JP4690080B2 - Unmanned submersible - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an unmanned submersible used for exploration and observation of underwater structures and marine resources.

  There are two methods for exploring structures in the sea, such as diver diving in the sea and underwater camera installation at a fixed point. Underwater conditions are severe and mobility is required. In some cases, unmanned submersibles that can be moved underwater by remote operation are used.

  As a conventional unmanned submarine, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a vertical thruster that generates thrust in the vertical direction and a horizontal thruster that generates thrust in the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction) of the airframe. .

  In this unmanned submersible, two vertical thrusters are arranged on both the left and right sides of the aircraft, and three horizontal thrusters are arranged in three corners at the left and right center of the aircraft and below the left and right sides of the aircraft. By driving two vertical thrusters with the same thrust, the aircraft is propelled in the direction of diving in a horizontal posture, and by driving the three vertical thrusters with the same thrust, the aircraft is leveled in a horizontal posture. It is supposed to be propelled in the direction.

  Also, if you want to dive into the seafloor faster than using a vertical thruster, raise the thrust of the upper one horizontal thruster relative to the lower two horizontal thrusters, and destroy the upper and lower thrust balance. When it is desired to propel the aircraft in the direction of diving obliquely downward and to ascend quickly, the aircraft is propelled in the ascending direction with the aircraft directed obliquely upward by performing the reverse operation.

JP-A-8-169398

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, a vertical thruster is not used when moving the aircraft using a horizontal thruster, and conversely, a horizontal thruster is not used when moving the aircraft using a vertical thruster. .

  That is, although the aircraft has five horizontal and vertical thrusters, only one or two of them are used at the same time, and power is not efficiently used. In addition, since the number of thrusters used at the same time is small, in order to obtain a large thrust, it is necessary to use each thruster having a large maximum thrust, leading to an increase in the size and soaring of the submersible. .

  Further, when a horizontal thruster is used to propel the machine body obliquely downward or obliquely upward, it is necessary to finely adjust the thrust of each horizontal thruster, resulting in a problem of complicated control.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently use a plurality of types of thrusters (vertical thrusters and horizontal thrusters) having different thrust generation directions to improve motion performance. An object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned submersible that can easily control the attitude of the vehicle.

Invention of claim 1, wherein, in the unmanned underwater vehicle which is equipped with a double several thruster body, a plurality of types of thrusters, a horizontal thruster for generating a thrust in the longitudinal direction of the machine body, left and right directions around the rotation axis It provided rotatably on a vertical thruster able to change the thrust generating direction about the pivoting axis, includes a center of gravity of the I Ri machine body attitude change of the vertical thrusters varies, as a result As described above, the center of gravity of the vertical thruster is disposed at a position deviating from the axis of the rotation axis so that the airframe tilts in the vertical plane .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the vertical thruster is maintained so that the thrust generation direction of the vertical thruster is the front-rear direction, the position of the center of gravity of the aircraft moves to the front of the aircraft .

In the invention described in claim 3, the horizontal thruster and the vertical thruster are arranged at positions shifted from each other in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the machine body .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily change the propulsion direction by changing the attitude of the airframe by the restoring moment generated from the relative change between the center of gravity position and the floating center position of the airframe .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, thrust from both the horizontal thruster and the vertical thruster can be used at the time of settling, and the settling can be performed rapidly .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the horizontal thruster and the vertical thruster are arranged in parallel, the airframe can be further tilted by making one thrust higher than the other thrust.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an unmanned submersible according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. In the present specification, for the sake of explanation, the left-right direction in FIG.

  The unmanned diving machine 10 moves underwater by a remote operation or the like, and includes a machine body 13 including a main body 11, thrusters 17 and 18, a machine frame 12, and the like. The main body 11 is mainly composed of a pressure vessel, and is formed long in the front and rear direction. An underwater camera 15 covered with a transparent or translucent cover 14 is provided at the tip of the main body 11, and underwater lamps 16 are provided on both the left and right sides thereof.

  The thrusters 17 and 18 include a vertical thruster 17 whose thrust generation direction is set in the vertical direction (the height direction of the machine body 13) and a horizontal thruster 18 set in the front-rear direction (horizontal direction; the longitudinal direction of the machine body 13). Each of the thrusters 17 and 18 is provided in two. In FIG. 2, the direction and magnitude of each thrust are indicated by arrows F1 and F2. Each thruster 17 and 18 can be driven forward and reverse.

  The two vertical thrusters 17 are arranged on the left and right sides of the main body 11 at approximately the center of the airframe 13 and the two horizontal thrusters 18 are arranged on the left and right sides of the main body 11 at the rear of the airframe 13. Yes. The vertical thruster 17 and the horizontal thruster 18 are arranged so as to be displaced from each other back and forth and up and down.

  The body frame 12 is disposed so as to surround the outside of the main body 11 and the thrusters 17 and 18. The fuselage frame 12 of the present embodiment has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame shape in which the front-rear length is larger than the left-right width and the left-right width and front-rear length are larger than the vertical height. The front-rear length is about 100 cm, the left-right width is about 80 cm, and the vertical height is about 60 cm. In addition, this dimension does not limit this invention and can change a design suitably.

  The center of gravity G and the floating center B of the body 13 are arranged on the same vertical line in a horizontal posture. Therefore, the airframe 13 is balanced so as to maintain a horizontal posture in water. The main body 11 is provided with an angle sensor 25 that detects the attitude (angle) of the machine body 13.

  The vertical thruster 17 is provided so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis O in the left-right direction, and the thrust generation direction F1 can be changed by this rotation.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the vertical thruster 17 is rotated in the direction of the arrow X1 about the rotation axis O, the thrust generation direction F1 gradually approaches horizontal and becomes horizontal when rotated 90 °. Thus, the thrust generation direction F2 of the horizontal thruster 18 is the same.

  FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the posture changing mechanism 26 of the vertical thruster 17. In the figure, a vertical thruster 17 is supported by a rotation shaft 19 in the left-right direction, a drive shaft 20 is provided in parallel with the rotation shaft 19, and the rotation shaft 19 and the drive shaft 20 are connected by a winding belt 21. Linked together. The drive shaft 20 is provided with a driven gear 22, and a worm gear 24 connected to the output shaft of the motor 23 is meshed with the driven gear 22.

  By driving the motor 23, power is transmitted to the drive shaft 20 via the worm gear 24 and the driven gear 22, and power is transmitted from the drive shaft 20 to the rotating shaft 19 via the winding belt 21. The thruster 17 rotates. In FIG. 8, the vertical thruster 17 rotated by 90 ° is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation axis O of the vertical thruster 17 is arranged at a position deviating from the center of gravity g of the vertical thruster 17, specifically, on the upper side, and thus the vertical thruster 17 is rotated. Then, the center of gravity position g moves back and forth, and the center of gravity G of the machine body 13 also moves back and forth.

  In the unmanned submersible 10, both the left and right horizontal thrusters 18 are driven with the same thrust when moving forward in the horizontal direction while maintaining the body 13 in a horizontal posture. Further, when the aircraft 13 is dive downward while maintaining the horizontal posture, both the left and right vertical thrusters 17 are driven with the same thrust. Further, when the vehicle body 13 moves backward or ascends, the thrusters 17 and 18 are driven in the reverse direction to drive the thrust generation directions F1 and F2.

  When the body 13 is turned left and right, the left and right horizontal thrusters 18 are driven with different thrusts, and when the body 13 is rolled, the left and right vertical thrusters 17 are driven with different thrusts. The above operation is performed by driving one of the horizontal thruster 18 and the vertical thruster 17 in principle.

  The posture change of the vertical thruster 17 is performed, for example, when the aircraft 13 is propelled obliquely downward in order to quickly dive to the seabed. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the vertical thruster 17 is rotated by about 45 ° in the direction of the arrow X1, and the center of gravity g of the vertical thruster 17 itself moves to the front side by this rotation. As the center of gravity g moves, the center of gravity position G of the airframe 13 also moves forward, so that the relative position with respect to the buoyancy B changes back and forth. Then, a restoring moment Mf1 is generated by the buoyancy Fb in the buoyancy B and the gravity Fg in the centroid G, and the airframe 13 until the centroid G and the buoyancy B are arranged on the same vertical line as shown in FIG. Tilts diagonally.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the vertical thruster 17 is further rotated by 45 ° and the direction thereof is made to coincide with the horizontal thruster 18, the center of gravity G of the airframe 13 is further moved forward, and the restoring moment Mf2 results in FIG. As shown, the fuselage 13 is further tilted.

  In this state, by driving the horizontal thruster 18 and the vertical thruster 17 together, the body 13 moves in the propulsion direction indicated by the arrow S. In this case, since all the four thrusters 17 and 18 are driven, a larger thrust can be obtained than when only two horizontal thrusters 18 are driven, and it is possible to dive quickly. In other words, since all the thrusters 17 and 18 can be used for diving, small thrusters with a small maximum thrust can be used as the thrusters 17 and 18, and the entire submersible can be reduced in size and cost. Has come to contribute.

  Further, since the fuselage 13 is tilted due to the change in the gravity center position G of the fuselage 13 accompanying the change in the posture of the vertical thruster 17, the thrust of each thruster 17 and 18 can be adjusted to change the posture of the fuselage 13, or complicated It is also unnecessary to perform control.

  In FIG. 6, the vertical thruster 17 and the horizontal thruster 18 are in a state of being displaced in the height direction of the airframe 13. Therefore, when the thrust force of the vertical thruster 17 and that of the horizontal thruster 18 are different, for example, When the thrust of the vertical thruster 17 is increased, as shown in FIG. 7, the airframe 13 can be further tilted to take a vertical posture. In this case, since the fuselage 13 faces downward, it can dive more quickly. In this case, a restoring moment Mf3 that attempts to return the posture to the original body 13 acts on the airframe 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible to drive the vertical thruster 17 and the horizontal thruster 18 and move the airframe 13 in the middle of making the vertical thruster 17 in the same direction as the horizontal thruster 18.

  In this case, the fuselage 13 is propelled in the direction of the arrow S by the resultant force FW of the thrust F1 of the vertical thruster 17 and the thrust F2 of the horizontal thruster 18, but when viewed with respect to the thrust generation direction F2 of the horizontal thruster 18, Since the thrust generation direction F2 of the thruster 17 includes a component of the thrust generation direction F1 of the horizontal thruster 18, the thrust in the same direction F1 (longitudinal direction of the machine body 13) is increased.

  Note that since the tilt angle of the airframe 13 is detected by the angle sensor 25, it is possible to dive at a desired tilt angle by adjusting the amount of rotation of the vertical thruster 17.

  FIG. 9 shows an example in which the vertical thruster 17 is rotated in a direction X2 (counterclockwise) opposite to the examples of FIGS. In this case, the center of gravity G of the airframe 13 moves to the rear side, and the airframe 13 is inclined obliquely upward as shown in FIG. 10 due to the restoring moment Mf4 due to the buoyancy Fb and the gravity Fg. Then, the vertical thruster 17 is driven by reversing forward and reverse to reverse the thrust generation direction F1, and the horizontal thruster 18 is also driven, so that the airframe 13 is propelled obliquely upward indicated by the arrow S. Yes.

  Therefore, depending on whether the rotation direction of the vertical thruster 17 is clockwise X1 (FIGS. 3 to 6) or counterclockwise X2 (FIGS. 9 and 10), the attitude of the fuselage 13 is set downward or upward. In addition, by driving the vertical thruster 17 in the reverse direction according to each posture, the vertical thruster 17 and the horizontal thruster 18 are driven in the direction of diving or rising. Can be promoted.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be implemented as follows, for example. (1) The rotation axis O of the vertical thruster 17 can be arranged so as to overlap the center of gravity position g of the vertical thruster 17 itself in a side view. In this case, even if the posture of the vertical thruster 17 is changed, the gravity center position G of the airframe 13 does not change, so that the airframe 13 can be propelled by a total of four thrusters 17 and 18 while maintaining the horizontal posture.

(2) The rotation axis O of the vertical thruster 17 is such that when the posture of the vertical thruster 17 is changed clockwise X1, its center of gravity position g moves backward, that is, the center of gravity G of the airframe 13 Can be set to move backwards. For example, in the machine body 13 shown in FIG. 2, the rotation axis O can be set below the center of gravity g. In this case, the airframe 13 is inclined obliquely upward by changing the posture of the vertical thruster 17 in the clockwise direction X1, and floats by driving the thrusters 17 and 18.

(3) The left and right vertical thrusters 17 may be simultaneously rotated in the same direction, or may be individually rotated in the same direction or in different directions. Further, the vertical thruster 17 may not completely coincide with the thrust generation direction F2 of the horizontal thruster 18 as long as the posture can be changed in the approaching direction.

(4) In the above embodiment, two vertical thrusters 17 and two horizontal thrusters 18 are provided. However, for example, one vertical thruster 17 or one horizontal thruster 18 can be provided. In the latter case, the airframe 13 cannot be turned by only one horizontal thruster, so that the vertical thruster 17 can be horizontally changed and the two vertical thrusters 17 can be driven with different thrusts to enable the turning. It is preferable to do this. Further, three or more of the vertical thruster 17 and / or the horizontal thruster 18 may be configured.

(5) The horizontal thruster 18 can be configured so that its posture can be changed in a direction in which the thrust generation direction F2 of the horizontal thruster 18 approaches the thrust generation direction F1 of the vertical thruster 17. In this case, only the horizontal thruster 18 may be configured to change the posture, or both the vertical thruster 17 and the horizontal thruster 18 may be configured to change the posture.

(6) The thruster is not limited to a combination of vertical and horizontal, and can be, for example, a combination of a horizontal thruster in the front-rear direction and a horizontal thruster in the left-right direction. Further, the plurality of types of thrusters do not necessarily have a relationship in which the relative angle in the direction of thrust generation is 90 ° before the posture change.

(7) The submersible may be provided with three or more types of thrusters (for example, vertical, front-rear horizontal, left-right horizontal).

  The present invention can be effectively used for unmanned submersibles in fields such as underwater search.

It is a top view of the unmanned diving machine concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is the same side view. It is a side view of the state which rotated the vertical thruster about 45 degrees clockwise. It is a side view which shows the body which was balanced in the same state. It is a side view of the state where the vertical thruster is further rotated by 45 °. It is a side view which shows the body which was balanced in the same state. It is a side view which shows the body made into the downward attitude | position in the same state. It is a side view which illustrates the attitude | position change mechanism of a vertical thruster. It is a side view of the state which rotated the vertical thruster counterclockwise. It is a side view which shows the body which was balanced in the same state.

Explanation of symbols

10 Unmanned Submersible 13 Aircraft 17 Vertical Thruster 18 Horizontal Thruster

Claims (3)

In the unmanned underwater vehicle that is equipped with a multi-several of thrusters on the body,
A plurality of types of thrusters are provided with a horizontal thruster that generates thrust in the longitudinal direction of the aircraft, and a vertical thruster that can rotate around a rotation shaft in the left-right direction and can change the thrust generation direction around the rotation shaft. And
Vary the center of gravity position of the I Ri machine body attitude change of the vertical thrusters, as a result to tilt the aircraft in the vertical plane, the center of gravity of the vertical thruster in a vertical plane is deviated from the axis of the rotating shaft position An unmanned submersible characterized in that it is arranged in The unmanned submersible according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the center of gravity of the airframe moves forward of the airframe when the vertical thruster posture is maintained such that the thrust generation direction of the vertical thruster is the front-rear direction . The unmanned submersible according to claim 1 , wherein the horizontal thruster and the vertical thruster are disposed at positions shifted from each other in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the aircraft.

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