Bow riding unmanned water-borne vehicle
OwnerAnthony A. Ruffainventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method are provided for launching and recovering an unmanned, water-born vehicle (UWBV) from a mother ship. The UWBV mimics the behavior of dolphins and is positioned ahead of the ship in preparation for bow riding. The UWBV uses a guidance system to position and keep in the bow wave. A high-frequency (HF) sonar transceiver array aboard the ship computes and sends course corrections to maintain the UWBV within the bow wave. The frequency range of the HF array can be 100 kHz or higher due to the short distance between the ship and the UWBV. Accordingly, the HF array can have a small aperture allowing for accurate bearing resolution. Course corrections can be sent on a near-continuous basis such that changes in thrust and rudder angle can be minimized to allow for accurate control of the UWBV.
Claims12
A method for recovering an unmanned, water-borne vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
- sending maneuvering signals to the vehicle to direct the vehicle into a bow wave region of a ship such that the vehicle is propelled by a pressure gradient within the bow wave region;
- sending course correction signals to the vehicle;
- maintaining the vehicle in a stable relationship with the ship based on the course correction signals;
- and
- operating a retrieval mechanism on the ship to recover the vehicle from the bow wave region.
A system for recovering an unmanned, water-borne vehicle, said system comprising:
- a transceiver;
- a transceiver maneuvering signal embodied in a transmission medium comprising instructions for maneuvering the vehicle into a bow wave region of a ship such that the vehicle is propelled by a pressure gradient within the bow wave region;
- a transceiver course correcting signal embodied in the transmission medium, said transceiver course correcting signal comprising instructions for maintaining the vehicle in a stable relationship with the ship;
- and
- a retrieval mechanism to capture and remove the vehicle from the bow wave region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.