Patent ID: 9377780
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: B63H,G01C,G05D

Claim Text:
1. A method for determining a heading value of a marine vessel, the method comprising: determining a speed of the marine vessel; determining a first estimate of a direction of the marine vessel based on information from a first source that detects the direction of the marine vessel with respect to Earth's magnetic field; determining a second estimate of the direction of the marine vessel based on information from a second source that detects the direction of the marine vessel based on a vessel course over ground; and inputting the speed, the first estimate, and the second estimate to a control circuit; wherein the control circuit scales each of the first estimate and the second estimate and sums the scaled first estimate and the scaled second estimate together so as to determine the heading value; wherein the control circuit weights the first estimate more heavily than the second estimate when the marine vessel is operating at a low speed, and weights the second estimate more heavily than the first estimate when the marine vessel is operating at a high speed; and wherein the control circuit provides the heading value to a heading control section, which compares the heading value to a commanded heading in order to determine a corrective steering action and output a corrective steering command and orient the marine vessel at the commanded heading based on the corrective steering command.