Systems and methods to reversibly span a surface of a waterway

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods for detecting, by a sensor suite, impending boat traffic; activating, by a control system, one or more actuating line motors for one or more closing lines; verifying, by the control system, a closed configuration; verifying, by the control system, whether a battery bank charge is above a required threshold, where if the battery bank charge falls below the required threshold then the system remains in the closed configuration; activating, by the control system, one or more actuating line motors for one or more opening lines if the battery bank charge is above the required threshold; and verifying, by the control system, an open configuration of the system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a moored buoy;   a floating boom having a first end and a second end, the floating boom attached to the moored buoy at the first end;   a pivoting beam located downstream of the moored buoy with respect to a direction of a waterway flow, wherein the floating boom is attached to an end of the pivoting beam at the second end of the floating boom, the pivoting beam pivotable between an open configuration and a closed configuration;   a catch bin located at the end the pivoting beam and the second end of the floating boom, wherein, in the open configuration of the pivoting beam, the floating boom is configured to guide floating pollutants into the catch bin;   a moored platform located downstream relative to the pivoting beam with respect to the direction of the waterway flow;   a closing line configured to move the pivoting beam into the closed configuration; and   an opening line configured to move the pivoting beam into the open configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the moored buoy is connected to a mooring pile. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the moored buoy is configured to be connected to a vessel. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the floating boom includes a first floating boom and a second floating boom, the first floating boom and the second floating boom connected to the moored buoy at the first end of each of the first floating boom and the second floating boom. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the pivoting beam includes a first pivoting beam and a second pivoting beam, the first pivoting beam connected to the second pivoting beam at a center hinge, the first floating boom connected to the first pivoting beam and the second floating boom connected to the second pivoting beam. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the closing line is connected to the moored platform and the pivoting beam, and wherein, when the closing line is retracted, the pivoting beam moves from the open configuration to the closed configuration. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the opening line is connected to the moored platform and the pivoting beam, and wherein, when the opening line is retracted, the pivoting beam moves from the closed configuration to the open configuration. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising markings on the pivoting beam. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a power generation turbine located on the pivoting beam. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 detecting, by a sensor suite, impending boat traffic;   activating a closing line motor for a closing line to move a pivoting beam from an open configuration to a closed configuration, a floating boom connected to a moored buoy at a first end of the floating boom and the pivoting beam at a second end of the floating boom, a catch bin connected to the pivoting beam such that, in the open configuration, the floating boom directs floating pollutants toward the catch bin;   verifying that the pivoting beam is in the closed configuration;   detecting a charge of a battery bank, wherein if the charge of the battery bank is below a threshold, then the pivoting beam remains in the closed configuration;   if the charge of the battery bank is above the threshold, activating an opening line motor for an opening line; and   verifying that the pivoting beam is in the open configuration.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor suite, the battery bank, the closing line motor, and the opening line motor are located on a moored platform downstream of the moored buoy. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor suite includes one or more of a Marine RADAR system, mm-Wave radar, digital compass, visual camera, near-infrared camera, LIDAR, proximity sensors, optical tripwires, GPS location system, VHF radio, or an Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceiver. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising charging the battery bank with a power generator. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the power generator includes a turbine located on the pivoting beam. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein activating the opening line motor includes activating the opening line motor if the sensor suite detects no impending boat traffic. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the threshold includes sufficient power in the battery bank to move the pivoting beam from the closed configuration to the open configuration and from the open configuration to the closed configuration. 
     
     
         17 . A method, comprising:
 detecting, by a sensor suite, an impending boat traffic in a waterway;   measuring, by the sensor suite, one or more weather conditions;   measuring, by the sensor suite, a flow rate of a waterway;   determining a desired width of an open configuration of a pivoting beam based on at least one of: the detected impending boat traffic, the measured one or more weather conditions, or the measured flow rate of the waterway;   detecting a charge of a battery bank, wherein if the charge of the battery bank is below a threshold, then the pivoting beam remains in a closed configuration; and   activating an opening actuator for the pivoting beam if the battery bank is above the threshold and the desired width is greater than a current width of the pivoting beam.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the desired width is based on a boat width of the impending boat traffic. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the desired width is based on a collection quantity of pollutants. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , activating the opening actuator includes increasing a traffic impediment to the waterway.