Autonomous submersible structure

• US 10,099,759 B1
• Filed: 11/08/2016
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tidalx AI Incorporated
• Original Assignee: X Development LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mehta, Rohinton
• Primary Examiner(s): Polay, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US15/346,327
• Time in Patent Office: 707 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 61/60 Floating cultivation devices, e.g. rafts or floating fish-farms
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 61/80 Feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 2008/004 autonomously operating
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 8/001 Underwater vessels adapted for special purposes, e.g. unmanned underwater vessels; Equipment specially adapted therefor, e.g. docking stations self-propelled or direction controlled diving chambers with mechanical link to a base B63C11/42
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 8/06 Conning-towers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/81 Aquaculture, e.g. of fish

Abstract

An autonomous submersible structure includes a cage for protecting cargo contained within a volume of the cage, two or more independently operated propellers, and a raised platform. The raised platform includes a plurality of sensors and computers that detect at least one of: water quality, water pressure, or objects in the vicinity of the cage. The raised platform includes a navigating system that controls a direction of travel of the cage based on feedback provided by the plurality of sensors and computers, and a power generator that provides power to the sensors, the navigating system, and the feeding mechanism. The autonomous submersible structure includes a ballast for counterbalancing the weight of the raised platform, wherein the navigating system controls the two or more independently operated propellers to alter the direction of travel of the cage, and wherein the raised platform is environmentally sealed and a portion of the raised platform is positioned above water level.

Claims

1. An autonomous submersible structure comprising:

a cage for protecting live aquatic cargo contained within a volume of the cage;

two or more independently operated propellers mounted on an aft portion of the cage;

a ballast structure that is mounted on top of the cage, the ballast structure comprising a ballast;

a conning tower that is mounted on top of the ballast structure, the conning tower comprising;

a feeder for dispensing feed for the live aquatic cargo into the volume of the cage, the feeder comprising a feed bin for storing the feed,

one or more sensors that are configured to monitor activity of the live aquatic cargo contained within the volume of the cage,

a navigation computer that transmits control signals for autonomously controlling the two or more independently operated propellers to adjust a direction of travel of the autonomous submersible structure based at least on feedback provided by the one or more sensors that are configured to monitor activity of the live aquatic cargo within the volume of the cage, and

a power generator that provides power to the sensors, the navigation computer, and the feeder;

wherein, in operation, the conning tower is constructed to remain above water level and to minimize water intrusion, and the ballast is constructed to counterbalance balance a weight of the conning tower.

2. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the navigation computer is disposed inside the conning tower.

3. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the navigation computer is configured to communicate with, and receive navigation instructions from, a remote server.

4. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the navigation computer is configured to operate without using Global Positioning System (GPS) geolocation fixes.

5. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein a longitudinal axis of each of the two or more independently operated propellers is positioned in parallel with a longitudinal axis of the raised platform.

6. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the cage comprises:

a skeleton having uniformly spaced voids;

a mesh netting that covers the skeleton;

wherein the mesh netting has pores sized based on the cargo contained within the volume of the cage.

7. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the cage has a spherical shape.

8. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 7, wherein the two or more propellers each have a diameter between 2-10% of the diameter of the cage.

9. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the two or more propellers each have a rotational velocity between 10-50 RPM.

10. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the live aquatic cargo comprises live fish.

11. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors that are configured to monitor activity of the live aquatic cargo contained within the volume of the cage comprise a camera for monitoring an amount of waste produced by the cargo.

12. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the activity of the live aquatic cargo contained within the volume of the cage comprises a rate of growth of the live aquatic cargo.

13. The autonomous submersible structure of claim 1, wherein the sensor that is configured to monitor activity of the cargo contained within the volume of the cage comprises a sonar sensor array.