JP2000038188A - Positional information transmitting buoy - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide good antenna directivity against the vertical and horizontal motions of a buoy main body by wind and waves by installing a gyroscope structure, and fixing a directional antenna to the gyroscope structure. SOLUTION: A controller 13 controls the direction of a gyroscope 19 by driving independent motors to control the elevation angle and horizontal angle of a directional antenna 17 and can direct the directional antenna 17 toward a geostationary satellite. Even when a buoy main body is moved vertically and horizontally, the elevation angle is kept constant by the gyroscope 19 and the motor. The horizontal angle of the directional antenna 17 is invariably controlled so that the antenna 17 is directed toward the geostationary satellite, because the controller 13 calculates the new horizontal angle of the directional antenna 17 at any time in response to the direction change quantity of an electronic compass.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a buoy for transmitting position information of its own device, and more particularly to a gyroscopic structure in which a transmitting antenna is housed and the directivity of the transmitting antenna is controlled by controlling the gyroscopic direction in a predetermined direction. The present invention relates to a buoy for transmitting own-location information to enable control to transmit own-location information to a geostationary satellite.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art GM as a global rescue system
DSS (Glbal Maritime Distress)
s & Safety System) is known. Ships that use this system include EPIRB (Emerg)
ency Positioning Indicating
Radio Beacon) is installed. This EPI
The RB is usually installed together with a water pressure sensor on a structure on the outer surface of the ship, and when the ship is flooded or submerged due to distress, sinking, etc., when the water reaches a certain depth, the water pressure sensor is activated and the EPIRB body is brought to the sea surface. discharge. E released to the sea surface
The PIRB transmits a predetermined rescue signal radio wave. A plurality of polar orbiting satellites orbiting the earth (altitude: 10,000 km
) To calculate the position of the distressed vessel by the Doppler effect of the transmission frequency of EPIRB. Since this position accuracy is greatly affected by the transmission frequency accuracy of EPIRB, an error of about several tens of km usually occurs. Therefore, when the rescue team arrives in the area where the ship is in distress, the rescue team must track the beacon of another frequency emitted by EPIRB to determine the position of distress.

[0003] Therefore, in recent years, GPS (Glbal Po
A high-accuracy navigation system of a positioning system is becoming widespread worldwide, and its accuracy is characterized by an extremely high error of only about several tens of meters. Therefore, a GPS receiver is mounted on a ship, a buoy, or the like, and high-precision position information is directly transmitted to a geostationary satellite to be used for salvage and collection of various maritime information. However, since geostationary satellites are far more than 300,000 km above polar orbit satellites, the directivity of the antenna is always in the direction of the geostationary satellites in order for radio waves from buoys to reach them. It must be consistent.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional buoy for transmitting own position information for transmitting the own position detected by a GPS receiver to a geostationary satellite. FIG. 2 (a) is a block diagram and FIG. (B) shows the installation state. As shown in FIG. 1A, the output of the azimuth detecting means 1, the output of the azimuth memory 2, and the output of the own device position detecting means 5 are input to the controller 3, and the output of the controller 3 is changed to the direction changing means. 8 and own device position information transmitting means 6
And the self-position detecting means 5 having the antenna 4, the self-position information transmitting means 6, and the directional antenna 7 are connected in series. Hereinafter, the operation of the illustrated conventional example will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the self-location information detecting means 5 is a GPS receiver for detecting the latitude and longitude of the current position of a buoy which has received radio waves from a plurality of satellites. The azimuth detecting means 1 is an electronic compass for detecting the directional direction of the directional antenna 7. The controller 3 reads out the geostationary satellite position information stored in advance in the azimuth memory 2 and directs the current position of the buoy obtained from the own device position information detecting means 5 and the directivity of the directional antenna 7 obtained from the azimuth detecting means 1. Compared with the direction, the rotation angle of the floating specimen required for the directional antenna 7 to face the geostationary satellite is calculated and supplied to the direction changing means 8. This direction changing means 8
As shown in FIG. 2 (b), for example, when the buoy is inclined by wind, the weight 9 attached to the buoy inner head at a position eccentric from the buoy central axis is in a plane orthogonal to the buoy central axis. And the floating specimen is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by the rotation angle. In the case of almost no wind, the underwater motor or the like drives the screw 10 and the like installed on both sides of the lower part of the buoy to rotate the floating specimen. Rotate clockwise or counterclockwise by an angle
The direction of the directional antenna 7 is changed to the direction of the geostationary satellite.
Further, the controller 3 fixes the direction of the directional antenna 7, activates its own position information transmitting means 6, and transmits the current position information of the buoy to the geostationary satellite.

[0006]

However, in the conventional buoy for transmitting the position information of the own vehicle as described above, since the elevation angle and the horizontal angle of the antenna are controlled so as to change the direction of the entire buoy, the wind There is a disadvantage that it may not be possible to quickly follow the vertical and horizontal movements of the floating specimen due to waves and waves. In addition, because the mechanism that is exposed to the outside surface of the buoy such as a screw is used as the direction changing means, the mechanism is likely to be degraded by shocks such as waves, erosion by seawater, and the external environment such as algal deposition. The trouble of maintenance such as pulling up and checking was a problem.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems related to the conventional self-location information transmission buoy as described above,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a buoy for transmitting position information of a self-owned vehicle that does not deteriorate the control accuracy of a directional antenna due to an external environment without complicating a device and / or a system configuration, and that is easy to handle.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides means for detecting own-location information, a transmitter for transmitting the own-location information to a geostationary satellite, and directivity. In a buoy equipped with an antenna, a memory for storing the position information of the geostationary satellite, and a means for detecting the azimuth of the own vehicle, a gyroscopic structure is installed in the buoy and the gyroscopic structure is installed. The directional antenna is fixed to a loop structure, the orientation of the geostationary satellite is obtained from the memory based on the own location information and the own orientation, and the elevation angle and horizontal angle of the directional antenna are calculated. The apparatus is provided with means for transmitting buoys for transmitting own position information, which is characterized by controlling a gyroscopic scope.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an apparatus for realizing the buoy for transmitting own-location information of the present invention, and FIG. 1B shows an installed state. As shown in FIG. 1A, the output of the azimuth detecting means 11, the output of the azimuth memory 12, and the output of the self-location detecting means 15 are input to the controller 13, and the output of the controller 13 is controlled by the directivity control. To the means 18 and the own device position information transmitting means 16,
The position detecting means 15 having the antenna 14, the position information transmitting means 16, and the directional antenna 17 are connected in series. Hereinafter, the operation of the illustrated embodiment will be described in detail.

The self-position detecting means 15 shown in FIG. 1 (a) is a GPS receiver which receives radio waves from a plurality of satellites and detects the latitude and longitude of the current position of the buoy. Reference numeral 11 denotes an electronic compass or the like for detecting the direction of the own device. The controller 13 reads out the geostationary satellite position information stored in the azimuth memory 12 in advance,
5. The current position of the buoy and the azimuth detecting means 11 obtained from
The buoy's current position and the amount of displacement from magnetic north are obtained from the azimuth of the own buoy, and the geostationary satellite position information is compared with the buoy's current position and the azimuth of the own aircraft. The elevation angle and the horizontal angle necessary for directing the light to the target are calculated and supplied to the directivity control means 18. As shown in FIG. 1B, the directivity control means 18 has a directional antenna 17 disposed on a gyroscopic scope 19, and the center line of the directional pattern of the directional antenna 17 in the horizontal plane is an electronic compass. Align with the magnetic north. The controller 13 controls the direction of the gyroscopic scope 19 by driving the elevation angle and the horizontal angle of the directional antenna 17 by independent motors, so that the azimuth of the directional antenna 17 becomes the azimuth of the geostationary satellite. It is possible to point it. That is, even if the floating specimen moves up and down and left and right, the elevation angle is kept constant by the gyroscope 19 and the motor. The horizontal angle of the directional antenna 17 always corresponds to the azimuth change amount of the electronic compass, and the controller 13 calculates a new horizontal angle as needed to control the directivity of the antenna toward the geostationary satellite. Further, the controller 13 activates its own position information transmitting means 16 while continuing the directional control of the directional antenna 17, and transmits the current position information of the buoy to the geostationary satellite.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a gyroscopic structure is used for directivity control means including a directional antenna.
Good antenna directivity can be obtained even for vertical and horizontal movements of the floating specimen due to wind and waves, and by eliminating the mechanism exposed outside the buoy, impacts due to waves and erosion by seawater, algal deposition, etc. It is possible to provide a buoy with high reliability and long life without the deterioration of the control accuracy of the directional antenna due to the external environment and without the necessity of periodically pulling out of the seawater for maintenance and inspection. The effect is great as compared with the buoy for transmitting the position information of the own device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a buoy for transmitting own position information according to the present invention and a diagram showing an installation state.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional buoy for transmitting own-location information and a diagram illustrating an installation state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11 ... azimuth detecting means, 2, 12 ... azimuth memory, 3,
13 ... Controller, 4, 14 ... Antenna, 5,15 ... Local position detection means, 6,16 ... Local position information transmission means, 7, 1
7 directional antenna, 8 direction changing means, 9 weight, 10
... Screw, 18 ... Directivity control means, 19 ... Gyroscope,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for detecting own-location information, a transmitter and a directional antenna for transmitting the own-location information to a geostationary satellite, and storing azimuth information to which the directional antenna should be directed. A gyroscopic structure in the buoy, and the directional antenna is fixed to the gyroscopic structure. The gyroscope is controlled by obtaining an orientation of a geostationary satellite from the memory based on the location information of the own device and the azimuth of the own device, calculating an elevation angle and a horizontal angle of the directional antenna. Location information buoy.