JPH01109281A - Underwater detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To observe an object in detail by reading the whole or majority of detection information which includes the depth of the object and is within a specified depth display width range out of a detection memory, and generating display data. CONSTITUTION:A ultrasonic wave outputted by a transmitter 8 is reflected by the object in water, received by a receiver 9, and stored in the detection memory 6 through a receiving amplifier group 3, a phase synthesizing circuit 4, and an A/D converter 5. Then the detection signal stored in the memory 6 is converted in terms of coordinate by a coordinate converter 28 and transferred to and stored in a display memory 13 as an orthogonal coordinate memory. Then data read out of the memory 13 is converted by a D/A converter 15 into an analog signal, which is outputted and displayed on a display device 16. Thus, the object to be detected can be observed in detail.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an underwater detection device that detects schools of fish, the condition of the water bottom, etc. using an ultrasonic transducer.

Conventional technology Conventionally, so-called underwater detection devices, so-called sonar, have been used to detect underwater conditions by detecting a fan-shaped area underwater using an ultrasonic transducer attached to the bottom of a ship. For example, as shown in Figure 1, an ultrasonic transducer attached to the bottom of a ship outputs a fan-shaped ultrasonic pulse perpendicular to the bow direction of the own ship, and the waves reflected from the water and the bottom are filtered out. By receiving ultrasonic wave receivers with directivity in each direction of the shape, underwater conditions can be detected in two dimensions.
This is displayed.

(C1 Problem to be solved by the invention Since such conventional underwater detection devices normally display the depth from the bottom of the ship to the bottom of the water, it is difficult to detect only the vicinity of the bottom of the water in detail, for example. Some devices have a function to enlarge and display an area at any depth, but the enlarged range is, for example, five steps (50, 100, 200, 40) in the horizontal and vertical directions.
0,800m), and it was necessary to manually set the desired depth for enlarged display. Therefore, it has been difficult to detect in detail objects to be detected whose depths change, such as the bottom of the water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an underwater detection device in which the object to be detected is always displayed on the screen and displayed at an appropriate magnification, thereby facilitating the detection of the object to be detected as the depth changes. There is.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The underwater detection device of the present invention includes an ultrasonic transducer for detecting underwater, a detection memory for storing detection information of the ultrasonic transducer, and a detection memory for storing display data. An underwater detection device equipped with a display memory for determining the depth of the detected object, comprising: a depth display width specifying means for specifying a display width in the depth direction; a detected object depth measuring means for measuring the depth of the detected object; and a detected object depth measuring means for measuring the depth of the detected object. and display data generation means for reading out all or most of the detection information in the specified depth display width range from the detection memory and writing it into the display memory.

(81 Effect) The underwater detection device of the present invention includes an ultrasonic transducer for detecting underwater, a detection memory for storing detection information of the ultrasonic transducer, and a display memory for storing display data, The depth display width designating means determines a predetermined or input display width in the depth direction, and the detected object depth measuring means measures the depth of the detected object.The zero display data generating means determines the depth of the detected object. Detection information including the depth of the detected object and within the specified depth display width range is read from the detection memory and written into the display memory.

As a result, all or most of the detection information in the specified depth display width range, including the detected object, is written to the display memory, and the detected object is displayed on the display within the specified depth display width. Always displayed.

(,f) Outline functions of the embodiment> Figure 1 is a diagram showing the display range of an underwater detection device that is an embodiment of the present invention. Outputting fan-shaped ultrasonic pulses in the left-right direction of the ship (perpendicular to the direction of travel), and receiving reflected waves from the water and the bottom using ultrasonic receivers that have directivity in each fan-shaped direction. The underwater condition within the fan shape is displayed. Here, the water bottom is the object to be detected, and the water bottom is always displayed on the display screen. In the figure, A is the display range, which is enlarged in the vertical (depth) direction according to the set value Dp, but in the horizontal direction, the entire horizontal direction of the fan shape is always displayed on the display screen. Measure the water depth yd immediately below, set the vertical display range so that the depth β・Dp from the bottom of the display screen A is equal to yd, and also set the range that can display all of the water depth y4 + β・Dp in the horizontal direction. Automatically set as the horizontal display range.Also α+β
-1. For example, if this is displayed on a square screen, the scale ratios in the horizontal direction and depth direction will naturally be different.
With the above display method, the vertical range including the bottom of the water, which is the object to be detected, can always be displayed on the screen, making it easier to observe the object to be detected.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an actual display example of the display range A shown in FIG. This display screen consists of N pixels in both the horizontal and vertical directions.As shown in the figure, the point directly below the ship is 0, and a scale representing the horizontal distance to the left and right is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and on the right side of the screen. Display a scale representing depth.

Principle> Figure 3 shows the positional relationship between the ultrasonic transducer, the object to be detected, and the display range. When the bow direction of the ship is 2, the horizontal direction is x1, and the depth direction is y, the wave transmitting and receiving plane of the ultrasonic transducer is at the coordinate origin. (To be exact, the transmitting and receiving wave surface is at the bottom of the ship, so y = o, but in the following explanation, the depth of the bottom of the ship from the water surface will be ignored.) The transmitting and receiving wave beams exist on the x-y plane with the y-axis as the center. And its width is 2θ. It is.

Now, consider an ultrasonic wave that reaches point S on the xy plane from the transducer and returns to the receiver.

Let the position of point S on the x-y plane be (x, y), and the position expressed in polar coordinates be (r, θ). In this embodiment, the intensity of the reflected wave is stored in a detection memory indicated by (R, θ) coordinates, that is, polar coordinates, and then read out and stored in a display memory indicated by (X, Y) coordinates, that is, orthogonal coordinates.

Below (r, θ), (R, θ), (x, y) and (
The relationship between X and Y) is shown.

Relationship between (R, θ) and (r, θ) R=r/Δr...(1) θ=θ/Δθ
(2) Here, Δr and Δθ are sampling intervals in the distance direction and angular direction when storing reflected waves in the detection memory, and are constants.

The relationship between (r, θ) and (x, y) r=r (X'
)×y/yPl...(3) θ=θ(X')
...(4) Here, y, 4 is the maximum value of y (display amount deep), and X' is the point S where V=VH intersects when the straight line connecting the origin and point S is extended. ' is the value of X. Therefore,
H). (See Figure 3) Relationship between (x, y) and (X, Y) x = 2 (ya + βD, ) tanθo X X
/N-(y4+βD, )tanθ. ...(5)
)' = Dp x Y/ N + y a-αD,
(6) Here, N is the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions of the display screen and is a constant.

From equations (1) to (4), R=r (x')/Δrxy/yH e=θ(x')/Δθ Therefore, r(x')/Δr and θ(x')/Δθ are R(
x'), θ(X') and R=R(x')Xy/ym...(7)θ=
θ (X') ・ ・ ・(8
)x'=xxypeng/y ・ ・ ・(
9) Using the above relationship, orthogonal coordinate data (X.

By determining the polar coordinates (R, θ) corresponding to Y), reading out the contents of the detection memory, and writing them into the display memory, an image in the range indicated by A in FIG. 3 is written into the display memory.

Specific Configuration> FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the ultrasonic transducer of an underwater detection device that is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Showing beam. As shown in Figure 9, there are five transmitters in the bow direction,
A number of receivers are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the bow direction.

As described later, all five transducers of the transmitter are driven simultaneously to transmit ultrasonic pulses, so a fan-shaped transmission beam is formed that spreads at a certain angle in a plane perpendicular to the bow direction. The transfer device forms a transfer beam that sequentially and selectively receives reflected waves from each direction in a fan shape by combining the voltages generated by the two vibrators with a predetermined phase. 10th
The figure shows a transmitting and receiving beam obtained by combining such a transmitting beam and a receiving beam. Here, the transmitting beam is φ5X
2et, and the receiving beam can be expressed as φmX2eo.

2θ is the transmitting beam angle in the direction perpendicular to the bow direction (.

2θ1〉2θ. ), and φ is the receiving beam angle (φ,〉φ,) in the bow direction. The delivery beam is 2θ. Divided into M directions, M pieces of φ,×Δθ. The small beam is constructed inferiorly. That is, 26o=MXΔθ. and
As shown in FIG. 10, these delivery beams are lined up from port to starboard from O to (M-1).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an underwater detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The overall general operation is as follows.

The ultrasonic waves output from the transmitter 8 are reflected by underwater objects and received by the delivery device 9. The detection signal generated by the transfer device 9 passes through the receiving amplifier group 3, the phase synthesis circuit 4, and the A/D converter 5, and is stored in the detection memory 6, which is a polar coordinate memory. The detection signal stored in the detection memory 6 undergoes coordinate conversion by the coordinate converter 28, and is transferred to and stored in the display memory 13, which is a rectangular coordinate memory. display memory i3
The detection signal stored in is displayed on the display 16.The operation of each part will be explained in detail below.

The transmitter 1 sends an ultrasonic pulse signal with a predetermined output, pulse width, and frequency to the three transducers of the transmitter 8 using the transmission pulse output from the Y counter 31, and emits the ultrasonic pulse into the water. . At this time, each vibrator is simultaneously excited to generate the above-mentioned transmitted beam. The detection signal reflected from the underwater object is received by the transducers of the delivery device 9 and then amplified by the reception amplifier group 3.

The receiving amplifier group 3 is composed of the same number of receiving amplifiers as the transducers of the transfer device 9, and corrects the attenuation due to the distance of the detection signal according to the timing of the inputted transmission pulse.
The 0-phase synthesis circuit 4 in which the G circuit is configured is a 0-phase synthesis circuit that synthesizes the phases of the detection signals, creates M delivery beams, and detects and outputs the detection signal in the direction indicated by the count value of the angle counter 24. Methods include methods that use a delay line, methods that multiply sine waves with different phases, and methods that use FFT (Fast Fourier Transform).The detected detection signal is converted into a digital code by the A/D converter 5. It is converted and stored in the detection memory 6. The address of the detection memory 6 is specified by an angle counter 24 and a distance counter 25.

The angle counter 24 counts the clock pulses of the clock pulse source 22 inputted through the gate 23. The period of the clock pulse is equal to the time it takes for a sound wave to travel a distance of 617M. The distance counter 25 counts carry pulses output from the angle counter 24. At this time, flip-flop 27 is set, gate 23 is conductive, and gate 33 is non-conductive.

The phase synthesis circuit 4 selects the directivity direction of the transfer beam based on the value of the angle counter 24, and transmits the reflected waves from the detected object located at the same distance in time series. Therefore, the time series data sent from the phase synthesis circuit 4 is represented by polar coordinate data of angle data and distance data, and the time series detection signal is sent to the address of the detection memory 6 specified by the angle data and distance data. Stored sequentially.

FIG. 12(A) is a conceptual diagram showing the memory space of the detection memory 6, and FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the address of the detection memory and the underwater position.

As shown in FIG. 12(A), for example, addresses along the vertical axis correspond to delivery beams in each direction, and addresses along the horizontal axis correspond to distances to the detection object in each delivery beam.

Therefore, the vertical axis of the detection memory corresponds to angle in polar coordinates, and the horizontal axis corresponds to distance.

The detection memory 6 stores detection signals up to the maximum R. Therefore, the capacity of the detection memory 6 is M×R,×α, where δ is the number of output bits of the A/D converter 5. Further, the angle counter 24 is an M-ary counter, and the distance counter 25 is an R-octal counter. Note that the stored data written in the detection memory 6 where RX≧R (see FIG. 12(A)) is read out when an address is designated by the coordinate converter 28.

Writing to the detection memory 6 and subsequent output are performed by the Q of the flip-flop 27.
As shown in FIG. 8, the detection signal is stored during the Tw period from the transmission pulse a to the signal acquisition completion pulse b, and from the signal acquisition completion pulse b to the next transmission pulse a. Signal reading is performed during the TR period up to. That is, during the T8 period, the Q output of the flip-flop 27 is maintained at H'' level, thereby switching the detection memory 6 to the write mode, and the address data of the angle counter 24 and the distance counter 25 are transferred to the detection memory via the changeover switch 7. 6. Then the distance counter 25
When the count value of becomes R, □, the comparison circuit 26
A take-in completion pulse is output from , the flip-flop 27 is reset, and the angle counter 24 and distance counter 25 are also reset. When the flip-flop 27 is reset and the Q output changes to "L" level to enter the TI period, the detection memory 6 switches to the read mode and at the same time the changeover switch 7 performs a switching operation, and the coordinate converter 2
Memory data is read out using address data No. 8. At this time, the gate 33 becomes conductive and the gate 23 becomes non-conductive. Here, the X counter 30 and the X counter 31 are
Specify the position on the Y coordinate, and the coordinate converter 28 converts the X,
When converting a position on the Y coordinate to a position on polar coordinates, the value to be displayed is based on the value specified by the depth display width specifying means 40, the value y6 measured by the detected object depth measuring means 41, etc. Coordinate transformation of only the range.

The stored data read from the detection memory 6 is output to the display memory 13 and stored therein. The address in the display memory 13 is specified by the values of the X counter 30 and the X counter 31. Counters 30 and 31 are both N-ary counters, and X counter 31 counts carry pulses of X counter 30. Therefore, display memory 13
In the memory space of , image data of orthogonal coordinates represented by NXN is stored as shown in FIG. 10). Its capacity is NXNXδ.

The X counter 30 counts pulses led from the frequency dividing circuit 34 via the gate circuit 33. The gate circuit 33 is conductive while the data stored in the detection memory 6 is being read based on the Q output of the flip-flop 27, and the frequency dividing circuit 34 is turned on.
A pulse train of is given to the X counter. In addition, X counter 3
When the count value of 1 becomes 0 from N-1, the X counter 31
The transmission pulse is generated from As a result, the flip-flop 27 is set and the Tw period begins. When the flip-flop 27 is sent, its Q output causes the gate 23 to
becomes conductive and the clock pulse from the clock pulse source 22 is applied to the angle counter 24. As shown in FIG. The output data is converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 15 and then output to the display 16 for display. Pixel scanning of the display device 16 is performed by a horizontal scanning circuit 17 and a vertical scanning circuit 18. The horizontal scanning circuit 17 and the vertical scanning circuit 18 each have a horizontal scanning counter 37 . Pixel scanning is performed in accordance with the value of the vertical scanning counter 38.

Note that writing and reading of the display memory 13 are switched by a clock pulse [36].
For example, one half of the clock pulse cycle is switched to successive mode, and the other half cycle is switched to write mode. In conjunction with this switching, the changeover switch 14 performs a switching operation, and the X counter 30. Write address data by X counter 31 and horizontal scanning counter 37 . Read address data by the vertical scanning counter 38 is switched and guided. Further, the pulse train of the clock pulse source 36 is frequency-divided by the frequency dividing circuit 34 and guided to the X counter 30, thereby smoothly switching the display memory 13 between the write mode and the read mode.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of means 41 for determining the water depth y4 of the detected object shown in FIG. In the figure, the comparison circuit 51 is a circuit for storing the reflected signal directly below the ship in the latch circuit 50, and the value of the angle counter 24 is (M-
When the value becomes 1)/2, a match pulse is output, and the output value of the A/D converter 5 shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the latch circuit 50. Here M is an odd number and (M-1)/2
The second beam points directly below the ship (see Figure 10).
.

The reflection intensity stored in the latch circuit 50 is compared with a predetermined value vO in a comparison circuit 52. If the reflection intensity is greater than Vo, the comparison circuit 52 regards the reflecting object as the target object to be detected, outputs a pulse to the latch circuit 53, and sends the launch circuit 53 the value RW of the distance counter 25 (see FIG. 4) at that time. latches. At this time, the pulse output from the comparator circuit 52 sets the flip-flop 56,
Switch 55 is turned off. The flip-flop 56 and the switch 55 are circuits for preventing the latch circuit 53 from operating at a deeper depth once the value of the distance counter 25 is stored in the latch circuit 53. In other words, the launch circuit 53 operates only on the surface or upper end of the object to be detected.

The value stored in the latch circuit 53 is multiplied by Δr in the multiplier 54 to obtain y4 (see equation (1)). Note that the flip-flop 56 is reset by the transmission pulse and the switch 55 is turned on.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the coordinate converter 28 shown in FIG. Here, the ROMI stores the values of A and B for all the values of yd+βD, respectively. A and B
is A=2(y4+βD,)janθO/NB−Cya+
βD,)tanθ.

It is.

The ROM 2 stores the values of C for all the pastes. Here, C is C=D,/N.

The ROM 3 stores D and E values for all y values. Here, E is D −'/ / 7 M E = y, /y.

Furthermore, ROM4 stores R(x') for all values of X'.
, θ(X') are stored. Here R(x') = x''+y,'' /Δre (x'
)=tea-tan-'(x'/)'N))/Δθ.

A-E+R(x'), e(x') shown above
), X, Y, ya, D, , α, β values and (5)
2 ~ From formula (9), R2 is determined by the block diagram shown in Figure 5.
I'm looking for O.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for displaying scales on the display screen as shown in FIG. 2. In the figure, scale memory 6
0 has a memory space shown in FIG. 12(B) together with the display memory 13, and its capacity is NXN pinto. When the coincidence pulse d from the comparator circuit 26 (see FIG. 4), that is, the signal read completion pulse, is input as an interrupt signal to the CPU 62, the CPU 62 outputs y4 and y4 through the input device 65 according to the program in the ROM 64.

are read, calculated, and written to the scale memory 60. The scales and numbers written to the scale memory 60 are read out in the same way as the display memory 13, and are sent to the color conversion circuit 39 and D/A shown in FIG. The signal is displayed through the converter 15 in a color different from that of the detection signal, giving priority to the detection signal.

As described above, a display as shown in FIG. 2 is performed. Here, the object to be detected is the water bottom, D, = 100 m)'d = 375 m α = 0.75 β = 0.25 θ. =45°.

In the example, the bottom of the water was used as the object to be detected, but in the sixth example,
If the set value VoO value shown in the figure is set as the reflection intensity of the target fish school, the target fish school can always be displayed within the set depth range on the display screen. In addition, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the horizontal direction of the beam at the depth (ya+βD,) is entirely within the display screen, but the beam at the depth (y4) and the depth (ya−αD,) It is also possible to set the horizontal direction to be within the display screen.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, when reading the underwater detection information imported into the detection memory and generating display data, the depth display that includes the depth of the detected object and also specifies the specified depth. Since the configuration is configured to read all or most of the detection information in the width range from the detection memory to generate display data, the detected object can always be displayed on the display screen, and the magnification of the display screen can be adjusted in the depth direction. Since the display width can be set by specifying the display width, it becomes possible to observe the object to be detected in detail.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of an underwater detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows the positional relationship between an ultrasonic transducer, an object to be detected, a display range, etc. Fig. 2 is a display example of the device, Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining the principle of coordinate transformation when reading out the contents of the detection memory and writing to the display memory, and Fig. 4 is an embodiment of the invention. The overall block diagram of the underwater detection device, Figure 5 is a block diagram of the coordinate converter in Figure 4, Figure 6 is a block diagram for determining the depth of the detected object, and Figure 7 shows the scale on the screen. FIG. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the timing of the main parts of the block diagram shown in Fig. 4, Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic transducer installed on the bottom of the ship, and Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. Figure 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the beam, Figure 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the correspondence between the address of the detection memory and the underwater position, and Figures 12 (A) and (B) are the memory space 9 of the detection memory. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory space. 6-Detection memory, 8-Ultrasonic transmitter, 9-Ultrasonic receiver, 13-Display memory, 6.13.28.3,0.31-Display data generation means, 40-Depth display width specification Means, 41 (50-56) - Means for measuring the depth of a detected object.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an underwater detection device equipped with an ultrasonic transducer that detects underwater, a detection memory that stores detection information of this ultrasonic transducer, and a display memory that stores display data, the display width in the depth direction a depth display width designating means for specifying the depth of the detected object; a detected object depth measuring means for measuring the depth of the detected object; and detection information including the measured depth of the detected object and within the specified depth display width range. An underwater detection device characterized by comprising: display data generation means for reading all or most of the data from the detection memory and writing it to the display memory.