JP2009017241A - Highly functional buoy incorporating gps - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information network on the sea by effectively using position information of buoys obtained from GPS. <P>SOLUTION: The buoy is an apparatus that provides information in the sea together with position information by being equipped with a radio relay device, a GPS, an acoustic communication device, and an underwater acoustic antenna, in each of multiple floats which are disposed in a plurality of prescribed places, and the buoy is a mark indicating places of sunken rocks and sea routes and is an observation meter for use in verification of a temperature of the sea surface and wind velocity on the sea. The buoy is a highly functional buoy incorporating GPS, that is capable of obtaining information of objects in the sea and of the sea bottom by receiving a reflected wave of a signal transmitted from the acoustic communication device by the underwater acoustic antenna and is capable of transmitting the information to a ground station by the radio relay device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a technology for performing environmental monitoring and submarine traffic monitoring using a buoy, and more particularly, a technology for acquiring information including position information of an arbitrary measurement point in the sea by using a sonic communication device and GPS together. About.

Most of the earth's surface is the sea, but the sea that looks gentle on the surface is often shallow and dangerous, such as underwater reefs and reefs. However, unlike the land, the road cannot be seen with eyes. For this reason, it is necessary to install navigation signs even at sea to indicate safe waterways or dangerous sea areas so that ships can navigate safely. Buoys are one of the signs, and in recent years there has been a growing demand for effective use and advancement of buoys.

  In addition, there are few means for grasping the target building and location at sea, but there are cases where accurate location information is required, such as when a distress occurs, and in recent years, means to incorporate GPS into the buoy are also being considered. Has been. In other words, it is possible to receive radio waves from three or more geostationary satellites orbiting in geostationary orbit and to accurately obtain the position of the buoy.

Conventional techniques relating to buoys that float on the sea and wirelessly communicate with a base station or the like to receive various information such as position information are disclosed in various technical documents. For example, a floating bag device for a communication buoy that includes an antenna that uses the sea surface as a ground surface and that investigates sea conditions using various sensors housed in a cylindrical main body is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, a structural technique for attaching a GPS to a buoy for underwater exploration is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-45355 JP 2005-328139 A

A conventional buoy is equipped with a communication antenna for wireless communication with a base station or the like, and is unmanned to obtain necessary information. In recent years, it has become possible to measure position information very accurately and acquire the floating position of buoys at sea by using GPS. However, in the sense of effectively using the position information of buoys obtained from GPS, studies have not yet progressed, and buoys floating in the ocean where radio waves do not reach from the ground cannot communicate with the base station. Therefore, it remains only as a sign at sea.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and utilizes GPS, a sound wave communication device, and a wireless communication device attached to a buoy, for example, measurement of crustal movement of the seabed and monitoring of a submersible And a method for receiving a signal from a buoy floating in the ocean at a base station, and an object of the present invention is to provide a buoy and a network communication method thereof that overcome or reduce the above-described problems.

In order to solve the above problems, the GPS built-in high-function buoy of the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

In other words, it is a sign that informs the location and route of the reef, and in the buoy which is an observation instrument used to verify sea surface temperature and sea surface wind speed,
A device that provides underwater information with position information by providing a wireless relay device, a GPS, a sound wave communication device, and an underwater sound wave antenna in floats arranged at a plurality of predetermined locations,
By receiving the reflected wave from the measurement point of the signal generated by the underwater acoustic antenna in response to the transmission permission signal of the acoustic communication device or the transmission wave transmitted by the measurement point by the underwater acoustic antenna, an object in the water or the seabed And a high-function buoy with a built-in GPS, characterized in that the information can be transmitted to the ground station by the wireless relay device.

Further, based on the transmission permission signal of the sonic communication device, a sound wave signal is transmitted into the sea by an underwater sound wave antenna, and a reflected wave from a measurement point such as an object in the sea or a device at the sea floor is received by the underwater sound wave antenna. By calculating the path distance from the measurement point based on the total time required from the transmission of the signal to the reception and the sound velocity value, the relative position from the buoy A can be specified by the path distance obtained by a plurality of buoys including the buoy A, The GPS built-in high-function buoy is characterized in that the absolute position of a measurement point in the sea is specified by the relative position and the GPS mounted on the buoy A.

According to the buoy and the marine network communication method of the present invention, the following remarkable practical effects can be obtained. First, since a large number of buoys existing at sea are utilized together with GPS, it is possible to obtain the same position as the monitoring device network on land after obtaining the current position of the buoy accurately and quickly. By using a sonic communication device as a monitoring means as in the present invention, it becomes possible to measure seafloor crustal deformation in the sea and monitor submersibles, and when a change occurs, a radio relay device built in the buoy Through the inter-buoy communication, it is possible to transmit information such as the exact location where an anomaly has occurred to the base station on the ground.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a GPS built-in high-function buoy according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a high-function buoy with a built-in GPS according to the present invention. Reference numeral 101 denotes the whole buoy. 113, a power generation device 115, an underwater acoustic wave antenna 117, and a acoustic wave communication device 119.

  The microcomputer 109 always recognizes the absolute position of its own buoy from the input signal from the GPS device 111. Here, the communication means between the GPS and the microcomputer is based on an arbitrary communication method, but since each buoy can be regarded as one network device, it is generally used for the purpose of monitoring the network device, SNMP ( It is efficient to use the MIB (Management Information Base) format of the Simple Network Management Protocol (Simple Network Management Protocol).

  Various information obtained by the buoy 1 is transmitted from the transmitting antenna 105 to the base station. However, when the buoy is far away from the base station, such as in the ocean, the information is transmitted to the base station via the relay buoy 2. Is transmitted.

In that case, the transmission signal from the buoy 2 receiving antenna 103 is received by the buoy 2 receiving antenna 103 and transmitted again from the buoy 2 transmitting antenna 105 to the base station. Since the reflection of the signal at the sea surface is received as a delayed wave with respect to the signal between the antennas, the delayed wave is removed by the delayed wave removing device 107 for the purpose of removing this delayed wave. After that, signal transmission is performed from the transmission antenna 105.

  Thus, the GPS built-in high-function buoy according to the present invention is characterized by not only collecting various information in the sea but also having a repeater function in maritime communication.

  The GPS built-in high-function buoy according to the present invention includes an external input terminal 113 for connecting various sensors for collecting various information, and the obtained information is transmitted via the transmitting antenna 105. It has a function to transmit to the base station.

  The buoy in the present invention includes a power generation device to enable self-running operation. As a form of power generation, various means such as wave power generation, a solar cell, and a fuel cell using seawater can be considered.

  An example of a sensor connected to the external input terminal 113 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram when a fish school sonar device is connected to the external input terminal 113. When the fish finder sonar attached to the buoy 201 finds the fish 207, the buoy 201 transmits position information and fish information to the base station 205. At this time, if the buoy 201 and the base station 205 are far apart, the buoy 203 receives the fish school information with the receiving antenna 103, removes the delayed wave with the delay wave removing device 107, and then receives the fish school information from the transmitting antenna 105. Re-transmit to the base station 205.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram when a simple console is connected to the external input terminal 113. When a crew member of 303 such as a distressed ship or a drifting ship operates the simplified console of the buoy 301, the buoy 301 transmits position information and a rescue signal to the base station. Similarly to the above, when the buoy 301 and the base station are far apart, the buoy in the middle retransmits the transmission signal of the buoy 301.

  In addition to the example described above, for example, a tsunami monitoring device can be formed by connecting a wave height meter to an external input terminal. Moreover, a suspicious ship monitoring apparatus can be formed by connecting a ship image recognition apparatus to an external input terminal.

  Note that these are merely examples using an external input terminal, and various sensors can be attached to the terminal, and a monitoring device corresponding to the sensor can be formed.

Next, an optimum embodiment using a sonic communication device which is a feature of the present invention will be described in detail.

First, data transmission / reception between the submersible and the ground base station will be described. FIG. 4 shows a submarine that travels under the buoys. When data is transmitted from the ground base station to the buoy closest to the submersible via the inter-buoy communication using the above-described characteristics of the buoy as a repeater, the data is then transmitted to the audio frequency by the buoy voice communication device. Communicate to the submersible craft with a belt. The response from the submersible is also radiated in the audio frequency band, received by the buoy's underwater acoustic antenna, and transmitted to the ground base station via inter-buoy communication using the characteristics of the buoy as a repeater.

Next, the case of monitoring a submarine that passes illegally will be described. FIG. 4 shows a submarine that illegally travels under the buoys. Utilizing the above-described characteristics of a buoy as a repeater, when a monitoring permission signal is transmitted from the ground base station to the buoy closest to the submarine via inter-buoy communication, the buoy's voice communicator then uses it for underwater monitoring. Transmits signals to the sea in the audio frequency band. The submarine reflects the underwater monitoring signal, and this reflected wave is received by the buoy's underwater acoustic antenna. The reflected wave is transmitted to the ground base station via inter-buoy communication using the characteristics of the buoy as a repeater. Is done.

Since each buoy can acquire the absolute position such as latitude and longitude by the GPS onboard, if there is a reflected wave from the sea as described above, the absolute position of the reflection source is obtained by triangulation using a plurality of buoys. It is possible to know not only the presence of moving objects in the sea but also their absolute position at the ground base station.

Next, another special application example of the buoy according to the present invention will be described. 5 and 6 show a neutrino observation apparatus using a high-performance buoy according to the present invention.

In many cases, the neutrino observation device is realized in a huge tank formed in a vast hollow such as a mine site. This is due to the use of the physical property that light does not enter as the water depth increases and only the neutrinos arrive at the bottom of the tank. The neutrino observation device can be applied to neutrino telescopes. In this application example, a neutrino observation device is simply created by regarding the deep sea as if it were a huge tank.

As shown in FIG. 5, high-function buoys according to the present invention are arranged in a matrix. As shown in FIG. 6, a photomultiplier tube for multiplying neutrinos and a frequency converter for voice communication between buoys are installed in the sea. Neutrinos arriving at the deep sea floor are amplified by a photomultiplier tube, and amplitude information thereof is converted into information in a voice signal band by a frequency converter and received by a buoy underwater acoustic antenna.

Since the absolute position of buoys arranged in a matrix can be grasped by GPS, the position and number of invading neutrinos are transmitted by wireless communication between the buoys, and finally reach the ground base station. Therefore, arrival information of neutrinos can be observed at the ground base station.

The present invention can be used not only in the embodiment described above but also in all situations using voice communication in the sea and GPS and radio communication in the water.

Configuration diagram of GPS high-function buoy according to the present invention An example of connecting a fish survey sonar to an external input terminal An example of connecting a simple console to the external input terminal Communication between buoy and submersible Buoy arranged in matrix Neutrino observation device

Explanation of symbols

101 ... GPS high-function buoy,
103: Receive antenna 105: Transmit antenna
107 ... delayed wave removal device, 109 ... microcomputer,
111 ... GPS device, 113 ... External input terminal,
115 ... power generation device and rechargeable battery,
117 ... Underwater acoustic wave antenna, 119 ... Sonic wave communication device,
201 ... buoy 1, 203 ... buoy 2, 205 ... base station,
207 ... School of fish,
301 ... Buoy 1, 303 ... Drifting ship.

Claims (2)

In the buoy, which is a sign that informs the location and route of the reef, and is used to verify sea surface temperature and wind speed over the sea,
A device that provides underwater information with position information by providing a wireless relay device, a GPS, a sound wave communication device, and an underwater sound wave antenna in floats arranged at a plurality of predetermined locations,
By receiving the reflected wave from the measurement point of the signal generated by the underwater acoustic antenna in response to the transmission permission signal of the acoustic communication device or the transmission wave transmitted by the measurement point by the underwater acoustic antenna, an object in the water or the seabed A high-function buoy with a built-in GPS, wherein the information can be transmitted to the ground station by the wireless relay device. Based on the transmission permission signal of the sonic communication device, the sound wave signal is transmitted into the sea by the underwater sound wave antenna, the reflected wave from the measurement point of the object in the sea or the device at the sea floor is received by the underwater sound wave antenna, The path distance from the measurement point is calculated based on the total time required from transmission to reception and the sound velocity value, and the relative position from the buoy A can be identified by the path distance obtained by a plurality of buoys including the buoy A. The GPS built-in high-function buoy according to claim 1, wherein the absolute position of the measurement point in the sea is specified by the position and the GPS mounted on the buoy A.