JPS6037393A - Robot system in sea and sea bottom work - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a robot Zostem suitable for carrying out investigations and operations.

In recent years, the development of seabed oil has gradually extended to deeper sea areas, and the need for the development of seabed mineral resources such as manganese nodules and hydrothermal deposits is increasing.

It is impossible or extremely difficult for conventional manned submersible machines to carry out investigations and operations in such dangerous locations such as the deep sea, the seabed, or offshore oil wells.

In recent years, the development of unmanned underwater vehicles has been remarkable for the purpose of conducting surveys and operations under the sea and the seabed under high water pressure or where it is difficult for manned working machines to approach. There are many simple tasks that can be replaced by unmanned underwater vehicles.

These unmanned underwater vehicles have been improved year by year, and high-performance, deep-dive vehicles are being developed one after another and are appearing on the market. However, all unmanned underwater vehicles that have been announced so far are equipped with tethers for power and information transmission.

However, the tether set (including optical fiber for communication) has the following drawbacks, and it cannot be said that it has sufficient adaptability for underwater/undersea work.

That is, (1) the tether becomes tangled, making it impossible to enter structures such as the jacket of an offshore oil well. Also, the radius of action is restricted.

(2) Free movement is hindered by the underwater resistance of the tether. The effect is especially severe when there is a current.

For example, in the investigation of oil inside structures such as jackets under tidal currents, and fire accident investigations, manned diving investigation equipment and divers cannot approach due to the danger, and unmanned underwater vehicles equipped with tethers cannot be used. Because there is a risk of getting entangled in the structure, it is impossible to enter the inside of the structure, and tidal currents make delicate work difficult.

Therefore, if a non-tethered unmanned submersible vehicle is used, the above-mentioned drawbacks of the tethered unmanned submersible vehicle will be solved, but with a non-tethered fully equipped unmanned submersible vehicle, the operator will be able to control based on the detected information. Since they are unable to carry out any work and cannot increase their own power supply, they are unable to obtain sufficient illumination necessary for optical observation.

An object of the present invention is to provide an underwater and submarine working robot system that eliminates the current state of conventional underwater and submarine working robot systems and the problems of non-tethered unmanned submersible working machines.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

An underwater/submarine working port bot system according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings includes a mother ship 1 floating on the sea, a launcher 3 connected to the mother ship by an umbilical cable 2 and landing on the seabed surface, and the launcher 3. A cable-type underwater submarine work robot 5 is launched from the upper stage and connected to the launcher 3 by a power and information communication cable 4, and a cabled submarine working robot 5 is launched from the lower stage of the launcher 3 and uses its own propulsion/information power supply device. The cable-free robot 6 has a cable-free robot 6. The above-mentioned roped robot 5 has a manipulator 51 suitable for delicate underwater work, and also has a powerful underwater ride 52 that emits light by electricity supplied from the master lead worker via the umbilical cable 2 and tether 4. Also, a propeller 53 and a plurality of submarine walking legs 54 for moving back and forth, left and right, and up and down in the water, means for fixing the robot itself to a fixed object on the seabed, means for positioning the robot in the sea and on the seabed, a television camera, a VTJ still camera, It has an observation recording device such as a runner, and a complex work control device with a ropeless robot.

On the other hand, the unrope-type robot 6 has a manipulator 61 and a propeller 63 that work together with the rope-type robot 5 to perform simple underwater work.
Although it has 64 submarine walking legs, it does not have a manipulator capable of delicate underwater work or a powerful underwater ride. Other functions are generally the same as the tethered robot.

The cabled robot 5 is controlled from the mother ship via the tether 4.
However, in the unrope-type robot 6, the control signal transmitted from the mother ship to the carrier 3 via the umbilical cable 2 is transmitted to the sonic signal transmitter provided in the launcher 5vc and to the tethered robot 5. The sound waves are transmitted in the form of sound waves by a sound wave signal device and controlled. During collaborative work, the sound wave signals from the cabled robot 5 nearby are close in distance, so there is no time delay in the movement, making it possible to further improve accuracy.In addition, in this embodiment, the launcher 3 also In addition to being equipped with a propeller 32 to enable self-propulsion, it is also equipped with an observation device 33.

Since this system is configured as described above, when working under the sea or on the seabed, the first step is to transport the launcher 3, which houses all the 4.5 roped and unroped robots, from the mother ship to the sea area. After descending to the bottom of the ocean, the observation device 33 of the launcher 3 detects the object, and the cable-less robot 6 detects the target object electrically via the tether 4 of the cable-type robot 5I-i. The robot travels toward the target object under the control of the sound waves emitted from the robot, and while observing the target object using its own observation means, the propellers 53, 63, submarine walking legs 54,
64, the object is approached, and the positioning means Vrc, ll
:I) Position the object, illuminate it with the underwater powerful ride 52 of the roped robot 5, image it with a TV camera, and transmit the video signal to the mother ship l via the tether 4 and umbilical cable 2. The manipulator 51 of the tethered robot is controlled via the umbilical cable 2 and the tether 4, and the manipulator 61i of the untethered robot 6 is controlled by sound waves.

Since the work is carried out by the manipulators 51 and 61 of the two robots, a wide variety of work can be performed.In particular, the manipulator of the roped robot 5 is capable of delicate underwater work, so it can handle complex tasks that cannot be done with a single robot. It also becomes possible to perform various tasks.

Further, since the launcher 3 is also provided with a propeller 32 and an observation device 33, the action range is expanded.

In addition, the untethered robot 6 can observe a specified course using a rough exploration method, and in that case, the radius of movement is not restricted by the length of the tether, as is the case with tethered robots. The observation range is expanded.

As described above, by having all the roped and unroped robots work together in accordance with the present invention, it is possible to efficiently and accurately perform work that cannot be done by any one robot alone, and it is also possible to By using a suitable type of robot to perform the work, work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The accompanying drawing is a perspective view showing the entire system of an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Mother ship 2... Umbilical cable 3... Launcher 4... Tether (power and information communication cable) 5...
Cabled robot 6... Untethered robot 51... Manipulator for underwater delicate work 61... Manipulator 32, 53, 63... Propulsion device

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A mother ship floating on the sea, a launcher connected to the mother ship by an umbilical cable and landing on the seabed, and a cable launched from the launcher and connected to the launcher by power and information communication cables. The robot has a type robot and an untethered robot that is launched from the launcher and has its own propulsion and information power supply device, and the tethered robot and the untethered robot perform collaborative work with each other. An underwater/submarine work robot system characterized by being equipped with the necessary work means. (2) The underwater/submarine working robot system according to claim 1, wherein the launcher is also provided with a propulsion means and an observation means.