JP2008247104A - Control method and device of position of towed body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method of a position of a towed body capable of exactly performing the induction control of the towed body up to a target position. <P>SOLUTION: Course and bow azimuth set values set by an autopilot function provided in a trawler 52 are set to be equal to a direction to the target position T viewed from a trawl net 51. By the setting, the position control of the trawl net 51 is performed to automatically lead the towed body up to the target position T. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a position control method and apparatus for guiding an underwater towing body that does not have an actuator by itself to a target position, such as a trawl network of a trawler or an underwater observation device of an oceanographic survey ship.

  Conventionally, trawlers of trawlers, underwater observation vessels of marine research vessels, etc. (in this specification and claims, these towed objects are collectively referred to as “towed bodies”). The ship is towed underwater. Such a towed body is towed underwater with a rope drawn out from a ship (“rope” in this specification and claims includes all “ropes” such as a wire rope). Has been. Hereinafter, a trawl network towed by a trawler will be described as an example of such a towed body.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a trawl network towed by a trawler. As shown in the figure, the trawl 51 is towed by ropes 54L and 54R fed out from winches 53L and 53R provided on a trawler 52 (ship). The ropes 54L and 54R are controlled to a predetermined length by winches 53L and 53R. The winches 53L and 53R are generally driven by hydraulically driven actuators 55L and 55R.

  In the case of the trawl net 51, it is usually towed by the trawl ship 52 through the spreaders 56L and 56R (hereinafter referred to as “otter board”) for opening the front face thereof. The otter boards 56L and 56R have a shape that generates a force that opens a front surface of the trawl net 51 by receiving a water flow. By traversing the otter boards 56L and 56R with the ropes 54L and 54R drawn from the trawler 52, the trawl net 51 is towed while the front surface is kept open.

  When the position of the trawl net 51 is controlled so as to be close to the position of the fish school detected by the fish finder provided on the trawler 52, the trawl net 51 is monitored while the position of the trawl net 51 is monitored by an acoustic sensor or the like. The boat is manually operated so that the net 51 approaches the target position.

As a conventional technology of this kind, automatic fixed point holding means is used in response to information obtained from fishing gear dynamic monitoring means that displays the relative positions of the discovered fish school and the trawl fishing gear of its own ship on one screen during trawl operation. There is an auto-troll system provided with an auto-troll winch means for disposing the troll fishing gear at a position suitable for catching a school of fish and discharging the troll fishing gear in conjunction with the control by the automatic fixed point holding means (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP 2005-46034 A

  However, the position control of the trawl net 51 as described above is a marine vessel maneuver performed while the operator assumes the attitude of the trawl net 51, and requires skill that depends on the experience and skill of the marine vessel operator. Therefore, stable maneuvering has become difficult due to the recent shortage of manpower. In addition, such a ship maneuvering that relies on the experience and skill of the ship operator is an obstacle to promoting labor saving in recent years.

  Therefore, a position control method and apparatus that can stably guide the trawl net 51 (towing body) to the target position without depending on the experience and skill of the ship operator are desired.

  According to the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to properly guide the fishing gear by displaying the fish school, the own ship, and the fishing gear on one monitor, but the algorithm for automatically guiding the fishing gear to the fish school is as follows. Not disclosed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a towed body position control method and apparatus capable of stably controlling the towed body to a target position.

  In order to achieve the above object, a towed vehicle position control method according to the present invention is a towed vehicle position control method for towing underwater in a ship equipped with an autopilot function, and the direction set by the autopilot function. Is set equal to the azimuth in the target position direction as viewed from the towed body, and the towed body is guided to the target position by the ship. This makes it possible to easily guide and control the underwater towed body to the target position without relying on the experience and skill of the ship operator, thereby saving labor and eliminating labor shortages.

  When the towed body approaches a predetermined distance to the target position, a virtual target position that maintains a predetermined distance between the towed body and the target position is set on the target position, and the towed body and the target position are A virtual straight line is set in the connecting direction, and the towing body is guided to the target position by a ship while moving the virtual target position in the direction of the virtual straight line while maintaining a predetermined distance between the virtual target position and the towing body. May be. As a result, when the vehicle approaches the target position, it is possible to suppress a large change in the target position direction as viewed from the towing body with respect to a minute change in the towed body position, and thus a large change in the heading can be suppressed.

  On the other hand, a position control device for a towed body according to the present invention is a position control device for a towed body that tows underwater in a ship having an autopilot function, and sets a setting value of an azimuth set by the autopilot function. A control device that is set equal to the azimuth in the target position direction seen from the body is provided, and the control device is provided with a function of navigating the ship to the azimuth set by the control device and guiding the towing body to the target position . This device also makes it possible to easily guide and control an underwater towed body to a target position without relying on the experience and skill of the ship operator, and can save labor and eliminate labor shortages.

  In addition, when the towed body approaches a predetermined distance to the target position, the control device sets a virtual target position that maintains a predetermined distance between the towed body and the target position on the target position, and the towed body A function for setting a virtual straight line in a direction connecting the target position and the virtual target position, while moving the virtual target position in the direction of the virtual straight line while maintaining a predetermined distance between the virtual target position and the towed object. A function of guiding to a target position may be provided. Even with this device, it is possible to suppress a large change in the direction of the target position seen from the towed body with respect to a minute change in the position of the towed body when approaching the target position, and thus a large change in the heading can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, if the towed body is a trawl net and the ship is a trawl ship, the trawl net can be stably controlled to the fish school position.

  The present invention makes it possible to stably guide and control a towed body to a target position without relying on the experience and skill of a ship operator by means as described above, thereby saving labor and eliminating labor shortages. be able to.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the control of a trawler equipped with a position control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control after the trawler shown in FIG. 1 approaches the target position. It is a top view which shows typically. Also in this embodiment, a trawl network towed by a trawler will be described as an example of a towed body. The description will be made assuming that the trawler (ship) is provided with an autopilot (automatic control function of the course and heading) such as a gyrocompass autopilot and a magnet compass autopilot. In addition, the angle in the following description is demonstrated by the angle (azimuth | direction) on the basis of the north direction N. In the following description, the same components as those shown in FIG.

  In the state of plan view shown in FIG. 1, the hull position observation device receives a GPS (global positioning system) signal and observes the position of its own ship (trawler ship 52). The position is obtained by measuring the relative position from the own ship with an acoustic sensor and calculating the position together with the own ship position. Further, since the target position T is an example of the trawler 52 in this embodiment, the fish finder detects the fish school in front of the ship and sets the position of the fish school to the target position T (in the following description, “ It is also input to the position control device 1 as “position T”.

  When the target position T is far from the trawl net 51 in this state, when the azimuth in the target position direction L viewed from the trawl net 51 is γn, the auto pilot setting azimuth ψset of the towed trawler 52 is set equal to γn. To do. In this state, the trawl net 51 is towed by the rope 54 to guide the trawl net 51 to the vicinity of the target position T.

  When the trawl net 51 is towed toward the target position T in this way, the trawl net 51 deviates from the target position direction L due to an external force such as a tidal current, but the position of the trawl net 51 and the target position T is always constant. Observed and corrected based on the observed value in the target position direction L connecting the trawl net 51 and the target position T. Since the set direction ψset of the trawler 52 is set equal to the direction γn in the target position direction L, the trawl net 51 is corrected to be guided toward the target position T. In this manner, the target position direction L connecting the trawl net 51 and the target position T is always corrected, and the set direction ψset of the trawler 52 set equal to the corrected direction γn of the target position direction L is also always corrected. Thus, the trawl net 51 is guided and controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the trawl net 51 approaches the target position T and the trawl net 51 and the target position T reach a predetermined distance R, the target position direction connecting the trawl net 51 and the target position T at that time A virtual straight line IL exceeding the target position T is set to L, and a virtual target position IT is set on the target position T at that time. Thereafter, when the trawl net 51 towed by the trawler 52 approaches the target position T, the virtual target position IT is moved away from the trawl net along the virtual straight line IL while maintaining the predetermined distance R by the approach distance. Guide control for guiding the trawl net 51 to the target position T is performed while keeping a predetermined distance R between the target position 51 and the virtual target position IT constant.

  In this way, by performing control after the trawl net 51 approaches the target position T to the distance R, the angle γn (= ψset) with respect to the target position T changes greatly due to a slight change in the position of the trawl net 51. To prevent it. That is, as the trawl net 51 approaches the target position T, the angle γn in the target position direction L changes greatly even if the position of the trawl net 51 changes slightly, so the setting is set to be equal to the angle γn. The sensitivity of the guidance control of the direction ψset is prevented from greatly increasing. The predetermined distance R is set according to the relative distance between the ship and the net and the rope length. Then, when the trawl net 51 passes the original target position T, the guidance control ends.

  According to the towed vehicle position control device 1 configured as described above, in a ship having an automatic control function of a course and a heading such as an autopilot, the heading setting value is directed to the target position T direction viewed from the trawl net 51. The trawl net 51 can be stably guided to the target position T. Moreover, if the position of the trawl 51 (towed body) can be measured by a trawler 52 (ship) with an autopilot, a system can be easily constructed, and the position control of the underwater towed body can be automated. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the trawl network 51 towed by the trawler 52 has been described as an example. However, when towing the observation device and observing the shape of the seabed, the target such as a passing point to be observed by the observation device is used. If the position T is set, the direction of the target position direction L viewed from the observation equipment is set, and the direction setting value is set equal to the direction, guidance control can be performed in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and the towing body to be towed Is not limited to the above embodiment.

  Note that the autopilot in the above embodiment changes the rudder and propulsion direction even if a disturbance is applied and the ship deviates from the command course or heading when the ship is navigating in the designated heading or heading. Any other configuration may be used as long as it has a function of returning the course direction or the bow to the command course or the heading using a turning propeller or the like. Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated as an azimuth | direction on the basis of the north direction N, the direction used as a reference | standard is not limited to the north.

  Furthermore, the above-described embodiment shows an example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

  The towed body position control method according to the present invention is useful in the case where it is desired to easily automate the vessel maneuvering when towing the underwater towed body to the target position.

It is a top view which shows typically control of the trawler provided with the position control apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows typically the control after the trawler shown in FIG. 1 approaches the target position. It is a schematic plan view which shows an example of the trawl net towed by the trawler.

Explanation of symbols

1 Position control device
T ... Target position
L ... Target position direction
R ... Predetermined distance IT ... Virtual target position IL ... Virtual straight line 51 ... Troll net 52 ... Trawler ship 54 ... Rope

Claims (5)

A towed vehicle position control method for towing underwater on a ship equipped with an autopilot function,
A position control method for a towed body characterized in that a set value of a direction set by the autopilot function is set equal to a direction in a target position direction viewed from the towed body and the towed body is guided to a target position by a ship. . When the towed body approaches a predetermined distance to the target position, a virtual target position maintaining a predetermined distance between the towed body and the target position is set on the target position, and the direction connecting the towed body and the target position Set a virtual straight line to
The position control of the towed body according to claim 1, wherein the towed body is guided to a target position by a ship while moving the virtual target position in the direction of the virtual straight line while maintaining a predetermined distance between the virtual target position and the towed body. Method. A towed body position control device for towing underwater on a ship equipped with an autopilot function,
A control device is provided for setting a setting value of the azimuth set by the autopilot function to be equal to the azimuth in the target position direction viewed from the towed vehicle, and the control device is caused to navigate the ship in the azimuth set by the control device, and A position control device for a towed body provided with a function of guiding the towed body to a target position. In the control device,
When the towed body approaches a predetermined distance to the target position, a virtual target position maintaining a predetermined distance between the towed body and the target position is set on the target position, and the direction connecting the towed body and the target position The ability to set a virtual straight line on
A function of guiding the towing body to a target position by a ship while moving the virtual target position in the direction of the virtual straight line while maintaining a predetermined distance between the virtual target position and the towing body. Tow position control method.   The position control device for a towed body according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the towed body is a trawl net and the ship is a trawler.

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