Control apparatus for small boat
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling a small boat having a hull, at least one outboard motor driven by an internal combustion engine and adapted to be mounted on a stern of the hull, and an actuator adapted to open/close a throttle valve of the engine for regulating speed of the engine, comprising:
- an acceleration sensor installed on the boat to generate an output indicative of acceleration acting on the boat in a direction of gravity axis;
a correction amount calculator that calculates a correction amount of the engine speed for said at least one outboard motor based on the output of the acceleration sensor so as to change behavior of the boat such that the boat moves toward a corrected navigation direction; and
an actuator controller that controls operation of the actuator based on the calculated correction amount;
wherein the correction amount calculator calculates the correction amount of the engine speed such that a speed of the boat increases when the acceleration in the direction of gravity axis increases.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an apparatus for controlling a small boat having a hull and two outboard motors mounted on a stern of the hull and an actuator adapted to open/close a throttle valve of each engine of the motors for regulating speed of the engine, acceleration acting on the boat in a direction of gravity axis when the boat ascends or descends the ocean wave and angular acceleration about the gravity is detected and a correction amount of the engine speed is calculated based on the detected acceleration so as to change behavior of the boat, thereby mitigating a burden on the operator and improving stability of the boat.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling a small boat having a hull, at least one outboard motor driven by an internal combustion engine and adapted to be mounted on a stern of the hull, and an actuator adapted to open/close a throttle valve of the engine for regulating speed of the engine, comprising:
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an acceleration sensor installed on the boat to generate an output indicative of acceleration acting on the boat in a direction of gravity axis; a correction amount calculator that calculates a correction amount of the engine speed for said at least one outboard motor based on the output of the acceleration sensor so as to change behavior of the boat such that the boat moves toward a corrected navigation direction; and an actuator controller that controls operation of the actuator based on the calculated correction amount; wherein the correction amount calculator calculates the correction amount of the engine speed such that a speed of the boat increases when the acceleration in the direction of gravity axis increases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of controlling a small boat having a hull, at least one outboard motor driven by an internal combustion engine and adapted to be mounted on a stern of the hull, and an actuator adapted to open/close a throttle valve of the engine for regulating speed of the engine, comprising the steps of:
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detecting acceleration acting on the boat in a direction of gravity axis; calculating a correction amount of the engine speed for said at least one outboard motor based on the detected acceleration so as to change behavior of the boat such that the boat moves toward a corrected navigation direction; and controlling operation of the actuator based on the calculated correction amount; wherein the step of correction amount calculation calculates the correction amount of the engine speed such that a speed of the boat increases when the acceleration in the gravity axis increases. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification