Systems and methods for redundant drive-by-wire control of marine engines
First Claim
1. A drive-by-wire control system for a marine engine, the control system comprising:
- an input device that is manually operable to provide operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the engine;
wherein the ECU has a main processor that receives the inputs and controls speed of the engine based upon the inputs;
wherein the ECU has a watchdog processor that receives the inputs and monitors operations of the main processor based upon the inputs; and
a communication link by which the operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor;
wherein the watchdog processor determines whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; and
wherein the watchdog processor monitors the speed of the engine, and consequential to one of interruption and cessation of communication between the main processor and the watchdog processor, the watchdog processor infers whether the main processor is properly functioning based upon the speed of the engine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are for drive-by-wire control of a marine engine. An input device is manually operated to provide operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the engine. The ECU has a main processor that controls speed of the engine based upon the inputs. The ECU also has a watchdog processor that receives the inputs and that monitors operations of the main processor based upon the inputs. The operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor via a communication link. When communication between the main processor and watchdog processor fails, the watchdog processor determines whether the main processor is properly functioning based upon the speed of the engine.
17 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A drive-by-wire control system for a marine engine, the control system comprising:
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an input device that is manually operable to provide operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the engine; wherein the ECU has a main processor that receives the inputs and controls speed of the engine based upon the inputs; wherein the ECU has a watchdog processor that receives the inputs and monitors operations of the main processor based upon the inputs; and a communication link by which the operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor; wherein the watchdog processor determines whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; and wherein the watchdog processor monitors the speed of the engine, and consequential to one of interruption and cessation of communication between the main processor and the watchdog processor, the watchdog processor infers whether the main processor is properly functioning based upon the speed of the engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A drive-by-wire control system for a marine engine, the control system comprising:
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an input device that is manually operable to provide operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the engine; wherein the ECU has a main processor that receives the inputs and controls speed of the engine based upon the inputs; wherein the ECU has a watchdog processor that receives the inputs and monitors operations of the main processor based upon the inputs; a communication link by which the operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor; and a pin via which the speed of the engine is communicated to the watchdog processor; wherein the main processor limits the speed of the engine to below a threshold; and wherein the watchdog processor determines whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; and wherein the watchdog processor monitors the speed of the engine, and consequential to one of interruption and cessation of communication between the main processor and the watchdog processor, the watchdog processor resets the main processor when the speed of the engine is above the threshold.
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14. A method of operating a drive-by-wire control system for a marine engine, the method comprising:
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providing operator inputs to an engine control unit (ECU) located with the engine; controlling, with a main processor located in the ECU, a speed of the engine based upon the inputs; receiving the inputs with a watchdog processor located in the ECU; monitoring, with the watchdog processor, operations of the main processor based upon the inputs; determining, with the watchdog processor, whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; and monitoring, with the watchdog processor, the speed of the engine; wherein consequential to one of interruption and cessation of communication between the main processor and the watchdog processor, inferring, with the watchdog processor, whether the main processor is properly functioning based upon the speed of the engine. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A control system for controlling a marine engine, the control system comprising:
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an engine control unit (ECU) having a main processor; an input device that provides operator inputs to the main processor;
wherein the main processor controls speed of the engine based upon the operator inputs;a watchdog processor that receives the operator inputs and monitors operations of the main processor based upon the operator inputs; a communication link by which the operations of the main processor are communicated to the watchdog processor; and a processing unit that monitors the speed of the engine and communicates the speed of the engine to the watchdog processor via an engine speed link, wherein the processing unit communicates the speed of the engine to the watchdog processor at least when the main processor and the watchdog processor are not communicating; wherein the watchdog processor determines whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; and wherein the watchdog processor, at least when the main processor and the watchdog processor are not communicating, determines whether the main processor is properly functioning based upon the speed of the engine. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for controlling a marine engine, the method comprising:
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providing an engine control unit (ECU) having a main processor; controlling a speed of the engine with the main processor based upon operator inputs; monitoring operations of the main processor with a watchdog processor that receives the operator inputs; communicating the operations of the main processor to the watchdog processor via a communication link; determining, with the watchdog processor, whether communication is properly occurring between the main processor and the watchdog processor; communicating the speed of the engine to the watchdog processor when the main processor and the watchdog processor are not communicating; and determining whether the main processor is property functioning based upon the speed of the engine when the main processor and the watchdog processor are not communicating. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification