TWI799183B - Water garbage recycling system - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a water garbage recycling system, comprising: an unmanned fleet including a mother ship and a plurality of daughter ships, wherein there is an inflatable floating cable between the mother ship and the daughter ships; an unmanned aerial vehicle is used for locating water garbage, wherein the location information of the water garbage is transmitted to the unmanned fleet; and a shore control device performing wireless communication with the unmanned fleet and the unmanned aerial vehicle so as to remotely operate the unmanned aerial vehicle and the unmanned fleet. The mother ship receives the location information of the water garbage, and then drives close to the water garbage. Thereafter, the mother ship puts down the daughter ships and inflates the inflatable float cables, so as to define a working area around the water garbage together with the daughter ships, and then recover the water garbage.

Description

Water waste collection system

The invention relates to a garbage recovery system, in particular to a water garbage recovery system.

According to current research, the amount of plastic waste discharged into the sea is estimated to be 8 million tons every year, and the amount is even increasing. In addition, most of Taiwan's current collection of marine garbage is still handled manually. However, the collection process is not only time-consuming, manpower-intensive, but also energy-intensive and cost-intensive. Therefore, manual salvage of garbage in various waters cannot continue to operate for a long time. In addition, if water environmental analysis and sampling are to be carried out at the same time, it is likely to be unable to perform due to poor weather conditions or have safety concerns.

Therefore, how to provide a water area garbage removal equipment that can reduce operational risks, ensure personnel safety, or even save labor costs and energy consumption is a topic worthy of consideration by the industry.

In view of the above, in order to reduce operational risks, ensure personnel safety, or even save manpower expenditure and energy consumption, this disclosure provides a water garbage collection system, which mainly utilizes an intelligent unmanned fleet as an intelligent ocean drift garbage collection machine. The big data collected by the above-water garbage collection system during operation can be analyzed and used by artificial intelligence (AI), so as to gradually move towards unmanned and intelligent ocean drift garbage removal.

The first aspect of the present disclosure provides a water garbage collection system, including: an unmanned fleet, including a mother ship and a plurality of sub-ships, wherein there is an inflatable buoyant line between the mother ship and the sub-ships; an unmanned aerial vehicle for Locating water garbage, and transmitting the location information of the water garbage to the unmanned fleet; and a shore control device, which communicates wirelessly with the unmanned fleet and the drone, and remotely operates the drone and the unmanned fleet; wherein, the After receiving the position information of the water garbage, the mother ship approaches the position of the water garbage, and puts down the sub-boats and inflates the inflatable buoys, so as to define a work around the water garbage together with the sub-boats area, and then recycle the water waste.

In one embodiment, the inflatable buoyant lines between the mother vessel and the sub-vessels confine the floating debris to the work area and minimize the work area by constant relative movement between itself and the sub-vessels. area.

In one embodiment, the shore control device is a smart phone.

In one embodiment, an electromagnet is arranged on the bow of each sub-ship.

In one embodiment, the mother ship includes a microprocessor, an input unit, a power unit and an output unit.

In one embodiment, the microprocessor has a WIFI module capable of wirelessly communicating with each of the sub-ships, the drone and the shore control device.

In one embodiment, the input unit has a GPS, a sonar and a water quality sensor set to receive an environment sensing input signal.

In one embodiment, the power unit has a solar charging panel and a lithium battery.

In one embodiment, the sub-ship includes a microcontroller, an input unit, a power unit and an output unit, and the microcontroller has a WIFI module and can communicate with the mother ship, the shore control device and the drone for wireless communication.

In one embodiment, the input unit has at least one electronic barometer for detecting the pressure of the inflatable buoyant lines.

The following disclosure provides different embodiments or examples to implement different features of the provided subject matter. The specific examples of the components and arrangements described below are for the purpose of simplifying the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting; the size and shape of the elements are not limited by the disclosed range or numerical values, but may depend on the process conditions or required requirements of the elements. characteristic. For example, the technical features of the present invention are described using sectional views, which are schematic diagrams of idealized embodiments. Thus, variations in the shapes shown as a result of manufacturing processes and/or tolerances are foreseeable and should not be limiting.

Furthermore, spatial relative terms such as "below", "below", "below", "above" and "above" are for ease of description of the elements depicted in the drawings or the relationship between features; moreover, spatially relative terms encompass different orientations of elements in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the illustrations.

First, please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of an above-water garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the marine garbage collection system 1 includes an unmanned fleet 10 , a drone 20 and a shore control device 30 . In an embodiment of the present invention, the unmanned fleet 10 includes a mother ship 10a and a plurality of sub-ships 10b, for example, a sub-ship 10b is respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the hull of the mother ship 10a. It should be noted that there are inflatable buoyant cables between the mother ship 10a and the sub-ships 10b. Each sub-ship 10b is equipped with an inflatable buoyant cable inflator (not shown in the figure), which can be controlled by remote operation to perform inflation and deflation procedures.

The unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is used to locate the garbage in the water, and transmit the location information of the garbage in the water to the unmanned fleet 10 . When it is necessary to remove large-scale water garbage, the sub-ships 10b will be lowered from the mother ship 10a to the water surface, and move towards the location of the water garbage together with the mother ship 10a, and then form a working area after surrounding the water garbage. Then, the inflatable buoyant cables between the mother ship 10a and the sub-ships 10b will confine the water debris to the working area, and the relative continuous movement between the mother ship 10a itself and the sub-ships 10b will Reduce the working area.

The shore control device 30 can communicate wirelessly with the unmanned fleet 10 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 , and remotely operate the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 and the unmanned fleet 10 . The mother ship 10a approaches the position of the water garbage after receiving the position information of the water garbage, and puts down the sub-ships 10b and inflates the inflatable buoys, so that the sub-ships 10b can be defined around the water garbage at the same time. Get out of a working area and then recycle the water waste.

As mentioned above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 takes the mother ship 10a as a mooring point, lifts off to detect the garbage on the sea surface, and after demarcating the cleaning range, reports the cleaning range to the unmanned fleet 10. And the APP information screen of the shore control device 30 presents the cleaning location and range to guide the unmanned fleet 10 to the cleaning area to perform tasks.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are three-dimensional schematic diagrams of the mother ship in the marine garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, in the embodiment of the present invention, a solar charging panel 102 and four wide-angle cameras (not shown) are installed on the top of the mother ship 10a. The part in front of the mother ship 10a is equipped with a garbage conveyor belt 104, which is responsible for collecting garbage and oil stains on the water surface (such as the sea surface), and sends the water garbage, oil pollution and seawater into the garbage collection cabin 108 of the mother ship 10a. The bottom of the mother ship 10a is provided with a sump 106 for collecting the seawater after the oil pollution is separated.

As shown in FIG. 2B , in the embodiment of the present invention, at the stern of the mother ship 10a, two propellers 112a, 112b are controlled by a directional control rudder (not shown) to drive the mother ship 10a to move. The part of the stern of the mother ship 10a is also provided with a plurality of discharge outlets 114a, 114b, 114c, which are used to discharge the seawater after the oil pollution is separated.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B . FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are three-dimensional schematic diagrams of sub-ships in the water garbage recycling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A , in the embodiment of the present invention, a propeller 122 a , a propeller 122 b and a magnetic air hole 124 are provided at the stern of the sub-ship 10 b. As shown in FIG. 3B , in the embodiment of the present invention, an electromagnet 126 , an air inlet 128 and an air outlet 130 are provided on the bow of the sub-ship 10 b. In addition, please refer to FIG. 2A , FIG. 3A , FIG. 3B and FIG. 4 together. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the operation of an unmanned fleet of a water garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Inflatable buoyant cable inflators (not shown) are arranged on the sub-ships 10b, and at least two sub-ships 10b are detachably arranged on the left and right sides of the mother ship 10a. When it is determined that the sub-ship 10b needs to perform tasks, it will be lowered from the mother ship 10a to the water surface. At the same time, there are inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b between the mother ship 10a and the two sub-ships 10b. The electromagnets 126 are connected together. Next, each sub-ship 10b inflates the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b by the inflatable buoyant cable inflator, so that the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b are in an inflated state. That is to say, the mother ship 10a, the two sub-ships 10b and the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b define a working area 404 and confine the water debris 406 within the working area 404 . Then, the inflatable buoyant rope reel 110 in FIG. 2A can be rolled to pull the inflatable buoyant ropes 402a, 402b to continuously shrink the working area 404 and force the floating garbage 406 to move toward the mother ship 10a. In this way, the mother ship 10a does not need to move in a large range, and the garbage 406 on the water can be removed more effectively.

Please refer to Fig. 2A again, the garbage collection cabin 108 inside the mother ship 10a is designed to store garbage, the front is designed with a slope to make it easier for the seawater to flow down, and the other three sides are surrounded by movable fences (not shown). Make rubbish can not fall out again, and can judge present rubbish amount with naked eyes and camera in the cabin, and then can easily open fence net when cleaning rubbish concentration cabin 108. In addition, an oil-retaining filter cotton (not shown) is arranged at the bottom of the garbage collection cabin 108 to filter oil.

Next, please refer to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the hardware structure of the mother ship in the marine garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5 , in the embodiment of the present invention, the hardware structure of the mother ship 10 a mainly includes a microprocessor (Micro Processor Unit, MPU) 500 , an input unit 504 , a power unit 512 and an output unit 518 . The microprocessor 500 of the mother ship 10a has a WIFI module 502, which is used as the core of the control of the water garbage collection system 1, and can communicate with the signals on the sub-ships 10b, the UAV 20 and the shore control device 30. The input unit 504 has a GPS 506 , a sonar 508 and a water quality sensor set 510 to receive environmental sensing input signals. The power unit 512 has a solar charging panel 516 and a lithium battery 514 as a power basis. In addition, the output unit 518 has a motor 520 for actuating the refuse conveyor belt 104 and the inflatable buoy rope reel 110, and controlling the thrusters 112a, 112b to drive the mother ship 10a to move. In an embodiment of the present invention, the UAV 20 may be a single-rotor or multi-rotor UAV. The shore control device 30 can be a mobile device such as a smart phone or a tablet loaded with an APP.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the hardware structure of the sub-ship in the water waste recycling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, in the embodiment of the present invention, the hardware structure of the sub-ship 10b mainly includes a microcontroller (Micro Control Unit, MCU) 600, an input unit 604, a power unit 612 and an output unit 618 . Among them, the microcontroller 600 is the core of controlling the sub-ship 10b, and has a WIFI module 602, which can communicate on the signal, and perform wireless communication with the mother ship 10a, the shore control device 30 and the UAV 20. The power unit 612 has a solar charging panel 616 and a lithium battery 614 as a power basis. The input unit 604 has a GPS606, an electronic barometer 608 and a three-axis sensor 610, wherein the GPS606 is used to locate the sub-ship 10b; the three-axis sensor 610 is used for hull motion detection; the electronic barometer 608 is used for To detect the pressure of the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b. The output unit 618 has a motor 620 , an air buoyant pump 622 , a pneumatic solenoid valve 624 and an electromagnet 626 . The motor 620 is the source of power to control the movement of the sub-ship 10b; the rear end of the hull of the sub-ship 10b drags the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b, and the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b are inflated by the inflatable buoyant cable inflator 622; the pneumatic solenoid valve 624 controls The inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b are deflated; the bow of the sub-ship 10b is equipped with an electromagnet 126 so that the two sub-ships 10b can be connected.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 again. In an embodiment of the present invention, the mother ship 10a of the unmanned fleet 10 can communicate wirelessly with the drone 20, the sub-ship 10b and the shore control device 30 (such as a smart phone). The sub-ship 10b can be a small unmanned submarine. There are inflatable buoyant cables 402a and 402b connected to the mother ship 10a at the tail, and are usually mounted on both sides of the mother ship 10a. The two boundaries define the area where the marine garbage 406 is located, and the marine garbage 406 is collected by the mother ship 10a. After the UAV 20 detects and calibrates the position of the floating garbage 406 in the water area, it transmits the positioning information to the mother ship 10a. The shore device 30 (such as a smart phone) can remotely control the unmanned fleet 10 and the drone 20 through a remote control system (such as an APP). That is to say, in the water garbage recovery system 1 of an embodiment of the present invention, the position of the water garbage 406 in the water area can be defined by the inflatable buoyant cable (or called the cable system) between the sub-ship 10b and the mother ship 10a, and then While the inflatable buoyant cables 402a and 402b are continuously recycled to the mother ship, they will also move and concentrate the floating garbage 406 towards the mother ship, which can reduce the movement of the mother ship 10a and improve the recycling efficiency of the floating garbage 406 .

In addition, since the above-water garbage recycling system 1 of an embodiment of the present invention is aimed at unmanned cleaning, when cleaning garbage, the drone 20 will first detect the location in the harbor that needs garbage cleaning, and then judge the range of each area size.

If it is judged that the scope of each area is greater than the set value, the sub-ship 10b will be lowered from the mother ship 10a, and the sub-ship 10b will be used to draw the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b to delineate the range, and the garbage recovery system (comprising the garbage conveyor belt 104) of the mother ship 10a will start running simultaneously. , when the two ships meet and connect with each other with electromagnet 126, then start to inflate the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b, when the inflatable buoyant cables 402a, 402b are inflated to the set air pressure, the inflatable buoyant rope reel 110 will start to inflate The buoyant cables 402a, 402b are retracted, thereby reducing the scope to complete the cleaning of garbage in the area.

Conversely, if it is judged that the range of each area is smaller than the set value, the garbage recovery system (including the garbage conveyor belt 104) starts to operate, and the mother ship 10a is allowed to move autonomously to the vicinity of the water garbage 406 for direct cleaning without using the sub-ship 10b. Then, the garbage collection cabin 108 in the mother ship 10a discharges the degreased seawater to the sump 106, and then discharges the treated seawater back to the sea.

In the embodiment of the present invention, during the process of clearing the garbage 406 on the water, relevant inspections are carried out on the current harbor at the same time. For example, the sonar 508 installed at the bottom of the mother ship 10a scans the underwater situation of the harbor to determine the degree of siltation in the harbor. And scan the 3D model of the harbor, and display the 3D model of the harbor on the APP information screen of the shore control device 30 .

Finally, the mother ship 10a will transport the collected water garbage 406 and oil pollution back to the shore for processing. During the relevant process of the task, we can observe and control the status of the current water waste collection system 1 in real time through the APP of the shore control device 30 .

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention without limitation. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present invention can be modified or equivalently replaced. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

1: Water garbage collection system 10: Unmanned fleet 10a: mother ship 10b: sub-ship 20: Drone 30:shore control device 102: Solar Charging Panel 104: Garbage conveyor belt 106: Sink 108: Garbage concentration cabin 110: Inflatable buoyant rope reel 112a, 112b: thrusters 114a, 114b, 114c: drains 122a, 122b: propellers 124: air hole 126: electromagnet 128: air intake 130: Vent 402a, 402b: inflatable buoyant lines 404: work area 406: water garbage 500: Microprocessor 502, 602: WIFI module 504, 604: input unit 506, 606: GPS 508: sonar 510: Water quality sensor group 512, 612: power unit 514, 614: lithium battery 516, 616: solar charging panels 518, 618: output unit 520: motor 600: microcontroller 608: Electronic barometer 610: Three-axis sensor 620: motor 622: Inflatable buoyant cable inflator 624: Pneumatic solenoid valve 626: electromagnet

In order to make the above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention more understandable, the accompanying drawings are described as follows: Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an above-water garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2A and Fig. 2B are three-dimensional schematic diagrams of the mother ship in the water waste recycling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B are three-dimensional schematic diagrams of sub-ships in the water waste recycling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the unmanned fleet of the water garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the hardware structure of the mother ship in the marine garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the hardware structure of the sub-ship in the marine garbage collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In accordance with common practice, the various features and elements in the drawings are not drawn to scale, but are drawn in order to best represent the specific features and elements relevant to the invention. In addition, the same or similar reference symbols refer to similar elements and parts in different drawings.

1: Water garbage collection system

10: Unmanned fleet

10a: mother ship

10b: sub-ship

20: Drone

30:shore control device

Claims (9)

A water garbage recovery system, comprising: an unmanned fleet, including a mother ship and a plurality of sub-ships, wherein there are inflatable buoyant cables between the mother ship and the sub-ships; The location information of the unmanned fleet is transmitted to the unmanned fleet; and a shore control device communicates wirelessly with the unmanned fleet and the drone, and remotely operates the drone and the unmanned fleet; wherein, the mother ship is at the position where the water garbage is received After information, approach the position of the water garbage, and put down the sub-boats and inflate the inflatable buoys, so that together with the sub-boats, a work area can be defined around the water garbage, and then the water garbage can be recovered; The inflatable buoyant cables between the mother ship and the sub-ships confine the water debris to the working area, and narrow the working area by relatively continuous movement between itself and the sub-ships. The above-water garbage collection system according to claim 1, wherein the shore control device is a smart phone. The water garbage collection system as described in Claim 1, wherein the bow of each sub-ship is equipped with an electromagnet. The marine garbage collection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mother ship includes a microprocessor, an input unit, a power unit and an output unit. The water garbage recycling system as described in claim 4, wherein the microprocessor has a WIFI module capable of wireless communication with each of the sub-ships, the drone and the shore control device. The water waste collection system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the input unit has a GPS, a sonar and a water quality sensor group to receive an environment sensing input signal. The water waste recycling system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the power unit has a solar charging panel and a lithium battery. The water garbage recycling system as described in claim 1, wherein the sub-ship includes a microcontroller, an input unit, a power unit, and an output unit, and the microcontroller has a WIFI module and can communicate with the mother ship, the The shore control unit and the drone communicate wirelessly. The water waste recycling system as claimed in item 8, wherein the input unit has at least one electronic barometer, and the electronic barometer is used to detect the pressure of the inflatable buoyant cables.

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