive is below the water surface, such as stern drives and or outboard drives with steerable gear cases. In these types of drives, a tie bar or other mechanical link between the steerable drive portions would have to be mounted below the water surface, which would create drag and other unwanted affects and would not be a workable solution. Thus, a solution is needed for preventing drive collision that does not require mechanically linking the marine drives.
Moreover, through their experimentation, research, and experience in the relevant field, the inventors have recognized that drive collision is most likely to happen during trim transition, where the trim angle of one or more of the drives is being adjusted. The risk of drive collision is particularly high during large trim adjustments where one drive is being fully trimmed up to pull it out of the water or is being trimmed down from a fully trimmed up position to put the drive into the water. During these trim transitions, a situation can occur where the steerable portion of the trimmed drive (e.g., that that includes the propeller) impacts a portion of the adjacent drive, such as the cowl, gearcase, cavitation plate, etc. Alternatively, a situation can occur where the gearcase or other portion of the trimmed drive can be lowered onto and impact the propeller or steerable portion of the adjacent drive. These types of impacts can cause severe damage to one or both colliding drives.
In view of the forgoing problems and challenges with drive collision avoidance recognized by the inventors, the disclosed system and method were developed to provide a software solution for avoiding drive collision. In the disclosed system and method, the allowable steering angle range of one or more of the marine drives is limited based on trim position. For example, an allowable steering angle range is defined for various trim positions. The drive steering angle is then automatically controlled to remain within the allowable steering angle range as the drive is trimmed up or trimmed down in response to an instruction to change the trim position of the drive.
In one embodiment, trim position and steering position are adjusted simultaneously so as to force the steerable drive toward a centered steering position as the trim position increases toward a maximum trim position. In certain embodiments, a threshold trim position is set below which a maximum steering angle range is permitted, and thus no limitations are set beyond the normal steering angle limitations set for a multi-drive system. Once the trim position is adjusted above the threshold trim position, the allowable steering angle range narrows around the centered steering position so as to force the marine drive toward the centered position, particularly once the drive has reached a threshold trim position where the propeller is substantially or totally above the water surface. Thereby, the drives are prevented from moving into positions where they can collide with peers because no collision will occur when the drives are in or near the centered steering position.
Each of the user input devices 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 is communicatively connected via a controller area network (CAN) bus 26 to one or more controllers, such as command control modules (CCMs) 28a, 28b. The CCMs 28a, 28b effectively receive and send all signals from and to the user input devices at the helm 24. In the depicted examples, the CCMs 28a, 28b are communicatively connected via the CAN bus 26 to engine control modules (ECMs) 30a, 30b on each marine drive 12. This control system 32 arrangement is merely representative and various other arrangements are known and within the scope of the disclosure. For example, each drive may comprise two or more controllers, such as a powertrain control module (PCM) and a thrust vector module (TVM), as is well-known in the art. In other alternative control system 32 arrangements, a central control module may be provided in addition to or in place of the CCMs 28a, 28b.
The system 9 for positioning a marine drives 12a and 12b further includes a trim actuator 48a and 48b and a steering actuator 50a and 50b associated with each drive 12a and 12b. In the depicted example, each CCM 28a and 28b is communicatively connected (e.g., via a CAN bus arrangement) and configured to control the trim actuators 48 and steering actuators 50; however, various other control arrangements are possible and well known in the relevant art. The trim actuators 48a, 48b move the marine drives 12a, 12b to a requested trim position, in response to signals sent from the CCMs 28a, 28b, such as based on input from the user input devices (e.g., trim control buttons 23). Further, the control system 32 comprises trim angle sensors 35a, 35b for sensing current trim positions of the marine drives 12a, 12b and providing this data to the control modules via the CAN bus 26. The steering actuators 50a, 50b steer the marine drives 12a, 12b in response to signals sent from the CCMs 28a, 28b via the CAN bus 26. Control of the steering actuators 50a and 50b may further be based on steering position sensed by the steering position sensors 55a and 55b configured to sense and actual steering position of the steerable drive portion.
Now referring to
In each of
In
The marine drive 12b can be acutely or obtusely angled with respect to the vertical axis 34.
In
The trimmed down position shown in
Once the marine vessel 10 is in full forward translation and on-plane, the marine drive 12b is typically trimmed back out of the trim position shown in
Signals from each of the user input devices 14, 16, 18, 20, 23 are sent via the CAN bus 26 to helm controller(s) (in this example CCMs 28a, 28b), which interpret these signals and send commands to the trim actuators 48a and 48b and steering actuators 50a and 50b. In the example shown, the CCMs, PCMs, and TVMs are illustrated as separate modules controlling separate functions aboard the marine vessel 10; however, it should be understood that any of the control sections shown and described herein could be provided in fewer modules or more modules than those shown.
Any of the controllers may have a memory and a programmable processor, such as processor 37 and memory 33 in CCM 28a. As is conventional, the processor 37 can be communicatively connected to a computer readable medium that includes volatile or nonvolatile memory upon which computer readable code (software) is stored. The processor 37 can access the computer readable code on the computer readable medium, and upon executing the code can send signals to carry out functions according to the methods described herein below. Execution of the code allows the control system 32 to control a series of actuators (for example steering actuators 50a, 50b and trim actuators 48a, 48b) of the marine drives 12a, 12b. Processor 37 can be implemented within a single device but can also be distributed across multiple processing devices or sub-systems that cooperate in executing program instructions. Examples include general purpose central processing units, application specific processors, and logic devices, as well as any other type of processing device, combinations of processing devices, and/or variations thereof. The control system 32 may also obtain data from sensors aboard the vessel (e.g., trim position sensors 35a and 35b and steering position sensors 55a and 55b, and the processor 37 may save or interpret the data as described herein below. In the example shown, at least the port CCM 28a comprises a memory 33 (such as, for example, RAM or ROM), although the other control modules could be provided with a memory as well.
Now referring to
The allowable steering angle range is a maximum steering angle range where no additional constraints are placed on the permitted steering angles beyond those normally in place for steering the drives on the marine vessel. As will be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, the maximum steering angle range is normally constrained in drive-by-wire applications, for example, based on the range of the steering actuator 50, the mount for the steerable portion of the marine drive 12, the location and arrangement of the marine drives, etc. At the maximum steering angle range, no trim-based constraints are enacted. But as the trim angle increases toward the maximum trim angle, the allowable steering angle range narrows around the centered steering position so as to force the marine drive toward the centered steering position as the marine drive is trimmed up toward the maximum trim position. This may be a gradual centering as the drive is trimmed up. In other embodiments, the drive may be automatically and fully centered when it is raised above a threshold trim position.
Various algorithms and relationships for controlling steering position based on trim may be implemented, examples of which are shown in
Line 72 represents an exponential relationship between allowed steering angle and trim angle where the allowable steering angle range decreases exponentially as the trim angle increases. In the depicted exponential relationship, the allowable steering angle range is at a maximum at low trim angle ranges close to 0, and begins to narrow at about 5 degrees of trim. In other embodiments, the allowable steering angle range may remain at the maximum steering angle range for trim positions below a threshold trim position, such as below the first trim position threshold 81 illustrated with respect to the modified linear funnel illustrated a lines 76 and discussed below. The exponential relationship is configured to progressively move the steerable drive to the centered steering position as the trim angle of the drive increases such that the centered steering position is reached at or before the drive reaches the maximum trim position. In the depicted embodiment, the steering angle constraints are configured such that the drive is forced to the centered position as the trim angle reaches a second threshold trim position 82, which is less than the maximum trim position.
The two other lines at
In the example depicted at
The allowable steering angle range is then determined based on trim positions. For example, the relevant controller may store a lookup table providing allowable steering angle range in association with trim angle. The allowable steering angle range may then be determined by utilizing the lookup table, such as based on a current steering angle occupied by the marine drive and sensed by the trim angle sensor 35 or based on a target trim position determined based on the trim position instruction provided at the user input device.
In the flowchart at
In embodiments where the relationship between trim and steering position is a step function, such as exemplified in
Once the target trim position exceeds the threshold trim position, the allowable steering angle range is narrowed at step 116 based on the target trim position. For example, the allowable steering angle range may be determined using a lookup table based on the target trim position. In embodiments where the allowable steering angle range is a step function such as that depicted in
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be inferred therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes only and are intended to be broadly construed. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have features or structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent features or structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
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