A Launch and Recovery System for Unmanned Surface Vehicle Based on Floating Bracket

In recent years, many countries have increasingly invested in the marine industry, thus greatly improving the level of ship automation. As the new favorite in the field of reconnaissance, survey and rescue, unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has been widely used. Generally, the USV is carried out by mother ship when performing tasks, which poses great challenges to the launch and recovery of USV in a harsh marine environment. To resolve these problems, this study develops a floating bracket type launch and recovery system (L&RS). When the USV is far away from the floating bracket, it is homing by GPS navigation. As the distance is close, the floating bracket can regulate the direction by the real-time visual information and then the USV travels into floating bracket. This method can improve the accuracy and stability of the USV in the process of entering the floating bracket, which improves the success ration of recovery operation.