Patent ID: 8521348

Claim:
A system for controlling the velocity of a watercraft having an engine for propulsion, said system comprising: a velocity measuring device capable of obtaining a first measurement of the velocity magnitude of said watercraft; an inertia measurement device capable of obtaining a measurement of the acceleration of said watercraft; a control input device capable of accepting an input of a predetermined desired velocity of said watercraft and a predetermined desired acceleration of said watercraft; and a control module comprising: a velocity algorithm capable of creating a second measurement of the velocity magnitude of said watercraft from said acceleration measurement; an observed velocity algorithm capable of creating an observed velocity measurement of the velocity of said watercraft from said first measurement of the velocity of said watercraft and said second measurement of the velocity of said watercraft; and an engine speed algorithm capable of creating a first engine speed output correction from said observed velocity measurement, said predetermined desired velocity, said predetermined desired acceleration, and said acceleration measurement; and said first engine speed output correction being capable of causing said watercraft to be propelled at substantially said predetermined velocity.