High pressure waterjet propulsion with thrust vector control system applied on underwater vehicles

Abstract Maneuverability is one of the most important performances of underwater vehicles. To improve the maneuverability of underwater vehicles, a high-pressure waterjet propulsion system combined with a Thrust Vector Control System (TVCS) was presented, which controlled the sailing trajectory through adjusting the waterjet deflection angle and thrust vector instead of rudders and sterns. The TVCS was established in the form of 3RPS Parallel Manipulator and the position feedback was provided by measuring the displacements of three actuator cylinders. The relationship between the thrust direction and the displacements of the actuator cylinders was established through the procedure of solving an inverse kinematics problem. Simultaneously, the motion transformation function of the system was derived, and the Fuzzy-PID strategy was adopted. Accordingly, the Simulink model was built, and the simulation indicated that the system had good performance. In addition, the sailing trajectory was obtained, and the results showed that the turning diameter was 78 m, and it was independent of thrust and sailing speed. The underwater vehicle utilizing high-pressure water jet propulsion with TVCS had good maneuverability at either high or low speed conditions.

[1]  Zhaohui Du,et al.  Numerical flow and performance analysis of a water-jet axial flow pump , 2008 .

[2]  John M. Gosline,et al.  Mechanics of Jet Propulsion in the Hydromedusan Jellyfish, Polyorchis Penicillatus: II. Energetics of the Jet Cycle , 1988 .

[3]  Y.G. Le Page,et al.  Hydrodynamics of an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with a vectored thruster , 2000, OCEANS 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37158).

[4]  John M. Gosline,et al.  Mechanics of Jet Propulsion in the Hydromedusan Jellyfish, Polyorchis Pexicillatus: III. A Natural Resonating Bell; The Presence and Importance of a Resonant Phenomenon in the Locomotor Structure , 1988 .

[5]  Liang Jian,et al.  Numerical investigation into effects on momentum thrust by nozzle's geometric parameters in water jet propulsion system of autonomous underwater vehicles , 2016 .

[6]  Shouichiro Iio,et al.  Research on the Stability of a System Consisting of a Water Hydraulic Control Valve and Cylinder , 2016 .

[7]  Song-lin Nie,et al.  Nozzle optimization for water jet propulsion with a positive displacement pump , 2014 .

[8]  Guohe Huang,et al.  Reaction thrust of submerged water jets , 2007 .

[9]  E. S. Yoon,et al.  A practical approach to the hydraulic design and performance analysis of a mixed-flow pump for marine waterjet propulsion , 2003 .

[10]  Xiaohui Luo,et al.  Reverse thrust characteristics of water jet with different geometry nozzles , 2013 .

[11]  Gianluca Antonelli,et al.  Adaptive tracking control of underwater vehicle-manipulator systems based on the virtual decomposition approach , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation.

[12]  Thaddeus C. Nwaoha,et al.  Modelling prevention and reduction methods of ship propeller cavitation under uncertainty , 2017 .

[13]  Umesh A. Korde,et al.  Study of a jet-propulsion method for an underwater vehicle , 2004 .

[14]  Ho-Hwan Chun,et al.  Numerical flow and performance analysis of waterjet propulsion system , 2005 .

[15]  Yiteng Zhang,et al.  Optimization and Simulation of Propeller Propulsion System for Hybrid Underwater Glider , 2015, 2015 International Conference on Computer Science and Mechanical Automation (CSMA).

[16]  K. Mohseni,et al.  Thrust Characterization of a Bioinspired Vortex Ring Thruster for Locomotion of Underwater Robots , 2008, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[17]  John M. Gosline,et al.  Mechanics of Jet Propulsion in the Hydromedusan Jellyfish, Polyorchis Pexicillatus: I. Mechanical Properties of the Locomotor Structure , 1988 .

[18]  Fei Song,et al.  Structure Optimization and Characteristic Research of the Asymmetric Cylinder Controlled by the Digital Valve System , 2015, 2015 7th International Conference on Intelligent Human-Machine Systems and Cybernetics.

[19]  Shuxiang Guo,et al.  Design and performance evaluation of an amphibious spherical robot , 2015, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[20]  Shuxiang Guo,et al.  Design and kinematic analysis of an amphibious spherical robot , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation.

[21]  Luo Xiaohui,et al.  A vectored water jet propulsion method for autonomous underwater vehicles , 2013 .

[22]  Y.G. Le Page,et al.  Simulation and control of an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with a vectored thruster , 2000, OCEANS 2000 MTS/IEEE Conference and Exhibition. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37158).

[23]  Xufeng Zhao,et al.  Study on the control methods of a water hydraulic variable ballast system for submersible vehicles , 2015 .

[24]  Ho-Hwan Chun,et al.  Numerical flow simulation of flush type intake duct of waterjet , 2005 .

[25]  Wang Dan,et al.  Notice of RetractionThe Model and Simulation of an Asymmetric Valve-controlled Cylinder Velocity Control System Based on PID , 2010, 2010 Second International Workshop on Education Technology and Computer Science.

[26]  Xiao-hui Li,et al.  Experimental Study on Reaction Thrust Characteristics of Water Jet for Conical Nozzle , 2009 .

[27]  Rinaldo C. Michelini,et al.  Conceptual Design of an AUV Equipped with a Three Degrees of Freedom Vectored Thruster , 2004, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[28]  Dragan V. Lazić,et al.  Electrohydraulic thrust vector control of twin rocket engines with position feedback via angular transducers , 2007 .

[29]  Shuxiang Guo,et al.  Modeling of water-jet propeller for underwater vehicles , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Automation and Logistics.

[30]  Zhou Zhou,et al.  Numerical simulation analysis of waterjet propulsion for underwater vehicle , 2012, 2012 IEEE 11th International Conference on Signal Processing.

[31]  Guanjun Bao,et al.  Cylinder Position Servo Control Based on Fuzzy PID , 2013, J. Appl. Math..

[32]  Kamran Mohseni,et al.  Pulsatile vortex generators for low-speed maneuvering of small underwater vehicles , 2006 .

[33]  Kamran Mohseni,et al.  Flow Visualization for Pulsatile Vortex Ring Actuators , 2008 .

[34]  Yujie Zhu,et al.  Position control of a valve controlled asymmetric cylinder system with time delay , 2010, The 2010 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation.

[35]  Shuxiang Guo,et al.  Development of a Spherical Underwater Robot Equipped with Multiple Vectored Water-Jet-Based Thrusters , 2012, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[36]  Mingxing Han,et al.  Improving the performance of an AUV hovering system by introducing low-cost flow rate control into water hydraulic variable ballast system , 2016 .

[37]  Zhen Tian,et al.  A Hybrid Propulsion Method for Underwater Vehicle , 2010, 2010 International Conference on System Science, Engineering Design and Manufacturing Informatization.