JP2009278455A - Underwater visible light communication system and underwater visible light communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an underwater visible light communication system in which a wavelength of visible light is varied in accordance with the situation of water quality and further the time of driving using a battery is prolonged. <P>SOLUTION: Among visible light of a plurality of kinds of wavelengths emitted from a visible light radiation device 9 of an underwater mobile 1, a wavelength of strongest light reaching a visible light-receiving section 15 of an observation apparatus 3 is determined by a wavelength determination section 31. The observation apparatus 3 selects the visible light of the wavelength determined by the wavelength determination section 31 as visible light for transmission, contains observation data in the visible light and emits it from a visible light radiation device 11 into water. A visible light-receiving section 13 of the underwater mobile 1 demodulates received visible light to acquire the observation data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an underwater visible light communication system and an underwater visible light communication method for transmitting observation data using visible light communication from an observation device installed underwater to an underwater moving body that moves underwater. .

Conventionally, there is a system using visible light in order to transmit and receive data (information) underwater. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-312035 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-20422 (Patent Document 2), in order to transmit and receive data in water, the data to be transmitted is visible on the transmission side. A technique is disclosed for extracting information by modulating light to be emitted into water and demodulating on the receiving side that has received the visible light.
JP-A-4-312035 JP 2005-20422 A

  However, the existing underwater visible light communication system using visible light is assumed to be used at a short distance such as communication between divers. Therefore, water quality, suspended matter in water (suspension called “marine snow”), etc. are not considered, and communication is possible when there are more suspended matter in the water or depending on the type of suspended matter. There was a problem that disappeared.

  In addition, in the existing underwater visible light communication system, there is no problem that the use period of the observation apparatus must be extended as much as possible by suppressing the discharge of the battery as in the case of the observation equipment placed in the water for a long time. . This is because if the communication is between divers, the battery can be easily replaced even if the charge amount of the battery decreases.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an underwater visible light communication system and an underwater visible light communication method capable of changing the wavelength of visible light according to the state of water quality and extending the driving time by a battery. .

  The underwater visible light communication system of the present invention transmits observation data to an underwater moving body that moves in water using visible light communication from an observation device that uses a battery installed in water as a power source. The visible light communication device provided in the underwater vehicle is a visible light emitting device that radiates multiple types of visible light toward the underwater observation device at the same time or at intervals, and a visible light arriving through the water. A visible light receiving unit that receives light, and a data acquisition device that acquires necessary data including observation data from visible light received by the visible light receiving unit. Moreover, the visible light communication device provided in the observation device includes a visible light emitting device that radiates underwater including data necessary for visible light of one type of wavelength selected from a plurality of types of visible light, A visible light receiving unit that receives visible light that passes through, and a wavelength determining unit that determines a wavelength of visible light received by the visible light receiving unit, and the visible light emitting device has a visible wavelength determined by the wavelength determining unit. It is configured to select light as visible light of one type of wavelength. In the underwater visible light communication method of the present invention, the observation data is transmitted from the observation device to the visible light radiation device on the condition that the visible light receiving unit of the visible light communication device provided in the observation device receives visible light. Use to send.

  In order to perform visible light communication, it is necessary for the underwater moving body to approach the observation device to the distance that the visible light reaches. However, the wavelength of visible light that reaches the farthest (visible light with a low attenuation factor) is different due to the influence of the water quality (the amount of suspended solids) that communicates. Therefore, it is important to select visible light having a wavelength that matches the environment of the water area when performing visible light communication. In addition, since the observation device is installed in water and it is not easy to replace the battery as a power source, it is necessary to suppress the power consumption of the observation device as much as possible. Therefore, in the present invention, before starting transmission of observation data, an operation of selecting visible light having a wavelength suitable for the quality of water in water is performed so that observation data can be transmitted as much as possible. For this purpose, first, a visible light emitting device provided in the underwater moving body emits a plurality of types of wavelengths of visible light. A plurality of types of wavelengths may be determined in advance in consideration of the water quality. And the wavelength determination part provided in the observation apparatus determines the wavelength of the visible light which the visible light light-receiving part received. The visible light emitting device provided in the observation device selects visible light having a wavelength determined by the wavelength determination unit as visible light having one wavelength used for transmission of observation data, and data necessary for visible light having this wavelength. Radiates into the water including In the present invention, in order to determine an appropriate wavelength, visible light is not emitted into the water from the observation apparatus side, but visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths necessary to select visible light with an appropriate wavelength is used. The visible light communication device on the underwater vehicle side is in charge of the radiating operation. Therefore, according to the present invention, the amount of power used on the observation apparatus side for determining the wavelength can be reduced. In the present invention, the observation data is not transmitted unless the visible light emitted from the underwater moving body is received, so that useless power is not used for the transmission of the observation data. The visible light received by the visible light receiver on the observation device side is the visible light that reaches the observation device from the underwater moving body, so the observation data is transmitted using visible light having the same wavelength as this visible light. Then, the visible light radiated from the observation device surely reaches the visible light receiving unit on the underwater moving body side. Therefore, according to the present invention, since observation data is transmitted using visible light having the same wavelength as that of visible light that has arrived through water in a place where visible light communication is actually performed, the visible data provided in the observation apparatus is used. The possibility that the visible light emitted from the light emitting device reaches the underwater moving body is very high, and it is possible to provide a reliable underwater visible light communication system. Furthermore, in the present invention, since visible light radiated from an underwater moving object arrives at the observation device, the observation device emits visible light including data, so that unnecessary visible light is not emitted, and observation is performed. The power consumption of the apparatus can also be suppressed.

  The visible light radiating device of the visible light communication device provided in the underwater moving body may radiate visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths toward the observation device at time intervals or at the same time. If radiation is performed at a time interval, the determination accuracy of the wavelength determination unit on the observation apparatus side can be increased. If visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths is emitted simultaneously, there is a possibility that the available visible light wavelengths can be determined in a short time. In order to simultaneously emit visible light having a plurality of wavelengths from the underwater moving body, a white light source may be used as the light source of the visible light emitting device provided in the underwater moving body. Then, the wavelength determination unit provided in the observation device determines the wavelength of the strongest light among the visible light dispersed by the spectroscopic means that divides the visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths from the received visible light. And a wavelength determining unit that determines that the output is to be output. Visible light emitted from the white light source includes a plurality of types of wavelengths. In the observation apparatus, the wavelength of visible light that can be reached can be specified by separating the visible light that has arrived by the spectroscopic means. Then, by outputting the wavelength of the strongest light among the specified wavelengths, visible light having a wavelength that can be used in the environment can be easily determined.

  The visible light communication device provided in the underwater mobile unit irradiates the visible light receiving unit with visible light even if a predetermined time elapses after irradiating the visible light from the visible light emitting device into the water. When not receiving light, a visible light is emitted a predetermined number of times. Finally, when the visible light receiving unit does not receive visible light, an unmeasurable signal generating unit that outputs an unmeasurable signal is further provided. Good. With this configuration, it becomes clear that the emitted visible light did not reach the observation device and data could not be collected, whether communication should be performed closer, whether the observation device is broken, etc. Can be obtained.

  What is used as the light source of the visible light emitting device provided in the visible light communication device provided in the observation device is arbitrary. For example, a plurality of types of light emitting diodes having different wavelengths may be used. A light-emitting diode has high directivity and luminance, consumes little power, and has a long lifetime, and is therefore suitable as a light source for a visible light emitting device of an observation device that remains installed in water for a long period of time. A laser generator that generates a visible light laser may be used as the light source. Since visible light lasers have the same wavelength and extremely high directivity, an effect is obtained in that the communication performance is higher than when other light sources are used.

  In addition, it is preferable to radiate | emit limiting the wavelength of visible light to the range of 450 nm-600 nm, and to select the visible light of the strongest wavelength among them. In this way, it is possible to select visible light having the optimum wavelength for communication according to the situation.

  For example, a wavelength selective filter can be used as the spectroscopic means provided in the observation apparatus. By passing through the wavelength selective filter, visible light having a wavelength reaching the observation device is dispersed, and visible light having a usable wavelength can be easily identified.

  According to the present invention, among visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths radiated from an underwater moving body, visible light of one type of wavelength is used to transmit observation data from the visible light that has actually arrived at the observation device. Since it is determined as light and observation data is transmitted, less power is used on the observation device side for wavelength determination, and the number of times visible light is emitted from the observation device side for transmission of observation data is increased. The observation data can be reliably transmitted to the underwater vehicle without any trouble. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a highly reliable underwater visible light communication system and underwater visible light communication method by extending the driving time of the battery on the observation device side.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an underwater visible light communication system and an underwater visible light communication method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing a configuration of an example of an embodiment of an underwater visible light communication system of the present invention that implements an underwater visible light communication method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an underwater visible light communication of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of a system. A visible light communication device 5 is provided in the underwater moving body 1 that moves in water, and a visible light communication device 7 is provided in the observation device 3 installed in the water. The underwater vehicle 1 may be any device that can move underwater, such as an underwater probe, towed vehicle, or robot, and may be manned or unmanned. The observation device 3 is installed in water such as the seabed and observes seawater temperature, salinity concentration, change in geomagnetism, earthquake, speed of ocean current, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the visible light communication device 5 provided in the underwater moving body emits visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths toward the underwater observation device at the same time or with a time interval. And a visible light receiving unit 13 that receives visible light arriving through the water, and a data acquisition device 19 that acquires necessary data including observation data from the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit 13. . Further, the visible light communication device 7 provided in the observation device 3 includes a visible light emitting device 11 that radiates in water including data necessary for visible light of one type of wavelength selected from a plurality of types of visible light. The visible light receiving unit 15 that receives visible light arriving through the water and the wavelength determination unit 31 that determines the wavelength of the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit 15 are provided. The visible light emitting device 11 is configured to select visible light having a wavelength determined by the wavelength determination unit 31 as visible light having one type of wavelength.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing steps until the underwater vehicle 1 acquires observation data from the observation device by visible light communication. Hereinafter, the configuration of the underwater vehicle 1 and the configuration of the observation device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. When performing visible light communication to collect observation data from the observation device 3, the underwater moving body 1 is brought close to the observation device 3 to some extent. The visible light emitting devices 9 and 11 and the visible light receiving portions 13 and 15 face each other.

  The visible light emitting device 9 provided in the underwater moving body 1 may be any device as long as it can emit visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths. In the present embodiment, a plurality of visible light emitting devices 9 are simultaneously used as described in detail later. A white light source that can emit visible light of various wavelengths is used. The underwater vehicle 1 waits for a predetermined time (T seconds) until the visible light receiving unit 13 receives visible light from the observation device 3 after emitting visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths in step ST1 (step ST2). . If it can be confirmed that the visible light is received in step ST3, the received visible light is demodulated by the demodulator 17 to acquire the data contained in the visible light and stored in the data storage unit 21 of the data acquisition device 19 ( Step ST4). Thereby, the underwater vehicle 1 can collect observation data from the observation device 3.

  On the other hand, if the reception of visible light cannot be confirmed in step ST3, the process proceeds to step ST5, where visible light of a plurality of wavelengths is emitted n (a natural number of 2 or more) times until the visible light can be received. To do. If the visible light from the observation device 3 cannot be received even though the number of times of radiation exceeds n times, it is determined that the observation device 3 cannot receive the visible light for some reason. The generating unit 23 generates a measurement impossible signal and ends the process. When an unmeasurable signal is output from the unmeasurable signal generator 23, the underwater moving object is further brought closer to the observation device so that visible light can easily reach. Still, if visible light communication is not possible, there is a possibility that the observation device 3 is out of order. In this case, position data is recorded for collection of the observation device 3.

  When emitting visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths with a time interval, when the number of times of emission exceeds n times in step ST5, the wavelength of the visible light to be emitted is changed and the wavelength of the visible light to be emitted is changed. When there are no candidates, a measurement impossibility signal is generated in step ST6, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the observation apparatus 3 in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 showing the procedure until the observation apparatus 3 transmits data to the underwater vehicle 1. The observation device 3 uses the battery 25 as a power source, and usually observes various data periodically by the observation unit 27 and stores the observation data in the observation data storage unit 29. When the visible light receiving unit 15 senses that visible light is radiated from the underwater moving body 1, it shifts to a transmission mode for transmitting observation data (step ST11). The visible light emitted from the white light source 39 (see FIG. 5) of the visible light emitting device 9 of the underwater moving body 1 includes a plurality of types of wavelengths. For this reason, in order to determine which wavelength of visible light has arrived, the spectral means 33 of the wavelength determination unit 31 splits the light (step ST12). Then, the wavelength determining unit 35 determines the wavelength of the strongest light among the split visible light (step ST13). When visible light of a plurality of types of wavelengths is emitted from the visible light emitting device 9 of the underwater moving body 1 with a time interval, the wavelength of visible light that reaches first may be set as the strongest light wavelength.

  The visible light having the wavelength determined by the wavelength determining unit 35 in this manner becomes visible light emitted from the visible light emitting device 11 of the observation device 3. That is, the visible light having the wavelength determined here is the strongest of the visible light emitted from the visible light emitting device 9 of the underwater mobile body 1 and reaching the observation device 3 through the water. If the visible light radiating device 11 of 3 radiates, it is visible light having the highest possibility of reaching the underwater moving body 1. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, two laser generators LZ1 and LZ2 are provided. Therefore, the spectroscopic means 33 can split visible light having two types of wavelengths corresponding to the laser beams of the two laser generators LZ1 and LZ2. The wavelength determination unit 35 determines which wavelength of visible light has reached. Of course, a plurality of types of light emitting diodes may be used as the light source of the visible light emitting device 11. Since the light emitting diode has high directivity and luminance, consumes less power, and has a long lifetime, it is suitable for the light source of the visible light emitting device 11 of the observation device 3 that remains installed in water for a long time.

  After determining the wavelength of the visible light to be emitted, next, the observation data is read from the observation data storage unit 29 (step ST14), and after the observation data is modulated into visible light by the modulator 37 (step ST15), the visible light emission is performed. The device 11 emits visible light toward the underwater vehicle 1 (step ST16).

  With reference to FIG. 5, the results of experiments on the determination of visible light having a wavelength used for visible light communication and visible light communication using the visible light will be described. In this experiment, a white light source 39 (for example, SC450 manufactured by Fianium) is used as the light source of the visible light emitting device 9. Since the white light source includes visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths, the white light source is suitable when it is desired to simultaneously emit visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths. The spectroscope 41 of the spectroscopic unit 33 uses a wavelength selective filter. By passing through the wavelength selective filter, it is possible to know which wavelength the visible light reaching the observation device 3 has. As the visible light radiation device of the observation device 3, laser generators LZ1 and LZ2 capable of emitting visible light of two types of wavelengths are provided. In this experimental apparatus, visible light of two types of wavelengths can be emitted. Therefore, the spectroscope 41 can reach which of the two types of visible light, or both of them reach. If so, spectroscopy is performed to determine which is stronger. For example, if visible light having a wavelength corresponding to the laser generator LZ1 has reached (or was strong), the mirror 43 is raised (the position indicated by the solid line), and the visible light laser from the laser generator LZ1 is moved to the underwater moving body 1. Radiate. If the visible light having the wavelength corresponding to the laser generator LZ2 has reached (or was strong), the mirror 43 is lowered (the position indicated by the broken line), and the visible light laser from the laser generator LZ2 is moved to the underwater vehicle 1. Radiate.

In addition, as an experiment showing that the wavelength of visible light that is easy to pass differs depending on the water quality and that the reach distance is different, an experiment in which visible light of two wavelengths of 532 nm and 635 nm is passed through (1) filtered water and (2) tap water Went.

  As a result, in the case of (1) filtered water, visible light of 532 nm was 711.1 m and visible light of 635 nm was 213.3 m, whereas (2) in the case of tap water, visible light of 532 nm Experimental results were obtained that the light was 56.9 m and the visible light of 635 nm was 62.7 m. From this, it can be seen that the wavelength of visible light that easily passes depends on the water quality.

  As described above, the visible light communication devices 5 and 7 provided in the underwater vehicle 1 and the observation device 3 cooperate with each other to determine visible light having an appropriate wavelength and perform visible light communication. Therefore, since visible light having an optimum wavelength according to the environment of the water area when performing visible light communication can be used, the distance in which visible light communication is possible can be extended. In addition, the observation apparatus can not only suppress the consumption of extra power for searching for visible light with an appropriate wavelength, but also has only to emit visible light with one type of wavelength, Power consumption can be reduced compared to the case where visible light is emitted. Furthermore, since the observation device emits visible light containing data only after the visible light from the underwater moving object arrives, it is no longer necessary to emit unnecessary visible light, and the power consumption of the observation device can be suppressed. It becomes possible.

It is a figure which shows notionally the structure of an example of embodiment of the underwater visible light communication system of this invention which enforces the method of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the underwater visible light communication system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow until an underwater moving body acquires data by visible light communication. It is a flowchart which shows the flow until an observation apparatus transmits data to an underwater moving body. It is a figure which shows the determination of the visible light of the wavelength used for visible light communication using this invention, and the method of visible light communication using the visible light.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Underwater moving body 3 Observation apparatus 5, 7 Visible light communication apparatus 9, 11 Visible light emission apparatus 13, 15 Visible light receiving part 17 Demodulator 19 Data acquisition apparatus 21 Data storage part 23 Unmeasurable signal generation part 25 Battery 27 Observation part 29 Observation data storage unit 31 Wavelength determination unit 33 Spectroscopic unit 35 Wavelength determination unit 37 Modulator 39 White light source 41 Spectroscope 43 Mirror LZ1, LZ2 Laser generator

Claims (8)

In an underwater visible light communication system that transmits observation data from an observation device that uses a battery installed in water as a power source to an underwater moving body that moves underwater,
The visible light communication device provided in the underwater moving body includes a visible light emitting device that emits visible light having a plurality of types of wavelengths toward the observation device in the water simultaneously or at intervals, and A visible light receiving unit that receives visible light coming in, and a data acquisition device that acquires necessary data including the observation data from the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit,
The visible light communication device provided in the observation device includes a visible light emitting device that radiates into the water including data necessary for visible light of one type of wavelength selected from a plurality of types of visible light, and the underwater A visible light receiving unit that receives visible light coming through, and a wavelength determining unit that determines a wavelength of the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit, and the visible light emitting device includes the wavelength determining unit An underwater visible light communication system configured to select visible light having a determined wavelength as visible light having the one type of wavelength. The visible light emitting device of the visible light communication device provided in the underwater moving body is configured to emit visible light from a white light source into the water,
The wavelength determination unit of the visible light communication device provided in the observation device includes a spectroscopic unit that splits visible light of the plurality of types of wavelengths from the received visible light, and a visible light that is split by the spectroscopic unit. The underwater visible light communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: a wavelength determination unit that determines to output the wavelength of the strongest light as a determination result.   The visible light communication device provided in the underwater moving body may emit the visible light even after a predetermined time has elapsed after irradiating the visible light with the plurality of types of wavelengths into the water. When the light receiving unit does not receive visible light, the visible light is emitted a predetermined number of times. Finally, when the visible light receiving unit does not receive visible light, an unmeasurable signal generating unit that outputs a measurement impossible signal is output. The underwater visible light communication system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:   4. The underwater according to claim 1, wherein the light source of the visible light emitting device provided in the visible light communication device provided in the observation device is a plurality of types of light emitting diodes having different wavelengths. Visible light communication system.   The light source of the visible light emitting device provided in the visible light communication device provided in the observation device is a laser generator that generates a plurality of types of visible light lasers having different wavelengths. The underwater visible light communication system according to 2 or 3.   The underwater visible light communication system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of wavelengths are wavelengths in a range of 450 nm to 600 nm.   The underwater visible light communication system according to claim 1, wherein the spectroscopic means is a wavelength selective filter. An underwater visible light communication method for transmitting observation data using visible light communication from an observation device powered by a battery installed in water to an underwater moving body that moves underwater,
As the visible light communication device provided in the underwater mobile body, a visible light emitting device that emits visible light of a plurality of wavelengths toward the observation device in the water simultaneously or at intervals, and A visible light receiving unit that receives visible light that arrives, and a data acquisition device that acquires necessary data including the observation data from the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit,
As the visible light communication device provided in the observation device, a visible light emitting device that radiates into the water including data necessary for visible light of one type of wavelength selected from a plurality of types of visible light, and the underwater A visible light receiving unit that receives visible light coming through, and a wavelength determining unit that determines a wavelength of the visible light received by the visible light receiving unit, and the visible light emitting device includes the wavelength determining unit Using what is configured to select visible light of the determined wavelength as visible light of the one type of wavelength,
The observation data is transmitted from the observation device using a visible light emitting device on condition that the visible light receiving unit of the visible light communication device provided in the observation device receives the visible light. An underwater visible light communication method.

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