• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.327-334
• /
• 2019

Recently, there has been a growing interest in artificial supercavitation as a way to reduce friction drag of submerged vehicles. A cavitator plays an important role to generate the supercavity, so many studies have focused on the case of cavitator only. However, the body shape behind the cavitator affects the growth of the supercavity and this effect must be considered for evaluating the overall performance of the system. In this work, we conducted experimental investigation on artificial supercavitation generated by different combinations of the cavitator and body. We observed the supercavity pattern by using a high-speed camera and measured the pressure inside the cavity by using an absolute pressure transducer. We estimated the relation between the amount of injected air and the supercavity shape for different combinations. In summary, the disk type cavitator generates larger supercavity than that of the cone and ellipsoidal cavitators, but cavity development speed is relatively slower rather than the others. Furthermore, fore body angle plays an important role to generate the supercavity enveloping the entire body.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.439-446
• /
• 2014

An amphibious inspection robot system (hereafter AIROS) is being developed to visually inspect the in-containment refueling storage water tank (hereafter IRWST) strainer in APR1400 instead of a human diver. Four IRWST strainers are located in the IRWST, which is filled with boric acid water. Each strainer has 108 sub-assembly strainer fin modules that should be inspected with the VT-3 method according to Reg. guide 1.82 and the operation manual. AIROS has 6 thrusters for submarine voyage and 4 legs for walking on the top of the strainer. An inverse kinematic algorithm was implemented in the robot controller for exact walking on the top of the IRWST strainer. The IRWST strainer has several top cross braces that are extruded on the top of the strainer, which can be obstacles of walking on the strainer, to maintain the frame of the strainer. Therefore, a robot leg should arrive at the position beside the top cross brace. For this reason, we used an image processing technique to find the top cross brace in the sole camera image. The sole camera image is processed to find the existence of the top cross brace using the cross edge detection algorithm in real time. A 5-DOF robot arm that has multiple camera modules for simultaneous inspection of both sides can penetrate narrow gaps. For intuitive presentation of inspection results and for management of inspection data, inspection images are stored in the control PC with camera angles and positions to synthesize and merge the images. The synthesized images are then mapped in a 3D CAD model of the IRWST strainer with the location information. An IRWST strainer mock-up was fabricated to teach the robot arm scanning and gaiting. It is important to arrive at the designated position for inserting the robot arm into all of the gaps. Exact position control without anchor under the water is not easy. Therefore, we designed the multi leg robot for the role of anchoring and positioning. Quadruped robot design of installing sole cameras was a new approach for the exact and stable position control on the IRWST strainer, unlike a traditional robot for underwater facility inspection. The developed robot will be practically used to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the inspection of nuclear power plant components.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.173-182
• /
• 2007

It is well known that manganese nodules enriched with valuable metals are abundantly distributed in the abyssal plain area in the Clarion-Clipperton (C-C) fracture zone of the northeast Pacific. Previous studies using deep-sea camera (DSC) system reported different observations about the relation of seafloor topographic change and nodule abundance, and they were sometimes contradictory. Moreover, proper foundation on the estimation of DSC underwater position, was not introduced clearly. The variability of the mining condition of manganese nodule according to seafloor topography was examined in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) area, located in the C-C zone. In this paper, it is suggested that the utilization of deep towing system such as DSC is very useful approach to whom are interested in analysing the distributional characteristics of manganese nodule filed and in selecting promising minable area. To this purpose, nodule abundance and detailed bathymetry were acquired using deep-sea camera system and multi-beam echo sounder, respectively on the seamount free abyssal hill area of southern part ($132^{\circ}10'W$, $9^{\circ}45'N$) in KODOS regime. Some reasonable assumptions were introduced to enhance the accuracy of estimated DSC sampling position. The accuracy in the result of estimated underwater position was verified indirectly through the comparison of measured abundances on the crossing point of neighboring DSC tracks. From the recorded seafloor images, not only nodules and sediments but cracks and cliffs could be also found frequently. The positions of these probable unminable area were calculated by use of the recorded time being encountered with them from the seafloor images of DSC. The results suggest that the unminable areas are mostly distributed on the slope sides and hill tops, where nodule collector can not travel over.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.58 no.2
• /
• pp.141-152
• /
• 2022

As a method to understand the ecological habits around the artificial reef, various reports such as fishing gear survey, diving, sound survey, underwater CCTV and camera, etc. are reported. Among them, the sound survey method is carried out by installing an acoustic system on the ship and can be investigated regardless of the marine environment such as time constraints and turbidity. Such method, however, takes a lot of manpower and time as the ship travels at a constant speed. Investigations around artificial reefs are being conducted in an artificial way, and a lot of time and labor are consumed as such. Maritime buoys have been operated for various purposes such as route signs, weather observation, marine environment monitoring and defense monitoring for navigation safety in the past, but studies on monitoring systems for ecological habits and distribution of fish using marine buoys are remarkably insufficient. Therefore, this study aims to develop a system that allows users to directly monitor fish group detector data by estimating the distribution of fish groups around artificial reefs and using wireless communication at sea. In order to confirm the suitability of the maritime buoy used in this study, it was operated to compare data using LTE-equipped buoys capable of wireless communication and a data logger-type system buoy. Data transmission of buoys capable of LTE communication was carried out in a 10-minute ON, 10-minute OFF method due to the limitation of the power supply capacity, and data of the data logger-type buoy received full data. We compared and analyzed the data received from the two fish detectors. It is expected that real-time monitoring of the wireless buoy detection device using LTE will be possible through future research.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.923-930
• /
• 2016

Various pipes are used in the many industrial field such as water supply, drainage system and marine plants, so a maintenance of these pipes is essential. Especially, the maintenance of the piping in the industrial field, some professional staffs enter and clean the pipe. If the professional staffs can not enter and clean the pipe, the workers has to use the method of inserting a scraper connected to wire inside the pipe. However, this method demands huge budget and causes a number of problems such as traffic congestion. To solve these problems, pipe cleaning robot has been researching and developing. Many Pipe cleaning robots have a problem, that is impossible to confirm the operating condition of the robot in a real time. This paper suggest pipe cleaning robot with RS-485 which transmit operating and cleaning condition of robot and inner pipe filmed by camera, that user can check.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.8-17
• /
• 2023

Various sources, such as wind, waves, ships, and gas leaks from the seafloor, forms bubbles in the ocean. Underwater bubbles cause signal scattering, considerably affecting acoustic measurements. This characteristic of bubbles is used to block underwater noise by attenuating the intensity of the propagated signal. Recently, researchers have been studying the large-scale release of methane gas as bubble plumes from the seabed. Understanding the physical properties and distribution of bubble plumes is crucial for studying the relation between leaked methane gas and climate change. Therefore, a water tank experiment was conducted to estimate the distribution of bubble plumes using seismic imaging techniques and acoustic signals obtained from artificially generated bubbles using a bubble generator. Reverse time migration was applied to image the bubble plumes while the acquired acoustic envelope signal was used to effectively estimate bubble distribution. Imaging results were compared with optical camera images to verify the estimated bubble distribution. The water tank experiment confirmed that the proposed system could successfully image the distribution of bubble plumes using reverse time migration and the envelope signal. The experiment showed that the scattering signal of artificial bubble plumes can be used for seismic imaging.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.243-250
• /
• 2014

Fiber-optic cables towed by underwater vehicles have an important role in enhancing the mission capability of a mother ship. In general, fiber optic cables are unwound in water for securing unwinding stability and preventing unwinding-related problems. Therefore, in this study, the numerically simulated result is verified against the experimental result in water, and the cable-unwinding motion is predicted based on the increase in unwinding velocity. The experimental apparatus is composed of a water tank and a winder, and a high-speed camera is used for photographing the cable-unwinding motion. The numerical result defined in the Cartesian coordinate system is solved using a transient-state unwinding equation of motion. The numerical result agrees well with the experimental result, and it can predict cable-unwinding behaviors in according to an increase in the unwinding velocity.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.199-206
• /
• 2021

This paper describes the feasibility and reliability verification of installing a protective structure to protect attack periscopes. The attack periscope is the critical equipment of a submarine to enable the user to monitor surface and air activity, collect navigational data, and detect and identify targets. The attack periscope provides target information acquired through TV, IR camera, and laser range finder to the combat system. In the product improvement program, the upper part of the masts was exposed to the outside of the sail because the existing attack periscope was replaced with a new one. On the other hand, the head sensor can be damaged by floating objects, such as fishing nets, during sea navigation. Therefore, the installation of a protective structure for an attack periscope improved the equipment operation performance. The feasibility and reliability of the installation of the protective structure were verified by examining the influence of URN.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.121-128
• /
• 2019

Various artificial reefs provide the fish habitat and nursery, and contribute the improvement of fisheries productivity. The evaluation methods of fishery resources in the artificial reefs have been done by fishing, scuba diving, underwater camera, and scientific echo sounder/sonar. There are a number of studies using echosounders on the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of artificial reefs in various seas around the world. This study focused on the spatial distribution of fishes around artificial reefs and the influential area of reefs off Bukchon, Jeju Island. Not only acoustic data but also various properties of artificial reefs were used in the geographic information system to extract relevant results. As a result, the major material of reefs on this study site was concrete and the number of reefs with that material was the most. The volume of reefs consisted of steel only and steel with riprap was considerably large compared to other reefs. The average NASC in the vertical distribution of fishes in artificial reefs was $31.6m^2/nm^2$ in April, and that was $61.3m^2/nm^2$ in June. The distance between the fish school and their nearest reef in June morning had a wide range from 750 to 3250 m. On the basis of the influence ray of artificial reefs, it had a tendancy of NASC to decrease with distance from the reef in the June morning. It is a preliminary study to present the geospatial analysis example to understand a better way of comprehensive artificial reef environments.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.60 no.2
• /
• pp.142-151
• /
• 2024

Recently, domestic fishing production of Japanese horse mackerel has been continuously decreasing. To achieve sustainable fishing of this species, it is essential to acquire its target strength (TS) for accurate biomass estimation and to study its ecological characteristics. To date, there has been no TS research using a broadband echosounder targeting Japanese horse mackerel. In this study, for the first time, we synchronized an underwater camera with a broadband frequency (nominal center frequency of 200 kHz, range: 160-260 kHz) to measure the TS according to the body size (16.8-35.5 cm) and swimming angle of the species. The relationship between Japanese horse mackerel length and body weight showed a general tendency for body weight to increase as length increased. The pattern of the frequency spectra (average values) by body length exhibited a similar trend regardless of body length, with no significant fluctuations in frequency observed. The lowest TS value was observed at 243 kHz while the highest TS values were recorded at 180 and 257.5 kHz. The frequency spectra for the swimming angles appeared to be flat at angles of -5, 0, 30, 60, 75, and 80° while detecting more general trends of frequency spectra for swimming angle proved challenging. The results of this study can serve as fundamental data for Japanese horse mackerel biomass estimation and ecological research.