JPH0130434B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention emits sound waves into water, receives echoes from underwater objects, and processes the received signals to calculate the direction and distance of the echoes using CRT (Cathode Ray) technology.
The present invention relates to a sonar display device that displays images on a sonar tube, generates audible signals from received signals, and searches for underwater objects using both video and audible signals.

Various methods are used for image display in sonar equipment, but a typical example is PPI.
Regarding the (Plan Position Indicator) method, the first
This will be explained using diagrams and the problems will be clarified.

In Figure 1, the center of the image is the position of the sonar device itself, and the N signal at the top of the figure indicates the azimuth 0°, or north. 1 is the luminance signal of the echo sound, the angle Φ from the N direction to the signal indicates the azimuth of the target, and the distance R from the center to the signal indicates the distance from the sonar to the central object. The arrow 2 is the azimuth reference for the sonar device, and in a ship's sonar, it usually takes the direction of the bow of the ship. The angle of this azimuth reference with respect to the north direction, that is, the ship's bow azimuth, is detected by a gyroscope, etc., and the bow azimuth signal is input to the sonar. The sonar uses this signal to correct the azimuth angle, that is, to display the true azimuth with north pointing directly upwards as shown in FIG. 3 is a cursor, and its position on the image can be freely moved to any position by the operator operating a mechanism prepared in the sonar. By aligning them, it is possible to accurately measure the direction and distance of the target. Further, this cursor selects the output of one directional beam corresponding to the azimuth of the cursor from among a large number of directional beams arranged on the circumference, and sends this signal output to the listening circuit. In Figure 1, the radial dotted line 4 (not actually displayed on the image) indicates the boundary of each directional beam. By indicating that there is a target in the directional beam and placing the cursor 3 on the target image, the output of this third directional beam is output as an audible signal.

Even if the ship's course changes, as mentioned above, the video direction is corrected by the ship's heading angle signal, and the audio signal is automatically switched to the directional beam corresponding to the direction specified by the cursor and output. Therefore, the operator does not need to perform any special operations while keeping the cursor on the target.

In the sonar that displays the above images,
If the echo sound is strong, the echo signal will be clearly displayed on the video as shown in Figure 1, and its position can be measured accurately.

On the other hand, weak echoes from distant objects appear unclear or difficult to discern on the video. However, the auditory senses of trained operators have the ability to identify even such weak reverberating sounds, and reverberant signals that are difficult to identify on video can still be identified solely by hearing. be done.

When hearing such weak echo sound signals, conventional sonar devices do not display the azimuth range of the directional beam selected with the cursor, so Whether it is appropriate to continue listening to the output,
For example, even if it is possible to hear an object moving at high speed with the current cursor orientation, the target will enter the adjacent directional beam in the next moment, and if the current cursor orientation remains unchanged, the signal will not be heard. This causes the operator to feel anxious about losing sight of the object.

Furthermore, at the time when the signal could no longer be heard, the operator had set the cursor in the wrong direction.
It was impossible to determine whether the object had been lost, or because the signal was so weak even though the cursor settings were correct, the operator concentrated on his hearing and tried to find it by trial and error. The direction of the cursor must be manipulated, which requires a lot of effort.

Therefore, the present invention displays the audible azimuth range of the directional beam selected by the cursor on the image so that the operator can recognize it. The present invention provides a sonar device that reduces the

The present invention displays a two-dimensional image of the direction and distance of an underwater object target, and also uses a cursor direction signal to select one of a large number of directional beams to create an audible signal. A sonar azimuth reference signal and a cursor azimuth signal A circuit that uses these two signals to generate a signal in the audible azimuth range of the selected directional beam, and switches between the conventional signal and this signal and outputs it to the display. It is constructed by adding a switching circuit to

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, and 5 has a large number of directional beams arranged on the circumference, and the output of each directional beam is processed to create an image, and This is a conventional sonar device that selects one directional beam corresponding to the direction specified by the cursor from a large number of directional beams and uses this as an audio signal.Number 9 is its display, and number 10 is the video signal. be. Reference numeral 6 denotes a signal switcher that switches between a conventional video signal 10 and a mark video signal 13 that displays the boundary of the directional beam on a display. The switching timing of this signal switch is controlled by the timing signal 14 of the timing signal generating circuit number 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mark images 17 and 18 are bar-shaped displays extending from the periphery to the center of the circular display, and the timing generation circuit 8 switches the signal switch 6 during this display period in order to display the mark images. and gives a mark video signal to the display 9. At this time, the time to display the mark image is extremely short (for example, 1 μsec) because the display is extremely simple.
The addition of this display has only a slight effect on the sonar image display.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a mark video signal generation circuit, which inputs a cursor direction signal 11 and a magnetic azimuth signal 12 (in the case of a ship, a ship's heading angle signal) from the conventional sonar device 5, and generates a mark video signal. The contents of the mark video signal generation circuit 7 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In Figure 3, similar to Figure 1, N
The symbol indicates the azimuth 0°, or north, and 15 is the azimuth reference of the sonar device, the azimuth angle Φ _T being given by the magnetic azimuth signal 12 of FIG. 16 is a cursor, and the azimuth angle Φ _C of the cursor is the angle similarly given by the cursor azimuth signal 11 in FIG. Symbol B in FIG. 3 is the azimuth range in which one directional beam can be received (heard), and if the number of directional beams of the sonar device is N, then B=360°/N (degrees). In the example of FIG. 3, since N=8, B
= 45°. Reference numerals 17 and 18 in FIG. 3 are mark images of the present invention, and the angle from the cursor 16 to the mark image 17 is α as shown. This α is determined by the following relational expression using Φ _T , Φ _C and B described above.

First, (Φ _C −Φ _T )/Bn≦{(Φ _C −Φ _T )/B+
1}, then α=Φ _T +nB
α is calculated from −Φ _C.

As a result of the above, the azimuth angle of the 17 mark images (Φ _C +
α) is determined, and the azimuth angle of the mark image 18 is (Φ _C
+α−B). mark video 17,
The azimuth angle of 18, ie, the azimuth angle of the directional beam selected by the cursor, is determined, and the mark video signal 13 shown in FIG. 2 is generated from this calculation result.

As explained above, the present invention is configured by adding a mark video signal generation circuit, a signal switch, and a timing signal generation circuit to a conventional sonar device, and generates an audible sound signal selected by a cursor on a sonar image. By displaying the audible azimuth range of the corresponding directional beam as a symbol and notifying the operator, the sonar operation is facilitated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows an example of a conventional sonar display.
A diagram showing a PPI image, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of the present invention,
Figure 3 shows the PPI shown for reference in explaining the present invention.
It is a relationship diagram of images. 1... Luminance signal of echo sound, 2... Direction reference of sonar device, 3... Cursor, 4... Boundary of each directional beam, 5... Conventional sonar device, 6...
Signal switcher, 7... Mark signal generation circuit, 8...
Timing signal generation circuit, 9...Display device, 10...
...Video signal, 11...Cursor direction signal, 12...
...Magnetic azimuth signal (head azimuth signal), 13... Mark video signal, 14... Timing signal, 15...
...Direction reference of sonar device, 16...Cursor,
17, 18...Mark video.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Having a large number of directional beams arranged on the circumference, signal processing the output of each directional beam, and using the magnetic azimuth signal of the directional beam,
In a sonar device that produces an image displaying the true direction and also selects one directional beam from among these many directional beams to produce an audible signal, the magnetic direction signal is selected based on the magnetic direction signal and the cursor direction signal. and a circuit for generating an audible azimuth range signal of the directional beam, a switch for switching between the audible signal and the audible azimuth range signal, and a display for displaying the output of the switch. sonar display device.