Control strategy with safe blade deployment limit

Abstract

A stability control system—a dynamic active control system configured for total vessel pitch axis control by fast symmetric deployment of water engagement devices, coupled with engine trim adjustments and total roll and heading control by differentially deploying water engagement devices to counter rolling motions associated with water engagement device delta position. The software module is further configured with a control strategy that limits the bias of the water engagement devices as the marine vessel accelerates or decelerates in order to provide improved stability during marine vessel operation. The control strategy can maintain the bias static within a certain limited configuration (e.g., related to the speed of the marine vessel) until the limited configuration is no longer present.

1 . A dynamic active control system for a marine vessel, the system comprising:
 a software module, a plurality of sensors and a plurality of water engagement devices,   wherein each of the water engagement devices includes an actuator and a blade connected to the actuator and is configured to mount adjacent a transom of the marine vessel,   wherein the software module is communicatively and operatively connected to the plurality of sensors and to each water engagement device to iteratively command activation of the actuator and deployment of the blade in response thereto based on data received from the plurality of sensors and a desired setting and   wherein the software module includes a control strategy that further iteratively commands activation of the actuators to limit one of a depth of deployment of one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of one of the water engagement devices to a pre-determined threshold as a function of the data received from the plurality of sensors related to a speed of the marine vessel.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein pre-determined threshold of one of a depth of deployment of the one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of the one of the water engagement devices is defined as a bias of the one of the water engagement devices. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the software module comprises at least one embedded microprocessor and the control strategy implemented by a safe blade deployment limit control algorithm comprising at least one set of program instructions and wherein the at least one embedded microprocessor is further configured to run the at least one set of program instructions in order for the software module to iteratively read and interpret any data associated with the operation of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the bias is a minimum bias associated with a change in speed of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the safe blade deployment limit control algorithm can iteratively set the bias of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices within a certain pre-determined range of values as a function of the data received from the plurality of sensors related to the speed of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the set bias is a deployment bias and wherein the deployment bias is static until the speed of the marine vessel reaches a certain pre-determined limit. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the speed of the marine vessel is 5 miles/hour. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the safe blade deployment limit control algorithm is further configured to automatically identify and prevent triggering an increase in control authority or operator feedback in response to the change of the vessel speed. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the data comprises information extracted from a dataset of a two-dimensional marine vessel acceleration/deceleration and blade deployment curve plot embedded within the at least one set of program instructions of the safe blade deployment limit control algorithm. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the safe blade deployment limit control algorithm is a closed loop control system configured and enabled to continuously read, measure and interpret the data and limit the bias of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices at various speeds during operation of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         11 . A method of dynamic active control of a marine vessel, the method comprising the steps of:
 mounting a plurality of water engagement devices adjacent a transom of the marine vessel, wherein each of the water engagement devices includes an actuator and a blade connected to the actuator;   connecting a software module having an embedded microprocessor-based control system to (1) a plurality of sensors and (2) each of the water engagement devices; wherein the plurality of sensors comprises at least one inertial sensor;   commanding activation of the actuator and deployment of the blade in response thereto based on data received from the plurality of sensors and a desired setting;   measuring data received from the at least one inertial sensor that is representative of motion of the vessel; and   implementing a safe blade deployment limit control strategy to further limit one of a depth of deployment of one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of one of the water engagement devices to a pre-determined level of bias.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the level of bias is a threshold of one of a depth of deployment of the one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of the one of the water engagement devices as a function of the data received from the plurality of sensors related to a speed of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the safe blade deployment limit control strategy can iteratively set the level of bias of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices within a certain pre-determined range of values based on the speed of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the set bias is a deployment bias and wherein the deployment bias is static until the speed of the marine vessel reaches a certain pre-determined limit. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the speed of the marine vessel is 5 miles/hour. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the software module comprises at least one embedded microprocessor and the control strategy implemented by a safe blade deployment limit control algorithm comprising at least one set of program instructions and wherein the at least one embedded microprocessor is further configured to run the at least one set of program instructions in order for the software module to iteratively read and interpret any data associated with the operation of the marine vessel. 
     
     
         17 . A dynamic active control system, the system comprising:
 a marine vessel, a software module, a plurality of sensors and a plurality of water engagement devices,   wherein the plurality of water engagement devices are connected to the marine vessel adjacent a transom of the marine vessel,   wherein each of the water engagement devices includes an actuator and a blade connected to the actuator,   wherein the software module is communicatively and operatively connected to the plurality of sensors and to each water engagement device to iteratively command activation of the actuator and deployment of the blade in response thereto based on data received from the plurality of sensors and a desired setting, and   wherein the software module includes a safe blade deployment limit control strategy to further limit one of a depth of deployment of one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of one of the water engagement devices to a pre-determined level of bias.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a total pitch axis control strategy including symmetric deployment of a plurality of water engagement devices at a deployment speed of at least 100 mm/s while simultaneously adjusting an engine trim actuator;   a total roll and heading control strategy including a differential deployment of the plurality of water engagement devices at a deployment speed of at least 100 mm/s to counter a measured rolling motion while simultaneously adjusting a steering actuator to counter a measured yaw motion resulting from the differential deployment and adjusting the steering actuator to counter the measured yaw motion generated by a gyroscopic stabilization device adapted to be installed within the marine vessel;   wherein the software module includes a safe blade deployment limit control strategy to further limit one of a depth of deployment of one of the water engagement devices and a speed of deployment of one of the water engagement devices to a pre-determined level of bias.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a software module including an embedded microprocessor-based control system, a multi-axis rate sensor and a steering position sensor operatively connected to at least one of the water engagement devices and to the software module;   wherein the control system determines an asymmetric deployment of the at least one of the water engagement devices in response to a dynamic roll axis motion measured by the rate sensor as a result of a change in an output from the steering position sensor;   wherein the control system determines a relationship between the output from the steering position sensor and the asymmetric controller deployment; and   wherein the control system automatically commands changes to the asymmetric controller deployment to counter the dynamic roll axis motion resulting from the change in the output from the steering position sensor.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the safe blade deployment limit control strategy can iteratively set the bias of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices within a certain pre-determined range of values as a function of the data received from the plurality of sensors related to the speed of the marine vessel.