Full analysis of ship steering gear control principles and practical implementation points explained in one article

For those newbies who have just started to debug ship electronic control systems, when you stand near the control console of the training ship and your fingertips touch the rudder control handle, the closed-loop operation mode that you perceive from the position of the handle to the precise rotation of the rudder blades is the key.Ship steering gear control principle.

Today, from the perspective of the entire process of practical debugging, we disassemble this relatively abstract set of electronic control and hydraulic linkage logic into practical content that everyone can get started with and understand.

Standing next to the control console of the training ship and observing it from the perspective of a novice in electronic control debugging, the first thing that catches the eye is the signal input layer. The function of the Hall displacement sensor on the control handle is extremely important. It can accurately convert the physical angle generated when the handle is pulled into a step-by-step PWM pulse electrical signal. Specifically, every 1 degree of handle displacement corresponds to a set of pulse sequences with a fixed duty cycle. This precise correspondence ensures the accuracy of signal transmission, and there is absolutely no signal aliasing distortion.

In this process, the Hall displacement sensor is like an extremely precise signal converter. It relies on its own high-precision performance to convert mechanical movements into stable and reliable electrical signals. Each set of pulse sequences carries precise information about the handle's displacement, providing accurate data basis for subsequent electronic control systems. No matter under any complex control situation, it can always maintain a stable state, ensuring the clarity and accuracy of the signal, providing solid support for the normal operation of the training ship.

From the perspective of an engine apprentice standing on the side of the maintenance port of the hydraulic pump station, the control device that receives the signal sequence will check the code for the pulse. It can accurately analyze the pulse signal and carry out a series of complex check and code actions. Then, the processed execution instructions are transmitted to the electro-hydraulic flow valve; the electro-hydraulic flow valve performs according to the received According to the command, the opening and closing degree of the valve port will be dynamically adjusted according to the accuracy of the signal. This dynamic adjustment is quite precise and can change the opening and closing status of the valve port in time according to the subtle changes in the signal. The change in the opening and closing degree of the valve port will then prompt the oil pressure to push the power piston rod to move back and forth, and the power piston rod will move back and forth regularly under the action of oil pressure. Ultimately, the rudder blades are prompted to achieve follow-up deflection, and the rudder blades will produce corresponding follow-up changes based on the movement of the power piston rod to ensure accurate control of the ship's sailing direction. The rudder blades will make corresponding changes according to the movement of the power piston rod to ensure that the ship's sailing direction control is flawless.

At the operation and maintenance test focus in front of the shipboard monitoring screen, the angle feedback encoder installed at the far end of the rudder blade will transmit real-time deflection data back to the control center. The system will use a 0.02 second response cycle to complete deviation comparison and automatic correction, thereby forming a set of stable fully closed-loop control logic。

The newly hired debuggers conduct their first rudder setting test on a training ship. This process is a typical case and has great reference value. When they initially did not calibrate the zero position of the feedback encoder, every time they pulled the handle, the rudder blades would deviate from the preset angle, resulting in an error of 3 to 5 degrees.。

Following the standard process, after completing the zero point recalibration and completing the full-scale deviation compensation, the rudder blade deflection error range was directly reduced to within the industry standard requirement of 0.5 degrees. The entire closed-loop system and the adaptation effect have been fully verified.

The electro-hydraulic servo parameter matching link is a key link in the servo drive calibration link in the entire logic. Many beginners easily ignore this link during the debugging stage and fail to dynamically adjust the servo drive response bandwidth based on the actual rudder blade load. As a result, a common fault will eventually occur, such as jitter and stuck at small rudder angles.

You can completely rely on what you have at handkpowerThe parameter interface of the Servo debugging software with visual characteristics maps and records the corresponding relationship of the PID parameters corresponding to the load in a frame-by-frame manner, thus avoiding various hidden problems that may be encountered during subsequent real-ship debugging.

Next, we will explain the common methods of troubleshooting that you encounter most frequently. This set of standardized processing procedures can be immediately used in daily training operations after you learn it, without the need for complicated secondary conversion operations.

Before triggering the debugging process in the first step, you need to start checking the signal layer one by one, focusing on checking the possibility of zero drift in the handle Hall sensor. Usually, a calibration operation is performed every three months, so that the cumulative error of the input signal can be controlled within a reasonable threshold range from a long-term perspective.

First, in the second step, the efficiency of the hydraulic power section of the execution layer must be verified. Then, the hydraulic oil impurities remaining in the pre-filter of the electro-hydraulic flow valve must be regularly cleaned. Finally, the rudder blade response sluggishness caused by stuck valve port must be prevented.

The third step is to finally achieve closed-loop calibration and conduct a full closed-loop retest to compare the difference between the command rudder angle displayed by the monitoring system and the actual rudder angle read back by the compass. After 8 consecutive groups, if the deviation of the comparison data exceeds 0.8 degrees, then the encoder parameters must be calibrated again.

High-frequency Q/A section of the practical debugging process:

Q1: What is the core misunderstanding that novices are most likely to avoid in debugging?

If the zero position of the feedback element is skipped and the rudder is calibrated directly after power-on, it will cause a cumulative deviation of the rudder angle, which will far exceed the qualification threshold.

Q2: Which core parameters should be paid priority to in daily operation and maintenance?

A: The bandwidth matching value of the servo drive needs to match the actual dynamic load on the rudder surface of the current ship type.

Q3: What should be done first in case of sudden steering gear failure during navigation?

A: Immediately switch to the manual hydraulic rudder mode, and then check the signal link transmission status in sequence.

Q4: What adjustments need to be made to the rudder angle parameters in the shallow water reef area?

Ah: Moderately lower the threshold of the servo's response rate to avoid excessive force impacts on the rudder blades due to sudden changes in flow pressure.

You have to sort out the entire set of control logic cores repeatedly, so that you can understand them clearly. Complete the input of basic signals, carry out drive translation, and build a full-link system for power execution. This is the basic prerequisite for realizing the rudder follow-up action.

It is necessary to rely on a high-response feedback correction mechanism to achieve dynamic correction of the entire chain deviation, which is a necessary technical condition to ensure accurate and controllable rudder effect throughout the voyage.

For all beginners who want to quickly master this system debugging skills, the next path of action is very clear. Within this week, you must rely on the existing training equipment on hand to complete the complete process of three-level debugging. Next time, we will combine it with a real anchoring test to achieve full logical closed-loop verification to digest key knowledge points.

Practice it repeatedly for more than 3 times, and insist on following standardized practical actions, so that you can fully understand the entire ship steering gear control context and have the confidence to calmly handle various common deck electronic control-related debugging tasks.