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Automated Sailing System
Self-steering gear is equipment used on sail boats to maintain a chosen Course (navigation), course or point of sail without constant human action. History Mechanical or "wind vane" self-steering started out as a way to keep model sail boats on course. Before the advent of radio control, model yacht racing (started before WW1) was typically contested on long narrow ponds, and the number of stops along the banks was counted as a penalty in the final result. Initially a system of counterweight on the tillers was devised to compensate for the weather helm when the model boat heeled in a gust. These crude systems evolved in a more sophisticated system called Braine Gear after its inventor, George Braine. The Braine steering gear was a fine-tuned system of quadrant on the rudder stock driven by the tension of the mainsail sheet and damped by a rubber band. A more sophisticated system called the vane gear was later devised, it relied on a small vane or airfoil driving the main rudder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Course (navigation)
In navigation, the course of a watercraft or aircraft is the cardinal direction in which the craft is to be Steering, steered. The course is to be distinguished from the ''Heading (navigation), heading'', which is the direction where the watercraft's Bow (watercraft), bow or the aircraft's Nose cone, nose is pointed. The path that a vessel follows is called a track or, in the case of aircraft, ground track (also known as ''course made good'' or ''course over the ground''). The intended track is a route. Discussion For ships and aircraft, routes are typically Great-circle distance, straight-line segments between Waypoint, waypoints. A navigator determines the ''bearing'' (the compass direction from the craft's current position) of the next waypoint. Because water currents or wind can cause a craft to drift off course, a navigator sets a ''course to steer'' that compensates for drift. The helmsman or pilot points the craft on a ''heading'' that corresponds to the course to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chartplotter
A chartplotter is a device used in marine navigation that integrates GPS data with an electronic navigational chart (ENC). The chartplotter displays the ENC along with the position, heading and speed of the ship, and may display additional information from radar, Automatic Identification System, automatic information systems (AIS) or other sensors. As appropriate to particular marine applications, chartplotters may also display data from other sensors, such as echolocators or sonar. Technology Electronic chartplotters are by nature CPU (and General-purpose computing on graphics processing units, GPU) intensive applications. Chartplotters need to retrieve the Navigation Signal (Galileo (satellite navigation), Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, WAAS etc.) and overlay that on a map. Map updates on dedicated hardware typically have screen refresh rates from 5 Hz to 30 Hz. Some navigation software can run on standard computers (and mobile phones, etc.) but most higher end systems are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing. Pendulums were widely used in early mechanical clocks for timekeeping. The regular motion of pendulums was used for timekeeping and was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s. The pendulum clock invented by Christiaan Huygens in 1656 became the world's standard timekeeper, used in homes and offices for 270 years, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Hasler
Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler, (27 February 1914 – 5 May 1987) was a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Marines. Soon after joining the Marines, he grew a blonde moustache, from which he acquired his nickname ‘Blondie'. In December 1942, during the Second World War, Hasler led a small commando raid against Axis shipping in Bordeaux. He was responsible for many of the concepts which ultimately led to the formation of the Special Boat Service. After the war he became a notable yachtsman, contributing especially to developments in single-handed sailing. Early life Hasler was born in Dublin on 27 February 1914, the youngest son of Lieutenant Arthur Thomas Hasler (a Royal Army Medical Corps quartermaster), and his wife, Annie Georgina (née Andrews). His father died after the troopship ''Transylvania'' was torpedoed on 4 May 1917. Hasler was sent to Wellington College, where he was a keen sportsman. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines on 1 September 1932. Second World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windmill Fantail
A fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and was perfected on mills around Leeds and Hull towards the end of the 18th century. Fantails are found on all types of traditional windmills and are especially useful where changes in wind direction are frequent. They are more common in England, Denmark and Germany than in other parts of Europe, and are little-known on windmills elsewhere except where English millwrighting traditions were in evidence. The rotating fantail turns the cap of the windmill via a system of gearing to a toothed rack around the top of the mill tower, or to wheels running on the ground in the case of a post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windmill
A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; the horizontal or panemone windmill first appeared in Persia during the 9th century, and the vertical windmill first appeared in northwestern Europe in the 12th century. Regarded as an icon of Dutch culture, there are approximately 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands today. Forerunners Wind-powered machines have been known earlier, the Babylonian emperor Hammurabi had used wind mill power for his irrigation project in Mesopotamia in the 17th century BC. Later, Hero of Alexandria (Heron) in first-century Roman Egypt described what appears to be a wind-driven wheel to power a machine.Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", ''Archiv für Kulturgeschichte'', Vol. 77, Issue 1 (1995), pp. 1–30 (10f.) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trim Tab
Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger Flight control surfaces, control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a particular desired Orientation (geometry), attitude without the need for the operator to constantly apply a control force. This is done by adjusting the angle of the tab relative to the larger surface. Changing the setting of a trim tab adjusts the neutral or resting position of a control surface (such as an Elevator (aircraft), elevator or rudder). As the desired position of a control surface changes (corresponding mainly to different speeds), an adjustable trim tab will allow the operator to reduce the manual force required to maintain that position—to zero, if desired. Thus the trim tab acts as a servo tab. Because the Center of pressure (fluid mechanics), center of pressure of the trim tab is farther away from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Servo Tab
A servo tab is a small hinged device installed on an aircraft control surface to assist the movement of the Flight control surfaces, control surfaces. Introduced by the German firm Flettner, servo tabs were formerly known as Flettner tabs. Servo tabs are not true servomechanisms, as they do not employ negative feedback to keep the control surfaces in a desired position; they only provide a mechanical advantage to the pilot. Servo tabs A servo tab, or balance tab, moves in the direction opposite to the desired movement of the control surface. It deflects airflow, generating force on the whole control surface in the desired direction. The tab has a leverage advantage, being located well aft of the control surface hinge line, and thus its airflow deflection moves the control surface in the opposite direction, overcoming the resistance generated by the airflow deflection of the control surface. This has the effect of reducing the control force required from the pilot to move the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apparent Wind
Apparent wind is the wind experienced by a moving object. Definition of apparent wind The ''apparent wind'' is the wind experienced by an observer in motion and is the relative velocity of the wind in relation to the observer. The ''velocity of the apparent wind'' is the vector sum of the ''velocity of the headwind'' (which is the velocity a moving object would experience in still air) plus the ''velocity of the true wind''. The headwind is the additive inverse of the object's velocity; therefore, the ''velocity of the apparent wind'' can also be defined as a vector sum of the ''velocity of the true wind'' minus the ''velocity of the object''. Apparent wind in sailing In sailing, ''apparent wind'' is the speed and direction of wind indicated by a wind instrument ( anemometer) on a ''moving'' craft (on water, land or ice) in undisturbed air. It is composed of the ''combined'' speeds and directions of the craft and wind observed by a ''stationary'' wind instrument—the ''true ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helmsman
A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fishing vessels and yachts, the functions of the helmsman are combined with that of the skipper (boating), skipper; on larger vessels, there is a separate officer of the watch who is responsible for the safe navigation of the ship and gives orders to the helmsman, who physically steers the ship in accordance with those orders. In the merchant navy, the person at the Ship's wheel, helm is usually an able seaman, particularly during ship arrivals, departures, and while maneuvering in restricted waters or other conditions requiring precise steering. An ordinary seaman is commonly restricted to steering in open waters. Moreover, military ships may have a Seaman (rank), seaman or quartermaster at the helm. A professional helmsman maintains a stea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windvane Self Steering System
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , meaning "flag". Although partly functional, wind vanes are generally decorative, often featuring the traditional cockerel design with letters indicating the points of the compass. Other common motifs include ships, arrows, and horses. Not all wind vanes have pointers. In a sufficiently strong wind, the head of the arrow or cockerel (or equivalent) will indicate the direction from which the wind is blowing. Wind vanes are also found on small wind turbines to keep the wind turbine pointing into the wind. History The oldest known textual references to weather vanes date from 1800-1600 BCE Babylon, where a fable called ''The Fable of the Willow'' describes people looking at a weather vane "for the direction of the wind." In China, the ''Huai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
