Marine vessel brake assist and stabilization system

Abstract

A vessel braking control system for a marine vessel that utilizes one or more of the vessel's features and effectors to increase the drag on the vessel both through increased drag on the features and effectors themselves and by creating a downward force on the vessel as a whole, increasing the wetted hull area and increasing hull drag thereby; the control system operates to place the features and effectors in a braking state through rotation relative to the vessel's direction of travel and relative to the water's surface, and may automatically return the features and effectors to their normal operating state upon the vessel's reaching a detected, predetermined speed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A braking control system for a marine vessel having a hull with a stern, a bow, a port side and a starboard side, the control system comprising:
 one or more effectors extending from either the bow, the port side or the starboard side of the hull of the marine vessel;   one or more sensors on, or near, the one or more effectors for detecting data related to the one or more effectors; and   a control system coupled to the one or more sensors and configured to engage a braking protocol based on the data from the one or more sensors.   
     
     
         2 . The braking control system of  claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises one or more effector managers coupled to the one or more effectors and configured to modify a position of the one or more effectors when the braking protocol is engaged. 
     
     
         3 . The braking control system of  claim 2 , wherein the control system is configured to modify the position of the one or more effectors from a braking protocol position into a normal operating position when the braking protocol is disengaged. 
     
     
         4 . The braking control system of  claim 2 , wherein the control system further comprises a condition assessment module that obtains the data from the one or more sensors and assesses the data to determine whether to engage or disengage the braking protocol. 
     
     
         5 . The braking control system of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises at least one of the vessel's speed, surge, heave, pitch, roll, yaw, sway, wind direction and speed, temperature and barometric pressure of the ambient environment, precipitation levels and intensity, speed and direction of water currents, and turbulence of the water surface. 
     
     
         6 . The braking control system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more effectors comprise at least one of stabilization fins, rudders, interceptors, trim tabs, t-foils, lifting foils, bow/stem foils, and rotating Magnus effectors. 
     
     
         7 . The braking control system of  claim 1 , wherein the activation mechanism comprises a manually operated activation switch. 
     
     
         8 . The braking control system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the control system further comprises a condition assessment module that detects the activation and deactivation of the activation switch; and   the control system engages and disengages the braking protocol upon activation and deactivation of the activation switch.   
     
     
         9 . The braking control system of  claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to engage and disengage the braking protocol based upon predetermined thresholds for one or both of the marine vessel's speed or pitch. 
     
     
         10 . A braking control system for a marine vessel having a hull with a stern, a bow, a port side and a starboard side, the control system comprising:
 one or more effectors extending from either the bow, the port side or the starboard side of the hull of the marine vessel;   one or more sensors on, or near, the one or more effectors for detecting data related to the one or more effectors; and   a control system coupled to the one or more sensors and configured to reduce a speed of the vessel based on the data from the one or more sensors.   
     
     
         11 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the control system comprises one or more effector managers coupled to the one or more effectors and configured to modify a position of the one or more effectors to reduce the speed of the vessel. 
     
     
         12 . The braking control system of  claim 11 , wherein the control system disengages the one or more effector managers from the one or more effectors when the speed of the vessel is below a threshold level. 
     
     
         13 . The braking control system of  claim 11 , wherein the control system returns the one or more effectors to an original position when the speed of the vessel is below a threshold level. 
     
     
         14 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the data comprises at least one of the vessel's speed, surge, heave, pitch, roll, yaw, sway, wind direction and speed, temperature and barometric pressure of the ambient environment, precipitation levels and intensity, speed and direction of water currents, and turbulence of the water surface. 
     
     
         15 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more effectors comprise at least one of stabilization fins, rudders, interceptors, trim tabs, t-foils, lifting foils, bow/stem foils, and rotating Magnus effectors. 
     
     
         16 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the control system is configured to modify the position of the one or more effectors from a braking protocol position into a normal operating position when the braking protocol is disengaged. 
     
     
         17 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more effectors comprise first and second stabilizer fins. 
     
     
         18 . The braking control system of  claim 17 , wherein the control system is configured to rotate the first stabilizer fin in a first direction and rotate the second stabilizer fin in a second direction opposite the first direction. 
     
     
         19 . The braking control system of  claim 10 , wherein the activation mechanism comprises a manually operated activation switch. 
     
     
         20 . The braking control system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the control system further comprises a condition assessment module that detects the activation and deactivation of the activation switch; and   the control system engages and disengages the braking protocol upon activation and deactivation of the activation switch.