AU2020100934A4

AU2020100934A4 - Device and method for dropping buoy by adopting unmanned boat

Info

Publication number: AU2020100934A4
Application number: AU2020100934A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bowen Xing
Original assignee: Suzhou Kenie Information Tech Co Ltd; Zhoushan Ningfu Ocean Tech Co Ltd; Shanghai Ocean University
Current assignee: Suzhou Kenie Information Technology Co Ltd; Zhoushan Ningfu Ocean Technology Co Ltd; Shanghai Ocean University
Priority date: 2019-10-18
Filing date: 2020-06-04
Publication date: 2020-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 2028-06-04
Also published as: CN110641622A; CN110641622B

Abstract

The present invention discloses a device for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat, including the unmanned boat and the buoy; the unmanned boat includes a first cabin used as a ballast water tank, the bottom of the first cabin is provided with a water inlet with a solenoid valve, and the water inlet is used to guide ballast water into the first cabin; the buoy is placed on the unmanned boat, and the bottom of the buoy is connected with the unmanned boat through a flexible composite pipe. The present invention can effectively complete the work of dropping the buoy, reduce the consumption of a large number of human resources, and avoid the safety accidents of the workers working on the water surface at the same time. After the buoy is dropped, the unmanned boat is used as an anchor to reduce the movement range of the buoy and the influence of water flow on the change of the position of the buoy. 1/2 2 6 17 8 FIG. 1 Above Water 12 1 2 Under Water 8 12 FIG. 2

Description

1/2

2 6

17

8

FIG. 1

Above Water

12 12

Under Water 12

8

FIG. 2

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DROPPING BUOY BY ADOPTING UNMANNED BOAT TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates a device and a method for dropping a buoy by adopting

an unmanned boat.

BACKGROUND

Buoy is an important means to monitor ocean and lake environments. At present, the buoy is still dropped in a manual way. The defects of this way lie in that it

consumes great human resources, and there is a risk of casualties during working

under some severe environments.

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be

considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the

common general knowledge in the field.

SUMMARY

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the

disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

A purpose of the present invention in a preferred form is to provide a device and a

method for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat, so as to solve the

problem existing in the prior art.

The present invention solves the technical problem by adopting the following

technical solution:

A device for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat includes the unmanned

boat and the buoy, the unmanned boat includes a first cabin used as a ballast water

tank, the bottom of the first cabin is provided with a water inlet with a solenoid valve, and the water inlet is used to guide ballast water into the first cabin; the buoy is placed on the unmanned boat, and the bottom of the buoy is connected with the unmanned boat through a flexible composite pipe.

Further, the unmanned boat and the buoy are provided with a sensor module, the sensor module includes a main control board mounted in the buoy and a battery for supplying power, and an electric energy input end of the battery is connected with a solar cell panel mounted on the surface of the buoy; the unmanned boat is further provided with a sealed second cabin, a sensor is mounted in the second cabin, and the sensor is connected with the main control board through a data line.

Further, the inner part of the flexible composite pipe is a hollow structure, and the data line connected with the sensor passes through the hollow structure in the flexible composite pipe and is connected with the main control board.

Further, a groove for placing the buoy is provided in the unmanned boat, an electromagnet is provided on the inner wall of the groove, and the main control board switches the power-on state of the electromagnet to adsorb or release the buoy.

Further, a GPS module and a 4G module are mounted on the unmanned boat, and the main control board establishes a bidirectional communication link with a base station on the land through the GPS module and the 4G module; the GPS module is used for positioning the unmanned boat and the 4G module is used to receive and transmit signals.

Further, a propeller for adjusting the direction and speed of the unmanned boat is provided at the rear part of the unmanned boat.

Further, LED lamps for indicating the width of the hull of the unmanned boat are provided on the two sides of the unmanned boat.

A method for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat includes the following steps:

Step 1: establishing the communication between a GPS module (6) and a 4G module (7) and a base station, and setting the route of the unmanned boat and the dropping position of the buoy;

Step 2: powering on the electromagnet, stabilizing the connection between the unmanned boat and the buoy, and starting the unmanned boat to enable the buoy to move forward to arrive at the dropping position of the buoy according to the set route;

Step 3: powering off the electromagnet and opening a solenoid valve at a water inlet in the bottom of the unmanned boat such that the first cabin is filled with water and the unmanned boat starts to sink; after the unmanned boat sinks, a flexible composite pipe tightens a hull of the unmanned boat and the unmanned boat is used as an anchor to fix the buoy to move with water flow in the movement range;

Step 4: enabling a sensor module to start to work, and transmitting acquired relevant data to the base station through the 4G module.

Further, the weight of the bow of the unmanned boat is greater than the weight of the stern of the unmanned boat, and after the unmanned boat starts to sink, the flexible composite pipe connects the buoy with the stern of the unmanned boat and the bow of the unmanned boat is downward.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1) The ballast water tank is provided in the unmanned boat; when the unmanned boat arrives at the dropping position of the buoy, the solenoid valve of the ballast water tank is opened, water starts to enter the ballast water tank, the weight of the hull increases continuously, the hull starts to sink and the direction of the bow of the unmanned boat is downward; after the hull sinks, it is used as an anchor to fix the buoy to move in a certain range, such that the buoy will not flow with water.

2) The hull and the buoy are connected through the flexible composite pipe, and

the inner part of the flexible composite pipe is a hollow structure, such that the

electric energy and data transmission between the unmanned boat and the

electronic components on the buoy is facilitated.

3) The unmanned boat uses the GPS module and the 4G module to work together,

and the buoy can be transported to the designated position. The LED lamps are

mounted above the GPS module and 4G module respectively, and the LED

lamps are used to indicate the width of the hull when the unmanned boat sails,

such that other boats can see the unmanned boat in the distance and make

corresponding avoidance planning; the propeller is mounted at the rear part of

the catamaran and can realize the function of adjusting the speed and direction

of the unmanned boat.

4) Through the solar cell panel on the buoy, the light energy is converted into

electric energy to provide power for the unmanned boat and drive the unmanned

boat to the designated position. When the cabin sinks into the water, the electric

energy can be transmitted to the sensor through the data line in the flexible

composite pipe to ensure the normal operation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example

only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a device for dropping a buoy by adopting an

unmanned boat according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic process diagram of a device for dropping a buoy by adopting

an unmanned boat according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic result diagram of a device for dropping a buoy by adopting an

unmanned boat according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the technical means, creative features, achieved purposes and effects

of the present invention easy to understand, the present invention will be further

described below in conjunction with the specific embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the present invention relates to an unmanned

boat device capable of being transformed to monitor a buoy, including a hull, a buoy,

an electromagnet and a flexible composite pipe. The hull is a catamaran and the hull

includes a cabin A and a cabin B. The cabin A is a ballast water tank and a solenoid

valve is mounted below one side. The solenoid valve is opened after the unmanned

boat arrives at a designated position, water starts to enter the cabin A, the weight of

the hull increases, the hull starts to sink and the buoy starts to separate from the hull.

Referring to FIG. 1, the buoy is loaded on the unmanned boat, the electromagnet is

provided between the buoy and the unmanned boat, and the electromagnet is powered

on to generate current. At this time, the electromagnet can generate magnetic force,

which can make the buoy and the hull tightly adsorb together till the buoy arrives at

the designated position.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electromagnet is powered off and loses magnetism, the buoy

and the hull are disconnected, and the flexible composite pipe is provided between the

buoy and the hull and used for stable connection between the buoy and the hull; a

sensor is provided in the cabin B and the sensor can acquire relevant data under water;

a solar cell panel is mounted in the buoy, the solar cell panel can convert light energy

into electric energy and store the electric energy in a battery mounted in the buoy, and

the battery can supply power to the electric equipment of the unmanned boat; a

propeller is mounted at the rear part of the catamaran, and the unmanned boat can

realize the forward and backward moving and steering functions of the unmanned

boat; the GPS module and the 4G module are mounted on the two sides of the rear

part of the hull, LED lamps are mounted at the rear parts of the two modules to

indicate the width of the hull, and the GPS module is used for precisely positioning the hull; the 4G module is used to receive and transmit signals externally.

Embodiment 2: a method for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat includes

the following steps:

Step 1: initialization setting is performed to an unmanned boat such that the

unmanned boat is in a standby state.

Step 2: the GPS positioning information of the unmanned boat is acquired through

a GPS module, and a good preparation is made for communication with an

upper computer.

Step 3: the long-distance communication between the unmanned boat and the upper

computer is realized through the 4G module, such that instructions can be

received and requests can be sent normally.

Step 4: a remote base station sends an operation command to the 4G module of the

unmanned boat and the unmanned boat gets a task.

Step 5: after receiving the task, the unmanned boat positions a dropping area, plans

a route and prepares for departure.

Step 6: an electromagnet is powered on, the electromagnet generates magnetism to

stabilize the connection between the unmanned boat and the buoy, a propeller is

started, and the unmanned boat moves forward according to the planned route

and arrives at a designated position.

Step 7: after arriving at the designated position, the unmanned boat enables a

transformation mode, the electromagnet is powered off and loses magnetism,

and the unmanned boat and the buoy are disconnected.

Step 8: after the unmanned boat and the buoy are disconnected, a solenoid valve

below the side of a cabin A is opened, water starts to enter the cabin A, and the

hull starts to sink slowly.

Step 9: due to the force, the bow firstly sinks downward, a flexible composite pipe connected between the buoy and the hull is slowly tightened, and when the hull reaches the bottom, the flexible composite pipes tightens the buoy.

Step 10: when the unmanned boat is transformed into a buoy, the work is completed and the buoy and sensor start to work to acquire relevant data.

The above method can realize the work of transforming the unmanned boat into a buoy. In the running process, the positioning function of the GPS module and the data transmission function of the 4G module work together to ensure the accuracy of the dropping position. After transformation, the buoy can convert light energy to electric energy on the water surface and store the electric energy in the battery in the buoy, which facilitates the power supply to electric equipment. Bidirectional communication link equipment is built in the buoy and can be used for data transmission between the buoy and the remote base station; the unmanned boat and the buoy are connected and fixed through the flexible composite pipe, the hull can be used as an anchor to fix the position of the hull, and the cabin can be reused to realize underwater data monitoring and acquisition, the practicability is good, and the popularization and application are facilitated.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

The basic principle, main features and advantages of the present invention have been shown and described above. It should be understood by those skilled in the industry that the present invention is not limited by the above-mentioned embodiments. The above-mentioned embodiments and the description are only used for describing the principle of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various variations and improvements, which fall into the protection scope claimed by the present invention. The protection scope claimed by the present invention shall be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

In the claims below and the description herein, any one of the terms comprising, comprised of or which comprises is an open term that means including at least the elements/features that follow, but not excluding others. Thus, the term comprising, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to the means or elements or steps listed thereafter. For example, the scope of the expression a device comprising A and B should not be limited to devices consisting only of elements A and B. Any one of the terms including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term coupled, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. The terms "coupled" and "connected", along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A coupled to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Coupled" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of terms "horizontal", "vertical", "left", "right", "up" and "down", as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., "horizontally", "rightwardly", "upwardly", etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader, or with reference to the orientation of the structure during nominal use, as appropriate. Similarly, the terms "inwardly" and "outwardly" generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate.

Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that an embodiment of the invention can consist essentially of features disclosed herein. Alternatively, an embodiment of the invention can consist of features disclosed herein. The invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A device for dropping a buoy by adopting an unmanned boat, comprising the

unmanned boat and the buoy, wherein the unmanned boat comprises a first cabin

used as a ballast water tank, the bottom of the first cabin is provided with a water

inlet with a solenoid valve, and the water inlet is used to guide ballast water into

the first cabin; the buoy is placed on the unmanned boat, and the bottom of the

buoy is connected with the unmanned boat through a flexible composite pipe.

2. The device for dropping the buoy by adopting the unmanned boat according to

claim 1, wherein the unmanned boat and the buoy are provided with a sensor

module, the sensor module comprises a main control board mounted in the buoy

and a battery for supplying power, and an electric energy input end of the battery

is connected with a solar cell panel mounted on the surface of the buoy; the

unmanned boat is further provided with a sealed second cabin, a sensor is mounted

in the second cabin, and the sensor is connected with the main control board

through a data line.

3. The device for dropping the buoy by adopting the unmanned boat according to

claim 2, wherein the inner part of the flexible composite pipe is a hollow structure,

and the data line connected with the sensor passes through the hollow structure in

the flexible composite pipe and is connected with the main control board.

4. The device for dropping the buoy by adopting the unmanned boat according to

claim 2 or claim 3, wherein a groove for placing the buoy is provided in the

unmanned boat, an electromagnet is provided on the inner wall of the groove, and

the main control board switches the power-on state of the electromagnet to adsorb

or release the buoy.

5. The device for dropping the buoy by adopting the unmanned boat according to any

one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a GPS module and a 4G module are mounted on the

unmanned boat, and the main control board establishes a bidirectional communication link with a base station on the land through the GPS module and the 4G module; the GPS module is used for positioning the unmanned boat and the 4G module is used to receive and transmit signals.