The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 15, 2005
Filed:
Nov. 24, 2003
Russell King, Panama City, FL (US);
Brian Coppola, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Don Tibbetts, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Chris Richburg, Panama City, FL (US);
Chris Cook, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Don Hobden, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Mike Conn, Panama City, FL (US);
Spencer Harris, Panama City, FL (US);
Wells Parker, Panama City, FL (US);
Brooke Parker, Panama City, FL (US);
David Emery, Panama City, FL (US);
Sally Lankamer, Panama City, FL (US);
Russell King, Panama City, FL (US);
Brian Coppola, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Don Tibbetts, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Chris Richburg, Panama City, FL (US);
Chris Cook, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Don Hobden, Lynn Haven, FL (US);
Mike Conn, Panama City, FL (US);
Spencer Harris, Panama City, FL (US);
Wells Parker, Panama City, FL (US);
Brooke Parker, Panama City, FL (US);
David Emery, Panama City, FL (US);
Sally Lankamer, Panama City, FL (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An unmanned system for investigating underwater regions utilizes an unmanned mothership and a plurality of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The mothership transports the UUVs to and from the vicinity of an underwater region, releases the UUVs into the water, and facilitates recovery of the UUVs from the water. Each UUV can traverse an underwater region, generate sonar and image data associated with the underwater region, and transmit the sonar and image data through the water for receipt and re-transmission by the mothership. A docking system mounted partially onboard the mothership and partially onboard each UUV couples each UUV to the mothership and selectively releases each UUV into the underwater region. A guidance system mounted partially onboard the mothership and partially onboard each UUV guides each UUV back to the docking system from positions in the water. The mothership and UUVs can also be equipped with a non-contact electrical energy transfer system so that each UUV can return to the mothership and re-charge onboard batteries while underwater.