Underwater Mat Placement Device With Guide Construction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for arranging protective material mats underwater, such as geotextile or bentonite mats, are time-consuming and lack accuracy, leading to inadequate watertightness and increased risk of groundwater level changes, which can affect ecology, agriculture, and navigation in channels during widening or deepening operations.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a floating support body with a guide construction and manipulating tool allows for precise positioning and unrolling of material mats, along with a pouring device for immediate stabilization with pouring material, ensuring accurate placement and enhanced watertightness by using a pontoon with spud poles and a robot arm for accessing difficult areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the protective material mat is unrolled from the waterside in a direction running transversely of the navigation direction, then the mat can be placed on the bottom, but the process is time-consuming and difficult to obtain the desired watertightness
Solution Approach 1:
The guide construction is positioned in advance at the exact location where the material mat needs to be unrolled. This preliminary positioning of the guide construction enables precise starting point establishment, which is crucial for achieving accurate mat placement and ensuring watertightness without time-consuming adjustments during the unrolling process.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide construction acts as an intermediary element between the floating support body and the material mat. It provides a stable reference structure that facilitates accurate positioning of the mat's side edge, enabling precise unrolling from a predetermined starting point and ensuring proper alignment with the channel bottom.
2Manufacturing precision
If the guide construction is positioned accurately using a floating support body, then the material mat can be precisely positioned, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The floating support body serves multiple functions: it provides a stable platform for the guide construction, enables accurate positioning through its own precise location determination (e.g., using GPS), and supports the manipulating tool for material mat handling. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate positioning devices, thereby limiting the increase in overall device complexity while maintaining high positioning accuracy.
3Reliability
If pouring material is poured immediately onto the material mat, then the mat cannot shift and watertightness is enhanced, but the pouring device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pouring device is integrated with the floating support body, combining the functions of material mat positioning and immediate pouring stabilization into a single unified system. This merging allows the pouring operation to be performed directly at the location where the mat was just positioned, ensuring immediate stabilization without requiring separate, complex independent pouring equipment.
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 solution enables efficient and precise arrangement of protective material mats underwater, ensuring rapid restoration of watertightness and stability, minimizing disruptions to shipping and ecological impact.
Implementation Method 1
a floating support body (5) in the form of a pontoon assembly
Implementation Method 2
temporarily fixed by lowering the spud poles against or into the bottom
Data Source
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AI summary
Described is a device for arranging a protective material mat on a bottom under water. The device comprises a floating support body for a manipulating tool and for a guide construction for the material mat, wherein the manipulating tool is configured to pick up, carry underwater and unroll a material mat roll on the bottom from a starting position, and wherein the guide construction comprises a guide frame and an engaging means for a side edge of the material mat movable along the guide frame into the starting position. Also described is a method for arranging the protective material mat.