AU2017100006A4

AU2017100006A4 - Floating photography device

Info

Publication number: AU2017100006A4
Application number: AU2017100006A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Xiaoping Hu
Original assignee: Boly Media Communications Shenzen Co Ltd
Current assignee: Boly Media Communications Shenzen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-02-01
Filing date: 2017-01-04
Publication date: 2017-02-23
Anticipated expiration: 2025-01-04
Also published as: DE202017100005U1; FR3047324A3; RU179140U1; CN205378034U; KR20170002843U; FI11566U1; JP3209725U; FR3047324B3

Abstract

A floating photography device may include a floating assembly used to provide a buoyant force, a power supply assembly used to provide electricity to electrical assemblies, an underwater photography assembly disposed or suspended below the floating assembly and used to photograph underwater images, a driving assembly used to drive the floating assembly to move, and a control system used to control operation of the electrical assemblies. In the floating photography device of the present disclosure, because the photography assembly floats in water body, it can photograph in an overlooking manner, and thereby a wide field of view can be obtained. Furthermore, the power supply assembly and the driving assembly are provided, such that the photography device can track the object of interest, and thereby the use cost is reduced and the scope of application is expanded. (FIG. 1) 100/110 150 120/121 122 -- -----------------P---------- -- 142 1401141 143 130 131 160 220/221 200/210 \ 222 \ ------ t0 243 242 240/241 290 231 260 230

Description

-1 - 2017100006 04 Jan 2017

FLOATING PHOTOGRAPHY DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001 ] The present disclosure relates to imaging technology, in particular to a floating photography device which can float and perform underwater photography.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently, most of the fishing systems used for underwater detection adopt sonar imaging, by which it is hard to obtain clear images.

[0003] With the promotion and popularization of digital imaging technologies, optical imaging devices are gradually used in fish tracking or seabed detection, such as underwater camera. Since this kind of device generally need to be manipulated by human (for example, the diver), the use cost is high and the scope of application is limited.

SUMMARY

[0004] A floating photography device provided by the present disclosure may include a floating assembly used to provide a buoyant force such that the floating photography device is able to at least partially float on or in water, a power supply assembly disposed in the floating assembly and used to supply electricity to electrical assemblies of the floating photography device, an underwater photography assembly disposed or suspended below the floating assembly and used to photograph underwater images, a driving assembly disposed in the floating assembly and used to drive the floating assembly to move, and a control system used to control operation of the electrical assemblies.

[0005] In the floating photography device of the present disclosure, because the photography assembly floats in water body, it can photograph in an overlooking manner, and thereby a wide field of view can be obtained. Furthermore, the power supply assembly and the driving assembly are provided, such that the photography device can track the object of interest, and thereby the use cost is reduced and the scope of application is expanded.

[0006] The specific examples of the present disclosure will be described in details below with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONG OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the floating photography device of embodiment 1; -2- 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 [0008] FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the floating photography device of embodiment 2; and [0009] FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the floating photography device of embodiment 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] The floating photography device according the present disclosure may be formed as products with different forms and suitable for different purposes according to the needs of actual application, such as fishing camera, underwater observation device or underwater monitoring device, etc. Detailed description thereof will be presented with reference to specific examples below.

Embodiment 1 [0011] FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of the floating photography device according to the present disclosure, in which the wavy background represents the water, and the same below. The floating photography device 100 of the present embodiment may include a floating assembly 110, a power supply assembly 120, an underwater photography assembly 130, a driving assembly 140 and a control system (not shown).

[0012] The floating assembly 110 may be used to provide buoyant force such that the floating photography device 100 can at least partially float on or in the water. In the present embodiment, the floating assembly may be formed by objects which have lower density than water, such as foam plastic or wood, etc. In other embodiments, airbag may also be used as the floating assembly. Besides achieving the floating by the buoyant force generated by material, in other embodiments, the floating assembly may also achieve the floating by the buoyant force generated by structure. For example, the floating assembly may be in the form of boat.

[0013] The power supply assembly 120 may be disposed in the floating assembly 110 and used to supply electricity to the electrical assemblies of the floating photography device. In the present disclosure, the power supply assembly may preferably use renewable energy as the energy source. Therefore, the power supply assembly may generally include a power generation unit and an energy storage unit. The power generation unit may be used to generate electrical energy using renewable energy. For example, the power generation unit may be selected from fuel cell, solar power generation unit, wind power generation unit and wave power generation unit, etc. The energy storage unit may be used to store the renewable -3- 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 energy for the use of the power generation unit or store the electrical energy generated by the power generation unit.

[0014] In the present embodiment, the power supply assembly may include a photovoltaic panel 121 acting as the power generation unit and a battery 122 acting as the energy storage unit. In other embodiments, the power generation unit may be a fuel cell, and correspondingly the energy storage unit may be a fuel tank.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment, the power supply assembly of the present embodiment may further include a low power alarm unit (not shown) which may be used to raise an alarm when the charge ability of the power supply assembly is lower than a set value so as to prevent the floating photography device from losing control because of lack of electricity. The low power alarm unit may raise the alarm by monitoring the quantity of electricity or the remaining energy of the energy storage unit.

[0016] The underwater photography assembly 130 may be disposed under the floating assembly and used to photograph underwater images. In other embodiments, the underwater photography assembly may also be suspended under the floating assembly in order to be closer to the object to be photographed. The underwater photography assembly may preferably be wide-angle camera with automatic focusing and/or zooming functions, rotary camera being able to perform rotation photography or panoramic camera, etc.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment, the underwater photography assembly of the present embodiment may further include a LED lighting unit 131 which may be used to emit visible light and/or infrared light to illuminate the photography region of the underwater photography assembly. Since the nature light under the water is generally not very good, auxiliary illumination using LED will facilitate the acquisition of more clear, higher quality images.

[0018] The driving assembly 140 may be disposed in the floating assembly 110 and used to drive the floating assembly to move. The driving assembly may use a variety of electrically controlled power structure suitable for use in water. For example, in the present embodiment, the driving assembly may include an electric motor 141 and a propeller 142 acting as driving mechanism. The electric motor may be electrically connected with the power supply assembly and used to provide the power take-off. The driving mechanism may be driven by the electric motor and used to generate interaction force with the water to drive the floating assembly to move.

[0019] As a preferred embodiment, the driving assembly of the present disclosure may further include an electrically controlled rudder 143 which may be electrically connected with -4- 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 the power supply assembly and used to change the movement direction of the floating assembly. This way, the floating photography device can sail in the water more flexibly.

[0020] The control system may be used to control the operation of the electrical assemblies, and may adopt a variety of known control methods. For example, the control system may be implemented as control circuit and/or control software, and control the electrical assemblies by executing instructions. A person skilled in the art will well know how to configure the software and the hardware to implement the general control functions required by the operation of the assemblies. The devices and wires forming the control system may be centrally arranged at a same physical location, such as on an integrated circuit board; or may also be distributed in different components. All control functions may be implemented by a single processor, or the control function may be cooperatively implemented by a plurality of processors. Furthermore, with the increase or decrease of the electrical assemblies, control and overall coordination functions cooperating therewith may be added to or removed from the control system.

[0021 ] As a preferred embodiment, the floating photography device of the present embodiment may further include a wireless communication assembly 150 which may be disposed on the floating assembly and used to communicate with external (ship-mounted or hand-held) equipments. The transmitted information may include the images photographed by the underwater photography assembly and the control instructions sent to the control system, etc. The wireless communication methods used by the wireless communication assembly may include, but not limited to, infrared communication, WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS/3G/4g or other standard or dedicated communication methods. The user may communicate with the floating photography device through a hand-held device (for example, smart phone, tablet computer or dedicated terminal equipment, etc.) to obtain the images photographed and control the operation thereof, such as adjusting the zoom factor of the underwater photography assembly, controlling the output power of the electric motor and adjusting the direction of the electrically controlled rudder, etc.

[0022] In addition, preferably, the floating photography device of the present disclosure may further include a bait 160 which may be arranged below the floating assembly in order to better attract fishes for photography. In other embodiments, the bait may also be arranged around the underwater photography assembly.

[0023] In the present disclosure, the underwater photography assembly is disposed below the floating assembly and the overall device is substantially a whole, therefore it is compact and easy for waterproof design. The floating photography device of the present embodiment - 5- 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 is suitable for ordinary fishing monitoring and shallow water observation and has an advantage of simple processing. In case that the arrangement of the assemblies needs to be modified flexibly (for example, to carry different cameras), detachable modular designs may also be used by the assemblies.

Embodiment 2 [0024] FIG. 2 schematically shows another embodiment of the floating photography device of the present disclosure. The floating photography device 200 of the present embodiment may include a floating assembly 210, a power supply assembly 220, an underwater photography assembly 230, a driving assembly 240, a wireless communication assembly 250, a bait 260 and a control system (not shown). Except the differences described below, the description of the assemblies may be similar to those described with reference to embodiment 1 and will not be described in details again.

[0025] In the present embodiment, the floating assembly 210 may be a boat. The power supply assembly 220 may include a wind power generator 211 acting as the power generation unit and a battery 222 acting as the energy storage unit. The underwater photography assembly 230 may be suspended below the boat body and a LED lighting unit 231 may be disposed on the underwater photography assembly 230. The driving assembly 240 may include an electric motor 241, a waterwheel 242 acting as the driving mechanism and an electrically controlled rudder 243 used to control the direction. The wireless communication assembly 250 may adopt a unit suitable for remote wireless communication, such as GSM/GPRS/3G/4G communication unit. The bait 260 may be suspended below the underwater photography assembly 230.

[0026] As a preferred embodiment, the floating photography device of the present disclosure may further include an electric shaft 270 which may be disposed in the floating assembly 210. Cable may be wound on the electric shaft. The underwater photography assembly 230 may be suspended below the floating assembly by the cable. The electric shaft 270 may be used to roll up or release the cable by rotation so as to change the depth of the underwater photography assembly in the water, thereby flexibly photographing the images at different depths. In other embodiments, the one wound on the electric shaft may also be merely a rope without electricity, such as a fishing line. The bait may be suspended below the floating assembly by a hook at the end of the fishing line, and fishes in different water layers may be attracted or hooked up by changing the depth of the bait.

[0027] In addition, preferably, the floating photography device of the present disclosure may further include a GPS positioning assembly 280 which may be used to provide the - 6- 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 location where the device is located, thereby facilitating the positioning and control of the user. The GPS positioning assembly 280 may be integrated with the wireless communication assembly 250.

[0028] In addition, further preferably, the floating photography device of the present embodiment may further include an active or passive sonar 290 which may be disposed below the boat body and used to detect objects, such as fishes or abnormal objects (wrecks or organisms in the seabed, etc.). The active sonar herein may refer to sonar equipment which can actively transmit sound waves and is provided with sound wave detector, and the passive sonar herein may refer to sonar equipment which merely has sound wave detector but not transmit sound waves.

[0029] In the present embodiment, wind is used as the renewable energy. For marine applications, wind power generation has higher energy density and duration than solar power generation. Therefore, the present embodiment is more suitable for deep sea (ocean) fish searching, fishing or detection.

Embodiment 3 [0030] FIG. 3 schematically shows another embodiment of the floating photography device of the present disclosure. The floating photography device 300 of the present embodiment may include a floating assembly 310, a power supply assembly 320, an underwater photography assembly 330, a driving assembly 340, a wireless communication assembly 350, an electric shaft 370, a GPS positioning assembly 380, a sonar 390 and a control system (not shown). Except the differences described below, the description of the assemblies may be similar to those described with reference to embodiment 1 or 2 and will not be described in details again.

[0031 ] In the present embodiment, the floating assembly 310 may be a boat. The power supply assembly 320 may include a wave power generator 311 acting as the power generation unit and a battery 322 acting as the energy storage unit. The underwater photography assembly 330 may be suspended below the boat body through the electric shaft 370 and an infrared LED lighting unit 331 may be disposed on the underwater photography assembly 330. The driving assembly 340 may include an electric water pump 341, a water jetting pipe 342 acting as the driving mechanism and an electrically controlled rudder 343 used to control the direction. The wireless communication assembly 350 may adopt a unit suitable for remote wireless communication, and be integrated with the GPS positioning assembly 380. The senor 390 may be disposed below the underwater photography assembly 330. 2017100006 04 Jan 2017 -7- [0032] In the present embodiment, the floating wave power generator is used as the energy source, pumping and jetting mechanisms are used in the driving system and invisible infrared LED lighting is used as auxiliary illumination. Therefore, the whole device has good concealment, and thus is suitable for seabed monitoring or construction.

[0033] The principles and embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to specific examples hereinbefore. However, it should be understood that the embodiments above are merely used to facilitate the understanding to the present disclosure, but should not be interpreted as limitations thereto. For a person ordinarily skilled in the art, modifications to the specific embodiments above may be made according to the concepts of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A floating photography device, comprising: a floating assembly which is used to provide a buoyant force such that the floating photography device is able to at least partially float on or in water; a power supply assembly which is disposed in the floating assembly and used to supply electricity to electric assemblies of the floating photography device; an underwater photography assembly which is disposed or suspended under the floating assembly and used to photograph underwater images; a driving assembly which is disposed in the floating assembly and used to drive the floating assembly to move; and a control system which is used to control operation of the electrical assemblies.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the driving assembly comprises: an electric motor which is electrically connected with the power supply assembly and used to provide power take-off; and a driving mechanism which is driven by the electric motor and used to generate an interaction force with the water to drive the floating assembly to move.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the driving assembly further comprises: an electrically controlled rudder which is electrically connected with the power supply assembly and used to change movement direction of the floating assembly.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the power supply assembly comprises: a power generation unit which is used to generated electrical energy using renewable energy; and an energy storage unit which is used to store the renewable energy for the use of the power generation unit or store the electrical energy generated by the power generation unit.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the power generation unit is selected from fuel cell, solar power generation unit, wind power generation unit and wave power generation unit.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a wireless communication assembly which is disposed in the floating assembly and used to communicate with external equipments, wherein information transmitted includes images photographed by the underwater photography assembly and control instructions sent to the control system.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising: an electric shaft disposed in the floating assembly, wherein cable is wound on the electric shaft, the underwater photography assembly is suspended below the floating assembly through the cable, and the electric shaft is used to roll up or release the cable by rotation so as to change depth of the underwater photography assembly in the water.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising: a bait disposed below the floating assembly or around the underwater photography assembly.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the floating assembly is selected from objects with lower density than water, airbag and boat.

10. The device of any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising one or more of the following features: the underwater photography assembly further comprising a LED lighting unit which is used to emit visible light and/or infrared light to illuminate a photography region of the underwater photography assembly; the power supply assembly further comprising a low power alarm unit which is used to raise an alarm when charge ability of the power supply assembly is lower than a set value; the floating photography device further comprising a GPS positioning assembly which is used to provide location where the device is located; and the floating photography device further comprising an active or passive sonar which is used to detect objects.