Underwater nuclear material reconnaissance system
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorThomas P. English
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An underwater nuclear material reconnaissance system includes an underwater vehicle propelled/steered by a plurality of propulsion pods distributed thereabout. The underwater vehicle includes nuclear material sensors for generating sensor data indicative of the presence of nuclear material, a tunnel thruster for providing vertical thrust for the underwater vehicle, and a bi-directional communications cable deployable from the underwater vehicle. A remotely-located communications base station coupled to the bi-directional communications cable transmits control commands to the underwater vehicle and receives sensor data transmitted from the underwater vehicle.
Claims18
An underwater nuclear material reconnaissance system, comprising:
- a controllable underwater vehicle having a body and a plurality of propulsion pods distributed about and coupled to said body, each of said plurality of propulsion pods having a power source coupled to a propulsor;
- at least one extension arm coupled to one of said plurality of propulsion pods and extending radially away from said body;
- an imaging device mounted on said extension arm for generating video image data;
- a GPS antenna mounted on said extension arm for receiving GPS data;
- said underwater vehicle incorporating nuclear material sensors for generating sensor data indicative of the presence of nuclear material, a tunnel thruster for providing vertical thrust for said underwater vehicle, and a bi-directional communications cable deployable from said underwater vehicle;
- and
- a remotely-located communications base station coupled to said bi-directional communications cable for transmitting control commands to said underwater vehicle and for receiving data transmitted from said underwater vehicle, wherein said data transmitted from said underwater vehicle includes said GPS data, said video image data and said sensor data.
An underwater nuclear material reconnaissance system, comprising:
- a controllable underwater vehicle having a body and a plurality of propulsion pods distributed symmetrically about and coupled to said body, each of said plurality of propulsion pods having a power source coupled to a propulsor;
- at least one extension arm coupled to one of said plurality of propulsion pods and extending radially away from said body;
- an imaging device mounted on said extension arm for generating video image data;
- a GPS antenna mounted on said extension arm for receiving GPS data;
- said body defined by a plurality of modular sections to include a guidance and control section for controlling navigation of said underwater vehicle, a sensor section for generating sensor data indicative of the presence of nuclear material, a vertical thrust section for generating vertically-directed thrust for said underwater vehicle, a cable storage section for housing a deployable bi-directional communications cable, and a power section for supplying power to each of said guidance and control section, said sensor section, said vertical thrust section and said cable storage section;
- and
- a remotely-located communications base station coupled to said bi-directional communications cable for transmitting control commands to said underwater vehicle and for receiving data transmitted from said underwater vehicle, wherein said data transmitted from said underwater vehicle includes said GPS data, said video image data and said sensor data.
An underwater nuclear material reconnaissance system, comprising:
- a controllable underwater vehicle having a body and a plurality of propulsion pods distributed about and coupled to said body, each of said plurality of propulsion pods having a power source coupled to a propulsor;
- said underwater vehicle incorporating nuclear material sensors for generating sensor data indicative of the presence of nuclear material, a tunnel thruster for providing vertical thrust for said underwater vehicle, and a bi-directional communications cable deployable from said underwater vehicle;
- and
- a remotely-located communications base station coupled to said bi-directional communications cable for transmitting control commands to said underwater vehicle and for receiving said sensor data transmitted from said underwater vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.