Back to results
US 10,908,611 B2Granted
Systems and methods for semi-submersible launch and recovery of objects from multi-mode unmanned vehicle
AssigneeUnmanned Innovations, Inc.
InventorsBruce Becker Hanson, Thomas Edward Hanson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The systems and associated methods are for autonomously launching and recovering payload objects such as vessels, equipment and people by partially submerging a multi-mode unmanned vehicle in a controlled manner. Mechanical, power, signal and logical system components operate in a coordinated manner to repeatedly and reliably perform unmanned launch and recovery of payloads in a variety of conditions and sea states from a catamaran style hull with multi-mode, high-performance characteristics.
Claims26
An unmanned vehicle configured to selectively operate on at least a substantially planar water surface and while at least partially submerged in water, the unmanned vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body comprising a pair of substantially parallel sponsons coupled together on opposite sides of a recessed well deck in a stern portion of the vehicle body, the recessed well deck being configured to stow a payload;
- a propulsion system carried by the vehicle body and configured to propel the unmanned vehicle;
- a maneuvering system carried by the vehicle body and configured to maneuver the unmanned vehicle;
- a vehicle control system carried by the vehicle body and configured to control a speed, an orientation, and a direction of travel of the unmanned vehicle in combination with the propulsion system and the maneuvering system;
- a buoyancy control system carried by the vehicle body and configured to control buoyancy of the unmanned vehicle;
- a sensor system carried by the vehicle body and comprising a plurality of environmental sensors configured to sense environmental and operational characteristics for the unmanned vehicle;
- and
- at least one power supply carried by the vehicle body and configured to provide power to the propulsion system, the maneuvering system, the vehicle control system, the buoyancy control system, and the sensor system;
- wherein the vehicle control system, the buoyancy control system and the sensor system define a well deck positioning control system configured to launch and recover objects of the payload to/from the water while the well deck is at least partially submerged in water;
- wherein the buoyancy control system comprises
- ballast containers positioned within portions of the vehicle body, and
- a pump and valve system configured to vary amounts of water and air in the ballast containers and the recessed well deck;
- wherein the recessed well deck comprises a payload securing system;
- wherein the plurality of environmental sensors of the sensor system at least include
- water level sensors configured to sense water levels in the ballast containers and the recessed well deck, and
- payload position sensors configured to sense the position of the payload relative to the payload securing system and the recessed well deck;
- and
- wherein the well deck positioning system further comprises a well deck positioning controller configured to provide output signals to the buoyancy control system in response to input signals from the sensor system and at least one of operator instructions and autonomous operation instructions.
15 more elements
An unmanned vehicle configured to selectively operate on at least a substantially planar water surface and while at least partially submerged in water to launch and recover objects of a payload, the unmanned vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body comprising a hull and a recessed well deck in a stern portion of the vehicle body, the recessed well deck being configured to stow a payload and be flooded with water during launch and recovery of objects of the payload;
- a propulsion system carried by the vehicle body and configured to propel the unmanned vehicle;
- a maneuvering system carried by the vehicle body and configured to maneuver the unmanned vehicle;
- a vehicle control system carried by the vehicle body and configured to control a speed, an orientation, and a direction of travel of the unmanned vehicle in combination with the propulsion system and the maneuvering system;
- a buoyancy control system carried by the vehicle body and configured to control buoyancy of the unmanned vehicle;
- a sensor system carried by the vehicle body and comprising a plurality of environmental sensors configured to sense environmental and operational characteristics for the unmanned vehicle;
- and
- at least one power supply carried by the vehicle body and configured to provide power to the propulsion system, the maneuvering system, the vehicle control system, the buoyancy control system, and the sensor system;
- wherein the vehicle control system, the buoyancy control system and the sensor system define a well deck positioning control system configured to launch and recover objects of the payload to/from the water while the well deck is at least partially submerged in water;
- wherein the buoyancy control system comprises
- ballast containers positioned within portions of the vehicle body, and
- a pump and valve system configured to vary amounts of water in the ballast containers and the recessed well deck;
- wherein the recessed well deck comprises a payload securing system;
- and
- wherein the well deck positioning system further comprises a well deck positioning controller configured to provide output signals in response to input signals from the sensor system and operation instructions to position the recessed well deck within six degrees of freedom including roll, pitch, yaw, up/down, forward/reverse and right/left, wherein roll, pitch, yaw, and up/down are controlled in combination with the buoyancy control system, and forward/reverse and right/left are controlled in combination with the vehicle control system.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.