JPH0363083B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic navigation system that automatically navigates a ship in the direction of a preset destination position.

As this type of device, for example, an automatic steering device using a magnetic compass has been conventionally used. That is, the heading direction of the own ship is detected using a magnetic compass, the detected direction is compared with a preset set direction, and the rudder is controlled so that the set direction matches the detected direction.

However, the actual course of the ship does not necessarily match the heading direction. For example, in Figure 1,
When the bow direction θ ₁ is set toward the destination P ₀ , the speed in the θ ₁ direction is V ₁ , and a current with a speed V ₂ acts in the θ ₂ direction, the own ship actually moves in the θ ₃ direction. speed V ₃
to sail. Therefore, if things continue as they are, the ship will be sailing in a direction different from the destination, so the ship must constantly check its own position and adjust its bow direction while navigating. This cannot be said to be automatic navigation.

This invention addresses the above-mentioned drawbacks, and after first setting the destination position, when the actual route direction differs from the destination direction due to external factors, the ship's heading direction is automatically corrected. Realize an automatic navigation device that sets a route in the direction of a destination.

Examples of the present invention will be described below.

In Fig. 2, numeral 1 indicates a conventional automatic steering system, numeral 11 is a course setting device for setting the destination position, and numeral 12 is a direction detector for detecting the heading direction of the ship, such as a magnetic compass. used.

The course set by the course setter 11 and the direction detected by the direction detector 12 are compared in a comparator circuit 13. The comparator circuit 13 detects how much the ship's heading deviates from the set azimuth, and sends the detection output to the control circuit 14. The control circuit 14 controls the rudder angle of the rudder 15 to match the detected heading with the set course, and sends a control output to the drive unit 16 that drives the rudder 15. Reference numeral 18 sends the steering angle output detected by the steering angle detection circuit to the control circuit 14 to prevent the hunting phenomenon of steering angle control and perform smooth steering angle control.

In the above, the setting output of the course setting device 11 is sent out as an analog voltage, and after being added to the output voltage of the D/A conversion circuit 2 in the adding circuit 17, it is sent out to the comparison circuit 13. Therefore, the comparison circuit 13 compares the voltage after addition with the detected direction, and as a result, the rudder 1
5 is controlled to an angle different from the set course by the output voltage of the D/A conversion circuit 2, and the steering angle of the course setter 1
This is equivalent to slightly changing the course set in No. 1 by the output voltage of the D/A conversion circuit 2.

The D/A conversion circuit 2 sends out an analog voltage corresponding to the calculation result of the course deviation calculation circuit 3.

The course deviation calculating circuit 3 calculates the amount of deviation of the own ship's position with respect to a preset course for the own ship, and this will be explained below.

4 is a Loran receiver that receives the Loran signal from the Loran transmitting station and sends it to the time difference measuring circuit 5. The time difference measuring circuit 5 measures the own ship's position on the Loran chat based on the received Loran signal.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a Lorante chart, and the measurement position is indicated by the intersection of the time difference lines. Incidentally, the time difference lines on the Loranciate are technically hyperbolas, but when viewing a portion of the sea area in which the own ship is navigating, the time difference lines can be approximately treated as a group of parallel straight lines.

The own ship's position data measured by the time difference measuring circuit 5 is led to the departure place storage circuit 6. The departure point storage circuit 6 stores position data sent from the time difference measurement circuit 2 when the set switch 7 is set. Therefore, by setting the set switch 7 when the own ship leaves the departure point, the departure place of the own ship can be memorized.

8 is a destination memory circuit for storing the destination of the own ship, and stores the destination as a position on the Loranciato. The destination memory circuit 8 is connected to a destination setting switch 9.
Stores the position data set in .

The departure position data of the departure point storage circuit 6, the destination position data of the destination storage circuit 8, and the measured position data of the time difference measurement circuit 5 are sent to the route deviation calculation circuit 3.

The route deviation calculating circuit 3 calculates the positional deviation of the own ship with respect to the set route set based on the departure point position data in the departure point storage circuit 6 and the destination position data in the destination storage circuit 8. For example, in Figure 3, if point A is the starting point and point B is the destination, then the point
The amount of positional deviation of the current position P ₀ with respect to the set route l connecting AB, that is, the height and direction of the deviation of the perpendicular line h drawn from the point P ₀ to the straight line l are calculated. In addition,
The position data of the current position P ₀ is the time difference measurement circuit 5
location data is used.

The route deviation data sent from the route deviation calculation circuit 3 is sent to the D/A conversion circuit 2 and converted into an analog voltage with a polarity corresponding to the amount and direction of positional deviation. This analog voltage is led to the adder circuit 17 as azimuth data, and therefore the D/A
The conversion circuit 2 converts the amount of deviation from the set route into azimuth data.

The analog voltage of the D/A converter circuit 2 is applied to the adder circuit 1.
At step 7, the voltage is added to the set voltage of the course setting device 11 and then sent to the comparator circuit 13. Therefore, the comparator circuit 13 controls the angle of the rudder 15 so that the added output matches the detection output of the azimuth detector 12, and as a result, the course set by the course setter 11 is equivalently slightly changed. At this time, the steering angle change angle △θ ₁ is D/A
The output voltage of the conversion circuit 2 is compared with the amount of deviation h with respect to the set course l, and its direction is controlled in a direction in which the set course θ ₁ is reduced in the course deviation h, as shown in FIG. As a result, when the own ship sails from the departure point A to the destination B, it can sail along the set route l as shown in FIG. 4 l'.

As explained above, the present invention allows the own ship to navigate in a set course direction, and at the same time measures the sailing position using a position measuring device such as a Loran receiver, so that the own ship position is determined relative to the set course. If there is a deviation, the course direction is corrected according to the amount of deviation. Therefore, it is possible to carry out accurate automatic navigation to the destination position without being influenced by external factors such as tides and wind. Furthermore, even if the set heading of the ship does not exactly match the destination location, the ship can be navigated along the set route. That is, as the deviation from the set course increases, the amount of course correction becomes larger, so even if the set heading includes an error, the ship can navigate along the set course.

In the above description, the addition circuit 17 is used to equivalently change the set course. Therefore, the adder circuit 17 outputs the output of the D/A converter circuit 2 and the direction detector 1.
The two detection outputs may be added. Alternatively, the comparison output of the comparison circuit 13 and the D/A conversion output may be added. Further, although addition or comparison is performed analogously, it may also be performed digitally.

Furthermore, although a Loran receiver is used to measure the own ship's position, it is also possible to use a Detsuka receiver or an Omega receiver.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional device, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining its operation. FIG. 4 shows an example of navigation in which the present invention is implemented.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A direction setting device that sets the destination position of the own ship; a direction detector that detects the heading direction of the own ship; and a direction setter that uses the heading data detected by the direction detector and the direction setting device. a comparison circuit that compares the output azimuth data; a control device that matches the heading of the own ship with the azimuth set by the azimuth setting device based on the comparison result of the comparison circuit; and a control device that matches navigation signals from different transmitting stations. A navigation device that determines the own ship's position by measuring the time difference or phase difference between the received navigation signals from each station, and the above-mentioned route for the own ship set by the ship's departure position and destination position. an arithmetic circuit for calculating the amount of deviation of the current position of the ship as measured by the navigation device; and means for equivalently slightly changing the set orientation of the azimuth setting device based on the amount of deviation calculated by the arithmetic circuit. An automatic navigation device comprising: