Patent ID: 11866134
Assignee: KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 18:
19. A method of controlling a small watercraft, wherein the small watercraft includes: a watercraft body; a watercraft body manipulation structure that is mounted on the watercraft body and through which a watercraft body manipulation command is input by an operator; a drive source that is mounted on the watercraft body and that allows the watercraft body to plane; and a steering structure that is mounted on the watercraft body and that allows the watercraft body to be steered, the method comprising:
determining whether a mode switching condition is satisfied, wherein the mode switching condition includes an operator's absence condition that the operator is absent from the watercraft body; and
executing an operator-absent manipulation mode upon determining that the mode switching condition is satisfied, wherein in the operator-absent manipulation mode, the watercraft body is moved by controlling the drive source and the steering structure based on an operator-absent manipulation command independent of the watercraft body manipulation command.