Autonomous water-borne vehicle
First Claim
1. An autonomous water surface vehicle comprising:
- a non-planing segmented hull comprising a water-tight tubular center section of vertically and horizontally symmetrical rectangular cross-section, a forward bulkhead permanently attached to a front end of the center section, an aft bulkhead attached and sealed to an aft end of the center section by fasteners and a gasket;
a free-flood forward fairing fastened to the center section at the forward bulkhead, and a free-flood aft fairing fastened to the center section at the aft bulkhead;
at least one fixed steering thruster, mounted to the forward bulkhead, enclosed by the free-flood fore section, and positioned and arranged to provide steering thrust laterally relative to the long axis of the hull such that the thrust pivots the hull about a vertical axis as the only means of heading control;
a fixed axial thruster, mounted to the aft end of the center section and positioned and arranged to provide thrust parallel to the long axis of the hull;
a battery positioned and arranged to provide power to the forward fixed thruster and the aft fixed thruster;
an autonomous navigation system comprising;
a position sensor, a heading sensor, a speed sensor, a pitch sensor, a roll sensor, and a computer positioned and arranged to receive input from the position, heading, speed, pitch, and roll sensors and provide output to the fixed turning thruster and fixed axial thruster based on operation of a feedback loop that calculates the error between the inputs and a desired heading, a desired speed, or a desired location; and
an autonomous mission system comprising a computer positioned and arranged to receive electronic signals representing a mission file from a web server and positioned and arranged to provide electronic control signals to a payload and an autonomous navigation system and wherein the mission file comprises desired conditions or actions.
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Abstract
The technical disclosure herein describes an autonomous water-borne vehicle having a segmented non-planing hull with free flood fore and aft sections and a sealed center section. The disclosure also described such a vehicle having a fixed longitudinal thruster and a fixed lateral thruster for changing the heading of the vehicle. The disclosure also described such a vehicle having an autonomous mission system, an autonomous navigation system, and a web-based command and control system. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle having a submersible winch. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle wherein the sealed center section is of substantially rectangular cross section. The disclosure also describes such a vehicle having a wheeled battery tray.
20 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An autonomous water surface vehicle comprising:
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a non-planing segmented hull comprising a water-tight tubular center section of vertically and horizontally symmetrical rectangular cross-section, a forward bulkhead permanently attached to a front end of the center section, an aft bulkhead attached and sealed to an aft end of the center section by fasteners and a gasket;
a free-flood forward fairing fastened to the center section at the forward bulkhead, and a free-flood aft fairing fastened to the center section at the aft bulkhead;at least one fixed steering thruster, mounted to the forward bulkhead, enclosed by the free-flood fore section, and positioned and arranged to provide steering thrust laterally relative to the long axis of the hull such that the thrust pivots the hull about a vertical axis as the only means of heading control; a fixed axial thruster, mounted to the aft end of the center section and positioned and arranged to provide thrust parallel to the long axis of the hull; a battery positioned and arranged to provide power to the forward fixed thruster and the aft fixed thruster; an autonomous navigation system comprising;
a position sensor, a heading sensor, a speed sensor, a pitch sensor, a roll sensor, and a computer positioned and arranged to receive input from the position, heading, speed, pitch, and roll sensors and provide output to the fixed turning thruster and fixed axial thruster based on operation of a feedback loop that calculates the error between the inputs and a desired heading, a desired speed, or a desired location; andan autonomous mission system comprising a computer positioned and arranged to receive electronic signals representing a mission file from a web server and positioned and arranged to provide electronic control signals to a payload and an autonomous navigation system and wherein the mission file comprises desired conditions or actions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification