Pull-type acoustic beacon searching and positioning system

Abstract

The invention discloses a pull-type acoustic beacon searching and positioning system, and belongs to the technical field of searching and positioning. The towed acoustic beacon searching and positioning system is characterized by consisting of an underwater towed body unit, a towed cable, a portable winch unit and a deck display and control unit. The towed acoustic beacon searching and positioning system has the functions of synchronously transmitting acoustic signals, displaying the towed body state and the searching situation in real time, manually or automatically and continuously tracking a cooperative target and self-sustaining. The underwater towed body unit has the advantages that acoustic beacon signals can be received, conditioned, collected, processed and played back in a designated area by towing the underwater towed body unit, and a cooperative target can be searched, positioned and tracked. The device is simple in structure, convenient to use, stable in posture, convenient to recycle and high in maneuverability, and solves the problems that equipment is heavy, poor in maneuverability and low in efficiency in the acoustic beacon searching and positioning process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of search and positioning, and relates to a search and positioning device for an acoustic beacon, and in particular to a towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system. Background Art

[0002] Acoustic beacons include asynchronous and synchronous types, and can emit pulse signals of fixed frequency. Before the equipment is working, the acoustic beacon is fixed on the relevant device. When a special situation occurs and the device cannot be searched normally, the pulse signal emitted by the acoustic beacon can be detected by the search and positioning equipment on the water surface to locate and find the lost device; or during the navigation of the equipment, the device carrying the acoustic beacon can also be continuously located and tracked.

[0003] Acoustic beacon search and positioning equipment usually includes hydrophones or hydrophone arrays, fixtures, deck display and control units, watertight connecting cables, etc. The hydrophones or hydrophone arrays are connected to the deck display and control units through watertight connecting cables to achieve electrical and signal connectivity within the system; the hydrophones or hydrophone arrays are installed or towed on the side of the working vessel through fixtures. Since the current search and positioning equipment is positioned for use in emergency situations, the use scenarios are mobile and uncertain, so it is not convenient to install and fix them on a large scale on various types of ships. It can only be installed in advance when used and disassembled and prepared after the mission is completed. The current acoustic beacon search and positioning equipment has certain requirements for the ship's side height, draft, navigation status and speed, and supporting facilities of the working ship. Among them, the ship's side height and draft determine that the equipment needs to be lowered to a certain depth to overcome the shielding effect of the ship itself on the water acoustic signal, which requires the equipment to have a certain size and weight. At the same time, the ship is required to have supporting facilities such as cranes to meet the embarkation and disembarkation operations of equipment with larger weight or volume. Therefore, in the process of using, transporting and installing search and positioning equipment, it is particularly important to reduce workload, improve mobility, universality and search efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system to solve the problems of bulky equipment, poor maneuverability and low efficiency in the process of acoustic beacon signal search.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0006] A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system has the functions of synchronous transmission of acoustic signals, real-time display of towed body status and search situation, manual or automatic continuous tracking of cooperative targets, and self-sustaining operation.

[0007] The maximum operating water depth of the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is not less than 100 meters, and the maximum towing speed is not less than 5 knots.

[0008] The towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is composed of an underwater towing unit 1, a towing cable and a portable winch unit 2, and a deck display and control unit 3; the underwater towing unit is used to carry an underwater pan-tilt head and a hydrophone, so that the hydrophone can rotate horizontally 360 degrees, and while reducing the volume of the hydrophone, the acoustic beacon signal receiving range of the hydrophone is increased, the positioning algorithm is simplified, and the positioning accuracy is improved; the underwater towing unit is equipped with a preamplifier circuit for broadband filtering and improving the gain of the acoustic signal. The towing cable and the portable winch unit are used to connect the deck display and control unit and the underwater towing unit, and play the role of towing and simultaneous transmission of digital signals and analog signals. The deck display and control unit is used to collect, process, record, and replay the signals received by the hydrophone array element, display the posture and position information of the underwater towing unit in real time, display the position information of the tracked target in real time, and control the rotation angle and speed of the underwater pan-tilt head according to the tracked target information.

[0009] The underwater towing unit 1 in the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is composed of a towing body skeleton component 11, a tail wing component 12, a hydrofoil component 13, an altimeter component 14, a hydrophone component 15, a watertight electronic compartment component 16 and a shell 17; wherein the towing body skeleton component is composed of a titanium alloy skeleton 111, a titanium alloy handle 112, a ballast lead block 113, a skeleton reinforcement rib 114, a towing head connecting plate 115, and a tail wing fixing piece 116; the tail wing component is composed of a tail wing 121, a tail wing fixing bolt 122 and a tail wing 123; the hydrofoil component is composed of a hydrofoil 131, a hydrofoil adapter plate 132, and a hydrofoil adapter plate 133; the altimeter component is composed of an altimeter 14 1. The altimeter fixing frame 142 and the altimeter cable 143 are composed; the hydrophone component is composed of a hydrophone 151, a pan / tilt fixing bracket 152, a hydrophone cable 153, an underwater pan / tilt 154, and a pan / tilt signal cable 155; the watertight electronic compartment component is composed of an electronic compartment front end cover 161, a posture sensor 162, an altimeter solver board 163, an electronic compartment shell 164, a main control circuit 165, a switching power supply 166, an amplifying filter circuit 167, a pressure sensor and its solver board 168, an electronic compartment fixing plate 169, an electronic compartment rear end cover 1610, and a watertight connector 1611; the shell is composed of an upper shell 171, a lower shell 172, and a hydrophone protective cover 173. The materials of the upper shell and the lower shell include but are not limited to sound-permeable materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastics.

[0010] The towed cable and portable winch unit 2 in the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is composed of a watertight towed cable 21 and an electric winch 22 .

[0011] The deck display and control unit 3 in the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is composed of a power supply 31, a positioning and navigation device 32, a signal conditioning board 33, a signal processing board 34, a reinforced computer 35, and a display and control software 36; wherein the power supply includes an underwater power supply 311, an above-water analog power supply 312, and an above-water digital power supply 313; the positioning and navigation device includes an antenna 321 and a solver board 322; the signal conditioning board includes a high-frequency signal conditioning board 331, a low-frequency signal conditioning board 332, a frequency adjustment knob 333, a listening and sound-speaking device 334, and a volume adjustment knob 335. The display and control software 36 is embedded in the reinforced computer 35 system, the frequency adjustment knob 333 and the volume adjustment knob 335 are riveted to the housing of the reinforced computer 35, the positioning and navigation device antenna 321 is installed on the deck of the workboat, and the remaining components are installed inside the reinforced computer 35 and fixed with screws.

[0012] The working process of the present invention is:

[0013] A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system, first assemble the underwater towed unit in the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system, then place the underwater towed unit, tow cable and portable winch unit, and deck display and control unit on a workboat, then fix the deck display and control unit, connect the deck display and control unit with the watertight towing cable, connect the underwater towed unit with the watertight towing cable, and fix and connect the navigation antenna. After power-on self-test without fault, first determine the length of the towed cable release, the initial towing speed, and the frequency band covered by the hydrophone according to the search, positioning and tracking task requirements, and complete the deployment of the underwater towed unit 1. Then adjust the towed cable release length and towing speed according to the navigation status of the workboat and the towed unit. For asynchronous beacons, the underwater pan / tilt is controlled to rotate. According to the received signal strength, the deck display and control unit 3 performs conditioning, collection, and processing, and determines the azimuth ray of the acoustic beacon in combination with the azimuth information provided by the positioning and navigation equipment; continue to sail, and again condition, collect, and process the received signal to determine the azimuth ray of the acoustic beacon; according to the two azimuth rays, the coordinate difference between the underwater towing unit and the positioning and navigation equipment is corrected at the same time through the positioning algorithm in the display and control software, and the acoustic beacon signal position is initially determined. For synchronous beacons, after the acoustic beacon and the hydrophone clock are synchronized, the distance between the acoustic beacon and the hydrophone is determined according to the time delay difference of each array element in the hydrophone receiving the acoustic signal, and the three-dimensional relative coordinates between the two can be directly determined by solving. After completing the search, positioning, and tracking tasks, the workboat drops anchor and uses the electric winch 22 to recover the watertight towing cable 21. After the watertight towing cable is completely recovered, the underwater towing unit 1 is recovered from the sea surface to the workboat. The deck display and control unit is powered off, and both ends of the watertight towing cable are disconnected from the underwater towing unit and the deck display and control unit. The upper shell 171 of the underwater towing unit is opened, and the interior of the underwater towing unit is rinsed with clean water. After drying, the upper shell 171 is installed and sealed for storage.

[0014] The effects and benefits of the present invention are:

[0015] A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system can receive, condition, collect, process and replay acoustic beacon signals in a specified area by towing an underwater towed unit, and can search, locate and track cooperative targets. It has a simple structure, is easy to use, has a stable posture, is easy to recover and has strong mobility, solving the problems of bulky equipment, poor mobility and low efficiency in the process of acoustic beacon search and positioning. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the whole

[0017] Figure 2 This is the structural diagram of the underwater towing unit.

[0018] Figure 3 This is the structural diagram of the towed body skeleton components in the underwater towed body unit

[0019] Figure 4 This is the structure diagram of the tail wing components in the underwater towing unit

[0020] Figure 5 This is the structure diagram of the medium-pressure hydrofoil components of the underwater towing unit

[0021] Figure 6 This is the structural diagram of the altimeter components in the underwater towed unit.

[0022] Figure 7 This is the structure diagram of the hydrophone components in the underwater towed unit.

[0023] Figure 8 This is the structural diagram of the watertight electronic compartment components in the underwater towed unit.

[0024] Fig. 9 This is the shell structure diagram of the underwater towing unit

[0025] Fig.10 This is the structure diagram of the electric winch in the towing cable and portable winch unit

[0026] Fig.11 This is the dimension drawing of electric winch in towing cable and portable winch unit

[0027] Fig.12 This is the composition diagram of the deck display and control unit DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The specific implementation of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the technical scheme and the accompanying drawings.

[0029] First, the assembly and connection of the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system is carried out. The assembly and connection of the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system includes the assembly of the underwater towing unit, the connection of the watertight towing cable, the fixation of the deck display and control unit, and the fixed connection of the navigation antenna. The assembly of the underwater towing unit includes the assembly and general assembly of the towing frame parts, tail parts, hydrofoil parts, altimeter parts, hydrophone parts, watertight electronic compartment parts, and shell.

[0030] The assembly of the towing body skeleton component 11 in the underwater towing body unit is shown in the attached Figure 3 The titanium alloy handle 112, the frame reinforcement rib 114, and the tractor connecting plate 115 are welded to the titanium alloy frame 111; the tail wing fixing piece 116 is installed on the titanium alloy frame 111 and fixed with hexagon socket screws; the ballast lead block 113 is installed on the titanium alloy frame 111 and fixed with hexagon socket screws.

[0031] The assembly of the tail wing component 12 in the underwater towing unit is shown in the attached Figure 4 The tail 121 and the tail 123 are fixed in the slots of the tail fixing bolts 122 .

[0032] The assembly of the medium pressure hydrofoil component 13 of the underwater towing unit is shown in the attached Figure 5 The hydrofoil adapter plates 132 and 133 are mounted on the hydrofoil 131 and fixed with hexagon socket screws.

[0033] The assembly of the altimeter component 14 in the underwater towed unit is shown in the attached Figure 6 As shown. The altimeter 141 is mounted on the altimeter fixing plate 142 and fixed by means of hexagon socket screws. The altimeter cable 143 is connected to the altimeter 141 through a watertight connector and is locked by means of a watertight connector locking cover.

[0034] The assembly of the hydrophone component 15 in the underwater towed unit is shown in the attached Figure 7 As shown. First, fix the pan / tilt fixing bracket 152 to the hydrophone 151 by means of hexagon socket screws, then install the above assembly to the underwater pan / tilt 154 and fix it by means of hexagon socket screws. The hydrophone cable 153 is connected to the underwater pan / tilt 154 by means of a watertight connector from the hydrophone 151 and is locked by means of a watertight connector locking cover. The pan / tilt signal cable 155 is connected to the underwater pan / tilt 154 by means of a watertight connector and is locked by means of a watertight connector locking cover.

[0035] The assembly of the watertight electronic compartment component 16 in the underwater towed unit is shown in the attached Figure 8As shown. The attitude sensor 162, the altimeter solver board 163, and the switch power supply 166 are installed on the electronic compartment fixing plate 169 and fixed with bolts and nuts; the main control circuit 165 and the amplifying filter circuit 167 are installed on the electronic compartment fixing plate 169 and fixed with bolts and nuts; the watertight connector 1611 and the pressure sensor 168 are installed on the electronic compartment rear end cover 1610 through threads; then the electronic compartment fixing plate 169 is installed on the electronic compartment shell 164 and fixed with screws; finally, the electronic compartment front end cover 161 and the electronic compartment rear end cover 1610 are installed on the electronic compartment shell 164 and fixed with screws.

[0036] The assembly of the housing 17 in the underwater towing unit is shown in the attached Fig. 9 The hydrophone protection cover 173 is welded to the lower housing 172 .

[0037] The general assembly of the underwater towed unit, as shown in the attached Figure 2 As shown. The tail wing component 12, the altimeter component 14, the hydrophone component 15, and the watertight electronic compartment component 16 are sequentially installed on the towing body frame component 11 and fixed with screws; the altimeter cable 143 is connected to the rear end cover 1610 of the electronic compartment through a watertight connector and locked with a watertight connector locking cover; the pan / tilt signal cable 155 is connected to the rear end cover 1610 of the electronic compartment through a watertight connector and locked with a watertight connector locking cover; the lower frame 172 is installed on the towing body frame component 11 and fixed with screws. After the watertight towing cable 21 passes through the hole of the upper shell 171, it is connected to the rear end cover 1610 of the electronic compartment through a watertight connector and locked with a watertight connector locking cover; the upper frame 171 is installed on the towing body frame component 11 and fixed with screws. The tail wing component 12 is connected to the towing body frame component 11 through the tail wing fixing bolts 122. The hydrofoil adapter plates 132 and 133 of the hydrofoil component 13 are mounted on the tractor connecting plate 115 and fixed by bolts and nuts.

[0038] Assemble and connect the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system, as shown in the attached Figure 1 As shown. The assembled underwater towing unit 1 and the combination of the towing cable and the portable winch unit 2, and the deck display and control unit 3 are carried to the workboat. The deck display and control unit 3 and the portable winch 22 are respectively fixed at specific positions of the workboat, and the watertight towing cable 21 is led out from the portable winch 22 and connected to the reinforced computer 35 through the aviation plug. One end of the positioning navigation equipment antenna 321 is installed on the deck of the workboat, and the other end is installed on the reinforced computer 35.

[0039] After completing the assembly and connection of the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system, first determine the length of the tow cable release, the initial towing speed, and the frequency band covered by the hydrophone according to the search, positioning and tracking task requirements, and complete the deployment of the underwater towed unit 1. Then adjust the tow cable release length and towing speed according to the navigation status of the workboat and the towed body. For asynchronous beacons, control the rotation of the underwater pan-tilt, and the deck display and control unit 3 performs conditioning, collection, and processing according to the received signal strength, and determines the azimuth ray of the acoustic beacon in combination with the azimuth information provided by the positioning and navigation equipment; continue to sail, and condition, collect, and process the received signal again to determine the azimuth ray of the acoustic beacon; according to the two azimuth rays, the coordinate difference between the underwater towed unit and the positioning and navigation equipment is corrected at the same time through the positioning algorithm in the display and control software, and it is initially determined as the acoustic beacon signal position. For synchronous beacons, after the acoustic beacon and the hydrophone clock are synchronized, the distance between the acoustic beacon and the hydrophone is determined according to the time delay difference of each array element in the hydrophone receiving the acoustic signal, and the three-dimensional relative coordinates between the two can be directly determined by solving. After completing the search, positioning and tracking tasks, the workboat drops anchor and uses the electric winch 22 to recover the watertight towing cable 21. After the watertight towing cable is completely recovered, the underwater towing unit 1 is recovered from the sea surface to the workboat. The deck display and control unit is powered off, and the two ends of the watertight towing cable are disconnected from the underwater towing unit and the deck display and control unit respectively. Open the upper shell 171 of the underwater towing unit, rinse the interior of the underwater towing unit with clean water, install the upper shell 171 after drying, and seal it for storage.

Claims

1. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system, comprising an underwater towing unit (1), a towing cable and a portable winch unit (2) and a deck display and control unit (3), wherein the underwater towing unit (1) is towed behind a workboat by a watertight towing cable in the towing cable and the portable winch unit (2), and the other end is connected to the deck display and control unit, characterized in that: The underwater towing unit (1) is composed of a towing frame component (11), a tail wing component (12), a hydrofoil component (13), an altimeter component (14), a hydrophone component (15), a watertight electronic compartment component (16) and a shell (17); wherein the towing frame component is composed of a titanium alloy frame (111), a titanium alloy handle (112), a ballast lead block (113), a frame reinforcement rib (114), a towing head connecting plate (115) and a tail wing fixing member (116); the tail wing component is composed of a tail wing (121), a tail wing fixing bolt (122) and a tail wing (123); the hydrofoil component is composed of a hydrofoil (131), a hydrofoil adapter plate (132) and a hydrofoil adapter plate (133); the altimeter component is composed of an altimeter (141), an altimeter fixing member (142), and a hydrofoil adapter plate (143). The invention relates to a hydrophone component, which is composed of a hydrophone (151), a pan / tilt fixing bracket (152), a hydrophone cable (153), an underwater pan / tilt (154), and a pan / tilt signal cable (155); a watertight electronic compartment component, which is composed of an electronic compartment front end cover (161), a posture sensor (162), an altimeter solution board (163), an electronic compartment shell (164), a main control circuit (165), a switching power supply (166), an amplifying filter circuit (167), a pressure sensor and its solution board (168), an electronic compartment fixing plate (169), an electronic compartment rear end cover (1610), and a watertight connector (1611); and a shell component, which is composed of an upper shell (171), a lower shell (172), and a hydrophone protective cover (173). The material of the upper shell and the lower shell is used but not limited to a sound-permeable material such as glass fiber reinforced plastic. The towing cable and portable winch unit (2) is composed of a watertight towing cable (21) and an electric winch (22). The deck display and control unit (3) is composed of a power supply (31), a positioning and navigation device (32), a signal conditioning board (33), a signal processing board (34), a reinforced computer (35), and display and control software (36); wherein the power supply includes an underwater power supply (311), an above-water analog power supply (312), and an above-water digital power supply (313); the positioning and navigation device includes an antenna (321) and a solver board (322); the signal conditioning board includes a high-frequency signal conditioning board (331), a low-frequency signal conditioning board (332), a frequency adjustment knob (333), a listening and speaker device (334), and a volume adjustment knob (335). The display control software (36) is embedded in the reinforced computer (35) system, the frequency adjustment knob (333) and the volume adjustment knob (335) are riveted to the reinforced computer (35) housing, the positioning navigation device antenna (321) is installed on the workboat deck, and the remaining components are installed inside the reinforced computer (35) and fixed with screws.

2. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The assembly and connection of the towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system includes the assembly of the underwater towing unit, the connection of the watertight towing cable, the fixation of the deck display and control unit, and the fixed connection of the navigation antenna. The assembly of the underwater towing unit includes the assembly and general assembly of the towing frame parts, tail parts, hydrofoil parts, altimeter parts, hydrophone parts, watertight electronic compartment parts, and shell.

3. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: It has the functions of synchronous transmission of acoustic signals, real-time display of towing status and search situation, manual or automatic continuous tracking of cooperative targets, and self-sustaining work.

4. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: The maximum working water depth is not less than 100 meters and the maximum towing speed is not less than 5 knots.

5. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: The underwater towed unit is used to carry a hydrophone, which can receive acoustic beacon signals including but not limited to 7-14kHz and 20-60kHz.

6. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: The underwater towed unit is used to carry the underwater gimbal, which is loaded with a hydrophone, so that the hydrophone can rotate horizontally 360° and increase the acoustic beacon signal receiving range of the hydrophone while reducing the volume of the hydrophone, thereby simplifying the positioning algorithm and improving the positioning accuracy. The underwater towed unit is equipped with a preamplifier circuit for broadband filtering and improving the gain of the acoustic signal.

7. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: The towing cable and portable winch unit are used to connect the deck display and control unit and the underwater towing unit, and play the role of towing and simultaneous transmission of digital and analog signals.

8. A towed acoustic beacon search and positioning system according to claims 1-2, characterized in that: The deck display and control unit is used to collect, process, record and play back the signals received by the hydrophone array elements, display the attitude and position information of the underwater towed unit in real time, display the position information of the tracked target in real time, and control the rotation angle and speed of the underwater gimbal according to the tracked target information.

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