Design of a Multijet Omnidirectional Propulsion System for Small Jet-Boats

Abstract

Jet-boats perform remarkably well at high-speed but lack low speed maneuverability for tight maneuvers such as docking. This paper presents a joystick controlled omnidirectional propulsion system for jet-boats. The concept uses a set of fixed jet nozzles disposed around the hull. When a force is commanded by the joystick, valves on each nozzle modulate the flow so that the sum of nozzle thrusts correspond to the commanded force. The positions and angles of the nozzles are optimized with an index of omnidirectionality quality based on the projection of a set of force solutions on a shell with the shape of a desired force space. The choice of valve positions and engine speeds is done by the numerical inversion of an internal viscous flow model. A 3D simulator, backed by experimental results, serves to (1) evaluate the ability of the proposed concept in meeting its design requirements and (2) develop control algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed omnidirectional system is effective for low speed maneuverability with open-loop force control. The present work also offers an effective omnidirectional propulsion system that is easy to enhance with advanced control laws. Velocity feedback control is given as an example and shows important improvement of maneuverability and robustness to miscalibration.