Autonomous embedded unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device and anchoring method thereof

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned underwater vehicles, and particularly relates to an autonomous embedded type unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device and an anchoring method thereof. The problems that due to the defects that an anchor carried in an unmanned underwater vehicle is light in weight, poor in seabed hard substrate adaptability and the like, the mooring force is insufficient, and anchoring cannot be achieved are solved. According to the technical scheme, the device comprises an anchoring device, one end of a mooring cable is connected with an anchoring section bulkhead, the other end of the mooring cable is connected with a rear guide pipe, before the anchoring device is started to work, the mooring cable is wound into a cylindrical cluster to be embedded into a middle hole of a gas generation chamber, one end of the mooring cable is connected with the rear guide pipe, and the other end of the mooring cable is connected with a locking mechanism in an anchoring cabin; the shoot nail is mounted in the front guide pipe through a supporting rod, a plurality of anchor teeth which are circumferentially symmetrical are mounted on the front guide pipe, the anchor teeth are connected with the front guide pipe through torsional springs, the anchor teeth are restrained by the wall of an anchoring cabin before exiting from the cabin and automatically spread under the action of the torsional springs after exiting from the cabin, rope nets are mounted among the anchor teeth, and the rope nets are also spread in the spreading process of the anchor teeth and used for increasing anchoring force.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned underwater vehicles, and in particular relates to an autonomous submerged unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device and an anchoring method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned underwater vehicles are effective tools for underwater inspections, resource surveys, hydrological monitoring and other tasks. In order to complete tasks such as long-term bottom observation and fixed-point monitoring, unmanned underwater vehicles need to stay on the seabed during the mission. Anchoring is one of the technical ways for AUVs to stay on the seabed. The existing anchor structure sinks into the water and falls to the seabed by its own weight. If it encounters hard bottom materials such as coral reefs, the anchor teeth and anchor chains are difficult to generate the anchoring force required for anchoring.

[0003] The unmanned underwater vehicle seabed mooring device given in the patent (CN201710069638.4) uses four hydraulically driven retractable anchor rods and a mud grabber as the action mechanism. The hydraulic drive device includes a large volume and weight of oil cylinders, hydraulic motors, throttle valves, overflow valves and other equipment, which are not suitable for light and small unmanned underwater vehicles. In addition, the unmanned underwater vehicle is easily buried by the mud and sand on the seabed when the above mechanism is used.

[0004] The patent (CN202210658594.X) provides a single-use underwater vehicle underwater anchoring and retention device and method, which relies on the gravity of the anchor to achieve mooring. Due to the internal volume limitation of the autonomous underwater vehicle, the deadweight of the anchor carried by itself is often insufficient to balance the force of the ocean current on the unmanned underwater vehicle. In addition, on the hard seabed (such as coral reef bottom), it is difficult to embed and retain the anchor only by its own weight and structure.

[0005] In view of the above situation, in order to meet the needs of unmanned underwater vehicles to stay underwater for a long time, it is necessary to develop an anchoring device that can adapt to different seabed conditions, has autonomous burial function, and can provide sufficiently large mooring force. Summary of the invention

[0006] In view of this, the present invention provides an autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device and an anchoring method thereof to solve the problems of insufficient mooring force and inability to anchor caused by defects of the anchors currently carried inside unmanned underwater vehicles such as light weight and poor adaptability to the hard bottom of the seabed.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: an autonomous submerged unmanned underwater vehicle mooring device, the mooring device is arranged in an anchoring compartment and is sealed by a plugging cover and a pad, a gas generating chamber and a gas generator connected to each other are arranged on the upper part of the pad, the mooring device is composed of a hollow cylindrical front conduit and a conical rear conduit to form a venturi tube, one end of the mooring cable of the mooring device is connected to a locking mechanism in the anchoring compartment, and the other end is connected to the rear conduit, the small end of the front conduit extends into the rear conduit and is fixed by a supporting rod, the large end of the front conduit is provided with a nail, the rear end of the nail extends into the front conduit, and a plurality of anchor teeth are symmetrically arranged on the circumference of the large end of the front conduit, a plurality of rope nets are arranged around a circle of anchor teeth, and the rope nets are also unfolded during the unfolding of the anchor teeth.

[0008] Furthermore, the edges of the nails are provided with anti-extraction teeth to prevent loosening after being shot into the seabed.

[0009] Further, the anchor tooth is connected to the front guide tube via a torsion spring.

[0010] Furthermore, the mooring cable adopts a steel wire rope with a diameter of 1 mm.

[0011] An anchoring method for an autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle mooring device, comprising the following steps:

[0012] 1) Before the mooring device is started, the mooring compartment is sealed with a plug cover;

[0013] 2) The unmanned underwater vehicle dives to the set depth for anchoring. After receiving the anchoring command, the controller starts the gas generator. The high-pressure gas released by the gas generator pushes the pad downward, and the pad pushes the anchor device out of the anchoring compartment. After leaving the compartment, the torsion spring on the front guide tube of the anchor device is reset, the anchor teeth and the rope net on the anchor teeth are unfolded, and the internal hole of the front guide tube is a contraction structure. According to the Bernoulli principle, the flow velocity at the outlet end of the front guide tube increases, and a negative pressure area is formed at the connection between the front guide tube and the rear guide tube, which can suck in the surrounding mud and sand to achieve self-burying of the anchor device;

[0014] 3) The plowing action of the submerged anchor teeth and rope net provides the mooring force required by the unmanned underwater vehicle, during which the mooring line is naturally released along its winding axis;

[0015] 4) If the unmanned underwater vehicle needs to surface after completing the anchoring mission, the locking / releasing mechanism inside the unmanned underwater vehicle releases the mooring cable to disconnect the connection between the anchoring device and the unmanned underwater vehicle body.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0017] 1) The internal structure design of the mooring device of the present invention is designed using the Venturi tube principle, which can generate negative pressure, bring in surrounding mud and other materials, achieve rapid self-burying of the anchor, and is conducive to generating and enhancing the anchoring force.

[0018] 2) The head of the anchoring device of the present invention is equipped with nails, which are pushed into the seabed at high speed using high-pressure gas, and are fixed underwater by the one-way stop nails. The device can adapt to both soft and hard seabed substrates, thus achieving more active anchoring.

[0019] 3) A spider web structure is arranged between the anchor teeth of the mooring device of the present invention through a rope net. When the anchor teeth are unfolded, the rope net is also unfolded, which can store sand and stones absorbed by negative pressure, increase the resistance of the anchor, and improve the anchoring ability.

[0020] 4) The edges of the nails of the anchoring device of the present invention are provided with anti-extraction teeth to prevent the nails from loosening and being pulled out after being shot into the seabed.

[0021] 5) A cavity is left inside the compartment where the anchoring device of the present invention is located, and the entire anchoring compartment has zero buoyancy in the water, which can ensure that the net buoyancy of the unmanned underwater vehicle does not change after the unmanned underwater vehicle is anchored, and does not affect the control performance of the unmanned underwater vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the anchoring device of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of the anchoring device of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the anchoring device of the present invention being wedged into the seabed.

[0025] Marking instructions: 1. Gas generation chamber; 2. Gas generator; 3. Mooring cable; 4. Rear duct; 5. Front duct; 6. Support rod; 7. Anchor tooth; 8. Torsion spring; 9. Rope net; 10. Nail; 11. Plug cover; 12. Pad; 13. Anchoring compartment; 14. Negative pressure area; 15. Jet hole. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the specific embodiments of the present invention and the corresponding drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention. The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0027] The present invention provides an autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device, such as Figure 2 As shown, the mooring device is installed in the mooring cabin 13 of the unmanned underwater vehicle, and is composed of the upper gas generating chamber 1, the gas generator 2 and the pad 12, the middle mooring device body and the lower plug cover 11. The mooring device body is fixed in the cabin by the upper pad 12 and the lower plug cover 11, and the pad 12 serves to isolate the high-temperature gas and maintain the pressure.

[0028] like Figure 1 As shown, the mooring device comprises a mooring cable 3, a front conduit 5, a rear conduit 4, an anchor tooth 7, a rope net 9 and a nail 10. The front conduit 5 is a hollow column, the rear conduit 4 is conical, the rear conduit 4 and the front conduit 5 form a Venturi tube, one end of the mooring cable 3 is connected to the locking mechanism in the mooring cabin, and the other end is connected to the rear conduit 4. Before the mooring device starts working, the mooring cable 3 is wound into a cylindrical mass and embedded in the middle hole of the gas generating chamber. The small end of the front conduit 5 extends into the rear conduit 4 and is fixed by a support rod 6. The large end of the front conduit 5 is provided with a nail 10, and the rear end of the nail 10 extends into the front conduit 5. A plurality of anchor teeth 7 are symmetrically arranged on the circumference of the large end of the front conduit 5. The anchor teeth 7 are connected to the front conduit 5 by a torsion spring 8. The anchor teeth are constrained by the bulkhead of the mooring cabin before leaving the cabin, and are automatically deployed under the action of the torsion spring after leaving the cabin. A plurality of rope nets 9 are arranged above a circle of anchor teeth 7. The rope nets are also unfolded during the unfolding of the anchor teeth to increase the anchoring force.

[0029] As an implementation method in this embodiment, the edge of the nail 10 is provided with anti-extraction teeth, which can prevent the nail from loosening and being pulled out after being shot into the seabed.

[0030] An anchoring method for an autonomous submerged unmanned underwater vehicle mooring device, such as Figure 3 As shown, the steps are:

[0031] 1) Before the mooring device is started, the mooring compartment is sealed by the plug cover 11, and there is no protrusion outside, which can maintain the fluid shape of the unmanned underwater vehicle. By adjusting the weight of the counterweight material of the mooring device, the entire mooring section can be made to have zero buoyancy in the water, that is, the gravity of the compartment section containing the cavity is equal to the buoyancy of the section in the water after sealing. Therefore, after anchoring, the net buoyancy of the unmanned underwater vehicle in the water remains unchanged compared with before anchoring.

[0032] 2) The unmanned underwater vehicle dives to the set depth for anchoring. After receiving the anchoring command, the controller starts the gas generator 2. The high-pressure gas released by the gas generator 2 pushes the pad 12 downward, and the pad 12 pushes the anchoring device out of the anchoring compartment 13. After leaving the compartment, the torsion spring 8 on the front conduit 5 of the anchoring device is reset, the anchor teeth 7 and the rope net 9 on the anchor teeth are unfolded, and the internal hole of the front conduit 5 is a contraction structure. According to the Bernoulli principle, the flow velocity at the outlet end of the front conduit increases, and a negative pressure area 14 is formed at the connection between the front conduit 5 and the rear conduit 4, which can suck in the surrounding mud and sand to achieve self-burying of the anchoring device;

[0033] 3) Under the impetus of the gas generator, the main part of the mooring device is shot into the seabed at high speed. If it encounters a hard seabed, the nails will wedge into the hard bottom to provide anchoring force. On the other hand, the negative pressure area between the front and rear guide tubes sucks in the surrounding sand and gravel to bury the anchor teeth and the front and rear guide tubes. The plowing effect of the buried anchor teeth 7 and the rope net 9 provides the anchoring force required by the unmanned underwater vehicle. In this process, the mooring cable 3 is naturally released along its winding shaft.

[0034] 4) Driven by the gas generator, the main part of the mooring device is shot into the seabed at high speed. If it encounters a hard seabed, the nails will wedge into the hard bottom to provide anchoring force. On the other hand, the negative pressure area between the front and rear guide tubes sucks in the surrounding sand and gravel to bury the anchor teeth and the front and rear guide tubes. The plowing effect of the buried anchor teeth and rope net will provide the anchoring force required by the unmanned underwater vehicle. In this process, the mooring cable is naturally released along its winding shaft. The mooring device of the present invention is a disposable device. If the unmanned underwater vehicle needs to float up after completing the mooring task, the locking / release mechanism inside the unmanned underwater vehicle can release the mooring cable and disconnect the mooring cable connection between the mooring device and the unmanned underwater vehicle body.

[0035] Example

[0036] An autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device is installed in an independent anchoring compartment of the unmanned underwater vehicle. In order to keep the vehicle's attitude stable before and after anchoring, the anchoring section is placed in the middle of the unmanned underwater vehicle. Before the anchoring device works, the entire anchoring section remains sealed. The envelope shape of the anchoring device is cylindrical, and the length and diameter do not exceed the outer diameter of the unmanned underwater vehicle (e.g., 324mm).

[0037] The main part of the anchoring device consists of a front conduit 5, a rear conduit 4 and a nail 10. The nail 10 is fixed to the front end of the front conduit through a support rod, and the front conduit 5 is fixed to the front end of the rear conduit 4 through a support rod 6. Four anchor teeth 7 are symmetrically installed at the front end of the front conduit 5, and the anchor teeth 7 are connected to the front conduit 5 through a torsion spring 8. The front conduit 5, the rear conduit 4, the nail 10 and the anchor teeth 7 are all made of stainless steel. The shapes of the front conduit 5, the rear conduit 4 and the nail 10 refer to Figure 2The design is to change the weight of the mooring device by adjusting the size of the above-mentioned components to make it equal to the buoyancy of the mooring section, thereby ensuring that the buoyancy of the section in the water is zero.

[0038] A rope net made of Kevlar material is installed between the anchor teeth 7, and the diameter of the rope is 2mm. Before the mooring device starts working, the rope net 9 is wrapped around the front and rear guide tubes with the anchor teeth 7. After the anchor teeth are opened, the rope net is opened. The mooring cable 3 is made of a steel wire rope with a diameter of 1mm and a length of 40m, which can withstand the unmanned underwater vehicle under the action of 3kn flow. The mooring cable 3 is wound into a roll before use and placed in the middle hole of the gas generating chamber. One end of the mooring cable is connected to the end of the rear guide tube, and the other end is connected to the locking / release mechanism of the unmanned underwater vehicle before and during the operation of the mooring device.

[0039] The gas generator chamber is a hollow disc structure, with gas generators evenly arranged inside the disc along the circumference. The hollow part is used to place the mooring cable, and the lower part is installed with a pad as a sealing part and an actuating piston. The charge of the gas generator is double-base propellant, and the specific impulse of the charge is designed based on the mooring device moving 10m underwater and being able to wedge into the hard seabed of coral reefs at a depth of 10cm.

[0040] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any simple modification, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention are still within the protection scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. An autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle mooring device, the mooring device being arranged in an anchoring compartment (13) and sealed by a plugging cover (11) and a pad (12), wherein a gas generating chamber (1) and a gas generator (2) connected to each other are arranged on the upper part of the pad (12), characterized in that: The mooring device is composed of a hollow columnar front conduit (5) and a conical rear conduit (4) forming a Venturi tube. One end of the mooring cable (3) of the mooring device is connected to a locking mechanism in the mooring compartment, and the other end is connected to the rear conduit (4). The small end of the front conduit (5) extends into the rear conduit (4) and is fixed by a support rod (6). The large end of the front conduit (5) is provided with a nail (10), and the rear end of the nail (10) extends into the front conduit (5). A plurality of anchor teeth (7) are symmetrically arranged on the circumference of the large end of the front conduit (5). A plurality of rope nets (9) are arranged around a circle of anchor teeth (7). The rope nets are also unfolded during the unfolding of the anchor teeth.

2. The autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The edge of the nail (10) is provided with anti-extraction teeth to prevent it from loosening after being shot into the seabed.

3. An autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle mooring device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The anchor teeth (7) are connected to the front guide tube (5) via a torsion spring (8).

4. The autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The mooring cable (3) is a steel wire rope with a diameter of 1 mm.

5. The anchoring method of the autonomous submersible unmanned underwater vehicle anchoring device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steps are: 1) Before the mooring device is started, the mooring compartment is sealed by a plugging cover (11); 2) The unmanned underwater vehicle dives to a set depth where it can be anchored. After receiving an anchoring command, the controller starts the gas generator (2) to work. The high-pressure gas released by the gas generator (2) pushes the pad (12) downward. The pad (12) pushes the anchoring device out of the anchoring compartment (13). After leaving the compartment, the torsion spring (8) on the front conduit (5) of the anchoring device is reset, the anchor teeth (7) and the rope net (9) on the anchor teeth are unfolded, and the internal hole of the front conduit (5) is a contraction structure. According to the Bernoulli principle, the flow velocity at the outlet end of the front conduit increases, and a negative pressure area is formed at the connection between the front conduit (5) and the rear conduit (4), which can suck in the surrounding mud and sand, thereby realizing the self-burial of the anchoring device; 3) The plowing action of the submerged anchor teeth (7) and the rope net (9) provides the anchoring force required by the unmanned underwater vehicle, during which the mooring cable (3) is naturally released along its winding axis; 4) After completing the mooring mission, if the unmanned underwater vehicle needs to surface, the locking / releasing mechanism inside the unmanned underwater vehicle releases the mooring cable (3) to disconnect the connection between the mooring device and the unmanned underwater vehicle body.

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