EP0353354B1 - Performance monitor apparatus - Google Patents

Performance monitor apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0353354B1
EP0353354B1 EP88307071A EP88307071A EP0353354B1 EP 0353354 B1 EP0353354 B1 EP 0353354B1 EP 88307071 A EP88307071 A EP 88307071A EP 88307071 A EP88307071 A EP 88307071A EP 0353354 B1 EP0353354 B1 EP 0353354B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
probe
data
winch
performance
minehunting
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP88307071A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0353354A1 (en
Inventor
Leonard Bruce Jarman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Thales Underwater Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
GEC Marconi Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by GEC Marconi Ltd filed Critical GEC Marconi Ltd
Publication of EP0353354A1 publication Critical patent/EP0353354A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0353354B1 publication Critical patent/EP0353354B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63G—OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE ARRANGEMENTS ON VESSELS; MINE-LAYING; MINE-SWEEPING; SUBMARINES; AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
    • B63G7/00—Mine-sweeping; Vessels characterised thereby

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a performance monitor apparatus. It relates particularly to such an apparatus which is suitable for assisting a minehunting operation at sea.
  • the overall success of the operation depends at least partly upon the accuracy of the mission planning stage. This stage precedes the actual minehunting operation and it provides what are some essential operational parameters, these being the search track spacing, the search track width and the working speed of the vessel carrying the minehunting equipment.
  • the data that forms an input to the mission planning algorithms is obtained by a subjective assessment. As a result, the minehunting performance can frequently fall short of what should be possible with the systems available.
  • the present invention was devised to provide a performance monitor apparatus which would be more effective in operation and which would be able to adapt itself to the continuously variable sea conditions which occur whilst it is in use.
  • a performance monitor apparatus for a minehunting operation comprising probe means for gathering environmental data indicative of the variation of the velocity of sound and water temperature with depth relevant to minehunting performance, first data storage means for minehunting performance prediction algorithms, second data storage means for system/ship/mine target parameters, and performance prediction means capable of providing an output signal relevant to expected minehunting performance.
  • the environmental data gathering means comprises a probe capable of being suspended at different depths in the water environment.
  • a probe suspension means may comprise a cable which is carried on a jib assembly such that it may be unwound from a cable drum.
  • the cable drum may be driven by a motor which is arranged for remote control operation.
  • the apparatus may include a computer arranged to control data movements for the monitoring operation.
  • the performance monitor apparatus has a deck portion 1 which is intended to be mounted on the upper deck of a minehunting vessel and an operations room portion 2 which has an associated electronics unit and is located below the deck.
  • the deck portion 1 comprises a platform 3 which supports a jib 4 assembly.
  • the platform 3 is located on the ship's deck close to the side rails.
  • the jib 4 as depicted is in an in-board position but it is capable of being moved through 180° to an alternative out-board position where it is able to suspend a probe over the side of the ship and lower the probe to the required depth in the water alongside.
  • the jib supports a cable 6 which can be fed out from a cable drum 7 and which carries a probe 8 for making the sea measurements.
  • the cable drum 7 is driven by a motor 9 and there is also a manual retrieval handle 11 which could be used by hand to rotate the drum in the event of a motor failure.
  • Control data for operating the deck portion 1 is fed along a connector 12 from the operations room portion 2.
  • the same connector 12 serves to return velocity of sound and other data from the probe and from the deck portion 1 to the room portion 2.
  • the operations room portion 2 includes a plotter 13 and computer 14 which form part of an electronics unit 15.
  • a host sonar unit 27 also supplies information to the electronics unit 15.
  • Figure 2 shows the main system units. From a power distribution cabinet 16, a three-phase electrical power supply is delivered to the winch, jib and probe assembly 17.
  • the assembly 17 delivers velocity of sound depth and water temperature data 18 to a velocity of sound interface 19.
  • the interface 19 supplies probe power 21 to the assembly 17 and control and monitoring data 22 are also transferred between these units.
  • the velocity of sound interface 19 delivers its velocity of sound, depth and temperature data 23 to the computer 14.
  • Control data 24 is also transferred between the interface 19 and the computer 14.
  • the velocity of sound interface 19 forms part of the apparatus electronics unit 15 and this unit also includes a host sonar interface 26.
  • This interface receives raw sonar return data from the host sonar unit 27 which is part of the marine equipment of the minesweeping vessel.
  • the host sonar interface 26 thus provides background data 28 which is fed to the computer 14.
  • the computer 14 is thus enabled to provide set-up, graphical and alphanumeric data 29 which is delivered to the performance monitor plotter 13 of the operations room portion 2.
  • Figure 3 shows the arrangement of the apparatus operator interface and the other interfaces.
  • the ship's electrical power supply is delivered from the cabinet 16 to the winch motor, jib and probe assembly 10.
  • a winch operator 31 is also required to stand by the deck portion 1 in case any manual overide of the electrical controls should become necessary.
  • the interface 19 provides an electrical power supply 32 to the probe 8 and this returns the required velocity of sound, depth and temperature data 23 to the interface 19. The data 23 is then delivered to the performance monitor apparatus program software 33.
  • Winch control instructions 36 are provided by the program software 33 to control operation of the winch and jib.
  • the software 33 forms part of the computer 14.
  • the software also receives an input from the host sonar unit 27 through the host sonar interface 26.
  • a screen display line 37 from the software 33 is provided and signals on this are applied to the monitor apparatus plotter 13 in order to produce hard copies 38 for the use of an apparatus operator 39 of the monitor apparatus.
  • the apparatus operator 39 is also able to receive visual data and prompts 41 from a visual display screen 42 which receives results 43 from the software 33.
  • the screen 42 further indicates requests 44 for inputs from the software 33.
  • the apparatus operator 39 may make responses back to the software 33.
  • the software 33 also exchanges information on environmental conditions and the velocity of sound profile with diskettes in a diskette drive unit 47.
  • the apparatus operator 39 is able to interchange diskettes in the drive unit 47 as may be necessary.
  • the Background Data can be produced in either of two ways:
  • the Real Time Sonar Background data is produced from the host sonar, and passed to the computer by the interface 26 fitted in the electronics unit 14.
  • the raw sonar data is processed by the interface 26 to produce a Reverberation Gain Control level representing the intensity level of Background Data.
  • the Background Data must be accompanied by an indication of the Range Scale and the number of data samples taken so that the position of each data sample in each sonar return can be ascertained by the software.
  • the software 33 checks the apparatus operator's inserted value of Range Scale against the Range Scale received from the host sonar and it alerts the operator if these differ as this would cause an error in the computations.
  • the Range Scale is derived from the interval between Transmit Trigger pulses, which occur at the start of each transmission cycle.
  • the number of data samples is obtained by counting sampling clock pulses.
  • the Range Scale and number of samples (Range Count) are sent to the computer along with the Background Data.
  • the probe 8 is suspended over the side of the ship by the dedicated winch and jib assembly.
  • the jib is rotated to its outboard deployment position by the winch operator 31 and then the winch is operated by the program software, through the velocity of sound interface 19, at relevant stages in the program sequence, that is when the apparatus operator 39 requests a measured velocity of sound profile.
  • the probe is lowered to the depth selected by the apparatus operator 39, during which time its transducers attain a steady operating temperature. As the probe is raised, it measures the velocity of sound and the temperature of the water plus its own depth at regular intervals of time.
  • the probe 8 contains three transducers, which measure velocity of sound, depth and temperature respectively.
  • the transducers interface with power supply and measuring circuits contained within the electronics housing which produce signals, the frequencies of which are proportional to the measured values.
  • the three signals (velocity of sound, depth and temperature) are passed to the in-board circuits through three twisted-pair cores of the electro-mechanical sea cable 6; a fourth twisted-pair core is used to carry power down the cable to the probe.
  • the sea cable 6 is wound round the drum 7 of the winch to which it is mechanically secured. Electrical connections are made through concentric slip rings, centred on the rotational axis of the drum 7, to the Winch Contactor cable interface terminals. From the Winch Contactor Module, the velocity of sound, depth and temperature data is passed to the velocity of sound interface 19 housed in the electronics unit in the operations room portion 2.
  • the velocity of sound, depth and temperature data are converted to 16-bit digital values proportional to the received frequencies.
  • a series of 16-bit values, representing measurements of velocity of sound, depth and temperature at regular intervals, are thus sent to the computer for use by the program software 33.
  • the winch and jib assembly shown in Figure 1, is situated on the main deck where it is used to swing the probe 8 to its athwartships deployment position, support and guide the sea cable 6 and haul and veer the cable to raise and lower the probe through the sea.
  • the assembly also provides a securing mechanism so that the jib and probe can be safely stowed when not in use.
  • the motive power to rotate the cable drum 7 is provided by the three-phase, bi-directional motor 9 which drives the drum via a 60:1 gearbox and a slip clutch.
  • the slip clutch has its fixed side connected to the gearbox and its slipping side connected to the drum.
  • the clutch slips if the probe 8 or cable 6 becomes snagged when the winch is hauling the cable, or when the ship is moving, in order to prevent damage to the equipment or the ship; it also slips if the probe is nested in a bellmouth holder of the jib and the winch is hauling the cable in manual mode using the manual retrieval handle 11.
  • the sensors are positioned to detect the following states:
  • Two microswitches are located on the jib upright support to detect that the jib is or is not locked and that it is either in its athwartships deployment position or its in-board stowed position.
  • a microswitch is positioned on the cable drum 7 to detect when there is less than 3.5 metres of sea cable wound onto the drum.
  • a microswitch is activated by the slip clutch on the cable drum 7 when slipping takes place.
  • Two overheat sensitive resistors are embedded in electrical windings of the winch motor 9 to detect when the winding temperature rises above 165°C.
  • a switch is located on the manual retrieval handle 11 to detect when the handle is depressed, that is, when it is engaged on the gearbox shaft. This switch is wired in series with the Emergency Stop push-button switch to stop the motor 9 directly and to provide a sensor feedback signal.
  • a microswitch is also activated when a Local Control Switch on the assembly 10 is enabled by the removal of a padlock.
  • the sensor feedback signals are sent through a Winch Contactor module (on the assembly 10) to the interface 19 in the operations room portion 2 where they are used for control purposes.
  • the winch is operated by sending Forward, Reverse or Stop signals to the winch contactors in the Winch Contactor module.
  • the Forward Signal activates the Forward Contactor to veer the cable and the Reverse Signal activates the Reverse Contactor to haul the cable; the Stop Signal disables both contactors.
  • the motor control signals are generated by various sources as described below:
  • Winch Contactor module Located within the Winch Contactor module is a small, high intensity, audible alarm which is sounded under the following conditions:
  • the mission planning output can be accurate and fully representative of the prevailing environment, the expected mine targets and the minehunting system which is available. This leads to greater efficiency and speed in the hunting operation.
  • the stored data is intended to be used before a mission to predict the performance of the host sonar, and/or post-mission, by comparison, to enable the success of the mission to be assessed.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Testing And Monitoring For Control Systems (AREA)
  • Testing Or Calibration Of Command Recording Devices (AREA)
EP88307071A 1987-06-25 1988-08-01 Performance monitor apparatus Expired - Lifetime EP0353354B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8714947A GB2206209B (en) 1987-06-25 1987-06-25 Performance monitor apparatus
CA000573783A CA1328507C (en) 1987-06-25 1988-08-04 Performance monitor apparatus

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0353354A1 EP0353354A1 (en) 1990-02-07
EP0353354B1 true EP0353354B1 (en) 1993-02-03

Family

ID=72039727

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88307071A Expired - Lifetime EP0353354B1 (en) 1987-06-25 1988-08-01 Performance monitor apparatus

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0353354B1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CA (1) CA1328507C (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE3878234D1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB2206209B (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2230862A (en) * 1989-03-02 1990-10-31 Roger George Willia Northfield Depth gauge
DE102023002314B3 (de) * 2023-06-07 2024-08-22 Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr) Verfahren zur Klassifizierung von Unterwasserobjekten und zugehöriges Computerprogrammprodukt

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3286225A (en) * 1964-05-21 1966-11-15 Rayflex Exploration Company Continuous marine seismic surveying
US3840845A (en) * 1973-06-29 1974-10-08 Chevron Res Method of initiating and collecting seismic data related to strata underlying bodies of water using a continuously moving seismic exploration system located on a single boat using separate streamers
US3875497A (en) * 1973-12-26 1975-04-01 Seatrek Ltd Waterborne magnetic anomaly detection system and apparatus
FR2574560B1 (fr) * 1984-12-06 1987-05-15 Inst Francais Du Petrole Systeme utilisant un ou plusieurs bateaux telecommandes pour la conduite d'operations marines

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE3878234D1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1993-03-18
EP0353354A1 (en) 1990-02-07
GB2206209B (en) 1991-09-11
GB8714947D0 (en) 1988-05-25
GB2206209A (en) 1988-12-29
CA1328507C (en) 1994-04-12

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