TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the technical field of unmanned vehicle, and more specifically, to a self-righting unmanned vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Robot technology has developed rapidly in recent years. A large number of unmanned devices, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned cars and unmanned vehicles, which are adapted for use in different environments, have not yet been widely applied for civil use due to technical and other restrictions. By taking unmanned vehicles as an example, most of the existing unmanned vehicles are used for military purposes to complete, for example, investigation tasks, remote attack tasks and so on. Also, some are applied in scientific research, such as ocean data monitoring, experimental sample collection and so on. Industrially, some are used for remote maintenance of certain underwater equipment, industrial exploitation and so on. Their civil applications still remain limited. Currently, in addition to those unmanned vehicles for entertainment purposes, unmanned vehicles for actual work are demanded increasingly in the civil market, therefore, the requirements for unmanned vehicles become higher and higher.

In the process of its actual work, an unmanned vehicle may often capsize (i.e. the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state) due to the working environment (e.g., strong wind and waves), the overspeed when the unmanned vehicle is turning or other reasons. If the unmanned vehicle is righted manually (by adjusting the unmanned vehicle from the overturned state to the normal state), much time and effort will be invested to do so. Furthermore, when a propeller keeps working for a long time in the case of capsizing, this will result in the waste of the energy of the unmanned vehicle; and on the other hand, damage is also caused to the propeller motor by the prolonged idling of the propeller.

Hence, there is an urgent necessity for a solution concerning a novel self-righting unmanned vehicle simple in structure, easy in maintenance and great in reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, the present application provides in the embodiments a self-righting unmanned vehicle and a submersible, which at least partially solves the problem existing in the prior art.

The present application provides in the embodiments a self-righting unmanned vehicle, comprising:

a cavity, located at a first side of the hull of the unmanned vehicle;

a sealed cavity, located at a second side of the hull of the unmanned vehicle and provided, in parallel to the cavity, in a head region of the hull; and

a first propeller, provided in a tail intersection region of a normal waterline with an inversion waterline of the unmanned vehicle, and rotating in a reverse direction when the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the first propeller is located at the first side of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises:

a second propeller, located at the second side of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises:

a buoyancy accessory, provided at the second side of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the first propeller comprises a screw propeller and a first channel in cooperation with the first screw propeller.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the first propeller further comprises a screw propeller shield, an tail end of the first channel being connected with the screw propeller shield.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the first channel and a rotation plane of the first screw propeller form a preset angle.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the preset angle ranges from 30 to 60 degrees.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises:

a sensing device, detecting whether the unmanned vehicle is in the overturned state.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises:

a control device, controlling the first screw propeller to reverse-rotate when the unmanned vehicle is in the overturned state.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the sensing device is further used to detect whether the second propeller is above the water surface.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the control device controls the second propeller to stop rotating when the second propeller is above the water surface.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the second propeller stops rotating when the unmanned vehicle is in the overturned state.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the control device transmits to an unmanned vehicle controller information about the overturning of the unmanned vehicle detected by the sensing device.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the control device receives propeller control instructions transmitted by the unmanned vehicle controller and controls, based on the control instructions, operation of the first and second propellers.

The present application provides in the embodiments a self-righting unmanned vehicle, comprising: a hull; and a first propeller, provided in a tail intersection region of a normal waterline with an inversion waterline of the hull of the unmanned vehicle, and configured to rotate in a forward direction and then rotate in a reverse direction when the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises a cavity, located at a first side of the hull of the unmanned vehicle, wherein the first propeller is located at the first side of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises a sealed cavity, located at a second side of the hull of the unmanned vehicle, the cavity and the sealed cavity are provided in a head region of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises: a second propeller, located at the second side of the hull; and a buoyancy accessory, provided at the second side of the hull.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the self-righting unmanned vehicle further comprises: a sensing device configured to detect whether the unmanned vehicle is in the overturned state; and a control device, communicating with the sensing device and configured to control the first propeller to rotate in a forward direction for a predetermined time and then rotate in a reverse direction when the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state, until the unmanned vehicle is turned over.

According to one specific mode of implementation of the embodiments of the present application, the second propeller is configured to stop rotating when the second propeller is above the water surface.

The present application provides in the embodiments a method for controlling an unmanned vehicle, the unmanned vehicle comprising a hull and a first propeller provided in a tail intersection region of a normal waterline with an inversion waterline of the hull of the unmanned vehicle, the method comprising: detecting whether the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state; and controlling the first propeller to rotate in a forward direction and then rotate in a reverse direction when the unmanned vehicle is in an overturned state, until the unmanned vehicle is turned over.

In regard to the self-righting unmanned vehicle provided in the embodiments of the present application, the cavity and the sealed cavity are arranged at the both sides of the unmanned vehicle, respectively, such that water entering the cavity can be used to enable the unmanned vehicle, when capsized, to be in an inclined state of sinking at the first side while rising at the second side; and the first propeller provided at the tail intersection region of the normal waterline with the inversion waterline of the unmanned vehicle is used to perform a reverse rotation operation, such that the unmanned vehicle can quickly perform a self-righting operation.

