Suction Cup Entanglement Marker for Underwater Vehicle Tracking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Underwater vehicles, particularly UUVs, are difficult to identify, track, and disable due to their slim profiles and discrete footprints, posing challenges for traditional methods.
Innovation Solution
A counter-underwater vehicle apparatus comprising entanglement lines, a box with a suction cup and release mechanism, and a bite plate, deployed by marine animals to attach and disable UUVs, with the entanglement lines disrupting the propulsion system and a marker for location identification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional identification and tracking methods are used, then the process is simple and direct, but underwater vehicles with slim profiles and discrete footprints cannot be effectively identified or tracked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a marker as an intermediary object that is attached to the underwater vehicle. This marker serves as a mediator between the underwater vehicle (which is difficult to detect directly) and the detection systems. The marker provides visual identification and tracking capability without requiring direct detection of the vehicle's slim profile, thus resolving the contradiction between detection difficulty and identification effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The marker utilizes color changes or visual properties to enhance detectability. By attaching a visually distinct marker to the underwater vehicle, the system transforms the difficult-to-detect vehicle into a trackable object through color or visual contrast, directly addressing the identification and tracking effectiveness problem.
2Measurement precision
If marine animals are used to deploy the disabling device, then precise and effective deployment is achieved, but the complexity of the deployment system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables marine animals to perform the deployment function themselves through behavioral training. The animal carries the device and releases it by biting the release mechanism, which triggers the suction cup attachment. This self-service approach achieves precise deployment without requiring complex external control systems, resolving the contradiction between deployment precision and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The bite plate serves as an intermediary mechanism that translates the marine animal's natural biting behavior into a functional release action. This intermediary component allows the animal to interact with the device in a simple, natural way while achieving precise deployment, thus reducing the complexity of the overall deployment system.
3Ease of operation
If a suction cup attachment system is used, then the device can be easily attached to the underwater vehicle surface, but the attachment mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The suction cup attachment system is self-activating through the marine animal's impact action. When the animal impacts the vehicle surface, the impact force automatically activates the suction cup, causing attachment without requiring additional actuators or complex control mechanisms. This self-service approach achieves easy attachment while minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively disables UUVs by jamming their propulsion systems and provides a method for marking and tracking underwater vehicles, overcoming the limitations of prior art by utilizing marine animals for precise and effective deployment.
Implementation Method 1
a suction cup coupled to the box configured to attach the box to a surface of an underwater vehicle
Data Source
AI summary
A counter-underwater vehicle apparatus and marker. Moreover, a counter-underwater vehicle apparatus comprising a plurality of entanglement lines; a box configured to contain the plurality of entanglement lines; a suction cup coupled to the box configured to attach the box to a surface of an underwater vehicle; a release mechanism coupled to the box configured to detach the box from a bite plate and release the plurality of entanglement lines; and the bite plate selectively coupled to the release mechanism. Additionally a marker configured to highlight the location of an underwater vehicle, a box configured to contain and release the marker, a suction cup coupled to the box configured to attach to the box a surface of an underwater vehicle, a release mechanism coupled to the box configured to detach the box from a bite plate and release the marker, and the bite plate selectively coupled to the release mechanism.