JPS62182900A - Image apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an imaging device for ships used to collect information on other objects for the purpose of preventing ship collisions and the like.

(Prior art) Radar equipment is important for ships to monitor other ships and obstacles, but the type and other identification of targets captured by this radar equipment can be done by directly identifying the target. There is no way to identify it other than visually.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, for safe navigation, the most important thing is to avoid collisions with other targets, but for this purpose, it is important to know the type of target detected by the radar (is it an island or a ship, etc.), and whether it is a ship or not? Collisions can be avoided if the type and direction of the fly can be determined.
This will allow you to do it more reliably. However, currently this is not possible, and visibility is poor due to fog even during the day.
It is impossible to see visually, especially in the dark.

The present invention aims to solve such problems.In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an image that can clearly capture an image of a distant target regardless of whether it is foggy or day or night. An image sensor using an infrared imager equipped with a telephoto lens that captures infrared Pi111 and outputs it as a video signal, and an ultra-high sensitivity imager equipped with a telephoto lens that captures an image under weak natural light and outputs it as a video signal, and a radar. The crew designates a target as soon as it is visible from among the captured targets, or the collision is calculated based on the radar information of other vessels approaching the course based on the ship's own navigation information. A device that outputs data such as the direction and distance of a target that has been determined to be of high risk.
It is composed of a collision prevention device, a control means for directing the image sensor in a set direction, and a display device for displaying a video signal output from the image sensor and data output from the automatic collision prevention device.

[For production]

The device of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration is capable of handling the azimuth, distance, etc. of a designated target output from the automatic collision prevention device or a target determined to be highly dangerous as a result of collision calculation performed by the automatic collision prevention device. Display the data on the display device. The operator uses this display to match the information indicated by the data and sets the direction in which the image sensor should be directed. Then, by virtue of the control means, the image sensor tracks the orientation in accordance with the display data set by the operator. Then, the image sensor captures the target or highly dangerous target and outputs a video signal of the target. The video signal of the target object is sent to a display device and displayed there. The image sensor consists of an infrared image device with a telephoto lens that captures infrared images, and an ultra-sensitive image device with a telephoto lens that captures images under weak natural light. In such cases, an image of the target object can be captured and displayed using an infrared imager system, or even an ultra-high sensitivity imager on a moonlit night. In other words, it has the functions of both an active image sensor and a passive image sensor. Therefore, a clear image of the target object can be obtained regardless of whether it is frosty or day or night, and this makes it possible to understand the type of target object and its movement, making it possible to more reliably avoid collisions. This will ensure safe navigation.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of the present apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a system conceptual diagram showing the components of the R unit.

In the figure, 10 is Automatic Collision Prevention 5iAI (ARPA)
This automatic collision prevention system @10 is equipped with a radar antenna 11.
, a radar transceiver 12, and an ARPA indicator 13.

The automatic collision prevention system @ 10 has navigation information such as its own planned course and speed inputted in advance, and the radar transceiver 12 captures a target and displays this on the ARPA indicator 13. Then, the crew manually specifies the target that they wish to visually recognize from among the captured targets displayed on the ARPA indicator 13, or automatically monitors the movement of the vessel approaching the course based on the navigation information, As a result of collision calculations based on this monitoring, targets that are determined to have a high risk of collision are tracked, and data such as their direction and distance are output.

20 is a control device, 30 is an image sensor, 40 is a horizontal stabilizer, and 50 is a gyro compass.

The horizontal stability Vt position 40 is for keeping the image sensor 30 horizontal at all times, and the horizontal position 9339 detects the horizontal position, detects the horizontal position and detects the amount of roll/pitch of the ship, A roll/pitch servo controller 38 corrects the pitch amount to obtain the control amount necessary to keep the horizontal stabilizing platform 37 horizontal, and is operated by the control output of this roll/pitch servo controller 38 to keep the horizontal stabilizing platform 37 horizontal. It consists of a hydraulic drive system ff137a.

The gyro compass 50 is used to obtain the direction of the ship.

The image sensor 30 includes a power supply device 31, an infrared laser beam oscillator 32 that receives power from the power supply device 31 and emits an infrared laser beam, and a target that receives the infrared laser beam emitted from the infrared laser beam generator 32. It consists of an infrared reflective telephoto optical system 33 and a reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system 34, which capture reflected signals from the infrared rays.

The infrared reflective telephoto optical system 33 is composed of an objective telephoto lens and an infrared camera head, and captures the image of the target irradiated with the infrared pulsed laser beam from the infrared laser beam oscillator 32 to convert it into a video signal. The reflective ultra-high-sensitivity telephoto optical system 34 is composed of an objective telephoto lens and an ultra-sensitivity camera head, and captures images of targets illuminated by natural light such as daytime, moonlit nights, and starry skies, and converts them into video signals. Each of the optical systems 33 and 34 includes a turret-type interchangeable lens mechanism that is remotely controlled by the magnification controller 22 of the control wJ device 20 in order to change the telephoto magnification. Further, the image sensor 30 has a configuration in which a scanning table 36 is further provided on a rotating table 35 installed on a horizontal stabilizing table 37, and an infrared laser beam oscillator 32 is installed on the scanning table 36. is installed outside the horizontal stabilizer 37. As a result, the infrared laser beam oscillator 32
It has a structure that allows it to turn/fly independently on top of. Further, as an imaging unit which is the eye of this system, an infrared ray anti-telephoto optical system 33 and a reflective ultra-high-sensitivity telephoto optical system 34 are fixed on a rotating table 35. The optical axes of these two optical systems are kept parallel, and when the azimuth of the rotating table 35 is 0 degrees,
It faces towards the horizon towards the bow of the ship.

The control device 20 receives a video signal of a target captured by an image sensor 30 and displays it as a video on the screen of a monitor device 25, which is an image display means using, for example, a CRT (cathode ray tube). output to a video information processing device. This control device 20 has two functions: a sensor control function to ensure that the target object is captured by the image sensor 30, and a video processing function to process the signal received by the sensor, display it on the monitor device 25, and output it to the outside at the same time. It consists of

Among these, the sensor control Akebono controls the setting and control of the magnification of the telephoto lens attached to the camera head, and controls the direction of the camera in the set direction. In order to display the target target, the telephoto lens magnification is adjusted according to the distance of the target, and the target direction is controlled to always be captured according to changes in the target target direction due to the movement and oscillation of the own ship. .

The sensor control function is performed by the X scan setting means 28a.
1 scan controller 28, Y scan setting means 28
b, direction setting means 29a1 swing servo controller 29
More realized.

Among these, the turning servo controller 29 uses a set angle outputted from the azimuth setting means 29a to rotate the swivel table 35 on the horizontal stabilizing table 37 in order to orient the image sensor 30 to the angle set by the azimuth setting means 29a. The azimuth signal from the gyro compass 50 is compared with the signal from the gyro compass 50, and the difference signal is output as a control output for the swivel base 35. Further, the turning servo controller 29 forms a feedback loop so as to correctly point to the set direction even when the ship oscillates in the bow direction. In addition, the scan controller 28 controls the infrared laser beam emitted from the infrared laser oscillator 32 fixed on the scan table 36 in the vertical and horizontal directions (X-Y) in order to capture the target object. By operating the X scan setting means 28a for setting the X scan amount and the Y scan setting means 28b for setting the Y scan amount,
This is to set each amplitude angle. Further, the magnification controller 22 is used to remotely control turret-type interchangeable lenses (for example, four lenses) to which a camera head is attached in order to select an appropriate telephoto magnification depending on the distance to the target.

In addition, the video processing function is a function that allows you to select between two types of cameras (infrared camera system and 9 reflection type ultra-high sensitivity camera system), enlarge/reduce the images captured by each camera, display still images, etc., and control them. Amplifiers 21a, 21b, camera switching means 21, frame memory circuit 23, string pulling circuit 24, monitor device 25, enlargement/reduction means 25a, video A/D:
] converter 26 and I10 interface 27.

Of these, the control amplifier 21a is an amplifier that amplifies the video signal captured by the infrared reflective telephoto optical system, and the control amplifier 21b is an amplifier that amplifies the video signal captured by the reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system. , and amplify the image signals that are projected by the respective optical systems and converted into electrical signals. The camera switching means 21 is for selecting the outputs of these two amplifiers 21a and 21b, and the frame memory circuit 23 is for storing images sent through the camera switching means 21.

This frame memory circuit 23 can stabilize and freeze the screen. The sweep circuit 24 reads the image data stored in the frame memory circuit 23 in accordance with the sweep of the monitor device 25, provides it as a video signal, and displays it as an image. Enlarging/reducing means 25a
enlarges the size of the target displayed on the monitor device 25/1
i! This enlargement/reduction means 25 is for small operations.
You can arbitrarily adjust the size of the displayed target by operating a. The video A/D converter 26 is for obtaining an external output, and is for digitally converting the output signals of the control amplifiers 21a and 21b. Also, the I10 interface 27 sends out this digital conversion output to the outside! Kome no Chino.

Next, the operation of this device having the above configuration will be explained.

Self! which is one of the components of this device! ! The IJ collision prevention device 10 includes a radar antenna 11, a radar transmission/reception signal 12, and an ARP.
The automatic collision prevention system 10 is configured with an ARPA indicator 13, to which navigation information such as its own planned course and speed is input in advance. 13. And A
Either manually specify the target that the crew member wants to see from among the captured targets displayed on the RPA indicator 13, or automatically monitor the movement of the vessel approaching the course that is included in the navigation information above. As a result of collision calculations based on monitoring, targets that are determined to have a high risk of collision are tracked and data such as their direction and distance are output. This data is displayed on the monitor device 25 of the 11!11 device 20.

On the other hand, in order to obtain a visible image, this device has an image sensor 30 equipped with two types of cameras, an infrared reflective telephoto optical system 33 and a reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system 34, and a horizontal stabilizer W140.
It is held on a horizontal stabilizer 37 which is always kept in a horizontal state.

The horizontal stabilizer 40 is used to keep the image sensor 30 horizontal at all times.The horizontal stabilizer 40 detects the horizontal level using a horizontal instrument 39, and based on this, the roll/pitch servo controller 38 detects the ship's roll/pitch position. Then, the control amount necessary to keep the horizontal stabilizer 37 horizontal is obtained by correcting this rotation/pitch amount. The control output of this O-ru/pitch servo controller 38 controls the hydraulically driven VT position 37a to keep the horizontal stabilizer 37 horizontal. Therefore, the image sensor 30 is always stabilized horizontally even if the ship is shaking.

Further, the infrared laser beam oscillator 32 of the image sensor 30 is mounted on a rotating table 35 installed on a horizontal stable table 37.
Furthermore, a scan table 36 is provided and installed on the scan table 36, so that the infrared laser beam emitter 32 can independently rotate/swing on the swivel base 35. In addition, the infrared reflective telephoto optical system 33 and the reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system 34, which serve as the imaging section that is the eye of this system, are fixed on a rotating table 35, and the optical axes of these two optical systems are They are kept parallel, and when the azimuth of the swivel base 35 is 0 degrees, they face the horizontal line in the bow direction.

The image sensor 30 held on the swivel table 35 on the horizontal stabilizing table 37 emits infrared laser light from an infrared laser beam oscillator 32 that receives power from a power supply device 31, and an object that receives this infrared laser beam. Sign.

The reflected signal is captured by an infrared reflective telephoto optical system 33. Infrared rays can pass through fog and even in dark nights when it is impossible to obtain an optical image using natural light, and can obtain a reflected image, so even when an optical image cannot be obtained using natural light, it is possible to see the surrounding situation and scenery. You can see it. Further, the reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system 34 captures the surrounding scenery and situation using natural light. The infrared reflection telephoto optical system 33 is composed of an objective telephoto lens and an infrared camera head, and captures the target image irradiated with the infrared pulse laser beam from the infrared laser beam emitter 32 and converts it into a video signal. . The reflective ultra-high-sensitivity telephoto optical system 34 is composed of an objective telephoto lens and an ultra-high-sensitivity camera head, and captures images of targets illuminated by natural light, such as daytime, moonlit nights, and starry skies, and converts them into video signals. . For each optical system 33 and 34, the magnification controller 22 of the control device 20
It is equipped with a turret-type interchangeable lens mechanism that can be operated at rapid intervals, allowing the telephoto magnification to be changed and images to be captured at the desired magnification.

A video signal of the target captured by the image sensor 30 is sent to the control device 20, displayed as a video on the screen of the monitor device a25, and output to a separately provided video information processing device. The control device 20 has two functions: a sensor control function to ensure that the target object is captured by the image sensor 30, and a video processing function to process the signal received by the sensor, display it on the monitor device 25, and output it to the outside at the same time. Of these, the sensor control function allows
It is possible to set and control the magnification of the telephoto lens attached to the camera head, and to control the direction of the camera in a set direction. Therefore, using this function, the operator can display the specified captured target on the monitor 8 or 25.
Set the telephoto lens magnification according to the distance of the captured target. In addition, with the sensor control function, the image sensor 3
The swivel table 35 on which the 0 is mounted is controlled so as to always capture the direction of the target object in accordance with the fluctuations in the direction of the target object due to the movement and oscillation of the own ship. Therefore, an image of the captured target can always be captured.

In other words, when the operator operates the azimuth setting means 29a to set the azimuth angle in order to orient the image sensor 30 to the azimuth angle to be monitored, the rotation servo, which is a component for realizing the sensor control function, is activated. The controller 29 compares the azimuth signal from the gyro compass 50 with reference to the setting angle signal outputted from the azimuth setting means 29a, obtains a difference signal, and, with respect to this difference signal,
A feedback signal valve is corrected by a feedback loop formed to correctly point to the set azimuth even when the ship sways in the bow direction, and then this is amplified and output as a control output. The direction of the swivel table 35 is controlled by this output,
It functions to always orient the image sensor 30 to the set angle from the orientation setting means 29a.

Furthermore, in order to capture the target object, the operator appropriately sets the X-scan setting means 28a for setting the X-scan amount and the Y-scan setting means 28b for setting the Y-scan amount. As a result, the scan controller 28, which sets the amplitude angles of each of The emitted infrared laser beam will be swung up, down, left and right (X-Y). Therefore, targets within this scanning range can always be captured.

In this way, the image sensor 30 always captures and limits the target object in the set area in the set direction. The image signals output from each optical system of the image sensor 30 are sent to the control device 20 and amplified by the control amplifiers 21a and 21b. Then, the video signal of the optical system selected by the camera switching means 21 for selecting an optical system is sent to the frame memory circuit 23 via the camera switching means 21 and stored therein. Then, the frame memory circuit 23 stabilizes and freezes the screen, and the image is sent to the monitor device 25 through the sweep circuit 24.

Then, an image of the target captured by the optical system is displayed on the monitor device 25. Since the control 1gi station 20 is provided with an enlargement/reduction means 25a, if the operator wishes to enlarge/reduce the screen, this enlargement/reduction means 2 is provided.
By operating 5a, the size of the target on the screen can be adjusted arbitrarily. In addition, the telephoto lens of the optical system is adjusted to have an appropriate magnification according to the distance to the target by operating the magnification controller 22 so that the image captured by the optical system becomes an appropriate image. Can be switched.

In addition, the monitor device 25 displays the image of the image sensor 30 displayed in this manner as well as momentary information about the captured target from the collision prevention device 10.

On the other hand, in order to obtain an external output, the control amplifier 21a
, 21b output signal is video A,/D converter 2
6, the data is digitally converted and sent to the outside via the I10 interface 27.

Thus, the present invention provides infrared f! An image sensor using an infrared imager with a telephoto lens that captures 2S and outputs it as a video signal, and an ultra-high sensitivity imager with a telephoto lens that captures images under weak natural light and outputs them as a video signal, and a radar-captured image. The crew can specify the target they want to see from among the targets they have seen, or the risk of collision can be calculated based on the radar information of other vessels approaching the course based on the departure navigation information. An automatic collision prevention device that outputs data such as the direction and distance of a target determined to be high, a control means for directing the image sensor in a set direction, and a video signal output from the image sensor and an automatic collision prevention device. The automatic collision prevention system is equipped with a display device that displays the data output by the collision prevention system, and the automatic collision prevention system is equipped with a display device that displays data output from the collision prevention system. The system outputs data such as the direction and distance of the target and displays it on the display device, and also tracks the image sensor in a direction that matches the display data set by the operator to set it as a target. This system is designed to capture the target object with a high degree of danger and display an image of the target object on a display device.

Therefore, based on the data from the collision prevention system, an image of the target object can be captured and displayed by an infrared imager system in the case of a dark night, or by an ultra-high-sensitivity imager system in the case of a moonlit night. I can do it. In other words, it has the functions of both an active image sensor and a passive image sensor. Therefore, a clear image of the target object can be obtained regardless of whether it is foggy or during daytime harvesting, and this makes it possible to understand the type of target object and its movement, making it possible to more reliably avoid collisions. This will ensure safe navigation.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope of the gist thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain clear images of targets such as ships with a high risk of collision with one's own ship, designated other ships, etc., regardless of whether fog occurs or whether it is day or night. This makes it possible to understand the type of target and its movements, making it possible to more reliably avoid collisions.
It is possible to provide an image device for a ship that has features such as being able to ensure safe navigation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a system block diagram of this device, and Figure 2 is its m
FIG. 2 is a system conceptual diagram showing an S configuration diagram. 10... Automatic collision prevention device, 20... Control device,
21...Camera switching means, 21a, 21b...Control amplifier, 22...Magnification controller, 23.
...Frame memory circuit, 24...Sweep circuit, 25.
...Monitor device, 25a...Enlargement/reduction means, 26
...A/D converter, 27...I10 interface, 28...scan controller, 28a...
X scan setting means, 28b... Y scan setting means, 29... Rotating servo controller [roller, 29a...
Orientation setting means, 30... Image sensor, 31...
Power supply device, 32... Infrared laser beam oscillator, 33...
・Infrared reflective telephoto optical system, 34... Reflective ultra-high sensitivity telephoto optical system, 37... Heian foot stand, 35... Swivel base, 3
6...Scan table, 50 river compass.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Captured by radar and an image sensor using an infrared imager equipped with a telephoto lens that captures infrared images and outputs them as video signals, and an ultra-high sensitivity imager equipped with a telephoto lens that captures images under weak natural light and outputs them as video signals. Specify the target that the crew wants to see from among the targets listed, or
Or the direction and distance of a target that is determined to have a high risk of collision as a result of a collision calculation based on the radar information of other ships approaching the course based on the own ship's navigation information. an automatic collision prevention device that outputs data such as, a control means for directing the image sensor in a set direction, and a display device that displays a video signal output from the image sensor and data output from the automatic collision prevention device. An image device.