Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6174209
-
Patent Number
6,174,209
-
Date Filed
Friday, November 26, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, January 16, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 114 312
- 114 313
- 114 315
- 114 337
- 114 338
- 440 125
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
The amphibious robot mine locator may be used in water-based and land-based environments to locate mines and other hazards. In a water-based environment a diver controls movement of the amphibious robot mine locator. In a land-based environment movement of the mine locator is via remote control. Mine locator includes a pair of oppositely rotating propellers which propel the mine locator through the water with a ruder being provided to control the direction of movement of amphibious robot mine locator as it travels through the water. There is also a control panel which includes the controls for allowing the diver to steer amphibious robot mine locator and control the depth of mine locator. When amphibious robot mine locator switches to a land-based mode of operation, the propellers function as wheels rotating in the same direction to move amphibious robot mine locator along a programmed path to continue its search for mines and other obstacles and hazards. The amphibious robot mine locator also has a pair of air operated pulsating blisters which allow for essentially frictionless movement across the grounds surface irregardless of the shape of the surface. Each blister has a contact surface located on its underside which is fabricated from a material which is flexible and has a hard surface that will not scratch, such as Teflon. The flexibility of the contact surface of each blister allows the blister to travel over irregular shaped objects such as rocks since the contact surface conforms to the shape of the irregular shaped object.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for locating man-made objects buried underground. More particularly, the present invention relates to an amphibious robot mine locator which is adapted for use in water-based and land-based environments to locate man objects such as mines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Military landings on a beach in war time face significant hazards and obstructions such as buried mines and other anti-landing craft traps. This hazards and obstructions are either located in shallow water near the beach or on the beach. Presently, military personnel, such as the U.S. Navy's Seals are dispatched prior to the landings to clear the shallow water and beach of the obstructions and hazards. However, there are great personal risk associated with the removal of these obstructions and hazards. For example, a mine may detonate when the mine is being de-activated, thus seriously injuring the individual attempting to de-activate the mine. In addition, there may be enemy troops in the general area of the landing site which could lead to the death or capture of the military personnel attempting to clear the landing site of land mines and other hazards.
In the past the military would use, for example, metal detectors to detect the presence of mines. New technologies including ground-penetrating radar, infrared imaging, X-ray backscatter techniques and thermal neutron activation are available for detection of antipersonnel mines and the like. However, there is still a need to use military personnel to locate and de-activate the mines which places these individuals at great risk.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop an apparatus which eliminates or substantially reduces the risk to military personnel task with locating and de-activating mines and other hazards prior to a landing of troops from ocean-going vessels
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The amphibious robot mine locator which constitutes the present invention overcomes some of the deficiencies of the prior art including those mentioned above in that it comprises a highly effective yet modestly priced apparatus which may be used in water-based and land-based environments to locate man objects such as mines. In a water-based environment a diver controls movement of the amphibious robot mine locator. In a land-based environment movement of the amphibious robot mine locator is via remote control. Amphibious robot mine locator includes a pair of oppositely turning and oppositely pitched propellers which propel the amphibious robot mine locator through the water with a ruder being provided to control the direction of movement of amphibious robot mine locator as it travels through the water. There is also a control panel which includes the controls for allowing the diver to steer amphibious robot mine locator and control the depth of mine locator.
When amphibious robot mine locator switches to a land-based mode of operation, the propellers function as wheels rotating in the same direction to move amphibious robot mine locator along a programmed path to continue its search for mines and other obstacles and hazards. The amphibious robot mine locator also has a pair of air operated pulsating blisters which allow for essentially frictionless movement across the surface of the ground irregardless of the shape of the surface. Each blister has a contact surface located on its underside which is fabricated from a material which is flexible and has a hard surface that will not scratch, such as Teflon. The flexibility of the contact surface of each blister allows the blister to travel over irregular shaped objects such as rocks since the contact surface conforms to the shape of the irregular shaped object.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a plane view illustrating the operational modes of the amphibious robot mine locator which constitutes the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a top view of the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a side view of the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
front end view of the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 5
is a detailed plane view of the propellers for the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 6
is an end view of one of the blade tips of the propellers illustrated in
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 7
is a view in section of one of the blisters for the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
when the blister is in contact with a rough surface;
FIG. 8
is a bottom view of the blisters for the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
when the blister is in contact with a rough surface;
FIG. 9
is a view in section of one of the blisters for the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
when the blister is in contact with a smooth surface;
FIG. 10
is a bottom view of the blisters for the amphibious robot mine locator illustrated in
FIG. 1
when the blister is in contact with a smooth surface;
FIG. 11
is a waveform illustrating the natural pitching frequency of the amphibious robot mine locator of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 12
is a waveform illustrating the impulse frequency of the blisters for the amphibious robot mine locator of
FIG. 1
; and
FIG. 13
illustrates a test configuration for determining the design parameters for the blisters of the amphibious robot mine locator of FIG.
1
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to
FIG. 1
, there is shown a diver
22
using an amphibious robot mine locator
20
to propel himself through the water along path
24
towards beach
32
. Diver
22
follows path
24
near the ocean's bottom in an attempt to locate mines or other hazards and obstacles which would prevent landing craft from reaching beach
32
safely, that is without injury to the personnel on board the landing craft.
When diver
22
is near the shoreline, diver
22
separates from amphibious robot mine locator
20
, heading away from beach
32
toward the ship from which amphibious robot mine locator
20
was launched as indicated by path
26
. Amphibious robot mine locator
20
proceeds along path
24
until the propellers
38
and
42
(
FIG. 2
) of mine locator
20
engage the ocean floor
58
(
FIG. 3
) which occurs at a shallow water location
28
. Amphibious robot mine locator
20
then rotates ninety degrees (as indicated by arrow
30
) proceeding towards the shoreline along path
24
. When amphibious robot mine locator
20
reaches beach
32
, mine locator
20
makes a ninety degree turn proceeding along the beach
32
as it continues its search for mines or other hazards and obstacles to a landing by military personnel.
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
,
3
and
4
, amphibious robot mine locator
20
includes a housing or main body
36
which has a rudder
56
pivotally mounted on a top portion of housing
36
. Rudder
56
assist diver
22
to steer mine locator
20
along path
24
until diver
22
separates from mine locator
20
in the manner depicted in FIG.
1
. Housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
also has a control panel
46
which includes the controls for allowing diver
22
to steer mine locator
20
and control the depth of mine locator
20
.
Attached to the back side of housing
36
is a diver tow disconnect fin structure
34
. Fin structure
34
includes a pair of triggers (one trigger
35
is illustrated in
FIG. 3
) which diver
22
pulls to detach fin structure
34
from housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
prior to diver
22
returning to his vessel. Detachment of fin structure
34
by diver
22
activates a heading hold mode of operation for mine locator
20
, which results in rudder
56
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
holding mine locator
20
to a fixed heading along path
24
until mine locator
20
reaches beach
32
.
Attached to the front of housing
36
is propeller
42
, while the back side of housing
36
has propeller
38
attached thereto. When amphibious robot mine locator
20
is an underwater environment prior to mine locator
20
rotating ninety degrees, propeller
42
rotates in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow
44
, while propeller
38
rotates in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by arrow
40
. This results in a neutrally buoyant vehicle without torque being applied to amphibious robot mine locator
20
.
When amphibious robot mine locator
20
arrives at location
28
, propellers
38
and
42
engage the ocean floor
58
turning mine locator
20
ninety degrees in the counter clockwise direction until propellers
38
and
42
align with the direction of path
24
. Propellers
38
and
42
now function as wheels rotating in the same direction clockwise direction to move mine locator
20
forward along path
24
.
When propellers
38
and
42
engage the ocean floor
42
, the resulting rotation of mine locator
20
by ninety degrees is sensed by a compass and yaw rate gyro (not shown) on board mine locator
20
. This sensing of the ninety degree rotation of mine locator
20
initiates a change in direction for propeller
42
so that each propeller
38
and
42
is rotating in the same direction.
Housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
also has a video camera
48
mounted on board for recording video data as amphibious robot mine locator
20
travels along path
24
. An infrared camera may also be mounted on board housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
for recording mine location and other data at night or under adverse weather conditions.
Housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
includes a GPS navigation system (not illustrated) which is activated when amphibious robot mine locator
20
is operating in a land based mode, that is amphibious robot mine locator
20
is on the beach
32
. Amphibious robot mine locator
20
communicates with a remote station via an RF (radio frequency) link which includes a radio frequency antenna (not illustrated). The antenna allows for the transmission of mine and obstacle location data to the remote station as well for the transmission of coordinate information to amphibious robot mine locator
20
to direct mine locator
20
in a programmed search pattern as mine locator
20
continues along path
24
across beach
32
.
Although not illustrated, amphibious robot mine locator
20
may use any of several technologies to locate mines buried underground including ground-penetrating radar, infrared imaging, X-ray backscatter techniques and the like.
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
,
5
and
6
, housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
has a two-wheel independent drive system which includes propellers
38
and
42
which also function as wheels when amphibious robot mine locator
20
operates in a land based mode. Propellers
38
and
42
are directly connected to individual permanent magnet sealed motors (not illustrated) which are driven differentially to provide steering for amphibious robot mine locator
20
.
As shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, each propeller
38
and
42
comprises a hub
60
which has attached thereto a plurality of blades
64
,
66
,
68
,
70
,
72
,
74
,
76
,
78
,
80
,
82
, and
84
. Each blade
64
,
66
,
68
,
70
,
72
,
74
,
76
,
78
,
80
,
82
, and
84
is fabricated from a semi-flexible material such as hard rubber. This allows the blades of each propeller
38
and
42
to flex, which provides traction on a variety of surfaces such as ocean floor
58
and beach
32
. When operating on land the flexible material used to fabricate the blades of propellers
38
and
42
allows the blades to adapt to rocks and also grip softer surfaces such as mud and sand. Attached to the end of each blade
64
,
66
,
68
,
70
,
72
,
74
,
76
,
78
,
80
,
82
, and
84
is a blade tip
86
which enlarges that portion of the blade which is in contact with ocean floor
58
or the sand of beach
32
. The enlarged blade tips, in turn, increase the load bearing surface when amphibious robot mine locator
20
is operating on soft soils such as sand.
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
4
and
7
-
10
, housing
36
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
has a pair of flexible air inflated blisters
52
and
54
which are positioned on the underside of housing
36
. The blisters
52
and
54
function as caster wheels allowing mine locator
20
to turn in different directions along its programmed path
24
when amphibious robot mine locator
20
is operating in a land based mode. Each blisters
52
and
54
has a contact surface
92
which is fabricated from a material which is flexible and has a hard surface that will not scratch, such as TEFLON. The flexibility of surface
92
allows the blister to travel over irregular shaped objects such as rocks since contact surface
92
which is flexible conforms to the shape of the irregular shaped object (as indicated the reference numeral
95
). The pulsation of the contact surface of each blister
52
and
54
allows for an essentially frictionless ride over the surface of beach
32
. Blisters
52
and
54
are pulsed by an oscillating electromagnetic piston (not illustrated) which use air to drive blisters
52
and
54
(as indicated generally by reference
90
). The blisters are driven or pulsed
180
degrees out of phase from each other at a frequency within a frequency range which is from about ten hertz to about twenty hertz. As shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12
, the impulse frequency
100
for blisters
52
and
54
generally has a frequency several orders of magnitude greater than the natural pitching frequency
98
of amphibious robot mine locator
20
. The frequency of waveform
100
may be, for example, may be 8-10 times greater than the frequency of waveform
98
.
Referring now to
FIG. 13
, there is shown a simple test setup
102
for determining the design parameters for the blisters
52
and
54
of the amphibious robot mine locator
20
. Test setup
102
includes a table
126
which has test blister
120
engaging its top surface. A dynamic speaker
116
is connected to the test blister
120
via a clamp ring
118
. A variable air pressure supply
106
is connected to dynamic speaker
116
via a pipe
112
. A variable frequency power source
104
is connected to dynamic speaker
116
via wires
108
and
110
. The test setup includes a weight
144
which is located on top of dynamic speaker
116
and a flexible wire
128
which is used to connect to dynamic speaker
116
. A pulley
130
engages flexible wire
128
allowing weight
132
to fall moving along the top surface of table
126
. A guide
122
is provided to guide blister
120
along the top surface of table
126
. Guide
122
is engaged by a guide member
124
attached to dynamic speaker
116
. The combination of variable frequency power source
104
and variable air pressure supply
106
along with dynamic speaker
116
generate the pulsating air required to test blister
120
as blister travels across the top surface of table
126
. The results of these test may be used by the designer to optimize the performance of blister
120
.
From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that the present invention comprises a new, unique, and exceedingly amphibious robot mine locator, which constitutes a considerable improvement over the known prior art. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
Claims
- 1. An amphibious robot mine locator for detecting mines in an underwater environment and a ground-based environment, said amphibious robot mine locator being adapted for use by a diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment, said amphibious robot mine locator comprising:a main body; drive means for propelling said main body through said underwater environment and for propelling said main body along a programmed path when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment; first steering means for steering said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment; second steering means for steering said main body along said programmed path and for providing substantially frictionless movement over surface having irregular shaped objects when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment; and monitoring means mounted on said main body for recording image data indicating a location each of said mines located by said amphibious robot mine locator.
- 2. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 further comprising a diver tow disconnect fin structure attached to said main body, said diver tow disconnect fin structure being adapted to tow said diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment and to disconnect from said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment.
- 3. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a pair of propellers, a first of said propellers being rotatably mounted on one side of said main body and a second of said propellers being rotatably mounted on an opposite side of said main body.
- 4. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 wherein said first steering means comprises a rudder pivotally mounted on a top portion of said main body.
- 5. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 wherein said second steering means comprises a pair of air operated pulsating blisters mounted on an underside of said main body, said pair of air operated pulsating blisters being pulsed 180 degrees out of phase from each other at a frequency which is within a frequency range of from about ten hertz to about twenty hertz.
- 6. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 wherein monitoring means comprises a video camera.
- 7. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 1 wherein monitoring means comprises an infrared camera.
- 8. An amphibious robot mine locator for detecting mines in an underwater environment and a ground-based environment, said amphibious robot mine locator being adapted for use by a diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment, said amphibious robot mine locator comprising:a main body; a pair of propellers for propelling said main body through said underwater environment and for propelling said main body along a programmed path when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment, a first of said propellers being rotatably mounted on one side of said main body and a second of said propellers being rotatably mounted on an opposite side of said main body; a ruder pivotally mounted on a top portion of said main body for steering said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment; a pair of air operated pulsating blisters mounted on an underside of said main body for steering said main body along said programmed path and for providing substantially frictionless movement over surface having irregular shaped objects when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment; and a camera mounted on said main body for recording image data indicating a location each of said mines located by said amphibious robot mine locator.
- 9. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 8 further comprising a diver tow disconnect fin structure attached to said main body, said diver tow disconnect fin structure being adapted to tow said diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment and to disconnect from said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment.
- 10. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 8 wherein camera comprises a video camera.
- 11. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 8 wherein camera comprises an infrared camera.
- 12. An amphibious robot mine locator for detecting mines in an underwater environment and a ground-based environment, said amphibious robot mine locator being adapted for use by a diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment, said amphibious robot mine locator comprising:a main body; a pair of propellers for propelling said main body through said underwater environment and for propelling said main body along a programmed path when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment, a first of said propellers being rotatably mounted on one side of said main body and a second of said propellers being rotatably mounted on an opposite side of said main body; a ruder pivotally mounted on a top portion of said main body for steering said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment; a pair of air operated pulsating blisters mounted on an underside of said main body for steering said main body along said programmed path and for providing substantially frictionless movement over surface having irregular shaped objects when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment; each of said air operated pulsating blisters having a contact surface which is fabricated from a flexible scratch resistant material, the flexibility of said contact surface allowing said pair of air operated pulsating blisters to travel over said irregular shaped objects, said pair of air operated pulsating blisters being pulsed 180 degrees out of phase from each other at a frequency which is within a frequency range of from about ten hertz to about twenty hertz; and a camera mounted on said main body for recording image data indicating a location each of said mines located by said amphibious robot mine locator.
- 13. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 12 further comprising a diver tow disconnect fin structure attached to said main body, said diver tow disconnect fin structure being adapted to tow said diver when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating in said underwater environment and to disconnect from said main body when said amphibious robot mine locator is operating on said ground-based environment.
- 14. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 12 wherein said flexible scratch resistant material comprises TEFLON.
- 15. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 12 wherein camera comprises a video camera.
- 16. The amphibious robot mine locator of claim 12 wherein camera comprises an infrared camera.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
34 30 498 |
Jun 1998 |
DE |