Underwater Vehicle Recovery Receiving Means with Dynamic Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing underwater vehicle recovery devices face challenges in aligning with the vehicle, especially in rough seas, and cannot handle AUVs with large fins due to damage risks during entry through tapered rings.
Innovation Solution
A recovery device with receiving means that can move freely to align with the vehicle and guide it into a housing, equipped with traction and immobilization systems to prevent damage, allowing for the recovery of various underwater and surface devices, including AUVs, torpedoes, and drones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the AUV approaches the cage autonomously with its own propulsion, then the recovery process can be initiated, but correct alignment is difficult to achieve in rough seas due to the movements (oscillations) of the cage
Solution Approach 1:
The receiving means are made movable relative to the chassis, allowing them to dynamically adjust their position and orientation to follow the movements of the AUV and maintain alignment despite cage oscillations in rough seas
Solution Approach 2:
The receiving means automatically follow the motion of the AUV through their freedom of movement, eliminating the need for complex active control systems to maintain alignment
2Adaptability or versatility
If the AUV enters through a frustoconical ring at the cage entrance, then the AUV can be captured, but AUVs with large fins cannot be recovered because these fins would be damaged when passing through the ring
Solution Approach 1:
The receiving means can move and orient themselves to guide the AUV along a safe path that avoids contact with the chassis, preventing fin damage while maintaining capture capability
Solution Approach 2:
The receiving means act as an intermediary between the AUV and the chassis, guiding the vehicle through the housing without direct contact with potentially damaging structures
3Ease of operation
If the receiving means have sufficient freedom of movement to follow the machine, then the recovery is facilitated and mechanical constraints are limited, but the receiving means require guidance and orientation control
Solution Approach 1:
The receiving means are designed with freedom of movement to follow AUV motion, and guiding means are provided to orient them appropriately, creating a dynamic adaptation system that balances ease of operation with controlled guidance
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows changes in the degree of freedom of the receiving means depending on the operational phase: high freedom when following the AUV to avoid constraints, and controlled guidance when orientation is needed
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatus for recovering an underwater or marine vehicle, particularly an AUV, comprising a chassis (14) defining a housing that the vehicle (1) can enter, via an entrance, and comprising: receiving means (18) for receiving the nose of the vehicle (1), these means being capable of moving along the length of said housing as the vehicle enters it, these receiving means (18) having sufficient freedom of movement relative to the chassis (14) that they can accompany the movement of the vehicle, when they lie near the entrance to the housing; and guide means (58, 60) for guiding the receiving means (18) when the vehicle enters the housing, and for orientating these receiving means (8), and the vehicle (1), by restricting their freedom of movement relative to the chassis as the vehicle gradually enters the housing.