Flying Carpet" Offboard Launch and Recovery System"

"A ship maintenance system, the "Flying Carpet" (FC), is being prototyped at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. FC is a work platform suspended by powered cables from the side of a dry dock to permit rapid placement of personnel and loadsat the bow, stern, or sides of a ship. During this proposed SBIR program, Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI) will adapt the FC mechanism to launch and recovery of offboard vehicles. The FC systems offers several unique advantages, including completesix-degree-of-freedom control of the vehicle and the ability to actively control the stiffness of the vehicle carrier when contacting the vehicle. The FC also ensures stability against wind gusts and high sea states. To automate recover, we propose toinvestigate the use of a novel communications system that supports both two-way communications and range measurement. In Phase I IAI will produce a realistic dynamic simulation of the device in operational launch and recovery retrofitted to an existingship. Automated handling systems are in great demand throughout industry; the oil exploration industry in particular employs a large number of off board vehicles and would have a use for such a system."