A deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on autonomous underwater vehicles

Abstract

The present invention discloses a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle, which relates to the field of deep-sea mining technology, including a deep-sea mining mother ship, an offshore floating yard, a transporting vehicle and an ore-collecting vehicle. The transporting vehicle includes an ore storage cabin, and the side walls of the ore storage cabin are distributed with four first rotors. The top surface of the ore storage cabin is provided with a plurality of ore storage openings, and the inner walls of the ore storage openings are provided with bosses. The ore-collecting vehicle includes a four-rotor main frame, a second rotor, an anti-collision cylinder and an alternating collection actuator. The anti-collision cylinder is located in the middle of the bottom surface of the four-rotor main frame, and the bottom end of the anti-collision cylinder is overlapped on the boss, and the alternating collection actuator is located in the anti-collision cylinder. The present invention adopts a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle of the above structure, uses a transporting vehicle to vertically transport polymetallic nodules or ore-collecting vehicles, and uses two sets of grippers of multiple ore-collecting vehicles to collect polymetallic nodules, so as to achieve the purpose of efficiently collecting and transporting polymetallic nodules.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of deep-sea mining, and in particular to a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle. Background Art

[0002] The deep sea is rich in metal mineral resources. The current mainstream solution in the field of deep-sea mining technology is crawler ore collector + pipeline lifting + hydraulic ore collection. This technology requires the use of a dynamic positioning vessel and the layout of a complex lifting pipeline system. Mining production generally has a long cycle, during which the pipeline lifting system is easily damaged by severe sea conditions, and hydraulic ore collection operations cause great damage and disturbance to the seabed environment. In view of the problems of high energy consumption, difficult construction, poor environmental performance, poor adaptability to sea conditions, and environmental damage in traditional mining solutions.

[0003] In recent years, with the rapid development of unmanned autonomous underwater robot technology, the development of new underwater vehicles for deep-sea mining has become an important development direction in this field. Its main principle is to use multi-thruster power distribution technology to achieve large-load autonomous lifting and near-seabed altitude navigation control and use manipulators to collect polymetallic nodules, but its application in existing technologies has the problem of low manipulator collection efficiency.

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, it is necessary to provide a new deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on autonomous underwater vehicles. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle, so as to solve the problems that the traditional hydraulic ore collection method causes great damage to the seabed environment and the collection efficiency of the manipulator is low. By designing a transport vehicle and multiple ore collection vehicles to form a one-mother-multiple-child underwater robot system, cluster operation is realized under the guidance of a control system, wherein the transport vehicle is used for vertically transporting polymetallic nodules or ore collection vehicles, the ore collection vehicle uses two sets of grippers to collect polymetallic nodules, the transport vehicle and multiple ore collection vehicles divide the work and cooperate according to the task requirements, have data fusion and perception capabilities and multi-point operation coverage capabilities, and realize the purpose of efficiently collecting and transporting polymetallic nodules.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle, comprising a deep-sea mining mother ship, an offshore floating yard, a transporting vehicle and a mineral collection vehicle, wherein one of the transporting vehicles carries a plurality of the mineral collection vehicles, the transporting vehicle comprises a mineral storage cabin, four first rotors are evenly distributed in the middle of the side wall of the mineral storage cabin, a bottom support is provided at the bottom of the side wall of the mineral storage cabin, a plurality of evenly distributed mineral storage ports are provided on the top surface of the mineral storage cabin, a boss is provided on the inner wall of the mineral storage port, and a mineral unloading assembly is provided on the bottom surface of the mineral storage cabin;

[0007] The mining vehicle includes a four-rotor main frame, a second rotor, an anti-collision cylinder and an alternating collection actuator, wherein the second rotor is located at the four corners of the bottom surface of the four-rotor main frame, the anti-collision cylinder is located in the middle of the bottom surface of the four-rotor main frame, the bottom end of the anti-collision cylinder is overlapped on the boss, a first binocular camera and a first lighting lamp are provided on the side wall of the anti-collision cylinder, and the alternating collection actuator is located inside the anti-collision cylinder.

[0008] Preferably, the alternating collection actuator includes an upper movable disk, an upper fixed disk, a lower movable disk, an intermediate fixed disk and a lower fixed disk which are arranged in parallel from top to bottom, the upper fixed disk, the intermediate fixed disk and the lower fixed disk are all fixedly connected to a plurality of fixed beams vertically arranged on the inner wall of the anti-collision cylinder, the center holes of the upper fixed disk and the intermediate fixed disk are both fixedly connected to the intermediate cylinder, the center holes of the upper movable disk and the lower movable disk are both slidably connected to the intermediate cylinder, the upper movable disk is connected to the first on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk through a first driving component The lower movable disk is connected with the second claw on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk through the second driving assembly, a storage barrel is fixedly connected between the lower fixed disk and the middle fixed disk, a material collection port, a second binocular camera and a second lighting lamp are provided on the lower fixed disk, the material collection port is located at the center of the lower fixed disk and is connected with the storage barrel, the second binocular camera and the second lighting lamp are located on both sides of the material collection port, the first claw and the second claw are evenly distributed on a circle with the material collection port as the center, and the first claw and the second claw are alternately distributed.

[0009] Preferably, the first driving assembly includes a first electric push rod, a first movable cylindrical rod, a first push rod connecting frame, a first gripper connecting frame and a first disc connecting frame, the first movable cylindrical rod, the first push rod connecting frame, the first gripper connecting frame and the first disc connecting frame are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first gripper, the first electric push rod is fixed to the upper fixed disk, the end of the first electric push rod is connected to the upper movable disk, the top of the first movable cylindrical rod is fixed to the upper movable disk, the bottom end of the first movable cylindrical rod is hinged to the top of the first push rod connecting frame, the first gripper connecting frame is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the first disc connecting frame fixed on the lower fixed disk, one of the branches of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the bottom end of the first push rod connecting frame, and the other branch of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the middle of both sides of the first gripper;

[0010] The second driving assembly includes a second electric push rod, a second movable cylindrical rod, a second push rod connecting frame, a second gripper connecting frame and a second disc connecting frame, the second movable cylindrical rod, the second push rod connecting frame, the second gripper connecting frame and the second disc connecting frame are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the second gripper, the second electric push rod is fixed on the upper fixed disk, the end of the second electric push rod is connected to the lower movable disk, the top end of the second movable cylindrical rod is fixed on the lower movable disk, the bottom end of the second movable cylindrical rod is hinged to the top end of the second push rod connecting frame, the second gripper connecting frame is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end end of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the second disc connecting frame fixed on the lower fixed disk, one of the branches of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the bottom end of the second push rod connecting frame, and the other branch of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the middle parts of both sides of the second gripper;

[0011] The head ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are both inclined surfaces for picking up objects, the tail ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are connected to the first gripper connecting frame or the second gripper connecting frame through springs, and the tail ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are both provided with limiting cylinders corresponding to the first gripper connecting frame or the second gripper connecting frame.

[0012] Preferably, the ore unloading assembly is an iris mechanism consisting of a disc, a slider and a base, the base is fixedly connected to the bottom of the ore storage cabin, and the center hole on the base is communicated with the interior of the ore storage cabin, a unloading motor is provided on the connecting block on one side of the disc, the output shaft of the unloading motor passes through the connecting block and is connected to a gear, and the gear is meshed with an arc-shaped rack fixed on the side wall of the ore storage cabin.

[0013] Preferably, the first rotor and the second rotor each include a vertically arranged rotating motor and a propeller connected to the rotating motor.

[0014] Preferably, the offshore floating yard, the transport vessel and the ore-collecting vessel are all equipped with low-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders, the deep-sea mining mother ship is equipped with a low-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator, the ore-collecting vessel is equipped with a medium-frequency ultra-short baseline transponder, and the transport vessel is equipped with a medium-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator, and the low-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders and the low-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogators, as well as the medium-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders and the medium-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogators are all connected for communication via acoustic communication devices.

[0015] Preferably, a pressure cabin is provided on the top of the quadrotor main frame, and a first power supply and a first controller are provided in the pressure cabin, the first power supply is connected to the first controller, the first controller is connected to the acoustic communication device, the first electric push rod, the second electric push rod, the rotating motor of the second rotor, the control switches of the first binocular camera and the second binocular camera, and the controller switches of the first lighting lamp and the second lighting lamp; a control room is provided on the side wall of the ore storage cabin, and a second power supply and a second controller are provided in the control room, the second power supply is connected to the second controller, and the second controller is connected to the acoustic communication device, the rotating motor of the first rotor, and the unloading motor.

[0016] Preferably, linear ceramic bearings compatible with the intermediate cylindrical structure are provided in the central circular holes of the upper movable disk and the lower movable disk, the intermediate cylinder is fixedly connected to the upper fixed disk via a tensioning sleeve, the intermediate cylinder is fixedly connected to the intermediate fixed disk via a fixing flange, the intermediate fixed disk is connected to the bottom of the ore storage barrel via screws, and the fixed beam is connected to the quad-rotor main frame via screws.

[0017] Preferably, the ore-collecting vehicle and the transporting vehicle are both equipped with a depth gauge, an altimeter, a DVL, a forward-looking sonar and an inertial navigation system.

[0018] Preferably, an underwater docking station for charging the ore-collecting vehicle and the transporting vehicle is provided on the seabed.

[0019] Therefore, the deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle using the above structure has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] 1. Environmentally friendly, it belongs to green mining technology. Compared with the crawler walking scheme, the main operation mode of the underwater vehicle adopted by the present invention is non-contact floating navigation, and only the transporting vehicle is statically seated on the bottom for a short time.

[0021] 2. Simple structure and strong offshore applicability. Compared with pipeline lifting, it avoids the heavy pipeline erection and maintenance work. There is no physical connection between the ore collection vehicle and the transport vehicle, deep-sea mining mother ship, and offshore floating yard, and it has good adaptability to operations under harsh sea conditions.

[0022] 3. High energy utilization rate. The energy required for mineral picking and mineral lifting operations in the present invention is relatively small, while the mixed delivery pump of the hydraulic suction ore delivery method requires a high-power energy supply. Compared with the mechanical arm or hydraulic ore collection arm method, there is no need to use a high-power pump station, valve box or water pump.

[0023] 4. High collection efficiency. The ore-collecting vehicle is small in size and has good maneuverability. Multiple ore-collecting vehicles can work together to pick up nodules that are much larger than the reach of the robotic arm around the transporting vehicle. Since the ore-collecting vehicle itself can temporarily accommodate multiple nodules, it avoids frequent returns to the transporting vehicle and can collect continuously nearby, thereby further improving the collection efficiency.

[0024] 5. The two sets of claws used in the ore-collecting vehicle are simple and effective in alternately picking up objects, which can realize the feeding and closure of the ore storage tube while realizing the picking action.

[0025] The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail below through the accompanying drawings and embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 This is a deep-sea mining operation scene diagram of the deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on the autonomous underwater vehicle of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a transport vehicle in a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an iris mechanism on a transport vehicle in a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a mineral collection vehicle in a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of an alternate collection actuator on a ore-collecting vehicle in a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the position of the second electric push rod in the deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on the autonomous underwater vehicle of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the first gripper in the deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on the autonomous underwater vehicle of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the working process of one of the first grippers of the ore-collecting vehicle;

[0034] Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of a lower fixed disk.

[0035] Reference numerals

[0036] 1. Deep-sea mining mother ship; 2. Offshore floating yard; 3. Transport vehicle; 31. Ore storage cabin; 32. First rotor; 33. Bottom bracket; 34. Ore storage port; 4. Iris mechanism; 41. Disc; 42. Slider; 43. Base; 44. Connecting block; 5. Ore collection vehicle; 51. Four-rotor main frame; 52. Second rotor; 53. Anti-collision cylinder; 54. Pressure cabin; 6. First binocular camera; 7. First lighting lamp; 8. Alternating collection actuator; 81. Upper movable disk; 82. Upper fixed disk; 83. Lower movable disk Moving plate; 84, middle fixed plate; 85, lower fixed plate; 86, fixed beam; 87, ore storage barrel; 88, aggregate opening; 89, first gripper; 810, second gripper; 811, middle cylinder; 9, first driving assembly; 91, first electric push rod; 92, first moving cylindrical rod; 93, first push rod connecting frame; 94, first gripper connecting frame; 95, first disc connecting frame; 10, spring; 11, limiting cylinder; 12, second electric push rod; 13, second moving cylindrical rod; 14, second binocular camera; 15, second lighting lamp. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The technical solution of the present invention is further described below through the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0038] Example

[0039] like Figure 1-9As shown, a deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle includes a deep-sea mining mother ship 1, an offshore floating yard 2, a transporting vehicle 3 and a mineral collection vehicle 5, wherein one transporting vehicle 3 carries multiple mineral collection vehicles 5. An underwater docking station for charging the mineral collection vehicles 5 and the transporting vehicle 3 is provided on the seabed. Low-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders are installed on the offshore floating yard 2, the transporting vehicle 3 and the mineral collection vehicle 5. A low-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator is carried on the deep-sea mining mother ship 1. The low-frequency ultra-short baseline is used to realize the position monitoring of the offshore floating yard 2, the mineral collection vehicle 5 and the transporting vehicle 3 by the deep-sea mining mother ship 1, so that the transporting vehicle 3 has the ability to transport the collected polymetallic nodules to the offshore floating yard 2. The ore-collecting vessel 5 is equipped with a medium frequency ultra-short baseline transponder, and the transporting vessel 3 is equipped with a medium frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator. The medium frequency ultra-short baseline is used to monitor the position and heading of the ore-collecting vessel 5 by the transporting vessel 3, so that the ore-collecting vessel 5 has the ability to transport the collected polymetallic nodules to the transporting vessel 3. The medium frequency ultra-short baseline transponder and the medium frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator, and the low frequency ultra-short baseline transponder and the low frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator are all connected by acoustic communication devices. The acoustic communication device can realize mutual communication between the deep-sea mining mother ship 1 and the offshore floating yard 2, and between the ore-collecting vessel 5 and the transporting vessel 3. Acoustic communication supports information transmission at low data rates and is usually used to send and receive control instructions, status data, etc. The transporting vessel 3 can use acoustic communication to send control instructions to the ore-collecting vessel 5, and the ore-collecting vessel 5 can report its status, task execution progress, etc. to the transporting vessel 3 through acoustic communication. Both the mining vessel 5 and the transporting vessel 3 are equipped with a depth gauge, an altimeter, a DVL, a forward-looking sonar and an inertial navigation system. The depth gauge, the altimeter, the DVL and the inertial navigation system, together with the first rotor 32 or the second rotor 52, can realize the near-seabed altitude-keeping navigation of the mining vessel 5 and the transporting vessel 3. The forward-looking sonar can add an obstacle avoidance function to the mining vessel and the transporting vessel 3.

[0040] The transporting vessel 3 includes a storage tank 31, and four first rotors 32 are evenly distributed in the middle of the side wall of the storage tank 31. The first rotor 32 includes a vertically arranged rotating motor and a propeller connected to the rotating motor. A bottom support 33 is provided at the bottom of the side wall of the storage tank 31, and the bottom support 33 is used to ensure the stability of the transporting vessel 3 on the seabed. The top surface of the storage tank 31 is provided with a plurality of evenly distributed storage ports 34, and the inner wall of the storage port 34 is provided with a boss. The bottom surface of the storage tank 31 is provided with an unloading assembly, which is an iris mechanism 4 composed of a disc 41, a slider 42 and a base 43. The base 43 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the storage tank 31, and the center hole on the base 43 is connected to the inside of the storage tank 31. A unloading motor is provided on the connecting block 44 on one side of the disc 41, and the output shaft of the unloading motor passes through the connecting block 44 and is connected to the gear, and the gear is meshed and connected with the arc-shaped rack fixed on the side wall of the storage tank 31. After the unloading motor drives the gear to rotate, the gear can move on the rack and then drive the disc 41 to rotate. After the disc 41 rotates, the iris mechanism 4 can be opened or closed. After the iris mechanism 4 is opened, unloading can be achieved. A control room is provided on the side wall of the ore storage cabin 31. The control room is provided with a second power supply and a second controller. The second power supply is connected to the second controller. The second controller is connected to the acoustic communication device, the rotating motor of the first rotor 32, and the unloading motor. After the second controller obtains the position information of the offshore floating yard 2 from the acoustic communication device, it controls the operating state of the rotating motor of the first rotor 32 to adjust the heading and speed of the transporting vehicle 3 to move to the offshore floating yard 2. After arriving at the offshore floating yard 2, the controller controls the unloading motor to start unloading.

[0041] The ore-collecting vehicle 5 includes a four-rotor main frame 51, a second rotor 52, an anti-collision cylinder 53 and an alternating collection actuator 8. The second rotor 52 is located at the four corners of the bottom surface of the four-rotor main frame 51. The second rotor 52 includes a vertically arranged rotating motor and a propeller connected to the rotating motor. The anti-collision cylinder 53 is located in the middle of the bottom surface of the four-rotor main frame 51, and the bottom end of the anti-collision cylinder 53 is overlapped on the boss. When the second rotor 52 is not rotating, the ore-collecting vehicle 5 is in a negative buoyancy state, and the design of the boss can ensure the stability of the ore-collecting vehicle 5 when it is carried on the transport vehicle 3. The side wall of the anti-collision cylinder 53 is provided with a first binocular camera 6 and a first lighting lamp 7. The first binocular camera 6 and the first lighting lamp 7 can detect the number and orientation of polymetallic nodules around the seabed transport vehicle 3, and can also help the ore-collecting vehicle avoid obstacles during navigation. The alternating collection actuator 8 is located in the anti-collision cylinder 53 , and the alternating collection actuator 8 can collect the polymetallic nodules around the seabed transport vehicle 3 .

[0042] The alternating collection actuator 8 includes an upper movable disk 81, an upper fixed disk 82, a lower movable disk 83, an intermediate fixed disk 84 and a lower fixed disk 85 which are arranged in parallel from top to bottom. The upper fixed disk 82, the intermediate fixed disk 84 and the lower fixed disk 85 are all fixedly connected to a plurality of fixed beams 86 vertically arranged on the inner wall of the anti-collision cylinder 53, and the fixed beams 86 are connected to the quadrotor main frame 51 by screws. The center holes of the upper fixed disk 82 and the intermediate fixed disk 84 are both fixedly connected to the intermediate cylinder 811, and the fixed connection method is as follows: the intermediate cylinder 811 is fixedly connected to the upper fixed disk 82 by a tensioning connection sleeve, and the intermediate cylinder 811 is fixedly connected to the intermediate fixed disk 84 by a fixing flange. The center holes of the upper movable disk 81 and the lower movable disk 83 are both slidably connected to the middle cylinder 811, and the sliding connection method is as follows: the center holes of the upper movable disk 81 and the lower movable disk 83 are both provided with linear ceramic bearings that are compatible with the structure of the middle cylinder 811. A ore storage barrel 87 is fixedly connected between the lower fixed disk 85 and the middle fixed disk 84, and the middle fixed disk 84 is connected to the bottom of the ore storage barrel 87 by screws. The lower fixed disk 85 is provided with a collection port 88, a second binocular camera 14 and a second lighting lamp 15. The collection port 88 is located at the center of the lower fixed disk 85 and is connected to the ore storage barrel 87. The collection port 88 can be set to a trumpet shape to facilitate the entry of polymetallic nodules into the ore storage barrel 87. The second binocular camera 14 and the second lighting lamp 15 are located on both sides of the material collection opening 88. The second binocular camera 14 and the second lighting lamp 15 are used for the ore collection vehicle to identify the location of the ore, facilitate the ore collection vehicle to hover directly above the ore, and assist the gripper to grab the ore. The first gripper 89 and the second gripper 810 are evenly distributed on the circumference of the circle with the material collection opening 88 as the center, and the first gripper 89 and the second gripper 810 are alternately distributed.

[0043] The upper movable disk 81 is connected to the first gripper 89 on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk 85 through the first driving assembly 9. The first driving assembly 9 includes a first electric push rod 91, a first movable cylindrical rod 92, a first push rod connecting frame 93, a first gripper connecting frame 94 and a first disc connecting frame 95. The first movable cylindrical rod 92, the first gripper connecting frame 94 and the first disc connecting frame 95 are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first gripper 89. The first electric push rod 91 is fixed on the upper fixed disk 82, and the end of the first electric push rod 91 is connected to the upper movable disk 81. The top end of the first movable cylindrical rod 92 is fixed on the upper movable disk 81, and the bottom end of the first movable cylindrical rod 92 is hinged to the top end of the first push rod connecting frame 93. The first gripper connecting frame 94 is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end of the first gripper connecting frame 94 is hinged to the first disc connecting frame 95 fixed on the lower fixed plate 85, one branch of the first gripper connecting frame 94 is hinged to the bottom end of the first push rod connecting frame 93, and the other branch of the first gripper connecting frame 94 is hinged to the middle of both sides of the first gripper 89. The head end of the first gripper 89 is a pick-up inclined surface, the tail end of the first gripper 89 is connected to the first gripper connecting frame 94 through a spring 10, and the tail end of the first gripper 89 is provided with a limiting cylinder 11 corresponding to the first gripper connecting frame 94.

[0044] The lower movable disk 83 is connected to the second gripper 810 on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk 85 through the second driving assembly, and the second driving assembly includes a second electric push rod 12, a second movable cylindrical rod 13, a second push rod connecting frame, a second gripper 810 connecting frame and a second disk connecting frame. The second movable cylindrical rod 13, the second gripper 810 connecting frame and the second disk connecting frame are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the second gripper 810, the second electric push rod 12 is fixed on the upper fixed disk 82, and the end of the second electric push rod 12 is connected to the lower movable disk 83. The top end of the second movable cylindrical rod 13 is fixed on the lower movable disk 83, and the bottom end of the second movable cylindrical rod 13 is hinged to the top end of the second push rod connecting frame. The second gripper 810 connecting frame is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end of the second gripper 810 connecting frame is hinged to the second disc connecting frame fixed on the lower fixed plate 85, one branch of the second gripper 810 connecting frame is hinged to the bottom end of the second push rod connecting frame, and the other branch of the second gripper 810 connecting frame is hinged to the middle of both sides of the second gripper 810. The head end of the second gripper 810 is a pick-up inclined surface, the tail end of the second gripper 810 is connected to the second gripper 810 connecting frame through a spring 10, and the tail end of the second gripper 810 is provided with a limiting cylinder 11 corresponding to the second gripper 810 connecting frame.

[0045] A pressure cabin 54 is provided on the top of the quad-rotor main frame 51, and a first power supply and a first controller are provided in the pressure cabin 54. The first power supply is connected to the first controller, and the first controller is connected to the first electric push rod 91, the second electric push rod 12, the rotating motor of the second rotor 52, the control switches of the first binocular camera 6 and the second binocular camera 14, and the controller switches of the first lighting lamp 7 and the second lighting lamp 15;

[0046] When in use, the deep-sea mining mother ship 1 places multiple offshore floating yards 2 at different locations, and a transporting vessel 3 is placed under each offshore floating yard 2. The transporting vessel 3 carries multiple ore-collecting vessels 5 and sinks to the seabed under the action of its own negative buoyancy. During this period, the second controller can control the working status of the rotating motors on the four first rotors 32 to control the direction of navigation. After the altimeter and depth gauge detect a position of 100m near the seabed mining area, the second controller on the transporting vessel 3 controls the four propellers to rotate to generate an upward thrust, so that the transporting vessel 3 reaches a balanced state with a net buoyancy close to zero, and then slowly sinks to land on the bottom. After the transporting vehicle 3 has landed, the ore-collecting vehicles 5 start in turn with the landing location of the transporting vehicle 3 as the initial position. The first ore-collecting vehicle 5 adopts a cruising operation route, relying on the first binocular camera 6 and the first lighting lamp 7 carried by itself to explore the distribution position and quantity of nearby ore and other information, and transmits the information to the transporting vehicle 3 in real time through the acoustic communication device. The transporting vehicle 3 receives the ore quantity and information of the acoustic communication, and obtains the position information of the first ore-collecting vehicle 5 based on the medium-frequency ultra-short baseline. Then the second controller of the transporting vehicle 3 processes this data information and sends the processing results to each ore-collecting vehicle 5. The second ore-collecting vehicle 5, the third ore-collecting vehicle 5...the Nth ore-collecting vehicle 5 successively goes to the ore position detected by the first ore-collecting vehicle 5 according to the azimuth instructions issued by the transporting vehicle 3 after data processing to carry out mining operations.

[0047] After each mining vehicle 5 arrives at the designated position, the first controller controls the second binocular camera and the second lighting to turn on so that the first controller controls the rotation state of the second rotor 52 so that the mining vehicle 5 runs above each polymetallic nodule, and uses the first gripper 89 and the second gripper 810 in the alternating collection actuator 8 to perform efficient alternating polymetallic nodule collection operations. The alternating collection process of the first gripper 89 and the second gripper 810 is as follows: the first electric push rod 91 starts to drive the upper movable disk 81 to move upward, so that the first movable cylindrical rod 92 moves upward and drives the first push rod connecting frame 93 to move upward. The upward movement of the first push rod connecting frame 93 will drive the first gripper connecting frame 94 to rotate inward, and then the first gripper 89 follows the first gripper connecting frame 94 to rotate inward. Since the end of the first gripper 89 has an inclination angle, multiple first grippers 89 follow While rotating inward, the polymetallic nodules are grabbed. The increase in the inward rotation angle will drive the polymetallic nodules to be lifted into the ore storage barrel 87. After the polymetallic nodules enter the ore storage barrel 87, the first electric push rod 91 stops moving up and maintains its position until the next polymetallic nodule is sent to the collection port 88 of the ore storage barrel 87 by the second gripper 810. After the next polymetallic nodule overcomes the elastic force of the spring 10 on the first gripper 89 and pushes the multiple first grippers 89 open, the first electric push rod 91 starts and descends to reset, driving the upper movable disk 81, the first movable cylindrical rod 92, and the first push rod connecting frame 93 to descend and reset, and finally the first gripper connecting frame 94 rotates outward, and the first gripper 89 is reset by the tension generated by the stretching of the spring 10, and maintains the initial posture waiting to grab the polymetallic nodules, waiting to grab the polymetallic nodules. The grabbing process of the second gripper 810 is the same as that of the first gripper 89, which will not be repeated here.

[0048] After the ore-collecting vehicle 5 has collected polymetallic nodules until the ore storage cylinder 87 is full, it returns to the top of the transporting vehicle 3 and uses the first binocular camera 6 and the first lighting lamp 7 to stably enter the ore-collecting bottom opening of the transporting vehicle 3. The outer diameter of the anti-collision cylinder 53 of the ore-collecting vehicle 5 is smaller than the outer diameter of the bottom opening, which is convenient for bottom seating. After bottom seating is completed, the ore-collecting vehicle 5 opens two sets of claws to unload the polymetallic nodules on the ore-collecting vehicle 5 into the ore storage cabin 31 of the transporting vehicle 3. After the ore storage cabin 31 of the transporting vehicle 3 is full, the transporting vehicle 3 ascends to the offshore floating yard 2 and uses the iris mechanism 4 to concentrate the polymetallic nodules in the ore storage cabin 31 into the offshore floating yard 2 to complete the ore unloading. After the ore unloading is completed, it dives again to continue the mining operation. During this process, the deep-sea mining mother ship 1 regularly collects polymetallic nodules on the offshore floating yard 2 to ensure the storage capacity of the offshore floating yard 2. The first power supply and the second power supply of the transport vessel 3 and the ore-collecting vessel 5 are charged by the underwater docking charging system to ensure that the ore-collecting vessel 5 and the transport vessel 3 can operate underwater for a long time.

[0049] Therefore, the present invention adopts the above-mentioned structure of the deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on the autonomous underwater vehicle, which can solve the problems of the traditional hydraulic mining method causing great damage to the seabed environment and the low efficiency of robotic collection. By designing a transport vehicle and multiple mining vehicles, a one-mother-and-multiple-child underwater robot system is formed. The transport vehicle is used for vertically transporting polymetallic nodules or mining vehicles, and the mining vehicle uses two sets of claws to collect polymetallic nodules. It has a simple structure, strong applicability at sea, and high collection efficiency.

[0050] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each implementation method can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, a disk, an optical disk, etc., including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0051] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify or replace the technical solution of the present invention with equivalents, and these modifications or equivalent replacements cannot cause the modified technical solution to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle, characterized in that: It comprises a deep-sea mining mother ship, an offshore floating yard, a transporting vessel and an ore-collecting vessel, wherein one of the transporting vessels carries a plurality of the ore-collecting vessels, the transporting vessel comprises an ore storage cabin, four first rotors are evenly distributed in the middle of the side wall of the ore storage cabin, a bottom support is provided at the bottom of the side wall of the ore storage cabin, a plurality of evenly distributed ore storage openings are provided on the top surface of the ore storage cabin, a boss is provided on the inner wall of the ore storage opening, and an ore unloading assembly is provided on the bottom surface of the ore storage cabin; The ore-collecting vehicle comprises a quad-rotor main frame, a second rotor, an anti-collision cylinder and an alternating collection actuator, wherein the second rotor is located at the four corners of the bottom surface of the quad-rotor main frame, the anti-collision cylinder is located in the middle of the bottom surface of the quad-rotor main frame, the bottom end of the anti-collision cylinder is overlapped on the boss, a first binocular camera and a first lighting lamp are provided on the side wall of the anti-collision cylinder, and the alternating collection actuator is located in the anti-collision cylinder; The alternating collection actuator includes an upper movable disk, an upper fixed disk, a lower movable disk, an intermediate fixed disk and a lower fixed disk which are arranged in parallel from top to bottom. The upper fixed disk, the intermediate fixed disk and the lower fixed disk are all fixedly connected to a plurality of fixed beams vertically arranged on the inner wall of the anti-collision cylinder. The center holes of the upper fixed disk and the intermediate fixed disk are both fixedly connected to the intermediate cylinder. The center holes of the upper movable disk and the lower movable disk are both slidably connected to the intermediate cylinder. The upper movable disk is connected to the first gripper on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk through a first driving component. The lower movable disk is connected with the second gripper on the bottom surface of the lower fixed disk through the second driving assembly, a ore storage barrel is fixedly connected between the lower fixed disk and the middle fixed disk, a material collection port, a second binocular camera and a second lighting lamp are provided on the lower fixed disk, the material collection port is located at the center of the lower fixed disk and is communicated with the ore storage barrel, the second binocular camera and the second lighting lamp are located on both sides of the material collection port, the first gripper and the second gripper are evenly distributed on a circle with the material collection port as the center, and the first gripper and the second gripper are alternately distributed.

2. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The first driving assembly includes a first electric push rod, a first movable cylindrical rod, a first push rod connecting frame, a first gripper connecting frame and a first disc connecting frame, the first movable cylindrical rod, the first push rod connecting frame, the first gripper connecting frame and the first disc connecting frame are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first gripper, the first electric push rod is fixed on the upper fixed disk, the end of the first electric push rod is connected to the upper movable disk, the top of the first movable cylindrical rod is fixed on the upper movable disk, the bottom end of the first movable cylindrical rod is hinged to the top of the first push rod connecting frame, the first gripper connecting frame is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the first disc connecting frame fixed on the lower fixed disk, one of the branches of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the bottom end of the first push rod connecting frame, and the other branch of the first gripper connecting frame is hinged to the middle of both sides of the first gripper; The second driving assembly includes a second electric push rod, a second movable cylindrical rod, a second push rod connecting frame, a second gripper connecting frame and a second disc connecting frame, the second movable cylindrical rod, the second push rod connecting frame, the second gripper connecting frame and the second disc connecting frame are all arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the second gripper, the second electric push rod is fixed on the upper fixed disk, the end of the second electric push rod is connected to the lower movable disk, the top end of the second movable cylindrical rod is fixed on the lower movable disk, the bottom end of the second movable cylindrical rod is hinged to the top end of the second push rod connecting frame, the second gripper connecting frame is a Y-shaped frame structure, the end end of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the second disc connecting frame fixed on the lower fixed disk, one of the branches of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the bottom end of the second push rod connecting frame, and the other branch of the second gripper connecting frame is hinged to the middle parts of both sides of the second gripper; The head ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are both inclined surfaces for picking up objects, the tail ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are connected to the first gripper connecting frame or the second gripper connecting frame through springs, and the tail ends of the first gripper and the second gripper are both provided with limiting cylinders corresponding to the first gripper connecting frame or the second gripper connecting frame.

3. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The ore unloading assembly is an iris mechanism consisting of a disc, a slider and a base. The base is fixedly connected to the bottom of the ore storage cabin, and the center hole on the base is communicated with the interior of the ore storage cabin. A unloading motor is provided on the connecting block on one side of the disc. The output shaft of the unloading motor passes through the connecting block and is connected to a gear. The gear is meshed with an arc-shaped rack fixed on the side wall of the ore storage cabin.

4. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The first rotor and the second rotor each include a vertically arranged rotating motor and a propeller connected to the rotating motor.

5. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The offshore floating yard, the transport vessel and the ore-collecting vessel are all equipped with low-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders, the deep-sea mining mother ship is equipped with a low-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator, the ore-collecting vessel is equipped with a medium-frequency ultra-short baseline transponder, and the transport vessel is equipped with a medium-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogator. The low-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders and the low-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogators, and the medium-frequency ultra-short baseline transponders and the medium-frequency ultra-short baseline interrogators are all connected in communication through acoustic communication devices.

6. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 5 is characterized in that: A pressure cabin is provided on the top of the quadrotor main frame, and a first power supply and a first controller are provided in the pressure cabin, the first power supply is connected to the first controller, and the first controller is connected to the acoustic communication device, the first electric push rod, the second electric push rod, the rotating motor of the second rotor, the control switches of the first binocular camera and the second binocular camera, and the controller switches of the first lighting lamp and the second lighting lamp; A control room is provided on the side wall of the ore storage cabin, and a second power supply and a second controller are provided in the control room. The second power supply is connected to the second controller, and the second controller is connected to the acoustic communication device, the rotating motor of the first rotor, and the unloading motor.

7. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 6 is characterized in that: The central circular holes of the upper movable disk and the lower movable disk are both provided with linear ceramic bearings adapted to the intermediate cylindrical structure, the intermediate cylinder is fixedly connected to the upper fixed disk via a tensioning sleeve, the intermediate cylinder is fixedly connected to the intermediate fixed disk via a fixing flange, the intermediate fixed disk is connected to the bottom of the ore storage barrel via screws, and the fixing beam is connected to the quadrotor main frame via screws.

8. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 7 is characterized in that: The ore collecting vehicle and the transporting vehicle are both equipped with depth gauges, altimeters, DVLs, forward-looking sonars and inertial navigation systems.

9. The deep-sea polymetallic nodule collection system based on an autonomous underwater vehicle according to claim 8, characterized in that: An underwater docking station for charging the ore-collecting vehicle and the transporting vehicle is provided on the seabed.

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