Design of A Self-Correctable Docking Mechanism in Disturbed Water Surface Environment

The docking mechanism is critical for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) applications, such as traction, dragging, charging, data transmission, building pontoons, etc. These applications are significant for observation, exploration, data acquisition, patrol, rescuing, etc., in aquatic environments. In this letter, a novel autonomous docking mechanism for USVs is proposed. It is capable of (1) docking the USV subject to disturbance efficiently, (2) latching without power consumption after the docking is completed, and (3) guiding the docking head to three specific angles at the end of the docking process. This letter proved the feasibility and rationality of the docking mechanism through theoretical force analysis. Experiments with three different scenarios are implemented to test the mechanism's performance. The experimental results show that the docking success rate is greater than or equal to 90\% on the disturbed water surface.