RU2463203C2 - Towed underwater vehicle equipped with hydroacoustic equipment for sludged objects and pipelines - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to underwater works for seafloor sounding in order to perform bottom shaping, pipeline laying-out with binding to geographical coordinates, revelling sludged objects. Towed underwater vehicle is equipped with hydroacoustic equipment and made as hollow cylindrical housing with removable head and tail fin, provided with penetrating device and equipped with parametrical profile recorder and control and computation module, and is connected with towing vessel by strength-power communications cable. Stabilising fin consists of two planes forming X-shaped structure. Penetrating device is made as horizontal wing and two vertical wings mounted on half-axles located in transversal plane relative to cylindrical housing. On the horizontal wing, towing assembly with sealed connector for strength-power communications cable attachment is installed. Here, hydrodynamic penetrator is installed. In the lower part of cylindrical housing in niche, crate with parametrical profile recorder elements attached to it is mounted. Hydroacoustic equipment includes parametrical profile recorder, consisting of emitting parametrical pumping antenna and receiving antenna, facilities for processing and recording hydroacoustic signals.

EFFECT: increased reliability of underwater objects detection due to higher accuracy of towed underwater vehicle orientation.

2 cl, 8 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of underwater operations using towed underwater vehicles (BPA), mainly equipped with hydroacoustic measuring equipment, and is intended for inspection of offshore pipelines and can be used for. search and discovery of other underwater objects.

A device is known which is a towed underwater vehicle (V.A. Voronin, S.P. Tarasov, V.I. Timoshchenko. Hydroacoustic parametric systems. Rostov-on-Don. LLC Rostizdat. 2004, p.257. [1]) made in the form of a hollow cylindrical body with a removable head and tail parts and equipped with bow and stern cameras, side-scan sonar with a range of 100 m and a parametric profiler with a color indicator and a computer-control module. The dimensions of the BPA are: length 1300 mm, diameter 210 mm. The input signal wires of the cable-cable are made in the head part, the cable entries for receiving and emitting antennas are made next to the antennas, they are all sealed and designed to be immersed to a depth of 100 m. Installation sites for four pump converters are made on the sides of the towed body, on special Four receiving antennas are attached to the bandages. The placement of the four antennas allows sounding in the horizontal and vertical planes, and also makes it possible to obtain a panoramic image of the bottom topography using an antenna tilted at an angle of 20 degrees.

The reduction of yaw and trim is solved using the tail stabilizer, made in the form of a broadband rim connected to the tail of the cylindrical body with plate spokes.

Roll stabilization (rotational movement around the longitudinal axis) is achieved by shifting the center of gravity of the towed body.

The necessary deepening of the towed body with minimal cable cable etching is carried out by using a deepening grid, which allows the entire towed system to be diverted away from the carrier vessel.

Due to the fact that emitters with narrow directivity characteristics are used on the BPA, the neutralization of the roll and yaw of the BPA is a determining factor when fulfilling the established requirements, when solving tasks such as detecting and monitoring silt pipelines, measuring the thickness of silt above it, determining the structure of bottom layers , assessment of the characteristics of the sea bottom soil, as well as during various search operations at underwater marine structures, including surveying the bottom topography.

BPA, as a rule, are used for oceanographic studies in areas with particularly difficult physical and geographical conditions (marginal regions of the Arctic, in the frontal zones and around icebergs). The indicated regions are distinguished by the fact that temperature-salinity inhomogeneities and vortices of various scales are formed in them, which have a significant effect on the velocity distribution at the site of the study.

In this case, measurements should be carried out continuously and at the same time, when heterogeneities are detected, the distance between the sections should not exceed half the minimum diameter of the heterogeneities, and the measurement frequency on the sections should not be less than 1 / 8-1 / 10 of the diameter of the heterogeneity (see, for example: A .T.Shchvetsov. The use of autonomous self-propelled and towed measuring systems for the study of heterogeneity of oceanographic fields // Notes on hydrography. L., GUNiO MO RF, No. 253, 2001, p. 48).

BPA - as a technical tool for carrying out hydrological work - is a dynamic system that has six degrees of freedom: three degrees of freedom in linear displacements characterizing the BPA trajectory along the course, speed and depth of immersion, three degrees of freedom in terms of angular displacements of the BPA along the trim, yaw and roll.

In the existing methods of carrying out hydrological works (surveying the bottom topography, searching for sunken objects, monitoring pipelines, etc.), the accuracy of determining the parameters using hydroacoustic means installed on the BPA is mainly estimated by the accuracy of determining the location of the carrier vessel and BPA.

However, in a detailed survey, the accuracy of the attachment of the studied underwater elements to the coordinates is largely determined by the position at the bottom of the spot illuminated by hydroacoustic means, the position of this spot, in turn, depends on the orientation and immersion depth of the BPA (see, for example: V.N. Zavgorodny, On the Effect of Orientation Errors and the Depth of Immersion of a Towed Underwater Vehicle on the Accuracy of Shooting of the Bottom Relief // Notes on Hydrography. L., GUNiOMORF, No. 253, 2001, p. 33).

The quality of sonar sounding of underwater objects primarily depends on the accuracy of stabilization of the position of the apparatus in depth, yaw, trim and roll.

The requirements for the accuracy of stabilization of the apparatus during its towing, as a rule, are determined by the width of the directivity characteristics of the hydroacoustic means in horizontal and vertical planes.

At the same time, the immersion depth is regulated by the long cable cable, and stabilization of the orientation by trim and yaw is determined by the contours of the PSU case, the place of cable cable mounting to the device body, the fixed position of the rudders. In addition, the BPA depth trajectory and yaw and trim orientation depend on towing speed, underwater currents and the impact of sea waves on the towing vessel.

As shown, the analysis of the errors in surveying the bottom using hydroacoustic tools installed on the BPA, the largest contribution to the radial error is made by the errors in surveying the terrain due to yaw, roll and trim of the BPA. An important factor is the performance of surveying the bottom topography. The performance of surveying the bottom topography depends on the speed of the towed PSU and the width of the surveyed strip of the bottom topography. With an increase in the strip of shooting of the bottom topography, the accuracy of shooting deteriorates, which requires an increase in the multiplicity of sounding of the bottom topography by sending pulses and, therefore, leads to a decrease in the towing speed. The towing speed of the UAV also has a conflicting effect on the quality of the survey. With increasing speed, the accuracy improves due to better stabilization of the orientation and depth of the BPA, and the frequency of sounding the bottom topography with a hydroacoustic means to increase accuracy decreases, i.e. there is the task of optimizing the choice of towing speed and bandwidth examined by sonar.

In the known stabilization devices (USSR Author's Certificate No. 1308040 [2]; USSR Author's Certificate No. 1360405 [3]), stability of movement and orientation, as applied to surface vessels, is achieved by using rudder tracking systems as feedback controllers to maintain a given position by ship. However, the known stabilization systems [2, 3] have a complex structure and significant weight and size characteristics, which practically excludes their use on BPA with small weight and size characteristics.

It is also known that all towed vehicles are subject to yaw (see, for example: Anosov A.V., Didyk A.D. Ship control and its technical operation. M .: Transport, 1976, 504 p .; Znamersky B.P. Theoretical fundamentals of control of a ship. L .: LVIMU, 1974, p. 124), and it is almost impossible to completely exclude the effects of yaw when towing using well-known structures of towed underwater vehicles, which does not allow towing at a speed of more than 3 knots due to for the presence in their design of a deepening grid.

In addition, technical problems arise when searching for objects and pipelines lying under a layer of bottom sludge. Hydroacoustic search in such conditions is accompanied by a large number of false alarms. With a small thickness of sludge above a silted pipeline, it is necessary to use only highly directional systems to obtain high resolution. At the same time, the system must be low-frequency for good penetration of the signal into the thickness of bottom sediments. The problem of monitoring pipelines arises, as a rule, in shallow water, which requires a limited antenna size. In known designs, taking into account the relatively small size of silted objects and pipes, a narrow parametric beam scan is used, which complicates the control system of an underwater towed vehicle.

The objective of the proposed technical solution is to increase the reliability of detection of underwater objects and pipelines during sonar search by increasing the orientation accuracy of the towed underwater vehicle by reducing the effects of yaw, trim and drift of the towed vehicle under the influence of underwater currents.

The problem is solved due to the fact that the towed underwater vehicle equipped with hydroacoustic equipment for detecting silted objects and pipelines, and made in the form of a hollow cylindrical body with a removable head and a tail stabilizer, equipped with a deepening device and equipped with a parametric profilograph, a computing and control module, and connected with a towing vessel with a cable, in which the stabilizer consists of two planes forming an X-shaped structure, deepening e device is made in the form of a horizontal wing and two vertical wings, while the vertical wings are mounted on the axles located in the transverse plane relative to the cylindrical body, and are equipped with a rotary mechanism, the vertical wings are symmetrically relative to each other, on the upper plane of the cylindrical body, on the horizontal wing a towing unit is installed, with a sealed connector for attaching a cable-cable and cable entry into a towed underwater vehicle, the cable-cable is equipped with a guide a hydrodynamic deepener made in the form of a hydrodynamic deepener equipped with a system with radially directed spring-loaded mechanical sensors having wheel ends at the bow, the cylindrical body is articulated with a tubular bracket-shaped frame, the ends of which are articulated with the corresponding X-shaped planes of the stabilizer, and the cylindrical body at the bottom equipped with a niche in which a crate with elements of a parametric profilograph mounted on it is installed, the niche is equipped with a fairing, made spheroplastic, the towed underwater vehicle is additionally equipped with an orientation and navigation system consisting of a strapdown inertial system, information connected to the onboard control equipment of the towing vessel and the computing and control module of the towed underwater vehicle, and in a parametric profilograph including a radiating parametric pump antenna and receiving antenna, means for processing and recording hydroacoustic signals, a radiating parametric antenna for pumping and receiving I antenna is made in the form of separate devices, while a radiating parametric antenna containing a phased array and amplification channels is made with 12 amplification channels, a phased array is made with a displacement of the lines of radiating elements relative to each other by a fixed amount, while the technological gap between the radiation elements is filled polyurethane foam, the receiving antenna is made in the form of eight rulers with a fixed gap, each of the rulers is composed of twenty hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements, trace one after another with a fixed gap.

The combination of new distinctive features, namely, that the stabilizer consists of two planes forming an X-shaped structure, the burrowing device is made in the form of a horizontal wing and two vertical wings, while the vertical wings are mounted on half shafts located in the transverse plane relative to the cylindrical body, and equipped with a rotary mechanism, the vertical wings are located symmetrically relative to each other, on the upper plane of the cylindrical body, on the horizontal edge A towing unit has been installed, with a sealed connector for attaching the cable cable and entering the cable into the towed underwater vehicle, the cable cable is equipped with a hydrodynamic deepener made in the form of a hydrodynamic deepener equipped with a system with radially directed spring-loaded mechanical sensors having wheel ends in the bow parts of the cylindrical body articulated with a tubular bracket-shaped frame, the ends of which are articulated with the corresponding X-shaped planes of the stabilizer, in the lower part of the cylinder The housing is equipped with a niche in which a rack is mounted with parametric profiler elements mounted on it, the niche is equipped with a sphere made of spherical plastic, the towed underwater vehicle is additionally equipped with an orientation and navigation system consisting of a strap-down inertial system connected to the onboard control equipment of the towing vessel and the computing and control module of the towed underwater vehicle, and in a parametric profilograph, including a radiating parametric a pump antenna and a receiving antenna, means for processing and recording hydroacoustic signals, a radiating parametric pump antenna and a receiving antenna are made in the form of separate devices, while a radiating parametric antenna containing a phased array and amplification channels is made with 12 amplification channels, a phased array is made with a shift of the lines of radiating elements relative to each other by a fixed amount, while the technological gap between the radiation elements is filled with polyurethane foam Mr., the receiving antenna is made in the form of eight rulers with a fixed gap, each of the rulers is composed of twenty hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements following each other with a fixed gap, the prior art is not identified, which allows us to conclude that the claimed technical solution meets the patentability condition " inventive step ".

The essence of the proposed technical solution is illustrated by drawings.

Figure 1. Scheme of towing an underwater vehicle. The diagram shows: a towing vessel 1 equipped with arming and towing devices for an underwater vehicle, a towed underwater vehicle 2, a deepening device 3, cable cable 4, sea surface 5, sea bottom 6, pipeline 7.

Figure 2. The design of the towed underwater vehicle. The towed underwater vehicle 2 includes a sturdy case 8, a tubular staple frame 9, a stabilizer 10, a horizontal wing 11, vertical wings 12, a towing assembly 13, a fairing 14, a niche 15, a half shaft 16, an electric drive 17. The front and rear end parts of the sturdy case 8 are provided fairing 18.

Figure 3. The position of the towing line from the towing vessel to a working depth of 350 m at various towing speeds, where Hm is the working depth, Y is the length of the towing cable, V is the towing speed (V ₁ = 3 knots; V ₂ = 4 knots; V ₃ = 4 , 5 knots; V ₄ = 5 knots; V ₅ = 6 knots; V ₆ = 7 knots; V ₇ = 8.2 knots).

Figure 4. The construction of the rack. The rack includes a front wall 19, a channel 20, a corner 21 for attaching a front wall 19 to a channel 20, a corner 22 for attaching a dividing rib, a guide 23, a rear wall 24, a dividing rib 25.

Figure 5. The surface of a radiating parametric antenna. The surface of the radiating parametric antenna is formed by piezoelectric elements 26 parallelized into cells 27. Technological gaps 28 are filled with polyurethane foam.

6. The surface of the receiving antenna. The surface of the receiving antenna is formed by hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements 29 with the formation of eight lines 30. The gaps 31 between the hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements in each line 30 are 3 mm. The gaps 32 between the rulers 30 are 4 mm.

The towing vessel 1 contains regular shipborne means for setting up a towed underwater vehicle equipped with hydroacoustic means for sensing underwater conditions. Production facilities include winches, cranes, etc.

Inside the robust housing 8, parametric profiler instruments, an orientation and navigation system, and a computer-control module are installed.

The control of the towed underwater vehicle 2 is carried out by on-board equipment installed in the control panel on board the towing vessel 1.

The tubular staple frame 9 ensures a stable position of the towed underwater vehicle on the deck and protects the profiler antennas located under the sturdy hull 8 in the recess 15 from accidental impacts on the ground and the deck. The tubular staple frame 9 is connected to the sturdy hull 5 in the bow of the towed underwater vehicle with two inclined flat sheets and in the stern with two stabilizer elements. The tubular staple frame 9 is made of aluminum alloy AMG-6.

Rugged housing 8 provides protection of the equipment located inside it from the effects of sea water. The design uses a solid cylindrical body made of aluminum alloy AMG-6, having an internal diameter of 200 mm and a wall thickness of 8 mm. The length of the cylindrical part of the housing (1800 mm) provides the necessary volume for the placement of electronic equipment. Niche 15, located in a sturdy housing 8, is closed by a fairing 14 made of spherical plastic EDS-400TE. If necessary, a side-scan sonar antenna or a multi-beam echo sounder can be installed on the front fairing 18.

The stabilizer 10 provides hydrodynamic stability of the towed vehicle in the direction of movement. The stabilizer 10 has four planes forming an X-shaped structure. The planes have a wing profile and are made of aluminum alloy AMG-6.

Vertical wings 12 are used to control the position of the towed vehicle in the horizontal plane. The vertical wings 12 are attached to the horizontal deepening wing 11, have a symmetrical streamlined profile. The location of the vertical wings 12 is selected so that the resultant of the lateral forces when they turn passes through the towing unit 13. Under this condition, the device moves with a lag without changing the angle of course.

Vertical wings 12 are driven by an automated electric trim trim EPT-324 (twin-engine translational movement mechanism made by a single node). The electric drive allows you to control the actuator through two independent electrical channels. The actuator 17 is mounted on a horizontal deepening wing 11 in an unloaded housing filled with oil.

The horizontal wing 11 is used to move the towed vehicle to the working depth. Has a symmetrical profile. The wing area is ~ 0.5 m ² , which makes it possible to obtain a burrowing force of ~ 500 kg at a speed of 8.2 knots.

On the upper surface of the cylindrical body, on the horizontal wing 11, a towing unit 13 is located, including a power comb, which allows changing the point of application of the towing force.

At the end sections of the horizontal wing 11 installed vertical wings 12, made in the form of an aileron, and represent the rudders of the active stabilization of the towed underwater vehicle 2 on the roll.

The towing cable-cable 4 is made taking into account the high towing speeds (up to 8.2 knots). At the same time, the most important characteristics of the cable cable 4 are its mechanical parameters, such as diameter, tensile strength and linear meter weight. The cable tension at the root end with a towing speed of 8.2 knots (4.1 m / s) will be more than 40 kN. Therefore, the load-carrying part of the cable cable 4 has an outer armor made of galvanized steel wires with a breaking strength of at least 70 kN.

Since a large amount of information is transmitted via cable cable 4 from a parametric profilograph and navigation devices to a towing vessel and transmitting control commands to a towed vehicle, the cable cable 4 has two optical communication channels. To fill the core and expand the functional use of the cable cable 4, six signal conductors are introduced into its design.

In a specific design, a cable cable of the type KG (6 × 0.2 + 2 × 100 V) -70-90 is used, which meets the above requirements.

The deepening device 3 is a hydrodynamic deepener that moves the towed vehicle 2 vertically to the working depths at the specified towing speeds and cable lengths 4. The hydrodynamic deepener 3 is a structure that uses profiles of plates bent along an arc of a circle and installed between sidewalls. The hydrodynamic deepener 3 is installed on the cable rope 4 at a distance of 60 to 80 meters from the towed underwater vehicle, made in the form of a hydrodynamic deepener, equipped with a system with radially directed spring loaded mechanical sensors having at the ends of the wheels to move the deepener along the cable rope 4, which allows, if necessary, to change the immersion horizon of the towed underwater vehicle.

The control panel for the towed underwater vehicle 2 is installed on the deck of the towing vessel 1. In the control panel there is a power unit that provides electric power conversion and power to the mechanisms and equipment of the towed vehicle 2, an electronics unit, a personal computer and controls.

The power unit of the control rack is an inverter that converts a single-phase ship voltage of 220 V, 50 Hz to a constant voltage of 600 V for transmission via cable cable 4 to a towed underwater vehicle 2. The power unit provides a set of necessary voltages for powering the controls of the ship deck unit . The power unit is equipped with indicators for turning on the ship voltage and the supply voltage of the equipment of the towed underwater vehicle 2.

The electronics unit has a module for a system for transmitting, receiving and processing information (telemetry system), which provides information exchange with a towed underwater vehicle 2 via fiber optic cable and its processing.

An indicator of the length of the cable cable 4 from the stern of the towing vessel 1 to the towed underwater vehicle 2 is installed on the panel of the electronics unit. The signal to the panel comes from the length counter installed on the towing unit of the ship launching and lifting device.

In the ship deck unit there is a personal computer system unit, a monitor and a keyboard on the console.

On the remote console of the ship deck unit, two control handles (manipulators) are installed. One manipulator is designed to control the lag movement of the towed underwater vehicle 2, the second - for remote control of the winch.

On the standard rack of the ship's deck block, the installation of folding panels is provided, designed to mount duplicate personal computers and output auxiliary information.

The orientation and navigation system includes primary information sensors made using microsystem technology, as well as hardware for collecting, preprocessing information and implementing algorithmic software for solving orientation and navigation problems.

Primary information sensors include micromechanical gyroscopes, micromechanical accelerometers, and a vector micromagnetometer.

The hardware includes a multi-channel analog-to-digital converter and a digital signal processor.

The basis of the orientation and navigation system is the strapdown micromechanical vertical course. The vertical line and the calculator form a micromechanical inertial measuring unit (MIIB). The unit is designed to measure the angles of the course, roll and trim of the towed underwater vehicle 2, the components of the angular velocity vectors, linear acceleration, magnetic field components. The micromechanical sensors of angular velocity and linear acceleration are used as sensitive elements. To measure the magnetic field component, a magnetoresistive magnetometer is used. The magnetometer is used as a MIIB corrector to compensate for angular orientation errors arising from the drift of micromechanical gyroscopes. The analog data coming from the primary information sensors is processed by a high-resolution analog-to-digital converter. To implement computational algorithms, the unit includes a high-performance digital signal processor.

As the basic sensitive elements in the proposed device, the MIIB is used, which contains three angular velocity sensors and three accelerometers, an integrated temperature sensor and its own controller that provides preliminary processing of the signals of gyroscopes and accelerometers and digitally outputs it to consumers. The built-in temperature sensor is designed to correct temperature drifts of angular velocity sensors and accelerometers. Magnetoresistive sensors are used as a magnetic field induction meter. The Sharc ADSP21262LQFP digital signal processor is used as a computer.

The control system hardware, which is part of the system, provides independent control of the roll channel and course channel drives, measures the course, roll and trim angles of the towed underwater vehicle, measures the components of the angular velocity, linear acceleration, and magnetic field vectors, generates control signals for solving target problems control and stabilization.

The main element of the computing and control module is a microprocessor based on a DSP processor running under the uCLinux embedded operating system.

The independent drive of each control channel is based on the Faulhaber drive system. High-precision digital drive control system provides high speed, allows you to adjust the drive parameters in a wide range, provides accurate positioning by the angle of rotation of the axis of the wheel drive.

The micromechanical inertial measuring unit (MIIB) determines the angles of heading, roll and trim, provides a control system for inertial and navigation information.

The computing and control module based on the DSP processor is a device that provides software and hardware integration of the individual units that make up the system hardware. The processor allows you to perform operations on 32-bit numbers in a floating point format, which ensures the accuracy of calculations sufficient to solve most control and navigation tasks. The processor clock speed is 400 MHz. In addition to the processor, the computational control module board also includes SDRAM memory chips, flash memory chips, and input-output interface chips. Such a system construction allows real-time complex computational tasks to be solved; a large amount of system RAM allows for the implementation of resource-intensive algorithms.

Various components of the control and navigation system are connected to the computer-control module using serial synchronous and asynchronous I / O ports. The control channel drive controllers are connected to the module using asynchronous I / O ports UART0 and UART1. Using these interfaces, the controllers transmit commands specifying the modes of motion of the shafts, and the controllers, in turn, provide the module with information about the angular position of the shafts, currents in the motors, and rotation speed.

The micromechanical course vertical as part of the MIIB is connected to the computing module using the SPORT synchronous serial port. Data output, as well as operator control, is carried out using a unit that implements a bi-directional data transmission channel connected to a computer-control module using the asynchronous UART2 interface. All exchange operations between the module and peripheral devices are carried out using DMA (direct memory access) mechanisms, which allows, despite the intensity of data exchange operations, to relieve the core of the digital signal processor.

The control and stabilization system of the towed underwater vehicle according to the roll and course is designed to set the orientation in space of the parametric profilograph installed on it. To control the orientation around one axis, a drive system is used, consisting of a DC motor with a gearbox and a magnetic encoder and a control system. The Faulhaber type DC motor has a hollow-rotor design, which offers a number of advantages, such as: low power consumption, no loss in the rotor core, low starting voltage, low rotor inertia, allowing fast acceleration and braking, and low overall dimensions. As part of the drive, a Faulhaber type gearbox is used, with steel gears to provide increased wear resistance. IE-512 magnetic encoder provides high resolution of 512 lines per revolution, which allows smooth and high-precision drive control.

In the digital controller MCDC3003, a digital signal processor is used as a calculator, which allows for high-precision and high-speed control (0.18 ° - angle error, tracking loop frequency - 100 Hz). The digital drive controller accepts commands received from the computer-control module via the UART interface. The drive operating modes are set by the corresponding command formats, while the control modes by the angular position (the target angular position is set and maintained upon reaching the target angular position) and the speed control (the value of the angular velocity of rotation of the shaft) are used. To configure the parameters of the controller’s servo loop, the user is offered a number of parameters, such as: maximum angular acceleration, maximum angular velocity, maximum current in the motor, proportional and integral coefficients of the feedback loop for angular velocity, proportional and differential coefficients for the feedback loop for the angular position of the shaft. All of the above coefficients can be selected on the basis of a given criterion of optimality, and changed during operation to adapt to the changed mode of movement.

To solve the navigation problems of the towed underwater vehicle 2, the following hardware options are used.

1. The determination of the coordinates relative to the towing vessel 1 on the basis of information about the length of the cable and the angle measured on the towing vessel 1 or on a towed underwater vehicle using the vertical line.

2. The determination of the coordinates relative to the towing vessel 1 based on information about the length of the cable and the angular azimuthal speed, measured using the angular velocity sensor in the vertical line.

3. Determination of coordinates relative to the towing vessel based on information from the speed sensor of the towed underwater vehicle 2 and the azimuthal angle of orientation of the towed underwater vehicle 2 from the vertical line.

4. Determination of coordinates using an inertial system.

The receiving-emitting antenna is closed by a fairing 15 made of spherical plastic EDS-400TE. The main task of the antenna fairing 15 of the parametric profilograph is to close the gap between the strong body 8 of the towed underwater vehicle 2 and the antenna of the profilograph and to ensure a smooth transition from the antenna plane to the shell of the housing.

For work with a towed underwater vehicle, vessels are used that have the ability to smoothly control the course in the range from 2 to 10 knots. The towing vessel has thrusters, since the towing line significantly impairs the maneuverability of the vessel.

The towing vessel is equipped with a launching device (SPU), which is a U-shaped frame mounted at the stern or a crane. A traction winch is installed in the ship’s diametrical plane with forces corresponding to the nature of towing and with a corresponding drum capacity. The winch is equipped with a cable layer, a sliding current collector, a counter for the length of the etched cable rope 4.

SPU is equipped with a rosin block with side limiting rollers. The side rollers prevent the cable-cable 4 from escaping from the brook of the rosin block when turning the towing vessel 1 to a new tack or strong side-rolling.

During towing operations, the underwater towed underwater vehicle is located on the deck under the SPU frame, which is in the stowed (heaped on deck) position. The cable-cable is fixed on a towed underwater vehicle and is wound into a rosin block. The traction winch selects the slack and raises the towed underwater vehicle above the deck. Next is the removal of the P-frame SPU for the stern.

The towing vessel 1 gives the “smallest” forward and the winch operator begins to etch the cable until the towed underwater vehicle 2 reaches a predetermined depth.

When there is significant excitement during the descent and ascent, the towed underwater vehicle is taken on braces, preventing it from swinging from side to side.

When operating at high speeds, to achieve the required depths, a hydrodynamic deepener 3 is used, which is installed on the cable cable 4 60-70 meters from the towed underwater vehicle 2.

The installation of the hydrodynamic deepener 3 is as follows:

- lowering the towed underwater vehicle by 50-70 meters, the ship’s winch stops, the cable rope 4 is fixed with a wedge clamp, after which the winch gives the slack of the deck part of the cable cable 4,

- hydrodynamic deepener 3 is installed on the deck, the free part of the cable cable 4 is inserted into the lodgement of the hydrodynamic deepener 3 and fixed on it by superimposed grips,

- SPU raises the hydrodynamic depth-sinker 3, the winch selects the slack so that the wedge clamp can be released,

- SPU takes the hydrodynamic deepener 3 behind the stern, while the winch releases the cable cable 4, allowing the U-shaped frame to take out the hydrodynamic deepener 3. As soon as the hydrodynamic deepener 3 is overboard, the winch operator stuffs the cable, removing the load from the crane. After that, the verb-hook releases the hoisting cable, on which the hydrodynamic deepener 3 is lowered. The SPU becomes in its original position, and the winch operator starts lowering the entire system to the working depth.

The rise of the hydrodynamic, deepener 3 and towed underwater vehicle 2 occurs in the reverse order.

If the vessel does not have a stern U-shaped frame, then towing can be carried out from the side, hanging the rosin block for a “shot”. In this case, the towed underwater vehicle 2 is carried overboard and lowered into the water by an on-board crane on the trigger cable with a verb-hook. After the towed underwater vehicle 2 is lowered into the water, the cable-cable 4 is inserted into the towing rosin-block; by means of a winch, it selects the slack, relieving the load from the trigger cable. The verb-hook is revealed, releasing the towed underwater vehicle 2 from the trigger cable. In all cases, the ship must have a cable winch with a current collector, while all rigging must have bending radii of at least 20 cable cable diameters 4.

When testing the claimed technical solution (towed underwater vehicle), various positions of the “clean” cable cable 4 were obtained, which it occupies in the water stream when the towing vessel 1 moves at speeds from 0.5 to 4.1 m / s. With the standard construction length of cable cable 4 equal to 1000 m, the towed underwater vehicle 2 reaches a predetermined working depth of 350 m only up to a speed of 3 knots (1.5 m / s).

To expand the range of towing speeds, a hydrodynamic deepener 3 is introduced, and the towed underwater vehicle is equipped with a horizontal deepening wing 11.

The implementation of a robust housing with spherical covers is optimal in its hydrodynamic properties, convenient from the point of view of installation and maintenance of equipment, economical in terms of material costs and manufacturing technology. The stabilizer, horizontal wing, vertical wings and a hydrodynamic deepener provide stability and controllability of the towed underwater vehicle. The following technical characteristics are achieved:

- range of working depths from 0 to 350 m;

- towing speed during profiling from 0.5 to 4.1 m / s (from 1 to 8.2 knots);

- a towed underwater vehicle during movement provides stabilization along the roll and trim; maximum deviation angles along the roll and trim do not exceed 5 ° ± 3 °;

- the towing cable cable can withstand a maximum force of 42 kN with a breaking force of 70-90 kN;

- a towed underwater vehicle is capable of transverse movements when the towing vessel moves in a direct course;

- the mass of the payload of the towed device is not less than 30 kg;

- the mass of the towed device without profilograph equipment is not more than 60 kg;

- power supply from the ship network with a single-phase alternating current voltage of 220 V ± 10% and a frequency of 50 Hz ± 10%;

- the equipment of the towed device provides the possibility of continuous operation for 72 hours.

The test results of the proposed towed underwater vehicle 2 showed (figure 3) that the required length of the cable cable 4 to achieve a working depth of 350 m ranges from 500 to 2200 m with a change in speed from 3 to 8.2 knots.

With a fixed cable length of 1000 m, the towed underwater vehicle can reach a working depth of 350 m at speeds of about 5 knots (2.5 m / s). At high speeds, the PBU will begin to "pop up." So at a towing speed of 8.2 knots (4.1 m / s), the towed underwater vehicle can sink to a depth of about 200 m.

The proposed towed underwater vehicle is intended for installation of a multi-beam parametric profilograph operating on the principles of non-linear parametric acoustics for the inspection of pipelines and other silted objects of natural and technogenic origin. The received information in real time is processed and transmitted on board the towing vessel 2.

A multi-beam parametric profilograph is mounted on a crate, which is inserted into a niche and closed with a fairing.

The crate (figure 4) is a frame structure made of aluminum alloy. The advantages of aluminum alloy compared to steel are:

- in a lower specific gravity of aluminum (almost 4 times), which allows to reduce the weight of the structure;

- corrosion resistance;

- ease of processing, which reduces tool wear and, accordingly, reduces the cost of manufacturing the product.

Bearing structural elements are two channels 50 × 20 × 4 mm (according to GOST 13623-90) with parallel shelves. At one of the ends of the channels, mounting holes are provided for connecting the rack to the apparatus.

Concentric-shaped plates with a diameter of 198 mm are located at the ends of the crate (taking into account that the internal diameter of the PBU is 200 mm), which serve as the walls of the crate. The shape of the walls of the crate is dictated by the shape of the casing of the apparatus, having a round shape with an inner diameter of 200 mm. The walls give the structure transverse rigidity. Also, a dividing rib with a harness and a common busbar mounting system is attached to the walls through transition angles. The holes in the walls are designed for input-output signal and power harnesses and cables, as well as input optical cable.

The dividing rib is located in the lower part of the crate and electrically and structurally separates the signal harnesses from the power ones. This design is chosen in order to reduce the influence of interference from power harnesses on signal and on the operation of amplifiers and signal module.

On the rear end wall there is a roller designed to compensate for the frictional force between the body of the underwater towed vehicle and the crate at the time of installation.

The length of the rack is 1200 mm, which is due to the size of the blocks and modules included in the hardware of the profiler.

For ease of installation of equipment, the rack is structurally divided into sections. Also, "dividers" serve as guides. The modular construction of the rack allows easy installation and dismantling of blocks and modules, as well as connecting power and signal cables and harnesses.

Analogues of a parametric profilograph are given in the book: Voronin V.A., Tarasov V.I., Timoshenko V.I. Hydroacoustic parametric systems. LLC “Rostizdat” Rostov-on-Don, 2004, p.224-252.

Hydroacoustic profilographs have long ceased to be a means of only scientific research, and nowadays, combining the functions of a conventional echo sounder and a device that visualizes bottom and bottom structures, they are a powerful tool for conducting search, control, design and survey, survey, and surveying works in marine water areas ports, in river beds, in the shelf zone. Profilographs can be used both independently and as part of hydrographic complexes. Often sonar profilographs become the only means of visualizing the structure of bottom sediments, searching and contouring silted objects, including oil and gas pipelines, and other potentially dangerous objects.

Recently, the relevance of creating bottom profiling techniques has been increasing in connection with the further development of shelf areas of the oceans. The development of hydrocarbon deposits, the laying of gas and oil pipelines (Nord Stream, Blue Stream, South Stream, etc.) will require additional involvement of technical means for bottom profiling. First of all, these are sonar profilographs that make it possible to obtain a bottom surface profile with high spatial resolution, to detect and outline bottom and silted objects, including small ones. The task of remote classification of soil type is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in the production of exploration and hydraulic works.

Environmental degradation associated with the further development of technologies and production, production, transportation and burning of hydrocarbons, including on the shelf areas of the oceans, requires the creation of monitoring technology for submarine pipelines and other offshore engineering structures.

In such conditions, it becomes relevant to create multifunctional profilographs for the precision stratification of bottom sediments, classify soil types and search for bottom and silty objects that pose a potential hazard.

The most promising direction in the technique of sensing the seabed is the creation of profilographs working on the principles of nonlinear acoustics, called parametric profilographs. These devices combine all the unique properties of parametric antennas - the absence of side lobes of directivity, the small size of the antenna, the ability to tune frequencies, etc. The listed properties not only detect acoustic inhomogeneities, but also determine their coordinates and classify them by geometrical features. This makes parametric profilographs an indispensable tool when examining pipelines and other silted objects of natural and technogenic origin.

To ensure the inspection of pipelines, it is necessary to provide a total field of view of the profilograph in the traverse plane of 30 ° with a resolution of no more than 3 ° in the angle, taking into account the limited weight and size characteristics of the underwater towed vehicle that meets the requirements of hydrodynamics when towing at speeds up to 8 knots.

In accordance with this, the topology of the emitting antenna for pumping a parametric profilograph was adopted, which allows one to form in space a fan of 5 directivity characteristics (axis directions -12 °, -6 °, 0 °, + 6 °, + 12 °) developed in the traverse plane of the towed apparatus so that the total viewing sector is 30 °. The width of a single directivity characteristic (CH) in the traverse plane is 6 °, in the diametrical plane - 3 °. When choosing a method for solving this problem, it is necessary to take into account a sufficiently high frequency of pump waves - 250 kHz (wavelength 6 mm), as well as high peak and higher average radiation intensities typical for parametric antennas (up to 15-20 W / cm ² ).

The main criteria when choosing an option for solving this problem were minimization of overall dimensions, manufacturability, and also the cost of implementation.

Known technical solutions, including the formation, fans of directional characteristics contain several options for constructing receiving-emitting paths of parametric profilers.

The first option (the so-called “sector-antenna” option) provides for the construction of an antenna system of five identical separate antennas, excited from five separate power amplifiers, or from one switched one. In this case, the radiating surfaces of the antennas in the traverse plane are arranged along an arc of a circle with a central angle of 30 °.

In addition, each of the five antennas forms a field of pump waves with a directivity characteristic having a width of 6 ° × 3 °, respectively, in the traverse and diametrical planes. The advantages of the sector-antenna option are:

- extended functionality, in particular, the possibility of simultaneous radiation by all antennas at the same time, which will allow implementing the profilograph mode with an increased sounding speed (up to five times);

- the identity of all directional characteristics that form the sector of the profiler survey in the traverse plane;

- the minimum number of electronic modules of power amplifiers (from 1 to 5, depending on the switching mode);

- low requirements for ensuring the thermal regime of each antenna;

- the simplicity of the design of a single antenna (compared, for example, with an antenna array).

The disadvantages of this option for solving the technical problem include the increased weight and dimensions of the antenna (which is weakly correlated with the need to equip these antennas with an underwater towed vehicle, which is also capable of transverse movements), increased consumption of piezoactive materials, and, consequently, an increase in its cost per account of this factor.

In the second version, the so-called “classical half-wave antenna array”, the topology of a 20-element antenna (antenna, array) is proposed. The dimensions of the elements along the x and y axes of the antenna are 1x × 1y = 2.5 × 105 mm, the distance between the centers of the elements along the x axis is dx = 3 mm, respectively, the gaps between the elements are 0.5 mm, and the dimensions of the radiating part of the antenna are 60 mm along the x axis and 105 mm along the y axis. The implementation of this version of the antenna requires a large number of (20) power amplifiers, which also leads to the cumbersome design of the profilograph.

Thus, the use of a phased antenna array with a half-wave distance between the centers of the radiating elements will require a large number of power amplification channels, which is directly technically and economically impractical.

One way to solve the problem of reducing the number of groups of antenna elements, and, consequently, the number of amplification channels, is to increase the center-to-center distances between the antenna elements while increasing their size in the direction of the X axis. Such an approach to solving the problem is as obvious as the emerging with its implementation of complexity. It is known from the theory of antenna arrays that with an increase in the center-to-center distances of the array, consisting of non-directional elements in the directivity of the antenna, additional single spurious petals arise. Therefore, an additional analysis of the feasibility of implementing such an approach to solving the problem was carried out taking into account the focus of individual elements.

In the course of an additional analysis, we considered the “one-dimensional 1-wave array of directional elements”, “two parallel one wave lines with non-directional elements, standing side by side and shifted by half the wavelength” of the XI of such an antenna for different compensation angles, equal 0, 6, respectively. 12. In this case, with an increase in the compensation angle, a slight decrease in the pressure level is observed in the direction of the main maximum with a simultaneous significant increase in the level of the parasitic side field, the maximum of which increases with increasing Ohm compensation angle approaches in the direction of the main. At Θ ₀ = ± 12 °, the level of the main maximum decreases to 0.93, while the level of parasitic side lobes increases to 0.33, which is 35% in relative values. This level of the lateral field is unacceptably large.

Thus, in the framework of a one-dimensional model of a phased antenna array, an attempt to reduce the gain channels, even taking into account the directional properties of the antenna elements, does not give acceptable results, since it leads to an unacceptably large level of the side field of the antenna.

In the variant “two parallel single-wavelength arrays with non-directional elements, standing side by side and shifted by half the wavelength” allows to reduce spurious maxima, but it is not possible to completely suppress emissions.

In the variant “several parallel single-wavelength lines of directional elements with a shift of even lines relative to odd lines by half the wavelength”, provided that the phase distribution along the grating is smoothed, the above-mentioned outliers can be largely suppressed. However, doing this at the cost of increasing the number of power amplifiers is unacceptable. Therefore, we considered the structure of the antenna array in the form of several parallel single-wavelength lines of directional elements with a shift of even lines relative to odd ones by half the wavelength, which gives phase smoothing in the far zone of the antenna. The family of directivity characteristics of such an array has fairly good parameters, and such an antenna system design with 12 amplification channels is implemented as a pump emitting antenna.

As a result of computer simulation in order to minimize the level of the lateral field of the antenna in the Mathcabi environment, the following data were obtained. When the width of the main lobe of the directivity of the antenna in the diametrical plane is 3 °, in the traverse - 5 ° the size of the active surface of the antenna will be 60 × 105 mm ² . In this case, the dimensions of one element in the plane of the antenna will be 4.5 × 10 mm ² , the gap between the elements is 0.5 mm. A General view of the layout of the elements of the radiating antenna is shown in Fig.5.

The mathematical modeling of various technical solutions and the subsequent analysis of its results using the criteria for minimizing weight and size indicators, manufacturability, and implementation costs have shown that it is possible to choose a phased antenna array with a fixed offset of the emitting elements relative to each other as a working option for the implementation of the emitting antenna pumping a parametric profilograph of a phased antenna array value. This implementation option allows you to meet the requirements of the search for underwater pipelines, taking into account silty soil and possible subsidence of the pipeline, ensuring the rotation of the axis of the directivity characteristic by angles up to ± 12 °, without significant deterioration of the radiation field parameters, reduce the required number of power amplification channels to 12.

The receiving antenna of the parametric profilograph has a wide radiation pattern with single-channel reception at an active surface size of 300 × 152 mm and a sensitivity of 500 μV / Pa and is made in the form of a set of hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements with an acoustic soft screen, with an active surface size of 300 × 152 mm, having the following parameters : height - 12 mm, diameter - 15 mm, thickness - 1 mm, made of alloy TsTS-19M. The sensitivity for an individual element of the receiving antenna is 85 μV / Pa.

Due to the fact that direct acoustic contact of the active elements of the receiving antenna with the loading medium and structural elements can lead to damping and reduced sensitivity, hollow cylinders with an acoustically soft screen are used to minimize the damping effect of these factors. As an acoustic screen, it is possible to use polyurethane foams with a sufficiently high mechanical stiffness, which avoids unacceptable deformation of the sensor at working depths. At the same time, the specific acoustic impedance of polyurethane foams z = 300-400 kg / (m ² s) is significantly less than its characteristic values for piezoceramic materials z = 3 · 107 kg / (m ² s), which allows us to consider acoustic screens made from such materials, close to ideal.

The use of an acoustic screen in the design of the receiving antenna allows you to get rid of the unwanted back lobe in its radiation pattern.

The sensitivity of the receiving antenna is determined by its directional properties, the method of electrical connection of its elements, the mode of oscillation used, the ratio of the resonant frequency of an individual element and the operating frequency, the composition of the piezoelectric material and the degree of its damping.

A comparative analysis of the sensitivity characteristics of piezoelectric elements at various modes showed that the mode of radial vibrations of circular cylinders on the transverse piezoelectric effect has the best sensitivity indicators. In this case, the collector electrodes are deposited on the side surfaces of the cylinder.

Structurally, the receiving antenna is made in the form of 8 rulers, with a gap of 4 mm, each of which is composed of 20 elements, following with a gap of 3 mm. The technological gap between the antenna elements is filled with the material of the acoustic screen - polyurethane foam.

The radiating antenna is a phased antenna array, to which radiation signals from 12 power amplifiers are supplied with an active surface size of 60 × 105 mm.

The radiating path of a parametric profilograph includes a radiating antenna, a device for controlling and generating radiation signals, which consists of:

- 12 power amplifiers;

- a unit for generating radiation signals.

The receiving path of the parametric profilograph includes a receiving antenna, a receiver for hydroacoustic signals, a communication center with a control and display panel, which is installed on the towing vessel.

The control and display panel is a marine personal computer and a system for transmitting information and telecontrol data, consisting of:

- a media converter that converts the optical communication signals with the equipment of the towed underwater vehicle into electrical ones;

- a network switch that allows you to organize the simultaneous operation of the profilograph with other subsystems (ship positioning system, side-scan sonar or echo sounder).

Functional nodes of the receiving-amplifying tract include:

1) receiving hydroacoustic antenna;

2) a signal switch, as part of a technical diagnostic system;

3) bandpass filters;

4) the first gain stage and the second gain stage;

5) 18-bit analog-to-digital converter;

6) voltage reference driver;

7) a block of digital primary signal processing and the formation of an output array of processed data as part of a programmable logic integrated circuit (FPGA);

8) a digital-to-analog converter control module as part of the FPGA that generates the VARU1 and VARU2 signals, as well as the SigTest test signal;

9) 12-bit multi-channel DAC for the formation of signals VARU1 and VARU2, as well as the test signal SigTest;

10) SigTest test signal level normalization unit, made on the filter and divider.

The main part of the functional units of the receiving-amplifying path is structurally implemented in a single module.

The radiating path contains the following functional units:

1) a radiating sonar antenna;

2) twelve channels of power amplifiers, each of which contains:

a) output current sensor;

b) a resonant filter, as the matching circuit of the output of the power amplifier and the input of the radiating antenna;

c) bridge power amplifier;

d) a node for generating control signals of power transistors made on a preliminary amplifier and a delay generating circuit;

e) galvanic isolation unit;

3) twelve output buffer amplifiers of control signals;

4) a block for digital generation of control signals for power amplifiers in the FPGA;

5) band-pass filters of current sensor signals, as components of a technical diagnostic system;

6) the switch of test signals, as part of a technical diagnostic system;

7) 8-bit analog-to-digital converter, as part of a technical diagnostic system;

8) a module for collecting and forming arrays of test data, as part of the FPGA;

9) a temperature sensor integrated in the radiating antenna and an information processing module as part of the microcontroller.

The system of communication channels and data exchange with profilograph equipment, other components of the profilograph and external systems includes:

1) the optical communication channel Fast Ethernet 100BaseFX between the onboard and onboard equipment of the profilograph, including the optical module, and the media converter;

2) RS-232 communication channel between the outboard equipment of the profilograph and the outboard equipment of an underwater towed device;

3) Ethernet 100BaseTX communication channel with a multi-beam echo sounder or side-scan sonar;

4) Ethernet 100BaseTX communication channel with the steering tablet;

5) Ethernet 100BaseTX communication channel with the relative underwater positioning system of the towed device;

6) communication channel RS-232 with a GPS receiver;

7) RS-232 communication channel with a power supply device;

8) redundant Ethernet 100BaseTX communication channel with external systems.

The radiation path creates a narrow beam pattern due to the use of the parametric method of signal formation. It consists in the following: the antenna emits an ultrasonic signal with two high-frequency components, due to passage through a non-linear aqueous medium, the signals multiply and form a useful low-frequency signal (3 kHz - 10 kHz). The acoustic power at the time of emission is approximately 12 kW. From this it follows that the electric power of the amplifier block must be at least 24 kW (in this case, heat losses are taken into account). Each part of the antenna (12 parts in total) has a complex resistance of 170 Ohms, so the optimal supply voltage will be 600 V. The power amplifier uses components capable of operating at a given voltage and a pulse current of 4 A. Due to the fact that the radiation system operates in a pulse In the mode, a block of storage capacitors is used, which gives off the bulk of the energy during sounding, and accumulates energy in the intervals between soundings. With a duty cycle of the probe pulses Q = 25 and a decrease in the supply voltage level at the end of the pulse ΔU = 10%, the capacitance of the storage capacitor unit should be at least 2500 μF. The storage capacitor bank consists of two electrolytic capacitors with a capacity of 5600 uF and a voltage of 450 V each, connected in series. To equalize the potentials, a resistive divider is used on each capacitor.

The amplifier module is designed according to the D-class bridge circuit, having an output matching circuit that generates resonances at two operating frequencies. The parameters of the elements of the matching circuit are selected in such a way as to obtain the maximum electric power and zero phase shift between the current and voltage at two operating frequencies.

The receiving path operates on the difference frequency of the probing signal. The receiver is built according to the direct amplification scheme. Such a circuit provides the least distortion in the signal amplification path.

The receiving antenna is connected to the receiver through a fourth-order passive LC filter. Such a filter provides low-pass filtering with a cutoff frequency of the order of 1 kHz and with a characteristic corresponding to a second-order Bessel filter and a cutoff frequency of the order of 20 kHz with a characteristic corresponding to a second-order Bessel filter. In the low-frequency region, this filter provides pre-filtering of external noise. One of the strongest noises in this area is the noise of a towing ship. In the upper region of the spectrum, this filter eliminates the passage of the pump frequency during radiation in the parametric mode to the input of the receiver. The average value of this frequency is 250 kHz. A passive filter at the receiver input is needed so as not to overload the receiver path with additive noise. The low level of additive noise also provides a reduction in intermodulation products generated from the nonlinear interaction of the signal and noise in the receiver path. (Note that for modern microcircuits used in sonar paths, the latter factor is not relevant).

The noise at the input of the receiver is determined by several factors: the intrinsic noise of the amplifier chip, the equivalent resistance of the receiving antenna, the band of received frequencies, the noise of the antenna. For the amplification path, one of the latest amplifiers from Analog Devices, designed to develop sonar equipment, was used. Given all the factors, the noise at the receiver input is about 1.5 μV.

The through gain of the receiving path is chosen so that the intrinsic noise at the output of the receiver would be no more than 1/6 of the aperture of the amplifier. Otherwise (with an increase in the fraction of noise at maximum gain), a noise limitation may occur, which will lead to strong nonlinear effects of the interaction of noise with a possible weak signal. As a result of this interaction, the reception quality will sharply worsen. The maximum gain of the receiving path can reach a value of the order of 120 dB.

The entire analog path of the receiver is made according to a differential circuit. This scheme provides increased receiver stability and reduced sensitivity to noise arising in the receiving path from other components of the system.

The analog signal from the output of the receiver amplifier is fed to the ADC through the differential matching filter of the second strand (the order is relative to the equivalent non-differential filter). This filter provides matching of the signal + noise spectral band with respect to the sampling frequency. The sampling frequency in the ADC is 250 kHz. ADC - 18 bit, bitwise weighing.

Digital samples from the ADC output are fed to a programmable logic integrated circuit (FPGA) of the Altera Cyclone 3 family for primary digital processing. It performs unified processing, consisting of calculating the current samples of the mutual correlation function between the received signal and the signal image loaded into the FPGA. Due to the high power of the FPGA selected for the reception system, it is possible to do this processing without transferring the signal along the spectrum to the low-frequency region using quadrature detection. This approach provides the ultimate performance in digital processing, while additional forms of filtering the received signal are not necessary. In addition, a potentially achievable level of reception noise immunity (optimal receiver) is provided. Samples of the received signal for correlation processing are loaded into the FPGA.

Reception and transmission of information in the system is carried out via the Ethernet interface. The physical communication channel is an optical single-mode fiber. Communication is provided by the Atmel AVR32 microcontroller.

The proposed towed underwater vehicle is capable of transverse horizontal movements when the towing vessel moves in a direct course, which increases the survey area and the performance of the towed system. Depending on the given hydroacoustic survey mode, it is able to move at various distances from the seabed. The proposed towed underwater vehicle, in contrast to the known similar devices, has a wide range of towing speeds (up to 8 knots).

The proposed device should find wide application in solving the problems of developing the technology of hydroacoustic systems for underwater survey, positioning of underwater objects, monitoring the bottom and condition of pipelines, as well as diving operations. Unlike existing systems, the proposed device for sensing the seabed is capable of transverse movements when the towing vessel moves in a direct course over a wide range of towing speeds.

The industrial implementation of the proposed technical solution is not difficult, which allows us to conclude that the claimed technical proposal meets the patentability condition “industrial applicability”.

Information sources

1. V.A. Voronin, S.P. Tarasov, V.I. Timoshchenko. Hydroacoustic parametric systems. Rostov-on-Don. LLC Rostizdat. 2004, p. 257.

2. Copyright certificate of the USSR No. 1308040.

3. USSR copyright certificate No. 1360405.

Claims (2)

1. A towed underwater vehicle equipped with hydroacoustic equipment for detecting silted objects and pipelines and made in the form of a hollow cylindrical body with a removable head and a tail stabilizer, equipped with a deepening device and equipped with a parametric profilograph, a computing-control module, and a cable- connected to the towing vessel cable, characterized in that the stabilizer consists of two planes forming an X-shaped structure, the deepening device is made in the form of mountains of the isontal wing and two vertical wings, the vertical wings mounted on the axles located in the transverse plane relative to the cylindrical body and equipped with a rotary mechanism, the vertical wings are symmetrically relative to each other, on the upper plane of the cylindrical body on the horizontal wing there is a towing unit with a sealed connector for fastening the cable-cable and cable entry into the towed underwater vehicle, the cable-cable is equipped with a hydrodynamic deepener system with radially directed spring-loaded mechanical sensors having wheel ends on the nose, the cylindrical body is articulated with a tubular bracket-shaped frame, the ends of which are articulated with the corresponding X-shaped planes of the stabilizer, in the lower part the cylindrical body is equipped with a niche in which the rack is mounted with fixed on it there are elements of a parametric profilograph, the niche is equipped with a fairing made of spheroplastic, the towed underwater vehicle is additionally equipped with a system of ientatsii and navigation consisting of a strapdown inertial system, information connected to the onboard control equipment, towing vessel, and the Computer Control Unit towed underwater vehicle. 2. Hydroacoustic equipment, including a parametric profilograph, consisting of a radiating parametric pump antenna and a receiving antenna, means for processing and recording hydroacoustic signals, characterized in that the radiating parametric pump antenna and the receiving antenna are made in the form of separate devices, while the radiating parametric antenna containing phased array and amplification channels, made with 12 amplification channels, phased array made with offset lines of radiating elements o in relative to each other by a fixed amount, the technological gap between the radiation elements is filled with polyurethane foam, the receiving antenna is in the form of eight lines with a fixed gap, each of the twenty lines typed hollow cylindrical piezoelectric elements following each other with a fixed gap.

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