JP6792772B2 - Water level measurement system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a system using a water level gauge installed in a riverbed or in a city to measure a rise in water level in order to prevent a disaster caused by a flood of a river that occurs during heavy rain.

As a method of measuring the water level of a river, as shown in Patent Document 1, a GPS receiver installed on the bottom of the river and a GPS receiver installed on the surface of the water are used to compare the GPS information received by the two GPS receivers. However, as shown in the method of measuring the height of the water surface and Patent Document 2, a plurality of water level gauge data are sent to the monitoring device by a communication means such as wireless communication, and the monitoring device grasps the plurality of water level gauge data in real time. The method of monitoring is adopted.

JP-A-11-257957 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-196767

A simple and low-cost water level gauge equipped with wireless communication means is provided for water level measurement, and wireless communication is possible even if the antenna portion is covered with water and wireless communication becomes difficult due to the rise in water level. Provide a system.

A hollow part is provided in the pole-shaped cone used at a construction site, etc., and an electronic circuit device that detects the water level and transmits the detected water level to the management server by wireless communication is installed above the pole-shaped cone. The antenna part of the electronic circuit device has a structure that can be separated from the electronic circuit part of the electronic circuit device, a floating body for water level measurement is placed at the bottom of the pole type cone, and the floating body rises when water infiltrates the cone, but the floating body at that time The water level is measured by calculating the position of. When the water level rises further and the floating body reaches the position where it pushes up the electronic circuit device, the lid of the pole-shaped cone is pushed up by the antenna part by the buoyancy from the floating body to open, and the antenna part is removed from the pole-shaped cone. The antenna part is separated from the electronic circuit part. At this time, the antenna portion is also immersed in water, but in the antenna portion, the antenna element is installed in the second floating body, and the antenna element is not immersed in water while floating on the water surface by the antenna floating body, and is wireless. Communication becomes possible.

The water level gauge can be configured easily and inexpensively, and even if the water level reaches a water level higher than the height of the water level gauge, it can be communicated and the water level of all the installed water level gauges can be managed. it can.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the form in which the water level gauge according to this invention is installed in the riverbed of a river. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the water level gauge of this invention. It is a connection form diagram which delivers the water level gauge information of this invention to a monitoring server via a wireless communication network, and communicates with an alarm device. It is a figure which shows the other structural example which constitutes the wireless communication network shown in FIG. 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the electronic circuit part in the water level gauge of this invention. It is a figure which shows the communication signal format between a water level meter of this invention, a monitoring server, and an installation registration tool. It is a figure which shows the installation registration tool which performs the installation work while communicating with the water level gauge and a monitoring server when installing the water level gauge of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the 2nd internal structure example of the electronic circuit part in this invention.

The news that the torrential rain that occurred in western Japan in July 2018 caused a great deal of casualties is painful, but in recent years there has been a lot of damage due to the flooding of rivers due to the torrential rain, and in rivers and towns. It is expected that a simple water level gauge that can quickly detect the rise in water level will be installed. The present invention provides a water level measurement system using a water level gauge that is easy to install, low cost, and can be used with a battery for 10 years.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional pattern of a river, and is generally composed of a river bottom 4, a riverbed 3, a slope 2, and a bank 1. The water surface of the river is located at 5 in normal times, and the riverbed 3 is often used for walking courses. In FIG. 1, the water level gauge 6 according to the present invention is installed on the riverbed 3. It is desirable that the water level gauges 6 be installed on the riverbed 3 at appropriate intervals such as several tens of meters from the upstream of the river. It is also desirable to install them at appropriate intervals not only in riverbeds but also in residential areas and areas where water tends to collect in the city.

The water level gauge 6 according to the present invention uses a pole-shaped cone having a height of about 1 meter, which is often used at construction sites today, as a housing, and has an electronic circuit or the like built therein. Most of the pole-shaped cones are columnar, but they do not necessarily have to be columnar, and may be square columns, but a through-hole space in which an electronic circuit or the like can be built is required inside the cone. The point is that a columnar housing having a space like a through hole inside may be used, and the bottom surface of the columnar housing should have a large area like a cone so that the object does not fall down due to strong winds. Or, a means such as providing a fixing screw hole is required.

FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the water level gauge 6 built in the columnar housing.

Although the means for preventing the bottom surface of the columnar object, which can be said to be the housing of the water level gauge, from falling due to strong wind or the like is not shown, the water level gauge 6 has an internal space K in the vertical direction and is a lower portion of the internal space K. Is provided with a water entry hole 68, which is a through hole that allows water to enter the internal space K from the side surface of the columnar housing, about 1 cm above the bottom surface, and a float with a small specific gravity such as styrofoam. A floating body 67 made of an easy material is placed. When the water level of the river reaches the riverbed 3 due to heavy rain or the like, water invades the internal space K from the lower part of the columnar housing, and the floating body 67 begins to float upward as shown by the broken line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, three microswitches SW1 (69a), SW2 (69b), and SW3 (69c) are installed on the side wall of the columnar housing in addition to the water entry hole 68 at the lower part, the middle part, and the upper part. There is. When the floating body 67 starts to float, the floating body 67 presses the contact point of the micro switch SW1 (69a) installed on the inner surface of the side wall about 5 cm above the bottom surface, and the electronic circuit unit 63 detects this. An electronic circuit unit 63 is installed together with an antenna floating body 62 in the upper part of the internal space K of the columnar housing, and both ends of the electronic circuit unit 63 are fixed in grooves 66 provided on the side surface of the columnar housing. When the water level rises and the floating body 67 comes into contact with and presses against the electronic circuit section 63, the groove 66 is vertical so that the installation position of the electronic circuit section 63 can be further raised. The upper lid 65 of the columnar housing is easily attached to and detached from the upper end of the side wall of the columnar housing with the bonding rubber 64, and is configured to be easily removed by pressing from the lower part.

When the water level inside the columnar housing rises and the floating body 67 reaches the electronic circuit unit 63 and further rises, the electronic circuit unit 63 further rises along the groove 66 and is placed on the electronic circuit unit 63. The antenna floating body 62 having the antenna element 61 connected by the electric wire 61b (the antenna element 61 is fixed to the upper part of the antenna floating body 62) pushes up the upper lid 65, and the buoyancy exceeds the pushing pressure of the bonding rubber 64. , The upper lid 65 opens. The length of the electric wire 61b is several tens of centimeters, but the antenna floating body 62 floats on the water surface. At this time, since the antenna element 61 is exposed to the air by the antenna floating body 62 and is not in the water, wireless communication is possible, and it is monitored via the wireless communication network 7 that the water level is equal to or higher than the upper limit of the water level gauge 6. It can be transmitted to the server 110. The length of the wire will be determined not only by the height of the columnar housing, but also by considering the environmental conditions to be installed when designing the water level gauge.

When the antenna floating body 62 is detached from the columnar housing and the water level cannot be measured from the position of the floating body in the water level gauge 6, the timer 99 tells the monitoring server 110 at a predetermined interval such as 1 minute. , The height of the columnar housing is exceeded, but it is less than or equal to the length of the electric wire 61b. "

However, if the water level rises above the length of the electric wire 61b, the antenna element 61 is covered with water, and communication is impossible. When the monitoring server 110 cannot receive the information from the water level gauge 6, it determines that "the water level has reached the height of the water level gauge and the length of the electric wire or more".

FIG. 5 shows an electrical connection (block diagram) between the electronic circuit unit 63 and the antenna element 61, the microswitches SW1 (69a), SW2 (69b), and SW3 (69c). Although not shown, the electronic circuit unit 63 is housed in a housing which is composed of one printed circuit board and has a waterproof function.

The electronic circuit unit 63 includes a battery 90, a power switch 91, a wireless communication circuit 84 (internally divided into a wireless receiving unit 92 and a wireless transmitting unit 93), a battery remaining amount detecting unit 94, a communication control unit 95, and a water level detection. It includes a unit 96, a light receiving unit 97a, a light emitting unit 97b, an ID storage unit 98, and a timer 99.

The battery 90 constantly supplies power to the battery remaining amount detecting unit 94 and the wireless receiving unit 92, but the power switch 91 supplies power to other circuits only when necessary to save power. In the connection line of each circuit of the electronic circuit unit 63 of FIG. 5, the power supply line supplied from the power switch 91 is drawn with a thick line. The battery level detected by the battery level detection unit 94 will be described later. It is transmitted to the monitoring server 110 when the remaining battery level falls below a value such as 30% or less or at the time of self-diagnosis.

The communication control unit 95 is for forming a communication signal for communicating with the monitoring server 110 and restoring the received communication signal. The ID storage unit 98 stores an ID code peculiar to the water level gauge 6, and the ID code is assigned from the installation position registration tool described later when the water level gauge 6 is installed. As will be described later, the ID storage unit 98 also stores information indicating a method for the water level gauge 6 to measure the water level. When it is found by the micro switch SW1 (69a) that water has entered the inside of the columnar housing, the power switch 91 is turned on to start the operation of the water level gauge 6, and power is supplied to each circuit. At this time, the timer 99 starts, and the measurement of the distance between the electronic circuit unit 63 and the floating body 67 is started. Although not shown, a light emitting window and a light receiving window are provided on the bottom surface of the electronic circuit unit 63, and face the light emitting unit 97b and the light receiving unit 97a by the laser, respectively. For distance measurement, a laser beam is emitted from the light emitting unit of 97b, the reflected light from the floating body 67 is detected by the light receiving unit 97a, and the time from light emission to light reception is calculated by the water level detection unit 96. The distance from the bottom surface of the portion 63 to the floating body 67 can be obtained, and the height of the floating body 67 from the bottom surface of the columnar housing, that is, the water level can be detected and measured based on the distance. The timer 99 measures the water level by the above method at time intervals such as 5 minutes, transmits the measurement result, that is, the water level information to the communication control unit 95, and wirelessly transmits the measurement result, that is, the water level information from the wireless transmission unit 93 to the antenna element 61 together with the ID information of the water level meter 6. The monitoring server 110 is contacted via the communication network 7.

In addition to the method of using the contact information of the micro switch SW1 (69a), the operation of the water level gauge 6 can be started by receiving an instruction signal for starting measurement from the monitoring server 110. Therefore, the wireless receiving unit 92 is constantly supplied with power. When the amount of rainfall in a certain area increases, the monitoring server 110 instructs the water level gauge 6 that needs to measure the water level to start the measurement.

In addition to the method using the laser beam described above, the water level inside the columnar housing can be measured by placing microswitches on the side surface of the columnar housing at intervals of 20 cm, such as SW2 (69b) and SW3 (69c). There is also a method of detecting that the floating body 67 presses each micro switch. Since the water level detection unit 96 stores the installation position of the microswitch as the distance from the bottom surface of the columnar housing, the water level can be detected and measured by knowing which microswitch is turned on. In this case, the light emitting unit 97b and the light receiving unit 97a in FIG. 5 are unnecessary, but FIG. 8 will be used later as a second configuration example of the electronic circuit unit 63.

The installation of microswitches does not have to be limited to three. If the height of the columnar housing is about 1 meter, it may be one in 5 cm, one in 30 cm, one in 70 cm from the bottom, but it is also good to install it every 10 cm. However, SW1 (69a) is installed 5 cm from the bottom surface and is necessary for detecting the intrusion of water.

Even in the case of the microswitch method, the timer 99 detects and measures the position of which microswitch the water level reaches every 5 minutes, and transmits the water level information to the communication control unit 95.

As a means for detecting the water level, two methods, a method using a laser beam and a method using a microswitch, have been described here, but which method the water level gauge 6 adopts is determined by the ID code in the ID storage unit 98 described above. It is remembered with.

Next, the operation at the time of installing the water level gauge 6 will be described.

FIG. 7 shows the internal configuration of the installation registration tool 8 required for installation, and includes an installation registration operation unit 81, an ID code generator 82, a communication signal circuit 83, a wireless communication circuit 84, and a GPS detector 80. Since these circuits are built in the smartphone, the smartphone is actually used as the installation registration tool 8.

The installation worker carries this installation registration tool 8 to perform the installation work, but at the place where the water level gauge 6 is installed, using the installation registration operation unit 81, within the same zip code as the 7-digit zip code of that place. An ID code consisting of 10 digits of 3 serial numbers is formed from the ID code generator 82 in the communication signal circuit 83 as shown in FIG. 6B, and is wirelessly transmitted from the wireless communication circuit 84 to the electronic circuit unit 63. To do. The ID code is stored in the ID storage unit 98 in the electronic circuit unit 63. Further, the GPS information detected by the GPS detector 80 is formed by the communication signal circuit 83 together with the ID code as shown in FIG. 6C, and is transmitted from the wireless communication circuit 83 to the monitoring server 110. .. The monitoring server 110 manages the installation locations (GPS information values) and ID codes of all the installed water level gauges 6. By doing so, the water level gauge 6 does not need to be equipped with a GPS detector, and can contribute to power saving and cost reduction of the water level gauge 6.

In addition, the water level gauge will always be installed in areas where disasters are expected. Alternatively, when a disaster is expected, the water level gauge will be managed by a water level gauge management company such as a local government, such as installing it only in the expected area, but when removing the water level gauge once installed, At the time of removal, it is necessary to delete the ID code once assigned and also delete the ID and GPS information registered in the monitoring server 110. Such an operation can also be performed by the installation registration operation unit 81. In this case, the information indicating the method of measuring the water level stored in the ID storage unit 98 of the water level gauge does not need to be deleted because it is information peculiar to the water level gauge.

Dedicated application software is separately downloaded to the installation registration tool 8 for the operation display required for the installation registration operation and the operation control for each circuit, but the download procedure and the operation display method of the operation unit Is the same method as operating a smartphone, so it is omitted here.

The water level gauge 6 according to the present invention operates when it is raining a lot according to the weather forecast, and the water level gauge 6 does not operate in normal times. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a self-diagnosis as to whether or not the operation of the water level gauge 6 operates normally when a large amount of rain is forecast or once every three months. Therefore, the monitoring server 110 sends a self-diagnosis request signal to confirm the normal operation of the electronic circuit. When the self-diagnosis request signal is received, the laser beam is emitted from the light emitting unit 97b, the light receiving unit 97a confirms that the floating body 67 is at the bottom, and the self-diagnosis OK signal is sent from the wireless transmission unit 93 to the monitoring server 110. Send. The self-diagnosis of the three microswitches is performed by confirming that the switches are in the off state.

In the self-diagnosis, the water level gauge 6 itself performs the self-diagnosis every 3 months or the like regardless of the command (reception of the self-diagnosis request signal) from the monitoring server 110, and reports the result to the monitoring server 110. It may be. Further, if the water level measurement is started not by the command from the monitoring server 110 (reception of the water level measurement start signal) but by turning on the micro switch SW1 (69a), the wireless receiver 92 is always energized. Is no longer necessary and can contribute to further power saving. FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the electronic circuit unit 63 in this case.

The timing to turn on the power switch 91 is three cases: timer output such as once every three months, microphone cross switch SW1 (69a) on, and when the remaining battery level is reduced to 30% or less. As 63, the most power saving can be achieved.

Table 1 shows a list of communication signals with an arrow indicating the signal format shown in FIG. 6, the information value in the signal format, and the direction of the signal. For example, the self-diagnosis request signal is a signal sent from the monitoring server to the water level gauge 6, the signal format is FIG. 6A, and there is no information value.

The control signals shown in FIG. 6 are encoded corresponding to the control signals in Table 1. There are 10 types of control signals in Table 1, but 1 byte is sufficient as the control signal.

The remaining battery level may be indicated by numerical information such as 30%, and the water level information may be indicated in about four stages.

The diagnosis result is either OK or NG, and the ID is a 10-digit number, so 5 bytes is sufficient.

When the installed water level gauge 6 is removed, the installation registration tool 8 sends an "ID code deletion" signal to the water level gauge 6, and in response, the water level gauge 6 has an ID code stored in the ID storage unit 98. And GPS information are sent to the installation registration tool 8 as an "ID, GPS contact" signal. After that, the installation registration tool 8 sends the received ID code and GPS information to the monitoring server 110 as an “installation information deletion” signal.

In the monitoring server 110, the water levels of all the installed water level meters 6 are accumulated together with the installation location information (ID code) corresponding to the postal code and the water level measurement method. It should be convenient because the ID code is associated with the zip code, such as when creating a water level map on the monitoring server 110.

An alarm will be issued when the water level exceeds 50 cm, but in the monitoring server 110 of the present invention, the micro switch 1 (SW1) is turned on and the water level information of the water level meter 6 whose water level exceeds 5 cm is ID. It plays a role of transmitting to the alarm device 120 together with the code, and the local government that manages the alarm device 120 will issue the alarm from the alarm device. The division of roles between the monitoring server and the alarm device will be performed while coordinating with the local government, but if the monitoring server 110 has all the functions of the alarm device 120 (see FIG. 3), the alarm device 120 becomes unnecessary.

In the description so far, the wireless communication circuit 84 (wireless receiving unit 92 and wireless transmitting unit 93) of the electronic circuit unit 63 and the wireless communication circuit 84 of the installation registration tool 8 are premised on the use of a public wireless communication network such as LTE. However, in order to further reduce the power consumption of the electronic circuit unit 63, there is also a method of using an LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) wireless communication method. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the monitoring server 110 is connected to the monitoring server 110 via the LPWA relay station. Communication between a large number of LPWA relay stations and the LPWA totaling station 72 that aggregates the relay stations, and communication between the LPWA totaling station 72 and the monitoring server 110 may be wireless or wired.

Not only is this LPWA method useful for power saving, but because LPWA is a self-employed wireless communication network, communication charges can be set free or low compared to public wireless communication networks such as LTE, and operating costs can be set. Can also contribute to. The installation registration tool 8 also requires an LPWA communication circuit, but when a smartphone is used as the installation registration tool, a method of preparing an LTE-LPWA converter as an adapter is also required, although not shown.

In the explanation so far, as the type of internal configuration of the water level gauge, whether the water level measurement method is a laser beam type or a microswitch type, the self-diagnosis method is a monitoring server activation type or a water level gauge own timer activation type, or a wireless communication method. As a result, it is divided into a public wireless communication network and a self-employed wireless communication network, and information about which method is adopted is stored in the ID storage unit 98. As a result, the monitoring server 110 can finely manage the installed water level gauge.

The water level gauge can be used at low cost for a long time of 10 years without battery replacement, and even if the water level rises above the height of the water level gauge, the water level information can be sent to the monitoring server, expanding the range of use. ..

1 Bank 2 Slope 3 Riverbed 4 River bottom 5 Water surface 6 Water level gauge 7 Wireless communication network 8 Installation registration tool 61 Antenna element 61b Electric wire 62 Antenna floating body 63 Electronic circuit part 64 Joint rubber 65 Top lid 66 Groove 67 Floating body 68 Water entry hole 69a Micro switch 1 (SW1)
69b Micro switch 2 (SW2)
69c Micro switch 3 (SW3)
71 LPWA relay station 72 LPWA aggregation station 80 GPS detector 81 installation registration operation unit 82 ID code generator 83 communication signal circuit 84 wireless communication circuit 90 battery 91 power switch 92 wireless receiver 93 wireless transmitter 94 battery level detector 95 Communication control unit 96 Water level detection unit 97a Light receiving unit 97b Light emitting unit 98 ID storage unit 99 Timer 110 Monitoring server 120 Alarm device

Claims (2)

It is a system composed of a water level gauge, a wireless communication network, and a monitoring server. The water level gauge is composed of a columnar housing having an internal space, and an antenna element is provided on the upper portion of the columnar housing. An electronic circuit unit connected by an electric wire is arranged, a floating body is placed at the bottom of the columnar housing, and a hole through which water can flow is provided in the lower part of the columnar housing. The electronic circuit unit is a battery. A wireless communication circuit, an ID storage unit, and a water level detection unit are provided, and the water level detection unit measures the water level based on the position of the floating body, and the measured water level information is transmitted from the wireless communication circuit via a wireless communication network. Upon being transmitted to the monitoring server, the upper part of the columnar housing was closed with an upper lid, and when the water level inside the columnar housing rose and reached the uppermost part of the internal space, the antenna element was placed. A water level measuring system characterized in that an antenna floating body is configured to push open the upper lid and be separated from the electronic circuit portion . In claim 1, there is an installation registration tool, which includes a wireless communication circuit, a GPS detector, and an ID code maker, and the ID code maker is attached to the water level gauge at the installation location of the water level gauge. An ID code to be assigned is created, and the wireless communication circuit transmits the ID code to the electronic circuit and also transmits the ID code and GPS information detected by the GPS detector to the monitoring server. Water level measurement system.

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