Rainwater harvesting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9908593-B2
Application number	US-201615258747-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 7, 2016
Priority date	Apr 16, 2014
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

A system for collection of rainwater in the open ocean may include: (a) one or more ocean-going vessels, wherein each ocean-going vessel is configured for collection and storage of rainwater, wherein each ocean-going vessel is configured to drift with surface ocean currents in order to navigate to one or more delivery locations, wherein each delivery location is on or near to a land mass; and (b) one or more delivery stations located at the one or more delivery locations, wherein each delivery station is configured to receive stored rainwater from one or more of the ocean-going vessels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autonomous ocean-going vessel comprising:
a chamber for storing cargo contained within a volume of the chamber, wherein the cargo comprises water;
a propulsion unit; and
a housing comprising:
a plurality of sensors that detect at least one environmental characteristic and at least one characteristic of the cargo contained within the volume of the chamber;
a central control system that controls a direction of travel of the chamber based on feedback provided by the plurality of sensors; and
a power generator that provides power to the sensors and the central control system.

2. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system controls the propulsion unit to control the direction of travel of the chamber.

3. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 2 , wherein the central control system determines one or more navigation parameters based on the at least one environmental characteristic detected by the plurality of sensors or the at least one characteristic of the cargo contained within the volume of the chamber.

4. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 3 , wherein the central control system controls, based on the one or more navigation parameters, the propulsion unit.

5. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 3 , wherein the central control system determines one or more navigation parameters by:
determining that the risk to the cargo contained within the volume is equal to or above a predetermined threshold;
in response to determining that the risk to the cargo is equal to or above the predetermined threshold, determining a first storage parameter.

6. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system is operated remotely.

7. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system operates without the use of GPS data.

8. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the chamber for storing cargo comprises one or more openings that connect the chamber to a body of water in which the autonomous ocean-going vessel is navigating.

9. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 8 , wherein the central control system controls the size of the one or more openings.

10. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 9 , wherein the central control system controls the size of the one or more openings such that the one or more openings are closed.

11. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 9 , wherein the central control system controls the size of the one or more openings based on the at least one environmental characteristic or the at least one characteristic of the cargo contained within the volume of the chamber.

12. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental characteristic comprises a salinity.

13. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental characteristic indicates a weather condition.

14. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system controls the propulsion unit to control a depth in water of the autonomous ocean-going vessel.

15. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system controls the propulsion unit to maintain a geostationary position of the autonomous ocean-going vessel.

16. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system controls the propulsion to navigate the autonomous ocean-going vessel to a destination.

17. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the central control system controls the propulsion unit to determine one or more navigation parameters based on feedback provided by the plurality of sensors.

18. The autonomous ocean-going vessel of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental parameter includes a geographical position of the autonomous ocean-going vessel.

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Cooper Kathleen

Classifications

• Y02E10/727

  Offshore wind turbines · CPC title

• B63B2035/007

  autonomously operating · CPC title

• B63B2213/02

  using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. the Global Positioning System GPS · CPC title

• B63B1/047

  with spherical hull or hull in the shape of a vertical ring (freely movable rolling hoops, e.g. gyro wheels for exercising A63B19/02) · CPC title

• B63B11/00

  Interior subdivision of hulls (bulkhead space construction B63B3/56) · CPC title