Granted Patent B2

US 12,214,850 · App. 17/891,651 · Granted Feb 4, 2025

Inventors: John D. Adams (Russell Springs, KY); Michael Gallagher (Cleveland, OH); Kayla Lauren Stanley (Coral Springs, FL)

Assignee: SEAKEEPER, INC.

B63B79/40B63B79/10B63B79/30

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A software-based commissioning method to automatically determine a plurality of feedback gain parameters for a new marine vessel, comprising:

installing a dynamic active control system having an user-interface connected to a software module; wherein the software module is communicatively and operatively connected to at least one pair of water engagement devices;

prompting a user to activate and instruct the system to asymmetrically and symmetrically deploy the at least one pair of water engagement devices;

measuring and processing data related to the motion of the vessel generated from the asymmetric and symmetric deployment of the at least one pair of water engagement devices;

analyzing the processed data for:

automatically characterizing a functional relationship between the asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of water engagement devices and a list angle generated for a certain vessel speed,

automatically characterizing a functional relationship between the asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of water engagement devices and a yaw rate generated for a certain vessel speed, and

automatically characterizing a functional relationship between the symmetric deployment at least one pair of water engagement devices and a trim angle generated for a certain vessel speed;

automatically converting the functional relationships to a plurality of vessel-specific first feedback gains; and

storing the plurality of vessel-specific first feedback gains within the system of the marine vessel.

2. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of performing a series of static tests to determine;

(a) the functional relationship between the asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the list angle feedback provided by the system;

(b) the functional relationship between asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the yaw rate feedback provided by the system; and

(c) the functional relationship between symmetric deployment of at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the trim angle feedback provided by the system.

3. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of the vessel-specific feedback gains includes a Roll Overall Gain (ROG), a Yaw Rate Gain (YRG), a Pitch Overall Gain (POG), a List Angle Gain (LAG), a Roll Rate Gain (RRG) and a Roll Angle Gain (RAG) of the marine vessel.

4. The software-based commissioning method of claim 3 , wherein

the Roll Overall Gain configured to mitigate any aggressive feedback data related to list angle, roll angle and roll rate of the marine vessel;

the Yaw Rate Gain is configured to mitigate any aggressive feedback data related to yaw rate of the marine vessel; and

the Pitch Overall Gain is configured to mitigate any aggressive feedback data related to pitch axis motion of the marine vessel.

5. The software-based commissioning method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of performing a series of static tests to determine:

(a) the functional relationship between the asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the list angle feedback provided by the system;

(b) the functional relationship between asymmetric deployment of the at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the yaw rate feedback provided by the system; and

(c) the functional relationship between symmetric deployment of at least one pair of the water engagement devices and the trim angle feedback provided by the system.

6. The software-based commissioning method of claim 5 , wherein the steps of performing a series of static tests further comprise:

generating the Roll Overall Gain based on the functional relationship determined within step (a).

7. The software-based commissioning method of claim 5 , wherein the steps of performing a series of static tests further comprise:

generating the Yaw Rate Gain based on the functional relationship determined within step (b).

8. The software-based commissioning method of claim 5 , wherein the steps of performing a series of static tests further comprise:

generating the Pitch Overall Gain based on the functional relationship determined within step (c).

9. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of auto-calibrating the system for optimization of roll reduction performance of the marine vessel.

10. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of auto-calibrating the system for optimization of yaw reduction performance of the marine vessel.

11. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of auto-calibrating the system for optimization of pitch reduction performance of the marine vessel.

12. The software-based commissioning method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of automatically calibrating and generating at least one speed-based bias curve for the marine vessel based on the vessel motion feedback data provided by the system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (266)