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:
Jan. 23, 2018
Filed:
Oct. 19, 2015
Piedra-sombra Corporation, Inc., Del Valle, TX (US);
William C. Stone, Del Valle, TX (US);
Evan Clark, Pasadena, CA (US);
Kristof Richmond, Miami, FL (US);
Jeremy Paulus, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Jason Kapit, Pocasset, MA (US);
Mark Scully, Portland, OR (US);
Peter Kimball, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Stone Aerospace, Inc., Del Valle, TX (US);
Abstract
A system for automated rendezvous, docking, and capture of autonomous underwater vehicles at the conclusion of a mission comprising of comprised of a docking rod having lighted, pulsating (in both frequency and light intensity) series of LED light strips thereon, with the LEDs at a known spacing, and the autonomous underwater vehicle specially designed to detect and capture the docking rod and then be lifted structurally by a spherical end strop about which the vehicle can be pivoted and hoisted up (e.g., onto a ship). The method of recovery allows for very routine and reliable automated recovery of an unmanned underwater asset.