Fly-By-Wire Steering
 

Hi Guys,
Thought it was time to make my Fly-By-Wire Steering system public knowledge in the US. I have been working on it now for the past couple of years. The system comprises of a fully proportional hydraulic control valve a counter balance valve two seperate ECU's, two transducers one mounted on each drive and two potentiometers mounted in the steering column. In the event of a total electrical failure i also have a mechanical overide system.
The benefits of Fly-By-Wire are many fold as the system does not have any wheel creep it is much more car like in it's operation so when the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position the drives are straight this has allowed me to engineer trim and tab buttons on to the steering wheel as well as paddle throttles, it is also speed sensitive one turn lock to lock at docking speed progressively getting less sensitive as the speed rises, all fully programmable. The steering column has self centering built in along with adjustable friction clutches.
The system has been fully bench tested in the workshop and will be running in the first boat within the next 8 weeks.
The pictures are of the Ilmor boat but the Volvo engined boat will run first.

Peter

Fly-By-Wire-Steering
 

Some more pictures

Cool system with lots of features but... It's not really new. OEM's are already doing this and have been for several years, as well as integrating it into GPS for autopilot function and other control. I like the adjustable lock to lock feature based on speed though. The helm we've used for about 5 years now is fully adjustable as well but it won't change based on speed. We usually set them up for a quick lock to lock and set it up with a buffer in the straight ahead position so it's not twitchy. Everything is on a CAN network so you can display drive angles, trim, fluid temp, etc. on a large display. On larger applications it can also be read by another PLC with satellite uplink and wifi so all parameters can be monitored from anywhere with an internet signal. There is provision to input all engine sensors as well for monitoring and datalogging. The sky's the limit if you got the $$$. Cool project, good luck!

Nice work! I heard from Ian Hawkins that you're in the hydraulics business, and it shows.

Modern tractor steering! Why not?

Lookin' good.

Jeff

Hi HaxbySpeed,
I am familiar with the Volvo joy stick and Zeus fly-by-wire control systems but this is a totally different approach aimed at ultra high performance powerboats.. but no doubt there are other engineers with similar thoughts to mine... Our system is also integrated into the CAN network and navigation system, we can also program in steering angle reduction as the speed rises so that you can't accidently apply more steering lock than the boat can safely take at a given speed.

Peter

Thanks C_Spray,
It would be great to meet up on one of our trips to America and take a look at your B28.

Peter

Just completed the hydraulic test rig for demonstrating the fly-by-wire steering system to prospective customers.

Peter

Great Calender!!

+1

Steering
 

Hi

very well set up boat

so you make a system for a single outboard, Mercury 300SX?

Cheers

Trevor

Hi Peter looks awesome, if that is the boat you are bringing to Florida you may want to rethink the black, that thing will be on fire with the sun we have here especially in the summer.

Thanks Trevor,
Development of the fly-by-wire steering will focus on stern drive and shaft drive boats to start with but i am also looking at a smaller battery powered version for outboards but that is some time in the future.

Peter

Thanks pstorti,
The red and black boat is staying in cold and drafty England where a bit of heat soak is very welcome most of the time... the Outerlimits is coming to Florida and we have gone for much lighter colours to take account of your hotter climate.

Peter

Peter,
Another application of this could be for competition ski boats. Right now our tournament boats are GPS speed controlled. The tournament boats will pull a skier through a 900 foot slalom course at an exact speed at an error of less than 1/100th of a second no matter if its a 50lb kid or a 225 lb adult capable of really slowing the boat down. The steering of the boat is the only thing the tournament driver has to manage now. The boat path is evaluated by end course cameras and must be accurate to an inch or two at each boat gate......not always something that average tournament drivers can do. On our committees GPS steering has been discussed and would be welcomed. There is a significant market for this. I believe that a company called E-controls is doing the speed control now.