KR20220133020A - Autonomous marine waste collecton system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autonomous marine waste collection system that saves the marine ecosystem and simplifies the work. According to the present invention, the autonomous marine waste collection system comprises: a collection device for obtaining image information from a camera and collecting floating marine waste based on the image information; and a loading ship located in the ocean and loading the marine waste collected from the collection device and transporting it to the land.

Description

Marine waste autonomous navigation system {AUTONOMOUS MARINE WASTE COLLECTON SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a marine waste autonomous navigation collection system, and more specifically, autonomous navigation of marine waste that uses image processing to collect marine wastes in autonomous navigation, load and transport them in the ocean, thereby saving the marine ecosystem and simplifying operations. It is about the collection system.

Marine waste means any waste that enters the sea. Depending on their composition, these marine wastes are deposited into the sea or float on the surface of seawater.

Most of the marine wastes are floating, moving here and there, and taking a long time to decompose, thus continuously affecting the marine ecosystem.

In particular, marine waste forms a garbage island as it moves along with the current, and the size of the island has grown to the size of the continental United States, but the problem has not been solved and the situation is getting worse.

Such marine wastes include land-based marine wastes generated on land, and marine wastes generated at sea.

Land-based marine waste is waste or garbage generated on land, on the coast, or at marine leisure facilities, and flows into the sea in large quantities through rivers, rivers, or urban sewage facilities during heavy rains or floods. Marine waste, which is a marine waste, is garbage that is dumped into the sea during the operation or fishing of a cage farm or ship, and plastic ropes, fishing nets, and plastic floats account for a large amount.

These marine and marine wastes are very diverse, such as plastic, vinyl, metal, wood, rubber paper, and the like. Among these marine wastes, it is estimated that 57 million tons, or 30% of the annual production (190 million tons) of plastics, which has the greatest adverse impact on the marine ecosystem, enters the ocean or is dumped.

Also, conventionally, marine wastes collected from the sea have been transported to land-based waste collection points, but there is a disadvantage in that the collection and transport are cumbersome.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1803364 Korean Patent Publication No. 20-0324102

An object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous navigation collection system for marine waste that can improve the marine environment and increase work efficiency by collecting marine wastes through autonomous navigation through image recognition, loading them at sea, and then transporting them.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous navigation system for collecting marine waste that can be collected without jamming or entanglement by using a propeller made of a soft material.

An autonomous navigation system for collecting marine waste according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a collection device that acquires image information from a camera and collects marine waste in a floating state based on the image information, and is located in the ocean while loading the marine waste collected from the collection device and includes a loading vessel for transporting it to land.

According to an embodiment, the collection device includes a housing having open front and lower surfaces in a rectangular, cube, or cylindrical shape, a collection pipe connected to one side of the housing, and a plurality of collection propellers provided below the collection pipe; It may include a buoyancy body provided in the housing, a driving unit for driving the collection device, and an autonomous navigation unit that autonomously navigates by recognizing the marine waste and its location from the image.

According to one embodiment, the collection propeller may use a soft plastic material.

According to an embodiment, the buoyancy body may further include a rail to be separated from the housing.

According to an embodiment, the autonomous navigation unit includes a camera installed in the housing to photograph the ocean, an analysis unit for analyzing the image or image information detected from the camera, and a GPS receiver for receiving the position of the loading vessel; , it may include a driving control unit for controlling the driving unit to autonomously operate according to the analysis unit and the GPS receiver.

According to an embodiment, the analysis unit may use a deep learning method.

According to an embodiment, the loading ship includes a hull forming a flat upper part, a loading box having a space for loading marine waste on the hull, and a lift unit installed on one side of the loading box to lift marine waste, and the It may include a driving unit for driving the loading ship, a GPS for determining the location of the loading ship and the land, and a controller for controlling the operation of the loading ship.

According to an embodiment, the lift unit includes a lift arm for lifting marine waste from one side of the loading box, a lift box connected to the lift arm to receive the collection device and marine waste, and elevating the lift arm upward It may include an angle control cylinder operated for.

According to an embodiment, the lift box may be formed as a slide surface that can be slid on a side close to the loading ship, and one side may be formed as a slide door that opens and closes.

According to an embodiment, the control unit includes a GPS transmitter for transmitting the GPS value of the loading ship to the collection device, a drive control unit for controlling the driving unit to autonomously operate, and a lift control unit for controlling the angle adjustment cylinder may include

As described above, according to the marine waste autonomous navigation collection system of the present invention, by collecting marine waste by autonomous navigation through image recognition, loading and transporting at sea, it is possible to improve the marine environment and increase work efficiency.

The autonomous navigation system for collecting marine waste of the present invention can also collect without jamming or entanglement by using a propeller made of a soft material.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a collection device according to the present invention.
2 is a schematic view showing a collection pipe and a collection propeller according to the present invention.
3 is a schematic view showing a loading ship according to the present invention.
4 is a view for explaining a lift unit according to the present invention.
5 is a view for explaining a lift box according to the present invention.
6 is a block diagram illustrating the marine waste autonomous navigation system according to the present invention.
7 is a view for exemplarily explaining the analysis unit according to the present invention.
8 is a view for exemplarily explaining the loading process according to the present invention.
9 is a schematic view showing a state in which the collection device is accommodated in the lift box.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Features and advantages of the present invention, and means for implementing them will become clear through the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present invention described below are merely exemplary, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to the described embodiments. In addition, various combinations of the elements of each embodiment may be possible within the embodiment or between the embodiments as long as there is no contradiction between them or other mentions.

And, when a part "includes" a component, this means that this component is necessarily included regardless of other components, and is not intended to exclude addition of other components.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a certain part is "connected" with another part, it is not only "directly connected" but also "indirectly" or "electrically connected" with another member or element interposed therebetween. It includes the case of "connected to".

In addition, expressions such as 'first, second', etc. are used only for distinguishing a plurality of components, and do not limit the order or other characteristics between the components.

In addition, the flowchart shown in the drawings is merely an exemplary order in order to obtain the most desirable result in carrying out the present invention, and it is natural that other steps may be further added or some steps may be deleted.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a collection device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a collection pipe and a collection propeller according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a loading ship according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is It is a view for explaining the lift unit according to the present invention, Fig. 5 is a view for explaining the lift box according to the present invention, Fig. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the marine waste autonomous navigation system according to the present invention, Fig. 7 is a view for exemplarily explaining the analysis unit according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a view for exemplarily explaining the loading process according to the present invention, and FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 , the autonomous navigation system 10 for collecting marine waste includes a collection device 200 and a loading vessel 200 .

The collection device 100 acquires image information through the camera 161 while moving in the ocean, and collects floating marine waste based on the image information.

In this case, the collection device 100 may be charged using a charging method using a station or a generator such as sunlight or tidal current, but is not limited thereto.

The loading ship 200 loads the marine waste collected from the collection device 100 while being located in the ocean, and transports the marine waste to land when the marine waste is filled to a certain level or more.

Hereinafter, each device will be described in detail.

1 and 6 , the collection device 100 includes a housing 110 , a collection tube 120 , a collection propeller 130 , a buoyancy body 140 , a driving unit 150 , and autonomously It may include a navigation unit 160 .

The housing 110 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped, cube or cylindrical shape so that the front and the bottom are open, and may be made of a wire mesh through which water can escape. In this case, it may further include a connecting member (not shown) such as a ring or cable tie to form a wire mesh.

The marine waste collected through the inner space of the housing 110 may be moved together in a floating state.

In addition, the upper portion of the housing 110 may be inclined or dome-shaped to withstand movement and sea conditions, but is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the collection pipe 120 is provided in a long tubular shape on both sides of the front upper portion of the housing 110 , and a plurality of collection propellers 130 can be attached to the lower side of the collection pipe 120 . let it be

Here, the collection pipe 120 may further include a length member 121 connected to the collection propeller 130 .

The length member 121 is for allowing the collection propeller 130 to push the floating marine waste into the housing 110 in contact with the sea surface, between the collection pipe 120 and the collection propeller 130 . can be provided in

In addition, the collection pipe 120 may vertically lift the collection pipe 120 to prevent jamming when handing over the collected marine waste to the loading vessel 200 .

The collection propeller 130 is for pushing into the housing 110 through rotation when it comes into contact with the floating marine waste, and includes a core 131 connected to the length member 121 and the core 131 . ) may be formed of a plurality of wings 132 formed at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface.

When the floating marine waste comes into contact with the wing 132 , it may be pushed and moved into the housing 110 by the rotational direction of the wing 132 . Therefore, the collection propeller 130 is rotated toward the inside of the housing 110 and the wings 132 are bent and bent in the opposite direction to the rotation direction toward the outside. That is, it is preferable to form so that the outer curved surface of the wing collides with marine waste when rotating in the inner direction so that the waste can collide with the outer surface of the wing and enter the housing 110 in the inner direction.

In addition, the wing 132 is preferably made of a flexible material such as soft plastic.

For example, since the soft plastic is soft and elastic, when the wing 132 collides with the marine waste, it easily bends and rotates on its own to push it into the housing 110 without being entangled with the marine waste.

Referring back to FIG. 1 , the buoyancy body 140 is installed on the housing 110 so that the collection device 100 can be floated, and the collection propeller 130 can be in contact with the marine waste. Can float based on height. The buoyancy body 140 may be made of a foamed resin such as Styrofoam or a synthetic resin having a separate inner space to have buoyancy, and may be formed in various shapes.

At this time, the buoyancy body 140 may further form a rail 141 for separating the housing 110 and the buoyancy body 140 , and a detailed description thereof will be described later with reference to FIGS. 8 to 9 . .

The driving unit 150 is provided on the rear surface of the housing 110 to drive the collection device 100 , and since it refers to a conventional propeller, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The autonomous navigation unit 160 autonomously navigates by recognizing marine waste and its location from an image, and includes a camera 161, an analysis unit 162, a GPS receiver 163, and a driving control unit 164. can do.

The camera 161 is installed on the upper portion of the housing 110 without interference of the field of view to take a 360-degree omnidirectional image centered on the housing 110 , and analyzes the image or image information detected by the camera 161 . It consists of an analysis unit 162, and information on various marine organisms and marine ecosystems is input into the analysis unit 162.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the analysis unit 162 detects and classifies an object in front using a deep learning method, which is a deep learning method that allows a computer to learn by itself like a human based on big data. It refers to a machine learning technology based on an artificial neural network programmed to is recognized as an object to be collected, that is, marine waste, when compared with the existing input image, its location is extracted and collected.

Due to the nature of deep learning, it is possible to more perfectly collect marine waste by taking advantage of the fact that the accuracy of distinguishing the designated object, that is, the object to be collected, increases when information, that is, data from the photographed image is accumulated.

In addition, the image information of the camera 161 may be used to avoid obstacles during autonomous operation of the collection device 100 .

The GPS receiver 163 receives the location information of the loading vessel 200, collects a certain amount of marine waste, and then moves to the loading vessel 200 so as to enable continuous unmanned marine waste collection. do.

Here, when moving to a location of marine waste according to the analysis unit 162 or moving according to the GPS receiver 163 , the driving control unit 164 controls the driving unit 150 to enable autonomous navigation.

3 and 6, the loading ship 200 includes a hull 210, a loading box 220, a lift unit 230, a driving unit (not shown), a GPS 240, and a control unit ( 250) may be included.

The hull 210 may have a structure similar to a barge, a flat top may be formed, and a loading box 220 in which a space is formed to load waste on the hull.

At this time, a slide plate (not shown) may be further formed on one side of the loading box 220 so as to slide when loading marine waste.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 5 , the lift unit 230 is connected to one side of the loading box 220 and includes a lift arm 231 , a lift box 232 , and an angle adjustment cylinder 233 . can do.

The lift arm 231 may be provided with two lift arms 231 forming a predetermined interval on one side of the loading box 220, and the upper part is opened and a space is formed therein to accommodate the collected marine waste. It can be fixed to both sides of the lift box (232).

At this time, the lift box 232 is formed of a wire mesh so that water is drained, and the side close to the loading ship can slide in order for marine waste to be easily separated from the lift box 232. A slide surface 234 such as a fine wire mesh or iron plate. ) is preferably formed.

In addition, the lift box 232 forms a slide door 235 with one side opened and closed to accommodate the collection device 100 , and the slide door 235 is the housing 110 of the collection device 100 . Even if the collection device 100 comes out by coming up inside, the marine waste may remain in the lift box 232 .

The angle adjusting cylinder 233 has one end connected to the hull 210 and the other end connected to the lift arm 231 so that it can be lifted upward by the operation of the angle adjusting cylinder 233 .

In this way, it is possible to reduce costs and shorten work time by reducing the use of separate equipment and manpower according to the lift unit 230. A detailed description of the loading process of the lift unit 230 is shown in FIGS. 9 will be described later.

The driving unit is provided in the normal hull 210, and may include a propeller and a rudder, which means a normal propeller and a rudder, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The GPS 240 is a module that can know its location information (eg, longitude, latitude, elevation, etc.) using a signal (radio wave) transmitted from an artificial satellite as is well known, and the By transmitting the location to the collection device 100 so that it can be loaded, or by storing the location of the land, it can be transported unattended when loading more than a certain amount.

In this specification, the GPS 240 is referred to as an example, but it is not necessarily limited to the GPS 240, and various types of modules capable of grasping location information and/or time information through communication with artificial satellites may be used. have.

The control unit 250 may include a GPS transmitter 251 , a driving control unit 252 , and a lift control unit 253 .

The GPS transmitter 251 transmits the location information of the loading ship 200 to the collection device 100. When the collection device 100 determines the location of the loading ship 200, the GPS receiver 163 The location can be determined by receiving the data value through the

The GPS transmitter 261 and the receiver 163 may perform control and communication using an LTE communication network or an Internet of Things (IoT) dedicated communication network (eg, LoRa network, NB-IoT, etc.), but the present invention is limited thereto. It is not necessary, and may be ok as long as information or data necessary for implementing the technical idea of the present invention can be transmitted and received through wireless communication.

In addition, when the loading vessel 200 is loaded over a certain level, a movement path is generated through the location information recorded on land, and accordingly, the driving control unit 252 controls the driving unit and can transport the vehicle to land.

In addition, the autonomous navigation unit 160 and the control unit 250 include a memory, and the memory stores the location information sensed by the GPS 240, that is, the location of the land or the loading ship 200, and sends it to the destination when necessary. can be set.

The memory may include a data storage area, and in terms of hardware, as various storage devices such as ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash drive, hard drive, etc., it stores the received data, 250) can store various data and programs for the overall operation.

After receiving the marine waste from the collection device 100 in the lift box 232 , the lift control unit 253 operates the angle control cylinder 233 to lift the lift box 232 .

At this time, the control unit 250 may further include a sensor unit to determine if the lift box 232 has received the marine waste from the collection device 100 or the loading amount of the loading box 220 is greater than or equal to a threshold value. Accordingly, the drive control unit 252 or the lift control unit 253 may be operated.

8 to 9, it shows a loading process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the ocean, the collection device 100 autonomously operates to collect marine waste. At this time, as shown in (a) of FIG. 8, it is possible to form a certain angle (∂) rather than a straight line toward the front in order to collect marine waste in a larger area, and the angle (∂) is within 30 to 50 degrees. It is preferable to be formed to achieve However, depending on the shape of the collection propeller 130 is not limited thereto.

In order to put the collected marine waste into the loading box 220 , the collection device 100 may receive the location of the loading ship 200 through the GPS receiver 163 and go there.

As shown in (b) of FIG. 8 to be accommodated in the lift box 232 of the loading box 200, by vertically lifting the collection pipe 120 of the collection device 100, it can be accommodated without any jamming.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 8 ( c ) and 9 , a rail 141 may be formed on the buoyancy body 140 in order for the collection device 100 to be easily accommodated in the lift box 232 , and the rail 141 . ) is separated from the housing 110 and may be accommodated in the lift box 232 .

After that, the slide door 235 of the lift box 232 is raised so as to be in close contact with the inside of the rear surface of the housing 110, and even if the collection device 100 is pulled out by the reverse by the raised slide door 235, the ocean Waste remains in the lift box 232 .

As the lift box 232 is lifted by the operation of the angle control cylinder 233, only marine waste remains after the water is drained, and as the lift box 232 is tilted, it is placed on the slide plate 234 of the lift box 232. This allows marine waste to slip and fall.

When the threshold value of the loading box 220 is filled by repeating the above process, the control unit 250 of the loading ship 200 can set the stored GPS value of the land and transport it.

Although the present invention has been described as described above, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will recognize that the present invention may be implemented in other forms while maintaining the technical spirit and essential features of the present invention. .

The scope of the present invention will be defined by the claims, but all changes or modifications derived from the configuration directly derived from the claims, as well as the configuration equivalent thereto, are also included in the scope of the present invention. should be interpreted as

10: Autonomous operation of marine waste collection system
100: collection device 110: housing
120: collection pipe 121: length member
130: collection propeller 131: core
132: wings 140: buoyancy body
141: rail 150: driving unit
160: autonomous navigation unit 161: camera
162: analysis unit 163: GPS receiver
164: drive control unit
200: loading ship 210: hull
220: loading box 230: lift unit
231: lift arm 232: lift box
233: angle control cylinder 234: slide surface
235: slide door 240: GPS
250: GPS transmitter 251: drive control unit
252: lift control unit ∂: angle

Claims (10)

In the autonomous navigation collection system for marine waste,
a collection device that acquires image information from a camera and collects floating marine waste based on the image information; and
A marine waste autonomous navigation system comprising a; a loading vessel that is located in the ocean and loads the marine wastes collected from the collection device and transports them to land. The method of claim 1,
The collection device is
A housing having an open front and a lower surface in a rectangular parallelepiped, cube or cylindrical shape;
a collection pipe connected to one side of the housing;
a plurality of collection propellers provided below the collection pipe;
a buoyancy body provided on the upper end of the housing;
a driving unit for driving the collection device;
A marine waste autonomous navigation collection system including an autonomous navigation unit that autonomously navigates by recognizing ocean waste and its location from an image. 3. The method of claim 2,
The collection propeller is a marine waste autonomous navigation collection system, characterized in that using a soft plastic material. 3. The method of claim 2,
The buoyancy body is a marine waste autonomous navigation system further comprising a rail to be separated from the housing. 3. The method of claim 2,
The autonomous navigation unit,
A camera installed in the housing to photograph the ocean;
an analysis unit for analyzing the image or video information detected from the camera;
A GPS receiver for receiving the position of the loading ship;
and a driving control unit for controlling the driving unit to autonomously operate according to the analysis unit and the GPS receiver. 6. The method of claim 5,
The analysis unit autonomous navigation collection system for marine waste, characterized in that using a deep learning method. The method of claim 1,
The loading line is
a hull forming a flat upper part;
A loading box having a space for loading marine waste on the hull;
a lift unit installed on one side of the loading box to lift marine waste;
A driving unit for driving the loading line;
A GPS for determining the location of the loading ship and land;
Marine waste autonomous navigation system including a control unit for controlling the operation of the loading vessel. 8. The method of claim 7,
The lift unit,
A lift arm for lifting marine waste from one side of the loading box;
a lift box connected to the lift arm to receive the collection device and marine waste;
A marine waste autonomous navigation system including an angle control cylinder operated to elevate the lift arm upwards. 9. The method of claim 8,
The lift box is formed as a slide surface that can slide on a side close to the loading ship, and one side is formed as a slide door that can be opened and closed. 7. The method of claim 6,
The control unit is
A GPS transmitter for transmitting the GPS value of the loading vessel to the collection device;
a driving control unit for controlling the driving unit to autonomously operate;
Marine waste autonomous navigation collection system including a lift control unit for controlling the angle control cylinder.

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