UNMANNED MINE HUNTERS COUNTERMEASURES AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS SHIPS BOATS

AUTONOMOUS UNMANNED MINE HUNTERS

Autonomous vessels, robotic systems for unmanned endurance blue water persistent duties

PATENT PENDING - Like a spider's web, mines lay in wait for unwary ships and submarines. In peacetime and when at war minefields should be declared. Even so, the task of finding and disposing of mines is a hazardous task, with many such devices are undeclared. The above zero carbon cruiser (ZCC) is believed to be the most advanced persistent mine sweeping surface drone under conceptual development, codenamed: Project Dragonfly.

Thought to be one the most versatile concepts in the ocean world, this truly (energy) self-sufficient, autonomous SWASH hulled vessel may be adapted to many tasks both military and civil, thanks to its modular design.

At the moment Navies (including NATO) deploy underwater drone submarines using hoists and crew, which is not only labour intensive, but also puts human lives at risk. The solution is a Dragonfly ZCC. Once launched, the vessel operates unmanned, reporting data back to operational HQ, which may include hydrographic and oceanographic data and the position of other shipping in the vicinity of sweep, as may present a risk to the ship.

Sensing equipment of various degrees of sensitivity may be deployed, including the automatic launch and recovery of drone ROVs and towed arrays. This being an optional module for naval mine sweepers and other military patrols.

ROBOTIC RELIABILITY

A robotic vessel must be more reliable than ordinary ships at sea. This is especially so of military craft such as submarines.

For an autonomous robot nothing is more important than dependability. Once a system fails there is no human to fix it.

SECONDARY MOTORS

For an ultra reliable autonomous robot boat, we need back-up motors. If one motor set fails, we might engage another set. Compared to the long term energy savings, the additional setup costs are insignificant.

EMERGENCY MOTORS

Where we are cruising at relatively slow speeds, there are times when more power is needed, such as in tidal conditions, to avoid collisions, when docking, or just because we are late. By having the ability to engage and disengage motor sets without mechanical losses from layshafts and bearings, the SolarNavigator can operate at peak efficiency in real time. We cannot show you how we achieve this here because the method is patentable.

STAND BY FAILSAFE

Should any one configuration fail, the proposed transmission design will allow several options to keep the craft powered with a greater degree of flexibility than most boats suffer when running as intended.

A BLOCK GRAPH USED TO ESTIMATE MOTOR COMBINATIONS WITH FAIL SAFES

V	RPM	3:1	knts	4:1	knts	5:1	knots	6:1	knts	7:1	knts	8:1	knts	9:1	knts	Eff%
12	1,000	333	4	250	3	200	2.4	166	2	143	1.7	125	1.5	111	1.33	25
18	1,500	500	6	375	4.5	300	3.6	250	3	214	2.5	187	2.25	166	2	37
24	2,000	666	8	500	6	400	4.8	333	4	286	3.4	250	3	222	2.66	50
30	2,500	832	10	625	7.5	500	6	416	5	357	4.2	312	3.75	277	3.33	62
36	3,000	1000	12	750	9	600	7.2	500	6	428	5.1	375	4.5	333	4	75
42	3,500	1165	14	875	10.5	700	8.4	583	7	500	6	437	5.25	388	4.66	88
48	4,000	1332	16	1000	12	800	9.6	666	8	571	6.8	500	6	444	5.33	92
54	4,500	1498	18	1125	13.5	900	10.8	750	9	642	7.6	562	6.75	500	6	-
60	5,000	1665	20	1250	15	1000	12	833	10	714	8.5	625	7.5	555	6.66	-
66	5,500	1830	22	1375	16.5	1100	13.2	917	11	785	9.3	687	8.25	610	7.32	-
72	6,000	2000	24	1500	18	1200	14.4	1000	12	856	10.1	750	9.0	666	7.98	-
Motor/Kw Config		60Kw (80.4hp)		40Kw (53.6hp)		30Kw (40.2hp)		20Kw (26.8hp)		15Kw (20.1hp)		10Kw (13.3hp)		7.5Kw (10.0hp)

BMS LTD LICENSING

BMS have acquired the rights to this patent applied for technology. We are likely to be granting licenses in respect of the above innovations to appropriate developers, along with conceptual development support consultancy. In addition we are preparing improvement specifications for filing at a time to suit stakeholders, such that world patent protection is obtained at a time to coincide with new product launches. This may not be necessary or desirable where military confidentiality is an issue. Contact us in confidence to discuss your needs and strategy.

Should a licensing partner wish BMS Ltd to conduct specific development or tests for them, we might begin at 1/20th scale, to ensure that a full size vessel will behave as per the above illustrations - and if required - conduct full size ocean trials. Alternatively, a/any licensing partner might conduct tests themselves on alternative designs based on the concept. The illustration given here is merely a useful starting point.

UK IPO - PATENT OFFICE GB2511731

ESPACENET

COMMERCIAL DRONE - Rolls Royce have developed (or are developing) a system for unmanned cargo ships, but their technology is not yet compliant with international regulations, or it may be that they could be in the future, but that international regulations need to be given a shove to approve such a system to allow fleet operators to progress. In this artists impression of a tanker, there are no energy harvesting devices, though RR have done some work on foil wave energy propulsion with grants from the TSB, aiming to reduce fuel costs - hence clean up the emissions of any vessel so equipped.