JP5884978B2 - Underwater vehicle lifting device and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lifting device and a lifting method for an underwater vehicle.

  Usually, underwater vehicles such as UUV (Unmanned Undersea Vehicles) are lifted and equipped with special equipment on the mother ship. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for directly equipping a catamaran with a special device, and using a guidance device installed in the special device to guide UUV to a UUV containment box and to extract it. Disclosure.

  Further, in the example shown in Patent Document 2, a special equipment directly equipped on the mother ship is used, and after the special equipment is connected to the UUV, means for gripping and lifting the UUV is used. .

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-1565, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, paragraph 0023 JP-A-8-282588, FIGS. 1 to 3 Shokai 60-143097

  In the UUV lifting device and the lifting method according to the techniques described in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, various problems are encountered in operation.

  The first problem is that special equipment must be installed directly on the UUV mother ship. For this reason, special dedicated equipment will permanently occupy the limited space on board.

  The second problem is that it is difficult to lift the sea when the marine environment is bad (strong winds and waves). In other words, when the sea environment is bad, when UUV is collected near the sea surface, or when UUV is collected under the sea surface by the equipment directly installed on the mother ship, the equipment equipped with the UUV or mother ship due to the influence of waves etc. This is because it is difficult to precisely guide to the storage box or the coupling mechanism of the lifting device.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 3 discloses a catamaran for underwater vehicle recovery that does not require a special device to be directly installed on a ship that is a UUV mother ship. This catamaran is equipped with a pair of boats arranged in parallel at a distance, and an underwater vehicle landing net attached between these boats so that the distance between the pair of boats can be adjusted. It is configured. The underwater vehicle is picked up while the underwater vehicle is floating. That is, when the catamaran moves to the floating position of the underwater vehicle, the distance between the pair of boats is narrowed so that the lifting net is lowered to the depth that the underwater vehicle can scoop, and the underwater vehicle is placed in the lifting net. When is entered, widen the distance between the pair of boats and scoop up the underwater vehicle.

  According to such a catamaran, the first problem is solved. However, since the lifting can be performed only when the underwater vehicle is floating, the second problem remains. In addition, a pair of boats must be connected so that the distance between them can be reduced, and it is difficult to obtain sufficient rigidity and propulsion performance.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to ensure that underwater navigation is ensured in a harsh marine environment without permanently installing special equipment dedicated to the acquisition, particularly mechanical equipment, on the mother ship. The goal is to allow the body to be lifted.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, at least two guide frames, a net-like member for placing an underwater vehicle, spanned between the two guide frames, and the two guide frames are A suspension frame serving as a base material when suspended together with the net-like member, a plurality of thrusters provided on the two guide frames for traveling in water, the two guide frames and the net-like member, and the A releaser capable of holding the suspension frame in a bundled state and releasing the holding state; and controlling the underwater traveling by the plurality of thrusters, and controlling the release of the releaser; A guide cable having a cable for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the control unit, and configured to be able to suspend the suspension frame via a wire Rutotomoni, the induction frame and suspension frame of the two, configured comprising launch and recovery device is provided to have a neutral buoyancy in water by buoyancy material.

  In the present lifting apparatus, the control unit controls underwater traveling by the plurality of thrusters and also controls release of the releaser by a command sent from the mother ship side through the cable.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, in the lifting method using the lifting device, when the underwater vehicle existing in the water is lifted, the two guide frames and the In the state where the net-like member and the suspension frame are bundled together, the lifting device is thrown into the water, and the underwater vehicle is present in the underwater navigation by the plurality of thrusters through the control unit. The lifting device is moved to a target position in water, and when the target position is reached, the bundled state by the releaser is released, and the two guide frames are separated by the plurality of thrusters, and the net member When the underwater vehicle is placed on the deployed net-like member, the underwater vehicle is moved to the vicinity of the mother ship by underwater navigation using the plurality of thrusters, and the underwater vehicle is placed. The serial launch and recovery device, launch and recovery method of launch and recovery to mother ship by lifting with a crane through the wire is provided.

  In this method, the positions of the underwater vehicle and the lifting device are monitored by an underwater position monitoring device mounted on the mother ship, and commands are sent to the underwater vehicle and the lifting device based on the position information. Transmitting and moving to the target position is performed.

  The first effect obtained by the present invention is that it is not necessary to always install a special device for the underwater vehicle uplift on the mother ship.

  The reason is that the lifting device according to the present invention can be hung and wound by a hanging means such as a general crane or a hoisting machine, and it is not necessary to equip the mother ship with special equipment. Further, the lifting device according to the present invention can be stored on land or the like when it is not necessary to use it.

  The second effect obtained by the present invention is that the underwater vehicle can be stably recovered even when the marine environment is bad such as when the wind and wave height are high.

  The reason for this is that the lifting device according to the present invention is affected by wind and waves at sea by using a thruster provided by itself to approach the underwater vehicle and submerge to spread the net-like member underwater. This is because it is possible to collect the underwater vehicle without underwater. In addition, by providing a wide width for the net-like member, it is possible to easily position the underwater vehicle on the net even if there is an error in the position of the underwater vehicle and the lifting device. This is because it is not necessary to require precision for guidance of the underwater vehicle.

It is the figure which showed the main structures of embodiment of the harvesting apparatus by this invention. It is the figure which showed the incidental structure of embodiment of the harvesting apparatus by this invention. It is a flowchart figure for demonstrating the implementation method of embodiment of the harvesting apparatus by this invention. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of embodiment of the harvesting apparatus by this invention.

  Next, an embodiment of a lifting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Constitution]
Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a lifting device according to the present invention includes at least two guide frames 1, a plurality of thrusters 2 installed on the guide frame 1, a suspended frame 3, and two guides. A collection net 4 spanned between the frames 1, a control unit 5, a releaser 6, and a plurality of buoyancy members 7 are provided. Here, the buoyancy material 7 is provided integrally with the induction frame 1 and the suspension frame 3. The suspension frame 3 is connected to the two guide frames 1 by wires 11 at both ends thereof, and serves as a base material when the two guide frames 1 are suspended together with the collection net 4. The guide frame 1 and the suspension frame 3 may be made of metal or resin, particularly reinforced resin. As the buoyancy material 7, for example, a polymer resin foam is used. The collection net 4 may be a net-like member that can be folded and unfolded and is not easily subjected to water resistance when deployed in water or moved in the unfolded state.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the lifting device further includes a guide line 8 having a cable for electrically connecting to the control unit 5, a wire 9 for lifting the lifting device having a predetermined length, and the hanging frame 3. Or the auxiliary rope 10 attached to the both ends of the buoyancy material 7 integral with this is comprised.

  As described above, the guide frame 1 includes the plurality of thrusters 2 and the buoyancy material 7 for obtaining neutral buoyancy, and the recovery net 4 is provided between the pair of other guide frames 1. Has been. The suspension frame 3 includes a buoyancy material 7 for obtaining neutral buoyancy, a control unit 5, and a releaser 6. The releaser 6 can bundle the two guide frames 1 and the suspended frame 3, and can release the bundled state by a command. The control unit 5 has a function of controlling the releaser 6 as well as controlling the position and posture of the lifting device.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the releaser 6 bundles the suspension frame 3 and the two guide frames 1 in the state where the present lifting device is stored on the mother ship and in the state where it is thrown into the water for lifting. The control unit 5 communicates (transmits / receives signals) with the mother ship through a cable in the guide cable 8 having neutral buoyancy and receives power supply. The wire 9 is used when the lifting device is suspended by a suspension means (hereinafter described as a crane) such as a mother ship crane or a hoisting machine. The auxiliary ropes 10 attached to both sides of the suspension frame 3 are used to prevent the lifting device from rotating horizontally when the lifting device is suspended by a crane.

  The control unit 5 is a gyro for controlling the attitude of the lifting device, a responder of the underwater position monitoring device for grasping the position of the lifting device in the water in the mother ship, receiving commands from the mother ship, and underwater for response. It is equipped with a communication device and a computer for attitude control and releaser control. As an underwater position monitoring device mounted on a mother ship, for example, an underwater position monitoring device that can obtain position information by measuring the azimuth, distance, depth, etc. of an underwater pickup device using an acoustic positioning method is used. Any device that can monitor the position in the water is acceptable. This underwater position monitor is also used for UUV measurements. Since this type of underwater position monitoring device is well known and is not the gist of the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted. In addition, in order to be able to pick up UUV, which will be described later, quickly and quickly, an underwater camera may be mounted on the control unit 5 so that the state of picking up can be monitored on the mother ship side. .

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the present lifting device will be described.

  FIG. 4 shows an operational concept of the embodiment of the lifting device according to the present invention. As a premise, the UUV has already been put into operation and operated. The UUV position (including depth) is determined by the underwater position monitoring device installed in the UUV and the mother ship and the inertial navigation device installed in the UUV. ) Is in a state where it can be grasped. Further, it is assumed that the UUV is in a state where it can receive an acoustic command in the sea or a command for moving to a predetermined standby position by radio when temporarily ascending. Further, it is assumed that the control unit 5 is in a state where the position (including depth) of the lifting device in water or on the water is grasped by responding to the underwater position monitoring device of the mother ship through the cable of the guide line 8. .

  FIG. 4 also shows the same lifting device 100 at three positions that change over time for easy understanding of the description.

  4, the wire 9 of the lifting device 100 is connected to the wire of the crane 210 of the mother ship 200, the lifting device 100 is suspended, and the lifting device 100 is put on the water. After the insertion, the wire 9 is disconnected, but the guide wire 8 remains connected. The lifting device 100 thrown on the water advances to a position designated in advance using a plurality of equipped thrusters 2 while being half-sunk in a bundled state in FIG. The UUV moves to the underwater standby position indicated in advance and is hovering. When the lifting device 100 approaches the standby position, it is submerged to near the standby depth of the UUV by a command from the mother ship 200, then the releaser 6 is released and the two guide frames 1 are separated using a plurality of thrusters 2. Then, the collection net 4 is expanded (state shown in FIG. 1). At this time, the collection net 4 is deployed at a position slightly deeper than the UUV depth. Since the two guide frames 1 and the suspension frame 3 have neutral buoyancy, and the guide frame 1 can be freely displaced by the thruster 2, the positional relationship between the suspension frame 3 and the induction frame 1 and the recovery net 4 The unfolded state is as shown in FIG. The UUV finally moves onto the collection net 4 according to the command. After confirming the final movement, the lifting device 100 starts to float by a command and returns to the half-sunk state. In the mother ship 200, the guide rope 8 is wound up and guided to the vicinity of the mother ship.

  When the guide wire 8 is wound up to the range of the length of the wire 9, the wire 9 is connected to the wire of the crane 210, and the lifting device 100 is lifted to the deck of the ship while being wound up and moved. At this time, the lifting device 100 is moved while applying tension to the two auxiliary ropes 10 so as not to rotate horizontally.

  FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the above-described harvesting sequence and a more detailed description.

  Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, after starting the lifting operation, in procedure 1, a command is issued from mother ship 200 to UUV to move to the designated standby position.

  In the procedure 2, the wire 9 is suspended by being connected to the wire of the crane 210, and the lifting device 100 is put on the water.

  In procedure 3, the wire 9 is cut off from the wire of the crane 210, and the guide rope 8 is fed out by a general-purpose hoisting machine (which may be human power). The guide wire 8 has neutral buoyancy, and a control signal and power are supplied to the control unit 5. The control by the control unit 5 is performed based on software installed in a general-purpose PC (personal computer). However, such control can be easily realized and is not the gist of the present invention, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  In the procedure 4, the thruster 2 of the lifting device 100 is operated by a command from the mother ship 200, and the lifting device 100 is guided to the designated position by remote control.

  In the procedure 5, the position of the UUV and the lifting device 100 is monitored by an underwater position monitoring device of the mother ship 200, a command is sent from the mother ship 200 to release the holding by the releaser 6 of the lifting device 100 near the UUV position, and the thruster. 2 is controlled to widen the interval between the two guide frames 1 and expand the collection net 4 while subtracting the lifting device 100.

  In step 6, a command is sent from the mother ship 200 to the UUV to move it directly above the collection net 4.

  In the procedure 7, a command is sent to the lifting device 100, and the guide frame 1 and the collection net 4 are lifted to the half-sunk position together with UUV.

  In step 8, the guide line 8 is wound up and the lifting device 100 is brought closer to the mother ship 200. At this time, the thruster 2 is controlled so as to leave a certain distance from the mother ship 200.

  In procedure 9, the wire 9 of the lifting device 100 and the wire of the crane 210 are connected, and the guide rope 8 is removed.

  In step 10, the lifting device 100 is lifted by the crane 210 and collected on the mother ship 200. At this time, tension is applied as necessary so that the lifting device 100 does not rotate horizontally using the auxiliary rope 10.

[Effect of the embodiment]
According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) There is no need to permanently install special equipment for UUV collection on the mother ship.

  The reason is that the lifting device according to the above embodiment can be hung and wound by a hanging means such as a general crane or a hoisting machine, and it is not necessary to equip the mother ship with special equipment. Moreover, it is because the lifting device by the said embodiment can be stored on the land etc., when it is not necessary to use it.

  (2) Even when the marine environment is bad, such as when the wind and wave height are high, UUV can be recovered stably.

  The reason for this is that the lifting device according to the above embodiment uses the thruster that it possesses to approach the UUV and submerge to widen the collection net in the water, so that it is not affected by wind and waves at sea. This makes it possible to recover UUV. In addition, by widening the width of the collection net, it is possible to easily place the UUV on the collection net even if there is an error in the position of the UUV and the pick-up device. This is because it is not necessary to request sex.

  (3) UUV can be recovered without a boat with sufficient rigidity as in Patent Document 3.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the following modifications are possible.

  In FIG. 1, two thrusters 2 are provided for each guide frame 1, and a total of four thrusters 2 are provided to provide thrust freely in the vertical and horizontal directions, but need not be four. The number of installed thrusters can be increased or decreased as necessary.

  In FIG. 1, the collection net 4 is only suspended between two guide frames 1, but when the area of the collection net is large, it is necessary to wind up to a certain width when collecting UUV. . In the above embodiment, the collection net winding mechanism is not shown, but a collection net winding mechanism may be added to the guide frame as necessary.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the UUV existing in the water is picked up by the mother ship 200 has been described. However, when the UUV on the mother ship 200 is suspended on the collection net 4 and suspended by the crane 210, the UUV is put into the water. Is also applicable.

  As an application example of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to ship equipment utilizing UUV, ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), etc. such as marine research and anti-mine warfare operation as an underwater vehicle and its operation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Guide frame 2 Thruster 3 Suspension frame 4 Recovery net 5 Control part 6 Releaser 7 Buoyant material 8 Guide line 9, 11 Wire 10 Auxiliary line 100 Lifting device 200 Mother ship 210 Crane

Claims (6)

At least two guide frames;
A net-like member that is spanned between these two guide frames and is used for placing the underwater vehicle,
A suspension frame that becomes a base material when the two guide frames are suspended together with the net-like member;
A plurality of thrusters for traveling underwater provided in the two guide frames;
A releaser capable of holding the two guide frames and the net-like member and the suspension frame in a bundled state and releasing the holding state;
A control unit for controlling underwater traveling by the plurality of thrusters, and controlling release of the releaser;
A transmission line that transmits and receives signals to and from the control unit and includes a cable for supplying power, and
A lifting device configured to suspend the suspension frame via a wire and to configure the two guide frames and the suspension frame to have a neutral buoyancy in water by a buoyancy material.   The said control part controls the cancellation | release of the said releaser while controlling the underwater navigation by these several thrusters by the command sent from the mother ship side through the said cable. .   The auxiliary rope for preventing horizontal rotation of the said lifting device in the state which has suspended the said suspension frame via the said wire is respectively connected to the both ends side of the said suspension frame. 2. The lifting device according to 2. A lifting method using the lifting device according to claim 2,
When picking up the underwater vehicle that exists in the water,
In the state where the two guide frames and the net-like member and the suspension frame are bundled together by the releaser, the lifting device is put on the water,
In the underwater cruising with the plurality of thrusters through the control unit, the lifting device is moved to an underwater target position where the underwater vehicle is present,
When the target position is reached, the bundled state by the releaser is released, and the two guide frames are separated by the plurality of thrusters to expand the net-like member,
After placing the underwater vehicle on the deployed net-like member, move it to the vicinity of the mother ship by underwater navigation with the plurality of thrusters,
A lifting method in which the lifting device on which the underwater vehicle is mounted is lifted by a crane via the wire to be lifted on a mother ship. A wire of a predetermined length is attached to the hanging frame as the wire,
When the two guide frames and the net-like member and the suspension frame are bundled together by the releaser, the lifting device is suspended by the crane of the mother ship through the wires and put on the water. The lifting method according to claim 4, wherein: is separated from the crane.   The position of the underwater vehicle and the lifting device is monitored by an underwater position monitoring device mounted on the mother ship, and a command is transmitted to the underwater vehicle and the lifting device based on the position information, and the target position The lifting method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein

Images