Hydroplaning unmanned surface vehicle

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST

0001The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without payment of any royalties thereon or therefore.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002The present invention relates to unmanned vehicles, and more particularly to unmanned surface vehicles (USV) designed for use in rough or calm bodies of water.

0003Unmanned air, ground and underwater vehicles have been developed that perform numerous tasks and have proven extremely useful. However, USVs have not been developed to the same extent.

0004Littoral areas of operation may be denied, inaccessible or too hazardous to operate in with manned ships. Properly designed USVs could make these areas accessible for operation. No multimission USV has been developed that can operate for extended periods of time, in different sea conditions with numerous types of payloads and sensors. The applicants have developed a novel USV system that has the built in flexibility to perform multiple missions for extended periods of time such as mine countermeasure, anti-submarine warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0005An unmanned hydroplaning water surface vehicle having a gondola housing with external lift foils located midway between bow and stern ends and control foils that allow the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) to plane in water at sufficient speed. A superstructure trimaran hull serves as a stable operation platform during low speed maneuvers or at rest. The superstructure hull includes command and control systems that make the USV capable of remote, semi-autonomous or fully autonomous operations. A plurality of mission specific payloads and sensors are dispersed in the superstructure and gondola to allow for various types of missions. A strut connects the gondola housing and the superstructure hull as sections of the vehicle, as well as provide for the passage of a plurality of transmission and control lines between such sections. A rudder is mounted on the strut at the stern end of the gondola housing above a propeller associated with its propulsion system.

0006For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0007<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a perspective view of the unmanned surface vehicle of the present invention.

0008<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a front view of the unmanned surface vehicle of the present invention.

0009<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a top view of the unmanned surface vehicle of the present invention.

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a side view of the unmanned surface vehicle of the present invention.

0011<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> is a cut away side view illustrating the layout of components in the unmanned surface vehicle of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

0012Referring now to the example of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the hydroplaning unmanned surface vehicle (USV) <b>100</b> includes three main sections; a single gondola housing <b>102</b>, a strut <b>118</b>, and a superstructure hull <b>122</b>. The gondola housing <b>102</b> is connected to the superstructure hull <b>122</b> by the strut <b>118</b>. The USV <b>100</b> is designed to be stable in rough seas when the craft is stationary or moving at low speeds. Once the USV <b>100</b> begins moving at high speeds, mid foils <b>104</b> located midway between bow and stern of the gondola housing <b>102</b> and aft foils <b>106</b> lift the gondola housing <b>102</b> of the USV <b>100</b> up to a waterline <b>105</b> reducing waterplane area.

0013The gondola housing <b>102</b> preferably includes a ducted propeller <b>108</b> and a pair of the mid lift foils <b>104</b> and a pair of the aft lift foils <b>106</b>. A propulsion motor <b>110</b>, diagrammed in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, drives the ducted propeller <b>108</b> to provide thrust to the USV <b>100</b>. Many different types of payloads may be carried in a bay with retractable doors (not shown) in the gondola housing <b>102</b>. For example, the USV <b>100</b> may be outfitted as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, with a winch <b>114</b> and a towed minehunting sonar system <b>112</b>. The placement of the towed system <b>112</b> is designed to be inline with a thrust vector <b>111</b> along the centerline of the USV <b>100</b>. In another embodiment the gondola housing <b>102</b> may include a sonar and sonar dome <b>116</b> as shown in FIG. <b>4</b>. The lifting foils <b>104</b> and <b>106</b> attached to the gondola housing <b>102</b> provide roll, pitch, sinkage control. Sinkage is defined as the distance <b>103</b> between a baseline <b>106</b> and the waterline <b>105</b>. The mid foils <b>104</b>, located amidship, can be independently controlled to provide the necessary roll and sinkage control. The aft foils <b>106</b> move jointly to control the pitch and sinkage of the USV <b>100</b>. Once the USV <b>100</b> reaches approximately 15 knots, the foils <b>104</b> and <b>106</b> provide enough lift so that the gondola housing <b>102</b> will plane to the waterline <b>105</b> lifting the superstructure hull <b>122</b> out of the water.

0014As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the vertical strut <b>118</b> mounts a rudder <b>120</b> for both low and high speed control. To reduce drag caused by the submerged strut <b>118</b> and the gondola housing <b>102</b>, it is preferable to provide the strut <b>118</b> with a fairing surface <b>119</b> as illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, to provide a smooth transition for the interface between the strut <b>118</b> and the gondola housing <b>102</b>. The fairing surface <b>119</b> establishes filleting transition boundaries between the strut <b>118</b> and the gondola housing <b>102</b>. A number of passages for transmission and control lines extend through the strut <b>118</b> to permit electrical power, control signals, data signals and mechanical linkages to be sent between the gondola housing <b>102</b> and the superstructure hull <b>122</b>.

0015As illustrated in the example of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the superstructure hull <b>122</b> is a trimaran configuration that will provide excellent stability in rough seas. The starboard outrigger side of the hull <b>122</b> houses a fuel tank <b>124</b>, deployable payloads bay <b>130</b> a port outrigger housed fuel tank <b>126</b> as diagrammed in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, and deployable payloads bay <b>132</b> as diagrammed in FIG. <b>2</b>. The starboard payload bay <b>130</b> and the port payload bay <b>132</b> may be configured to accommodate numerous types of equipment such as torpedoes, sonobuoys, mine countermeasure devices, semi-autonomous undersea vehicles of fully autonomous undersea vehicles. Such configurable payload bays <b>130</b> and <b>132</b> make the USV <b>100</b> very flexible and capable of performing numerous types of missions.

0016As shown in the example of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, the center portion of the superstructure hull <b>122</b> includes a generator <b>128</b> as a source of power for propulsion and various types of electronic equipment. By operating on the surface of the water, the USV <b>100</b> is able to utilize a conventional type of power source <b>128</b>, such as diesel or gas turbine engines. This allows for up to several weeks of operational life.

0017The superstructure hull <b>122</b> houses most of the command, control and communication systems for the USV <b>100</b>. The superstructure hull <b>122</b> includes cabinets <b>134</b> and <b>136</b> for electronic equipment and various types of sensors (including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance or ISR sensors). A cabinet <b>138</b> for communications as shown in the example of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is also provided. In the preferred embodiment the satellite communications cabinet <b>138</b> would be housed under a radome. The USV <b>100</b> would preferably be able to communicate to any combination of surface vessels, aircraft, or satellites as well as undersea assets. The electronic equipment in the cabinet <b>134</b> includes, command and control modules to permit autonomous, semi-autonomous or remote operation of the USV <b>100</b>. The command and control techniques are similar to those employed in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Additionally, the electronic equipment would interface with the sensors in the cabinet <b>136</b> to analyze possible threats and to take the appropriate action. The superstructure hull <b>122</b> preferably is of low profile to reduce signatures and to increase intact hydrostatic stability.

0018In operation the USV <b>100</b> would be assigned to perform one of its primary missions such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasure (MCM) or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Insertion into areas where there is threat of nuclear, biological or chemical agents is even possible. The USV <b>100</b> would be able to remain at a location for up to several weeks without resupply as it utilizes conventional power sources instead of mission limiting power supplies such as batteries.

0019The USV <b>100</b> could perform either alone or as part of a squadron of the USVs <b>100</b> to accomplish the missions identified. As part of a squadron the USVs <b>100</b> would be able to rapidly deploy at speeds up to 35 knots and patrol in a grid over a large area. Then the USV <b>100</b> could deploy a plurality of smaller unmanned undersea vehicles (USVs) from the payload bays <b>130</b> and <b>132</b> to provide extensive coverage within the grid. The USV <b>100</b> would then serve as a tender and communications hub for the USVs to collate data and transmit information to a central location for processing the data from the squadron. Additionally, it would be possible to have the USVs determine various courses of action such as mine or submarine neutralization independently or to wait for instructions. By operating in this manner the USV <b>100</b> could clear an area of threats prior to manned ships transiting the area.

0020While there have been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.