441 results about "Unmanned underwater vehicle" patented technology

The present invention relates to sonar beamforming systems and methods, using a forward-looking sonar having transmit and receive transducer arrays with a beamforming device and at least one side-looking sonar having dynamically range-focused beams. The forward-looking sonar provides for obstacle avoidance and undersea survey. The systems include one-dimensional transmit and receive transducer arrays with beamforming electronics, a computing controller such as, for example, a personal computer host controller. The arrays and beamforming electronics can be packaged in a hermetically sealed housing unit and mounted in Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV). The side-looking sonar system includes for example, 32-element, one-dimensional arrays that are mounted on either side of the UUVs. Further, a downward looking Bathymetric sonar may be mounted on the underside of the vehicle for high-resolution mapping.

A docking station for an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) includes a tether control system to minimize movement of the docking station when the UUV is docking therein. The docking station is a submerged station that is tethered to a floating structure via a tether line. The tether control system selectively loosens and tightens the tether line during UUV docking, to thereby minimize movement of the docking station during UUV docking operations.

A charging system for an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is disposed within a submerged docking station. The charging system includes a battery, one or more generators, and a charge controller. The battery supplies electrical power to an electrical distribution bus in the docking station. The charge controller monitors the charge state of the battery and, when needed, activates one or more of the generators to recharge the battery. The charge controller also activates one or more of the generators when a UUV is docked in the docking station for recharging of its power plant.

The invention, which belongs to the field of unmanned underwater vehicle control research, particularly relates to an under-actuated UUV trajectory tracking sliding-mode control method for the input time lag. On the basis of the control idea of the cascaded system, longitudinal, heading and pitching control laws of an integrated time-delay sliding mode for eliminating the virtual control error arecalculated for external unknown boundary disturbance and parameter perturbation; according to the control laws, the longitudinal speed, heading angle, and pitching angle speed of the UUV are adjusted, thereby completing the UUV trajectory tracking sliding-mode control process. According to the invention, the virtual under-actuated UUV is established and the under-actuated UUV trajectory trackingcontrol problem is converted into the tracking error stabilization problem, so that the computing process is simplified; with the sliding-mode control, the control performance and robustness of the system are enhanced; and the time constraint requirements of the position, speed and attitude by under-actuated UUV three-dimensional trajectory tracking are met.

An Endurance Extension Module (EXM) for powering an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle. The EXM converts wave motion to locomotive thrust, towing the UUV from point to point or keeping it in place against an opposing current. The EXM may also supply the UUV with electricity for driving an electric motor or powering on-board electronics. The EXM can be refracted onto the UUV when not in use to minimize drag, or it can release the UUV as prologue to a subsequent rendezvous. The EXM-UUV combinations of this invention allow extended autonomous missions over wider territory for purposes such as surveying, monitoring conditions, or delivering cargo.

The invention relates to an unmanned underwater vehicle IVFH (intelligent vector field histogram) collision avoidance method, in particular, an unmanned underwater vehicle two-dimensional IVFH (intelligent vector field histogram) collision avoidance method. With the method adopted, an unmanned underwater vehicle can obtain the location information of an obstacle through processing sensor data in a navigation process, so that the unmanned underwater vehicle can focus on security and rapidity, and the unmanned underwater vehicle can have a certain intelligence like human beings; and reasonable collision avoidance actions can be decided based on factors such as the distance of the obstacle, the distance of a target point, free grid percentage and known field of vision percentage, for example, course and navigational speed instructions can be determined, so that the unmanned underwater vehicle can avoid the obstacle so as to prevent danger. The method of the invention is suitable for collision avoidance conditions of unmanned underwater vehicles.

The invention provides a multi-UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) cooperative system underwater target tracking algorithm for a fuzzy adaptive interacting multiple model (FAIMM). Firstly, according to the bearing-only target tracking principle of the multi-UUV cooperative system, a discrete nonlinear state and observation equation for the target tracking system is built; then, according to the characteristics of underwater target motion, in combination of five kinds of target motion modes, analysis is carried out according to the dynamic state transition matrix, the coupled inequality relation among the five modes is put forward, and a motion mode set adapted to underwater target tracking is selected optimally; then, an intermediate Gauss distribution function is adopted as a membership function, a mode probability is used as an evaluation index for filter information and corresponding covariance acquired by each mode, and fuzzy reasoning for the mode transition probability is designed; and finally, the FAIMM algorithm is designed and realized. During the multi-UUV cooperative system bearing-only target tracking process, the least number of target motion sets is selected, adaptive change of the mode transition probability is realized through the fuzzy reasoning, disordered competition among the modes are reduced, the filter accuracy is higher, and demands of multi-UUV cooperative system underwater target tracking can be met.

A charging system for an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is disposed within a submerged docking station. The charging system includes a battery, a fuel cell, a fuel source, and a charge controller. The battery supplies electrical power to an electrical distribution bus in the docking station. The charge controller monitors the charge state of the battery and, when needed, activates the fuel cell to recharge the battery. The charge controller also activates the fuel cell when a UUV is docked in the docking station for recharging of its power plant.