RU2823051C1 - Method of controlling coordinated group activity of automatic tugs - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transportation.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method of controlling coordinated group activity of automatic tugs. For the towing-tilting operation, fully autonomous automatic tugs are used under the control of the coastal remote control station, taking into account the hydrometeorological conditions of its performance, wherein one automatic tug in the group is designated as the driving one and the second one – as the driven one. Control signals are transmitted from the remote control station, which are processed in the computer of the master tug to generate the corresponding commands for its control and manoeuvring system, as well as for generation and transmission of corresponding commands to the driven tug control and manoeuvring system to provide the necessary conditions for the ship towing, mooring and tilting.

EFFECT: improved characteristics of the method of remote control of coordinated group activity of automatic tugs due to provision of possibility of automatic distribution of stops of automatic tugs of a group.

1 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of navigation and can be used for remote control of a group of fully autonomous automatic tugs in the process of towing a supported vessel in a port.

Various technical solutions are known in this area.

Thus, the Russian Federation patent for invention No. 2470828 is known (IPC V63N 25/04, published on December 27, 2012). A method for controlling the trajectory of a towed vessel, based on determining the coordinates of the bow and stern points located in its centerline plane, which consists in calculating the deviations of the bow and stern points of the towed vessel from the line of the centerline plane (DP) of the towing vessel, while the line DP is drawn through the bow and stern points of the towing vessel, the value of the control signal is determined based on the calculation results, and the rudder on the towed vessel is shifted in accordance with its value.

The Russian Federation patent for invention No. 2130622 is also known (IPC G01S 5/12, published 05.20.1999). A method for group navigation of objects by receiving and processing radio navigation signals of the satellite radio navigation system (SRNS) and corrective information (CI) of the control and correction station (KKS), in which two additional auxiliary navigation objects (VON) are introduced so that the main navigation object (UN) ) was inside the triangle formed by the KKS and two VON, a control radio signal is generated on the KKS, specifying the numbers of only those navigation satellites (NSS) of the SRNS that are simultaneously in the visibility zone of the KKS, UN and VON, and the number of specified satellites is selected at least three and not more than the number of measuring channels of each of the UN and VON receiver indicators, receive the control radio signal at the UN and VON, simultaneously search, receive and process radio navigation signals only specified in the control radio signal of the NIS, then calculate their own coordinates at the UN and VON, generate an additional CI ( DKI), including the known and calculated coordinates of the VON, then transmit the DKI to the UN, where they simultaneously receive the CI with the KKS and the DKI with the VON, and calculate the coefficients d1, d2, d3 by solving a system of linear equations.

The Russian Federation patent for invention No. 2662297 is also known (IPC G05D 1/02, published July 25, 2018). A method for group driving of road drones, in which electromagnetic, predominantly radio frequency, signals are periodically emitted, two types of acoustic, predominantly ultrasonic, signals are emitted, the first of which is excited simultaneously with each electromagnetic signal, electromagnetic and acoustic signals are received, the distances from the acoustic signal emitter to two acoustic signal sensors based on the time delays of their reception relative to the corresponding electromagnetic signals and automatically control the course of movement of each road drone using pre-generated mismatch signals.

The Russian Federation patent for invention No. 2615714 is also known (IPC N04V 7/24, published 04/07/2017). A method for group control of mobile ground and air robotic equipment, providing control of robots via radio channels and a satellite communication channel. By adapting control commands to the equipment of robotic equipment, robotic equipment is controlled from any operator’s workstation or from two workstations simultaneously, where, respectively, one operator controls the basic mobile chassis of the robotic instrument, and the other operator controls the technological equipment of this robotic instrument, as well as in areas of absence In radio visibility, the robotic devices themselves that are part of the group are used as external radio channel repeaters.

The Russian Federation patent for invention No. 2794384 is also known (IPC B63N 25/04, G05D 1/02, G08G 3/02, B63B 35/66, H04L 67/00, published 04/17/2023), which, in terms of the totality of essential features, is closest to the proposed solution, respectively, adopted as a prototype of the proposed method. Traffic control system for a port fleet tug in remote piloting mode, characterized by the presence of a survey and search system for the OPS tug, an on-ship surveillance subsystem for the PVN tug, a high-precision guiding and mooring system for the SVPSh tug, a hydroacoustic positioning system for the GSP tug, an autonomous navigation system for the tug ANS, and a coordinated traffic control system tug SKU, ship integrated control system IMS technical means of the tug vehicle, which are connected to the tug network router, the coordinated movement control system of the tug SKU is connected to the signal converter of the ship actuators of the tug, which in turn is connected to the ship IMS of the tug vehicle, the tug network router transmits received data from the above-mentioned systems through the tugboat's crypto-gateway via the main and/or backup data exchange channels with the remote control post via the on-shore crypto-gateway to the on-shore network router, which is connected to the server of the optical system for analyzing the environment and the state of the vessel OSA of the integrated workstation KRM of the remote tugboat captain , server of the autonomous navigation system ANS KRM of the remote tugboat captain, server of the detailed data recording system and self-diagnosis subsystem SDRPS, availability monitoring and control system of the QMS, access control and access control system, ACS computer, a-Navigation information server, a-Navigation map server, hydrometeorological server a-Navigation KRM of the remote tugboat captain, providing remote control of the tug, is connected to a coastal network router, which redirects to the mentioned KRM all the necessary data, while the crypto gateway of external information sources VII, connected to the coastal network router, receives additional data via a data line from the port VTS vessel traffic control system and the data transmission line of the global INTERNET network.

The known control system provides the possibility of remote control of only one tug, does not provide for coordinated control of a group of tugs and does not take into account the relative position of the tugs of the group and the towed vessel, the characteristics of the towed vessel, which determine its hydrodynamic and aerodynamic properties, as well as the hydrometeorological conditions of the towing operation.

The main technical problem in the area under consideration is the lack of a method for coordinated control of a group of tugs, remotely controlled from one remote control post (RCP), hereinafter referred to as automatic tugs (AT), which provides for the automatic distribution between the TUs of a group of stops formed by the propulsion and steering devices of each TU, in order to ensure the required linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel, taking into account hydrometeorological conditions. The proposed technical solution is aimed at solving this problem.

The technical result is to improve the characteristics of the method for remote control of the coordinated group activity of automatic tugs, namely, to provide the ability to automatically distribute the stops of automatic tugs of a group of two BAs.

At the same time, the used effective power of the main engines of automatic tugs corresponds to the minimum required to ensure towing, mooring and berthing of a specific vessel located in a rigid technological coupling with the tugs of the group in the current hydrometeorological situation.

The technical result is achieved in that in the method of controlling the coordinated group activity of automatic tugs, based on the interaction of a coastal remote control post with fully autonomous automatic tugs performing towing and tilting of a vessel with characteristics unknown before the start of the towing and tilting operation and taking into account the hydrometeorological conditions of its carrying out, according to the invention, one automatic tug in the group is designated as the leader, the second - as the slave, the coordinated movement control system of the leading tug via a data exchange channel from the remote control station receives control signals from the operator station, which are processed in the computing device of the coordinated control system of the leading tug - machine. Next, the directions and modules of the force vectors required for the linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel specified by the personnel at the remote control post are calculated, which must be applied to the towed vessel by each of the tugs of the group. The calculated values are transmitted via the on-board communication line to the automatic control system for the movement and maneuvering of the leading tug, and through the data exchange channel with the remote control post to the automatic control system for the movement and maneuvering of the slave tug, generated by the automatic control systems for the movement and maneuvering of tugs of the group, control signals are transmitted to the propulsion - steering devices of tugs. In this case, control of compliance of the direction and speed of linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel with the required values is carried out by the external crew of the leading automatic tug using data displayed on the display of the operator station of the remote control post. As a result of calculations performed on the leading tug for tugs of the group, the used effective power of the main engines of automatic tugs corresponds to that required to ensure towing, mooring and berthing of a vessel with characteristics, information about which becomes known immediately before the start of the towing/mooring operation, which is in a strict technological coupling with the tugs of the group, in the current hydrometeorological situation. This ensures automatic distribution between automatic tugs of a group of stops formed by the propulsion and steering devices of each tug in order to ensure the required linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel.

Mathematical explanation of the proposed method:

To control the linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel, the tugs of the group create a total force vector F _S , which must be applied to the towed vessel for its linear movement, and a moment M _S , which ensures the required rotation of the towed vessel. The distribution of forces provided by the stops of the leading AUF _T1 and the driven AUF _T2 , and creating the required values of F _S and M _S , between the tugs of the group is carried out in the control system of the leading tug.

Vector F _S is equal to the sum of the force vectors developed by the propulsion and steering devices of the leading AUF _T1 and the slave AU F _T2 :

The resulting force F _S must act on the vessel, displacing it in the required direction COG _SD .

The moment M _S is equal to the sum of the vector products of the radius vectors of the arms L _T1 and L _T2 and the force vectors F _T1 and F _T2 :

The modules of the shoulder radius vectors are determined by the relative position of the tugs of the group and the towed vessel and are calculated using formulas (3) and (4):

Where

Р ₁ =ΔХ ₁ ⋅ cos(HDG _S ) + ΔY ₁ ⋅ sin(HDG _S ) - ΔХ' ₁ cos (HDG _S +0.5⋅π)

Q ₁ =ΔY _X ⋅ cos(HDG _S ) - ΔХ ₁ ⋅ sin(HDG _S ) - ΔХ' ₁ ⋅ cos (HDG _S +0.5⋅π)

Р ₂ =ΔХ ₂ ⋅ cos(HDG _S ) + ΔY ₂ ⋅ sin(HDG _S ) - ΔХ' ₂ cos (HDG _S +0.5⋅π)

Q ₂ =ΔY _X ⋅ cos(HDG _S ) - ΔХ ₂ ⋅ sin(HDG _S ) - ΔХ' ₂ ⋅ cos (HDG _S +0.5⋅π)

HDG _S - heading of the towed vessel

β ₁ - heading angle of the direction of action of the force F _T1 , measured from the center plane of the towed vessel, a positive value corresponds to the starboard side, a negative value to the left

β ₂ - heading angle of the direction of action of the force F _T2 , measured from the center plane of the towed vessel, a positive value corresponds to the starboard side, a negative value to the left

Δβ - half the angle between vectors F-n and Fx2

ΔХ ₁ - the shortest distance between the center plane of the towed vessel and the reference point of the leading tug, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug on the starboard side, negative - on the left side

ΔХ ₂ - the shortest distance between the center plane of the towed vessel and the reference point of the driven tug, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug on the starboard side, negative - on the left side

ΔX' ₁ - the shortest distance between the center plane of the towed vessel and the point of attachment of the leading tug to the side using a magnetic mooring device, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug on the starboard side, negative - on the left side

ΔХ' ₂ - the shortest distance between the center plane of the towed vessel and the point of attachment of the driven tug to the side using a magnetic mooring device, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug on the starboard side, a negative value on the left side

ΔY ₁ - the shortest distance between the plane of the midship frame of the towed vessel and the reference point of the leading tug, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug ahead of the midsection, a negative value - behind

ΔY ₂ - the shortest distance between the plane of the midship frame of the towed vessel and the reference point of the driven tug, a positive value corresponds to the position of the tug ahead of the midsection, a negative value - behind

The required linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel is specified in the remote control by the values ψ, γ, α and ε, while the value of F _S is determined by the values of ψ and γ, and the value of M _S is determined by the values of α and ε.

With remote coordinated control, the values of ψ, γ, α and ε are set by the external crew of the leading tug of the group using the joystick on the control panel of the operator station in the remote control, while:

- the value ψ corresponds to the angle of deviation of the joystick neck from the vertical axis and sets the magnitude of the vector F _S ;

- the value γ corresponds to the direction of tilt of the joystick neck and sets the direction of the vector F _S COG _SD ;

- the value α corresponds to the direction of rotation of the joystick neck around the vertical axis (right-left) and sets the direction of rotation of the towed vessel, i.e. direction of the force moment vector M _S ;

- the value ε corresponds to the angle of rotation of the joystick neck around the vertical axis and sets the magnitude of the moment rotating the towed vessel, i.e. modulus of the force moment vector M _S .

Tugs are placed at the side of the towed vessel symmetrically to the plane of the midship frame, i.e. |ΔY ₁ | = |ΔY ₂ | and sgnΔY ₁ ≠ sgnΔY ₂ .

The calculation of vectors F _T1 and F _T2 consists of determining their modules F _T1 and F _T2 and directions β ₁ and β ₂ .

Calculation of the magnitudes of the vectors F _T1 and F _T2

The tugs develop the same forces, i.e. the force modules F _T1 and F _T2 provided by the BA stops are equal. The values of these modules are determined by the ratio of the angles of inclination ψ and rotation ε of the joystick and are calculated using formula (5).

Where

ψ _max - maximum angle of deviation of the joystick neck from the vertical axis

ε _max - maximum angle of rotation of the joystick neck around the vertical axis

F _SD is the value of the modulus of force that must be applied to the towed vessel to overcome the hydrodynamic resistance caused by the movement of the vessel at the required speed and the aerodynamic effect of the wind.

Calculation of directions F _T1 and F _T2

To ensure the movement of the towed vessel with the required track angle, the directions of application of forces β ₁ and β ₂ must be symmetrical with respect to the required vector of linear movement of the vessel (given track angle) COG _SD and spaced from it by an amount ±Δβ.

β ₁ =COG _SD - HDG _S +α⋅η⋅Δβ

β ₂ =COG _SD - HDG _S - α⋅η⋅Δβ

Δβ ₁ =p ₀₀

ΔX=ΔX ₁ =ΔX ₂

ΔY=ΔY ₁ =ΔY ₂

Calculation of F _SD

The value F _SD is determined as the sum of the modules of the hydrodynamic resistance vectors of the underwater part of the hull of a towed vessel, caused by the linear movement of the vessel F _HL and the rotation of the vessel F _HR , and the modules of the aerodynamic force vectors, which determines the linear movement of the towed vessel F _WL and its rotation F _WR under the influence of wind, multiplied by an increasing factor k _FSD , taking into account the uncertainty and inaccuracy of data on the characteristics of the towed vessel k _FSD ∈(1.10;1.30):

C _X0 - coefficient of water resistance to the movement of the vessel at zero drift angle, the value C _X0 =0.037 is taken [1]

C _Yβ =0.5C ^β _γβ sin2β cosβ+c ₂ sin ² β+c ₃ sin ⁴ 2β

ρ _W - water density

STW _C - speed of the towed vessel relative to the water, the value coincides with the speed of the leading tug relative to the water, obtained from the navigation equipment of the leading tug

A _Lb is the reduced area of the immersed part of the center plane of the towed vessel.

L _S - length of the towed vessel along the existing waterline

B _S - width of the towed vessel along the effective waterline

T _MS - draft of the towed vessel amidships;

where L _T1 and L _T2 are the modules of the shoulder radius vectors, determined by the relative position of the tugs of the group and the towed vessel and calculated using formulas (3) and (4)

Where

C _Mβ =m ₁ sin2β+m ₂ sinβ+m ₃ sin ³ 2β+m ₄ sin ⁶ 2β

m ₃ =0.022 - 0.0063δ _S

ROT _C - current measured angular speed of rotation of the vessel relative to the water, the value coincides with the speed of rotation of the leading tug relative to the water, received from the navigation equipment of the leading tug;

A _Lδ - reduced area of the immersed part of the vessel's center plane, is calculated using the following mathematical relationship: A _Lδ = L _S T _MS δ _S , where δ _S is the coefficient of the overall fullness of the hull of the towed vessel.

Where

C _AX =0.3-0.19 |γ _R |, γ _R is given in radians

C _AY =1.05 |sin γ _R |

A _VB is the area of projection of the surface part of the towed vessel onto the plane of the midship frame;

A _VL is the area of projection of the surface part of the towed vessel onto the center plane;

ρ _A - air density;

ν _R - apparent wind speed

SOG _C - current speed of the leading tug relative to the ground, obtained from the navigation equipment of the leading tug

ν _WC - true wind speed received from the a-Navigation hydrometeorological server

γ _WC - true wind direction received from the a-Navigation hydrometeorological server

γ _R - apparent wind direction

η is the relative distance of the center of sail of the side surface of the surface part of the towed vessel from the midship frame, taken positive if the center of sail is located forward of the midship frame, and negative if the center of sail is located in the opposite direction:

The proposed algorithm for determining the magnitudes and directions of application of forces developed by the stops of the tugs of the group for rotation and linear movement of the towed vessel provides an adequate response to the rotation and tilt of the joystick neck: the direction of rotation of the vessel corresponds to the specified one, with an increase in the angle of rotation of the neck, the torque module increases, the direction of movement of the vessel corresponds to the specified one; with increasing angle of inclination of the bar, the force module increases.

The essence of the proposed method is illustrated by the following graphic material presented in Fig., where:

1 - operator station equipped with a joystick-type manipulator,

2 - block for receiving joystick position data,

3 - weather data receiving unit,

4 - block for receiving data about the vessel,

5 - block for receiving data on the relative position of the leading and slave tugs and the vessel,

6 - navigation data receiving unit,

7 - computer for the coordinated control system (CCS) of the leading tug,

7.1 - calculation block F _SD , including a subblock calculation 7.1.1 of the vectors F _HL and F _HR and a subblock calculation 7.1.2 of the vectors F _WL and F _WR ,

7.2 - calculation block F _T1 and F _T2 ,

7.3 - block for calculating β ₁ and β ₂ ,

8 - SAUDiM of the leading tug,

9 - SAUDIM of the slave tug.

From Operator Station 1, via a data exchange channel with the remote control post through the shore and onboard network routers, the following is transmitted to the input of the joystick position data receiving unit 2, data on the joystick position, which sets the required parameters for the movement and rotation of the towed vessel, to the input of the vessel data receiving unit 4 data on the towed vessel, necessary and sufficient for calculating the values of the thrusts developed by the tugs, to the input of the Data Reception Unit on the relative position of the BA and the vessel 5 data on the coordinates of the tugs relative to the vessel, from the hydrometeorological a-navigation server via the data exchange channel with the remote control post via coastal and onboard network routers transmit data on the direction and speed of the true wind to the input of the weather data receiving unit 3, from the onboard navigation equipment of the leading tug, the movement parameters of the leading tug are received from the onboard navigation equipment of the leading tug, to the input of the navigation data receiving unit 6, the movement parameters of the leading tug are received to the first input of the calculation subunit F _HL and F _HR 7.1 .1 from Block 4, data about the towed vessel is supplied, the second input of subblock 7.1.1 from Block 5 is supplied with data on the relative position of the tugs and the vessel, the third input of subblock 7.1.1 from Block 6 is supplied with the current values of course, speed and track angle of the leader tug, data on the towed vessel is supplied to the first input of the calculation subblock F _WL and F _WR 7.1.2 from Block 4, data on the relative position of the tugs and the vessel is supplied to the second input of subblock 7.1.2 from Block 5, and to the third input of subblock 7.1.2 the current values of the course, speed and track angle of the leading tug are supplied, weather data are supplied to the fourth input of subblock 7.1.2 from Block 3, the calculation results F _HL and F _HR are supplied to the first input of the Calculation Block F _T1 and F _T2 7.2 from the output of subblock 7.1.1 , the calculation results F _WL and F _WR are supplied to the second input of Block 7.2 from the output of subblock 7.1.2, data on the angles of inclination and rotation of the joystick neck are supplied to the third input of Block 7.2 from the output of Block 2, and β ₁ and β ₂ are supplied to the first input of the Calculation Block 7.3, from the output of the Navigation Data Reception Unit 6, the current values of the heading, speed and track angle of the leading tug are supplied, data on the angles of inclination and rotation of the joystick neck are supplied to the second input of Block 7.3 from the output of Block 2, and data is supplied to the third input of Block 7.3 from the output of Block 5 about the relative position of the tugs, from the first output of Block 7.2 to the first input of Block 8, the results of calculating the force vector module, which should be provided by the stops of the leading tug, are received, from the first output of Block 7.3, the results of calculating the direction of the force vector, which should be provided by the stops, are sent to the second input of Block 8 of the leading tug, from the second output of Block 7.2, via the data exchange channel with the remote control post through the shore and onboard network routers, the first input of Block 9 receives the results of calculating the force vector module, which should be provided by the stops of the slave tug, from the second output of Block 7.3 via the data exchange channel with the remote control post, through the shore and onboard network routers, the second input of Block 9 receives the results of calculating the direction of the force vector, which should be provided by the stops of the leading tug.

In the method, one tug-automatic in the group is designated as the leader, the second - as the slave, the coordinated control system for the movement of the leading tug through the data exchange channel from the remote control post receives control signals from the operator station 1, which are processed in the computing device 7 of the coordinated control system of the leading tug-automatic , then the directions and modules of force vectors required for a given linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel are calculated, which must be applied to the towed vessel by each of the tugs of the group, the calculated values are transmitted via the on-board communication line to the system 8 of automatic control of the movement and maneuvering of the leading tug (SAUDiM ₁ ) and through the data exchange channel from the remote control to the system 9 of automatic control of the movement and maneuvering of the slave tug (SAUDiM ₂ ), the control signals generated by SAUDiM ₁ and SAUDiM ₂ are transmitted to the propulsion and steering devices of the tugs of the group. Monitoring whether the direction and speed of the linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel corresponds to the required values is carried out by the external crew of the leading vehicle using the data displayed on the display of the operator station in the remote control.

As a result of calculations performed on the leading tug for the tugs of the group, the used effective power of the main engines of the automatic tugs corresponds to that required to ensure towing, mooring and berthing of a vessel located in a rigid technological coupling with the tugs of the group, while information on the characteristics of the towed vessel can be obtained immediately before the start of the towing/mooring operation, and is sufficient in the current hydrometeorological situation, while ensuring the automatic distribution between automatic tugs of a group of stops formed by the propulsion and steering devices of each tug, in order to ensure the required linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel.

Thus, thanks to the proposed invention, the possibility of remote coordinated control of a group of fully autonomous automatic tugs is achieved in the process of performing towing operations associated with placing a vessel with a priori unknown hydrodynamic and aerodynamic properties to the berth of a sea and river port and ensuring departure from the berth, while The effective power of the main engines of automatic tugs is calculated in accordance with the characteristics of the towed vessel and current hydrometeorological conditions.

Information sources

1. Handbook of ship theory. Ed. ME AND. Voitkunsky. Volume. 3. Leningrad: Shipbuilding. 1985.

2. Tokarev P.A. Method for determining hydrodynamic forces on a ship's hull during arbitrary plane motion. VGAVT Bulletin, issue 52, 2017, p. 191-205.

Claims (1)

A method for controlling the coordinated group activities of automatic tugboats, based on the interaction of a coastal remote control post with fully autonomous automatic tugboats performing towing and tilting of a vessel with characteristics unknown before the start of the towing and tilting operation and taking into account the hydrometeorological conditions of its implementation, characterized in that one the automatic tug in the group is assigned as the leader, the second - as the slave, the coordinated control system for the movement of the leading tug receives control signals from the operator station via a data exchange channel from the remote control station, which are processed in the computing device of the coordinated control system of the leading automatic tug, then the required for specified by the staff of the remote control post for the linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel, the directions and modules of the force vectors that must be applied to the towed vessel by each of the tugs of the group, the calculated values are transmitted via the on-board communication line to the automatic control system for the movement and maneuvering of the leading tug and via the data exchange channel with a remote control post into the automatic control system for the movement and maneuvering of the slave tug, generated by the automatic control systems for the movement and maneuvering of the tugs of the group, control signals are transmitted to the propulsion and steering devices of the tugs, while monitoring the compliance of the direction and speed of the linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel with the required values is carried out externally by the crew of the leading tugboat using the data displayed on the display of the operator station of the remote control post, and as a result of calculations performed on the lead tug for the tugboats of the group, the effective power of the main engines of the tugboats used corresponds to that required to ensure towing, mooring and berthing of the vessel with characteristics, information about which becomes known immediately before the start of the towing/mooring operation, located in a rigid technological coupling with the tugs of the group, in the current hydrometeorological situation, while ensuring automatic distribution between the automatic tugs of the group of stops formed by the propulsion and steering devices of each tug, with in order to ensure the required linear movement and rotation of the towed vessel.

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