JP2019217835A - Communication failure suppression system - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress communication failure due to terrain.SOLUTION: A communication failure suppression system includes: an on-water station provided with a first audio communication instrument; a water traveling body 3 provided with a second audio communication instrument; a first position detector; a second position detector; a storage unit storing water bottom terrain data; and a calculation device. The calculation device derives a virtual segment S connecting a position of the on-water station acquired by the first position detector and a position of the water traveling body 3 acquired by the second position detector. When a relationship between the virtual segment S and the terrain data fulfills a determination reference for starting communication failure suppression processing, the calculation device determines a traveling target position of the on-water station or the water traveling body 3 and transmits it to a controller of the corresponding on-water station or a controller of the corresponding water traveling body 3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication failure suppression system for suppressing a communication failure in acoustic communication between a water station and an underwater vehicle.

  As one of means for performing various explorations on the sea floor, lake bottom, and underwater, a method using an underwater vehicle that performs autonomous navigation has been considered.

  In addition, when using an underwater vehicle for such exploration, etc., a waterborne vehicle equipped with an acoustic communication device is operated together, and acoustic communication with the acoustic communication device provided on the underwater vehicle enables acoustic communication with the underwater vehicle. It is conceivable that the information obtained by the exploration will be collected by the water vehicle, and the information on the position of the underwater vehicle detected by acoustic positioning from the water vehicle side will be sent from the water vehicle to the underwater vehicle. I have.

  Furthermore, as a method for efficiently exploring a wide area such as the open sea or a deep sea area, a plurality of underwater vehicles are operated at the same time, and acoustic communication with a plurality of underwater vehicles using one water vehicle is performed. And collecting information with a water vehicle (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-227086 A

  By the way, the transmission path of the acoustic signal when performing acoustic communication between the acoustic communication devices is arranged substantially along a virtual straight line connecting the positions of the acoustic communication devices. This is because the acoustic signal transmitted from one acoustic communication device spreads as the distance from the acoustic communication device as the transmission source increases, but in order for the acoustic signal to be used effectively, the other acoustic communication This is because it needs to be received by the device.

  Therefore, in acoustic communication between acoustic communication devices, if an obstacle exists between the acoustic communication devices and an acoustic signal transmitted from one acoustic communication device and directed to the other acoustic communication device is interrupted, the acoustic communication may be interrupted. There is a possibility that the CN ratio (carrier-to-noise ratio) of the signal may be reduced or acoustic communication may be hindered.

  When the water vehicle and the underwater vehicle are operated on a one-to-one basis, a method of controlling the position of the water vehicle so that the water vehicle is always positioned directly above the underwater vehicle has been adopted. According to this method, the transmission path of the acoustic signal between the acoustic communication device of the waterborne mobile object and the acoustic communication device of the underwater mobile object is substantially vertical.

  On the other hand, when one water vehicle is operated together with a plurality of water vehicles, the water vehicle can be located directly above one water vehicle, but may be located directly above other water vehicles. It is inevitable that the moving body is arranged at a distance from the moving body in the horizontal direction.

  As described above, when acoustic communication is performed between the waterborne mobile unit and the underwater mobile unit that are arranged at a distance in the horizontal direction, the transmission path of the audio signal is inclined from the vertical direction, and the transmission of the audio signal is performed. The angle at which the route inclines from the vertical direction increases as the horizontal distance between the waterborne vehicle and the underwater vehicle increases.

  Therefore, if there are undulations such as hills in the area where the underwater vehicle sails or the terrain on the seabed near the navigation area, depending on the arrangement of the water vehicle and the underwater vehicle, An imaginary straight line connecting the position of the moving object and the position of the underwater moving object may be undulated on the terrain. This state is a state where the transmission path of the acoustic signal when performing acoustic communication between the waterborne vehicle and the underwater vehicle is blocked by obstacles due to the undulation of the seabed terrain, so that the CN ratio in acoustic communication decreases, A communication failure such as an interruption of acoustic communication may occur.

  However, in reality, no countermeasures have been proposed so far, assuming the occurrence of a communication failure due to such terrain on the seabed.

  Therefore, the present invention seeks to provide a communication failure suppression system that can suppress the occurrence of a communication failure due to the terrain at the bottom when performing acoustic communication between a water station and an underwater vehicle. is there.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a water station equipped with a first acoustic communication device, an underwater vehicle provided with a second acoustic communication device, and a first station for detecting the position of the water station. A position detecting device, a second position detecting device for detecting a position of the underwater vehicle, a storage unit storing underwater topographical data, and a calculating device, wherein the calculating device comprises: A function for obtaining a virtual line segment connecting the position of the floating station obtained by the detection device and the position of the underwater vehicle obtained by the second position detection device; and the obtained virtual line segment. When the relationship with the terrain data satisfies a criterion for determining whether to start a process for suppressing a communication failure caused by the terrain, a function for determining a movement target position of the surface station or the underwater vehicle, The moving target position to the corresponding control device of the floating station. Is a communication failure suppression system having a configuration and a function of sending to the control unit of the underwater vehicle.

  The terrain data stored in the storage unit is mesh data, and the calculation device determines, as the determination criterion, when the imaginary line segment has an intersection with or is in contact with a grid in the mesh data, It may be configured to include the above-described criterion for starting the communication failure suppressing process.

  The water station is provided with a mobile device and the control device for giving a command to the mobile device, and the computing device moves the target position of the water station from the position of the water station to the underwater vehicle. It may be configured to have a function to determine the position to be closer to the position directly above the position.

  The underwater vehicle is provided with a moving device and the control device for giving a command to the moving device, and the computing device moves the underwater vehicle at a target position above the underwater vehicle. It may be configured to have a function to determine the position moved to the position.

  The floating station may be configured as a floating station that sequentially performs acoustic communication with the plurality of underwater vehicles.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the communication failure suppression system of this invention, when performing acoustic communication between a water station and an underwater mobile, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of communication failure due to the terrain at the bottom of the water.

It is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of a communication failure suppression system. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a calculation unit of the communication failure suppression system in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a function of a calculation unit. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a criterion set in a calculation unit. It is the schematic which shows 2nd Embodiment of a communication failure suppression system. It is the schematic which shows 3rd Embodiment of a communication failure suppression system. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a calculation unit of the communication failure suppression system in FIG. 6. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a function of a calculation unit. It is the schematic which shows 4th Embodiment of a communication failure suppression system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication failure suppression system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing by the calculation unit of the communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the function of the calculation unit. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams for explaining the judgment criteria set in the calculation unit.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a communication failure suppression system according to the present disclosure includes a waterborne mobile unit 1 as a waterborne station provided with an acoustic communication device 2 and an underwater mobile unit 3 provided with an acoustic communication device 4. Shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a configuration for performing acoustic communication.

  In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the waterborne mobile object 1 performs acoustic communication with a plurality of underwater mobile objects 3 in a set order. Note that, in the order of performing the acoustic communication, if the frequency at which the acoustic communication is required for each underwater vehicle 3 is equal, n (n is an integer of 2 or more) underwater vehicles 3 are first. , An n-th order may be set, and the first to n-th order may be repeated. On the other hand, when the frequency at which the acoustic communication is required differs for each underwater vehicle 3, the order of performing the acoustic communication may be appropriately set according to the frequency. Although only two underwater vehicles 3 are shown in FIG. 3 for convenience of illustration, the underwater vehicle 1 may communicate with three or more underwater vehicles 3 sequentially. Of course.

  Here, first, the configuration of the waterborne moving object 1 will be described.

  The water vehicle 1 includes, on the body 5, a moving device 6, a position detection device 7 that detects the position of the water vehicle 1 itself, and a control device 8 that controls the movement of the water vehicle 1. Configuration.

  Further, the water vehicle 1 includes an acoustic positioning device 9 and an estimation device 10 used for detecting the position of the water vehicle 3, a storage unit 11 that stores terrain information on the seabed, and a calculation device 12. Have been.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the waterborne mobile unit 1 includes a body 5 disposed below the water surface W, and a portion provided at an upper portion of the body 5 and located near the upper end above the water surface W. The semi-submersible water-borne mobile unit 1 has a configuration including a protruding strut 13 and a base 14 provided on an upper end side of the strut 13.

  The moving device 6 is a device that moves the water vehicle 1 with propulsion and steering in accordance with a command C1 received from the control device 8.

  FIG. 1 shows, as an example, a configuration in which the moving device 6 includes a main thruster 6a and a cross-shaped rudder 6b at the rear of the body 5. However, the type of the propulsion unit and the steering unit is not particularly limited as long as the mobile device 6 can move the waterborne mobile object 1 in accordance with the command C1 received from the control device 8. Further, the moving device 6 may include, for example, a thruster (not shown) that generates a propulsive force in the left-right direction of the body 5. Therefore, the moving device 6 may be freely selected in consideration of the exercise performance and the like desired to move the waterborne moving object 1.

  The position detecting device 7 receives, for example, a navigation signal by radio waves of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as GPS by an antenna 7a, and determines the position of the waterborne mobile unit 1 such as latitude and longitude. It has a function to acquire the absolute position. In this case, the antenna 7a may be arranged on the base 14 so as to be disposed above the water surface W, so that the antenna 7a can always receive a navigation signal.

  Note that the position detection device 7 may use a navigation satellite system other than the GPS or use a signal from a ground station as long as the position detection device 7 can detect the position of the watercraft 1 itself. is there.

  Therefore, the position detection device 7 is a first position detection device that detects the position of the floating station in the communication failure suppression system invention of the present disclosure.

  The control device 8 has a function of setting a target position or a cruising plan for the movement of the water vehicle 1.

  Further, the control device 8 moves the position of the own device to the set target position based on the position information of the own device received from the position detecting device 7 or moves the position of the own device according to the sailing plan. It has a function of calculating the amount of operation of the moving device 6 required to perform the operation, and a function of transmitting the obtained amount of operation to the moving device 6 as a command C1.

  As a result, the water vehicle 1 is controlled by the moving device 6 in accordance with the command C1 received from the control device 8, so that the water vehicle 1 moves to the target position set in the control device 8, or the set sailing plan. Can be performed according to

  The acoustic positioning device 9 has a function of transmitting a positioning signal and a function of receiving a response signal emitted by the transponder 15 provided in the underwater vehicle 3 in response to the positioning signal.

  In addition, the acoustic positioning device 9 determines the time required from the transmission of the positioning signal to the reception of the response signal, the speed of sound in the water which is the speed of the positioning signal and the response signal, and the direction in which the response signal arrives. The direction and distance of the underwater vehicle 3 including the transponder 15 with reference to the position of the underwater vehicle 1 including the acoustic positioning device 9, that is, the position of the underwater vehicle 3 with respect to the position of the above-water vehicle 1. It has a function to detect the relative position.

  Further, the acoustic positioning device 9 has a function of transmitting information on the detected relative position of the underwater vehicle 3 to the estimating device 10.

  The estimating device 10 calculates the underwater vehicle 1 based on the information on the position of the water vehicle 1 received from the position detection device 7 and the relative position of the underwater vehicle 3 received from the acoustic positioning device 9. 3 has a function of estimating an absolute position such as latitude, longitude and depth in the same coordinate system as the water vehicle 1 and acquiring the position information of the water vehicle 3. The estimating device 10 further has a function of transmitting the acquired information on the position of the underwater vehicle 3 to the calculating device 12.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the acoustic positioning device 9, the estimating device 10, and the transponder 15 provided in the underwater vehicle 3 are provided in the underwater vehicle 1 according to the invention of the communication failure suppression system of the present disclosure. A second position detection device that performs position detection 3 is provided.

  Since the acoustic signal used in the acoustic communication and the positioning signal and the response signal used in the acoustic positioning are all sound waves, the acoustic communication between the acoustic communication device 2 of the water vehicle 1 and the underwater vehicle 3 is performed. When a communication failure occurs in the acoustic communication performed with the device 4, there is a possibility that the acoustic positioning device 9 may also cause the positioning of the underwater vehicle 3 to fail.

  Therefore, the estimating apparatus 10 uses the position information of the underwater vehicle 3 obtained by past acoustic positioning as a backup function for acquiring the position information of the underwater vehicle 3 even when the acoustic positioning cannot be performed. It is preferable to have a function of estimating the absolute position of the underwater vehicle 3 by the time series prediction described above.

  In addition, the estimation device 10 stores the navigation plan of the underwater vehicle 3 in the form of, for example, a waypoint file, and stores the navigation plan of the underwater vehicle 3 and the position information of the underwater vehicle 3. A function of estimating and acquiring the position of the underwater vehicle 3 based on the time at which acquisition is desired may be provided. According to this function, even if the time has elapsed from the time when the acoustic positioning of the underwater vehicle 3 was performed in the past, even if there is no data on which the acoustic positioning of the underwater vehicle 3 has been performed in the past. Even if there is, information on the absolute position of the underwater vehicle 3 can be obtained.

  The estimating device 10 has a function of transmitting the acquired information on the absolute position of the underwater vehicle 3 to the calculating device 12.

  The storage unit 11 stores information on the topography of the seabed for a range including all the sailing regions of the plurality of underwater vehicles 3 to be communicated with by the water vehicle 1. At this time, the information on the seafloor topography is stored in the storage unit 11 as mesh data obtained by dividing the information on the nautical chart or the seafloor topographic map into a grid (calculation grid) such as a triangular element or a quadrangular element.

  It should be noted that the size for dividing the terrain information when creating the mesh data may be appropriately set in consideration of the complexity of the terrain undulation, and may be changed depending on the place. .

  Details of the functions of the computing device 12 will be described later.

  Next, the configuration of the underwater vehicle 3 will be described.

  The underwater vehicle 3 includes, on an airframe 16, a moving device 17, a position detection device 18 for detecting the position of the underwater vehicle 3, and a control device 19 for controlling navigation, and further includes a transponder 15. Is provided.

The moving device 17 is a device that moves the underwater vehicle 3 with propulsion and steering according to a command C2 received from the control device 19.

  In FIG. 1, as an example, a configuration in which the moving device 17 includes a main thruster 17 a and a cross-shaped rudder 17 b disposed at the rear of the fuselage 16, and a buoyancy adjusting device 17 c disposed inside the fuselage 16. Is shown. However, as long as the moving device 17 can move the underwater vehicle 3 in accordance with the command C2 received from the control device 19, the forms of the propulsion means, the steering means, and the floating / sinking means are not particularly limited. Further, the moving device 17 may include, for example, a thruster (not shown) that generates a propulsive force in the vertical and horizontal directions of the body 16. Therefore, the moving device 17 may be freely selected in consideration of exercise performance desired for moving the underwater vehicle 3 and the like.

  The position detecting device 18 may be configured to include, for example, an inertial navigation device (INS) or a device combining a Doppler log (DVL) with an inertial navigation device, and a depth gauge. Accordingly, the position detection device 18 can acquire information on the absolute position, such as the latitude, longitude, and depth, in the same coordinate system as the surface moving vehicle 1 for the position of the underwater vehicle 3 itself.

  When the underwater vehicle 3 is floating near the surface of the water, the position detection device 18 provided on the underwater vehicle 3 receives a navigation signal using a GNSS radio wave with an antenna (not shown), and detects the position of the underwater vehicle 3 by itself. The position of the aircraft may be provided with a function of acquiring an absolute position such as latitude and longitude. Further, the position detecting device 18 has a function of transmitting the detected position information of the own device to the control device 19.

  In addition, if the position detection device 18 can detect the position of the own device of the underwater vehicle 3 as long as it can detect the position of the own device of the underwater vehicle 3, a method other than the method described above may be used. Of course, it is good.

  The control device 19 has a function of setting a target position or a sailing plan for the movement of the underwater vehicle 3.

  Further, the control device 19 moves the position of the own device to the set target position based on the position information of the own device received from the position detecting device 18 or moves the position of the own device according to the sailing plan. It has a function of calculating the amount of operation of the moving device 17 required to perform the operation, and a function of sending the obtained amount of operation to the moving device 17 as a command C2.

  As a result, the underwater vehicle 3 is controlled by the moving device 17 in accordance with the command C2 received from the control device 19, so that the underwater vehicle 3 moves to the target position set in the control device 19 or the set sailing plan. Can be performed according to

  The underwater vehicle 3 includes an observation device (not shown), such as a camera, a side scan sonar, or a multi-beam sonar, which is used for collecting information underwater, and transmits observation data acquired by the observation device to the acoustic communication device 4. And a function of transmitting to the acoustic communication device 2 of the waterborne mobile object 1 by acoustic communication.

  Next, the function of the computing device 12 provided in the water vehicle 1 will be described.

  In the computing device 12, a criterion for determining whether or not to start processing for suppressing a communication failure due to the terrain is set. The specific contents of this criterion will be described later.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the computing device 12 first determines the underwater vehicle 3 to be communicated from the plurality of underwater vehicles 3 with which the overwater vehicle 1 should perform acoustic communication in accordance with the set order. (Step S1).

  Next, the calculation device 12 acquires, from the position detection device 7, information on the position of the waterborne mobile unit 1 as its own latitude and longitude information. In addition, the calculation device 12 acquires, from the estimation device 10, information on the position of the underwater vehicle 3 set as the communication target in step S1 as information on latitude, longitude, and depth (step S2).

  When acquiring the information on the positions of the water vehicle 1 and the underwater vehicle 3, the calculation device 12 is a virtual line segment connecting the position P of the water vehicle 1 and the position Q of the underwater vehicle 3 as shown in FIG. S is obtained (step S3). In addition, since the coordinates of the positions of both ends of this virtual line segment S are clarified by the coordinates of the position P of the water vehicle 1 and the coordinates of the position Q of the underwater vehicle 3, they are represented by space vectors. Can be.

  Next, the calculation device 12 extracts a grid that is arranged so as to overlap the virtual line segment S obtained in step S3 in plan view with respect to the topographic mesh data read from the storage unit 11, and outputs the extracted grid and the virtual grid. The minimum value d of the distance from the line segment S is obtained (step S4). The calculation for obtaining the minimum value d of the distance includes a calculation method for obtaining an intersection between a plane and a straight line using a space vector, a calculation method for obtaining a distance between a plane and a point, and a minimum distance between two straight lines at a twist position. May be performed using a method for obtaining Note that when there are a plurality of extracted grids, and when the virtual line segment S has an intersection or is in contact with any of the extracted grids, the minimum distance d is zero. In addition, when none of the extracted grids has an intersection with the virtual line segment S and does not touch, the distance between each grid and the virtual line segment S is calculated. The smallest value may be set as the minimum value d of the distance obtained in step S4.

  Thereafter, the calculation device 12 determines whether or not the set criterion is satisfied for the minimum value d of the distance obtained in step S4 (step S5).

  This criterion is, for example, that the minimum value d of the distance is zero (d = 0). This criterion is hereinafter referred to as criterion A.

  This determination criterion A is satisfied when the virtual line segment S has an intersection with the grid G extracted from the terrain mesh data, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the virtual line segment S is in contact with the extracted grid G.

  Therefore, when the criterion A is satisfied, in reality, there is an obstacle due to the terrain between the waterborne vehicle 1 and the underwater vehicle 3. Therefore, in this situation, there is a possibility that an acoustic signal of acoustic communication performed between the water vehicle 1 and the water vehicle 3 may be blocked by an obstacle due to the terrain.

  Therefore, when the computing device 12 determines that the criterion A is satisfied in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6 to start the communication failure suppression process.

  On the other hand, when the criterion A is not satisfied in step S5, in reality, there is no obstacle due to the terrain between the water vehicle 1 and the water vehicle 3.

  In this case, the calculation device 12 returns to step S2. Therefore, when the virtual line segment S does not have an intersection with the extracted grid and does not touch, the computing device 12 repeatedly performs the processing loop from step S2 to step S5.

  The criterion in step S5 of the calculation device 12 is, for example, a criterion that the minimum value d of the distance is equal to or less than a set value t [m] (d ≦ t) instead of the criterion A described above. It may be. This criterion is hereinafter referred to as criterion B.

  This criterion B is satisfied when the distance between the virtual line segment S and the grid extracted from the terrain mesh data is equal to or less than t [m], as shown in FIG. It is.

  Therefore, when the criterion B is satisfied, in reality, the transmission path of the acoustic signal at the time of performing the acoustic communication between the waterborne vehicle 1 and the underwater vehicle 3 depends on the terrain within t [m]. It is a situation where an obstacle exists. Therefore, in this situation, as the waterborne vehicle 1 and the underwater vehicle 3 move, there is a high possibility that the transmission path of the acoustic signal will interfere with an obstacle due to the terrain.

  Therefore, when the computing device 12 determines that the criterion B is satisfied in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6 and starts the communication failure suppression process.

  On the other hand, if the determination criterion B is not satisfied in step S5, in reality, the transmission path of the acoustic signal when performing acoustic communication between the waterborne mobile object 1 and the underwater mobile object 3 is within t [m]. There is no obstacle due to terrain. Therefore, in this situation, it is unlikely that the transmission path of the acoustic signal is immediately blocked by the obstacle due to the terrain.

  In this case, the calculation device 12 returns to step S2. Therefore, also in this case, the calculation device 12 repeatedly performs the processing loop from step S2 to step S5 while the criterion B is not satisfied.

  In step S6, the computing device 12 performs a communication failure suppression process.

  In the communication failure suppression processing, the computing device 12 first obtains a position O directly above the position Q of the underwater vehicle 3 on the water surface W as shown in FIG. The coordinates of the position O are obtained by setting the depth at the coordinates of the position Q of the underwater vehicle 3 to zero.

  Next, the calculation device 12 sets a position moved by a certain dimension in a direction approaching the position O from the position P of the waterborne moving object 1 as a virtual waterborne moving object position Pi, and, as in step S3, a virtual waterborne moving object position Pi. The process of obtaining a virtual line segment Si connecting the water-borne mobile position Pi and the position Q of the water-borne mobile object 3, and the distance between the virtual line segment Si and the grid extracted from the topographic mesh data as in step S4. Is performed to find the minimum value d.

  Next, the calculation device 12 performs a process of comparing the obtained minimum value d of the distance with a certain value r [m] that has been set. When the criterion B is adopted in step S5, the value r [m] is set to be significantly larger than the value t [m] used in the criterion B.

  When the minimum value d of the distance is determined to be less than the value r [m] as a result of the comparison processing, the calculation device 12 sets the virtual water-based moving object position Pi to a certain dimension in the direction approaching the position O. The processing is updated to the moved position, and the above processing is repeated.

  When the minimum value d of the distance is determined to be equal to or greater than the value r [m] in the result of the comparison processing, the calculation device 12 calculates the virtual water vehicle position Pi at that time by the water vehicle 1 (Step S7).

  Next, the calculation device 12 performs a process of sending the set movement target position to the control device 8 of the water vehicle 1 (step S8).

  After step S8, the calculation device 12 returns to step S2, and continues the processing from step S2 to step S8 as long as it is necessary to perform acoustic communication with the underwater mobile 3 to be communicated at that time. Do it.

  When the required acoustic communication with the underwater mobile 3 to be communicated ends, the computing device 12 starts the processing from step S1 for the next underwater mobile 3 in the order of performing the acoustic communication. I do.

  The control device 8 performs the water movement based on the function of receiving the information of the movement target position sent from the calculation device 12 by the processing of the step S8 in the calculation device 12 and the position of the water vehicle 1 received from the position detection device 7. It has a function of calculating the amount of operation of the moving device 6 required for the body 1 to move to the movement target position, and a function of giving the obtained amount of operation to the moving device 6 as a command C1.

  Thereby, in the water vehicle 1, when the control device 8 receives the information on the movement target position from the calculation device 12, the operation of the mobile device 6 is performed according to the command C1 from the control device 8, and the water vehicle 1 It automatically moves to the movement target position, that is, the virtual water vehicle position Pi finally set in the communication failure suppression processing of step S6 of the computing device 12.

  At the position where the water vehicle 1 has moved, the virtual line segment Si connecting with the position of the water vehicle 3 is separated from the grid extracted from the terrain mesh data by r [m] or more. I have.

  Therefore, the transmission path of the acoustic signal when performing acoustic communication between the acoustic communication device 2 of the water vehicle 1 and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater vehicle 3 is blocked by obstacles due to terrain such as undulations of terrain. The fear is eliminated.

  As described above, according to the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment, the acoustic communication performed between the acoustic communication device 2 of the waterborne mobile object 1 and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater mobile object 3 is caused by the topography of the seabed. The occurrence of a communication failure can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, the communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment, when performing acoustic communication between the acoustic communication device 2 of the water vehicle 1 and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater vehicle 3, causes a communication failure due to the topography of the seabed. The water vehicle 1 is moved when there is a possibility of occurrence of. However, even in this case, the water vehicle 1 is moved to a position directly above the water vehicle 3 as in the case where the water vehicle and the water vehicle are conventionally operated in a one-to-one relationship. No need to move. Therefore, the moving distance of the water vehicle 1 can be suppressed, and the time required for the water vehicle 1 to move can be reduced.

[Second embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the communication failure suppression system.

  In FIG. 5, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and includes a storage unit 11 and a computing device 12 provided with an acoustic communication device 2 and an acoustic communication with the underwater vehicle 3. The storage unit 11 and the computing device 12 are provided in a water vehicle 20 different from the water vehicle 1 in place of the structure provided in the water vehicle 1 that performs the above.

  FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the water-based moving body 20 is a ship, but the water-based moving body 20 may be a semi-submerged water-based moving body similar to the water-based moving body 1. .

  Further, the water vehicle 20 may be a mother ship of the water vehicle 1 and the water vehicle 3.

  In the present embodiment, the waterborne mobile unit 1 and the waterborne mobile unit 20 include wireless communication devices 21 and 22 and are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

  Note that the wireless communication device 21 provided in the waterborne mobile object 1 may have a configuration in which the antenna 21a is provided on the base 14 arranged above the water surface W.

  In the present embodiment, the wireless communication device 21 provided in the waterborne mobile object 1 includes information about the absolute position of the waterborne mobile object 1 received from the position detection device 7 and the absolute value of the underwater mobile object 3 received from the estimation device 10. It has a function of transmitting position information with the wireless communication device 22 of the water vehicle 20 as a communication target.

  When the wireless communication device 21 of the water vehicle 1 receives the information on the movement target position transmitted via the wireless communication device 22 from the computing device 12 provided in the water vehicle 20, it sends it to the control device 8. Has functions.

  When the wireless communication device 22 of the water vehicle 20 receives the information on the absolute position of the water vehicle 1 and the information on the absolute position of the underwater vehicle 3 transmitted from the wireless communication device 21 of the water vehicle 1, it receives the information. It has a function to send to the computing device 12.

  The functions of the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 provided in the water vehicle 20 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration is also used in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and provides the same effects as in the first embodiment with respect to the acoustic communication between the waterborne mobile unit 1 and the underwater mobile unit 3. Obtainable.

  Further, in the present embodiment, there is no restriction that the storage unit 11 and the computing device 12 are mounted on the waterborne mobile body 1 that includes the acoustic communication device 2 and performs acoustic communication with the plurality of underwater mobile bodies 3. For this reason, the storage unit 11 and the computing device 12, particularly the computing device 12, can use a larger computing device having a higher processing capacity than in the case where the above-described restrictions are imposed. It is possible to provide an advantageous configuration in a case where the moving range of the plurality of underwater moving objects 3 with which the moving object 1 performs acoustic communication is large and the data amount of the terrain data covering the range is large.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a configuration is provided in which the storage unit 11 and the calculation device 12 are provided in a water vehicle 20 different from the water vehicle 1 that performs acoustic communication with the water vehicle 3. For this reason, in this embodiment, a plurality of underwater vehicles 3 and one waterborne vehicle 1 that performs acoustic communication with the underwater vehicles 3 constitute a unit for collecting underwater information. In the case where a plurality of units are operated at the same time, in the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment applied to the water vehicle 1 of each unit, the water vehicle 20, the storage unit 11, and the computing device 12 can be shared.

  In this embodiment, the acoustic positioning device 9 of the water vehicle 1 has the acoustic positioning device 9 for detecting the position of the underwater vehicle 3 in the water vehicle 20. If it is not possible to perform the acoustic positioning of the underwater vehicle 3 or to estimate the position of the underwater vehicle 3 by using a device for detecting the position of the underwater vehicle 3 provided in the water vehicle 20. It may be.

[Third embodiment]
In the communication failure suppression system according to the first embodiment, as the communication failure suppression processing by the computing device 12, the computing device 12 sets the movement target position of the waterborne mobile object 1, and sets the set movement target position to the waterborne mobile object 1. In this case, the above-described control device 8 is used to move the water-borne mobile object 1 in a direction approaching the position O directly above the underwater mobile object 3.

  On the other hand, in the communication failure suppression system according to the present disclosure, as the communication failure suppression processing by the computing device 12, the computing device 12 sets the movement target position of the underwater vehicle 3 and sets the set movement target position to the underwater vehicle. 3 may be provided to the control device 19, and thereby the underwater vehicle 3 may be provided with a function of moving the underwater vehicle 3 to the set movement target position. A communication failure suppression system having this function will be described as a third embodiment.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the communication failure suppression system. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing by the calculation unit of the communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the function of the calculation unit.

  6, 7, and 8, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment, in the same configuration as in the first embodiment, the computing device 12 mounted on the waterborne mobile unit sets a movement target position of the waterborne vehicle 1 as communication failure suppression processing. In place of the function, a function of setting a movement target position of the underwater vehicle 3 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the computing device 12 performs the same processing from step S1 to step S5 as the computing device 12 in the first embodiment, as the process from step S1 to step S5.

  When the computing device 12 determines that the predetermined criterion A or B is satisfied in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6a and starts the communication failure suppression process.

  In the communication failure suppression process, the calculation device 12 firstly moves the position of the underwater vehicle 3 above the position Q by a certain distance from the position Q of the underwater vehicle 3, that is, the depth of the underwater vehicle 3 as shown in FIG. The shallow position by a certain dimension is set as a virtual underwater vehicle position Qi. When the underwater vehicle 3 is operated, the vertical position of the underwater vehicle 3 may be controlled based on the altitude value from the sea floor. In such a case, the virtual underwater vehicle position Qi may be set to a position at which the altitude from the sea floor is increased by the certain dimension from the position Q of the underwater vehicle.

  Next, the calculation device 12 determines the virtual line segment Si connecting the position P of the waterborne mobile object 1 and the virtual underwater mobile object position Qi in the same manner as in step S3, and the processing in the same manner as in step S4. Then, a process of obtaining the minimum value d of the distance between the virtual line segment Si and the grid extracted from the topographic mesh data is performed.

  Next, the calculation device 12 performs a process of comparing the obtained minimum value d of the distance with a certain value r [m] that has been set.

  When the minimum value d of the distance is determined to be less than the value r [m] as a result of the comparison processing, the calculation device 12 moves the virtual underwater moving object position Qi to a position further moved by a certain dimension upward. Update and repeat the process.

  As a result of the comparison process, when it is determined that the minimum value d of the distance is equal to or greater than the value r [m], the calculation device 12 determines the virtual underwater vehicle position Qi at that time by using the underwater vehicle 3 (Step S7a).

  Next, the computing device 12 performs a process of transmitting the information on the set movement target position of the underwater vehicle 3 to the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater vehicle 3 via the acoustic communication device 2 (step S8a).

  After step S8a, the computing device 12 returns to step S2, and continues the processing from step S2 to step S8a as long as it is necessary to perform acoustic communication with the underwater mobile 3 to be communicated at that time. Do it.

  When the required acoustic communication with the underwater mobile 3 to be communicated ends, the computing device 12 starts the processing from step S1 for the next underwater mobile 3 in the order of performing the acoustic communication. I do.

  The control device 19 of the underwater vehicle 3 in the present embodiment has the same functions as those of the first embodiment, and further includes the movement target of the underwater vehicle 3 transmitted from the calculation device 12 by the processing in step S8a of the calculation device 12. It has a function of receiving position information via the acoustic communication device 4.

  Further, the control device 19 moves the underwater vehicle 3 from the position of the underwater vehicle 3 received from the position detection device 18 to the movement target position based on the information on the target position of the underwater vehicle 3 received. For example, a function for obtaining an operation amount of the moving device 17 required to perform the operation, for example, an operation amount of the buoyancy adjusting device 17c, and a function of giving the obtained operation amount to the moving device 17 as a command C2.

  Accordingly, in the underwater vehicle 3, when the control device 19 receives the information on the target movement position of the underwater vehicle 3 set by the calculation device 12, the operation of the movement device 17 is performed according to the command C2 from the control device 19. Then, the underwater vehicle 3 automatically moves to the movement target position, that is, the virtual underwater vehicle position Qi finally set in the communication failure suppression processing in step S6a of the computing device 12.

  At the position where the underwater vehicle 3 has moved, the virtual line segment Si connecting the position of the underwater vehicle 1 is at least r [m] away from the grid extracted from the topographic mesh data. I have.

  Therefore, the transmission path of the acoustic signal when performing acoustic communication between the acoustic communication device 2 of the water vehicle 1 and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater vehicle 3 is blocked by obstacles due to terrain such as undulations of terrain. The fear is eliminated.

  As described above, according to the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

  Furthermore, in the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment, only the underwater vehicle 3 moves due to the communication failure suppression processing of the computing device 12. For this reason, the communication failure suppression system of the present embodiment is configured such that the floating station that includes the acoustic communication device 2 and performs the acoustic communication with the underwater vehicle 3 is, for example, a floating body that is not equipped with a moving device such as a buoy. The same applies to the case of a station.

[Fourth embodiment]
In the communication failure suppression system of each of the above embodiments, the example in which the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 are provided in the water vehicle 1 or the water vehicle 20 has been described.

  In contrast, the communication failure suppression system according to the present disclosure may be configured such that the underwater vehicle 3 includes the calculation device 12 and the storage unit 11. A communication failure suppression system having this configuration will be described as a fourth embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the communication failure suppression system.

  In FIG. 9, the same components as those in the above embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment has a configuration similar to that of the third embodiment, except that the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 are provided in the underwater vehicle 3 instead of the overwater vehicle 1. Configuration.

  In the present embodiment, the information on the absolute position of the water vehicle 1 used by the calculation device 12 is based on the information on the absolute position of the water vehicle 1 detected by the position detection device 7 of the water vehicle 1. 1 is transmitted to the underwater vehicle 3 via the acoustic communication between the acoustic communication device 2 and the acoustic communication device 4 and input to the computing device 12.

  The information on the absolute position of the underwater vehicle 3 used in the calculation device 12 is a configuration in which information on the absolute position of the own device detected by the position detection device 18 of the underwater vehicle 3 is input to the calculation device 12. Have been.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the position detection device 18 provided in the underwater vehicle 3 is a second position detection device that detects the position of the underwater vehicle 3 in the invention of the communication failure suppression system of the present disclosure.

  When the computing device 12 according to the present embodiment performs the same processing as the computing device 12 according to the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, in Step S <b> 1, the underwater vehicle 3 to be communicated with by the overwater vehicle 1 is determined. Instead of the processing, a process is performed to confirm whether the underwater vehicle 3 including the computing device 12 is set as a communication target with the water vehicle 1 in a set order. When this confirmation is obtained, the computing device 12 has a function of performing the processing after step S2 shown in FIG.

  The communication failure suppression system according to the present embodiment having the above configuration can obtain the same effects as the third embodiment.

[Application example]
In each of the above embodiments, sound communication is performed based on the distance between a virtual line segment S connecting the positions of the waterborne mobile object 1 and the underwater mobile object 3 that perform acoustic communication, and the grid G of the mesh data of the seabed terrain. It was determined whether a communication failure might occur.

  On the other hand, if the CN ratio of the acoustic signal transmitted and received between the acoustic communication device 2 of the waterborne mobile object 1 and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater mobile object 3 becomes lower than the set value, the communication failure of the audio communication will occur. Is determined to occur, and the position of the water vehicle 1 approaches the position O (see FIG. 3) directly above the water vehicle 3, as in the first and second embodiments. In the same manner as in the third and fourth embodiments, a process of moving the underwater moving body 3 upward, that is, a process of moving the underwater moving body 3 in a direction in which the depth decreases, may be performed. In this case, the water vehicle 1 or the water vehicle 3 is actually moved in the predetermined direction, and the CN ratio of the sound signals transmitted and received by the sound communication devices 2 and 4 is improved to a set value or more. In such a state, the movement of the waterborne moving object 1 may be stopped.

  Further, the acoustic communication device 2 of the waterborne mobile object 1 includes an array of elements for transmitting and receiving an acoustic signal, and the acoustic communication device 4 of the underwater mobile object 3 to be communicated exists by a beam forming method. A function of transmitting and receiving an acoustic signal having directivity in a certain direction may be provided. In this way, an effect of improving the CN ratio of the acoustic signal can be expected.

  Note that the communication failure suppression system of the present disclosure is not limited to each of the above embodiments, and the shapes, structures, and sizes of the water vehicles 1 and the water vehicles 3 shown in FIGS. Furthermore, the shape, structure, and size of the waterborne moving object 20 shown in FIG. 5 are for convenience of illustration and do not reflect the actual shape, structure, or size.

  1, 5, 6, and 9, the storage unit 11 and the computing device 12 are illustrated as separate units, but the storage unit 11 is a storage medium such as a memory provided in the computing device 12. Is also good. In the case where the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 are provided in the water vehicle 1, for example, they are incorporated as functions in an arithmetic device equipped in the water vehicle 1, such as the control device 8 of the water vehicle 1. It may be. Similarly, when the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 are provided in the underwater vehicle 3, the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 function as functions of an arithmetic device equipped in the underwater vehicle 3, such as the control device 19 of the underwater vehicle 3. It may be incorporated. Further, when the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 are provided in the water vehicle 20, the computing device 12 and the storage unit 11 may be incorporated as functions in the arithmetic device provided in the water vehicle 20.

  The water vehicle 1 may have a function of relaying communication between the underwater vehicle 3 and a mother ship or a ground station (not shown).

  The underwater vehicle 3 may be an underwater vehicle 3 used for any purpose other than exploration.

  The communication failure suppression system according to the present disclosure may be applied to the waterborne vehicle 1 that performs acoustic communication with the underwater vehicle 3 used in a lake or a river other than the sea. In that case, the terrain on the seabed in the description of each embodiment may be read as the terrain on the water floor.

  Although the communication failure suppression system of the present disclosure has been described with respect to an example in which the waterborne mobile object 1 performs acoustic communication with a plurality of underwater mobile objects 3, the waterborne mobile object 1 communicates with one underwater mobile object 3. It may be applied when In this case, for example, an effect that the range in which the water vehicle 1 that performs acoustic communication with the underwater vehicle 3 moves can be expected to be reduced as compared with the range in which the underwater vehicle 3 travels.

  Of course, various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Over-water vehicle (water station), 2 Acoustic communication device (1st acoustic communication device), 3 Underwater vehicle, 4 Acoustic communication device (2nd acoustic communication device), 6 Moving device, 7 Position detection device (No. 1 position detecting device), 8 control device, 9 acoustic positioning device (second position detecting device), 10 estimating device (second position detecting device), 15 transponder (second position detecting device), 11 storage unit , 12 computing device, 17 moving device, 18 position detecting device (second position detecting device), 19 control device, P position of water moving object, Q position of underwater moving object, S virtual line segment, G grid, O position

Claims (5)

A water station equipped with a first acoustic communication device;
An underwater vehicle with a second acoustic communication device;
A first position detection device for detecting the position of the surface station;
A second position detection device that performs position detection of the underwater vehicle,
A storage unit for storing the underwater terrain data,
A computing device,
The computing device comprises:
A function of obtaining a virtual line segment connecting the position of the floating station obtained by the first position detection device and the position of the underwater vehicle obtained by the second position detection device;
When the relationship between the obtained virtual line segment and the terrain data satisfies a criterion for judging whether to start a process of suppressing a communication failure caused by terrain, the movement of the surface station or the underwater vehicle A function to determine the target position,
A function of transmitting the determined movement target position to a corresponding control device of the water station or a control device of the underwater vehicle. The terrain data stored in the storage unit is mesh data,
The calculation device includes, as the determination criterion, the determination criterion for starting a process of suppressing a communication failure due to terrain when the virtual line segment has an intersection with or touches a grid in the mesh data. Item 2. A communication failure suppression system according to Item 1. The water station is configured to include a mobile device and the control device that gives a command to the mobile device,
The communication according to claim 1, wherein the calculation device has a function of setting a movement target position of the surface station so as to approach a position directly above the position of the underwater vehicle from the position of the surface station. Fault suppression system. The underwater vehicle is configured to include a moving device and the control device that gives a command to the moving device,
The communication failure suppression system according to claim 1, wherein the calculation device has a function of setting a movement target position of the underwater vehicle at a position moved upward from a position of the underwater vehicle. The communication fault suppression system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the floating station is a floating station that sequentially performs acoustic communication with the plurality of underwater vehicles.

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