JPH0354493A - Navigation assisting equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the safety of the navigation of a channel or the like by quickly calculating the position of ship by using a laser range finder safe even to an eye and intelligibly displaying the relative position of the ship with respect to a dangerous sea area. CONSTITUTION:A distance to a first target 11 selected by an input device 4 is measured by a laser range finder 1 with a safe wavelength which does not affect an eye and obtained data are transferred to a storage and arithmetic unit 2. The unit 2 stores the data with time information from a clock pulse generator 3. In the same manner thereafter, after the target is sequentially changed to obtain the data of two or three targets, calculations are executed to obtain the position of one's own ship. Information on the relative position of the ship with respect to a dangerous sea area is fed to a display 5 to be displayed thereon. For example, the safe sea area is shown by the lighting of a green lamp, the necessity of the preparation of avoidance by the blink of the green lamp and the sea area wherein an avoiding operation is required by the blink of a red lamp. Thus, the ship can be steered earlier than usual so as not to approach the dangerous sea area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a navigation aid for ships, and particularly to a device that realizes safe navigation by measuring position in dangerous sea areas such as straits.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in order for a ship to know its own position near land, it takes two to
The cross-bearing method is used, in which the direction of the target shown on the chart at three locations is measured, a direction line is drawn on the chart, etc., and the position is determined from the intersection of the lines.

In this method, after measuring the bearing, two or three bearing lines are drawn on a nautical chart or the like to determine the position, so it takes time to calculate the position. When passing through a strait, etc., when you are forced to take a route close to dangerous areas with reefs or shallow water, it is necessary to accurately and quickly know your own ship's position, which changes from moment to moment. Since there is not enough time to find the target, one way to avoid dangerous areas is to navigate so that the bearing of a specific target does not change, and then turn the ship when the bearing of another target reaches a predetermined angle. They had no choice but to take expedient measures, such as navigating while being careful not to exceed a predetermined viewing angle.

In addition, in a sea area that has a certain extent, the accuracy of the position determined by radar, Loran, etc., which are common navigational instruments, is sufficient, but in a narrow sea area, it is difficult to quickly determine the relative relationship with a particularly dangerous sea area. These are not necessarily suitable.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional expedient measures are effective when the ship is not swept away by the current or when no other ships are navigating nearby, but in areas with heavy ship traffic, it is important to avoid turning the ship. This method cannot necessarily be called an appropriate method, and great care must be taken when maneuvering a ship near dangerous waters.

An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation aid device that can quickly calculate the position of a ship by utilizing a radar ranging device and display its relative position to a dangerous sea area in an easy-to-understand manner.

[Means to solve the problem]

The navigation aid device of the present invention includes: an input device for selecting a ranging target; a laser ranging device for measuring the distance to the selected target; a clock pulse generator; and a measurement from the laser ranging device. By inputting the distance and the clock pulse as time information from the clock pulse generator, the ship's position and its positional relationship with the dangerous area are determined from the pre-stored position data of the target and the position data of the dangerous area. It has a storage/arithmetic device that performs calculations, and a display that visually displays information from the storage/arithmetic device.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a navigation aid device according to the present invention. This navigation aid device includes a laser ranging device 1
, a storage/arithmetic device 2 , a clock pulse generator 3 , a human power device 4 , and a display 5 .

The laser distance measuring device 1 measures the distance to the target selected by the input device 4 and transfers the data to the storage/arithmetic device 2 .

The clock pulse generator 3 inputs clock pulses to the storage/arithmetic device 2 as time information.

The storage/arithmetic device 2 stores the distance from the laser distance measuring device 1 together with time information from the clock pulse generator 3.

On the other hand, the storage/arithmetic device 2 stores in advance the position data of several targets for each sea area and the position data of dangerous sea areas, and performs calculations based on the distance data from the laser range finder 1. It has a function of calculating the position of the ship and transmitting information on the relative positional relationship with the dangerous sea area as visually appealing information to the display 5 or the laser distance measuring device l.

The human power device 4 selects the target to be ranged as described above, or inputs the target number and the number of the range finder in correspondence when it is equipped with a plurality of range finders as described later. be able to. Furthermore, the direction of travel of the ship. You can enter speed etc.

The display 5 displays the relative positional relationship between the ship and the dangerous sea area based on the information from the storage/arithmetic device 2.

In the above-described navigational aid device, the input device 4
The distance to the first target 0 selected by is measured by the laser distance measuring device 1, and the data is transferred to the storage/arithmetic device 2. The storage/arithmetic device 2 stores this distance together with the time information from the clock pulse generator 3. Next, another target @ is selected, and the distance measurement data is transferred and stored in the storage/arithmetic unit 2 along with the measurement time. Similarly, by changing the targets one after another and calculating after acquiring data on two or three targets, the position of the own ship is determined. Information about the positional relationship of this position with respect to the dangerous sea area is sent out and displayed on the display 5 or the corner of the glasses of the laser distance measuring device 1.

What the ship operator needs is not absolute positional information such as latitude and longitude, but the relative relationship with the dangerous sea area, so this should be displayed in a visually appealing manner. For example, when the green lamp is on, you are in a safe area and no action is required.
When the green light starts blinking, you are heading towards a dangerous area, so you need to prepare for evasion.If you move further and the red light starts blinking, it will indicate that you have entered an area where you should take evasive action. For example, a boat operator can operate the boat by relying on the display. In more detail, by displaying whether the dangerous area is on the starboard or port side when the green lamp flashes, it is possible to maneuver the ship to avoid approaching the dangerous area while turning the helm early. .

The clock pulse generator 3 can provide information on the time required from the time when the laser range finder 1 measures the distance to the first target ■ until the distance to the next target @. By inputting the ship's traveling direction and speed from , the distance the ship will move during that time can be corrected by calculations in the storage/arithmetic unit 2, and even if there is a time difference in the measurement of each target, the position accuracy will be maintained. Measurement without any influence is possible.

In reality, it is difficult to visually recognize the target, or it takes time and effort to aim on a swaying ship, so it is difficult to aim at two or three targets in quick succession and measure the distance. Therefore, a possible solution is to prepare a plurality of laser distance measuring devices 1, set a separate target for each device, and perform distance measurement while continuing to aim at the target. If this method is used, it is also possible to input the target number and the number of the distance measuring device in correspondence with each other from the input device 4, and automatically measure the distance at regular intervals.

As mentioned above, the storage/calculation device 2 stores position data for several targets in each sea area and position data of dangerous sea areas, and performs calculations based on the distance data from the laser range finder 1. Jli), and transmits information on the relative positional relationship with the dangerous sea area to the display device 5 or the laser ranging device 1 as visually appealing information.

If it is necessary to record the ship's track, use the memory and calculation device 2.
It is also possible to send the calculated position data and time information from the clock pulse generator 3 to the ship's main computer, etc. for use.

A common concern for the present invention would be with laser ranging devices. In a device using a weak laser, the light reflected from the target is weak, so a reflector or the like must be attached to the target, which is not practical at present. On the other hand, with distance measuring devices that use powerful pulsed lasers, if there are people near the target, there is a problem of eye damage caused by the powerful laser, and emitting laser light under such conditions is not allowed. However, eye-safe pulsed laser distance measuring devices have now been developed that do not affect the eyes at all even if the laser is emitted directly in front of the eyes, as the wavelength is safe for the eyes. As long as this is used, there will be no problem in implementing the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention utilizes an eye-safe laser range finder to quickly calculate a ship's position and display its relative position to dangerous areas in an easy-to-understand manner, thereby enabling safe navigation through straits, etc. can contribute to

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the navigation aid device of the present invention. 1...Laser ranging device 2...Storage/arithmetic device 3 - Clock pulse generator 4 - Input device 5 - Display ■, @, @ ~ [phase] - Target to be measured

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An input device for selecting a ranging target, a laser ranging device for measuring the distance to the selected target, a clock pulse generator, a measured distance from the laser ranging device, and the clock. A storage/arithmetic device that inputs clock pulses as time information from a pulse generator and calculates the ship's position and its positional relationship with the dangerous area from pre-stored position data about targets and dangerous area position data. and a display device that visually displays information from the storage/arithmetic device.