KR102587548B1 - Retractable apparatus for observing underwater - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a retractable underwater observation device that allows observation in a closed state and allows observation of underwater plankton without being affected by water currents. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a retractable underwater observation device, which is for observing underwater, may comprise: a first body part which can be placed underwater; a second body part spaced apart from one side of the first body part and capable of providing an open/closed observation space between the first body part; and a first camera installed inside the first body part to photograph the observation space.

Description

{Retractable apparatus for observing underwater}

The present invention relates to an underwater observation device, and more specifically, to an open-and-closed underwater observation device that allows observation in a closed state and allows observation of underwater plankton without being affected by water currents.

Factors that have a significant impact on the aquatic ecosystem and water quality around fish farms include red and green tides and sudden inflow into hot or cold water zones.

Red tide and green tide are phenomena in which the color of water changes due to the abnormal mass reproduction of plankton, such as flagellates and algae. These red and green tide phenomena have a significant impact on the aquatic ecosystem and water quality, causing water decay, causing mass death of farmed fish and shellfish, and increasing water purification costs.

In addition, the sudden inflow of hot or cold water basins can cause an abnormal water temperature phenomenon in which the water temperature changes rapidly, which can have a significant impact on the growth and activity of fish and shellfish in the fish farm. In severe cases, it can cause shock death of fish and shellfish.

If we can predict the occurrence of factors that have a significant impact on the aquatic ecosystem and water quality in advance or observe and respond to them in the early stages of occurrence, we can minimize the resulting damage and recovery costs.

Red tide and green tide phenomena are caused by a rapid increase in the number of underwater plankton, and the inflow of warm or cold water zones is accompanied by changes in the density or population of plankton due to changes in the concentration of nutrients.

Therefore, in order to predict or initially observe the occurrence of these factors, methods of observing the type, density, motility, water color, fish species, and underwater environment of underwater plankton can be used.

Conventionally, an underwater observation device equipped with an observation camera has been used to observe underwater plankton, fish species, and the underwater environment. However, since conventional underwater observation devices directly observe the underwater environment by exposing a camera underwater, they have been greatly affected by water currents.

In particular, plankton floating in the water is small and can be greatly shaken by minute water currents, so it can very easily deviate from the camera's focal length. Therefore, conventional underwater observation devices have had difficulty observing and photographing floating plankton in an environment where water currents exist.

In other words, conventional underwater observation devices are not suitable for observing surface plankton where the scale of the water current is large or the direction changes rapidly, and have been mainly used to observe plankton in the deep area where the water current is little or does not change.

Therefore, there has been an urgent need for the development of an underwater observation device that can observe plankton floating in the water without being affected by the water current, even in the surface layer where the scale and direction of the water current changes rapidly.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1569281

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide an open and closed underwater observation device that can observe plankton floating in water without being affected by water currents.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an open and closed underwater observation device that can observe the underwater environment, such as underwater plankton, fish species, and search.

The problems of the present invention are not limited to the problems mentioned above, and other problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is an underwater observation device for observing underwater, comprising: a first body portion that can be disposed in water; a second body part spaced apart from one side of the first body part and capable of providing an open/closed observation space between the first body part; And an open/closed underwater observation device is provided, including a first camera installed inside the first body to photograph the observation space.

At this time, the first body portion and the second body portion are arranged coaxially so as to be fixedly supported on a frame, and the first body portion or the second body portion may be provided with an opening and closing member capable of opening and closing the observation space. .

At this time, the opening and closing member may be rotatably installed on the frame to cover and seal or open the observation space.

At this time, the opening and closing member is composed of a plurality of members, and each can be rotated to open and close the observation space by a driving motor.

At this time, a lens may be disposed inside the first body between the first camera and the observation space so that the first camera can operate as a microscope.

At this time, the second body may be provided with a lighting module that provides a light source to the observation space.

At this time, a second camera for observing the external environment may be installed in the second body portion.

At this time, it may further include buoy equipment that is connected to the first body and the second body from the water with a physical wired cable, and supplies power and transmits and receives electrical communication signals through the cable.

At this time, the buoy equipment includes: a buoy main body; A battery installed inside the buoy body to supply power; A transceiver installed on the top of the buoy body to transmit and receive observed information data; and a control unit for controlling the operation of the first and second cameras and the opening and closing member, transmission and reception of information data, and power.

At this time, the buoy equipment includes a plurality of solar panels for charging batteries, and the solar panels can be installed to adjust the inclination angle over time.

According to the above configuration, the open and close underwater observation device according to the embodiment of the present invention forms an observation space that is not affected by water currents because the observation space can be opened and closed depending on the situation, and photographs underwater plankton in the observation space. Including the first camera, plankton floating in water can be observed.

In addition, the underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first camera for photographing underwater plankton in an observation space and a second camera for photographing the underwater environment in front of the first body, to search for underwater plankton and fish species. You can observe the underwater environment together.

In addition, the underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit converting photos or images taken by the first and second cameras into data, and a transmitting and receiving unit capable of wirelessly transmitting the received data to an observation station on the ground. Information about photos or videos taken by the first and second cameras can be transmitted in real time.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the observation space of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention in an open state.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the observation space of the open and closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.
Figure 3 is a partially cut-away perspective view of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a microscope assembly of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a second camera, which is a component of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of buoy equipment, which is a component of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of buoy equipment, which is a component of an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 is an image of underwater plankton captured by an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. The present invention may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In order to clearly explain the present invention, parts not related to the description have been omitted in the drawings, and identical or similar components are given the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

The words and terms used in this specification and claims are not to be construed as limited in their usual or dictionary meanings, but according to the principle that the inventor can define terms and concepts in order to explain his or her invention in the best way. It must be interpreted with meaning and concepts consistent with technical ideas.

Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configuration shown in the drawings correspond to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and do not represent the entire technical idea of the present invention, so the configuration may be replaced by various alternatives at the time of filing of the present invention. There may be equivalents and variations.

In this specification, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to describe the existence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to describe the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

A component being “in front,” “rear,” “above,” or “below” another component means that it is in direct contact with the other component, unless there are special circumstances. This includes not only those placed at the “bottom” but also cases where another component is placed in the middle. In addition, the fact that a component is "connected" to another component includes not only being directly connected to each other, but also indirectly connected to each other, unless there are special circumstances.

Hereinafter, an open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, the open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first body 40, a second body 40a, a frame 10, and a first camera. (41), it may include a second camera 20, a lens 42, a lighting module 30, and a buoy equipment 50.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the first body portion 40 is a part that can be placed underwater.

At this time, the first camera 41 and the lens 42 may be mounted on the first body portion 40, and may be protected by a waterproof case 14 to protect the internal components.

At this time, the first camera 41 and lens 42 of the first body 40 and the lighting module 30 of the second body 40a form a microscope camera assembly. The microscope camera assembly is a camera device for enlarged photography of plankton floating in water, and may be composed of a camera module, which is the first camera 41, a lens 42, and a lighting module 30. Here, a camera with high resolution and large sensor size is used for precise observation of small objects. In the case of the lens 42, a telecentric lens is used, which can achieve high precision and makes the size of the subject independent of the distance or position of the subject. The magnification of the lens can be changed depending on the target size of the plankton you want to observe.

In addition, the lighting module 30 uses dark field illumination technology in the underwater environment. In the underwater environment, there are many floating objects, so if you place a light next to the camera lens, light is scattered from the floating objects, making it difficult to observe images. The camera 41 of this embodiment places the ring light 30 on the opposite side of the camera lens 42 and collects light scattered from plankton, floating objects, etc. with different refractive indices, thereby enabling clear observation of moving plankton by contrasting it with the background.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the second body portion 40a is spaced apart from one side of the first body portion 40 and forms an open/closed observation space (A) between the second body portion 40 and the first body portion 40. can be provided.

At this time, the second body portion 40a may be provided with a lighting module 30 that provides a light source to the observation space A.

At this time, a second camera 20 for observing the external environment may be installed in the second body portion 40a. Therefore, the lighting module 30 and the second camera 20 can be arranged in that order from the observation space A. To configure the microscope camera assembly, the lighting module 30 is first installed close to the observation space (A).

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the frame 10 fixes the first body 40 and the second body 40a so that they are arranged and supported coaxially.

At this time, the frame 10, the first body 40, or the second body 40a may be provided with an opening and closing member 70 capable of opening and closing the observation space A.

At this time, the opening and closing member 70 may be rotatably installed on the frame 10 to cover and seal the observation space A or open it.

At this time, there are a plurality of opening and closing members 70, and each can be rotated to open and close the observation space A by the driving motor 60.

At this time, the open and closed water observation device (1), which is a plankton observation device, can be manufactured to be waterproof with several long cylinder housings so that it can operate within a water depth of 2 - 10 m, and each assembly connection is made of a movable rubber ring (P type), A fixed rubber ring (type G) is located to protect the internal system from water ingress. For example, the movable rubber ring is used to waterproof the lens, and the fixed rubber ring is used to waterproof the cylinder and cap. Of course, these specific waterproofing forms or methods can be changed in the design state.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first camera 41 is installed inside the first body 40, can capture the observation space A, and forms a microscope camera assembly.

At this time, as described above, inside the first body portion 40, a lens is provided between the first camera 41 and the observation space A so that the first camera 41 can operate as a microscope. 42) can be placed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the second camera 20 may be installed on the second body 40a to observe the external environment.

At this time, in addition to precise observation of plankton, in order to analyze the correlation with other environmental variables such as type, motility, and search of fish according to plankton, the open/closed water observation device (1) uses a second camera (20), which is a front observation camera. It is mounted. As a camera module, a fisheye lens camera can be used to observe a wide range. In addition to a single wide-angle camera, an omni-directional camera capable of shooting in all directions or multiple wide-angle cameras can be placed at various angles depending on the purpose.

At this time, in the case of an underwater environment, less refraction of light occurs on the camera lens surface compared to on land, so the camera's angle of view is reduced. In the present invention, referring to FIG. 5, in order to solve this problem, an acrylic dome or glass dome can be attached to the front of the second camera 20 to enable observation of a wide area.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the lens 42 is installed between the first camera 41 and the observation space (A) and acts as a microscope lens to observe fine plankton in the observation space.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, the buoy equipment 50 is connected from the water to the first body 40 and the second body 40a with a physical wired cable 58, and the cable 58 ), power supply and electrical communication signal transmission and reception can be achieved.

The buoy equipment 50 may include a buoy main body 51, a battery 80, a transceiver 56, and a control unit.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the buoy body 51 is made of a material that can provide buoyancy, and is actually installed to support other parts on the water. The electrical equipment is waterproof and can be installed inside the buoy body. For example, the battery 80 and the control unit may be installed inside the waterproof buoy body 51.

The battery 80 is installed inside the buoy body 51 to supply power.

At this time, the elements that require power supply in the open/close underwater observation device (1) are the first camera (41), which is a plankton observation camera, the second camera (20), which is a front observation camera, the lighting module (30), and the opening and closing member (70). This is the driving motor 60 of . If a separate cylinder for the battery is made for this purpose, it is inefficient in terms of space utilization. Therefore, in the present invention, the battery 80 for supplying power to the open and closed underwater observation device 1 is designed to be supplied from the sea buoy equipment 50. This design is not only space-efficient, but also enables self-generation by attaching a solar panel 52 to the buoy equipment 50. In addition, since the buoy equipment 50 is located at sea, it can have various uses, such as transmitting the acquired data wirelessly.

At this time, the buoy equipment 50 includes a plurality of solar panels 52 for charging the battery 80, and the solar panels 52 may be installed so that the inclination angle can be adjusted depending on time. . The solar power module utilizes solar energy available at sea to enable continuous use of the system. Four solar panels 52 are attached to the east, west, south, and south to enable charging at all times regardless of the position of the sun and even if the system rotates due to ocean currents. Additionally, in order to optimize solar charging efficiency, a servo motor can be attached to each solar panel to adjust the angle of the panel depending on the latitude at which it is installed and the altitude of the sun. Since the average daily sunshine time is 6.98 hours, the power output from solar panels is very variable depending on the situation, about 5W, and considering the efficiency of the solar charging circuit of 75%, the average amount of power that can be generated through solar charging is The amount of power is expected to be 6.98 h/day x 5 W x 0.75 = 26.2 Wh/day.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the transceiver 56 is installed on the top of the buoy main body 56 and can transmit and receive observed information data. Since it is supported by the buoy main body 51 via the vertical bar 57, it is possible to transmit and receive wireless signals at a high position. The power required for transmitting and receiving such data may be obtained from the battery 80.

At this time, the LTE module, as the transceiver 56, receives data generated by the control unit of the device 1 by wire and transmits it to a server on land through wireless communication. According to the LTE coverage map, it is possible to catch an LTE signal about 4 km from the coast, and as a result of using the actual LTE module, it was found that FHD images were stably transmitted in real time using LTE communication at an open sea fish farm 5.6 km from the coast. Confirmed. Additionally, LTE speeds support up to 150 Mbps, making it possible to transmit images from microscope cameras and optical cameras in real time.

At this time, the self-generating and image transmitting device is attached to the buoy equipment 50 and floats on the water, but there is a possibility of flooding due to waves or rain. For this purpose, the modules are protected by a waterproof housing. When using a metallic waterproof housing such as aluminum, since the LTE module is inside the housing, radio waves may be interfered with or shielded, making communication unstable. Therefore, ABS or PVC with low conductivity can be used as the material for the waterproof housing.

The control unit can control the operation of the first and second cameras 41 and 20 and the opening and closing member 70, transmission and reception of information data, and power.

At this time, the control unit controls all operations throughout the device 1, and if power is also obtained from the battery 80, the battery 80 can also be included in the management target. The control unit will be controlled by a pre-programmed control program for each case, and can be controlled from a control center on land by transmitting not only the observed data but also the status data of the device 1 through the transceiver 56. .

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a perspective view of the observation space A of the open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in an open state and a closed state, respectively. Buoy equipment 50 is located on the water, and observation equipment is located underwater. Of course, the underwater observation equipment is fixed in a coaxial arrangement by the frame 10. In the drawing, a second camera 20 is located at the front to observe the front. A lighting module 30 is disposed behind the second camera 20, and a first body portion 40 is disposed behind the lighting module 30 via an observation space A. The observation space (A) has one end rotatably installed on each drive motor (60) so that it can be opened and closed by four opening and closing members (70). Figure 1 shows a state in which all opening and closing members 70 are open, and in that state, all opening and closing members 70 are rotated to close the observation space A. In normal times, the observation space (A) is opened to allow plankton at that location to naturally enter the observation space (A), and during observation, the observation space (A) is closed and in that state, the lighting module 30, 1 The camera 41 is operated to perform microscope camera observation. The observed results will be sent to the control unit. Of course, image data will be transmitted to the control unit along the wired cable 58. At the same time, the second camera 20 is also operated to observe various external environments in front of the device 1, and the results can also be transmitted to the control unit. At this time, a slip ring may be installed at the connection point between the wired cable 58 for power and communication and the underwater device. A slip ring may refer to an electrical/mechanical component used to transmit power and signals without twisting the wire in a system that requires rotation while transmitting power or signals. Therefore, twisting due to connection of the wired cable 58 can be prevented.

Referring to Figure 3, a partially cut away perspective view of an open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. First, looking at the enlarged portion, the drive motor is fixedly installed on the frame 10, and the opening and closing member 70 is rotatably assembled on the rotation axis of the drive motor 60. Therefore, as the drive motor 60 rotates, the opening and closing member 70 rotates between the open and closed positions to open and close the observation space A. At this time, since the frame 10 is made up of four long frame members, four opening and closing members 70 can be installed and synchronized to rotate simultaneously. The second camera 20 is assembled in a waterproof state by a waterproof case 12 on the second body portion 40a from the front, and the lighting module 30 is assembled in a waterproof state by a waterproof case 13 at the rear thereof. It is assembled. The first body 40 includes a lens 42 and a first camera 41 assembled in a waterproof case 14. Each of the waterproof cases 12, 13, and 14 is arranged and fixed coaxially by a frame member and moves together.

Referring to FIG. 4, a conceptual configuration diagram of a microscope assembly of an open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. In the first body 40, a lens 42 and a first camera 41 are installed inside a waterproof case 14, and a lighting module is installed in the second body 40a at a distance equal to the observation space A. (30) is installed. Therefore, as described above, the camera 41 can acquire an image of plankton in the observation space A through the lens 42 based on the light source of the lighting module 30.

Referring to FIG. 5, a perspective view of the second camera 20, which is a component of the open/closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. It is installed so that the external environment and ecology in front of the device 1 can be observed, and as described above, a dome-shaped cover 20a is installed in the front.

Referring to Figure 6, a perspective view of the buoy equipment 50, which is a component of the open and closed underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, is shown. As described above, various electrical equipment and batteries 80 can be installed inside the buoy main body 51, and a transceiver 56 including a communication antenna is installed on the upper part of the vertical stand 57 constituting the frame to connect the server and It is designed to communicate. Solar panels 52 are installed on all sides of the vertical stand 57, so that solar power generation can be smoothly achieved no matter where the sun is. Each solar panel 52 may be installed so that its angle can be adjusted by a server motor. As another example, here, the wire 91 may be used to adjust the angle of all sun panels 52. That is, referring to FIG. 7, the solar light is installed to be connected to the horizontal bar 54 with a hinge (52a) so that it can rotate at an angle, and a torsion spring (53) is installed on the hinge (52a), and the solar light A wire 91 is fixed to one end 52b of the optical panel. The other end of the wire 91 is wound around a pulley 92 inside the vertical stand 57, and the pulley 92 is driven by a motor 93. Therefore, when the motor 93 is driven in one direction, the wire 91 is wound and the angle of the solar panel 52 changes. Conversely, when the motor 93 is driven in the opposite direction, the wire 91 is unwound and the solar panel 52 ) is returned to its angle by the force of the torsion spring 53. Of course, the angles of other solar panels 52 can also be synchronously controlled.

Referring to FIG. 8, an image of underwater plankton captured by an open/closed underwater observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As can be seen from the image of plankton, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve the purpose of observation by obtaining an accurate image of plankton floating in the water without being affected by water currents even in the rapidly changing surface layer.

In this way, the open underwater observation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention can quickly recognize the occurrence of red tide, green tide, and cold water zone by identifying trends in the density and type of plankton after installing the system in various places in the sea.

In addition, by using an open/close system using a waterproof servo motor, the influence of ocean currents in the observation area can be minimized and clear images can be obtained.

In addition, the opening and closing system using a waterproof servo motor simplifies the structure during development, providing the advantage of efficiency.

In addition, correlations can be identified by photographing not only plankton but also environmental variables such as fish species and search.

In addition, power supply can be provided through a buoy on the water rather than underwater, thereby increasing spatial efficiency underwater.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented in this specification, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can add or change components within the scope of the same spirit. , deletion, addition, etc., other embodiments can be easily proposed, but this will also be said to fall within the scope of the present invention.

1: Open/close underwater observation device
10: frame 20: second camera
30: lighting module 40: first body portion
40a: second body portion 41: first camera
42: Lens 50: Buoy equipment
51: Buoy body 52: Solar panel
56: Transceiver 60: Drive motor
70: Opening and closing member 80: Battery
A: Observation space

Claims (10)

An underwater observation device for observing underwater,
a first body portion that can be placed underwater;
a second body part spaced apart from one side of the first body part and capable of providing an open/closed observation space between the first body part;
An open/closed underwater observation device installed inside the first body and including a first camera that photographs the observation space. According to claim 1,
The first body portion and the second body portion are arranged coaxially so as to be fixedly supported on a frame, and the first body portion or the second body portion is provided with an opening and closing member capable of opening and closing the observation space, an open/closed underwater observation. Device. According to clause 2,
The opening and closing member is an open and closed underwater observation device rotatably installed on the frame so as to cover and seal the observation space or open it. According to clause 3,
The open and close underwater observation device includes a plurality of opening and closing members, each of which is rotated by a drive motor to open and close the observation space. According to claim 1,
An open/closed underwater observation device in which a lens is disposed inside the first body between the first camera and the observation space so that the first camera can operate as a microscope. According to claim 1,
An open/closed underwater observation device wherein the second body portion is provided with a lighting module that provides a light source to the observation space. According to clause 6,
An open/closed underwater observation device in which a second camera for observing the external environment is installed in the second body. According to claim 1,
An open and closed underwater observation device that is connected from the water to the first body and the second body with a physical wired cable, and further includes a buoy device that supplies power and transmits and receives electrical communication signals through the cable. According to clause 8,
The buoy equipment is,
Buoy body;
A battery installed inside the buoy body to supply power;
A transceiver installed on the top of the buoy body to transmit and receive observed information data; and
A control unit for controlling the operation of the first and second cameras and the opening and closing member, transmission and reception of information data, and power supply. An open and closed underwater observation device comprising a. According to clause 9,
The buoy equipment includes a plurality of solar panels for charging batteries, and the solar panels are installed to adjust the inclination angle according to time. An open and closed underwater observation device.

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