Submersible recovery device and recovery method

Abstract

The present invention provides a submersible recovery device for use with an unmanned vessel, comprising an unmanned vessel-side recoverer and an unmanned submersible-side recoverer. Each of the unmanned vessel-side recoverer and the unmanned submersible-side recoverer is provided with a magnet. A side of the unmanned vessel-side recoverer, away from the magnet, is provided with an unmanned vessel-side cable. The side of the unmanned submersible-side recoverer, away from the magnet, is provided with an unmanned submersible-side cable. A propeller is provided on the side of the unmanned vessel-side recoverer. The recovery device provided by the present invention significantly reduces positioning and navigation errors by having the unmanned vessel and micro-submersible each release a recoverer connected by a recovery cable. Emergency recovery of the unmanned submersible can be performed in the event of an emergency recovery due to a propulsion failure or electronic circuit failure. The two recoverers are quickly connected and matched using an electromagnet, which is more efficient. Pressure and tension sensors are used to verify whether the end recoverers are successfully docked, making the method more efficient and quicker. The device has wide applicability in the field of unmanned submersible recovery.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of ocean exploration equipment, and in particular to the field of submersible recovery. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are unmanned vehicles that navigate underwater, either remotely or automatically, without human operators. They primarily refer to intelligent systems that replace divers or manned small submarines in high-risk underwater operations such as deep-sea exploration, rescue, and mine clearance. Therefore, UUVs are also called "diving robots" or "underwater robots." UUVs can be categorized into military and civilian applications. In the military, UUVs can serve as unmanned combat platforms within a new concept weapon system. In this sense, their role is similar to that of drones. In the civilian sector, they can replace divers in operations such as shipwreck salvage, deepwater exploration, and underwater cable laying. The application range of current underwater UUVs is constantly expanding. Germany's "Sea Otter" UUV can be used for offshore oil surveys, communication line inspections, military applications, and deep-sea exploration and salvage. Australia's "Turtle" UUV, equipped with multiple scanning sonars and cameras, allows for real-time seabed exploration. The Japanese government also invested 1 billion yen in 2014 to develop underwater unmanned vehicles for the development of marine resources such as rare metals and natural gas. There are mainly the following ways to recover underwater unmanned vehicles:

[0003] 1. Surface lifting and recovery generally requires staff to take a motorboat to approach the underwater unmanned vehicle to complete the docking with the recovery mechanism. This method is greatly affected by wind and waves, and is prone to equipment damage and personnel safety hazards when the sea conditions are bad.

[0004] 2. The mother ship uses a lifting slide or underwater docking device to perform underwater docking and recovery operations, but underwater docking is difficult and has high requirements. The underwater unmanned vehicle needs to maintain real-time communication with the mother ship and constantly adjust its posture to aim at the docking device. At the same time, the flow field of the mother ship will affect the movement of the underwater unmanned vehicle, further increasing the difficulty of recovery.

[0005] 3. By pulling the towing rope thrown by the underwater unmanned vehicle, a special docking and lifting device is used for docking and recovery. This method requires the underwater unmanned vehicle to adopt a specific rope throwing mechanism, which has great limitations and has applicability issues for underwater unmanned vehicles.

[0006] Unmanned vessels are rapidly developing in areas such as surveying and rescue. Combining unmanned vessels with unmanned submersibles (UUVs) can avoid arduous offshore operations, improve recovery efficiency, and reduce recovery risks. Therefore, the collaborative working model of micro-submersibles and unmanned vessels is an inevitable development trend. For example, patent CN201811517264.9 published by Shanghai University, titled "An Unmanned Surface Vessel Retracting and Deploying UUVs," provides a solution for recovering UUVs using unmanned vessels. The UUVs are hoisted and recovered using a gantry and clamping mechanism on the unmanned vessel. The UUVs are then returned to the vicinity of the unmanned vessel using their autonomous positioning system, where they are positioned using a laser rangefinder. However, this gantry design results in a large structure and weight on the unmanned vessel's deck, increasing the probability of the vessel capsizing. It is difficult to locate the UUVs using lasers or other visual systems such as pan-tilt cameras used by recovery vessels, as they are subject to significant interference from the mother ship's flow field. In particular, micro-submersibles suffer from poor dynamic positioning performance and large underwater navigation errors, resulting in a low success rate and efficiency for recovering UUVs by unmanned vessels. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In response to the technical problems in the prior art that micro-submersibles have poor dynamic positioning performance and large underwater navigation errors, which lead to low success rate and low efficiency in recovering micro-submersibles by unmanned ships, the present invention provides a submersible recovery device and recovery method, which abandons the traditional idea of ​​relying on the micro-submersible's autonomous navigation and dynamic positioning to wait for the unmanned ship to capture when recovering the micro-submersible. Instead, the unmanned ship and the micro-submersible each release a recoverer connected by a recovery cable. The submersible only needs to rely on inertial navigation or GPS navigation to roughly reach the vicinity of the unmanned ship, which can greatly allow for positioning and navigation errors, improve the success rate of micro-submersible recovery, and greatly improve efficiency. It has wide applicability in the field of unmanned submersible recovery.

[0008] The present invention provides a submersible recovery device, including an unmanned ship-end recoverer and an unmanned submersible-end recoverer. The unmanned ship-end recoverer and the unmanned submersible-end recoverer are each provided with a magnet on an opposite side. An unmanned ship-end cable is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer away from the magnet. An unmanned submersible-end cable is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer away from the magnet. A propeller is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer, and the propeller is preferably a propeller propeller.

[0009] In the present invention, an outer shell is provided on the outside of the unmanned ship-end recoverer, which is a corrosion-resistant ABS shell. A ballast block is provided at the bottom of the unmanned ship-end recoverer, which adopts a high-density FPM rubber ballast block. The magnet is arranged in the middle of the high-density FPM rubber ballast block. A pressure sensor is provided on the high-density FPM rubber ballast block. A steering gear is provided inside the unmanned ship-end recoverer, which is connected to a propeller propeller, and a propulsion motor is provided on the upper part of the propeller propeller.

[0010] In the present invention, a corrosion-resistant ABS shell is provided on the outside of the unmanned submersible end recoverer, a high-density FPM rubber ballast block is provided at the lower part of the unmanned submersible end, and a corrosion-resistant water sealing ring is provided between the magnet and the corrosion-resistant ABS shell of the unmanned submersible end recoverer.

[0011] The thickness of the high-density FPM rubber ballast block of the unmanned ship end recoverer is smaller than that of the high-density FPM rubber ballast block of the unmanned underwater vehicle end recoverer.

[0012] In the present invention, the magnet is an electromagnet, and a magnet shell is provided outside the electromagnet.

[0013] In the present invention, communication lines and power lines are provided in the middle of the unmanned submarine end cable and the unmanned ship end cable, corrosion-resistant layers are provided on the outside of the unmanned submarine end cable and the unmanned ship end cable, wear-resistant layers are provided on the outside of the communication lines and the power lines, and rope strands are provided between the wear-resistant layers and the corrosion-resistant layers.

[0014] In the present invention, a tension sensor is provided between the lower part of the magnet and the corrosion-resistant ABS shell of the unmanned underwater vehicle end recoverer.

[0015] In the present invention, a deflector is provided outside the propeller propeller.

[0016] The present invention also provides an unmanned boat, which has a moon pool in the middle, a hatch under the moon pool, an unmanned boat end recoverer at the bottom of the unmanned boat, and an unmanned boat end cable between the unmanned submarine end recoverer and the unmanned boat.

[0017] The present invention also provides an unmanned submersible, which has an unmanned submersible end recoverer on its upper part, a cable recovery motor inside the unmanned submersible, and an unmanned submersible end cable between the unmanned submersible end recoverer and the unmanned submersible.

[0018] The present invention also provides a method for recovering a submersible, which comprises the following steps:

[0019] (1) When the submersible returns to the vicinity of the unmanned vessel, the submersible releases the unmanned submersible end recovering device and the unmanned submersible end cable on the top.

[0020] (2) The unmanned ship releases the unmanned ship end recovering device and the unmanned ship end cable.

[0021] (3) The electromagnets of the unmanned ship-side recoverer and the unmanned submarine-side recoverer are both turned on, the propeller of the unmanned ship-side recoverer is started, and the unmanned ship-side recoverer searches for the unmanned submarine-side recoverer.

[0022] (4) The opposite poles of the electromagnets of the unmanned ship's recovery device and the unmanned submarine's recovery device attract each other and come into contact with each other, and the unmanned ship's cable is reeled in, and the unmanned submarine's cable is reeled in.

[0023] (5) The submersible was captured and recovery was completed.

[0024] Specifically, the recovery method of the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0025] (1) The unmanned submersible relies on its own navigation to return to the vicinity of the unmanned ship. The unmanned submersible releases the unmanned submersible end recoverer on the top. The internal motor of the unmanned submersible releases the unmanned submersible end cable to release the unmanned submersible end recoverer and suspend it in the water.

[0026] (2) The unmanned boat opens the moon pool hatch and releases the unmanned boat end cable through the motor in the moon pool to put the unmanned boat end recovering device into the water.

[0027] (3) The electromagnets of both the unmanned ship-side recoveries and the unmanned submarine-side recoveries are turned on, and the propellers of the unmanned ship-side recoveries are started. After launching into the water, they cruise along a broken line trajectory in the waters around the unmanned submarine positioning point and conduct searches from shallow to deep.

[0028] (4) The electromagnets of the unmanned ship-end recoverer and the unmanned submarine-end recoverer are connected due to the attraction between opposite poles. After the pressure sensor of the unmanned ship-end recoverer is pressurized, the relay is triggered to start the unmanned ship-end motor to retract the cable. After the unmanned submarine-end recoverer is "captured" by the unmanned ship-end recoverer, the tension sensor in the unmanned submarine-end recoverer is increased, which triggers the relay to start the motor on the unmanned submarine-end to retract the cable on the unmanned submarine-end.

[0029] (5) The recovering device at the end of the unmanned submersible returns to the recovering device slot on the top of the submersible. When the unmanned submersible reaches the moon pool and closes the hatch, it indicates that the recovery is completed.

[0030] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0031] The present invention provides a submersible recovery device and recovery method. The unmanned boat and the micro-submersible each release a recovering device connected by a recovery cable, which can greatly allow positioning and navigation errors. When propulsion failure, electronic circuit failure, etc. make it impossible to continue sailing and emergency recovery, the unmanned submersible can be used for emergency recovery. The two recovering devices are quickly connected and matched by electromagnets, which is more efficient. The method of using pressure and tension sensors to check whether the end recovering devices are successfully docked is more efficient and quicker, and has wide applicability in the field of unmanned submersible recovery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention Figure 1 .

[0033] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention Figure 2 .

[0034] Figure 3The structure of the unmanned underwater vehicle of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 1 .

[0035] Figure 4 The structure of the unmanned underwater vehicle of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 2 .

[0036] Figure 5 The structure of the unmanned underwater vehicle of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 3 .

[0037] Figure 6 The structure of the unmanned underwater vehicle of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 4 .

[0038] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the horizontal motion structure of the unmanned ship end recovering device of the present invention Figure 1 .

[0039] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the vertical motion structure of the unmanned ship end recovering device of the present invention Figure 1 .

[0040] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the vertical motion structure of the unmanned ship end recovering device of the present invention Figure 2 .

[0041] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the horizontal motion structure of the unmanned ship end recovering device of the present invention Figure 2 .

[0042] Figure 11 Schematic diagram of the local structure of the present invention Figure 3 .

[0043] Figure 12 It is a schematic diagram of a partial cross-sectional structure of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 13 Schematic diagram of the cable structure of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the cable of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 15 Schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the cable of the present invention.

[0047] Figure 1-15 In: 1-unmanned ship, 2-unmanned underwater vehicle, 3-unmanned ship end cable, 4-unmanned ship end recovery device, 5-unmanned underwater vehicle end recovery device, 6-unmanned underwater vehicle end cable, 7-moon pool, 8-thruster, 9-housing, 10-steering gear, 11-propulsion motor, 12-pressure sensor, 13-electromagnet, 14-ballast block, 15-magnet housing, 16-water sealing ring, 17-tension sensor, 18-communication line, 19-power line, 20-wear-resistant layer, 21-rope strand, 22-corrosion-resistant layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The following is combined with Figure 1-15 The specific embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail with reference to the following examples, but the method of the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[0049] In the present invention, for the convenience of description, the relative position relationship of each component in the present invention is described based on the attached Figure 1 The layout is described, such as: the position relationship of up, down, left, right, etc. is based on the attached Figure 1 The layout direction is determined by the

[0050] The unmanned boat 1, unmanned underwater vehicle 2, unmanned boat end cable 3, unmanned underwater vehicle end cable 6, thruster 8, steering gear 10, propulsion motor 11, pressure sensor 12, electromagnet 13, ballast block 14, water sealing ring 16, tension sensor 17, etc. used in the present invention are all purchased or customized through market channels. The pressure sensor 12 is a TST micro MEMS pressure sensor, and the tension sensor 17 is a CKY-120A tension sensor.

[0051] Example 1: Submersible recovery device of the present invention

[0052] The present invention provides a submersible recovery device, including an unmanned ship-end recoverer 4 and an unmanned submersible-end recoverer 5. A magnet is provided on each opposite side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4 and the unmanned submersible-end recoverer 5. An unmanned ship-end cable 3 is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4 away from the magnet, and an unmanned submersible-end cable 6 is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4 away from the magnet. A propeller 8 is provided on the side of the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4.

[0053] In the present invention, the unmanned ship end recoverer 4 is provided with a corrosion-resistant ABS shell 9 on the outside, a high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14 is provided at the bottom of the unmanned ship end recoverer 4, a magnet is arranged in the middle of the high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14, and a pressure sensor 12 is provided on the high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14. A steering gear 10 is provided inside the unmanned ship end recoverer 4, the steering gear 10 is connected to the propeller propeller 8, and a propulsion motor 11 is provided on the upper part of the propeller propeller 8.

[0054] The unmanned submersible end recoverer 5 is provided with a corrosion-resistant ABS shell 9 on the outside, a high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14 is provided at the bottom of the unmanned submersible end recoverer 5, and a corrosion-resistant water sealing ring 16 is provided between the magnet and the corrosion-resistant ABS shell 9 of the unmanned submersible end recoverer 5.

[0055] The thickness of the high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14 of the unmanned ship end recoverer 4 is smaller than the high-density FPM rubber ballast block 14 of the unmanned underwater vehicle end recoverer 5 .

[0056] In the present invention, the magnet is an electromagnet 13 , and an anti-corrosion and anti-slip magnet housing 15 is provided outside the electromagnet 13 .

[0057] In the present invention, a communication line 18 and a power line 19 are provided in the middle of the unmanned underwater vehicle end cable 6 and the unmanned ship end cable 3, a corrosion-resistant layer 22 is provided on the outside of the unmanned underwater vehicle end cable 6 and the unmanned ship end cable 3, and a wear-resistant layer 20 is provided on the outside of the communication line 18 and the power line 19. A rope strand 21 is provided between the wear-resistant layer 20 and the corrosion-resistant layer 22, and the rope strand 21 is made of high-strength rope strand 21 twisted from polypropylene.

[0058] In the present invention, a tension sensor 17 is provided between the lower portion of the magnet and the corrosion-resistant ABS housing 9 of the unmanned underwater vehicle end recoverer 5 .

[0059] In the present invention, a deflector is provided outside the propeller propeller 8 .

[0060] The present invention also provides an unmanned boat, wherein a moon pool 7 is provided in the middle of the unmanned boat 1, a hatch is provided under the moon pool, an unmanned boat end recoverer 4 is provided at the lower part of the unmanned boat 1, an unmanned boat end cable 3 is provided between the unmanned submarine end recoverer 5 and the unmanned boat 1, and a motor is provided between the unmanned boat 1 and the unmanned boat end cable 3.

[0061] The present invention also provides an unmanned submersible, wherein an unmanned submersible end recoverer 5 is provided on the upper part of the unmanned submersible 2, an unmanned submersible end cable 6 is provided between the unmanned submersible end recoverer 5 and the unmanned submersible 2, and a motor is provided in the unmanned submersible 2, and the unmanned submersible end cable 6 is provided on the motor.

[0062] Example 2: Submersible recovery method of the present invention

[0063] When applying a submersible recovery device of the present invention to realize the method of recovering a micro-unmanned submersible 2 by an unmanned boat 1 of the present invention, first, the unmanned submersible 2 is roughly driven back to the vicinity of the unmanned boat 1 through inertial navigation or GPS navigation, and the unmanned submersible 2 releases the unmanned submersible end recoverer 5 on its top, and at the same time, the motor releases the unmanned submersible end cable 6 to release the unmanned submersible end recoverer 5 and suspend it in the water.

[0064] Next, the unmanned vessel 1 opens the moonpool 7 hatch and releases the unmanned vessel-end cable 3 via the motor inside the moonpool 7, dropping the unmanned vessel-end retriever 4 into the water. Because both the unmanned vessel-end retriever 4 and the unmanned submersible-end retriever 5 have ballast blocks 14 at the bottom, and the remaining space in the middle and upper parts of the device is large, the cavity volume is large. Therefore, the unmanned vessel-end retriever 4 and the unmanned submersible-end retriever 5 have a low center of gravity and a high center of buoyancy, which is good for stability. This helps to keep the electromagnet 13 in a vertical state at all times, thereby improving the docking success rate. The ballast blocks 14 configured on the unmanned vessel-end retriever 4 and the unmanned submersible-end retriever 5 have different masses, so that the density of the unmanned submersible-end retriever 5 is slightly less than that of water, while the density of the unmanned vessel-end retriever 4 is slightly greater than that of water.

[0065] Once the unmanned vessel 4 is launched, the electromagnet 13 is activated. Simultaneously, the four 90-degree rotatable propellers 8 of the unmanned vessel 4 are activated. These four 90-degree rotatable propellers 8 enable the unmanned vessel 4 to move flexibly in multiple degrees of freedom within the water. After launching, the unmanned vessel 4 cruises along a zigzag trajectory through the waters surrounding the location of the unmanned submersible 2, searching from shallow to deep depths. Because the unmanned vessel 1 has already reached the location of the unmanned submersible 2, the unmanned vessel 4 and the unmanned submersible 5 quickly connect due to the attraction of opposite charges on the electromagnet 13.

[0066] Finally, at the same time, the four button-type pressure sensors 12 of the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4 are subjected to pressure, triggering the relay to start the unmanned ship-end motor again to achieve cable reeling. After the unmanned submersible-end recoverer 5 is "captured" by the unmanned ship-end recoverer 4, the tension sensor 17 in the unmanned submersible-end recoverer 5 is subjected to increased tension, triggering the relay to start the unmanned submersible-end motor to achieve cable reeling of the unmanned submersible-end cable 6. When the unmanned submersible-end recoverer 5 returns to the recoverer slot on the top of the submersible, the unmanned submersible 2 reaches the moon pool 7 and closes the hatch, which indicates that the recovery is complete.

[0067] As described above, the present invention can be better implemented. The above embodiments only describe the preferred implementation methods of the present invention and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Without departing from the design spirit of the present invention, various modifications and improvements made to the technical solutions of the present invention by ordinary technicians in this field should fall within the protection scope determined by the present invention.

Claims

1. A submersible recovery device, comprising an unmanned ship end recovery device and an unmanned submersible end recovery device, characterized in that: The unmanned ship end recovery device and the unmanned submersible end recovery device are each provided with a magnet on one side opposite to the other. The unmanned ship end recovery device is provided with an unmanned ship end cable on the side away from the magnet, and the unmanned submersible end recovery device is provided with an unmanned submersible end cable on the side away from the magnet. A propeller is provided on the side of the unmanned ship end recovery device. The unmanned ship end recoverer is provided with a shell on the outside, a ballast block is provided at the bottom of the unmanned ship end recoverer, a magnet is provided in the middle of the ballast block, a pressure sensor is provided on the ballast block, a steering gear is provided inside the unmanned ship end recoverer, the steering gear is connected to the propeller, a propulsion motor is provided on the top of the propeller, and a tension sensor is provided between the bottom of the magnet and the shell of the unmanned underwater vehicle end recoverer; The unmanned underwater vehicle end cable and the unmanned ship end cable are both provided with a communication line and a power line in the middle, the unmanned underwater vehicle end cable and the unmanned ship end cable are both provided with a corrosion-resistant layer on the outside, the communication line and the power line are both provided with a wear-resistant layer on the outside, and a rope strand is provided between the wear-resistant layer and the corrosion-resistant layer; The propeller is provided with a deflector cover on the outside; the outer shell is a corrosion-resistant ABS shell, the ballast block is a high-density FPM rubber ballast block, and the propeller adopts a propeller propeller; The unmanned submersible end recovery device is provided with a shell on the outside, a ballast block is provided at the bottom of the unmanned submersible end recovery device, and a water sealing ring is provided between the magnet and the shell of the unmanned submersible end recovery device; the thickness of the ballast block of the unmanned ship end recovery device is smaller than that of the unmanned submersible end recovery device; The magnet is an electromagnet, and a magnet shell is provided outside the electromagnet.

2. A method for recovering a submersible using the submersible recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The recycling method comprises the following steps: (1) The UUV relies on its own navigation to return to the vicinity of the UAV. The UUV releases the UUV end recovery device on the top. The motor inside the UUV releases the UUV end cable to release the UUV end recovery device and suspend it in the water. (2) The unmanned boat opens the moon pool hatch and releases the unmanned boat end cable through the motor inside the moon pool to put the unmanned boat end recovery device into the water; (3) The electromagnets of both the UAV-side recoveries and the UUV-side recoveries are turned on, and the propellers of the UAV-side recoveries are started. After launching into the water, they cruise along a broken line trajectory in the waters around the UUV positioning point and conduct searches from shallow to deep depths. (4) The electromagnets of the unmanned ship-side recovering device and the unmanned submarine-side recovering device are connected due to the attraction between opposite poles. After the pressure sensor of the unmanned ship-side recovering device is pressurized, the relay is triggered to start the unmanned ship-side motor to retract the cable. After the unmanned submarine-side recovering device is "captured" by the unmanned ship-side recovering device, the tension sensor in the unmanned submarine-side recovering device is increased, which triggers the relay to start the motor on the unmanned submarine-side to retract the cable on the unmanned submarine-side. (5) The recovering device at the end of the unmanned submersible returns to the recovering device slot on the top of the submersible. When the unmanned submersible reaches the moon pool and closes the hatch, it indicates that the recovery is complete.

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