RU214317U1 - 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, incl. autonomous and unmanned surface vessels. The claimed technical solution makes it possible to expand the functionality of the navigation buoy, namely, to provide the ability to identify navigational hazards of navigation associated with changes in the direction and speed of the flow of water in the navigation area of ships, and transmit information to approaching ships or a coastal center for collecting and processing navigational and hydrographic information. 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 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, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor and a microcontroller with an integrated Wi-Fi connection, the inputs/outputs of which are connected to the electronic interfaces of all these devices, unlike the prototype, an acoustic Doppler current profiler is installed on the bottom anchor, the output of which is connected to the microcontroller input. 1 w.p. f-ly, 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 of ships, incl. autonomous and unmanned and for areas with difficult hydrometeorological conditions, areas of approach to ports, cramped water areas, etc.

Navigation buoys are known according to patents RU 20080, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. October 20, 2001; RU 112149, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 01/10/2012; RU 2473449, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 01/27/2013; RU 133503, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 10/20/2013; RU 143250, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 07/20/2014; RU 102588, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 06/27/2016; RU 182649, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 08/24/2018; RU 182325, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 08/14/2018; RU 186495, IPC B 63B 22/16, publ. 01/22/2019, etc. The above devices are designed to visually indicate and ensure the safety of waterways and contain: a float, a surface part in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure, a luminous lantern, a radar reflector, an internal compartment for placing a power source, a balancing weight, a stabilizer or ballast tank in the underwater part, anchor chains and bottom anchor.

A common disadvantage of known analogues is the impossibility of remote monitoring of changes in the buoy's 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 designed to determine the characteristics of wind waves, 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, published 08/27/2015; RU 162713, IPC B63B22/16, published 06/27/2016; RU 177210, IPC G01P 13/00, publ. 02/13/2018; RU 180460, IPC B 63B 51/00, publ. 06/14/2018; RU 2706882, IPC G01S1/08, publ. 11/21/2019; RU 202129, IPC B63B22/16, publ. 02/03/2021; LED navigation lamp with remote monitoring function Nonius™ AtoN (http://noniusgroup.ru/products/buoys/), etc.

The general disadvantages of the above analogs are that they transmit only meteorological 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 and vessels in the navigation area with difficult hydrometeorological conditions, areas of approach to ports, cramped water areas, etc. 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 212158, IPC B63B 22/16, publ.07.08.2022, 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 and an echo sounder.

The disadvantage of the selected prototype is the impossibility of accurately determining and constantly monitoring the direction and speed of the flow of water in the navigation area, which is an important navigational characteristic of the navigable water area, which significantly affects the safety of navigation. Various physical and natural phenomena, such as wind and wave and surge phenomena, etc., can lead to a significant change in the direction and speed of the water flow in the navigation area, which is a real navigational hazard, especially in areas of approach to ports, cramped and limited water areas where the speed of the ship is low and the current has a significant impact on the maneuvering characteristics of ships.

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 direction and speed of the water flow 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 a bottom 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, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor, an echo sounder 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, an acoustic Doppler current profiler is installed on the bottom anchor, 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, incl. the possibility of identifying navigational hazards of navigation associated with changes in the direction and speed of the flow of water in the navigation area of ships and the transmission of information to approaching ships or a coastal center for collecting and processing navigational and hydrographic 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 direction and speed of the water flow in the area of the installation of the navigation buoy - is solved as a result of a new set of features, which proves compliance with the claimed utility model patentability criterion "novelty".

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

The essence of the proposed device 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.

Navigation buoy (figure 1) contains: body 1, the surface part of which is made in the form of a signal (silhouette) figure, surface eye 2 for moving and installing a navigation buoy, underwater eye 3 for attaching a navigation buoy using chain 4 and bottom anchor 5 to the bottom of the water area 6, the navigation device 7, the block diagram of which is shown in figure 2, the battery pack 8, a vertical through hole in the buoy 9 to accommodate the thermal sensor 10 and electrical wires connecting the sensor to the microcontroller, the echo sounder 11 and the profiler 12, the outputs of which connected to the microcontroller 13.

Navigation device 7 (figure 1) is rigidly fixed in the upper part of the navigation buoy by means of a bolted connection.

Presented in figure 2 block diagram of the navigation device includes: located in a sealed housing 14, LED emitter 15 (the matrix of which is displayed outside), GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver 16, microcontroller 13 with integrated Wi-Fi, LTE-modem cellular communication 17, connected to the microcontroller 13 by two-way communication, a photo sensor 18, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor 19, which includes a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer and magnetometer, a water temperature sensor 20, and an LED emitter driver 22, to the input of which the microcontroller 13 is connected, and to the output - the LED emitter 15, the echo sounder 11 (Fig.1) is located in the underwater part of the navigation buoy, its output is connected to the microcontroller 13, the profiler 12 (Fig.1) is rigidly fixed to the bottom anchor 5, its output is connected to the microcontroller 13.

The navigation buoy can be implemented on the following circuit 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 8 can be made in the form of lithium-ion or lithium-cobalt battery cassettes. factor 18650 or similar products.

Sealed housing 14 is a cast aluminum housing with IP67 protection, LED emitter 15 is an assembly of LEDs of various power and light spectrum. As a GNSS (GPS / GLONASS) receiver 16, a multi-system 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 13 with an integrated Wi-Fi wireless communication - ESP32 microcontroller from Espressif Systems, as an LTE cellular modem 17 - MIKROTIK WAP LTE KIT from MikroTik, as a photo sensor 18 - BH1750 digital sensor from Bosch Sensortec, measuring background lighting in lux, as an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor 20 - MPU-9250 device manufactured by InvenSense, as a thermal sensor 20 - sealed digital sensor Dallas DS18B20 manufactured by Maxim Integrated, as an LED emitter driver 21 - device manufactured by the Russian company Trion, as an echo sounder 11 - device manufactured by the Russian company NPK Chaika, for example, the Kristall-40V echo sounder, as an acoustic Doppler current profiler 12 - Nortek 2D Horizontal Profiler - 400 kHz, 5 - bottom anchor in the form of a concrete block or metal frame, 4 - chain, 21 - water surface, 6 - bottom.

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 up the GNSS (GPS/GLONASS) receiver 16 (figure 2) to receive signals from global navigation satellite systems and transmit them to the microcontroller 13 to determine the location of the buoy, using an LTE modem cellular communications 17 receive RTK corrections, for example, via the RTCM protocol from the network of reference stations SmartNet Russia, which are received by the microcontroller 13, where they are processed and transmitted via the NMEA protocol to the receiver 16. The microcontroller 13 also receives data from the photosensor 18, integrated 9 an axial 3D position sensor 19, a water temperature sensor 20, where they are processed according to a certain algorithm and transmitted via an LTE cellular modem 17 to a coastal control center or an operator workstation to monitor the position of the navigation buoy and external parameters. The microcontroller 13 receives data from the echo sounder 11 about the depth under the buoy using the NMEA protocol, knowing the exact location of the echo sounder antenna 11 in the underwater part of the buoy, the microcontroller 13 automatically calculates the water level in the area of the navigation buoy, data on the water level are transmitted via the LTE cellular modem 17 to the coastal control center or operator's workstation for monitoring the water level in the water area. The microcontroller 13 receives data from the acoustic Doppler profiler 12 about the direction and speed of the water flow in the area of the navigation buoy installation via the RS-232 protocol.

Depending on the time of day, illumination and water disturbance parameters, the microcontroller 13 generates control signals to the driver of the LED emitter 22, which in turn controls the mode of operation of the LED emitter 15. 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 have the ability to connect via a broadband Wi-Fi network directly to the microcontroller 13 to obtain the necessary data from the measuring sensors, the echo sounder and the current profiler.

Compared with the prototype, the proposed navigation buoy has a new possibility of operational continuous transmission of measurement data and control of the direction and speed of the water flow in the area of installation of the navigation buoy via an LTE cellular modem to the coastal information center or directly to ships located in the Wi-Fi wireless coverage area. Fi buoy, which allows you to provide approaching ships with 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, incl. 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 an emitter and a driver for turning it on/off, a GPS/GLONASS GNSS receiver, an LTE cellular modem, a photo sensor, an integrated 9-axis 3D position sensor, a water temperature sensor and a microcontroller with an integrated Wi-Fi connection, the inputs/outputs of which are connected to electronic interfaces of all these devices, characterized in that an acoustic Doppler current profiler is installed on the bottom anchor, the output of which is connected to the input of the microcontroller.

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