A dynamic active control system configured for counteracting dynamic motions of a marine vessel and yaw torque generated by a gyroscopic stabilizer by a change of the heading of the marine vessel. The system may include at least one sensor, a plurality of water engagement devices, a steering actuator, the gyroscopic stabilizer and a software module. Water engagement device delta positions in counteracting dynamic motions of the marine vessel may, potentially in combination with the gyroscopic stabilizer, introduce a change of the heading of the marine vessel that may be counteracted by a change in the steering angle.

A ship control device includes an input unit, an operation monitoring unit, and a ship holding unit. The input unit is inputted with an operating position of a ship operator for controlling the moving direction or propulsion of the ship. The operation monitoring unit detects an operation stationary state in which the operating position of the ship is unchanged for a predetermined time based on the time variation of the operating position of the ship. When the ship holding condition, including the detection of the operation stationary state, is satisfied, the ship holding unit performs ship holding control to hold the behavior of the ship.

In a boat including a hull, when the hull is moved laterally based on an output from the outboard motor, the hull rolls, which may cause discomfort to a user or passengers. To compensate for this, a lateral movement control method for the boat including the hull and the outboard motor includes generating a propulsion force to laterally move the hull with the output of the outboard motor, and executing a roll reduction process to reduce a roll angle of the hull at a time of laterally moving the hull.

A system for controlling a speed of a watercraft includes first and second propulsion devices configured to propel the watercraft, a processor, and a memory. The processor is configured to receive data indicating a desired speed of the watercraft, determine a first power input value for the first propulsion device and a second power input value for the second propulsion device such that a predicted speed of the watercraft equals the desired speed of the watercraft, and cause the first propulsion device to operate according to the first power input value and the second propulsion device to operate according to the second power input value such that the watercraft achieves the desired speed. The predicted speed of the watercraft corresponds to when the first propulsion device is operating according to the first power input value and the second propulsion device is operating according to the second power input value.

A disturbance estimation apparatus that includes a position data receiver, a thrust data receiver, and processing circuitry is provided. The position data receiver receives position data indicating a position of a ship. The thrust data receiver receives thrust data indicating a thrust force driving the ship during navigation. The processing circuitry determines a magnitude of the thrust force based on the thrust data, and determines, based on the position data, disturbance data including a drift direction in which the ship drifts due to an external force and a drift speed of the ship while the thrust force is less than a threshold value. The processing circuitry outputs the disturbance data that indicates disturbance acting on the ship and assists to control movement of the ship for automatically maintaining a selected position or heading direction of the ship.

A system for controlling a watercraft includes a satellite positioning sensor, a remote sensor, and a controller. The satellite positioning sensor detects a position of a watercraft based on radio waves transmitted from a satellite. The remote sensor detects a position of a target object. When the satellite positioning sensor receives the radio waves transmitted from the satellite, the controller is configured or programmed to obtain the position of the watercraft detected by the satellite positioning sensor and execute a normal automated navigation such that the watercraft is moved along a predetermined navigation route. The controller is configured or programmed to obtain the position of the target object detected by the remote sensor during navigation of the watercraft, and execute a temporary automated navigation to move the watercraft toward the target object when the satellite positioning sensor is interrupted from receiving the radio waves transmitted from the satellite.

An automated watercraft operating system includes a watercraft operating controller and an obstacle sensor. The watercraft operating controller is disposed in a watercraft and is configured or programmed to control a marine propulsion device. The obstacle sensor is configured to detect an obstacle in the surroundings of the watercraft. When the watercraft operating controller determines that a shift state of the marine propulsion device is not switchable, the watercraft operating controller is configured or programmed to stop driving a driver in the marine propulsion device in accordance with a result of detection by the obstacle sensor.

A swimmer emergency alerting, tracking, rescue assistance, and rip current mapping system includes a stand and a life preserver that is removably mounted to the stand. The stand includes a solar panel or other charger, and the life preserver includes a battery receiving power from the charger and a sensor that is driven by the battery, such as to detect a location of the life preserver. The stand and the life preservers may wirelessly communicate with another device, such as a user device, to provide information on a status of the stand and the life preserver. A drone may fly from the stand and collect images of a shore, and the drone may process the images to identify a rip current. The drone may use data from a watercraft identifying rip current to train the processing of the images.

A system for a boat includes a first guideway installed under a main deck of the boat, a first battery pack coupled to the first guideway under the main deck, and a first actuator configured to move the first battery pack along the first guideway. A controller is electrically and/or signally coupled with the first actuator. A user input device is electrically and/or signally coupled with the controller. The controller is configured to control the first actuator to move the first battery pack along the first guideway in response to an input to the user input device so as to relocate the weight of the first battery pack under the main deck.

A ship maneuvering system includes a plurality of inertial measurement units, and a controller configured or programmed to estimate a property of a wave received by a marine vessel based on a behavior of a hull of the marine vessel measured by the plurality of inertial measurement units, and perform a heading holding control based on an influence on the marine vessel caused by the wave of which the property was estimated.