Autonomous underwater beacon locator

• US 10,054,104 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AJC Innovation, LLC
• Original Assignee: AJC Innovation, LLC
• Inventors: Cote, Almond J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiest, Anthony D
• Application Number:
  US15/219,167
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: 60495-501, 290 53
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 2209/14 energy generated by movement of the water
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 2008/004 autonomously operating
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0065 Black boxes, devices automatically broadcasting distress signals
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: F03B 13/20 wherein both members , i.e. wom and rem are movable relative to the sea bed or shore
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2240/931 which is a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2260/4031 as in toothed gearing
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2260/42 Storage of energy
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2260/5032 of the bevel or angled type
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/001 Acoustic presence detection
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/10 Simultaneous control of position or course in three dimensions G05D1/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 7/14 Structural association with mechanical loads, e.g. with hand-held machine tools or fans with fan or impeller for cooling the machine H02K9/06
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/30 Energy from the sea, e.g. using wave energy or salinity gradient

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a small, inexpensive, long-lived underwater beacon locator. The beacon locator can illustratively include a housing, a communications link, a processor, a plurality of hydrophones and a motion generator.

Claims

1. A beacon locator, comprising:

a housing;

a communications link;

a processor;

a plurality of hydrophones; and

a motion generator stored within the housing, the motion generator comprising;

at least one pendulum configured to move in response to ocean movement,

a first gear at least indirectly engaged with the at least one pendulum that rotates in response to the pendulum movement,

a second gear directly engaged with the first gear that rotates in response to rotation of the first gear, and

a generator that converts rotation of the second gear to a random frequency AC waveform and converts the random frequency AC waveform into a DC waveform.

2. The beacon locator of claim 1, wherein the at least one pendulum comprises two pendulums connected via a main shaft that engages with the first gear.

3. The beacon locator of claim 2, wherein the two pendulums are connected to the main shaft via respective pendulum shafts.

4. The beacon locator of claim 1, further comprising a drive shaft that connects the second gear to the generator.

5. The beacon locator of claim 4, wherein the first gear and the second gear are housed in a gear box that rotates freely about the drive shaft such that the second gear rotates in response to gear box rotation to generate power from two axes of rotation.

6. The beacon locator of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hydrophones are distributed on a lower surface of the housing.

7. The beacon locator of claim 6, wherein the plurality of hydrophones comprises:

a first hydrophone disposed at a port position of the beacon locator,

a second hydrophone disposed at a starboard position of the beacon locator, and

a third hydrophone disposed at a bow position of the beacon locator.

8. The beacon locator of claim 1 further comprising a camera disposed on a lower surface of the housing.

9. The beacon locator of claim 1, further comprising a battery configured to be charged at least indirectly by the generator.

10. A beacon locator, comprising:

a housing;

a communications link;

a processor;

a plurality of hydrophones; and

a motion generator stored within the housing, the motion generator comprising;

at least one pendulum configured to move in response to ocean movement,

a first gear at least indirectly engaged with the at least one pendulum that rotates in response to the pendulum movement,

a second gear directly engaged with the first gear that rotates in response to rotation of the first gear,

a generator drive shaft that rotates in response to rotation of the second gear;

a gearbox that houses the first gear and the second gear, the gearbox being configured to rotate freely about the generator drive shaft independently from the at least one pendulum, the gearbox rotation being configured to rotate the generator drive shaft to generate power from two axes of rotation; and

a generator that converts rotation of the generator drive shaft into a random AC waveform and converts the random AC waveform into a DC waveform.

11. The motion generator of claim 10, wherein the at least one pendulum comprises two pendulums connected via a main shaft that engages with the first gear.

12. The motion generator of claim 11, wherein the two pendulums are connected to the main shaft via respective pendulum shafts.

13. A beacon locator system, comprising:

a housing made of aluminum alloy and able to withstand 1000 atmospheres of pressure;

a pair of fins to enable gliding and control pitch angle and velocity;

a rudder assembly having an upper component and a lower component to control horizontal direction and roll;

a shark repellent material;

an emergency ballast that can be ejected to effect uncontrolled ascent to the surface in an instance of component malfunction;

a solar panel to charge a beacon locator battery while on the surface;

a camera disposed on a lower surface of the housing;

a ballast tank installed in one or more positions on the locator;

a pump to pump water into or out of the ballast tank to control beacon locator buoyancy in the water;

a plurality of hydrophones configured to perform beacon detection and beacon location direction finding; and

a motion generator stored within the housing, the motion generator comprising;

at least one pendulum configured to move in response to ocean movement,

a first gear at least indirectly engaged with the at least one pendulum that rotates in response to the pendulum movement,

a second gear directly engaged with the first gear that rotates in response to rotation of the first gear, and

a generator that converts rotation of the second gear to a random frequency AC waveform and electrically converts the random frequency AC waveform into a DC waveform using a rectifier to charge a rechargeable battery or a supercapacitor;

a GPS receiver for UAV location and time and guidance calibration while surfaced;

a 9-DOF Inertial Measurement Unit for sensing UAV 3-axis translation and 3-axis rotation rates, and 3-axis magnetic heading for underwater guidance;

a satellite communications link for receiving commands, search plans, and communicating detection and location reports comprising text messages providing position and depth, pinger detection reports, and images of potential wreckage;

a processor memory for storing instructions for execution by one or more processors and for storing data collected or generated one or more of the sensors or components onboard the locator, such as locator track history, candidate pinger detections including digital sound recordings with associated detection reports, digital photographs of the sea floor, and predetermined search patterns to be executed;

a processor for executing one or more processes to control operation of the beacon locator including a digital signal processing (DSP) module that interfaces with the acoustic array comprising the plurality of hydrophones capable of receiving audio data from the acoustic array and capable of processing such audio data to determine if a beacon has been detected by comparing a received audio signal to a known pinger acoustic signature and generating a confidence score.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the DSP can receive image data from the camera to identify detectable features within images by comparison of feature contrast ratios and edge detections, the detectable features comprising at least wreckage debris.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a system interface and controller for sending and receiving information to or from a remote server or a remote user by way of communications transceiver to transmit data from the processor memory, for preparing reports to be sent over a communication link and processes search command updates received over the communication link and submits them to a guidance and attitude control processor, and configured to request more in-depth diagnostic testing from test and health monitoring components in response to a real-time request from the remote user or as part of the health monitoring protocol.