JPS5941547B2 - Acoustic exploration method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an acoustic exploration method for exploring the size of a reflecting object in an arbitrary posture using acoustics.

Conventional acoustic survey methods, as seen in echo sounders,
A set of transducers emits sound waves in a certain direction, receives reflected waves from that direction, and determines the presence of a reflecting object from the intensity of the reflected waves.

However, with this type of acoustic exploration method, when the reflecting object is located perpendicular to the direction of incidence of the sound wave, the reflected wave intensity is approximately proportional to the shape of the object. When the sound wave is tilted to the direction of incidence, the reflected intensity of the sound wave in the incident direction is significantly reduced due to specular reflection.
There was a drawback that the reflected wave intensity was not proportional to the shape of the object.

This invention was made in view of the above points, and since the reflected wave intensity is obtained from the reflected wave that is incident on a reflecting object at right angles and reflected, it is possible to accurately determine the size of a reflecting object in any posture. The purpose is to provide an exploration method.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram, and numeral 1 in the figure is an oscillator that oscillates a sine wave.

The sine wave oscillated by this oscillator 1 is pulse-modulated by a pulse modulator 2.

After this pulse modulated wave is amplified by a power amplifier 3, it is supplied to a wave transmitter 4. The wave transmitter 4 emits a sound wave pulse when the pulse modulated wave is supplied.

Here, the sound wave pulse emitted from the transmitter 4 (transmitter 4
The transmitting beam width) is assumed to have a wide directivity width (beam width) as shown with reference numeral 6 in FIG.

This acoustic pulse is transmitted to the reflecting object 2 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
It is reflected at 0.

The reflected waves are received by each element 5□, 52, . . . , 5n of the receiver 5 and converted into an electrical signal.

Here, each element 5□, 5□...5n of the receiver 5 has a receiving beam with a narrow beam width, as shown with reference numerals 7□, 72...In in FIG. .

The outputs of the elements 5□ to 5n of the wave receiver 5 are amplified by the preamplifier 8 and the main amplifier 9, and then converted into digital signals by the A/D converter 10 and stored in the storage element 11, respectively.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a beam combining circuit, which controls the phase of the output of each element 51 to 5n of the wave receiver 5 stored in the storage element 11 to adjust the directivity main axis of the wave receiver 5. The transmitter 40 is sequentially directed in any direction within the directional width.

That is, the receiving beam as the receiver 5 scans the inside of the transmitting beam 6.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a coordinate calculation circuit, which calculates, for example, the position of a ship or barge fixed on the sea when the positions of the transducers 4 and 5 are moved as indicated by the dotted line 17 in FIG. Position information of the transducers 4 and 5 detected as the origin is input.

On the other hand, the sound wave transmitter is transmitted at regular intervals while the transducers 4 and 5 are moving, and the direction of the main axis of the directivity of the receiver 5 in FIG. A coordinate calculation circuit 13 calculates the three-dimensional reflection position of the sound wave on the reflecting object from the distance between the transducer and the reflecting object calculated from the arrival time and the position of the transducer.

A storage circuit 14 stores the magnitude of the reflected signal in a storage element corresponding to the position determined by the coordinate calculation circuit 13.

The transducer 4 has already been placed in the memory element corresponding to the same reflection position.
, 5 is stored, the already stored size is compared with the currently measured size, and the larger value is stored.

As described above, due to the wide directivity width of the transmitter 40, the sound wave pulse is incident at right angles to the reflecting object 20 in an arbitrary posture and is reflected, and the reflected wave (reference numeral 1 in FIG.
When the main directivity axis (received beam) of the receiver 50 is directed in the direction (shown with 8), the reflected wave 18 is received and reflected at the position where the reflecting object 20 is present. The wave intensity is memorized.

Therefore, the combination of the transmitter 4 and the receiver 5 is represented by a reflecting object 2 with reference numeral 16.17 in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The above-mentioned operation is repeated while moving in two directions on the plane.

Further, when the movement of the transmitter 4 and the receiver 5 is completed, the contents in the memory circuit 14 are displayed on a plane on a display 15 for vertical and horizontal sections, and this display allows the reflective object to be 2° Obtain the reflected wave intensity distribution proportional to the size of .

Therefore, according to such an acoustic exploration method, since the reflected wave intensity is obtained from the reflected wave 18 that is incident on the reflective object 20 at right angles and reflected, it is possible to accurately determine the size of the reflective object 20 in any orientation. obtain.

In the above embodiment, the transmission beam of the transmitter has a wide beam width, while the reception beam width of the receiver has a narrow beam width, and the inside of the transmission beam is scanned. The relationship between the beam and the received beam may be reversed.

Further, both the transmitting beam and the receiving beam may have narrow beam widths so that both beams scan in unison.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an acoustic exploration method that can accurately determine the size of a reflective object in any orientation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the acoustic exploration method according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the transducer moving method. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Oscillator, 2... Pulse modulator, 4... Transmitter, 5... Receiver, 6... Sound wave pulse (transmission beam), 7... Receiving beam, 10... A/D converter, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Memory element, 12... Beam combining circuit, 13.
...Coordinate calculation circuit, 14...Memory circuit, 15...Display device, 16.17...Movement direction, 18...Reflected wave,
20... Reflective object.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 The transmitting beam of the transmitter has a wide beam width, while the receiving beam of the receiver has a narrow beam width and scans within the above transmitting beam, or the relationship between the transmitting beam and the receiving beam is changed. In this way, the transmitter transmits sound pulses, while the receiver receives the reflected waves.
Moreover, this is done while moving a pair of transducers in two directions on a plane, and then the maximum value of the multiple reflection intensities from the same reflection position on the reflecting object is displayed on the plane. An acoustic exploration method characterized by detecting size.