The present invention relates to motorized buoy remotely controllable through the Internet using a wireless cellular signal and a designated website.
In the field of sailboat racing a designated course is set up prior to the race using a number of different buoys. During the course of the race the boats are expected to sail around the buoys in a particular order, concluding the rate at a finish line buoy defined by an invisible line between the finish line buoy and a race committee boat or race committee location such as a dock, if the race committee is located on land. During the process of setting up the buoys to defined the course, the buoys are often placed by using work boats that drive to a designated location and then release or anchor the racing buoy in place. As a result the buoys are often placed out on the course hours before the race starts. In the case of regattas (i.e. engthy events where multiple races are held in a single day or days) the buoys can be out almost a half day before the final races start. Many types of races involve trying to place the buoys at a Windward and Leeward directions relative to the race committee position. However during the course of the day wind direction is constantly changing and will require the buoys to be repositioned manually by the persons on the work boats. It is desirable to reduce the time between course set up and the start of the race. It is also desirable to provide a system that will eliminate the need to manually reposition the buoys for a race.
Also in the maritime field navigational charts of bodies of water help boat operators know the approximate depth of the water at a specific latitude and longitude. However many navigational charts rely on old data, which at times can be decades if not centuries old. Also some bodies of water have never been charted and have no navigational charts. The reason for the outdated or on charted bodies of water is that it often times takes a large amount of resources to chart a body of water. Historically this was done by a charting boat surveying a body of water or a portion of a body of water, wherein the crew of the charting boat would take depth measurements a different points. More modern navigational charts are prepared using sonar technology where bodies of water are mapped by a sonar boat which requires a boat or vessel with a crew to navigate the body of water and collect the needed data from a sonar connected to the boat. For smaller bodies of water the above approaches are not always practical due to the expense and time needed to map the body of water, therefore navigational charts are sometimes unavailable. It is therefore desirable to develop new systems for charting bodies of water that do not require as many resources as the more traditional methods.
A programmable buoy system having one or more buoys capable of connecting through the internet to a buoy command server hosting a buoy command website. The buoy command server relays commands to each of the one or more buoys in response to user commands sent from a buoy command interface application on a mobile device or computer. The programmable buoy system includes one or more buoys each having a hull with two or more pontoons, where the hull has a top side and bottom side. A stationary rudder extends downward from the bottom side of the hull to be positioned in a body of water when the one or more buoys are in use. A motor is pivotably connected on each one or more buoys, wherein the motor has a propeller positioned away from the bottom side of the hull. The propeller and motor move one or more buoys in the body of water.
Each of the one or more buoys includes electronic hardware that allows for autonomous and wireless operation of each buoy. The hardware on each buoy includes a global positioning controller, a computer with a wireless internet communicator and a power source. The global positioning controller is connected to the motor and has a communication port, wherein the global controller uses a global positioning system to navigate the buoy to one or more waypoints in response to a command received at the communication port of the global positioning controller. The global positioning controller also controls the movement of the select one of one or more buoys to maintain position at the one or more waypoints.
The computer has a wireless internet communicator that provides an Internet connection using a wireless network. The computer is hard wired to the communication port of the global positioning controller so that the computer connects to the Internet through the wireless internet communicator and receives one or waypoints through the Internet from the buoy command website. The one or more waypoints are stored by the computer and then inputted in a desired sequential order through the communication port to the global positioning controller. The computer also receives current buoy location information from the global positioning controller in the form of current latitude and current longitude readings so that the computer will monitor when the buoy is at the one or more waypoints. The current latitude and current longitude readings are then communicated to the buoy command website so that the user can see current latitude and current longitude readings for the buoy on the buoy command interface application. A power source is connected to the computer, motor and global positioning controller to supply power to all of the components.
The programmable buoy system further includes the buoy command server connected to the Internet for hosting the buoy command website used to register the one or more buoys belonging to the user and allows the user to relay the one or more waypoints to each of the one or more buoys. The buoy command server hosts many buoy command websites for different users. The relaying of the one or more waypoints is accomplished by using the buoy command website to transmit the one or more waypoints to the computer through the Internet using the wireless internet communicator and the mobile network.
The programmable buoy system further includes a buoy command application on a mobile device or a personal computer that connects to the buoy command website on the buoy command server, wherein the buoy command application is used to communicate the one or more waypoints to the buoy command website.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Extending from the top side 32 is a flag mount 42 formed on or connected to the housing 40 that is used to hold a flag 44 that extends upward from the buoy 12, 12′ in order to make the buoy 12, 12′ more visible to other watercraft. The flag 44 also serves a purpose in sailboat racing since the boat participating in the race must round the buoy 12, 12′ during the race. For a racing sailboat the location of the buoy is necessary in order to determine a proper course for sailing to the buoy 12, 12′.
Referring now to
The motor housing 52, propeller 54 and actuator 47 provide a significant amount of weight located beneath the bottom side 34 of the buoy 12, 12′. This distribution of weight helps to provide stability to the buoys 12, 12′ when encountering waves on a body of water or other forms of instability. The stability is attributable to what is referred to as the ratio of maximum motor height to buoy height. This is shown in
It is also within the scope of this invention for the buoy 12, 12′ to have a vessel volume calculated by multiplying the distance from the bottom of the pontoons 36, 36′ to the top of the deck 38, by the length of the pontoons 36, 36′ multiplied by the width of the buoy measuring from the outer side of one pontoon 36 to the outer side of the other pontoon 36′. Depending on a particular application the buoys 12, 12′ will have different vessel volumes however is within the scope of this invention for the buoy 12, 12′ to have a vessel volume of one of the following: less than 0.90 m3, less than 0.80 m3, less than 0.70 m3, less than 0.60 m3, less than 0.50 m3, and less than 0.40 m3. The significance of the vessel volume and the ratio of maximum motor height to the buoy height helps to quantify the factors that promote the stability and maneuverability of the buoy 12, 12′. Placing the motor 48 so far beneath the bottom surface of the buoy 12, 12′ helps the buoy maintain its position and prevents capsizing since the source of propulsion for the buoy and a significant amount of weight is located well underneath the buoy 12, 12′. When considering the distance of the propeller 54 to the buoy height and buoy volume, the buoy 12, 12′ has unique advantages over many other watercraft. For example if the motor 46 was connected to a shaft 48 on a much larger boat, for example a fishing boat the motor would have to be 2 or 3 times deeper below the bottom surface of the vessel to achieve the same stability.
As shown in
In order to steer or drive the buoy 12, 12′ the shaft 48 connected to the motor 46 is able to rotate about the axis of the shaft 48. The pivoting or rotation of the shaft 48 is accomplished by a steering actuator 64 shown in
Referring now to
The computer 60 has a wireless Internet communicator capable of providing the connection to the wireless network 14 described above. The computer 60 is hardwired to the communication port 68 of the global positioning controller 66 by way of the navigational command console 70. The computer 60 transmits and stores desired waypoint commands which can then be expressed in a desired sequence by continuously monitoring and communicating to the GPS controller 60 the current waypoint as well as proceeding to a second waypoint if the current waypoint is reached. Waypoints as used in this invention are defined to be latitude and longitude numbers that are expressed as waypoints and suggested waypoints. Also latitude and longitude is used by the GPS controller 66 to relay actual latitude and longitude positions to the computer 60 by using the communication port 68. How the computer 60 receives waypoint commands will be described in greater detail below.
The motor 46 also has a speed controller 72 which receives speed commands from the computer 60. The speed commands are instructions from the user 22 received by the computer 60 which will be described in greater detail below.
The buoy 12, 12′ also has a power source 74 which in the present application is a 12 V direct-current marine battery. The power source 74 supplies power to the GPS controller 66, command console 70, motor 46, including the steering actuator 64 and vertical actuator 58 all in the form of 12 volt (V) power. The computer 60 receives power from the power source 74 however a 5 volt (V) converter 76 is placed between the power source 74 and the computer 60. The 5 V converter converts the 12 V power to 5 V which is then supplied to the computer 60 by way of a universal serial bus (USB) connection.
The computer 60 has a wireless Internet communicator that is capable of connecting to the Internet through a mobile network 14 to reach the Internet where communication can be made with the buoy command server 16. A user 22 can express one or more desired waypoint commands to the buoy 12, 12′ either using the personal computer 24 connected to the Internet or by using the mobile device 26 having the buoy command interface application 28 operating thereon. The buoy command interface application 28 is a software application that is downloaded and run on the personal computer 24 of mobile device, or it can be uploaded as a web based software interface directly from the buoy command server 16.
Referring now to
The user 22 can command each of the buoys 12, 12′ individually by first selecting the current position first buoy mark 80 (which pertains to one of the buoys 12, 12′) on the map 76 and then selecting a point on the map to set a first selected waypoint 84. A second selected waypoint 86 can also be set, which will cause the selected buoy to first go to the first selected waypoint 84 and then to the second selected waypoint 86 in sequence. It is within the scope of this invention for a greater or lesser number of waypoints to be used. The first selected waypoint 82 and the second selected waypoint 86 are sent through the Internet from the personal computer 24 or mobile device 26, via a wireless or hardwired Internet connection, to the buoy command interface website 20 and then onto the computer 60 located on the buoy using the wireless network 14 connection. An alternate aspect of the invention includes a manual input window 88 located on the map 76 that allows latitude and longitude coordinates to be manually typed in and send as a waypoint for the buoy 12, 12′. Also the manual input window 88 provides speed control setting commands 90 that can be selected to a specific buoy. The speed control setting commands 90 are transmitted to the computer 60 on the buoy 12, 12′ in the same way that the waypoint commands are sent. The computer 60 relays the speed control setting commands directly to the speed control actuator 72.
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Another feature of the buoy command interface application 28 is ability to the mobile device or personal computer to calculated a suggested windward waypoint 94 and suggested leeward waypoint 96. During this calculation an electronic compass application on the personal computer 24 or mobile device 26 is accessed by the buoy command interface application 28 when the user 22 selects a compass reading command 94, which is located in the manual input window 88. Just prior to selected in the compass reading command 94 the user 23 holds the personal computer 24 or mobile device in the direction of the wind so the buoy command interface application 28 will learn the wind direction. The buoy command interface application 28 will then calculate and show the suggested windward waypoint 94 and the suggested leeward waypoint 96 based on pre-input settings for the buoy command interface application. The pre-input settings are setting input by the user 22 with desired distances for the windward and leeward marks relative to the race committee position. The desired distances can be recorded as many different settings for different sailing conditions. For example one setting can be for light wind, which would call for a shorter course, while a second setting can be for heavy wind which would allow for a longer course. The user 22 can select the suggested waypoints or they can be set differently.
An alternative embodiment of the invention shown in
The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/184,474, filed Jun. 25, 2015. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62184474 | Jun 2015 | US |