JP2938329B2 - Underwater work equipment posture monitor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for monitoring the inclination of underwater working equipment such as a seabed excavator or a seabed survey robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a large underwater working machine such as an excavator 16 is suspended from a plurality of booms 14 on a work boat 13 by a plurality of hanging wires 15 as shown in FIG. In this case, the depth and inclination of the excavator 16 were monitored by observing the feed amount of each wire at this time.

In the case of an underwater robot, as shown in FIG. 5, a tilt sensor 5, 6 and a depth sensor 7 are attached to a robot 27, and an electric signal detected by these sensors is sent to a work boat 13 through a sensor cable 17. I was monitoring.

[0004]

However, in the work of suspending with a wire as in the case of the above-mentioned excavator, the excavator 16 and the suspending wire 15 are not swept by the tidal current and do not become vertical, or in some cases. Since the hanging wire 15 may be entangled with the excavator 16 or with a control cable (not shown),
Even if the inclination is calculated only from the amount of extension of the hanging wire, it is inaccurate and the workability is poor.

Further, in the case of the robot shown in FIG. 5, the sensor cable 17 must be provided separately from the control cable 26, and there is a problem in equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a precise inclination and depth of underwater working equipment without relying on the length of a hanging wire and without providing a separate sensor cable. The object of the present invention is to provide a monitor that can monitor the data.

[0007]

The present invention has the following means in order to achieve the above object. That is, the posture monitor of the underwater working equipment of the present invention is provided in the underwater working equipment. The transmitting side detects the inclination angle in one direction (X-axis direction) on the plane and detects the magnitude of the inclination angle. An X-axis direction tilt sensor that outputs an electric signal corresponding to the angle; Y that detects a tilt angle in a direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction (Y-axis direction) and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the magnitude of the tilt angle axial tilt sensor and; the frequency corresponding to the magnitude of the respective electrical signal receiving by each sensor output electrical signal from each sensor
Frequency control signal for a sensor output to be converted to a frequency signal to which a frequency signal is assigned, and a frequency control signal for synchronization for generating a signal of a frequency fixed in advance for a synchronization signal for a predetermined time width. generating a signal, each of the sensors the <br/> frequency control signal for the synchronization time position determined respectively so as to correspond to each sensor as a time reference
A CPU for arranging output frequency control signals at a predetermined time width and repeatedly outputting the array at a predetermined cycle; and a sensor output and synchronization frequency control signal from the CPU. A variable frequency signal output circuit that outputs a signal whose frequency is controlled for each reception time position; a transmission unit that receives a signal from the variable frequency signal output circuit and generates a signal for exciting a transmitter; an excitation signal from the transmission unit receiving by a wave transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic waves of the signal frequency; equipped with, water
A receiver arranged on a work boat for controlling the underwater work equipment ; a receiver for receiving the ultrasonic waves; a receiver for amplifying a reception signal from the receiver; Extract the synchronization signal from the amplified received signal, based on the time position of the synchronization signal,
A frequency detection unit that detects the frequency of each signal at each of the predetermined time positions on the time axis; and a calculation unit that calculates a tilt angle in the X-axis direction and a tilt angle in the Y-axis direction from the detected frequencies; A display for displaying the calculated inclination angles;
And a posture monitor for underwater work equipment.

Further, a depth sensor for detecting an underwater depth and outputting an electric signal corresponding to the depth is added to the transmitting side of the above-mentioned underwater working equipment posture monitor, and a depth indicator is added to the receiving side.
To convert the electric signal into a frequency control signal for output of the depth sensor.
This is an underwater working equipment attitude monitor that converts and performs the same processing on the signal from the depth sensor as on the signal from the tilt sensor.

[0009]

The operation of the posture monitor of the underwater working equipment according to the present invention having the above configuration will be described below. The sender is the one attached to the underwater equipment. Since the inclination has not only the degree of inclination but also the degree of inclination in which direction, the inclination is detected in both orthogonal X-axis and Y-axis directions. The inclination is converted into a frequency in a unique relationship with the angle. The electric signals corresponding to the tilt angles from the X-axis direction tilt sensor and the Y-axis direction tilt sensor are sent to the CPU, where they are converted into frequency control signals corresponding to the input electric signals as a step prior to conversion into frequency.

At the same time, the CPU generates a frequency control signal for generating a signal of a fixed frequency determined for the synchronization signal for a fixed time width, and uses the frequency control signal as a time reference for a predetermined time corresponding to each sensor. The frequency control signals are arranged at the time intervals determined at the positions, and the arrangement including the frequency control signal for the synchronization signal is repeatedly output at a predetermined cycle.

The frequency control signal is sent to a variable frequency signal output circuit. Since this circuit is a circuit in which the output frequency changes according to the change of the frequency control signal, a signal of a fixed frequency determined for the synchronization signal is output for a fixed time width at the time position of the synchronization signal frequency control signal. The frequency control signal corresponding to the tilt sensor outputs a signal having a frequency corresponding to the tilt angle. If the inclination angle changes, the frequency within the corresponding time width changes.

The output signal of the variable frequency signal output circuit thus obtained is sent to the transmitting section, where it is converted into a signal for exciting the transmitter and sent to the transmitter. The transmitter converts the excitation signal into sound waves of the same frequency and radiates them into water. Usually radiates towards the surface of the water where the receiver is located.

A receiver provided near the water surface where the work boat is located receives this sound wave and converts it into an electric signal. After amplifying this signal in the receiving unit, the frequency detecting unit extracts a synchronizing signal whose frequency is known in advance, and uses it as a time reference to detect the frequency at a time position corresponding to each sensor known in advance therefrom. .

Since the relationship between the frequency and the tilt angle is predetermined when the variable frequency signal output circuit is controlled by the frequency control signal, the calculation unit can calculate the tilt angle from the frequency according to this relationship. The X-axis direction inclination angle and the Y-axis direction inclination angle thus calculated are displayed on the display unit.

The above is the case of only the tilt sensor,
Further, in a configuration provided with a depth sensor and a depth indicator, the CPU converts an electric signal from the depth sensor into a frequency control signal, and arranges the frequency control signal in an assigned time position, so that the depth sensor can be operated in exactly the same manner as the inclination sensor. Can be monitored.

As described above, there is no influence of the tidal current or the problem of the wire getting entangled as in the case where the length of the hanging wire is relied on, and the posture of the underwater working equipment is not provided without providing the sensor cable. Can be accurately monitored.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention. The upper side of the figure is the receiving side, and the lower side is the transmitting side. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of using the system. In this example, the components on the transmitting side from the sensors 5, 6, 7 to the transmitter 1 are structurally collectively configured as a transmitter and attached to the robot 27.

On the receiving side, the receiver 8 is underwater, and other components are collectively arranged as a receiver and installed in the work boat 13. The X-axis direction tilt sensor 5 and the Y-axis direction tilt sensor 6 in FIG. 1 each detect a tilt angle in each direction and output an electric signal corresponding to the magnitude of the tilt angle. The depth sensor detects the depth and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the depth.

The output of each of these sensors is sent to the CPU 4. The CPU 4 converts each sensor output into a frequency control signal, and outputs the frequency control signal as shown in FIG.
A frequency control signal for generating a 55 KHz signal for 5 ms for a synchronizing signal is generated as shown in FIG. 19,
Arrays such as 20 and 21 are provided, and this array is repeatedly output in a one-second cycle.

The frequency control signal shown in FIG. 3A is sent to the variable frequency signal output circuit 3. The output frequency of this circuit is controlled by a frequency control signal,
Depending on the synchronization signal frequency control signal, a signal 22 of 55 KHz per cycle is output as shown in FIG. Next, depending on the X-axis direction tilt frequency control signal 19, a signal 23 whose frequency changes in the range of 40 KHz to 50 KHz with respect to the tilt of −60 ° to + 60 ° is output. Y-axis direction tilt frequency control signal 2
The signal 24 whose frequency changes in the range of 40 KHz to 50 KHz with respect to the inclination of −60 ° to + 60 ° is output even if 0 is set.

Depending on the depth frequency control signal 21, 0 m
It outputs a signal 25 that varies between 40 KHz and 50 KHz for a depth of ~ 200 m. The output signal of such a variable frequency signal output circuit 3 is sent to the transmission unit 2, where it is converted into a signal for exciting the transmitter, sent to the transmitter 1, and transmitted from the transmitter 1 with the same frequency as the excitation signal. It is transmitted into water as sound waves.

The ultrasonic waves that have propagated in the water are received by the receiver 8 and sent to the receiver 9 as received signals to be amplified. The amplified received signal is sent to the frequency detector 10 where a 55 KHz synchronization signal is detected by frequency identification, and the signals 23, 24 and 2 are used as time references.
Five frequencies are detected. The detected frequency information is sent to the calculation unit 11, where each inclination angle and depth are calculated from the frequency based on the relationship that -60 ° to + 60 ° and 0m to 200m correspond to 40KHz to 50KHz. . The calculated inclination angle and depth are sent to the display unit 12 and displayed.

As described above, the monitor of the present invention can accurately monitor the posture and the depth of the underwater working equipment by using the ultrasonic wave without relying on the hanging wires or laying the sensor cable. .

[0024]

As described above, the posture monitor of the underwater work equipment of the present invention converts the inclination angle detected by the inclination sensor and the depth detected by the depth sensor into a frequency, and the ultrasonic waves of the frequency convert the frequency into the underwater. To transmit the information of the inclination angle and depth to the receiving side, so that the attitude of the underwater working equipment can be accurately determined without depending on the length of the hanging wire of the underwater working equipment or laying the sensor cable. Can be monitored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a posture monitor for underwater work equipment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of use of the underwater working equipment posture monitoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of a transmission signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a conventional submarine excavation work.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example in which only each sensor is attached to a robot, a sensor cable is laid, and information is sent to a work boat.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Transmitter 2 Transmitter 3 Variable frequency signal output circuit 4 CPU 5 X-axis tilt sensor 6 Y-axis tilt sensor 7 Depth sensor 8 Receiver 9 Receiver 10 Frequency detector 11 Operation unit 12 Display unit 13 Work boat 14 Boom 15 Hanging wire 16 Drilling machine 17 Sensor cable 18-21 Frequency control signal 22-25 Output signal of variable frequency signal output circuit 26 Control cable 27 Robot

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04Q 9/00 301 H04Q 9/00 301B

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. The transmitting side deployed in underwater work equipment includes:
An X-axis direction inclination sensor that detects an inclination angle in one direction (referred to as an X-axis direction) on a plane and outputs an electric signal according to the magnitude of the inclination angle; a direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction (a Y-axis direction); the Y-axis direction tilt sensor for detecting a tilt angle of at to) to output an electric signal corresponding to the magnitude of the tilt angle; wherein each sensor output receives the electrical signals from the sensors each magnitude of the electrical signal Assigned a frequency corresponding to
It converts the frequency control signal for the sensor output to be done with the frequency signal, previously only fixed predetermined time width signal of a frequency for synchronization to occur as a sync signal
Of generating a frequency control signal, determines the respective frequency <br/> number control signal for the sensor outputs a frequency control signal to a time position determined respectively so as to correspond to each sensor as a time reference for the synchronization pre A CPU for arranging the array at a predetermined time width and repeatedly outputting the array at a predetermined cycle;
A variable frequency signal output circuit for receiving a frequency control signal for sensor output and synchronization from the CPU and outputting a frequency-controlled signal for each time position; and receiving a signal from the variable frequency signal output circuit for exciting a transmitter A transmission unit for converting the signal into;
A wave transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic waves of the signal frequency receiving an excitation signal from the transmitting unit; equipped with underwater work In the water
A receiver disposed on a work boat for controlling the equipment ; a receiver for receiving the ultrasonic wave; a receiver for amplifying a reception signal from the receiver; a synchronization signal extracted from the amplified reception signal;
A frequency detector for detecting the frequency of each signal at each of the predetermined time positions on the time axis with reference to the time position of the synchronization signal; and a tilt angle in the X-axis direction and a Y-axis from the detected frequency. A posture monitor for underwater work equipment, comprising: a calculation unit that calculates a tilt angle of a direction; and a display unit that displays each calculated tilt angle. Wherein the transmission side of the underwater work equipment position monitor of claim 1, wherein the depth sensor the electrical signals by adding a depth sensor for outputting an electric signal corresponding to the detected depth of the water depth
An attitude monitor for underwater work equipment that converts it into a frequency control signal for server output , adds a depth indicator to the receiving side, and performs the same processing on the signal from the depth sensor as on the signal from the tilt sensor.