Communications – electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices – Underwater system – Remote control
Patent
1995-08-21
1996-11-26
Pihulic, Daniel T.
Communications, electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices
Underwater system
Remote control
G01S 500, G01S 514, G01S 1114
Patent
active
055792855
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and device for the monitoring and remote control of unmanned, mobile, partly autonomous underwater vehicles.
The technical field of the invention is that of underwater acoustic positioning and guidance systems.
Various systems are already known for determining the position of an underwater object which make use, in particular, of acoustic signals.
French Patent 2 643 463 (SOFTWARE BASED SYSTEM) discloses a method and device for the absolute positioning of an underwater vehicle which transmits acoustic signals: this system uses two ships which are positioned relative to a fixed point of reference and one of which receives signals from a fixed point of reference, from the underwater vehicle, and from the other ship. According to the method disclosed in this document, on one of the ships data are collected which are deduced from the signals received, concerning in particular the absolute positions of the two ships and their relative positions, from which the absolute and relative position relative to one of the ships of the underwater vehicle is calculated as a function of the acoustic signals transmitted by the underwater vehicle and received by the two ships.
The system disclosed in this document allows an operator on one of the two ships to know the position of the underwater vehicle, but is not intended to permit the underwater vehicle to know its own position. The general problem posed consists in procuring a system whereby an offset monitoring device can know the position of an underwater vehicle and whereby underwater submersibles likewise can know precisely at any moment their path data within an absolute frame of reference or relative to the theatre of operation.
Also known from the publication "A new method for the underwater use of GPS", J. W. YOUNGBERG, Navigation, no. 159, July 1992, and from U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,341 (Youngberg) is a system for providing a navigation service to unmanned underwater vehicles. The system comprises drifting buoys which translate radio signals from the GPS into acoustic signals which can travel through water, so that the autonomous underwater vehicle receiving the acoustic signals transmitted by the drifting buoys can determine its position by measuring the pseudo-ranges separating it from a certain number of buoys, as well as through the knowledge of the position of each buoy, which is determined by each of them and which is transmitted to the underwater vehicle by acoustic signals.
Although the device disclosed in the latter document allows an underwater vehicle to determine its position relative to an absolute frame of reference, the known positioning systems do not permit the monitoring and remote control of an autonomous underwater vehicle.
Furthermore the techniques presented in the latter document do not permit finely-tuned, precise guiding of the vessel, taking account of the sizeable output of data to be transmitted by various underwater acoustic channels. The device disclosed is furthermore thoroughly indiscreet due to the very large amount of data being transmitted to the underwater vehicle.
The problem posed consists more particularly in providing monitoring and remote coordination of one or more unmanned underwater vehicles whose mission is to meet in a target zone or at one or more target points, e.g. for a mission to measure physical or chemical parameters of the environment or for sounding the depth of the sea or more particularly for missions of observation and reconnaissance of sites on land or at sea located in the region of a predetermined maritime zone, or else for missions of deception and counter-measures.
The solution to the problem posed consists in procuring a device for the monitoring and remote control of one or more unmanned underwater vehicles for use in reconnaissance missions in particular, and for the auto-positioning thereof, comprising at least one, preferably at least two mobile, floating (i.e. drifting and/or self-propelling), unmanned vessels, each comprising at least a first receiver for m
REFERENCES:
patent: 4315326 (1982-02-01), Chase, Jr.
patent: 4622557 (1986-11-01), Westerfield
patent: 5119341 (1992-06-01), Youngberg
Youngberg, Navigation, vol. 40, No. 159, pp. 305-315.
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