Auto-Pilot

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

THE AUTOPILOT IS BASICALLY USED WHEN A SHIP HAS TO STEER A SET COURSE FOR A LONG
TIME WITHOUT ALTERATION BECAUSE ANY DEVIATION FROM THE SET COURSE IS CONTROLLED
AUTOMATICALLY.
THIS WILL NOT ONLY RELIEVE THE HELMSMAN FROM STEERING DUTIES BUT IS ALSO MORE
EFFICIENT BECAUSE AS SOON AS THE SHIP DEVIATES FROM THE SET COURSE, CORRECTIVE
ACTION IS TAKEN IMMEDIATELY USING REQUISTE AMOUNT OF HELM TO BRING THE SHIP TO THE
SET COURSE.
THIS IS ACHIEVED BY COMPARING THE COURSE TO STEER AS SET BY THE NAVIGATOR WITH THE
SHIPS HEADING OBTAINED FROM GYRO OR MAGNETIC COMPASS, ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE TWO WILL CAUSE AN ERROR AND CORRECTING HELM IS APPLIED TO THE RUDDER SUCH
THAT THE HEADING IS BROUGHT TO THE SAME VALUE AS THE SET COURSE.
WITH THE USE OF AUTOPILOT OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, THE AVERAGE SPEED OF THE SHIP
INCREASES AS THE SHIP DOES NOT ZIG ZAG ACROSS THE TRACK AND THIS WILL ALSO ENSURE
THAT SHIPS STEERING GEAR OPERATES TO A MINIMUM.
A GOOD AUTOMATIC STEERING SYSTEM ALSO REDUCES THE FUEL CONSUMPTION.
SINCE THE MANOEUVRING CHARACTERISTICS OF SHIP DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF SHIP, LENGTH,
BEAM AND ALSO VARIES WITH TRIM, LOADING AND WEATHER CONDITION ETC., CERTAIN CRITICAL
CONTROLS HAVE TO BE SET OPTIMALLY TO OBTAIN EFFICIENT AUTOMATIC STEERING.
THE AUTOPILOT MUST HAVE INDICATORS TO SHOW WHETHER THE STEERING IS ON MANUAL OR
AUTOPILOT AND THE CHANGE OVER SWITCH MUST BE ON OR NEAR THE STEERING PANEL ITSELF.

SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM

COURSE TO STEER IS SELECTED BY THE COURSE SELECTOR KNOB.

PRESENT HEADING IS INDICATED ON THE GYRO OR MAGNETIC COMPASS.
BOTH THE ABOVE OUTPUTS COUPLED TO THE COMPARATOR IN THE CONTROL UNIT.
ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SIGNALS CAUSES AN ERROR SIGNAL WHOSE MAGNITUDE
IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SIGNALS.
HENCE COMPARATOR IS ALSO CALLED PROPORTIONAL CONTROL.
BOTH THE ABOVE SIGNALS ARE ANALYSED BY THE CONTROL UNIT WHICH ALSO CONSITS OF
DERIVATIVES AND INTEGRAL CONTROLS.
A SUMMING AMPLIFIER IS USED TO OBTAIN A RESULTANT ERROR SIGNAL FROM ALL THESE 3
CONTROLS.
THIS ERROR SIGNAL IS FED TO THE ERROR AMPLIFIER, WHICH ALSO GETS FEEDBACK SIGNALS
FROM THE RUDDER (POSITION & MOVEMENT)
OUTPUT OF ERROR AMPLIFIER IS FED VIA TELEMOTORS TO THE STEERING GEAR UNIT AND IN
TURN OPERATES THE RUDDER.
IF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SIGNALS IS ZERO THERE WILL BE NO OUTPUT FROM THE
CONTROL UNIT AND SO NO MOVEMENT OF THE RUDDER.

CONTROL UNIT

IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE SHIPS COURSE AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE, THE CONTROL UNIT
CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING:
- PROPORTIONAL CONTROL
- DERIVATIVE CONTROL
- INTEGRAL CONTROL

PROPORTIONAL CONTROL
WHEN ONLY PROPORTIONAL CONTROL IS USED, IT CAUSES THE RUDDER TO MOVE BY AN
AMOUNT PROPORTIONAL TO THE OFF-COURSE ERROR.
AND THE SHIP WILL OSCILLATE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE REQUIRED COURSE-LINE.
WHEN THE SHIP GOES OFF-COURSE TO PORT, AN ERROR OCCURS AND HELM HAS TO BE USED TO
ALTER THE COURSE TO STBD SO AS TO BRING THE SHIP BACK ON THE SET COURSE.
AS THE SHIP STARTS TO RETURN TO THE SET COURSE, THE HELM IS GRADUALLY REDUCED AND
FINALLY WHEN THE SHIP IS BACK ON THE SET COURSE, THE HELM IS REMOVED.
THE RUDDER WILL BE AMIDSHIP AS THE SHIP APPRAOCHES ITS COURSE AT POINT A CAUSING AN
OVERSHOOT RESULTING IN SHIP TO GO MORE TO STARBOARD THAN THE REQUIRED COURSE.
CORRECTING DATA IS NOW APPLIED CAUSING A PORT TURN TO BRING THE SHIP BACK TO ITS
ORIGINAL COURSE LINE.

DERIVATIVE CONTROL
THE RUDDER IS SHIFTED BY AN AMOUNT PROPORTIONAL TO THE RATE OF CHANGE OF SHIPS
DEVIATION FROM THE COURSE.
ANY DEVIATION OF COURSE TO PORT CAUSES CORRECTING STBD RUDDER TO BE APPLIED.
THE RATE OF CHANGE DECREASES WITH THE RESULT THAT AUTOMATIC RUDDER CONTROL
DECREASES AND AT POINT A, THE RUDDER WILL RETURN TO MIDSHIP POSITION.
THE SHIP WILL NOW MAKE GOOD A COURSE, WHICH IS PARALLEL TO THE REQUIRED COURSE. AND
WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.
AN IDEAL COMBINATION OF BOTH PROPORTIONAL AND DERIVATIVE CONTROL PRODUCES A MORE
SATISFACTORY RETURN TO COURSE AS SHOWN IN FIG.

INTEGRAL CONTROL
CERTAIN ERRORS DUE TO DESIGN PARAMETERS OF THE SHIP LIKE SHAPE OF THE HULL, BOW
GOING TO PORT WHEN MAKING A HEADWAY DUE TO TRANSVERSE THRUST ETC., HAVE TO BE
CORRECTED.
DATA SIGNALS ARE PRODUCE BY CONTINUOUSLY SENSING HEADING ERROR OVER A PERIOD OF
TIME AND AN APPROPRIATE DEGREE OF PERMANENT HELM IS APPLIED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
THE RUDDER USED TO CORRECT THE COURSE WILL NOW BE ABOUT THIS PERMANENT HELM
INSTEAD OF THE ACTUAL MIDSHIP.
THE OUTPUT OF THESE 3 CONTROLS IS COMBINED AND THE NET RESULTANT THUS OBTAINED
DRIVES THE RUDDER, THEREBY MAINTAINING THE SHIP ON THE SET COURSE.
THIS TYPE OF AUTO-PILOT IS CALLED PID AUTOPILOT.

CONTROLS ON THE PANEL

THE SETTING OF THESE CRITICAL CONTROLS DEPENDS ON THE MANOEUVRING

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHIP IN HER PRESENT DISPLACEMENT , TRIM AND PREVIALING
WEATHER CONDITIONS:1. COURSE CELECTOR KNOB
THIS IS THE PRIMARY CONTROL OF THE AUTO-PILOT SYSTEM AND COURSE TO BE STEERED IS
SELECTED WITH THIS KNOB.
2. RUDDER CONTROL
THIS CONTROL DETERMINES THE AMOUNT OF RUDDER TO BE USED TO CORRECT THE SLIGHTEST
AMOUNT OF DEVIATION FROM THE SET COURSE. THE HIGHER THE SETTING, THE LARGER THE
RUDDER ANGLE USED TO CORRECT A COURSE DEVIATION AND THIS MAY RESULT IN OVER
CORRECTING.
CONTRARILIY IF THE SETTING IS LOW, LESS RUDDER ANGLE IS USED TO CORRECT A COURSE
DEVIATION AND THE SHIP WILL TAKE A LONG TIME TO RETURN TO THE SET COURSE.
HENCE THE SETTING HAS TO BE OPTIMUM SO THAT THE SHIP QUICKLY RETURNS TO THE SET
COURSE WITH MINIMUM OVERSHOOT.
3. COUNTER RUDDER CONTROL
THIS CONTROL DETERMINES THE AMOUNT OF COUNTER ACTION BY THE RUDDER TO STEADY THE
SHIP ON THE SET COURSE KEEPING THE OVERSHOOT TO A MINIMUM.
TOO LOW A SETTING WILL ALLOW THE SHIP TO OVERSHOOT AND TO HIGH A SETTING WILL BRING
THE SHIP BACK TO THE SET COURSE SLOWLY.
HENCE OPTIMUM SETTING IS REQUIRED.
GENERALLY THE RUDDER AND COUNTER RUDDER CONTROLS WORK IN TANDEM AND THEIR
SETTING WILL DEPEND ON EACH OTHER, BUT THE RUDDER CONTROL MUST BE SET FIRST AND
THEN THE COUNTER RUDDER CONTROL MUST BE SET OPTIMUMLY.
4. YAW
THE SETTING OF THE YAW CONTROL DEPENDS ON THE WIND AND WEATHER CONDITION AND
THEIR EFFECT ON THE COURSE KEEPING ABILITY OF THE SHIP.
IN BAD WEATHER WITH STRONG WIND AND ROUGH SEA, A HIGHER VALUE SHOULD BE SELECTED
WHILE IN CALM WEATHER A LOW VALUE IS PREFERRED.

5. PERMANENT HELM
THIS CONTROL IS USED WHEN THE SHIP IS BEING DRIVEN OFF COURSE BY CROSS WINDS.
RUDDER ANGLE USED SHOULD BE JUST SUFFICIENT TO OFF SET THIS DRIFT.
6. SPEED
THE SPEED OF THE SHIP DETERMINES EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RUDDER.
THE LOWER THE SPEED, LESS EFFECTIVE IS THE RUDDER AND VICE VERSA.
SPEED INPUT IS USUALLY GIVEN FROM THE LOG AND IN CASE OF LOG NOT WORKING, MANUAL
SPEED CAN BE FED.
7. RUDDER LIMIT
THIS CONTROL SPECIFIES THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF RUDDER TO BE USED, WHEN CORRECTING
THE SHIPS HEAD OR WHEN ALTERING COURSE ON AUTOPILOT ITSELF.
IN CASE THE ALTERATION IS DONE ON THE AUTOPILOT ITSELF AND THE NAVIGATOR INTENDS TO
USE HELM OF 10 ONLY, THIS VALUE OF 10 WILL BE SPECIFIED AS THE RUDDER LIMIT SO THAT THE
SHIP WILL TURN SLOWLY TO NEW COURSE USING MAIMUM HELM 10 ONLY. IF THE SHIP
OVERSHOOTS ON THE OTHER SIDE, OPPOSITE CORRECTIVE HELM OF ONLY 10 WILL BE USED TO
BRING BACK TO SET COURSE.
THIS LIMIT CAN BE VARIED TO SUIT THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NAVUGATOR.\
8. OFF COURSE ALARM
THIS ALARM IS ACTIVATED IF THE SHIP DEVIATES FROM THE SET COURSE BY A PRE-DECIDED
LIMIT, WHICH IS FED TO THE EQUIPMENT.
THIS IS USUALLY SET DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND IS HIGHER IN ROUGH SEAS
AND STRONG WINDS WHEN THE SHIP IS MORE LIKELY TO DEVIATE FROM THE SET COURSE.
IN CALM WEATHER THIS LIMIT IS LOWER
THIS ALARM ALSO SERVES AS A WARNING IN CASE THE AUTOPILOT FAILS AND THE SHIP DEVIATES
FROM THE SET COURSE BY THE LIMITS FED IN.
9. SYNCHRONIZATION CONTROL
THIS CONTROL TEMPORARILY DISCONNECTS THE GYRO REPEATER FROM THE MAIN GYRO SO
THAT THE HEADING OF THE REPEATER CAN BE SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE MASTER GYRO.
THIS IS USUALLY NOT REQUIRED TO BE DONE EXCEPT WHEN THE GYRO IS SWITCHED OFF AND
RESTARTED OR FOR EXCEPTIONAL REASONS THE REPEATER HAS DRIFTED OFF.
10.AUTO/FOLLOW UP/ NON FOLLOW UP
THIS SWITCH ALLOWS THE NAVIGATOR TO CHOOSE BETWEEN AUTOMATIC STEERING OR MANUAL
STEERING AND IN CASE OF MANUAL STEERING FAILURE NON-FOLLOW UP SYSTEM MAY ALSO BE
USED.
NON-FLLOW UP MODE IS THE MANUAL OVERIDE CONTROL THAT IS PROVIDED FOR THE OOW TO
GAIN INSTANT CONTROL OF THE STEERING.
11. DIMMER
THIS IS PANEL ILLUMINATION SWITCH AND MUST BE SET SO THAT THE PANEL CONTROLS ARE
CLEARLY VISIBLE AT NIGHT WITHOUT AFFECTING THE NIGHT VISION OF THE OOW.

AUTO-ADAPTIVE STEERING SYSTEM

THIS IS AN ADVANCE VERSION OF THE PID CONTROL, WHICH ADAPTS TO THE STEERING
CAPABILITIES OF THE SHIP AS THE WIND AND WEATHER CONDITIONS
FIGURE SHOWS THE BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AUTOMATIC PROCESSING UNIT IN THE ADAPTIVE MODE
AND THE CONTROL ALOGRITH IS DIVIDED INTO THREE UNITS AS FOLLOWS:- ESTIMATION UNIT
- OPTIMAL CONTROL UNIT AND
- ADAPTIVE KALMAN FILTER

ESTIMATION UNIT

THE SHIPS HULL DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS CHANGES DUE TO THE LOAD CONDITION, SHIP
SPEED, DEPTH OF WATER, WIND AND WAVES, ETC.
HENCE IN PID AUTOPILOT, THE CONTROLS HAVE TO BE RE-ADJUSTED TO GET OPTIMUMSTEERIN,
WHEREAS IN ADAPTIVE AUTOPILOT , THE ESTIMATION ALGORITHM IS INCORPORATED SO THAT
THE OPTIMUM STEERING IS OBTAINED WITHOUT RE-ADJUSTING CONTROLS.
THE ALGORITHM IS BASED ON MODEL REFERENCE ADAPTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM (MRACS), WHICH
GIVES DESIABLE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE CONTROL SYSTEM BASED ON THE MATHEMATICAL
MODEL.

IT ALSO ESTIMATES THE SHIPS HULL DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS.

THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL INDICATING THE SHIPS RESPONSE IS INCORPORATED IN THE
AUTOPILOT AND THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS ARE ESTIMATED BY THE CHANGING
PARAMETERS F THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL SO THAT TH OUTPUT OF THIS MODEL
CORRESPONDINGWITH THE SHIPS RUDDER ANGLE RESPONSE i.e. THE VARIABLE ARE
AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED IN THE AUTOMATIC PROCESSING UNIT.
THE ABOVE SYSTEM IS USED FOR BOTH DEVIATION FROM SET COURSE AND ALTERATION OF
COURSES.

OPTIMAL CONTROL UNIT

CONSISTS OF THE OPTIMAL GAIN CALCULATION UNIT AND THE ORDER RUDDER ANGLE
CALCULATION UNIT.
IT CALCULATES THE OPTIMAL GAIN BASED ON THE ESTIMATED RESULTS OF THE HULL DYNAMIC
CHARACTERISTICS CALCULATED BY THE MRACS, THE SHIPS SPEED AND THE ESTIMATION UNIT
FUNCTIONS.
THE ORDER RUDDER ANGLE CALCULATION UNIT CALCULATES THE OPTIMAL RUDDER ANGLE TO
BE ORDERED BASED ON THE ESTIMATED COURSE DEVIATION AND ESTIMATED RATE OF TURN
OUTPUT FROM THE ADAPTIVE KALMAN UNIT.

Figure: Block diagram of optimal control unit

AUTO-ADAPTIVE STEERING SYSTEM HAS THE FOLLOWING MODES:

- COURSE KEEPING MODE AND

- COURSE CHANGING MODE

COURSE KEEPING MODE

OPEN SEA MODE & CONFINED MODE
IN OPEN SEA MODE IS ECONOMICAL AND IS PREFERRED FOR COURSE KEEPING WITH LEAST USE
OF RUDDER, EVEN IF PERMITTING A LITTLE MEANDERING SUCH AS SAILING IN OPEN SEAS AND
IN CONFINED MODE THE COURSE KEEPING ACCURACY OF MAINTAINING THE SHIP ON THE
COURSE LINE IS PREFERRED EVEN IF BY USING LARGE RUDDER ANGLES.

THE OPTIMAL GAIN CALCULATION UNIT CALCULATES EACH OPTIMAL GAIN OF THE OPEN SEA
MODE AND CONFINED MODE AND SWITCHING BETWEEN THEM CAN BE DONE WITH THE HELP OF
COURSE KEEPING KNOB ON THE AUTO CONTROL UNIT.
COURSE CHANGING MODE
BY ORDERING CHANGING IN THE AUTO-ADAPTIVE STEERING SYSTEM, THE MODE IS
AUTOMATICALLY MOVED TO THE COURSE CHANGING MODE.
THE MRACS IS USED IN THE COURSE CHANGING CONTROL ALGORITHM AND THE IDEAL COURSE
CHANGING, MATCHED WITH OWN SHIPS DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS, CAN BE PERFORMED.
THE IMPORTANT FEATURES OF COURSE CHANGING WITH THE AUTOPILOT IS THAT THE COURSE
CHANGING IS ACHIEVED WITH A CONSTANT RATE OF TURN TECHNIQUE USING MINIMUM RUDDER
ANGLE AND THEREBY THE SPEED REDUCTION CAN ALSO BE KEPT TO A MINIMUM, UNLIKE
CONVENTIONAL AUTOPILOT.

KALMAN FILTER
IN OPEN SEA THE SHIP IS SUBJECTED TO WIND AND WEATHER EFFECTS, WHICH CAUSES THE
SHIP TO YAW.
GENERALLY IN CALM SEA THIS IN SMALL DEVIATION OF COURSE WHERE AS IN ROUGH SEAS
LARGER DEVIATIONS OF COURSE ARE EXPERIENCED.
FOR SMALL DEVIATION REPEATED USE OF RUDDER IS NOT RECOMMENDED AND MAKES THE
STEERING SYSTEM INEFFICIENT, IN ADDITION TO OVERLOADING THE SYSTEM.
IN CONVENTIONAL AUTOPILOT THE LINEAR FILTERS AND WEATHER ADJUSTMENT ARE PROVIDED
TO PREVENT SUCH OCCURENCES.
THIS SYSTEM THOUGH BASED ON PRINCIPLES OF BACKLASH, DUAL GAIN AND DEAD BAND ETC.
HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN EFFECTIVE.
IN ADAPTIVE AUTOPILOT A KALMAN FILTER IS USED BY WHICH TRUE AND CORRECT WEATHER
ADJUSTMENT ARE POSSIBLE.

Conception of Kalman Filter

AS SHOWN IN FIGURE, THE KALMAN FILTER HAS A MODEL OF HULL (MODEL SHIP), AND THE SAME
RUDDER ANGLES AS THAT OF ACTUAL SHIP ARE USED AS INPUT TO THIS MODEL SHIP.
THE ACTUAL SHIPS HULL RECEIVES VARIOUS EXTERNAL DISTURBANCES TO GETHER WITH A
RUDDER ANGLE SIGNALS AND SAILS WITH A STRONG YAW.
NO EXTERNAL DISTURBANCE IS INPUT TO THE MODEL SHIP IN THE KALMAN FILTER AND THE
MODEL SHIP ALWAYS TAKES MOTION OF SAILING IN CALM SEA.
THE KALMAN FILTER SEEKS FOR THE MOST PROBALE SHIPS MOTION BY COMPARING AND
CORRECTING WITH THESE TWO SIGNALS SUCCESSIVELY.
AS A RESULT THE LARGE DEVIATIONS, WHICH ARE INDUCED BY WAVES AND CANNOT BE
SUPPRESSED BY THE STEERING, SCARCELY APPEAR IN THE OUTPUT OF KALMAN FILTER
IN ADDITION, THE KALMAN FILTER HAS A UNIT TO SET AMPLITUDE OF EXTERNAL DISTURBANCES.
EVEN WITH THE HELP OF KALMAN FILTER, ALL CONDITIONS FROM CALM SEAS TO ROUGH SEAS
CANNOT BE COVERED BY CONSTANT EXTERNAL DISTURBANCE SETTING.
THE EXTERNAL DISTURBANCE SETTING SHOULD BE CHANGED ACCORDING TO SEA STATE.
IN THIS SYSTEM EXTERNAL DISTURBANCES ARE AUTOMATICALLY SET CONSIDERING THE
FOLLOWING:- INFLUENCE OF SEA STATE ON THE SHIPS STEERING SYSTEM IS NOT PROPORTIONAL TO THE
BEAUFORT SCALE AND DIRECTIONS OF WAVES & SWELL AFFECTS THE SHIPS STEERING
SYSTEM. AS IS WELL KNOWN EVEN WITH THE SAME BEAUFORT SCALE, INFLUENCE ON THE
SHIPS STEERING SYSTEM VARIES WITH DIRECTION OF WIND AND SWELL.
- IN THIS SYSTEM, THE RATE OF TURN IS USED AS THE PARAMETER TO ESTIMATE SEA STATE
FOR THE AUTOPILOT.
- THE KALMAN FILTER OF THIS SYSTEM USES THE ESTIMATED RESULTS OF THE SHIPS
DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS CALCULATED BY MRACS FOR THE MODEL SHIP
CHARACTERISTICS AND THE ADAPTIVE KALMAN FILTER IS USED TO SET EXTERNAL
DISTURBAMCES AUTOMATICALLY ACCORDING TO THE RATE OF TURN SO THAT STABLE FILTER
OUTPUT CAN BE OBTAINED IN CALM SEA AS WELL AS IN ROUGH SEA.

PRECAUTIONS

ALTHOUGH AS PER IMO PERFORMANCE STANDARD, CHANGING OVER FROM AUTOMATIC TO

MANUAL STEERING OR VICE VERSA IS POSSIBLE AT ANY RUDDER ANGLE, IT IS A GOOD PRACTICE
TO CHANGE FROM AUTOMATIC TO MANUAL OR VICE VERSA WHEN THE RUDDER IS MIDSHIP
EXCEPT IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES WHEN IT MAY BE CHANGED OVER AT ANY ANGLE.
REGULARLY CHECK THE FOLLOWING:- THE GYRO REPEATER IS SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE MASTER REPEATER.
- THE SETTING OF THE CONTROLS ARE OPTIMUM AND ADJUST IF REQUIRED.
- THE OFF-COURSE ALARM AND
- TRY OUT HAND AND EMERGENCY STEERING.
IF A CLOSE QUARTER SITUATION IS DEVELOPING, THE SHIP SHOULD NOT BE LEFT ON AUTOPILOT
AND INSTEAD MANUAL STEERING SHOULD BE USED TILL THE SHIP OVERCOMES THE CLOSE
QUARTER SITUATION.

MAINTENANCE SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT AS SPECIFIED IN THE MANUAL.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT AUTOPILOT IS COURSE KEEPER AND NOT A HELMSMAN.

IT SHOULD NOT BE USED UNDER THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
- IN NARROW CHANNEL
- AT SLOW SPEEDS
- DURING HEAVY WEATHER CONDITIONS
- WHILE CARRYING OUT LARGE ALTERATION OF COURSE AND
- IN AREAS OF POOR VISIBILITY.

Regulations regarding the use of auto pilot.

As per SOLAS reg V/19, all ships >10,000GRT are required to have a heading or track
control system, or other means, to automatically control and keep to a heading and/or
straight track.

SOLAS reg V/24 requires that in areas of high traffic density, in conditions of restricted
visibility and in all other hazardous navigational situations where heading and/or track
control systems are in use, it shall be possible to establish manual control of the ships
steering immediately.
In circumstances as above, the OOW watch shall have available without delay the services
of a qualified helmsperson who shall be ready at all times to take over steering control.
The change-over from automatic to manual steering and vice versa shall be made by, or
under the supervision of, a responsible officer.
The manual steering shall be tested after prolonged use of heading and/or track control
systems and before entering areas where navigation demands special caution.

SOLAS Reg V/26 requires that within 12 hours before departure, along with the ships
steering gear the autopilot shall be checked and tested.