JP2004177368A - Acoustic sounding system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the measuring accuracy, to facilitate the mounting work, and to provide an accoustic sounding apparatus as a portable apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: This acoustic sounding system 11 is provided with a sonar head section 12 soaked into water and measuring water depth, and a control section 13 installed in shipping on water and controlling the sonar head section 12. The sonar head section 12 is provided with a transducer 16 for transmitting sonic wave to the water bottom and detecting the reflected sonic wave and a rocking meter 18 for detecting the rocking of the transducer 16 to correct error by the rocking of the transducer 16. The transducer 16 and the rocking meter 18 are integrally attached to the inside of the sonar head section 12. The rocking meter 18 is provided with two GPS antennas that are disposed horizontally and detect yaw angle of the transducer 16 due to positional displacement between them and an optical gyroscope for detecting rolling angle and pitch angle of the transducer 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an acoustic sounding system for measuring the depth of water at the bottom of a lake or the sea, and more particularly to an acoustic sounding system that eliminates the need for calibration between sensors and improves measurement accuracy.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art An acoustic sounding system for measuring the depth of a lake or a seabed generally has a configuration as shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a hull of a ship or the like, 2 is a sonar head, and 3 is a control unit.
[0003]
The sonar head 2 is fixed to the hull 1 by a fixture 4. The control unit 3 is mounted on the hull 1. Then, the hull 1 is moved to a predetermined position on the water, the sound wave is transmitted to the bottom of the lake by the sonar head unit 2, the direction and time of the reflected sound wave are detected, and the processing is performed by the control unit 3 to calculate the water depth.
[0004]
As described above, when performing sounding or positioning, the processing of rocking the ship is important. For example, a multi-narrow beam acoustic sounding system or an SSBL acoustic positioning device is a system that calculates the azimuth of a sound source from incident angles of sound waves received by a plurality of receivers. In the case of such a device, only a 0.1 degree error in the incident angle causes a large deviation at a distance of 100 m or 1000 m, resulting in a positioning error and a sounding error. This is important for improving measurement accuracy. For this reason, the multi-narrow beam sounding system is provided with a wobble meter. This wobble meter is mounted on the hull 1 together with the control unit 3. Based on the oscillating meter, an error due to oscillating of the sonar head 2 fixed to the hull 1 is accurately corrected to improve measurement accuracy. Specifically, the sway of the hull 1 is measured by a sway meter, and based on the measured value, the detection value of the sonar head unit 2 on the transmitting / receiving wave surface is corrected. For this reason, it is necessary to mount the oscillometer and the sonar head unit 2 in a state where the positional relationship between the oscillometer and the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head unit 2 is accurately maintained. This is because the mounting accuracy between the wobble meter and the transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head unit 2 is directly connected to the measuring accuracy of the acoustic sounding system.
[0005]
As means for correcting an error, a means described in Patent Document 1 is known. The correction means described in Patent Document 1 uses a bar. This correction means is for correcting a change in the speed of the sound wave due to a difference in water temperature or the like. Specifically, a bar is submerged in water, a sampling pulse wave is generated from a transducer, and the speed of a sound wave due to a difference in water temperature or the like is corrected based on a pulse wave reflected by the bar.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-266839 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the above conventional sounding system, the measurement accuracy of the wobble meter itself is increasing year by year. In order to maintain the measurement accuracy of the oscillating meter, the acoustic sounding system is attached to the hull 1 in a state where the relative relationship between the oscillating meter fixed to the hull 1 and the transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head 2 is maintained accurately. However, since the sonar head 2 is underwater while the sway gauge is on the hull 1, the sound sounding system could not be attached to the hull 1 except when the ship entered the dock. For this reason, it was not easy to newly install the acoustic sounding system or replace it with another ship or the like. Furthermore, an initial mounting error may occur.
[0008]
In addition, because there may be mounting errors, fixed measurements cannot be made on water, and during annual and periodic inspections of the ship, the inclination angle between the oscillometer mounted on the ship and the transmitting / receiving wave surface is adjusted. The error was corrected after the measurement. It was necessary to perform calibration between sensors. Therefore, the sounding work takes time and effort and is complicated.
[0009]
In addition, an error may occur due to the distance between the wobble meter and the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head unit 2. That is, the hull 1 swings due to factors such as waves on the water surface and wind. By the swing of the hull 1, the swing meter mounted on the hull 1 and the underwater sonar head 2 also swing. In this case, the swing of the rocker mounted on the hull 1 and the swing of the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head 2 do not always coincide completely. This is because the fixture 4 of the sonar head 2 and the hull 1 are delicately deformed due to creaking. Due to this deformation, the oscillation of the oscillometer and the oscillation of the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head unit 2 may be slightly displaced, resulting in the above-described incident angle error, positioning error, and sounding error.
[0010]
Further, in the case of Patent Document 1, it is only possible to correct the speed, and it is not possible to correct the error between the swing of the wobble meter and the swing of the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the sonar head unit 2.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to improve measurement accuracy by preventing occurrence of measurement errors due to rocking of a ship or the like and initial mounting errors, and to facilitate installation work and replacement work. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable acoustic sounding system.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An acoustic sounding system according to a first aspect of the present invention for transmitting a sound wave to the water bottom and detecting a reflected sound wave, and for correcting an error caused by swinging of the sound transducer. In the acoustic sounding system provided with a rocker for detecting the rocking of the transducer, the transducer and the rocker are integrally mounted.
[0013]
According to the above configuration, since the transducer and the rocker are integrally mounted, the rocking detection by the rocker becomes the rocking detection of the transducer as it is, so that the error due to the rocking can be accurately corrected. become.
[0014]
An acoustic sounding system according to a second aspect of the present invention is an acoustic sounding system including: a sonar head section that is inserted into water to measure the water depth; and a control section that is installed on a watercraft or the like and controls the sonar head section. A transmitter / receiver that transmits the sound wave to the bottom of the water and detects the reflected sound wave, and an oscillometer that detects the oscillation of the transducer to correct an error due to the oscillation of the transceiver, The transducer and the oscillating meter are integrally mounted in the sonar head.
[0015]
According to the above configuration, since the transducer and the rocker are integrally mounted, the rocking detection by the rocker is directly detected by the rocker as in the first invention, and the error due to the rocking is reduced. Correction can be made accurately.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a sonar head portion, and FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a state where an acoustic sounding system is attached to a hull.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, the sound sounding system 11 is a device attached to the hull 10 for measuring water depth and the like, and mainly includes a sonar head unit 12 and a control unit 13.
[0018]
The sonar head unit 12 is a device for transmitting a sound wave for measuring the water depth and detecting a reflected sound wave. The sonar head section 12 is attached to the hull 10 with a fixture 14.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the sonar head unit 12 includes a housing 15, a transmitter / receiver 16, a circuit unit 17, and an oscillometer 18.
[0020]
The housing 15 is a cylindrical box for housing the transducer 16, the circuit unit 17, the oscillating meter 18, and the like. The housing 15 includes a bottom plate 20 and a main body 21. The bottom plate 20 is a member for closing the lower side of the main body 21 and supporting the transducer 16, the circuit unit 17, and the oscillometer 18. The bottom plate 20 is formed in a substantially disk shape. The transducer 16 is attached to the lower surface of the bottom plate 20. Around the lower surface of the bottom plate 20, there are provided a plurality of feet 23 that serve as ground contact portions when the sonar head 12 is placed on a boat or the like. A flange 24 is provided on the periphery of the bottom plate 20. The flange 24 is in contact with a flange 34 of the main body 21, which will be described later, and is fixed to each other by bolts 25, and the bottom plate 20 is attached to the main body 21. A rising wall 26 is provided along the entire periphery of the upper side surface of the bottom plate 20. The rising wall 26 is in contact with the lower end of the inner surface of the main body 21 over the entire circumference. On the outer peripheral surface of the rising wall portion 26, an annular packing groove 27 is provided over the entire periphery. The two packing grooves 27 are provided vertically in parallel. A packing 28 is mounted in the packing groove 27, and the packing 28 abuts on the lower end of the inner surface of the main body 21 over the entire circumference thereof, and the inside of the housing 15 is sealed watertight.
[0021]
A support shelf 30 is provided on the upper surface of the bottom plate 20. The support shelf 30 is composed of a plurality of columns 31 and two flat plates 32, and forms a three-stage shelf including the bottom plate 20.
[0022]
The main body 21 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape with a lower opening. A circuit section 17 and a wobble meter 18 are provided inside the main body 21. A flange 34 is provided at the lower end of the side wall of the main body 21, and is fixed with a bolt 25 in alignment with the flange 24 of the bottom plate 20. On the upper side of the main body 21, two handles 35 for carrying are provided. Further, a fixing flange 36 is provided at the upper center of the main body 21. The fixing flange 36 is a member for attaching the sonar head 12 to the lower end of the fixture 14. Further, a watertight connector (not shown) for connecting the cable 37 is provided on the upper side surface of the main body 21. This hole is sealed watertight with the cable 37 pulled out. The cable 37 is a cable for electrically connecting the circuit unit 17 and the oscillating meter 18 in the sonar head unit 12 and the control unit 13 mounted on the hull 10.
[0023]
The transducer 16 is a member for transmitting sound waves for detection toward the bottom of the water and detecting the sound waves reflected from the bottom of the water. The transducer 16 is composed of a piezoelectric element. The transmitting side of the transducer 16 is configured by providing many small piezoelectric elements. The piezoelectric element expands and contracts by applying a voltage to generate a sound wave. The receiving side of the transducer 16 is configured by arranging a large number of small piezoelectric elements on a straight line, and generates a voltage according to the pressure of the received sound wave.
[0024]
The circuit unit 17 is a device for controlling the transducer 16. The circuit unit 17 includes a transmission signal generator 40, two A / D converters 41 and 42 on the reception side, and two amplifiers 43 and 44 on the transmission side and the reception side. The A / D converter on the transmission side is included in the transmission signal generator 40. Each of these devices is placed and fixed on the support shelf 30 respectively.
[0025]
The swing meter 18 is a device for directly detecting the swing of the sonar head unit 12 and indirectly detecting the wave transmitting / receiving surface of the wave transmitter / receiver 16. The gyro 18 is provided with an optical gyro, and mainly detects a roll angle and a pitch angle. The yaw angle is also detected, but two more accurate GPS antennas are used for the yaw angle. This GPS antenna will be described later. The sway meter 18 is attached to a support shelf 30 in the housing 15. Directly, it is fixed to the uppermost shelf plate 32 of the support shelf 30, and is integrated with the transducer 16 via the support shelf 30, the support 31 and the bottom plate 20. Thus, the oscillating meter 18 and the transducer 16 oscillate integrally.
[0026]
The control unit 13 is a device that controls the circuit unit 17 and the oscillating meter 18, and processes signals from them to calculate the water depth. Specific processing contents will be described later. The control unit 13 is mounted on the hull 10. The control unit 13 is electrically connected to the circuit unit 17 in the sonar head unit 12, the oscillometer 18, and the like by a cable 37.
[0027]
As shown in FIG. 3, the fixture 14 includes a column 47, a horizontal plate 48, and an antenna 49. The lower end of the column 47 is fixed to the flange 36 of the sonar head 12. The horizontal plate portion 48 is provided so as to extend from the middle of the column portion 47 and is fixed to the hull 10. The antenna section 49 is provided at the upper end of the support section 47. Two GPS antennas (not shown) are attached to the antenna unit 49. The two GPS antennas are provided at two points apart in the horizontal direction, and detect a deviation between the two points as a change in the yaw angle of the transducer 16 of the sonar head unit 12. The control unit 13 stores a function of detecting the position of the two GPS antennas and a function of detecting a change in the yaw angle due to a shift in the position of the two GPS antennas.
[0028]
[motion]
The acoustic sounding system 11 configured as described above is used as follows.
[0029]
When the sounding sounding system 11 is mounted on the hull 10, the sonar head 12 is fixed to the hull 10 by the fixture 14, and the control unit 13 is installed at an arbitrary position on the hull 10. Then, the sonar head unit 12 and the control unit 13 are electrically connected by the cable 37. The installation work of the sound sounding system 11 ends here.
[0030]
When measuring the water depth, the hull 10 such as a ship equipped with the sound sounding system 11 is placed in a lake or the like to be measured. Then, it is moved to the measurement position, and a sound wave is transmitted from the sonar head unit 12 inserted in the water. Specifically, under the control of the control unit 13, the transmission signal generator 40 generates a transmission signal. This signal is amplified by the amplifier 43 on the transmission side to operate the transducer 16. Thereby, the piezoelectric element on the transmitting side of the transducer 16 generates a sound wave and transmits the sound wave into the water. This sound wave is transmitted toward the bottom of the lake, and is reflected back from the bottom of the lake. The returned acoustic wave is converted by the piezoelectric element on the receiving side of the transducer 16 into an electric signal and sent to the circuit section 17. In the circuit unit 17, the signal is amplified by the amplifier 44 on the receiving side, converted into digital signals by A / D converters 41 and 42 on the receiving side, and transmitted to the control unit 13 via the cable 37.
[0031]
Further, the fluctuation of the transducer 16 at the time of receiving the sound wave signal by the transducer 16 is detected by the oscillometer 18 and is taken in through the cable 37. Specifically, the roll angle and the pitch angle are detected by the optical gyro, the yaw angle is detected by the GPS antenna, and the detected value is taken in via the cable 37.
[0032]
Next, the water depth is calculated by calculating the detection value of the transducer 16 while correcting the detection value with the detection of the oscillating meter 18.
[0033]
When replacing the acoustic sounding system 11 with another hull 10, the cable 37 is detached from the control unit 13 and the fixture 14 is detached from the hull 10. Then, the control unit 13 is attached to another hull 10, and the fixture 14 is fixed to the hull 10. Next, the cable 37 is connected to the control unit 13 to complete the replacement work.
[0034]
[effect]
As described above, since the vibration meter 18 is integrally attached to the transducer 16 in the sonar head portion 12, it is not necessary to maintain consistency between the vibration meter 18 and the transmitting / receiving surface of the transducer 16. A complicated correction work at the time of mounting the sounding system 11 is not required. That is, conventionally, since the mounting of the oscillometer was mounted in consideration of the relative relationship with the transmitting and receiving surfaces of the transducer, the mounting angle of the transmitting and receiving surfaces was measured, the mounting angle of the oscillating meter was measured, and the difference was measured. Calculate and correct all of the roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle based on either of them. Then, the mounting work is performed while making this correction, but the work takes about several days. In addition, the fixture and the like may be displaced due to the swing or the like at the time of the measurement, but this has caused a displacement between the attached shake meter and the transducer while correcting. On the other hand, in the acoustic sounding system 11 of the present embodiment, since the oscillometer 18 is integrally attached to the transducer 16, it is necessary to ensure consistency between the oscillometer 18 and the transmitting and receiving surface of the transducer 16. The oscillation meter 18 and the transducer 16 do not shift due to the swing of the hull 10 or the like.
[0035]
As a result, what has conventionally taken several days for the mounting operation is reduced to several hours or as fast as one hour, and the mounting operation becomes extremely easy. That is, installation work and replacement work can be easily performed in a short time. In addition, the measurement accuracy can be significantly improved.
[0036]
Further, since the sounding sounding system 11 can easily perform installation work and replacement work in a short time, it is easy to transport only the sounding sounding system 11 to the destination and attach it to the hull 10 or the like there. it can. That is, the fixture 14 has a detachable structure such as a structure for gripping the edge of the hull 10, and the acoustic sounding system 11 is configured to have a size that can be transported, so that the sounding system 11 can be carried to the site as needed. Regardless of the type of the hull 10, it can be attached to the hull 10 at the site to measure the water depth. Thereby, the portable acoustic sounding system 11 can be obtained.
[0037]
[Modification]
(1) In the above embodiment, the wobble meter 18 and the transducer 16 are integrally mounted via the support shelf 30. However, if the installation space is sufficient, they can be integrally mounted on the same surface. good. In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0038]
(2) In the above embodiment, the oscillating meter 18 is configured by an optical gyro. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any device that can detect a roll angle or the like, such as a mechanical gyro, may be used. In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0039]
(3) In the above embodiment, the roll angle and the pitch angle are detected by the optical gyro, and the yaw angle is detected by the two GPS antennas. However, all of the roll angle, the pitch angle, and the yaw angle are detected by the optical gyro. However, only one GPS antenna may be provided to detect only the position. In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0040]
(4) In the above embodiment, two GPS antennas are provided in the horizontal direction to detect the yaw angle, but may be provided in the vertical direction to detect the roll angle and the pitch angle. When two GPS antennas are provided in the vertical direction, of the deviations at the respective points, the deviation component in the horizontal direction of the hull 10 is the roll angle, and the deviation component in the front-rear direction is the pitch angle. That is, the roll angle and the pitch angle can be simultaneously detected by the two GPS antennas provided in the vertical direction.
[0041]
Two GPS antennas may be arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, respectively, to detect the rule angle, the pitch angle, and the yaw angle, respectively.
[0042]
In these cases, the same operation and effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the sounding sounding system according to the present invention has the following effects.
[0044]
(1) Since the transmitter / receiver and the rocker are integrally mounted, the rocking detection by the rocker can be directly used as the rocking detection of the transmitter / receiver, so that the error due to the rocking can be accurately corrected. Become.
[0045]
(2) By arranging two GPS antennas in the horizontal direction, the yaw angle of the transducer can be detected. By arranging two GPS antennas in the vertical direction, the roll angle and the pitch angle can be detected. Thereby, the error due to the swing can be more accurately corrected.
[0046]
(3) The wobble meter is provided with a GPS antenna that is provided two horizontally and detects the yaw angle of the transducer based on a deviation of their positions, and an optical gyro that detects the roll angle and the pitch angle of the transducer. Therefore, the roll angle and the pitch angle are detected by the optical gyro, and the yaw angle is detected by the GPS antenna, so that the error due to the swing can be more accurately corrected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a sonar head part of an acoustic sounding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing a state where a conventional acoustic sounding system is attached to a hull.
FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a state in which the acoustic sounding system according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to a hull.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: hull, 11: acoustic sounding system, 12: sonar head unit, 13: control unit, 14: fixture, 15: housing, 16: transducer, 17: circuit unit, 18: oscillometer, 20: bottom plate , 21: body, 23: foot, 24: flange, 25: bolt, 26: rising wall, 27: packing groove, 28: packing, 30: support shelf, 31: support, 32: flat plate, 34: flange , 35: handle, 36: fixing flange, 37: cable, 40: transmission signal generator, 41, 42: A / D converter, 43, 44: amplifier, 47: support, 48: horizontal plate, 49 : Antenna part.

Claims (2)

A sound transmitter and receiver that transmits a sound wave to the bottom of the water and detects the reflected sound wave, and an oscillometer that detects the swing of the transducer in order to correct an error caused by the swing of the transceiver. In the sounding system,
An acoustic sounding system in which the transducer and the shaking gauge are integrally mounted. In a sound sonar system including a sonar head section that is inserted in water to measure the water depth and a control section that is installed on a waterborne vessel or the like and controls the sonar head section,
A transmitter / receiver that transmits the sound wave to the water bottom and detects the reflected sound wave, and an oscillometer that detects the oscillation of the transducer in order to correct an error due to the oscillation of the transceiver,
An acoustic sounding system, wherein the transducer and the wobble meter are integrally mounted in the sonar head portion.

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