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-----
From:
owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Lil Brother
LLC
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 6:21 PM
To:
personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] NR-2
Thruster Arrangement
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)