Propulsion and Control of long endurance unmanned marine vehicles

长航时无人海上航行器推进与控制

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04434
• 负责人: Bachmayer, Ralf
• 金额: $ 1.63万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=644419
• 关键词: Propulsion; Control; long; endurance; unmanned

Objective*The overarching objective of this program is to enable unmanned marine vehicles to conduct long endurance missions that are currently impossible, due to constraints in available*power and relatively poor propulsion system efficiency. More specifically this research program will focus on the development of*(a) A new generation of highly efficient propulsion systems for small and medium scale surface and underwater vehicles (<1,000kg displacement)*(b) Advanced design and control strategies that take advantage of environmental conditions, such as winds and currents, to significantly enhance the endurance of relatively small unmanned marine vehicles.**Scientific Approach*The approach to be taken for the propulsion system is to combine laboratory experiments, commercially available numerical tools and field evaluations into a closed loop performance optimization system. This approach allows covering a large design space with the necessary confidence in the results, which is being established through a limited but representative series of laboratory and field experiments.*Similarly on a larger scale the usage of existing numerical ocean prediction tools as well as locally sensed environmental factors, i.e. winds and currents, will be used as an input into a control and navigation system for unmanned vehicles in order to compute (a) a feasible and possibly (b) an optimal trajectory to a desired target location or area.**Novelty and Significance*Canada, bordering three oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, has the world's longest coastline. Arctic sovereignty, resource development in the Arctic and Climate change are major issues for Canada, its government, its natural resource sector and to ocean scientists. The ability to efficiently explore, map and monitor our oceans is limited by the available resources. Unmanned and automated systems will play a major role in these tasks. A key to do this is to have systems available that can be easily transported into remote areas and can operate for extended periods of time without the necessity of significant infrastructure.**The proposed research program leverages my experiences and successes of my research with underwater gliders. Gliders have an endurance of up to 6 months and can cover distances exceeding 1000km. However this comes at the cost of very limited sensor packages and slow speed. Learning from the commercial and scientific successes of ocean gliders and their significant limitations, one realizes that propulsion is the major power drain of these types vehicles and therefore has a significant impact on overall endurance and range. This holds true for most if not all electrically powered vehicles. By developing a more efficient propulsion system, smaller vehicles, for the surface and underwater, will become more capable and will be able to stay out longer to explore, map or monitor remote areas. Combining the efficient design with control strategies that take currents and winds into account will further improve the endurance and will help to establish a more sustainable remote presence in these harsh environments.

目标*该计划的总体目标是使无人海上车辆能够执行目前由于可用*功率限制和相对较差的推进系统效率而不可能完成的长航时任务。更具体地说，该研究计划将重点开发*(a)用于中小型水面和水下航行器（<1,000公斤排水量）的新一代高效推进系统*(b)利用风和水流等环境条件的先进设计和控制策略，显着提高相对小型无人海上航行器的续航力。**科学方法*推进系统采取的方法是结合 将实验室实验、市售数值工具和现场评估整合到闭环性能优化系统中。这种方法可以覆盖较大的设计空间，并对结果具有必要的信心，这是通过一系列有限但具有代表性的实验室和现场实验建立的。*类似地，在更大范围内，现有数值海洋预测工具以及本地感知的环境因素（即风和水流）将被用作无人驾驶车辆控制和导航系统的输入，以便计算（a）可行的和可能的（b）最佳的 到达所需目标位置或区域的轨迹。**新颖性和意义*加拿大毗邻太平洋、大西洋和北冰洋三大洋，拥有世界上最长的海岸线。北极主权、北极资源开发和气候变化是加拿大及其政府、自然资源部门和海洋科学家面临的重大问题。有效探索、绘制和监测海洋的能力受到可用资源的限制。无人和自动化系统将在这些任务中发挥重要作用。做到这一点的关键是拥有可以轻松运输到偏远地区并且可以长时间运行而无需大量基础设施的系统。**拟议的研究计划利用了我在水下滑翔机研究中的经验和成功。滑翔机的续航时间长达6个月，飞行距离超过1000公里。然而，这是以非常有限的传感器封装和缓慢的速度为代价的。从海洋滑翔机的商业和科学成功及其重大局限性中汲取教训，人们认识到推进力是此类车辆的主要动力消耗，因此对整体耐久性和航程具有重大影响。这对于大多数（如果不是全部）电动车辆都适用。通过开发更高效的推进系统，用于水面和水下的小型车辆将变得更有能力，并且能够停留更长时间来探索、绘制地图或监控偏远地区。将高效设计与考虑海流和风的控制策略相结合，将进一步提高耐久性，并有助于在这些恶劣的环境中建立更可持续的远程存在。