Underwater test platform for testing load of propeller
By designing an underwater test platform with integrated pressure sensors and thrusters, the problems of high cost and low precision of traditional platforms have been solved, multi-degree-of-freedom motion measurement and high-precision data monitoring have been achieved, supporting the dynamic research of underwater equipment.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202422153087.8
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-09-03
- Publication Date
- 2025-09-23
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-09-03
AI Technical Summary
Traditional underwater propulsion and posture test platforms are expensive, have low accuracy, and poor portability, making it difficult to meet the needs of multi-degree-of-freedom motion measurement.
An underwater test platform is designed, which includes components such as pressure sensors, steering thrusters, sinking and buoyancy thrusters, and attitude sensors. Six-degree-of-freedom motion is achieved through the combination of thrusters. High-precision sensors are integrated to monitor and transmit data in real time, and the platform's attitude and position are controlled by the host computer.
It achieves low-cost, high-precision multi-degree-of-freedom motion measurement, provides an accurate dynamic model, and provides reliable data support for the dynamic performance research of underwater equipment.
Smart Images
Figure CN223376888U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to an underwater propulsion test platform, in particular to an underwater test platform for testing propeller load. Background Art
[0002] With the continuous deepening of underwater exploration, underwater robots and diving equipment are playing an increasingly important role. In order to make them have good controllability, stability and adaptability, researchers need to use reliable test platforms for testing and research. Traditional underwater propulsion and posture test platforms mainly rely on fixed measuring equipment and sensors to obtain data, which usually requires a lot of installation and debugging work. Not only are they expensive, they can only measure single or two degrees of freedom of motion, and the established dynamic models are not accurate and have poor portability. Only large companies and research institutions have them. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new technical solution to reduce the cost of testing and establish an accurate motion model. Utility Model Content
[0003] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the utility model provides an underwater test platform for testing thruster loads, which realizes the technical effect of measuring and recording the posture and force of the underwater platform. Through the combination of thrusters in different orientations and the thrust effects in different main directions, six-freedom motion and posture control can be completed to meet the test needs of various motions. Through remote monitoring and control, the integrated high-precision sensor can capture and transmit the posture and thrust data of the underwater test platform in motion in real time. By using this underwater test platform for testing thruster loads, researchers can accurately process and analyze test data, establish accurate and efficient dynamic models, and study the power performance of underwater equipment.
[0004] The invention discloses an underwater test platform for testing propeller loads. The platform comprises eight pressure sensors, four steering thrusters, four sinking and floating thrusters, a fixing plate, a main body frame, a posture sensor, a depth gauge, a lower computer, a slide rail, a ball screw, a motor, and a groove. The four steering thrusters are horizontally arranged on the four surfaces of the main body frame. The main body frame is in the shape of a rectangle with a cavity in the central area. Below the main body frame are four vertically placed sinking and floating thrusters. The sinking and floating thrusters are respectively fixedly connected to the main body frame through the fixing plate. The pressure sensors are respectively fixed to the thrusters through sleeves. The power line and the signal line are protected by armored cables and incorporated into a bus to be connected to the upper computer of the underwater test platform or the sensors and lower computer inside the main body frame. The posture sensor, the lower computer, and the depth gauge communicate and are powered by the shore through the umbilical hole above the main body frame. The motor is installed at the top of the ball screw through a coupling. The slide rail is installed in the slide rail groove on the ball screw.
[0005] Furthermore, there are four steering thrusters, which are distributed clockwise on the four sides of the main frame of the body. Pressure sensors are fixed on them. The steering thrusters are water jet thrusters. When the platform needs to move in a straight line in the water, the thrusters on both sides of the underwater test platform can be adjusted so that they generate thrust of equal magnitude in the same direction, thereby pushing the platform forward or backward in the specified direction. At the same time, the movement speed of the platform can be controlled by adjusting the thrust of the thruster; when the underwater test platform needs to rotate, the thruster on one side can generate a larger thrust, and the thruster on the other side can generate a smaller thrust or thrust in the opposite direction. The unbalanced thrust causes the platform to generate a rotational torque, thereby realizing the steering of the underwater test platform.
[0006] Furthermore, there are four sinking and floating thrusters, which are symmetrically distributed around the underwater test platform to ensure the stability of the platform when it moves up and down. The sinking and floating thrusters are placed vertically by welding a fixed plate under the main frame of the body. The platform can be raised and dived by controlling the sinking and floating thrusters. By controlling different combinations of sinking and floating thrusters, the underwater test platform can achieve six movements: longitudinal swing, transverse swing, vertical swing, roll, pitch and bow swing.
[0007] Furthermore, a lower computer, attitude sensor, and depth meter are installed in the cavity sealed cabin in the central area of the main frame of the body to realize the communication and attitude perception of the platform. The platform can be controlled and the attitude adjusted through the onshore host computer. The attitude sensor includes an accelerometer to measure the linear acceleration of the underwater test platform, that is, the acceleration ax, ay, az of the underwater test platform on three axes; this data is used to determine the attitude of the underwater test platform, monitor the dynamic behavior of the underwater test platform, and calculate the position change of the underwater test platform.
[0008] Furthermore, the lifting device sinks the underwater test platform into the water or raises it out of the water. The motor is installed on the top of the ball screw through a coupling, and the slide rail is installed in the slide rail groove on the ball screw. The slide rail and the ball screw are matched with grooves, and the ball screw converts the rotational motion of the motor into linear motion. In the lifting device, when the motor starts, it will drive the rotating ball screw. The rotational motion of the ball screw will drive the nut to move up and down linearly on the slide rail, thereby realizing the lifting and lowering of the entire device.
[0009] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: through an underwater test platform for testing the thruster load, the performance of the underwater propulsion device can be evaluated, including the magnitude of the propulsion force and the performance under different depths and environmental conditions. At the same time, the platform can also monitor the posture changes of the underwater equipment in real time, including attitude angle, position information, etc., thereby providing important data support for the control of the equipment. The structural design and the special arrangement of high-precision sensors ensure the accurate measurement of force and torque, providing reliable data for in-depth analysis of thruster performance and control algorithms. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Figure 1 is an oblique view of an underwater test platform for testing thruster loads;
[0011] Figure 2 is a top view of an underwater test platform for testing thruster loads;
[0012] Figure 3 is an oblique view of the lifting device.
[0013] In the figure, 1. Umbilical hole; 2. Pressure sensor; 3. Steering thruster; 4. Sinking and floating thruster; 5. Fixing plate; 6. Main frame; 7. Attitude sensor; 8. Depth gauge; 9. Lower computer; 10. Slide rail; 11. Ball screw; 12. Motor; 13. Groove. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] All pictures in this specification are only used to assist in understanding the specification, so that practitioners in this field can understand and read it. The following is a detailed and clear description of the embodiments of the present invention. The described embodiments are only used to understand the explanation content and are not all examples. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, the remaining embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative designs should all fall within the scope of the technical content described in the present invention.
[0015] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating directions or positional relationships, are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction. Therefore, they cannot be understood as limitations on the present invention.
[0016] 1 and 2 , which respectively show an oblique view and a top view of an underwater test platform for testing thruster loads in this example; the platform includes four pressure sensors, four steering thrusters, four sinking and floating thrusters, a fixing plate, a main frame, an attitude sensor, a depth gauge, and a lower computer.
[0017] Refer to Figure 3, which is an oblique view of the lifting device. The lifting device consists of a motor, a slide rail, and a ball screw. The lifting device is used to put the platform into the water or lift it out of the water. The design of the slide rail and ball screw makes the lifting movement more stable and precise.
[0018] The power supply and communication are completed by the umbilical cable through the connection to the onshore host computer. The attitude sensor, lower computer and depth gauge are connected to the bus through the umbilical hole above the main frame of the body to communicate and power the shore. Conventional radio communication will produce electromagnetic waves attenuated by the medium in water. Cable communication is adopted, using twisted pair or coaxial cable. Multiple groups of "wire pairs" are evenly wound to form the entire cable. The wire pairs are twisted and twisted to reduce external common-mode noise interference; the center of the umbilical cable is the cable core and single-mode armored optical fiber, and its pulling breaking force reaches 500kg. When the platform fails in the water, even if there is an undercurrent, it can be pulled up through the umbilical cable, which facilitates the recovery of the test platform.
[0019] The communication bus includes RS-485, with a maximum communication distance of 1200 meters. It is a multi-point configuration, connecting multiple devices in a master-slave configuration, with a transmission rate of up to 10Mbps. The host computer software issues PWM commands to its master controller to control the drive system, adjust the speed of the thrusters, and thus the operating state of the underwater test platform, so that the underwater test platform reaches the predetermined target position and posture.
[0020] The attitude sensor is mainly used to collect the current attitude information of the underwater test platform. The module and the single-chip computer transmit data through the serial port protocol. Whenever an interrupt signal is sent to the module, the data collection will be updated once, thereby continuously recording the attitude information. The mpu9250 is included, the power supply voltage is 3.3v, and it contains an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. During movement, it can obtain its own X, Y, and Z axis acceleration and angle parameters in real time. Through data fusion, the attitude angle can be obtained. The data transmitted to the host computer can be used to adjust the control algorithm to achieve precise and stable underwater navigation. Its communication interface can be I2C or SPI.
[0021] The gyroscope is used to measure the angular velocity of the underwater test platform, that is, the rotation speed ωx, ωy, ωz of the underwater test platform around three axes, and the current posture of the underwater test platform can be accurately determined by processing and analyzing this data.
[0022] The magnetometer measures the magnetic field strength around the underwater test platform to determine its orientation (heading). The data provided by the magnetometer can be combined with the data from the accelerometer and gyroscope to improve the accuracy and anti-interference performance of attitude estimation.
[0023] The lower computer in this example is the control center of the underwater test platform, which is responsible for receiving data from various sensors and controlling the thrusters in real time according to preset algorithms and control logic. It includes STC89C52, which is a microcontroller based on the 8051 core. Its peripheral interfaces include UART, SPI, I2C, PWM, etc. These interfaces can communicate with the various sensors, actuators and other microcontrollers.
[0024] The technical effects of this utility model are mainly reflected in:
[0025] Through the design of the thruster layout, the PWM duty cycle is controlled by the onshore host computer system to accurately control the output power and direction of each thruster. It is possible to collect data on multi-dimensional motions such as surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch and bow. The test results achieved by using an underwater test platform for testing thruster loads will have a positive impact on the design of underwater equipment, the testing of control methods and performance optimization.
[0026] The technical principles of the present invention are described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. These descriptions are only for explaining the technical principles of the present invention and cannot be interpreted as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention in any way.
Claims
1. An underwater test platform for testing propeller load, characterized in that: The platform comprises: an umbilical hole (1), a pressure sensor (2), a steering propeller (3), a sinking and floating propeller (4), a fixing plate (5), a main body frame (6), a posture sensor (7), a depth gauge (8), a lower computer (9), a slide rail (10), a ball screw (11), a motor (12), and a groove (13). The steering propellers (3) are respectively arranged on four surfaces of the main body frame (6), and four sinking and floating propellers (4) are arranged below the steering propellers (3). The sinking and floating propellers (4) are respectively fixedly connected to the bottom of the main body frame (6) through the fixing plate (5). The main body frame (6) is in the shape of a rectangular body, and the central area is a cavity. The pressure sensor (2) is fixedly connected to the steering propeller (3) and the sinking and floating propeller (4) through a sleeve. The lifting device consists of a motor (12), a slide rail (10), and a ball screw (11). The slide rail (10) is installed in the slide rail groove on the ball screw (11).
2. The underwater test platform for testing propeller load according to claim 1, characterized in that: Four fixing plates (5) are vertically welded below the main body frame (6) and are symmetrically distributed on the bottom surface of the main body frame (6).
3. The underwater test platform for testing propeller load according to claim 1, characterized in that: The four steering thrusters (3) are horizontally symmetrically distributed on the main body frame (6), and the four sinking and floating thrusters (4) are vertically symmetrically distributed on the bottom surface of the main body frame (6). The lower computer (9), the attitude sensor (7), and the depth meter (8) are installed in the central area of the cavity of the main body frame (6).
4. The underwater test platform for testing propeller load according to claim 1, characterized in that: The four sinking and floating thrusters (4) are fixedly connected to the fixing plate (5) to achieve vertical placement, and the attitude sensor (7), the lower computer (9) and the depth gauge (8) are connected to the bus through the umbilical hole (1) above the main frame (6) to communicate with the shore and power supply.
5. The underwater test platform for testing propeller load according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main frame (6) of the body is embedded in the groove (13) of the lifting device, the motor (12) is installed on the top of the ball screw (11) through a coupling, and the slide rail (10) is installed in the slide rail groove on the ball screw (11).