KR20100073958A - 3d forward looking sonar system for minimizing ship-strike and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A three dimensional forward looking sonar system for ship prevention purpose and a method thereof are provided to detect underwater object rapidly by processing wideband high sensitivity acoustic transducer in high speed. CONSTITUTION: A transducer(100) transmits the ultrasonic wave in underwater according to a control command, and receives the ultrasonic wave generated underwater. A multiplexor(110) converts the ultrasonic signal into the digital signal. A motion sensing unit(120) receives a motion data of a transducer to calculate the position of the underwater object.

Description

3D forward looking sonar system for minimizing ship-strike and method

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional forward looking sonar (FLS) technology for preventing a ship strike, and in particular, a three-dimensional forward for preventing a strike, which is suitable for preventing a high-speed ship from colliding with an underwater object and further protecting an underwater creature. A monitoring sonar apparatus and method thereof are provided.

In general, the forward monitoring system of underwater sonar is mainly developed for unmanned submersible (ROV) and deep sea submersible (AUV) submerged mainly in the civilian field, and applied to submarines, torpedoes and mine detection mines in the military field. It is the latest technology. The forward surveillance device for civilian field has not been researched and developed in Korea yet, and the military has not been reported externally due to its characteristics, but it is estimated to have been applied to domestic torpedoes.

The front surveillance system determines the development possibility, application technology, hardware specification, etc. according to the operating speed, operating environment, and required resolution. The development of the forward surveillance system for high speed vessels aims at efficient underwater object detection at high operating speeds and severe sea surface disturbance conditions, but the development technology of the forward surveillance system is an unexplored field where no R & D has been reported. .

In addition, underwater acoustics is a rapidly developed field with the emergence of submarines, most of which have been developed for military use and transferred to the private sector. Therefore, the openness of technology is low and the difference between domestic technology and foreign technology is relatively large.

On the other hand, at sea, frequent collisions between passenger ships A and whales B (ship strike: Ship-strike) as shown in FIG. 1 occur frequently, and from 2004 to October 2007, Eight cases and one collision accident occurred in the Kyushu Kagoshima Strait in Japan, and the frequency is increasing. This is believed to be due to an increase in whale populations due to the ban on whaling.

In particular, 104 people suffered serious injuries in the collision near Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, in April 2006. In Korea, one person died and 27 people suffered serious injuries in March 2007. Self-accident occurred, and the damage of the ship in one collision is estimated to be more than 2 billion won.

The Korea-Japan regular passenger ship operates five to six times a day and is an important marine vehicle used by 550,000 passengers a year, and is closely related to the tourism industry as well as the marine transportation industry. Therefore, the forward surveillance system for underwater objects is expected to have economic and industrial value of marine transportation industry, tourism industry and fish stock protection.

Looking at the future prospects, the current speed of the ship is getting faster, and whales and underwater floats are increasing, many studies will be conducted to prevent the collision of ships, and related technologies are expected to develop rapidly. In particular, due to the recent collision of speedboats, much attention has been paid to the development of the forward surveillance system, and the development and invention of related technologies are expected to proceed a lot, and the development of related technologies is applied because the same technology is applied to military underwater weapon systems. It is expected to accelerate further.

Therefore, among the cases of researches on model extraction and performance prediction technology of water / water vehicle such as high-speed craft, advanced shipping nations centering on Japan have models of water / underwater vehicles such as high-speed boats including water (ship), underwater objects (submarine). Techniques related to extraction and establishment technology and exercise performance prediction technology have been steadily developed for a long time, and active research is being conducted.

Meanwhile, as whales inhabiting the Korean peninsula, dolphins, sickle whales, big-headed dolphins, and hoehoes account for most of them, and most of the whales (Suborder Mysticeti) are mink whales. As a case study, the click sound used for underwater target detection of toothed whales has a center frequency of 50 to 100 kHz, and is used as a means of mutual communication in the life of the whales. There is a case study where whistle is known to represent a center frequency of about 1 to 20 kHz.

Therefore, in order to minimize the cetacean of the whales by the net, an acoustic warning system of about 130-140 dB re 1 μPa @ 1 m was developed at 10 kHz and various frequencies.

In addition, in order to protect the safety and life of the ship due to the collision between the bearded whale and the rapid passenger ship, ships applying the underwater acoustic warning system to the fast ship have appeared.

In the whale detection system according to the prior art operating as described above, considering the attenuation of the sound waves in the water, the underwater sound radiated at a certain output no longer serves as a beeping sound for the cetaceans at some distance. There was a problem to be collected.

Accordingly, the present invention, by preventing the collision of high-speed (45 knots or more) operating vessels such as Korea-Japan rapid ferry from underwater objects (wood, whale, etc.) to ensure the safety of passengers and further protect the whale resources 3 A dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus and method are provided.

In addition, the present invention, by mounting a high speed navigation vessel in the form of a planar array receiver broadband high-sensitivity acoustic transducer at high speed, it is possible to quickly detect the underwater object, thereby preventing a strike with the high speed navigation vessel Provided is a three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar device and method thereof.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a three-dimensional front monitoring sonar apparatus for preventing a ship strike includes: a transducer for transmitting ultrasonic waves in water according to a control command and receiving ultrasonic waves generated in the water; and transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves of the transducers. A mux unit for performing control and converting the ultrasonic signal received from the transducer into a digital signal, a motion sensing unit receiving the motion data of the transducer to calculate a position of an underwater object, and a transfer from the mux unit Implementing an algorithm for removing noise included in an ultrasonic digital signal, transmitting an ultrasonic transmission and reception control command to the MUX unit, a transceiver processing unit for receiving the position information of the underwater object from the motion sensing unit, and the position information from the transceiver processing unit And receive the noise-free ultrasonic digital signal And a system control unit for display to detect underwater objects, and determine the type of the detected underwater objects.

In the ship strike prevention three-dimensional forward monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention, transmitting ultrasonic waves in the water according to the control command received from the transducer, receiving the ultrasonic waves generated in the water, and through the mux part Performing ultrasonic transmission and reception control of a transducer, converting the ultrasonic signal received from the transducer into a digital signal, and receiving motion data from the transducer in a motion sensing unit to calculate position information of an underwater object And receiving, by the transceiver processor, position information of the underwater object from the motion sensing unit, and performing noise removal of the ultrasonic digital signal transmitted from the mux unit, and removing the position information and noise from the transceiver processor by the system controller. Received ultrasonic digital signal to receive It comprises the step of displaying to determine the type of the detected objects, detect underwater objects.

According to the ship strike prevention three-dimensional front monitoring sonar device and method according to an embodiment of the present invention as described above has one or more of the following effects.

According to the three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar device and the forward monitoring method for the ship strike prevention according to an embodiment of the present invention, as a technical effect, the high-speed (40 knots or more) operating technology for the three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar device is a basic research data and application technology Not only is it extremely valuable, but it also improves the level of surveying and navigation equipment used in the past by using high-speed signal processing technology for broadband high-sensitivity acoustic transducers in the form of plane array (PA) receivers. .

Application of the present invention to autonomous unmanned submersibles (AUVs) and torpedoes in the civil-military field will be used in unmanned submersibles (UUVs), which are being developed for submarines, to secure advanced technologies.

As an economic effect, one person is killed in eight incidents on the Korea-Korea Express Passenger Passenger's route, and 50 to 60 people in Chongqing box and ship damages can be reduced by KRW 16 billion, and 550,000 passengers are used annually. It is also expected to revive the marine transportation industry and tourism industry.

In particular, if the rapid ships are urgently introduced, there are more than 100 billion won in the market worldwide. Do.

As a socio-cultural effect, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States has established a separate center and a call center to prevent collisions between long-tailed whales and ships. It can protect the fish stocks, such as missing whales.

Therefore, it can be used as a device for avoiding collisions with water and underwater objects by mounting it on a high-speed passenger ship that operates at high speed, as in the embodiment of the present invention, and applied to an underwater vehicle under development in the civil and military fields. It can be used as a submersible and torpedo monitoring device that rapidly penetrates underwater in the field of defense system for military use or for military use.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the embodiments of the present invention, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

Combinations of each block of the accompanying block diagram and each step of the flowchart may be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be mounted on a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment such that instructions executed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment may not be included in each block or flowchart of the block diagram. It will create means for performing the functions described in each step. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement functionality in a particular manner, and thus the computer usable or computer readable memory. It is also possible for the instructions stored in to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in each block or flow chart step of the block diagram. Computer program instructions may also be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, such that a series of operating steps may be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-implemented process to create a computer or other programmable data. Instructions that perform processing equipment may also provide steps for performing the functions described in each block of the block diagram and in each step of the flowchart.

In addition, each block or step may represent a portion of a module, segment or code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing a specified logical function (s). It should also be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions noted in the blocks or steps may occur out of order. For example, the two blocks or steps shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks or steps may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending on the functionality involved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

At 45 knots, the ship advances 23 meters per second, which requires at least two ultrasonic transmissions per second to detect minimal underwater obstacles and must detect underwater objects within one second. The minimum distance for the navigator to detect obstacles and reduce the speed to ensure ship safety is around 150m. If the maximum monitoring distance is set to 300m, the safety of the ship can be secured by reducing the speed within 6.5 seconds (about 150m forward) after the initial underwater obstacle detection. If the signal processing time for this is within 0.5 seconds can be secured to the minimum.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus includes a transducer unit 100, a mux unit 110, a motion sensor unit 120, a GPS receiver unit 130, and a transceiver. A processor 140, a system controller 150, and the like.

The transducer unit 100 is a sensor module that receives ultrasonic waves reflected from a target by radiating ultrasonic waves in a direction of a preset range, or detects various noises generated from underwater and noise generated from a target, and has a range of 60 ° or more. By having an array of transmitted beams 102 wide and a plurality of planarly arranged receive beams 104, it is possible to detect any targets, i.e. underwater objects, existing within 300m of the high speed boat forward, advancing at high speed, 300m and Higher sensitivity may be required for remote surveillance beyond that point.

The mux unit 110 converts the signal from the ultrasonic receiver of the transducer unit 100 into a digital signal, that is, muxes the signal, and then transmits the high speed signal to the transceiver processing unit 140 and transmits a remote control command from the transceiver processing unit 140. If received, the control related to the transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave through the transducer unit 100 is performed.

The motion sensing unit 120 receives the motion data generated from the transducer 100 during ultrasonic transmission and reception, calculates the exact position of the underwater object, and transmits the calculated position information to the transceiver processing unit 140.

The GPS receiver 130 is an additional device for determining the exact position of the ship and the underwater object, and may include, for example, a GPS receiver antenna, a satellite signal processor, and the like at predetermined time intervals from remote GPS satellites, not shown. Transmits the current coordinate values for the vessel and the underwater object obtained by processing the received satellite signal to the transceiver processing unit 140.

The transceiver processor 140 implements an algorithm for removing noise included in the ultrasonic digital signal received from the mux unit 110, transmits an ultrasonic transmission / reception control command to the mux unit 110, and transmits the motion signal from the motion sensing unit 120. The calculated position information of the underwater object is received, and includes a power module 142, a demux module 144, a reception signal processing module 146, and a main control module 148.

The power module 142 supplies the power necessary for the ultrasonic transmission to the mux unit 110 and the transducer 100, the demux module 144 demuxing the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the mux unit 110 do. The demuxed ultrasonic signal is transmitted to the received signal processing module 146, and an algorithm for noise removal such as speckle and underwater ultrasonic waves included in the demuxed ultrasonic signal in the received signal processing module 146 or Noise reduction is performed through a filter (eg, an SSP algorithm or an adaptive weighted median filter).

In addition, the reception signal processing module 146 receives the position information of the underwater object calculated from the motion sensing unit 120, and receives the vessel position information from the GPS receiver 130 to accurately determine the position of the underwater object at any position on the ship. Position determination can be performed. In addition, the main control module 148 transmits the ultrasonic transmission / reception control command received in association with the system control unit 150 to the mux unit 110 and removes noise from the received signal processing module 146, the vessel and the The location information of the underwater object is received and transmitted to the system controller 150. In this case, the main control module 148 may be connected to the system control unit 150 by a wired or wireless network, but is generally connected through a LAN network, and thus performs digital input / output (DIO) and analog input / output (AIO). can do.

The system controller 150 is provided with an operation panel to receive a control command input from a navigator, and controls the entire system to perform ultrasonic transmission / reception control and location information of an underwater object according to the received control command. Processing, target detection of underwater objects and classification of the detected targets are performed.

Accordingly, the system controller 150 receives the ultrasonic signal from which the noise is removed through the transceiver processor 140, and performs high speed arithmetic and graphic processing for determining an underwater object based on the position information of the ship and the underwater object. In this case, in order to accurately represent the distance from the vessel to the place where the underwater object is located and the depth of the underwater, it may be displayed in a three-dimensional manner, or the distance information to the underwater object, underwater depth information may be displayed on the screen. Through this, the arithmetic and graphic information is displayed and recognized by the navigator in the ship.

As described above, in order to detect underwater obstacles in a vessel operating at high speed, at least two ultrasonic transmissions and receptions are required per second, and an underwater object must be detected within 1 second to detect an underwater object at a monitoring range of 300m. If there is an underwater object on the route in operation, it is possible to secure the safety of the ship by bypassing the route or reducing the speed. To do this, the signal processing time in the 3D forward monitoring station or device must be performed within 0.5 seconds.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of a three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the ultrasonic transmission and reception control command input from the system controller 150 is transmitted to the mux unit 110 via the transceiver processing unit 140, and the mux unit 110 transmits the ultrasonic wave control command to the transducer 100. (Step 300). Transducer 100 transmits the ultrasonic waves through a transmission and reception array, and thus receives the ultrasonic waves reflected from the underwater object at an arbitrary position in front of the ship, or receives the ultrasonic waves generated underwater including the underwater object. (Step 302).

The mux unit 110 converts the ultrasonic signal received from the transducer 100 into a digital signal through the mux and transmits it to the transceiver processing unit 140 (step 304). The transceiver processor 140 removes noise included in the ultrasonic digital signal received from the mux unit 110 through a noise removing algorithm, and position information of the underwater object and the GPS receiver 130 transmitted through the motion sensing unit 120. In step 306, the ship's position information transmitted to the system controller 150 is transmitted together with the ultrasonic digital signal from which the noise is removed.

Accordingly, the system controller 150 determines and classifies the underwater object from the ultrasonic digital signal transmitted from the transceiver processor 140, and displays the image and the depth and depth information indicating how far the underwater object is located in the ship. The graphic is processed and displayed to the navigator (step 308).

4 is a diagram illustrating an implementation method of a three-dimensional forward surveillance sonar according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the front surveillance sonar is installed on the bottom of the high speed ferry 400 to visualize the underwater object on the radar network 410 according to the depth of the water in the range of 45 degrees left and right. Through the three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar, it is possible to recognize and prepare underwater objects early.

As described above, the ship strike prevention three-dimensional front monitoring sonar apparatus and its forward monitoring method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the collision of high-speed operating vessels of 45 knots or more, such as the Korea-Japan rapid ferry from an underwater object such as wood or whale It is designed to secure passenger safety and protect whale resources.It is a 3D front monitoring station or device that can quickly display the position information of underwater objects to the navigator by processing broadband high-sensitivity acoustic transducer in the form of plane array receiver at high speed. to provide.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of various modifications within the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 is a view showing a typical passenger ship and a ship strike whale,

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure of a three-dimensional forward monitoring sonar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a view of the implementation method of the three-dimensional forward surveillance sonar according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings>

100: transducer unit 110: mux unit

120: motion sensing unit 130: GPS receiver

140: transceiver processing unit 150: system control unit

Claims (10)

A transducer for transmitting ultrasonic waves under water according to a control command and receiving ultrasonic waves generated under water; A mux unit for performing ultrasonic transmission and reception control of the transducer and converting the ultrasonic signal received by the transducer into a digital signal; A motion sensing unit configured to receive motion data generated by the transducer and calculate a position of an underwater object; A transceiver processor for implementing an algorithm for removing noise included in the ultrasonic digital signal transmitted from the mux unit, transmitting an ultrasonic transmission / reception control command to the mux unit, and receiving position information of the underwater object from the motion sensing unit; , The system controller receives the ultrasonic digital signal from which the position information and the noise are removed from the transceiver processor, detects the underwater object based on the received information, and checks and displays the type of the detected underwater object. Easy strike prevention three-dimensional front monitoring sonar comprising a. The method of claim 1, The transducer, At least 60 ° ultrasonic transmission beam width and at least two planar arrayed reception beams Three-dimensional forward surveillance sonar device for easy strike prevention. The method of claim 1, The transceiver processing unit, A power supply unit supplying power required for ultrasonic transmission to the mux unit and the transducer; Demux unit for demuxing the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the mux unit, A reception signal processor configured to perform noise removal included in the demuxed ultrasonic signal and to receive location information of the underwater object transmitted from the motion sensing unit; The main control unit transmits the ultrasonic transmission and reception control command received in cooperation with the system control unit to the mux unit, and transmits the noise-removed ultrasonic signal and the position information of the underwater object. Easy strike prevention three-dimensional front monitoring sonar comprising a. The method of claim 3, wherein The main control unit, Receives ship position information calculated by receiving GPS signals from at least two GPS satellites from the GPS receiver, and determines the ship's position and the position of the underwater object based on the ship's position information. Three-dimensional forward surveillance sonar device for easy strike prevention. The method of claim 1, The system control unit, Receiving the noise-free ultrasonic signal and the position information of the underwater object from the transceiver processor to determine the underwater object based on this, and displaying the determined position information of the underwater object. Three-dimensional forward surveillance sonar device for easy strike prevention. Transmitting ultrasonic waves in water according to the control command received from the transducer, receiving ultrasonic waves generated in the water, Performing ultrasonic transmission and reception control of the transducer through a mux unit, and converting the ultrasonic signal received by the transducer into a digital signal; Calculating the position information of the underwater object by receiving motion data generated by the transducer in the motion sensing unit; Receiving, by a transceiver processor, position information of the underwater object from the motion sensing unit, and removing noise of the ultrasonic digital signal transmitted from the mux unit; And receiving, by the system controller, an ultrasonic digital signal from which the position information and the noise have been removed from the transceiver processor, detecting the underwater object based on this, and checking and displaying the type of the detected underwater object. Three-dimensional forward monitoring method for prevention of easy strike. The method of claim 6, The transducer, At least 60 ° ultrasonic transmission beam width and at least two planar arrayed reception beams Three-dimensional forward monitoring method for prevention of easy strike. The method of claim 6, The process of implementing an algorithm for noise cancellation of the ultrasonic digital signal, Demuxing the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the mux part; Removing noise included in the demuxed ultrasonic signal through an algorithm or a filter Three-dimensional forward monitoring method for prevention of easy strike. The method of claim 8, The transceiver processing unit, Receives ship position information calculated by receiving GPS signals from at least two GPS satellites from the GPS receiver, and determines the ship's position and the position of the underwater object based on the ship's position information. Three-dimensional forward monitoring method for prevention of easy strike. The method of claim 6, The display process, The system controller determines the underwater object based on the noise-removed ultrasonic signal, and determines the corresponding distance and the underwater depth in the ship based on the position information of the underwater object, Three-dimensional forward monitoring method for prevention of easy strike.

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