JP2007017081A - Infrared guide device and infrared guide method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the specific position of a tracking point according to the distance from a target flying body. <P>SOLUTION: Infrared image data of mid-wavelength band received by a mid-wavelength infrared ray detection part 11a is fetched, a target image in mid-wavelength infrared ray is determined and segmented in a mid-wavelength image processing part 12a, and the position of target is calculated. Infrared image data of long-wavelength band received by a long-wavelength infrared ray detection part 11b is fetched, and a target image in long-wavelength infrared ray is determined and segmented in a long-wavelength image processing part 12b. The position of target corresponding to a position selected from the mid-wavelength image data is calculated, and the magnitude of target (the number of segments) is also determined. In a target determination processing part 13, whether the magnitude of target is larger than a threshold or not is determined, the target position in the mid-wavelength image is reported as the tracking point to a guide processing part of the latter stage until it reaches the threshold. When it reaches the threshold, the mid-wavelength image is switched to the long-wavelength image, and the target position in the long-wavelength image is reported as the tracking point to the guide processing part of the latter stage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is, for example, mounted on a guided flying object, specifies a tracking point from an image obtained by imaging a target flying object with an infrared image sensor, and generates an induction signal for guiding toward the tracking point. The present invention relates to an apparatus and an infrared guidance method.

  In an infrared guiding device mounted on a conventional guided flying object, a target flying object such as an aircraft is imaged by an infrared image sensor to acquire an infrared image in a medium wavelength band (3 to 5 μs), and a high temperature such as exhaust is obtained from the image. The part is detected and specified as a tracking point, and a guidance signal for guiding the mounted flying object toward the tracking point is generated (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the conventional infrared guidance device, the high temperature part of the exhaust of the target flying object is specified as the tracking point, so the flying object main body and the exhaust part cannot be identified as approaching the target flying object, and the tracking point flies. There is a risk that the correct position of the target may be mistaken away from the body.

On the other hand, there is also a method of detecting a target flying object using an infrared image in a long wavelength band (8 to 12 μs) and specifying its center of gravity as a tracking point. However, since long wavelength infrared rays are susceptible to atmospheric attenuation, the target cannot be detected when the target flying object is far away.
JP 05-109125 A

  As described above, in the conventional infrared guidance device, the exhaust portion that becomes a high temperature of the target flying object is used as the tracking point, so the tracking point moves away from the flying object body as the target approaches, and the target's accurate position is mistaken. There was a risk of being unable to follow.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and enables the specific position of the tracking point to be controlled in accordance with the distance from the target flying object, so that the target flying object approaches the target flying object. It is an object of the present invention to provide an infrared guiding device and an infrared guiding method capable of continuously setting a tracking point on a flying body.

  In order to solve the above problem, an infrared guiding device according to the present invention is mounted on a guided flying object, captures a target by infrared rays, and guides the mounted flying object to the target. A first wavelength band infrared detecting section for detecting infrared light in the first wavelength band; a first wavelength band image processing section for obtaining a target image from the infrared detection signal in the first wavelength band; A second wavelength band infrared detection unit for detecting infrared light in a second wavelength band longer than the first wavelength band emitted from the light source, and a target image is determined from the infrared detection signal in the second wavelength band and a tracking position thereof is specified. In addition, a second wavelength band image processing unit for obtaining the size of the target image is compared with a preset threshold value, and the first wavelength band image is reached until the target image reaches the threshold value. Follow-up identified by the processing unit A target determination processing unit that switches to derivation of the tracking position specified by the second wavelength band image processing unit when the threshold is reached, and the tracking position output from the target determination processing unit And a guidance processing unit that guides the mounted flying object.

  In addition, the infrared guiding method according to the present invention is mounted on a guided flying object, captures a target by each of infrared rays in a first wavelength band and a second wavelength band longer than the wavelength band, and sets the flying object to the target. An infrared guidance method for generating a guidance signal for guidance, the first wavelength band image processing step for obtaining the target image from the infrared detection signal of the first wavelength band and specifying a tracking position thereof, and the second A second wavelength band image processing process for obtaining the target image from the infrared detection signal in the wavelength band and specifying the tracking position, and a target image size calculation for obtaining the size of the target image from the infrared detection signal in the second wavelength band In the first wavelength band image processing process until the target image reaches the threshold value in the process, the size comparison process for comparing the size of the target image with a preset threshold value, and the size comparison process Was Based on the target determination process step of outputting the follow position and switching to the output of the follow position specified in the second wavelength band image process step when the threshold is reached, and the follow position output from the target decision process step And a guiding process for guiding the mounted flying object.

  In the infrared guiding device and method having the above-described configuration, the second wavelength band (long wavelength band) infrared ray is easier to capture the entire target than the first wavelength band (medium wavelength band) infrared ray, but the attenuation corresponding to the distance is reduced. Focusing on the fact that the target detection becomes impossible when the target is far away because it is large, the target tracking point is identified from the infrared target image in the first wavelength band at the initial stage of operation, and is based on the infrared image in the second wavelength band When the target size reaches a reference threshold value, the target tracking point is specified by switching to the infrared target image in the second wavelength band.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to control the specific position of the tracking point according to the distance from the target flying object, thereby setting the tracking point in the main body of the target flying object even if the mounted flying object approaches the target flying object. It is possible to provide an infrared guiding device and an infrared guiding method that can be continued.

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

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an infrared guiding device according to the present invention. Although not shown in detail, this infrared guiding device is mounted on a flying object that is launched toward a target flying object such as an aircraft, and emits infrared light in a medium wavelength band (3 to 5 μs) emitted from the initially captured target flying object. Medium-wavelength infrared detection unit 11a to detect, long-wavelength infrared detection unit 11b to detect infrared in a long wavelength band (8 to 12 μs) emitted from the target, and image processing of medium-wavelength infrared detected by the medium-wavelength infrared detection unit 11a Processing is performed by the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a, the long wavelength image processing unit 12b that performs image processing of the long wavelength infrared light detected by the long wavelength infrared detection unit 11b, the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a, and the long wavelength image processing unit 12b. A target determination processing unit 13 that performs target determination processing from the obtained image signal, and a guidance processing unit 14 that generates a guidance signal with the target position determined by the target determination processing unit 13 as a tracking point. .

  The medium wavelength infrared detection unit 11a detects the infrared of the medium wavelength band from the target as an image, and sends the image signal to the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a. The medium wavelength image processing unit 12a receives an image signal based on the medium wavelength band infrared detected by the medium wavelength infrared detecting unit 11a, obtains a target component by detecting the feature in the image, and outputs target position information on the image. To do.

  On the other hand, the long-wavelength infrared detector 11b detects long-wavelength infrared light from the target as an image, and sends the image signal to the long-wavelength image processing unit 12b. The long-wavelength image processing unit 12b inputs an image signal based on the long-wavelength infrared detected by the long-wavelength infrared detector 11b, obtains a target component in the image, and obtains a target position on the image and its size. Output. The target determination processing unit 13 outputs either the target position from the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a or the target position from the long / medium wavelength image processing unit 12b as the target position.

  The medium wavelength image processing unit 12a is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 2, and includes a target segmentation processing unit A11, a target position calculation processing unit A12, and the like. The target segmentation processing unit A11 performs binarization processing and the like on the input image to segment the target area. Further, the target position calculation processing unit A12 obtains the center of gravity of the segmented target area, and outputs the segment pixel at the center of gravity position as target position information.

  The long-wavelength image processing unit 12b is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 3 and includes a target segmentation processing unit B11, a target position calculation processing unit B12, etc., as in the case of the medium wavelength. A calculation processing unit B13 is provided. The target area calculation processing unit B13 calculates the size of the segmented target area, that is, the number of pixels of the segment forming the target area, and outputs it as target size information.

  The target determination processing unit 13 is specifically configured as shown in FIG. 4 and includes a target distance determination unit C11 and a changeover switch C12. The target distance determination unit C11 receives target size information sent from the long wavelength image processing unit 12B, and outputs a switching control signal when the target size exceeds a threshold value. The changeover switch C12 receives the target position information from the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a and the target position information from the long wavelength image processing unit 12b, and derives either one according to the changeover control signal.

  That is, in the target distance determination unit C11 having the above-described apparatus configuration, when an object such as a target whose size is generally known in advance is at a predetermined distance, normally, the recognized size is set as a threshold, and at the initial stage of operation. The change-over switch C12 is set to select target position information on the medium wavelength image side. Then, the value of the target size information sent from the long wavelength image determination processing unit 13 is compared with the threshold value, and the size of the target image in the long wavelength image that gradually increases as the target is approached reaches the threshold value. Thus, it is determined that the mounted guidance apparatus has reached within the target predetermined distance, and the changeover switch C12 is switched to the target position information on the long wavelength image side.

  Therefore, in the subsequent guidance processing unit 14, the target determination processing unit 13 follows from a long-wavelength image in which a short-range target can be easily recognized when it is determined that the target size is sufficiently close to the target. Can be calculated, and target tracking can be performed more reliably.

  By the way, the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a, the long wavelength image processing unit 12b, and the target determination processing unit 13 in the above apparatus configuration can be realized by program processing by a small computer system. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the program processing in the case of the infrared guidance device of the above embodiment.

  First, in step S11, infrared image data in the medium wavelength band received by the medium wavelength infrared detection unit 11a is captured. In step S12, medium wavelength infrared image processing corresponding to the medium wavelength image processing unit 12a is performed, and a target image is obtained. Segment. Subsequently, in step S13, the target position is calculated from the segment of the infrared target image based on the medium wavelength image data.

  Next, in step S14, long-wavelength infrared image data received by the long-wavelength infrared detection unit 11b is captured, and in step S15, long-wavelength infrared image processing corresponding to the long-wavelength image processing unit 12b is performed to obtain a target image. Is segmented. Subsequently, in step S16, the target position corresponding to the position selected from the medium wavelength image data is calculated from the segment of the infrared target image based on the long-wavelength infrared, and the target size (number of segments) is also calculated. )

  Here, in steps S17 to S20, processing corresponding to the target determination processing unit 13 is executed. That is, in step S17, it is determined whether or not the target size A obtained in step S16 is greater than the threshold value B. If NO, the target position in the medium wavelength image is tracked (target) in step S18. To the subsequent guidance processing unit 14, and the process returns to step S11 to continue the process. If step S17 is YES, in step S19, the medium wavelength image is switched to the long wavelength image by the same processing as that of the changeover switch C12. In step S20, the target position in the long wavelength image is changed to the tracking point (target). ) To the subsequent guidance processing unit 14, and the process returns to step S11 to continue the processing.

  In the processing flow of FIG. 5, steps S11 to S16 are shown to be processed serially, but steps S11 and S12 and steps S14 and S15 may be processed in parallel.

  According to the above processing, when the target is far from the predetermined distance, the target is followed by the infrared of medium wavelength, and when the target is closer than the predetermined distance, the target is followed by the infrared of long wavelength. In this case, an infrared guiding device capable of accurately detecting the distance to the target is obtained.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the infrared rays guidance apparatus of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a medium wavelength image processing unit shown in FIG. 1. The block diagram which shows the specific structure of the long wavelength image process part shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the specific structure of the target determination process part shown in FIG. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the case of implement | achieving a part of infrared guidance apparatus shown in FIG. 1 by software processing.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11a ... Medium wavelength infrared detection part, 11b ... Long wavelength infrared detection part, 12a ... Medium wavelength image processing part, 12b ... Long wavelength image processing part, 13 ... Target determination processing part, 14 ... Guidance processing part, A11 ... Target segmentation A processing unit, A12 ... target position calculation processing unit, B11 ... target segmentation processing unit, B12 ... target position calculation processing unit, B13 ... target area calculation processing unit, C11 ... target distance determination unit, C12 ... changeover switch.

Claims (2)

In an infrared guidance device that is mounted on a guided flying object, captures the target with infrared rays, and guides the loaded flying object to the target.
A first wavelength band infrared detection unit for detecting infrared light in the first wavelength band emitted by the target;
A first wavelength band image processing unit for obtaining a target image from the infrared detection signal of the first wavelength band and specifying a tracking position thereof;
A second wavelength band infrared detection unit for detecting infrared light in a second wavelength band longer than the first wavelength band emitted by the target;
A second wavelength band image processing unit that obtains a target image from the infrared detection signal of the second wavelength band and specifies a tracking position thereof, and obtains a size of the target image;
The size of the target image is compared with a preset threshold value, and the tracking position specified by the first wavelength band image processing unit is derived until the target image reaches the threshold value. A target determination processing unit that switches to derivation of the tracking position specified by the second wavelength band image processing unit;
An infrared guidance device comprising: a guidance processing unit that guides the mounted flying object based on a tracking position output from the target determination processing unit. Infrared guidance that is mounted on a guided flying object, captures a target by each of infrared rays in a first wavelength band and a second wavelength band longer than the wavelength band, and generates a guidance signal for guiding the mounted flying object to the target. A method,
A first wavelength band image processing step of obtaining the target image from the infrared detection signal of the first wavelength band and specifying the tracking position;
A second wavelength band image processing step of obtaining the target image from the infrared detection signal of the second wavelength band and specifying the tracking position;
A target image size calculation process for obtaining the size of the target image from the infrared detection signal of the second wavelength band;
A size comparison process for comparing the size of the target image with a preset threshold;
The tracking position specified in the first wavelength band image processing process is output until the target image reaches a threshold value in the size comparison process, and specified in the second wavelength band image processing process when the threshold value is reached. A target determination process for switching to the output of the followed position,
An infrared guidance method comprising: a guidance processing step for guiding the mounted flying object based on a tracking position output from the target determination processing step.

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