RU212158U1 - NAVIGATION BUOY - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to floating aids for navigational protection of navigable waters and can be used to ensure the safety of navigation, including autonomous and unmanned surface vessels. The technical solution for the navigation buoy claimed as a utility model allows expanding its functionality and achieving a new technical result - it becomes possible to constantly measure and control the water level in the area of the navigation buoy installation. To solve the problem, the following set of essential features is used: in a navigation buoy, consisting of a body, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure with a surface eye for moving and installing a navigation buoy, an underwater eye for attaching a navigation buoy using chains and an anchor to bottom of the water area, a navigation device, a battery pack, an LED emitter and a driver for turning it on / off, a GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor and a microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi communication, the inputs/outputs of which are connected to the electronic interfaces of all these devices, unlike the prototype, the navigation buoy in its underwater part is equipped with an echo sounder, the output of which is connected to the input of the microcontroller. 2 ill.

Description

The utility model relates to floating aids for navigational protection of navigable waters and can be used to ensure the safety of navigation, including autonomous and unmanned surface vessels.

Navigation buoys are known according to patents RU 20080, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ.20.10.2001; RU 112149, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 01/10/2012; RU 2473449, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 27.01.2013; RU 133503, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 20.10.2013; RU 143250, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 20.07.2014; RU 102588, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 06/27/2016; RU 182649, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 24.08.2018; RU 182325, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 14.08.2018; RU 186495, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. internal compartment for power supply, balancing weight, stabilizer or ballast tank in the underwater part, anchor chains and bottom anchor.

A common disadvantage of the known analogues is the impossibility of remote monitoring of changes in the buoy location under the influence of, for example, wind wave loads, the absence of any feedback from analogues with coastal services or nearby ships, which requires a mandatory line of sight of the buoy to ensure navigation safety.

Known navigation or hydrometeorological buoys containing a receiver of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) GPS/GLONASS connected to a data transmission module via GSM/GPRS/LTE or VHF communication channels (see patents RU 2561229, IPC B 63B 22/00, publ. 08/27/2015; RU 162713, IPC B63B22/16, publ. 06/27/2016; RU 177210, IPC G01P 13/00, publ.13.02.2018; RU 180460, IPC B 63B 51/00, publ. 14.06.2018; RU 2706882, IPC G01S1/08, publ. 11/21/2019; LED navigation lamp with remote monitoring function Nonius™ AtoN (http://noniusgroup.ru/products/buoys/), etc.

The disadvantages of these analogs are that they transmit only hydrometeorological information or data on the buoy's own position to coastal information centers, which is only part of the navigation support necessary for the safe navigation of ships. This is especially true for autonomous or unmanned vessels, which require additional information for safe navigation. Also, their disadvantages include the impossibility of prompt transmission of information from the navigation buoy directly to the vessel via a radio channel (wireless communication), bypassing the coastal information center.

The closest in technical essence and purpose to the claimed utility model is a navigation buoy according to patent RU 202129, IPC B63B22/16, publ.03.02.2021, selected as a prototype.

The prototype contains: a body, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure with a surface eye for moving and installing a navigation buoy, an underwater eye for attaching a navigation buoy with chains and an anchor to the bottom of the water area, a navigation device, a battery pack, an LED emitter and a driver for turning it on/off, a GNSS (GPS/GLONASS) receiver, a thermal sensor, a microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi communication, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor.

The disadvantage of the prototype is the impossibility of accurate determination and constant monitoring of the water level in the installation area of the navigation buoy. The water level is an important navigational characteristic of the navigable water area, which significantly affects the safety of navigation. Various physical and natural phenomena, such as floods, seasonal factors, drainage or discharge of water from reservoirs, wind surges, etc., can lead to a change in the water level, and in the event of a decrease, ships will not have the necessary water supply under the keel, which constitutes a real navigational hazard.

The technical solution for the navigation buoy claimed as a utility model allows expanding its functionality and achieving a new technical result - it becomes possible to constantly measure and control the water level in the area of the navigation buoy installation.

To solve the problem, the following set of essential features is used: in a navigation buoy, consisting of a body, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure with a surface eye for moving and installing a navigation buoy, an underwater eye for attaching a navigation buoy using chains and an anchor to bottom of the water area, a navigation device, a battery pack, an LED emitter and a driver for turning it on / off, a GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor and a microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi communication, the inputs/outputs of which are connected to the electronic interfaces of all these devices, unlike the prototype, the navigation buoy in its underwater part is equipped with an echo sounder, the output of which is connected to the input of the microcontroller.

The essence of the utility model is to expand the functionality of the navigation buoy, including the ability to identify navigational hazards associated with insufficient water levels and transmit information about the water level in the area (water area) of the installation of the navigation buoy to approaching ships or a coastal center for collecting and processing navigation information .

Comparison of the proposed device with the prototype showed that the task set - the creation of a navigation buoy with enhanced functionality, namely, the constant measurement and control of the water level in the area of the installation of the navigation buoy - is solved as a result of a new set of features, which proves the compliance of the claimed utility model with the patentability criterion " novelty".

The possibility of obtaining the specified technical result is carried out using a device, the elements of which are in structural unity and functional relationship.

The proposed device of the navigation buoy is illustrated by graphic materials, where figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the design of the navigation buoy, in Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a navigation device.

The navigation buoy (figure 1) contains: a body 1, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure, a surface eye 2 for moving and installing a navigation buoy, an underwater eye 3 for attaching a navigation buoy with chains and an anchor to the bottom of the water area, navigation device 4, the block diagram of which is shown in figure 2, a battery pack 5, a vertical through hole in the buoy 6 to accommodate the temperature sensor 7 and electrical wires connecting the sensor to the microcontroller, echo sounder 17, the output of which is connected to the microcontroller.

The navigation device 4 (figure 1) is rigidly fixed in the upper part of the navigation buoy by means of a bolted connection, figure 2 shows its block diagram, including: located in a sealed housing 8, LED emitter 9 (the matrix of which is brought out), GNSS- (GPS/GLONASS) receiver 10, microcontroller 11 with integrated Wi-Fi, LTE cellular modem 12 connected to microcontroller 11 by two-way communication, photosensor 13, integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor 14, which includes a 3-axis a gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer and a magnetometer, a water temperature sensor 15, and a driver of the LED emitter 16, to the input of which the microcontroller 11 is connected, and to the output - the LED emitter 9, the echo sounder 17 (Fig.1) is located in the underwater part of the navigation buoy, its the output is connected to the microcontroller 11.

The navigation buoy can be implemented on the following circuitry elements: the body 1 of the buoy is made of a polymeric material, for example, polyethylene by rotational molding, and has the necessary silhouette, the battery pack 5 can be made in the form of lithium-ion or lithium-cobalt battery cassettes. factor 18650 or similar products.

Sealed housing 8 is a cast aluminum housing with IP67 protection, LED emitter 9 is an assembly of LEDs of various power and light spectrum. As a GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver 10, a multisystem high-precision navigation receiver NV08C-RTK manufactured by NVS Navigation Technologies LLC with support for RTK technology and providing centimeter accuracy using phase measurements of signals from satellite navigation systems can be used as a microcontroller 11 with integrated wireless Wi-Fi - ESP32 microcontroller manufactured by Espressif Systems, as an LTE cellular modem 12 - MIKROTIK WAP LTE KIT device manufactured by MikroTik, as a photo sensor 13 - BH1750 digital sensor manufactured by Bosch Sensortec and measuring background lighting in lux, as integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor 14 - MPU-9250 device manufactured by InvenSense, as a thermal sensor 15 - sealed digital sensor Dallas DS18B20 manufactured by Maxim Integrated, as an LED emitter driver 16 - device manufactured by the Russian company Trion, as an echo sounder 17 - a device manufactured by the Russian company NPK Chaika, for example, the Kristall-40V echo sounder.

The specified design of the navigation buoy allows it to be used as a means of navigational fencing for navigation, incl. to ensure the safety of navigation of unmanned or autonomous surface vessels.

The proposed navigation buoy works as follows.

After installing the navigation buoy (figure 1) in a given location and setting the GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver 10 (figure 2) to receive signals from global navigation satellite systems and transmit them to the microcontroller 11 to determine the location of the buoy, via LTE- cellular modem 12 receives RTK corrections, for example, via the RTCM protocol from the network of reference stations SmartNet Russia, which are received by the microcontroller 11, where they are processed and transmitted via the NMEA protocol to the receiver 10. The microcontroller 11 also receives data from the photosensor 13 integrated 9- an axial 3D position sensor 14, a water temperature sensor 15, where they are processed according to a certain algorithm and transmitted to the coastal control center or operator's workstation to monitor the position of the navigation buoy and external parameters via an LTE cellular modem 12. The microcontroller 11 receives data from the echo sounder 17 about the depth under the buoy using the NMEA protocol, knowing the exact location of the echo sounder antenna 17 in the underwater part of the buoy, the microcontroller 11 automatically calculates the water level in the area of the navigation buoy, the data on the water level are transmitted via the LTE cellular modem 12 to the coastal control center or operator's workstation for monitoring the water level in the water area.

Depending on the time of day, illumination and water disturbance parameters, the microcontroller 11 generates control signals to the driver of the LED emitter 16, which in turn controls the mode of operation of the LED emitter 9. If necessary, additional information support for navigation of autonomous or unmanned surface vessels, and when they are found within the range of the wireless communication of the navigation device of the buoy, they are able to connect via a broadband Wi-Fi network directly to the microcontroller 11 to obtain the necessary data from the measuring sensors and the echo sounder.

Compared with the prototype, the proposed navigation buoy has a new ability to quickly transmit data on the water level in the buoy location area via an LTE cellular modem to the coastal information center or directly to ships located in the Wi-Fi buoy's wireless coverage area, which makes it possible to provide approaching ships additional information about the navigational and hydrographic situation in digital form.

In the future, the navigation buoy is supposed to be used as a means of navigation fencing in real conditions, including for unmanned or autonomous surface vessels.

The proposed utility model was developed by specialists of the State University of the Sea and River Fleet named after Admiral S.O. Makarov” as a part of research works. The device was simulated with the necessary calculations and its physical layout was made, which was tested in real conditions on the Neva River in the UAV test area and gave good results. This allows us to conclude that the claimed utility model meets the criterion of "industrial applicability".

Claims (1)

Navigation buoy, consisting of a body, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal / silhouette figure with a surface eye for moving and installing a navigation buoy, an underwater eye for attaching a navigation buoy to the bottom of the water area using chains and an anchor, a navigation device, a battery pack, an LED emitter and driver for turning it on / off, GPS / GLONASS GNSS receiver, LTE cellular modem, photo sensor, integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, water temperature sensor and microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi communication, the inputs / outputs of which are connected with electronic interfaces of all these devices, characterized in that the navigation buoy in its underwater part is equipped with an echo sounder, the output of which is connected to the input of the microcontroller.

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