JP3129749U - Underwater detector - Google Patents

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide an underwater detection device that enables a ship operator to accurately and easily select a course by displaying an underwater front bottom image in an easy-to-understand manner.
In a cross fan beam type underwater detection apparatus using a transmitter / receiver configured by arranging a plurality of ultrasonic transducers so as to be orthogonal to each other, the seabed of a plurality of front directions By obtaining a two-dimensional image and displaying it on the same screen, the ship operator can accurately select the course of the ship.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an underwater detection apparatus that is mounted on a ship such as a ship or a submarine, and detects and displays the seabed topography below the ship by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.

An underwater detection device that is mounted on ships and submarines, and that gives accurate information to the ship operator regarding the seafloor terrain underneath the ship, has been requested in the past to prevent grounding accidents. An apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been developed. This device scans and displays the shape of the seabed in front of the ship in the vertical direction, and can be said to be an excellent technology in that it can prevent a grounding accident with a simple configuration.

There are also known various underwater detection devices that are mounted on ships and display the shape of the seabed by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves below the ship. For example, underwater detection using a cross fan beam disclosed in Patent Document 2 The device detects a submarine terrain below the ship by arranging a pair of transmitting and receiving line arrays arranged orthogonal to each other at the lower part of the ship.
JP 2006-52987 A JP 59-107285 A

However, since the device of Patent Document 1 displays the sea bottom section only in one direction ahead of the ship, in order for the operator to select the optimum course, the course of the ship is actually changed in various ways. It is necessary to detect the shape of the cross section of the seabed in each direction and find the path through trial and error.

Further, the device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is for grasping the seabed topography below the own ship while the ship is stopped, and when the ship is navigating, selecting the optimum course for the ship operator. It cannot be said that it provides accurate information about navigation.

An object of the present invention is to provide an underwater detection device that displays the undersea topography in front of the ship in an easy-to-understand manner and contributes to the safe navigation of the ship.

In order to solve the above problems, an underwater detection device according to the present invention includes a transmitter configured by linearly arranging a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on a ship bottom, and a plurality of ultrasonic vibrations of the transmitter. A transmission beam forming unit that supplies an electric signal to the child and transmits an ultrasonic signal toward the fan-shaped detection region, and a plurality of signals that receive an echo from the sea floor caused by the ultrasonic signal and convert it into an electric signal A receiver configured to be arranged in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the ultrasonic transducers of the transmitter on the ship bottom, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the receiver Phases and synthesizes the output electrical signals to form a received beam having a fan-shaped directivity characteristic, and obtains the seabed depth data of the detection area based on the signal from the received beam forming unit Seafloor depth calculation unit and seafloor depth data of the detection area A storage unit for storing, a seabed depth data from the storage unit for a plurality of preset orientations, a seabed cross-section data generation unit for obtaining seabed cross-section data in the plurality of directions, and a seabed from the seabed cross-section data generation unit And a display unit that processes cross-sectional data and displays the cross-sectional images of the sea bottom in a plurality of directions on a display screen.

  In the underwater detection device of the present invention, the transmission beam forming unit may change a steering angle of a fan-shaped region that transmits an ultrasonic signal according to transmission.

In the underwater detection device of the present invention, the cross-section data generation unit may generate sea bottom cross-section data based on information related to own ship movement.

In the underwater detection device of the present invention, the own ship position may be displayed on the display screen based on the depth information of the own ship acquired from the outside.

According to the underwater detection device of the present invention, the undersea terrain below the front of the ship is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, enabling safer navigation of the ship.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an underwater detection device of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a transmitter 1 is composed of a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and is installed on the bottom of the ship so that the arrangement direction of the transducers is the front-rear direction of the ship as shown in FIG. Based on the transmission control signal from the control unit 5, the transmission beam forming unit 3 generates and transmits a transmission pulse signal having a predetermined weight and phase difference (or time difference) for each transducer constituting the transmitter 1. Applied to each transducer of the waver 1, an ultrasonic signal is emitted from the wave transmitter 1 into the water. The ultrasonic signal emitted at this time has a wide directivity characteristic in the left-right direction of the hull, as shown as a transmission beam in FIG. 3, and is a sector shape localized in a predetermined steering angle θV direction in the front-rear direction of the hull. With directional characteristics. Note that the steering angle θV is an angle formed by the center direction of the transmission beam and the direction directly below the ship. The steering angle θV is controlled for each transmission cycle by the control unit 5 according to two operation modes described later.

Similarly to the transmitter 1, the receiver 2 is composed of a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and is installed on the bottom of the ship so that the arrangement direction of the transducers is the horizontal direction of the ship as shown in FIG. The A plurality of transducers constituting the receiver 2 receives echoes returned from underwater targets such as the seabed due to the ultrasonic signals transmitted by the transmitter 1 and converts them into electrical signals. The reception beam forming unit 4 forms a reception beam by giving a predetermined weight and a phase difference to the signals output from the transducers constituting the receiver 2. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the received beam has a wide directivity characteristic in the front-rear direction of the hull, and has a directivity characteristic localized in a predetermined scan angle θH direction in the left-right direction of the hull. is there. θH is an angle formed by the center direction of the received beam and the direction directly below the ship. The scan angle θH is controlled by the control unit 5. With respect to the reception beam, one reception beam is scanned right and left at high speed, but a plurality of tilt angles may be formed simultaneously.

Based on the reception data obtained by the reception beam forming unit 4, the control unit 5 calculates the water depth for a plurality of azimuth bottoms in front of the ship. Information on the water depth below the ship's front and output from the control unit 5 is converted into a display signal by the display processing unit 8, and an image of the seabed shape below the ship's bottom is displayed on the display 9 as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 9 and displayed as shown in FIG. Each of these displays will be described later. The operation unit 6 is for inputting a detection direction desired by the operator. Moreover, the direction sensor 7 is for giving the data regarding the direction of own ship to the control part 5, and specifically uses a gyroscope or a GPS receiver.

Next, the operation and display mode of the underwater detection device of the present invention will be described.
In the device of the present invention, there are a first operation mode and a second operation mode corresponding to the transmission method.

First, the first operation mode will be described.
In the first operation mode, the transmission / reception operation is executed while changing the steering angle of the transmission beam for each transmission cycle.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the underwater detection device of the present invention in the first operation mode. Each step of this flowchart will be described in order.

(Step 10) First, the control unit sets the steering angle of the transmission beam to θV = 60 °.
(Step 11) An ultrasonic signal is transmitted underwater at the set steering angle θV.
(Step 12) The control unit sets the scan angle of the received beam to θH = + 30 °.
(Step 13) A reception beam is formed at the set steering angle θH.
(Step 14) Measure the distance from your ship to the seabed.
(Step 15) It is determined whether θH is smaller than −30 °.
(Step 16) 1 ° is subtracted from the value of θH.
(Step 17) It is determined whether θV is smaller than 0 °.
(Step 18) 1 ° is subtracted from the value of θV.
(Step 19) The distance from the sea surface to the sea floor is calculated.
(Step 20) Display data is created.
(Step 21) A submarine image is displayed on the screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first display example in the first operation mode of the underwater detection device of the present invention. The thick solid line is the seabed image in the bow direction, and the thick dotted line is the seabed image in a different direction from the bow set by the user. In this figure, for the sake of explanation, the lines are distinguished as a thick solid line and a thick dotted line. However, in an actual apparatus, the colors may be changed and displayed.

As described above, the optimum course selection can be performed by superimposing and displaying the cross-sectional images of the front seabed in a plurality of different directions. For example, if the bottom of the ship in the bow direction is raised and the bottom of the set heading is confirmed to be flat by the display of this device, the ship will be stranded if the ship is operated to change the course to this set heading. Can be avoided. Although only one azimuth is set in the above description, a plurality of azimuths may be set and displayed in different modes.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second display example in the first operation mode of the underwater detection device of the present invention. The bottom of the sea is expressed as a series of thin lines, and the bottom of the sea before the ship can be grasped in three dimensions.
Note that the first display example and the second display example may be simultaneously displayed on the same screen.

Next, the second operation mode will be described.
In the second operation mode, the steering angle of the transmission beam is constant, and the front seabed is sequentially detected as the ship moves.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the second operation mode of the underwater detection device of the present invention. Each step of this flowchart will be described in order.

(Step 30) The steering angle θV of the transmission beam is set to 60 °.
(Step 31) An ultrasonic signal is transmitted.
(Step 32) The scan angle θH of the received beam is set to + 30 °.
(Step 33) A reception beam is formed.
(Step 34) The distance from the ship to the seabed is calculated.
(Step 35) It is determined whether θH is smaller than −30 °.
(Step 36) Subtract 1 ° from θH.
(Step 37) The depth from the sea surface to the sea floor is calculated.
(Step 38) Display data is created.
(Step 39) A submarine image is displayed on the screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a third display example in the second operation mode. In FIG. 8, a thick solid line is a seabed image in the bow direction, and a thick dotted line is a seabed image in a direction set by a user different from the bow. The amount of movement of the ship is calculated based on the ship speed and elapsed time with respect to the seabed obtained from an external device such as a ship speedometer (not shown). In this figure, for the sake of explanation, the lines are distinguished as a thick solid line and a thick dotted line. However, in an actual apparatus, the colors may be changed and displayed.

As described above, the optimum course selection can be performed by superimposing and displaying the cross-sectional images of the front seabed in a plurality of different directions. For example, if the bottom of the ship in the bow direction is raised and the bottom of the set heading is confirmed to be flat by the display of this device, the ship will be stranded if the ship is operated to change the course to this set heading. Can be avoided. Although only one azimuth is set in the above description, a plurality of azimuths may be set and displayed in different modes.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a fourth display example in the second operation mode. The cross section of the sea floor is expressed as a plurality of thin lines, and the user can grasp the sea floor under the ship in three dimensions.
Note that the third display example and the fourth display example may be simultaneously displayed on the same screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a fifth display example of the underwater detection device of the present invention. This is a display example when the second operation mode is executed when the underwater detection device of the present invention is mounted on a submarine. Based on the ship's depth information acquired from a depth meter (not shown), the position of the ship is displayed below the surface of the water, and the depth history of the ship is also displayed. In this way, even when the device of the present invention is mounted on a submarine, the ship operator can avoid aground and select an appropriate course. Such a display is also possible in the first operation mode.

  In the above description, the embodiment has been described in which the transducer arrangement direction of the transmitter is the front-rear direction of the ship, and the transducer arrangement direction of the receiver is the left-right direction of the ship. For example, it is possible to configure the apparatus so that the arrangement direction of the transducers of the transmitter is the left-right direction of the ship and the arrangement direction of the transducers of the receiver is the left-right direction of the ship, and the display form can be changed as appropriate.

It is a block diagram of the underwater detection device of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of installation to the ship bottom of the transmitter and receiver of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the shape of the transmission beam of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention, and a receiving beam. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement in the 1st operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 1st example of a display in the 1st operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 2nd example of a display in the 1st operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement in the 2nd operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 3rd display example in the 2nd operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 4th example of a display in the 2nd operation mode of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the 5th example of a display of the underwater detection apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmitter 2 Receiver 3 Transmit beam forming part 4 Receive beam forming part 5 Control part 6 Operation part 7 Direction sensor 8 Display processing part 9 Display

Claims (4)

A transmitter configured by linearly arranging a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on the bottom of the ship,
A transmission beam forming unit that supplies an electrical signal to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the transmitter and transmits the ultrasonic signal toward the fan-shaped detection region;
A plurality of ultrasonic transducers that receive echoes from the sea floor caused by the ultrasonic signals and convert them into electrical signals are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the ultrasonic transducers of the transmitter on the ship bottom. A receiver configured with
A reception beam forming unit that forms a reception beam having a fan-shaped directivity characteristic by phase-shifting and synthesizing electrical signals output from a plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the receiver;
A seabed depth computing unit for obtaining seabed depth data of the detection area based on a signal from the reception beam forming unit;
A storage unit for storing seabed depth data of the detection area;
The seabed depth data is read from the storage unit for a plurality of preset orientations, and the seabed cross-section data generation unit for obtaining the seabed cross-section data of the plurality of orientations;
A display unit that processes seabed cross-section data from the seabed cross-section data generation unit and displays the multi-directional seabed cross-section video on a display screen;
An underwater detection device comprising: The underwater detection device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission beam forming unit changes a steering angle of a fan-shaped region that transmits an ultrasonic signal according to the transmission. The underwater detection device according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section data generation unit generates sea-bottom cross-section data based on information relating to own ship movement. The underwater detection device according to claim 1, wherein the ship position is displayed on the display screen based on depth information of the ship acquired from the outside.

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