Flexible Underwater Carrier Capture System with Liquid-Filled Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current underwater vehicle recovery systems face challenges in efficiently capturing underwater moving carriers of different sizes due to their rigid designs, which lead to space utilization issues and potential damage during recovery, and lack the flexibility to adapt to varying carrier diameters.
Innovation Solution
A flexible dynamic capturing system comprising a shell with a front-end flexible guide apparatus, tail flexible hand clamping and fastening apparatus, and a bottom retracting apparatus, utilizing liquid-filled flow channels and soft materials to achieve bending and winding actions, allowing for compact storage and adaptable capture of carriers of various diameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid horn-shaped docking station is used for carrier recovery, then the mechanism is simple and reliable, but the device volume becomes very large when extended to large carriers, greatly reducing space utilization of the mother vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid horn-shaped docking stations with flexible arms made of soft materials (silicone rubber, fluororubber) that can adapt to different carrier sizes. The flexible arms have liquid-filled flow channels that provide structural support while maintaining flexibility, eliminating the need for large rigid structures and reducing the mechanism volume significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and properties of the arm material from rigid to flexible by using soft materials with adjustable stiffness through liquid filling. The liquid-filled flow channels allow dynamic adjustment of the arm's mechanical properties, enabling the same mechanism to handle carriers of different sizes without requiring volume changes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a rigid mechanical manipulator with large extension ratio is used, then the recovery capability is improved, but rigid collision easily causes damage to the underwater moving carrier and the driving system generates great noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible arms made of soft materials that can bend and adapt to the carrier's position, avoiding rigid collisions. The flexibility of the soft material allows the arms to gently contact and secure the carrier without causing damage, while also reducing noise from mechanical impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite structures combining soft flexible materials (silicone rubber, fluororubber) with liquid-filled flow channels. This composite design provides both the flexibility needed to avoid collision damage and the structural integrity required for effective carrier recovery, eliminating the need for noisy rigid mechanical components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the mechanical arm is designed with large extension ratio for carrier capture, then the capture capability is improved, but the mechanical arm occupies large space inside the mother vehicle when recovered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the flexible arms to be retractable and storable within the mother vehicle's cabin. The soft material construction allows the arms to be folded and nested compactly when not in use, significantly reducing the occupied space while maintaining full extension capability during carrier capture operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible nature of the soft material arms allows them to be configured in compact forms for storage. Unlike rigid arms that require large storage volumes, the flexible arms can be coiled, folded, or retracted into small spaces within the mother vehicle, achieving both large extension ratio during operation and small storage volume.
4Measurement precision
If a flexible arm with decoupling control on shape and stiffness is used, then the shape and stiffness control is improved, but the system cannot adapt to recovery tasks of underwater moving carriers of different sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the flexible arm system with liquid-filled flow channels that can be adjusted to provide different stiffness levels, enabling the same arm structure to adapt to carriers of various sizes. The multi-functional design allows the arms to handle different carrier diameters (180mm, 324mm, 533mm) without requiring size-specific configurations, achieving both precision control and broad adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses liquid-filled flow channels where the liquid volume and pressure can be adjusted to change the arm's stiffness and shape characteristics. This parameter adjustment capability allows the same flexible arm structure to adapt to different carrier sizes while maintaining precise control, eliminating the need for multiple specialized arm configurations.
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
The system effectively reduces space requirements, minimizes collision damage, and enhances control accuracy through adaptive robust control methods, enabling efficient recovery of underwater moving carriers of different sizes with reduced noise and hydraulic power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the liquid-filled flow channels are provided inside the flexible arms
Implementation Method 2
The flexible arm, the first vertical flexible arm, and the second vertical flexible arm are made of a soft material, outer surfaces thereof are covered with constraint layers that limit radial expansion of the flexible arms
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses a flexible dynamic capturing system for an underwater moving carrier, including a shell, a front-end flexible guide apparatus, at least one tail flexible hand clamping and fastening apparatus, and a bottom retracting apparatus fastened in the shell. The front-end flexible guiding apparatus includes several flexible arms, the several flexible arms are fastened on a first rigid base in a circumferential array. The flexible arms can bend to an inner side and outer side of a circumference respectively when driven. Each tail flexible hand clamping and fastening apparatus includes several flexible claws, and the several flexible claws are divided into two groups and fastened on a second rigid base. When the flexible claws are driven, the two groups of flexible claws can bend and wind relative to each other. The bottom retracting apparatus implements lifting or lowering of the front-end flexible guide apparatus and the tail flexible hand clamping and fastening apparatus. The flexible dynamic capturing system for the present invention can capture underwater moving carriers of different diameters, and can be retracted and stored with a compact volume.