Autonomous surface watercraft
An autonomous surface watercraft is disclosed. The watercraft may include a control module, a communications module, a power management module, a differential thrust propulsion system, and a navigation module. One or more sensors may be provided internal to the watercraft and/or coupled to a sensor module coupling point on the watercraft. An operator may provide the watercraft with mission parameters such as but not limited to station point(s), a sensing location or area, a sensing duration, and/or a sensing time. The watercraft may determine a course heading to reach a station point or sensing area. The control module may control the propulsion system to reach the station point and for station keeping. The watercraft may gather sensor data. The sensor data may be analyzed, filtered, stored in memory and/or transmitted to a control center. The control center may receive real-time data from a plurality of such watercraft.
This application claims the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/371,513 entitled “AUTONOMOUS SURFACE WATERCRAFI,” to Cardoza et al. and filed Apr. 10, 2002.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTThis invention was made with Government support under Contract # N00039-96-D-0051-5-48, Contract # N00039-96-D-0051-5-65, Contract # N00039-96-D-0051-5-96, and Contract # N00039-96-D-0051-5-121 each under the project entitled “Navy Mobile Instrumentation System, PILS II,” awarded by the U.S. Navy. The Government has certain rights to this invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments presented herein generally relate to surface watercraft. More specifically, embodiments relate to autonomous surface watercraft and data gathering using said watercraft.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Some areas of the world's bodies of water remain inhospitable, remote, and/or otherwise unsuitable for direct human research (e.g., gathering sensor readings over large areas). Additionally, using large research vessels to take sensor readings over an area of interest may be time and cost prohibitive. It may, therefore, be advantageous to provide a system and method to remotely gather sensor data from such areas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONEmbodiments disclosed herein generally relate to autonomous watercraft. More specifically, embodiments relate to autonomous watercraft usable as station keeping buoys. For example, certain embodiments relate to autonomous watercraft capable of navigating to a station point, maintaining a position relative to the station point, and gathering sensor data. In certain embodiments, the watercraft may navigate to multiple station points for data gathering and/or gather sensor data over an area of interest.
In an embodiment, an autonomous surface watercraft may include, but is not limited to, a communications module, a navigation module, a power management module, and/or a control module disposed within a hull assembly. In an embodiment, the hull assembly may include a substantially watertight seal. A propulsion system, including one or more thrusters, may be coupled to the hull. The thrusters may be mounted such that differential thrust may be used to both propel and steer the watercraft. The hull may further include one or more sensor module coupling points. In certain embodiments, a sensor module coupling point may allow a sensor module to be coupled to the hull assembly without opening the substantially watertight seal of the hull assembly. In such embodiments, a sensor module attachment point may be configured to mechanically and electrically couple a sensor module to the watercraft. The hull assembly may have a foil shape. A number of laterally mounted pontoons may provide roll stability to the watercraft. The watercraft may also be provided with one or more lifting assemblies to aid in retrieval of the watercraft.
In an embodiment, the watercraft may include at least one rechargeable power supply. For example, at least one rechargeable power supply may include one or more batteries. In certain embodiments, the watercraft may be configured such that at least one rechargeable power supply may be recharged without opening a substantially watertight seal of the hull assembly.
In an embodiment, the watercraft may determine a course heading for navigation to station points and/or for station keeping. For example, the watercraft may receive input corresponding to a location of a station point. The watercraft may determine a course required to reach the station point. Determining a course heading may include determining the speed and direction of a current. Determining the course heading may also include minimizing power expenditures. After reaching a station point, the watercraft may determine a course required for station keeping (e.g., based on wind direction and speed and/or current direction and speed). In certain embodiments, the watercraft may receive input corresponding to an area of interest (e.g., an area over which sensor data should be collected). The watercraft may determine a course to reach the area of interest. Additionally, the watercraft may determine one or more locations for sensor data gathering within the area of interest.
In an embodiment, the watercraft may include a communications module. For example, the communications module may include a radio modem for receiving mission parameters (e.g., sensor data gathering time, location, and duration). Additionally, the communications module may transmit sensor data, system diagnostic data, etc. to a control center. The control center may analyze, filter and/or store the transmitted data. For example, sensor data transmitted by a plurality of watercraft may be presented to a control center operator in real-time. The control center may also remotely provide mission parameters to each watercraft.
It is believed that providing small, autonomous surface watercraft to take sensor readings over large areas may save researchers time and money. An advantage of such watercraft may be that their small size and low cost may allow fleets of the watercraft to be deployed in an area to take sensor readings, thereby significantly reducing time required to gather sensor data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSOther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood that the drawing and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSEmbodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for remote data gathering using autonomous surface watercraft. The watercraft may independently control navigation to station points and station keeping relative to established station points. As used herein, a “station point” refers to a specific location or area to which a craft has been assigned (e.g., for data gathering, retrieval, etc.). As used herein, “station keeping” refers to maintaining a position within a relatively small area around a station point. While navigating or station keeping, a watercraft may gather sensor data. The sensor data may be combined with location data and stored in memory onboard the watercraft and/or transmitted to a control center. A control center may communicate with a plurality of watercraft to direct them to various station points within an area of interest, to receive sensor data and to process and/or store the sensor data.
As used herein, “autonomous” refers to automatically controlling various mission activities. For example, watercraft disclosed herein may automatically determine course headings, control propulsion systems, deploy and retrieve sensor devices, control power management functions, etc. As used herein, “automatically” may generally refer to an action taken without requiring manual steps on the part of an operator. Although a control center may provide minimal input, such as but not limited to station point coordinates, data gathering locations, data gathering durations, etc., control center operators generally need not steer the watercraft or manually control the watercraft systems.
In an embodiment, an autonomous surface watercraft 100 may include a hull assembly 102 as depicted in
In certain embodiments, a water detector 202 (as shown in
Referring back to
Hull assembly 102 may include a lid 106 coupled to the upper portion of the hull assembly. Lid 106 may include coupling points for various components. For example, a mast 108 may be coupled to lid 106. Mast 108 may include a communications antenna. Mast 108 may also aid in increasing the visibility of the watercraft. For example, a flag 116, light 118 or reflector may be coupled to the mast. Mast 108 and/or other elongated members extending from the watercraft may be configured to be strong and flexible to withstand high sea states. For example, mast 108 may include a fiberglass core encased in an epoxy medium within a stainless steel tube. One or more visual aids may be coupled to lid 106 (e.g., high visibility tape or paint). Lid 106 may also include other devices, such as one or more valves (e.g., for safety devices or pressure testing); one or more switches, indicators and/or electrical connections for interfacing with internal components; one or more recovery aids (e.g., lifting ring 110); a GPS antenna 114 (depicted in
In an embodiment, hull assembly 102 may include a coupling point for a power supply charger. The power supply charger coupling point 512 (shown in
In an embodiment, passive scuttling methods may be employed to inhibit watercraft 100 from becoming a navigational hazard in the event that communications are lost between a control center and watercraft 100 and the watercraft cannot be recovered. For example, one or more water-soluble plugs may be placed in a scuttling port 120 (shown in
Watercraft 100 may include a propulsion system. In an embodiment, the propulsion system may include a plurality of thrusters 112 configured to provide differential thrust. In such embodiments, the propulsion system may provide both propulsion and directional control. For example, by controlling thrust from each of two laterally mounted thrusters 112, both direction and speed of the watercraft may be controlled. In an embodiment, thrusters may include modified trolling motors. For example, the shaft of a trolling motor may be cut and sealed. The shaft may be modified as needed to allow the motor to be coupled to the hull assembly at a coupling point. Electrical connections to the motor may be modified to provide strain relief for the connection and a suitable electrical connector to electrically couple the motor to the watercraft.
In an embodiment, during navigation and station keeping, control signals may be sent to the propulsion system from a control module 305 (depicted in
Control module 305 may control other functions of the watercraft as well. In an embodiment, control module 305 may perform functions such as but not limited to processing sensor data, associating sensor data with location and/or time stamps, sending propulsion control signals to the propulsion system (or power management module), performing system diagnostics, and communicating with a control center. An exemplary embodiment of a control architecture for control module 305 is depicted in
In an embodiment, control module 305 may provide propulsion control signals to a power management module (PMM) 309. In an alternate embodiment, control module 305 may provide propulsion control signals directly to the propulsion system. In embodiments where control signals are sent to a PMM first, the PMM may process the control signals to optimize power usage. The propulsion system (e.g., thrusters 112) may be operated as directed by the propulsion control signals. In some embodiments, control module 305 may also provide control signals to one or more ancillary devices, such as a light output to a strobe light 118. In some embodiments, control module 305 may also implement diagnostics of various system components (e.g., radio 506, batteries 303, etc.).
In addition to navigating watercraft 100, control module 305 may gather and/or process sensor data, as depicted at step 604. At step 604, data may be received from a sensor module 508 by control module 305. Control module 305 may store the sensor data in a memory 606 onboard the watercraft. In addition to storing the sensor data in memory, control module 305 may associate a time stamp and/or a location stamp with the sensor data. The sensor data may be retained onboard the watercraft (e.g., in onboard memory 606). In certain embodiments, a data processor module separate from control module 305 may process and/or store sensor data. In some embodiments, the sensor data may be transferred to a control center at step 608. Transferring sensor data may reduce the amount of memory needed for data collection on the watercraft. Additionally, transferring the sensor data may allow a computer system at the control center to process the data and/or correlate sensor data received from a plurality of simultaneously operating watercraft. In certain embodiments, sensor data may be transferred locally (e.g., downloaded via a physical connection to the watercraft after the watercraft is recovered). In certain embodiments, sensor data may be transferred remotely (e.g., transmitted via a wireless connection).
To transfer the sensor data to the control center, control module 305 may use a communications module 307 (depicted in
Control center 800 depicted in
In an embodiment, watercraft 100 may include a coupling point 107 for attaching one or more sensor modules 508. Coupling point 107 may be configured to allow one or more sensor modules 508 to be mechanically and electrically coupled to watercraft 100. In such an embodiment, a number of interchangeable sensor modules 508 may be provided. For example, a hydrophone sensor module 900 (depicted in
In an embodiment, sensor data may be analyzed and/or filtered by an onboard data processor before storage or transmittal. In some such embodiments, data processing and/or filtering circuitry may be provided in control module 305. Data processing and/or filtering parameters may also be controlled by commands from control center 800. Thus, control center 800 may be able to change data analysis and/or filtering parameters (e.g., sampling time, etc.) remotely. It is believed that remotely controlling data analysis and/or filtering may allow the operator to use available data transmission bandwidth efficiently.
In an embodiment, power for navigation, communication, sensing, etc. may be provided by an onboard power source. For example, the power source may include, but is not limited to a fuel cell or one or more batteries 303. In such an embodiment, a power management module (PMM) 309 (depicted in
In one embodiment of a method of gathering data using at least one autonomous watercraft, at least one autonomous watercraft may be deployed to navigate within an area of interest. After being deployed, the watercraft may navigate to an assigned station point. While navigating or upon reaching the station point, the watercraft may gather sensor data. It is envisioned that such a method of gathering data may be useful for gathering “scanning” data (i.e., data gathered for the area over a period of time) over a relatively large area with minimal cost and/or time required. Sensor modules deployed with the watercraft may be alike (e.g., all sensor modules may be hydrophones) or of different types.
In an alternate embodiment, at least one watercraft may be deployed at its station point. In such an embodiment, the watercraft may act as a station-keeping buoy. An array of such buoys may be deployed to gather a “snap shot” of data (i.e., simultaneously gathering data over the entire area of interest).
Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention may be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed, and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description to the invention. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims. In addition, it is to be understood that features described herein independently may, in certain embodiments, be combined.
Claims
1-83. (Canceled)
84. An autonomous surface watercraft comprising:
- a vertical foil hull assembly comprising a top, a bottom, a port side, a starboard side and an interior region; and
- one or more propulsion mechanisms connected to the vertical foil hull assembly.
85. The apparatus of claim 84, wherein the one or more propulsion mechanisms are connected operatively to the port side, the starboard side, or both the port side and the starboard side of the vertical foil hull assembly.
86. The apparatus of claim 84, wherein each of the one or more propulsion mechanisms are controlled independently.
87. The apparatus of claim 84, further comprising a roll stabilization apparatus connected to the vertical foil hull assembly.
88. The apparatus of claim 87, wherein the roll stabilization apparatus includes one or more pontoons.
89. The apparatus of claim 84, wherein the interior region further comprises one or more of the following: one or more sensor modules, one or more communications modules, one or more scuttle ports, one or more power management modules, one or more water detector devices, one or more batteries, one or more navigation modules, one or more control modules, one or more sensors, one or more rudder modules, one or more GPS receiver modules, one or more hydrogen sensors, one or more command modules, one or more radio frequency detectors, one or more radio frequency transmitter modules, one or more radio frequency receiver modules, one or more signal processing modules, one or more deployable probe modules, one or more memory modules, one or more storage modules, one or more data acquiring modules, one or more data transferring modules, one or more battery charging modules or combination thereof.
90. An autonomous surface watercraft comprising:
- a hull assembly shaped substantially as depicted in FIG. 1; and
- one or more propulsion devices connected to the hull assembly.
91. An autonomous surface watercraft having a hydrodynamic shape comprising:
- a substantially watertight vertical hull assembly comprising a fore end, an aft end, a top, a bottom, an interior region, a longitudinal axis extending between the fore end and the aft end, wherein the vertical hull assembly has a generally tear drop shaped cross sectional profile extending along the longitudinal axis; and
- one or more propulsion devices connected to the vertical hull assembly.
92. The one or more propulsion devices of claim 91, comprising one or more motors attached to the hull, wherein each of the one or more motors are connected to one or more power sources and operatively attached to one or more propeller blades and arranged to project outwardly.
93. The one or more propulsion devices of claim 92, wherein the one or more motors are controllable independently.
94. The one or more propulsion devices of claim 91, comprising one or more motors located in the interior region of the vertical hull assembly, wherein the one more motors are connected to one or more shafts extending through the hull and attached operatively to one or more propeller blades project outwardly.
95. The one or more propulsion devices of claim 94, wherein the one or more motors are controllable independently.
96. An autonomous substantially watertight rudderless watercraft comprising:
- a vertical hull assembly comprising a generally tear drop shaped cross sectional profile extending in the direction of travel and an interior region; and
- a propulsion system connected to the vertical hull assembly.
97. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more power sources linked to one or more internal motors connected to one or more shafts extending through the vertical hull assembly and operatively attached to one or more propeller blades.
98. The apparatus of claim 97, wherein each of the one or more internal motors are controlled independently, wherein the one or more internal motors control both a directional and a forward motion of the autonomous surface watercraft.
99. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more motors articulateably positioned on the vertical hull assembly, wherein the one or more motors are connected to one or more power sources and one or more propellers.
100. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein each of the one or more motors are articulated independently, wherein the articulation controls both a directional and a forward motion of the autonomous surface watercraft.
101. The apparatus of claim 99, wherein the one or more motors are encased in a housing.
102. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more thrusters coupled to the vertical hull assembly.
103. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system is connected to one or more modules.
104. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more differential thrusters coupled to the vertical hull assembly, whereby the one or more differential thrusters control both a directional and a forward motion of the autonomous surface watercraft.
105. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more independently controlled thrusters, wherein the one or more independently controlled thrusters control movement.
106. The apparatus of claim 96, wherein the propulsion system comprises one or more independently controlled impellers.
107. The apparatus of claim 96, further comprising a navigation module internally mounted and connected controllably to the propulsion system.
108. The apparatus of claim 107, wherein the navigation module receives one or more signals from a global positioning system module and determines the positioning coordinate from a global positioning system.
109. A program embodied in a computer readable medium for use in a navigation device:
- a code sequence for gathering one or more signals;
- a code sequence for processing the one or more signals; and
- a code sequence for communicating with a propulsion system in response to the processed signal.
110. A navigation system comprising:
- a multi connection interface communicatively connecting two or more modules, whereby allowing communication between the two or more modules, wherein the two or more modules include one or more sensor modules, one or more communications modules, one or more scuttle ports, one or more power management modules, one or more water detector devices, one or more batteries, one or more navigation modules, one or more control modules, one or more sensors, one or more rudder modules, one or more GPS receiver modules, one or more hydrogen sensors, one or more command modules, one or more radio frequency detectors, one or more radio frequency transmitter modules, one or more radio frequency receiver modules, one or more signal processing modules, one or more deployable probe modules, one or more memory modules, one or more storage modules, one or more data acquiring modules, one or more data transferring modules, one or more battery charging modules or combination thereof; and
- a propulsion system operatively connected to the multi connection interface.
111. The navigation system of claim 110, wherein the navigation system is used for a foil shaped, rudderless, surface watercraft.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 23, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 27, 2005
Inventors: Miguel Cardoza (Round Rock, TX), Sarah Benedict (Austin, TX), Anne Mayoral (Austin, TX), Matthew Bennett (Austin, TX), J. Clark Hughes (Austin, TX), Donald Tucker (Austin, TX)
Application Number: 10/923,999