水中猎手
水中猎手
水中猎手
摘要——HunterwaterTM 是下一代猎雷系统,旨在执行完整的远距猎雷操作。它采用创新的
一体化方法,使用紧凑尺寸的模块化无人水面车辆(USV)安全地执行地雷对策(MCM)
操作。该系统采用新颖的精确声学定位(PAL)概念开发,可以通过牵引遥控车辆
(ROV)、ROVSCAN 和自主杀雷器检测和中和地雷。Hunterwater 的设计和能力避免了使
用多个专用于特定操作阶段的 USV/UUV,就像在当前系统中一样,使其成为制式和非制式
无人猎雷的理想解决方案。Hunterwater 正在开发中,作为 MCM 任务的完整任务紧凑型模块,
计划于 2023 年进行初步海试。
1 Introduction
Unmanned systems offer an extraordinary opportunity to remove personnel from the
minefields at sea and exposure to the dirty, dull and dangerous operations. Unmanned
systems currently developed perform a conventional mine- hunting mission using a set
of vehicles that are dedicated to a specific task of the whole operation.
The new trend towards a MCM toolbox, which is composed of MCM modules that can
be used by different naval platforms in a specific navy or shared by multiple navies, is
also largely supported by unmanned vehicles. MCM modules can be used for organic
and non-organic MCM vehicle operations and have the flexibility and the compactness
to be transported and integrated into a variety of situations.
A specific and important use case is the taxi-USV, where a general-purpose USV hosts
other unmanned sub- modules (e.g. ROV and AUV). In an ideal solution, the USV and
the sub-modules are designed to interface with each other enabling the USV to operate
and enhancing its performance capabilities. For the USV “to operate” means launch, re-
cover and establish a communications link.
1 简介
无人驾驶系统提供了一个非同寻常的机会,可以将人员从海上的雷区移走,并暴
露在肮脏、沉闷和危险的行动中。目前开发的无人系统使用一套车辆执行传统的
猎雷任务,这些车辆专门用于整个行动的特定任务。
实施这种方法确实有其相关困难;例如,USV 和子模块的兼容性,特别是在不同
的生产商之间,可能会产生更大、更复杂的系统。其次,即使在任务期间,USV
也可能需要重新配置,这会影响母舰上处理和存储子模块的运营和后勤效率。
这些操作困难激发了基于特定操作概念(CONOPS)的 Hunterwater 的发展,该概
念允许使用带有专用 ROV 的单个 USV。
With this configuration, the USV system can be used to perform mine-hunting by means
of a specific CONOPS described in the next section. The USV is a Rigid Hull Inflatable
Boat (RHIB), that is 7.5-meters long, with a 4- ton mass, that can operate at a transit
speed of over 18 knots. The waterjet thruster capability provides the control over the
navigation and maneuvering modes of the vehicle which is mainly teleoperated and in-
cludes an autopilot to follow prescribed hunting track, hover and obstacle avoidance.
2 猎人水系统
Hunterwater 系统由一个 USV 平台组成,该平台可以操作名为 ROVSCAN 的 ROV 车辆,并
可以发射几辆名为 VGA 的自主潜航器。ROVSCAN 是一种独特的车辆,能够以连接的 ROV
和牵引扫描方式运行。这种能力允许使用相同的 ROV 来勘测该地区并对水下接触进行检查。
ROVSCAN is connected to the USV by a cable for towing, power supply, communica-
tion&control and the vehicle recovery. Its three active fins are mainly dedicated to the
vehicle control and stabilization in a scanning mode by altitude and attitude, manual or
automatic control. The five thrusters are dedicated to the main propulsion and the the
maneuvers including automatic hovering and tracking functions. Thrusters can also be
used for advanced positioning of the vehicle relative to the USV in scanning mode.
Several sensors on the ROVSCAN allow the vehicle to perform underwater missions of
survey and underwater inspection, they include the sidescan sonar, acoustic camera, HD
camera, doppler velocity log, ultra-sort- baseline and altimeter.
ROVSCAN 上的几个传感器允许车辆执行水下调查和水下检查任务,它们包括侧
轮声纳、声学相机、高清相机、多普勒速度日志、超分拣基线和高度计。
ROVSCAN 的一个具体特征是存储声学标记装备,这是一个圆柱体,安装在车辆
下方,可以包含 4 个单元作为基本容量。该设备的使用与论文下一节中更详细描
述的 PAL 功能有关。
Fig. 2. ROVSCAN and a set of 4 VGAs
The system is controlled by two mission workstations and the radio communication sub-
system installed onboard the mothership.
USV 设备由几个 VGA 完成。这是一辆带有四角推进器的自主水下飞行器
(AUV),作为地雷杀手,并配备了最小的传感器套件,用于自动引导目标:一
个声学定位装置,辅以紧凑的前瞻性声纳和摄像头。
该系统由两个任务工作站和安装在母舰上的无线电通信子系统控制。
3 精确的声学定位和新的 CONOPS
采用目标精确水声定位概念。
2. Identification and PAL: USV operates ROVSCAN at a safe distance for a mine-like
object to conduct a visual/sensory inspection of the classified contacts. Controls and sen-
sor data are transmitted in real-time to the remote station. In the case of an identified
mine, ROVSCAN releases an acoustic marker.
3. Autonomous neutralization: at a designated time, the USV launches the VGA mine-
killer that reacquires autonomously the mine guided by the PAL and detonates against
the target.
A similar operation is used for moored mines. In this case the VGA could also be capa-
ble of reacquiring the mine without the use of the marker.
An important operational aspect of the system is the human control in the whole mission,
also referred to as human-in-the-loop.
With respect to the three phases identified above, the human operator is in real-time con-
trol and continuous communication with the operating robots (USV, ROVSCAN and
VGA) from the operating console on the mothership. Therefore the operator can enable
or suspend the operation at any moment during the mission. The level of autonomy for
specific operations can be incrementally delegated, such as track following, dynamic
mission planning, target classification and identification.
Two particular aspects characterize the system: first, the same ROVSCAN vehicle per-
forms the search, the identification and the identification is performed by operating the
ROVSCAN from the highest distance allowed by the camera and sonar in specific water
conditions.
图 3 说明了海底水雷遭遇的步骤。
停泊的水雷也使用类似的操作。在这种情况下,VGA 也可以在不使用标记的情况
下重新获取矿井。
该系统的一个重要操作方面是整个任务中的人类控制,也称为循环中的人。
关于上述三个阶段,人类操作员从母舰上的操作控制台与操作机器人
(USV、ROVSCAN 和 VGA)进行实时控制和持续通信。因此,操作员可以在任
务期间的任何时候启用或暂停操作。特定行动的自主权水平可以逐步下放,例如
跟踪跟踪、动态任务规划、目标分类和识别。
该系统有两个特定特征:首先,同一 ROVSCAN 车辆执行搜索,识别和识别是通
过在特定水条件下从相机和声纳允许的最高距离操作 ROVSCAN 来执行的。
Second, the PAL is used for the autonomous reacquire and neutralization,. The released
acoustic marker can remain dormant underwater for a long period. The neutralization
can be performed when needed and in other cases simultaneously with other identified
mines.
A platoon of Hunterwater USVs allows a modular expansion of the capabilities with the
optimal allocation of the tasks of the individual USV among the three operation phases
and increases the robustness of the mine-hunting operation by a warm redundancy. In
addition, the functional integration of Hunterwater with a set of searching AUVs allows
the dedication of the USVs for search operations at long distances or to the neutraliza-
tion tasks.
其次,PAL 用于自主重新获取和中和。释放的声学标记可以在水下长时间处于休
眠状态。中和可以在需要时进行,在其他情况下可以与其他已识别的地雷同时进
行。
• A transportable system that is suitable for non- organic and expeditionary MCM modules in stan-
dard containers
The concept operation of the Hunterwater system can be further exploited for more advanced solu-
tions. A new development, which is in the planning phase, is based on an AUV version of ROVS-
CAN, combined with the technological insertion of Artificial Intelligence.
猎人水系统的概念操作可以进一步利用,以获得更先进的解决方案。一项新的发展正处于规
划阶段,基于 ROVSCAN 的 AUV 版本,并结合了人工智能的技术插入。
The construction of a complete prototype is in progress and the sea trials of the whole
system are forecasted in 2023.
Fig 5. Camera from the VGA reacquiring autonomously the mine and concept demon-
stration in a basin.
5 Conclusion
This new system combines two new solutions: an UUV, specifically a towed ROV, and
an automatic reacquisition (Precise Acoustic Localization) for autonomous neutraliza-
tion addressed to simplify the operations and reduce to one compact USV system the as-
set dedicated to minehunting.
The system is currently in development with a co- founded R&D program by the Italian
MOD with the purpose to demonstrate the solution during sea trial.
Hunterwater is promising capabilities to significantly expand the application range of
unmanned systems in MCM operations.
5 结论
这个新系统结合了两个新解决方案:UUV,特别是拖曳的 ROV,以及用于自主中
和的自动重新获取(精确声学本地化),旨在简化操作,并将专用于寻雷的资产
减少到一个紧凑的 USV 系统。
该系统目前正在开发中,由意大利国防部共同创立的研发计划,目的是在海上试
验中演示解决方案。
Author/Speaker Biography
Daniele M. Bertin. MS degrees in Engineering - Automation Systems and then research
assistant at Politecnico di Milano. He is employed in Calzoni S.r.l., now a subsidiary of
L3Harris Technologies, in Milan, Italy since 1986, with a main activity in marine robot-
ics and then directing the division R&D. Author or co-author of more than 20 papers and
more than 20 patents.