KR101950424B1 - Verification method and apparatus of an underwater image sonar - Google Patents

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a verification system of an underwater image sonar and a managing method thereof. A verification system of an underwater image sonar according to an embodiment can quantitatively compare an output signal of a received signal simulator and an output signal of an image sensor or hardware, thereby an objective verification of an image sonar hardware is possible.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to an underwater image sensor,

The present invention relates to an underwater image sensor or verification system and a control method thereof.

An image sonar that operates in water is a device that periodically transmits an acoustic signal and then detects or identifies an object by imaging an acoustic signal reflected by the underwater object. Such image sonar is typically a side scan sonar, a synthetic aperture sonar, and an acoustic camera. The resolution is high to obtain a precise image, And it is being developed variously according to the purpose of the operation.

Since the underwater image sonar can acquire the shape of the object located in the water or the sea floor as an image, the utilization is increased and an image algorithm based on the ray theory is applied to acquire a high quality image have. However, it is still challenging to determine the degree of enhancement of the image obtained through the imaging device or to quantitatively verify the performance of some imaging algorithms or the overall image sensor.

The image sonar basically uses the sound waves. Since the sound waves have different characteristics depending on the sea area and season in which the equipment is operated, the images obtained in the real sea area are not guaranteed to have uniformity in quality. For example, the degree of penetration and scattering of sound waves is different, and the strength of the acquired image is different. Since the temperature and salinity vary with the season, the propagation path of the sound wave is not constant and the degree of distortion of the acquired image is different. In addition, due to the velocity of the background water in the background, depending on the conditions of the algae and the marine environment, the fluctuation of the image elements or the housing is inevitable, and blurring due to the shaking is accompanied. In addition, since it is commonly known that the basic characteristics of the environmental noise vary according to the sea area, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the same object varies from sea to sea. Because of this problem, most of the quality of the image is judged by the human rather than the automated verification device. In this case, it is difficult to secure the reliability of the judgment by the subjective judgment of the inspector. Therefore, And verifying the overall performance of the image sensor is very difficult in practice.

Therefore, only a part of the imaging algorithm of the image sonar is quantitatively verified in the acoustic tank in which the environmental characteristic is known, and only the test impossible due to the limited size of the acoustic tank acquires images in a very quiet sea environment under the sea state 1 After that, the performance was verified qualitatively. However, since the acoustic tank is physically limited in its size, there is a limitation of the transmission signal that can be used, and since it is a fresh water, the physical characteristics are different from those of the seawater environment operating at sea, exist.

[Prior Art Document Number]

Prior Art Document 1: Korean Patent No. 10-1131435

Prior Art Document 2: Korean Patent No. 10-1696089

Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to an image sensor or a reception signal simulator capable of simulating a sound sensor signal, hardware excluding a sound sensor in an image sensor (hereinafter referred to as image sensor or hardware), and an integrated control And to provide a system and a control method thereof for verifying a video signal or hardware using a video verification apparatus.

An underwater image and verification system according to an embodiment includes a received signal simulator for synthesizing a virtual image of a real sea environment and outputting an analog signal; A video signal or hardware for receiving an analog signal from the received signal simulation device and performing imaging processing; And an integrated control and image verification device for controlling the received signal simulator and the image sensor or hardware and for comparing the synthesized image output from the received signal simulator and the acquired image output from the image sensor or hardware, .

A control method of an underwater image sensor or verification system including a received signal simulator, a video signal or hardware, and an integrated control and image verification apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that in the received signal simulator, a virtual image of a real sea environment is synthesized, ; Receiving an analog signal from the received signal simulator in the image sensor or hardware and performing imaging processing; And a step of controlling the received signal simulator and the image sensor or hardware, and comparing the synthesized image output from the received signal simulator and the acquired image output from the image sensor or hardware to verify the underwater image sensor.

And a recording medium on which a program for causing the computer to execute the control method according to another embodiment is recorded.

An underwater image and verification system according to an embodiment of the present invention controls a received signal simulator that simulates a virtual image signal reflecting the marine environment characteristics of a real sea area, a received signal simulator, After combining the objects with the shape, size, shape and target intensity quantitatively with actual sea environment data using the integrated control and image verification device that performs the function of verifying and displaying the sonar image, In this paper, we propose a method to quantitatively verify the performance of a part of a video image or an imaging algorithm and an overall performance of a video image by using an image obtained in a real sea area, It is possible to solve the problem of quantitatively verifying only a part of the algorithm.

1 is a schematic diagram of an underwater imaging or verification system 1000 in accordance with one embodiment.
Fig. 2 shows an example of a database of objects quantitatively known in terms of size, shape, target intensity, and the like.
Fig. 3 shows an example of the execution of an image synthesizer that performs a function of synthesizing images.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an underwater image sensor or image verification system 1000 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Although the terms used in the present embodiments have been selected in consideration of the functions in the present embodiments and are capable of being widely used in general terms, they may vary depending on the intention or circumstance of a technician working in the art, the emergence of new technology . Also, in certain cases, there are arbitrarily selected terms, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description part of the embodiment. Therefore, the terms used in the embodiments should be defined based on the meaning of the terms, not on the names of simple terms, and on the contents of the embodiments throughout.

In the description of the embodiments, when a part is connected to another part, it includes not only a direct connection but also a case where the part is electrically connected with another part in between. In addition, when a part includes an element, it does not exclude other elements unless specifically stated otherwise, but may include other elements. Further, the term " part " described in the embodiments means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

It should be noted that the terms such as " comprising " or " including ", as used in these embodiments, should not be construed as necessarily including the various elements described in the specification or the various steps, The steps may not be included, or may be interpreted to include additional components or steps.

The following description of the embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention and should be construed as being within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The image and verification system and its control method according to an embodiment of the present invention can quantitatively compare the input values of the image or hardware, that is, the output signal of the received signal simulator and the output signal of the image or hardware, Objective verification is possible.

In the case of an acoustic sensor, independent verification can be performed using standardized means for verifying the performance of the acoustic sensor itself, such as transmit voltage response, receiving voltage characteristics, and impedance measurement , And the quantitative verification of the image or hardware except the acoustic sensor is possible by using the image sensor or the verification system according to the embodiment and the control method thereof.

1 is a schematic diagram of an underwater imaging or verification system 1000 in accordance with one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, an underwater image sensor or image verification system 1000 quantitatively verifies a part or an image or an overall performance of an imaging algorithm of an underwater image sensor.

The underwater image sensor / verification system 1000 includes a received signal simulation apparatus 100, an image sensor or hardware 200, and an integrated control and image verification apparatus 300. Embodiments may further include other components such as the underwater imaging or verification system 1000.

The received signal simulation apparatus 100 synthesizes a virtual image of a real marine environment and outputs an analog signal.

The received signal simulation apparatus 100 includes an environment data base 110, an object object database 120, an image synthesizer 130, a synthetic video image timing 140, and a digital-analog converter 150.

Although the environment data base 110 and the object data base 120 are shown as being included in the received signal simulation apparatus 100, the environment data base 110 and the object data base 120 may be databases of an external server (not shown). The environmental data base 110 establishes environmental data including seasonal, marine, and maritime conditions in the actual sea area. As shown in FIG. 2, the object-object database 120 constructs information about an object accurately quantitatively such as a tire, a drum, a spherical target, etc. in size, shape, target intensity, and the like.

The image synthesizer 130 performs a function of synthesizing images using the environment data base 110 and the object data base 120 as shown in FIG.

The synthesized image transition period 140 displays the synthesized image synthesized by the image synthesizer 130. Here, the composite image transition period 140 may be a display device, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light (OLED) display, or a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or an electronic paper display.

The digital-to-analog converter 150 outputs the composite image as an analog signal.

The image sensor or hardware 200 receives an analog signal from the received signal simulation apparatus 100 and performs imaging processing. The video scene or hardware 200 refers to a video scene or an apparatus that quantitatively verifies a part or an overall performance of an imaging algorithm.

The image sensor or hardware 200 includes an analog-to-digital converter 210, an image processor 220, and an acquisition image sensor 230.

The analog-to-digital converter 210 converts the analog signal output from the received signal simulation apparatus 100 into a digital signal.

The image processor 220 performs imaging processing using a digital signal.

The acquired image transition time 230 displays the acquired image subjected to the image processing in the image processor 220. Here, the acquired image transition time 230 may be a display device, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light (OLED) display, or a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or an electronic paper display.

 The integrated control and image verification apparatus 300 controls the received signal simulation apparatus 100 and the image or hardware 200 and outputs the combined image output from the received signal simulation apparatus 100 and the synthesized image output from the image or hardware 200 The acquired image is compared to verify the underwater image or hardware. The integrated control and image verification apparatus 300 adjusts a set value including at least one of a transmission frequency, a transmission signal type, a transmission signal length, a transmission period, an operation environment, and a target object to a reception signal simulation To the video synthesizer 130 of the apparatus 100 and to the video processor 220 of the video server or hardware 200. Further, the image processor 220 may selectively transmit additional control parameters due to the processing result information after the image processing, the operating environment, the imaging processing conditions, and the like to the image synthesizer 130 in the receiving signal simulation apparatus 100 .

The integrated control and image verification device 300 includes an integrated controller 310 and a video verifier 320.

The integrated controller 310 synchronizes and controls the received signal simulator 100 and the image sensor or hardware 200 simultaneously.

The image verifier 320 verifies whether or not the synthesized image output from the received signal simulator 100 is consistent with the bit value of the image obtained from the image sensor or the hardware 200. The image verifier 320 can quantitatively verify the overall performance of an image sensor, a hardware image, a video image, or an imaging algorithm included in the hardware.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an underwater image sensor or image verification system 1000 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step 400, an input variable is controlled in an integrated control and image verification apparatus. At this time, the step of controlling the input variables in the integrated control and image verification apparatus 300 may include a step of controlling the input variables according to the operation purpose and specifications of the image to be verified, (For example, operating speed, operating depth, depth of water, target searching distance, etc.) and set values of the object are input to the image synthesizer 130 of the received signal simulation apparatus 100 and the image processor 220 ).

In step 402, the received signal simulator synthesizes and displays an image. At this time, in the step of synthesizing and displaying images in the received signal simulation apparatus 100, data corresponding to the operation environment is loaded in the environment data base 110 using the set values transmitted in step 400, A synthesized image is generated in the image synthesizer 130 using an object accurately quantitatively determined in size, shape and target intensity in the object object database 120, and the generated image is selectively .

In step 404, the synthesized image is subjected to digital-to-analog conversion to transmit the signal to the outside, and the received analog signal is converted through an analog-to-digital converter. At this time, the step of converting the synthesized image by digital-analog conversion and transmitting the signal to the outside, and converting the transmitted analog signal through the analog-digital converter, 130 to the analog-to-digital converter 210 in the image sensor or the hardware 200 through a wired or wireless method using the digital-to-analog converter 150 to restore the synthesized image to a digital signal have.

In step 406, imaging is performed in the imaging device or hardware, and display and control parameters are transmitted to the received signal simulation device. In this case, the step of performing imaging in the image sensor or the hardware and transmitting the display and control parameters to the received signal simulator may include the steps of quantitatively verifying the reconstructed digital signal in the image sensor or hardware 200 by the image processor 220 Through the self-developed imaging algorithm, the image which can be recognized by the operator is reproduced and selectively displayed through the acquired image advance time 230. At the same time, it is also possible to selectively transmit additional control parameters due to changes in the processing result information after imaging, the operating environment, the imaging processing conditions, etc., to the image synthesizer 130 in the reception signal simulation apparatus 100 have.

In step 408, the image obtained in the image sensor or hardware and the image synthesized in the received signal simulator are transmitted to the integrated control and image verification device for verification. In this case, the step of transmitting and verifying the image obtained by the image sensor or the hardware and the image synthesized by the received signal simulation apparatus to the integrated control and image verification apparatus may be performed in the synthetic image transition period 140 in the received signal simulation apparatus 100 And transmits the obtained composite image to the image verifier 320 of the integrated control and image verification apparatus 300. The image verification unit 320 of the integrated control and image verification apparatus 300 transmits the obtained composite image to the image verification unit 320 of the integrated control and image verification apparatus 300, Quantitative difference comparisons allow quantitative verification of some or all of the imaging algorithms of the image sonar.

An underwater image and verification system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a received signal simulator that simulates a virtual image signal that reflects a marine environment characteristic of a real sea area, And an image control device that performs the function of verifying and displaying the image of the sonar, the object of which the size, shape and the target intensity are known quantitatively, is synthesized with the real environment data, , It is possible to quantitatively verify the performance of a part of an image and an imaging algorithm and an image sonar by using the image obtained in a real sea area by using an image sensor, We can solve the problem of quantitatively verifying only a part of the imaging algorithm.

One embodiment of the present invention may also be embodied in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium may include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

Claims (11)

A received signal simulator for synthesizing a virtual image of a real sea environment and outputting an analog signal;
A video signal or hardware for receiving an analog signal from the received signal simulation device and performing imaging processing; And
An integrated control and image verification device for controlling the received signal simulator and the image sensor or hardware and for comparing the synthesized image output from the received signal simulator and the acquired image output from the image sensor or hardware to verify an underwater image sensor, Including an underwater imaging or verification system. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the integrated control and image verification device comprises:
An integrated controller for synchronizing and simultaneously controlling the received signal simulator and the image sensor or hardware; And
And a video verifier for verifying whether or not the synthesized video and the obtained video are matched based on the difference between the bit values of the obtained video and the acquired video. The method according to claim 1,
The received signal simulation apparatus includes:
A real sea area environment data base constructed according to at least one of season, sea area, and sea condition, and an image synthesizer for synthesizing the virtual image using a database of at least one of size, shape, and target intensity;
A composite image display unit for displaying a composite image obtained by synthesizing the virtual image; And
And a digital-to-analog converter for outputting the composite image as an analog signal. The method of claim 3,
The video signal or hardware may comprise:
An analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog signal received from the received signal simulator into a digital signal;
A sonar image processor for performing the imaging process using the digital signal; And
And an acquired image display unit for displaying the acquired image subjected to the imaging processing. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the integrated control and image verification device comprises:
A set value including at least one of a transmission frequency, a transmission signal type, a transmission signal length, a transmission period, an operating environment, and an object is transmitted to the image synthesizer and the sonar image processor in accordance with an operation purpose and specifications of the image sonar Underwater image and verification system. A control method of an underwater image sensor or verification system including a received signal simulator, an image sensor, a hardware and an integrated control and image verification apparatus,
Synthesizing a virtual image of a real marine environment in the received signal simulation apparatus and outputting an analog signal;
Receiving an analog signal from the received signal simulator in the image sensor or hardware and performing imaging processing; And
And a step of controlling the received signal simulator and the image sensor or hardware to verify the underwater image sonar by comparing the synthesized image output from the received signal simulator and the acquired image output from the image sensor or hardware, A method of controlling a verification system. The method according to claim 6,
And controlling the input parameters to be input to the received signal simulation apparatus and the image signal or hardware in the integrated control and image verification apparatus. 8. The method of claim 7,
Further comprising the step of synthesizing a virtual image of a real sea environment on the basis of the input parameter in the received signal simulation apparatus and outputting an analog signal corresponding to the synthesized image, Way. 9. The method of claim 8,
Further comprising receiving the analog signal in the image sensor or hardware, performing imaging processing based on the input parameter, and transmitting a control variable according to the imaging processing result to the received signal simulation apparatus Control Method of Underwater Image and Verification System. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the verifying step comprises:
Wherein the verification is performed on the basis of the difference between the composite image and the bit value of the acquired image. A recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to any one of claims 6 to 10 is recorded.

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