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Joe, James suggestion of proportional control is on the
money. Another consideration for depth control associated with a
proportional joystick arrangement is an on-edge dial which is used to dial in
the depth you want to maintain. This makes driving the sub underwater
much easier, especially mid-water. As you know, planes and rudder control
are ineffective below 2 kts. This type of control is regularly utilized
on tourist submersibles and ROVs. R/J2
Respectfully, Jay K. Jeffries Andros Is., Bahamas A skimmer afloat is but
a submarine, so poorly built it will not plunge. -----Original Message----- Joe, I just noticed (the light finally went on) about
something you posted earlier: "Directional control one hand....rate (current flow)
the other. Joystick back all four thrust downward for rise,
joystick forward all thrust upward for descent." I would probably do this different. If done in the
appropriate manner, the controls could be setup proportionally. The further you
pushed the stick...the faster the movement would happen(well the
more thrust in that direction would happen). This would simplify your controls greatly. One hand doing
thruster control (up, down, left, right, and spin about it's vertical
axis), and the other hand handling the rudder(possibly differential primary
drive motors) and primary drive motors. This does depend on the method of
rudder control and the extent that you are willing to take the control
system. This would make the system totally in both hands other than ballast
control, which could be done as well, but that can be discussed later. This doesn't simplify the surfaced maneuvering problems
of the vessel. You could put an additional button to enable the horizontal
thruster for surface operations(this would also disable the x thrusters). Then
the standard controls could be used. All of this sounds expensive, but it can be done much
cheaper than most people think. Hence the reason I want to help. Plus I
need a project to help with. James Long Owner/Designer Lil Brother LLC (Instrument Division) |