Patent ID: 7818120

Claim:
A route planning and evaluation method executed by a computer in a navigation system, comprising: receiving from a location device, a location and velocity for a host vessel; sensing data for at least one object in an environment proximate to the host vessel the data including navigation data; receiving from an electronic chart library a chart containing the location of the host vessel; displaying to an operator, the chart and a representation of the host vessel at current location and a representation of any sensed objects proximate to the host vessel; receiving from the operator and/or the retrieved chart, information including at least one navigation constraint and potential host vessel and object speed, the information being combined with the environmental data, location and velocity as collective route elements; generating, for a planning interval and subsequent planning intervals, a planned route for the host vessel and a predicted route for each sensed object by utilizing the navigation data, the routes being based upon the collective route elements, the planning interval being a time interval in which the planned and predicted routes are accepted as valid, the planned position of the host vessel and the predicted location for each sensed object displayed as an animation; evaluating the host vessel planned route by adjusting the animation; providing the animation only for each planning interval and animating from one planning interval to one of the subsequent intervals; predicting a proximate convergence of the host vessel and sensed object; signaling the proximate convergence to the operator; generating an alternate planned route or new waypoint; modifying the host vessel planned route according to the alternate planned route or new waypoint in response to the operator modifying one or more of the collective route elements; and adopting the alternate planned route as the current route in response to operator approval.