JP2021123318A - Automatic maneuvering system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an automatic maneuvering system capable of selectively tracking a plurality of objects underwater.SOLUTION: An automatic maneuvering system 10 includes a maneuvering mechanism 20 and a sonar 14. The automatic maneuvering system 10 detects a plurality of objects by the sonar 14 and is capable of discriminating the objects. A DP control system 16 of the automatic maneuvering system 10 includes an input unit for selecting one of the discriminated objects, and the DP control system 16 controls the maneuvering mechanism 20 to automatically track the selected object under a prescribed condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic ship maneuvering system that detects an underwater moving object and automatically tracks it.

In a survey using an unmanned vehicle consisting of a USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) and a UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle), the surveying vessel uses signals from the sonar and radar and communications from the unmanned vehicle. A Positioning System (DPS) that grasps the position and automatically moves the ship to a position suitable for controlling the unmanned vehicle and smoothly communicating observation data has been proposed (Patent). Document 1).

In addition, a system is known in which a satellite navigation receiver is mounted on an unmanned fish finder equipped with a scanning sonar, the unmanned fish finder automatically tracks the school of fish, and the fish school information is wirelessly communicated to the fishing vessel (Patent Document). 2).

JP-A-2018-103950 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-80577

However, in the conventional automatic ship maneuvering system, it is not considered to selectively select an object from a plurality of objects.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic ship maneuvering system capable of selectively tracking a plurality of objects in water.

The automatic ship maneuvering system of the present invention detects a plurality of objects by the ship maneuvering means, the sonar, and the sonar, and selects one of the object identification means for identifying the object and the identified object. It is characterized by including means and automatic tracking means for controlling the ship maneuvering means so as to track the selected object under predetermined conditions.

Further, a warning means for issuing a warning when the object identification means loses the tracking target may be provided. The object identification means can recognize the division of the tracking target, and when the division is recognized, it may be configured to encourage new selection by the selection means.

Further, the ship of the present invention is characterized by including the above-mentioned automatic ship maneuvering system.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic ship maneuvering system capable of selectively tracking a plurality of objects in water.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the use state of the automatic ship maneuvering system of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of an automatic ship maneuvering system. It is a block diagram of a DP control system. An image display of a monitor screen provided on the display unit is illustrated. An example shows a state in which a certain period of time has passed since the tracking of a moving body was started. An image display when handling a school of fish as a moving body is illustrated. An image display when the tracking object of FIG. 6 is divided is illustrated. It is a flowchart of the automatic ship maneuvering process executed by the automatic ship maneuvering system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a usage state of the automatic ship maneuvering system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the automatic ship maneuvering system.

The automatic ship maneuvering system 10 is mounted on a ship 12, and for example, a sonar 14 detects a plurality of moving bodies (for example, A to D) that move independently and autonomously in water. The sonar 14 is, for example, an all-around sonar, and the range and tilt are appropriately set by the user. Further, the horizontal detection angle may be changed to half a circumference or the like, and the horizontal detection angle may not necessarily be the full circumference type.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic ship maneuvering system 10 is configured around a dynamic positioning (DP) control system 16. A positioning system 18 including GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Q2SS, BeiDou, IRNSS, GNSS, Loran, etc. is connected to the DP control system 16, and various thrusters, propulsion electric motors, pump jet thrusters, water jets, pod propellers, etc. A ship maneuvering mechanism 20 involved in maneuvering the ship 12, such as a rudder and an engine, is connected. Further, the DP control system 16 of the present embodiment is connected to a disturbance sensor 22 for detecting disturbances affecting ship maneuvering, such as a wind speed sensor and a wind direction sensor, and controls the sonar 14 and analyzes data of the sonar 14. The sonar system 24 to be performed is connected.

The DP control system 16 calculates the position and orientation of the ship 12 based on the signal of the positioning system 18, calculates the control amount of each device of the ship maneuvering mechanism 20 based on the signal from the sonar system 24, and outputs a control command. do. Further, the control amount output to the ship maneuvering mechanism 20 is corrected based on the signal from the disturbance sensor 22.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the DP control system 16. The DP control system 16 is mainly composed of a control device 26, an operation unit 28, a display unit 30, and the like. The operation unit 28 includes input devices such as a keyboard, a joystick, a dial, an indicator light, various operation switches, and a touch panel. Various settings necessary for automatic ship maneuvering are input to the control device 26 by the user, for example, through the operation unit 28. Further, the display unit 30 is provided with a monitor capable of displaying an image and various indicators, and necessary information such as a scanning image by the sonar 14 and various setting information is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of an image display of the monitor screen 32 provided on the display unit 30. On the monitor screen 32, for example, a scanning image generated based on the scanning of the sonar 14 is displayed in a circular region (scanning image region) 34. The automatic ship maneuvering system 10 of the present embodiment has an object identification function in which the DP control system 16 or the sonar system 24 recognizes moving objects satisfying certain conditions from the scanned images by image recognition processing and assigns identifiers to them. To be equipped.

The object identification function can simultaneously recognize and monitor a plurality of moving objects, and in FIG. 4, the four moving objects A to D exemplified in FIG. 1 are identified and continuously monitored. In this figure, an underwater robot or the like is assumed as the moving body. For example, four shadows corresponding to the moving bodies A to D are displayed in the scanning image area 34. These four moving objects are recognized by the object identification function, and an identifier for recognizing each is automatically assigned. In the example of FIG. 4, an order sequence (A to D) such as an alphabet is assigned as an identification, but it may be an ID number or the like. Further, on the right side of the monitor screen 32, for example, the mobile information related to the mobiles A to D recognized and given the identifier is displayed in the mobile information areas 36A to 36D, respectively.

In addition to the above identifier, the moving body information includes the status information of the moving body such as the horizontal distance to the moving body, the direction, the depth, the moving direction, the moving speed, and the size of the moving body. The status information includes, for example, the reliability of the information about the moving object, and information such as whether it is currently selected as a tracking target, properly supplemented, or lost.

For example, a cursor 32A is displayed on the monitor screen 32, and the user can select an arbitrary moving object on the screen as a tracking target by operating an operation member such as a mouse, an arrow key, or a joystick. When a touch panel is used for the monitor screen 32, the moving body can be directly selected on the screen without using the cursor 32A. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the moving body B is selected. When the moving object to be tracked is selected and the selection is determined by a predetermined operation, the DP control system 16 starts the automatic tracking process and is selected while referring to the information of the positioning system 18 and the disturbance sensor 22. A control signal for tracking the moving body B by a certain tracking method (condition) is output to the ship maneuvering mechanism 20. The tracking method (condition) includes, for example, the distance to the tracking target, the direction, and the bow direction at the time of tracking. It should be noted that the moving body B selected as the tracking target and the moving body information 36B thereof are displayed on other moving bodies A, C, D and the moving body information area 36A so that it can be seen that the moving body B and the moving body information 36B are selected as the tracking target. It is displayed in a different shape and color from 36C and 36D.

FIG. 5 illustrates a state in which a certain time has passed since the tracking of the moving body B was started. In the illustrated scanning image area 34, the center of the circle indicated by the + mark indicates the position of the ship 12, and the upper part of the screen corresponds to the bow direction. In the present embodiment, the moving body B is tracked with the bow facing the tracking target. In FIG. 5, the moving bodies A to C are supplemented, and the moving body D is in a lost state. Therefore, the horizontal distance, direction, and depth of each of the moving bodies A to D and the status information indicating that the moving body is supplemented are displayed in the moving body information areas 36A to 36C, and the horizontal of the moving body information area 36D. The distance, direction, and depth will be null, and it will be displayed as status information that they have been lost.

6 and 7 exemplify a case where a moving body is treated as a school of fish, in which the shape of the shadow is deformed and the size is changed and the collective separation is repeated.

In FIG. 6, three fish schools A to C are recognized and monitored by the object identification function, and the fish school A is selected as, for example, a tracking target. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the tracking target A is divided into two, and the moving body D is newly recognized and monitored by the object identification function. At this time, the moving body designated as the school of fish A is maintained as the tracking target, a warning is given to the user, for example, and the moving bodies A and D are highlighted. In addition, a display prompting the user to newly select any of them as the tracking target is displayed on the monitor screen 32. Further, when the moving body is divided in advance, the tracking control can be continued while giving a warning by the user selecting the condition regarding the information of the moving body that is continuously selected as the tracking target. This condition includes the size of the moving body and the reliability of information. In addition, the characteristics of the target to be tracked, such as a large school of fish and a small school of fish, may be defined in advance, and the tracking target may be automatically specified at the time of division. Furthermore, it is also possible to predict the behavior of the tracking target by the swarm intelligence simulation of the tracking target and specify the tracking target based on the prediction result.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the automatic ship maneuvering process executed by the automatic ship maneuvering system 10. When the automatic ship maneuvering process is started, the tracking method (condition) is set in step S100, and the user sets the tracking method through the operation unit 28. When the setting process S100 is completed, in step S102, the object is identified by the sonar data analysis process based on the signal of the sonar system 24, and the labeling of the moving body (assignment of an identifier) and the information of each moving body are displayed. ..

In step S104, it is determined whether the tracking target has already been selected. If it is not selected, in step S106, the tracking target selection process is executed using the cursor 32A. When the tracking target is selected, in step S108, the process for performing automatic tracking on the selected tracking target is started, and the control of the ship maneuvering mechanism 20 based on the automatic tracking process is started. In step S110, it is determined whether or not the end instruction of the automatic ship maneuvering process has been issued, and if the end instruction is given, the present process is ended, and if not, the process of step S102 and the following is repeated.

If the tracking target has already been selected in step S104, it is confirmed in step S112 whether the tracking target has been lost, and if it has not been lost, the processes after step S108 are executed. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S112 that the tracking target has been lost, warning processing using visual information such as screen display and hearing such as sound is executed in step S114, and estimation calculation regarding the behavior of the tracking target is performed in step S115. I do. If the tracking target is recaptured in step S116 based on the estimation calculation of the tracking target, the automatic tracking process is restarted in step S108, and if the tracking target is not recaptured, the tracking target is selected in step S104. The automatic ship maneuvering process is continued as an unfinished item. When the tracking target is divided, a warning process is performed in step S102, and in step S104, it is assumed that the tracking target has not been selected, and the tracking target selection process in step S106 is executed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to visually recognize a plurality of objects in water, and it is possible to selectively select an object to be tracked from among them. In addition, the tracking target can be easily selected using the cursor or the touch panel, and the positional relationship of a plurality of moving objects including the tracking target can always be grasped.

10 Automatic ship maneuvering system 12 Ship 14 Sonar 16 DP control system 18 Positioning system 20 Ship maneuvering mechanism 22 Disturbance sensor 24 Sorner system 32 Monitor screen 34 Scanning image area 36A to 36D Mobile information area

Claims (4)

Ship maneuvering means and
With sonar
An object identification means for detecting a plurality of objects by the sonar and identifying the objects,
A selection means for selecting one of the identified objects, and
An automatic ship maneuvering system including an automatic tracking means for controlling the ship maneuvering means so as to track the selected object under a predetermined condition. The automatic ship maneuvering system according to claim 1, further comprising a warning means for issuing a warning when the object identification means loses a tracking target. The automatic ship maneuvering apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the object identification means can recognize the division of the tracking target, and when the division is recognized, it prompts a new selection by the selection means. .. A ship comprising the automatic ship maneuvering system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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