JP7200731B2 - Notification system and notification method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a notification system and notification method.

Conventionally, as underwater equipment used in water, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-534375, a platform (floating body) is moored to the bottom of the water with a mooring rope, the platform is suspended in the water, and the platform is caused by the water flow. There is known a device for generating power by rotating blades.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-534375

In such underwater devices, it is conceivable that they float to the surface of the water due to maintenance or the like. In this case, it is desirable to inform other ships or the like navigating the surface of the surfacing that the vessel will surface. On the other hand, there may be cases where the underwater equipment is suddenly surfaced due to failure or the like. In such a case, it is necessary to quickly inform other ships of surfacing.

Therefore, it is desired to develop a notification system and a notification method that can ensure the safety of underwater equipment when it floats to the surface of the water.

Therefore, a notification system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a notification system for notifying that an underwater device placed in water has surfaced to the surface of the water, and includes a surfacing information acquisition unit that acquires information on the surface of the underwater device that has surfaced to the surface. and a notification unit for notifying the floating water area that the underwater device will surface on the basis of the information acquired by the surfacing information acquiring unit. According to this notification system, it is possible to notify a ship or the like navigating the water area where the underwater equipment has surfaced that the underwater equipment has surfaced by notifying the water surface where the underwater equipment has surfaced. . Therefore, it is possible to avoid collision with underwater equipment.

Further, in the notification system according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the levitation information acquisition unit and the notification unit may be provided in a facility installed on land. In this case, even in the case of emergency surfacing due to failure of the underwater equipment, it is possible to reliably notify the floating water area from the facility on land that the underwater equipment will surface.

In addition, in the notification system according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the underwater device may be a power generation device that is placed underwater and that generates power using water currents. In this case, it is possible to notify the surfacing water area that the power generation device has floated to the surface of the water.

A notification method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a notification method for notifying that an underwater device placed in water has surfaced to the water surface, and includes a surfacing information obtaining step of obtaining information about the surface of the underwater device surfacing to the water surface; and a notification step of notifying the floating water area that the underwater device will surface on the basis of the information acquired by the surfacing information acquisition step. According to this notification method, by notifying the water area where the underwater equipment floats that the underwater equipment floats to the surface of the water, it is possible to inform a ship or the like navigating the water area where the underwater equipment floats to the surface of the underwater equipment. . Therefore, it is possible to avoid collision with underwater equipment.

According to the invention according to the present disclosure, safety can be ensured when the underwater device floats to the water surface.

1 is a diagram showing an overview of a notification system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of a water-current power generator. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a notification system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a notification method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the notification system 1 is a system for notifying that an underwater device has floated to the surface of the water, and is used, for example, to notify that the water current generator 2 has floated to the surface of the water. The water flow power generation device 2 is a device that floats a floating body 20 in water and rotates a turbine 23 provided on the floating body 20 by a water flow FW to generate power. A floating body 20 is moored to an anchor 4 by a mooring rope 3 . A cable 5 is connected to the floating body 20 . Cable 5 is a power transmission cable for transmitting power generated by floating body 20 . A cable 5 extends from the floating body 20 toward the anchor 4 along the mooring rope 3 . Also, the cable 5 extends from the anchor 4 toward the land facility 6 along the sea bed. The cable 5 includes a communication line as well as an electric wire for transmitting generated power.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water current power generation device 2 is installed in the ocean, for example, and generates power using ocean currents. The floating body 20 is configured by connecting two left and right power generation pods 21 with a beam 22 . The beam 22 is provided by, for example, horizontally arranging a rectangular plate-like body. One end of the mooring rope 3 is attached to the power generation pod 21, and the other end of the mooring rope 3 is attached to the anchor 4 installed on the bottom of the water.

The mooring rope 3 is a rope material for mooring the floating body 20 to the anchor 4, and is made of a tough rope material such as a wire rope. In FIG. 2, as the mooring rope 3, a rope material is used in which the end on the floating body 20 side is branched into two. That is, one of the two ends of the mooring rope 3 on the floating body 20 side is attached to the right power generation pod 21 and the other is attached to the left power generation pod 21 . The anchor 4 is a structure for holding the floating body 20 so that it is not swept away by the water flow FW, and is made of concrete or metal, for example. The anchor 4 may be a sinker that maintains its position by the weight of a heavy structure, or may be of a type that maintains its position by using a supporting force such as a ground anchor.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the notification system 1. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the water current generator 2 is provided with a control section 24 , a communication section 25 , a buoyancy adjustment section 26 and a power reception section 27 . These control unit 24 , communication unit 25 , buoyancy adjustment unit 26 and power reception unit 27 are provided inside the power generation pod 21 , for example. The control unit 24 executes overall control of the water current generator 2 . For example, the control unit 24 executes buoyancy adjustment control, attitude control, power generation control, etc. of the floating body 20 . A communication unit 25 , a buoyancy adjustment unit 26 and a power reception unit 27 are connected to the control unit 24 . The communication unit 25 is a part that communicates with the land facility 6, and is capable of transmitting and receiving signals. For example, the communication unit 25 communicates with the land facility 6 via the cable 5 . The buoyancy adjustment unit 26 adjusts the buoyancy of the floating body 20 and adjusts the rising and sinking of the floating body 20 . As the buoyancy adjusting unit 26, for example, a pump for taking water into and out of the ballast tank is used. The power receiving unit 27 receives the power generated by the generator 28 and adjusts the power. For example, the power receiving unit 27 converts the generated power into DC power, and converts it into AC power so as to have a desired frequency. Also. The power receiving unit 27 transforms AC power. The generator 28 is a device that converts the kinetic energy of the rotation of the turbine 23 into electrical energy, and receives the rotational force of the turbine 23 to generate electricity. The power output from the power receiving unit 27 is transmitted to the land facility 6 through the cable 5 .

The land facility 6 is provided with a control unit 61 , a communication unit 62 , a power reception unit 63 and a notification unit 64 . The control unit 61 executes communication control, power reception control, notification control, and the like. For example, the control unit 61 controls communication with the floating body 20 and controls signal reception and signal transmission. Further, the control unit 61 functions as a surfacing information acquiring unit that acquires information on surfacing of the water current generator 2 to the surface of the water. That is, the control unit 61 receives the signal from the floating body 20 and acquires the floating information of the water current generator 2 . In addition, the control unit 61 determines whether or not the floating body 20 floats on the water surface based on whether or not the floating information of the water current generator 2 has been acquired. When the control unit 61 determines that the floating body 20 will rise to the surface of the water, the control unit 61 notifies the floating water area of the floating body 20 that the water current generator 2 will rise to the surface of the water.

The notification unit 64 is a part that notifies that the water current generator 2 has risen to the surface of the water. For example, a communication device capable of transmitting a notification signal is used as the notification unit 64 . Specifically, the notification unit 64 transmits a notification signal as a radio signal. The notification signal is a signal containing at least the identification code of the water current generator 2, the name of the ship, the position, and the speed. As this notification signal, an AIS (Automatic Identification System) signal may be used. An AIS signal is a signal emitted from an automatic identification system (AIS).

As shown in FIG. 1 , the notification signal S is transmitted to the floating water area R of the water current generator 2 . The floating water area R is an area including the floating position of the water current power generation device 2 . For example, the floating water area R is an area within a predetermined range from the floating position of the water current power generation device 2 . Further, the notification signal S may be transmitted to a region other than the floating water area R as long as it is transmitted to the floating water area R of the water current generator 2 .

Next, a notification method according to this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the notification method according to this embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 4 is executed by the controller 61 of the land facility 6, for example. First, as shown in S10 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not the water current generator 2 is to be floated. The control unit 61 determines whether or not a signal indicating surfacing to the water surface has been received from the water current generator 2 through the communication unit 62 . In other words, the control unit 61 determines that the water current generator 2 is to float when it receives a signal from the water current generator 2 indicating that the water current generator 2 has floated to the water surface. is not received, it is determined that the water current generator 2 is not floated. At this time, the levitation of the water current generator 2 may be levitation due to periodic maintenance or emergency levitation due to failure or the like.

If it is determined in S10 that the water current generator 2 is not floating, the series of control processing in FIG. 4 is terminated. Note that the series of control processes in FIG. 4 are repeatedly executed, and the surfacing determination process of S10 is also repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if it is determined in S10 that the water current generator 2 is being floated, notification processing is performed (S12). The notification process is a process of notifying the surfacing water area R that the water current power generation device 2 will float to the surface of the water. That is, the control unit 61 outputs a notification instruction signal to the notification unit 64 . In response to this, the notification unit 64 transmits a notification signal S to the floating water area R, as shown in FIG.

A vessel 91 navigating the floating water area R receives the notification signal S. As a result, the ship 91 recognizes that the water current generator 2 will surface on the water surface of the floating water area R, and sails away from the floating water area R. Therefore, the collision of the ship 91 with the water current generator 2 can be avoided, and the safety of navigation of the ship 91 can be ensured. After completing the notification process of S12 in FIG. 4, the series of control processes in FIG. 4 ends.

As described above, according to the notification system 1 and the notification method according to the present embodiment, when the water current power generation device 2 rises to the surface of the water, it is notified to the surfacing water area R that the water current power generation device 2 will rise to the water surface. do. As a result, it is possible to inform ships and the like navigating the water area R where the water current power generation device 2 has surfaced that the water current power generation device 2 has surfaced. Therefore, it is possible to avoid collision with the water current generator 2 .

According to the notification system 1 and the notification method according to the present embodiment, when the water current generator 2 rises to the surface of the water, the land facility 6 transmits a notification signal. Therefore, it is possible to reliably notify the floating water area R that the water current generator 2 has surfaced. For example, when a notification signal is transmitted from the water current generator 2, it is difficult to transmit the notification signal to a vessel or the like in the floating water area R because radio waves have a large transmission attenuation. On the other hand, by transmitting a notification signal from the land facility 6, it is possible to reliably notify the vessel or the like in the floating water area R that the water current generator 2 has surfaced.

As described above, each embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to each embodiment described above. The present invention can be embodied in various modifications without departing from the gist of the claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the water current power generation device 2 rises to the water surface, the floating water area R is notified that the water current power generation device 2 will rise to the water surface. Floating of the water current generator 2 may be delayed during navigation. For example, based on the signal received by the AIS at the land facility 6, it is determined whether or not the ship 91 exists in the floating water area R. If there is a possibility, a floating adjustment instruction signal is output to the water flow generator 2 . Upon receiving this signal, the water current generator 2 slows down the ascent speed. Thereby, the collision between the water current generator 2 and the ship 91 can be avoided more reliably.

Also, when the ship 91 is navigating the floating water area R, the floating position of the water current generator 2 may be changed. For example, based on the signal received by the AIS at the land facility 6, it is determined whether or not the ship 91 exists in the floating water area R. If there is a possibility, a floating position change instruction signal is output to the water current generator 2 . Upon receiving this signal, the water current generator 2 adjusts the rotational state of the turbine 23 to change the floating position. Collision between the water current generator 2 and the ship 91 can be avoided more reliably.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the floating body 20 in which the left and right power generation pods 21 are connected by the beams 22 is used as the water current power generation device 2, but the floating body 20 is not limited to such a configuration. Absent. For example, the floating body may be provided with a central pod between two power generation pods 21 on the left and right, or may be configured with one power generation pod 21 . Further, it may be provided with three or more power generation pods 21 .

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the mooring rope 3 is connected to the power generation pod 21 , but the mooring rope 3 may be connected to a portion of the floating body 20 other than the power generation pod 21 . For example, the mooring ropes 3 may be connected to beams 22 provided between the left and right power generation pods 21 . Even in this case, effects similar to those of the notification system and notification method according to the above-described embodiments can be obtained.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the water current power generation device 2 is installed in the sea has been described, but the water current power generation device according to the present invention may also be installed in water such as rivers and lakes. Even in this case, if power generation by water flow is possible, the same effect as the notification system 1 and the notification method according to each embodiment described above can be obtained.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the underwater equipment is the water current power generation device 2 has been described, but the underwater equipment may be equipment other than the water current power generation device 2 . Even in this case, effects similar to those of the notification system 1 and the notification method according to the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

1 Notification system 2 Water current generator (underwater equipment)
3 Mooring rope 4 Anchor 5 Cable 6 Land facility 20 Floating body 21 Power generation pod 22 Beam 23 Turbine 24 Control unit 25 Communication unit 26 Buoyancy adjustment unit 27 Power reception unit 28 Generator 61 Control unit (levitation information acquisition unit)
62 Communication unit 63 Power receiving unit 64 Notification unit 91 Ship FW Water flow R Floating water area S Notification signal

Claims (3)

A notification system for notifying that an underwater device placed underwater has surfaced to the surface of the water,
a surfacing information acquisition unit that acquires information on surfacing of the underwater device to the water surface;
a notification unit that notifies a floating water area that the underwater device will surface on the basis of the information acquired by the surfacing information acquisition unit ;
The notification system , wherein the levitation information acquisition unit and the notification unit are provided in a facility installed on land . The underwater equipment is a power generation device that is placed underwater and generates power using a water flow,
The notification system according to claim 1 . A notification method for notifying that an underwater device placed underwater has surfaced to the surface of the water,
a surfacing information acquiring step of acquiring information on surfacing of the underwater device to the surface of the water by a surfacing information acquiring unit provided in a facility installed on land ;
a reporting step in which a reporting unit provided in a facility installed on land notifies a surfacing water area that the underwater device will rise to the surface based on the information acquired in the surfacing information acquiring step;
Notification methods, including

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