Underwater vehicle design and control methods
First Claim
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1. An underwater vehicle comprising:
- a hull including;
a first portion having a partial ellipsoidal shape; and
a second portion that is flat and connected to the first portion;
one or more sensors configured to detect information from a surface the second portion of the hull is oriented towards;
a first thruster, wherein the first thruster is oriented to apply a force to the underwater vehicle along an axis that passes through a center of gravity of the underwater vehicle and is parallel to the second portion of the hull; and
a second thruster, wherein the second thruster is located on the second portion of the hull.
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Abstract
Vehicles designed to use ground effect forces to control a positioning of the vehicle relative to a surface as well as their methods of use are described.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An underwater vehicle comprising:
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a hull including; a first portion having a partial ellipsoidal shape; and a second portion that is flat and connected to the first portion; one or more sensors configured to detect information from a surface the second portion of the hull is oriented towards; a first thruster, wherein the first thruster is oriented to apply a force to the underwater vehicle along an axis that passes through a center of gravity of the underwater vehicle and is parallel to the second portion of the hull; and a second thruster, wherein the second thruster is located on the second portion of the hull. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An underwater vehicle comprising:
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a hull including; a flat portion; and a partial ellipsoidal portion connected to the flat portion; and one or more sensors configured to detect information from a surface the flat portion of the hull is oriented towards, wherein the sensors have a sensing range from the flat portion of the hull, wherein a chord length of the flat portion of the hull results in at least one stable equilibrium position relative to the surface from ground effect forces generated when the underwater vehicle is moved laterally relative to the surface, and wherein the at least one stable equilibrium position is within the sensing range of the one or more sensors. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An underwater vehicle comprising:
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a hull including a flat portion; and at least one thruster located on the flat portion of the hull, wherein the at least one thruster has a diameter and a thrust capacity; and one or more sensors configured to detect information from a surface the flat portion of the hull is oriented towards, wherein the one or more sensors have a sensing range from the flat portion of the hull, wherein the diameter of the thruster is sized and the thrust capacity is sufficient to provide at least one stable equilibrium position relative to the surface from ground effect forces generated by the at least one thruster when the underwater vehicle is located adjacent to the surface, and wherein the at least one stable equilibrium position is within the sensing range of the one or more sensors. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification