System and use method for untethered trap brought to surface by remote control
The invention is a system comprising a wire cage trap and wire-cage enclosed lifting subsystem. The two systems are attached and submerged together. When ready to be retrieved, a sound control signal is conveyed to the system. The sound control signal is converted to an electric control signal, which enables inflation of a buoyancy bladder and bringing the wire-cage trap and wire-cage lifting subsystems to the surface. The invention may comprise sensors in the lifting system which can provide information about valve on-off state, gas pressure, depth and location. That information is converted from electric to sound signals and generated through the water.
1. A remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap comprising:
a wire-cage trap for containing sea life that enter said seafloor trap;
a wire-cage enclosure for subsystems comprising a remotely controlled lifting subsystem;
a first attachment fixture for attaching said wire-cage trap to said wire-cage enclosure;
the remotely controlled lifting subsystem comprising;
an inflatable buoyancy bladder;
a second attachment fixture for attaching said inflatable buoyancy bladder to said wire-cage enclosure;
a compressed-air cylinder capped by a valve housing which essentially contains a remotely controlled valve subsystem;
said remotely controlled valve subsystem is controlled by electrical signals in response to remotely conveyed sound signals;
said remotely controlled valve subsystem comprises a compressed-gas input port and output port;
a sound-to-electric transducer operative to convert sound signals to analogous electrical signals;
an electric-to-sound transducer operative to convert electrical signals to analogous sound signals;
said sound-to-electric transducer and said electric-to-sound transducer comprise a two-way communications capability using sound waves and a water medium;
one or a plurality of hydrodynamic wing baffles;
said one or a plurality of hydrodynamic wing baffles operative to maintain a fixed orientation of said wire-cage enclosure relative to a seafloor during submergence;
a hose operative to convey released gas from said output port to said inflatable buoyancy bladder;
said remotely controlled valve subsystem comprises:
an electrically controlled valve between the input port and the output port;
an electric power source;
said sound-to-electric transducer;
said electric-to-sound transducer;
a microcontrolled processing unit;
at least one sensor operative to detect valve state and pressure;
said at least one sensor operative to convey sensor data to said microcontrolled processing unit;
said microcontrolled processing unit conveys said sensor data to said electric-to-sound transducer;
said electric-to-sound transducer generates an analogous sensor-data sound signal.
2. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said compressed-air cylinder capped by said remotely controlled valve system is modular and can be selected based on predetermined said wire-cage trap weight and depth.
3. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said remotely controlled valve subsystem is modular and can accommodate selected battery capacities based on predetermined submergence duration.
4. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said inflatable buoyancy bladder is modular and can be selected based on predetermined said wire-cage trap weight and depth.
5. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said inflatable buoyancy bladder comprises a lighting subsystem to enable visible location during darkness hours.
6. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said inflatable buoyancy bladder comprises a wireless location subsystem providing wirelessly disseminated location coordinates.
7. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said at least one sensor is operative to detect valve on-or-off state.
8. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said at least one sensor is operative to detect valve depth.
9. The remotely controlled, untethered seafloor trap of claim 1 further comprising:
said at least one sensor is operative to detect valve location.