JPH0448192B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an underwater detection and display device using a side-drug king sonar and a scanning sonar.

(Prior art) Seidoltzking sonar (hereinafter referred to as the first sonar) and scanning sonar (hereinafter referred to as the second sonar) are both equipped with an ultrasonic transducer that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. These are installed on the bottom a of the ship. The first sonar has detection ranges b and c in the port and starboard directions, respectively, as shown in Figure 1 from the bottom a of the ship. It has the advantage of being able to display the fine undulations of the seabed from a distance using shading, as if seen from an airplane, making it easy to understand the quality of the seafloor, and having excellent resolution in the direction of the ship's movement. The disadvantage is that depth and horizontal distance are not well known.

On the other hand, the second sonar shows the bottom a of the ship as shown in Figure 2.
It has a detection range d in the direction directly below the ship, and has the advantage of being able to clearly determine the depth and horizontal distance of the detected object near directly below the ship. The disadvantage is that the depth and horizontal distance are inaccurate.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, if only one of the first sonar and the second sonar is equipped, even if the underwater state can be displayed by taking advantage of the advantages of each sonar, the disadvantages described above will not be met. This may make it difficult or impossible to display the underwater conditions at a particular location.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable the location of a detected object to be easily, accurately, and quickly detected.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve such an objective, the underwater detection and display device of the present invention uses a Saidrutsking sonar consisting of a transducer that detects underwater in a wide range of directions beside the ship. Then, by emitting a detection signal and receiving echo signals sequentially formed in different directions below the ship and approximately perpendicular to the bow and stern lines, it is possible to cover a wide area below the ship. A scanning sonar for searching and a first displaying an image indicating the seabed state on the screen of a display device based on a detection signal given from the Saidrutzking sonar.
circuit means; and second circuit means for displaying, on the same screen as the display, a contour map related to the seabed condition image based on the detection signal provided from the scanning sonar; and third circuit means for displaying a distance scale of a common scale.

It should be noted that the seabed state image and the related depth map can be displayed in separate areas on the display screen, or can be displayed in a superimposed manner on the display screen. In the case of separate display, a distance scale having a common scale for both images is displayed in each area.

According to this configuration, in addition to displaying a seabed condition image based on the output of the Seidultzking sonar, a contour map related to the seabed condition image and both images are displayed based on the output of the scanning sonar. A distance scale of a common scale can also be displayed. Therefore, the location of a predetermined object in the seabed condition image on the display screen from the own ship can be recognized at a glance.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, both sonars form transmitting and receiving beams of φL and φs in the bow direction, respectively, and θL and θs in a direction perpendicular to the bow direction. In the first sonar, there is one transmission/reception beam of φL × θL on each of the port and starboard sides, but in the second sonar, there is one transmission beam of φs × θs and a transmission beam of φs divided into M in the θs direction. x Δθs. Here, θs=M×Δθs
As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving beams are numbered from 0 to (M-1) from port to starboard. These M receiving beams are phase-combined by a phase combining circuit, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a display (color CRT) screen by the underwater detection display device of the present invention. The left half of this screen displays a video screen from the first sonar, and the right half displays a contour map screen from the second sonar. The vertical direction (y-direction) on the left half of the display screen indicates the time direction for displaying the passage of time. As a result, the video based on the latest transmission is displayed at the top of the transducer display screen of the first sonar, and the older video is displayed toward the bottom.

On the other hand, in the lateral direction (x direction), the image from the first sonar is the straight-line distance R meters from the own ship in the port and starboard directions, based on the 0 point, and the depth map screen from the second sonar is Indicates the horizontal distance H meters from own ship in the port and starboard directions, respectively, based on the 0 point. From 0 to (N-1) in the x direction, N to (2N
-1) shows an image of the port side iso-depth map from the second sonar, from 2N to (3N-1) shows the port side from the first sonar, and from 3N to (4N-1) shows the same depth map from the first sonar. Images of the starboard side are shown. As a result, the total number of pixels on the display screen is V×4N.

In the display example of FIG. 3, the display range DpL of the first sonar screen is 300 meters, and the display range Dps of the contour map screen is 280 meters. Fixed markers (linear distance scale) of 0, 150, and 300 meters are displayed on the first sonar screen, and fixed markers (horizontal distance scale) of 0, 140, and 280 meters are displayed on the contour map screen. has been done. The four variable markers with dashed lines indicate the straight line distance from your own ship.
It shows a position of 235 meters, and this variable marker corresponds to the distance scale described in the claims. This broken line is a straight line on the first sonar screen, but it is a curved line on the depth map screen. By displaying this variable marker, the relative relationship between the two screens becomes clear. Of course, the relative relationship can also be made clear by displaying fixed markers relative to the fixed markers (15, 300 meters) on the first sonar screen on the contour map screen, but this is omitted here.

FIG. 4 shows an overhead view of both transducers relative to the ship's bottom a. The first sonar SLS is SLS1 for port and SLS1 for starboard.
SLS2, and the second sonar SCS is located in the center. In the first sonar, each vibrator is lined up in the bow direction, and in the second sonar, J pieces are lined up in the bow direction, and K pieces are lined up in a direction perpendicular to the bow direction. The underwater detection range of both transducers when attached to the ship's bottom a is in a direction perpendicular to the bow direction below the ship, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of the apparatus of the present invention. In the following description of each block diagram, only variable markers will be used as markers. Furthermore, although the value of the variable marker may be displayed on the display, it is assumed that it is displayed on a separate numerical display. A raster scan (orthogonal coordinate) color display is used as the display. Color display devices include CRT, liquid crystal, and plasma. Of course, it may be a black and white display. In FIG. 5, 1 is a transducer for the second sonar, and 3 and 4 are transducers for port and starboard of the first sonar. 5,3
0 and 31 are receiving amplifiers, 6 is a phase synthesis circuit, 7,
47 is an A/D converter, 8 and 48 are signal memories,
9, 11, 16, 42, 46, 49, 54 are switching devices, 10 is a display memory, 12 is an AND circuit,
13, 52 are flip-flops, 14, 40, 7
2 is ROM, 15, 17, 38, 57, 59 are comparators, 18, 20 are latches, 21 is color conversion
ROM, 22, 23, 24 are D/A converters, 25
is CRT (display), 28, 29, 32 are transmitting amplifiers, 33 to 37, 39, 51, 65, 66 are counters, 43, 44, 45, 50, 56, 58
is an adder, 60 is an OR circuit, 61 and 62 are monostable multivibrators, 63 is an inverter, 64 is a delay circuit, 67 is a clock pulse generator, 68 is a y-deflection coil, 69 is an x-deflection coil, and 70 is a y-deflection amplifier. , 71 is an x-deflection amplifier. 72 is
ROM, 73 is a variable marker value display, 74 is a display range setter, and 75 is a variable marker setter. Each section from the receiving amplifiers 30 and 31 of the first sonar described above to the CRT 25 via the signal memory 48 constitutes the first circuit means described in the claims.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram for generating the signals indicated by symbols a to j (f is omitted) in FIG. In Figure 6, 101 is the CPU, 102 is the RAM,
103 is a ROM, 104 is an input device, 106 to 110 are latches, 111 is a decoder, and 112 is a display range setter.

Next, the operation of such a circuit configuration will be explained. Before explaining the operation of this circuit configuration, each symbol to be described later will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, θsm indicates the angle from directly below the m-th beam (+ on the port side). This θsm is expressed by the following formula. θsm=Δθs[(M-1)/2-m],
Here, M is an odd number, and the (M-1)/2nd beam is directed directly downward. rm indicates the r-direction position in the signal memory 8 of the ocean floor that existed within the m-th beam. Rm indicates the straight-line distance (in meters) from the own ship to the seabed within the m-th beam. Rm=Δr×rm.
Hm and Dm are the horizontal distance and depth of the seabed from the own ship that existed within the m-th beam. Hm indicates the port side as +, and the unit is meters. Hm＝Rm×
sinθsm, Dm=Rm×cosθsm. xm is m
It shows the writing position in the x direction of the display memory 10 of the seabed that existed within the th beam. xm＝Hm／
Dps+N.

The transmitting amplifiers 28, 29, 32 are connected to the decoder 11.
An ultrasonic pulse signal having a predetermined power, pulse width, and frequency is emitted into the water through the transducers 1, 3, and 4 of each sonar by the trigger pulse h output by the sonar. After the detection signal reflected from the underwater object is received by each transducer 1, 3, and 4, the second sonar is sent to the receiving amplifier group 5, and the first sonar is sent to the receiving amplifiers 30, 31, respectively. amplified. Receiving amplifier group 5 and receiving amplifiers 30, 3
The trigger pulse h input to 1 and 1 is used for TVG to correct attenuation due to distance of the detection signal. Receiving amplifier 30, 31 on the first sonar side
further detects and outputs the amplified signal. The reception amplifier group 5 on the second sonar side is composed of L (=J×K) reception amplifiers, which is the same number as the transducers of the transducer 1. The phase synthesis circuit 6 performs phase synthesis on the L detection signals, creates M detection beams, and detects and outputs the detection signal in the direction indicated by the count value of the θ counter 34. Phase synthesis methods include methods that use a delay line, methods that multiply sine waves with different phases, and methods that use FFT (fast Fourier transform).

The signal memory 8 is for the second sonar, and the signal memory 48 is for the first sonar. Signal memory 8
stores the detection signal of the second sonar for one transmission,
The signal memory 48 stores detection signals of the first sonar for one screen display, that is, for V transmissions. This results in
Each storage element of the signal memory 48 corresponds to each pixel of the display screen, but the signal memory 8 is completely independent of the pixels of the display screen.

The detection signal of the second sonar is stored in the signal memory 8.
rmax(m) for each Δr(m), regardless of DpL and Dps
will be memorized until rmax is the straight line distance from the ship that is sufficient to allow even the 0 or M-1 beam in FIG. 2 to reach the seabed in the sea area where the device of the invention is used. Here, rmax=P×Δr. P
is a positive integer. Therefore, when the number of output bits of the A/D converters 7 and 47 is α, the capacity of each signal memory 8 and 48 is α×M×P, and the capacity of the signal memory 48 is α×M×P. It is α×V×2N. In addition, signal memory 8, 4
8 uses RAM.

The signal memory 48 includes the switch 42 and the
The detection signal that has passed through the receiving amplifier 30, the receiving amplifier 31, the switch 46, and the A/D converter 47 is written to the address indicated by the counter 51. The y-direction addresses of the signal memory 48 are 0 to (V-1), and x
The direction address is 0 to (2N-1). For each transmission, a signal for one line is written in the x direction similarly to the color fish finder, and the signal received by the starboard side from 0 to (N-1), that is, the signal received by the transducer 4, is written from N to (2N-1).
1), the port side, that is, the signal received by the transducer 3 is written.

Binary counter 37, switch 42 and switch 46 are used to alternately write port and starboard signals to signal memory 48. Switcher 4
6 is for switching the detection signal, and the switch 42 is for x
Switch the direction address. It is only necessary to write one port and starboard signal each in the signal memory 48 while the count value of the r counter 36 changes by 1. Therefore, when the count value of the binary counter 37 is 0, the binary counter 3
When the count value is 1, the output becomes "L" and the starboard signal is also written. When the count value is 1, the output becomes "H" and the port signal is written. In addition, the r counter 36
is a Q-ary up counter, and the comparator 38 is
Outputs a pulse signal with a time interval equal to that of an ultrasonic wave reciprocating in DpL/2N meters (Q/N).
Further, the y counter 51 is a V-ary down counter.

In the signal memory 8, the A/D converter 7 is located at the address indicated by the count values of the r counter 33 and the θ counter 34.
The detection signal passed through is written. Signal memory 8
The addresses in the r direction are 0 to (P-1), and the addresses in the θ direction are 0 to (M-1). Note that the r counter 33 is a P-ary up counter, the θ counter 34 is an M-ary up counter, and the counter 35
counts the output pulses of the clock pulse generator (CP) 67 and outputs pulses with a time interval equal to that of the ultrasonic wave reciprocating in Δr/M meters.

As for the detection signal, ultrasonic waves are output from the transducers 1, 3, and 4 by the trigger pulse h output by the decoder 111, and the count value of the y counter 51 decreases by 1, and the count value is sent to the counters 33, 34, 36, and 37. Each count value is reset to 0, the flip-flop (F/F) 52 is set, and the signal memories 8, 4 are reset.
You can start writing on 8. flipflop 52
is set, the switches 9 and 54 are
ON, the counter starts counting from 0, and the switch 9, 49 switches the signal memory 8,
The address 48 and the write position are combined, and the signal memories 8 and 48 are put into a write state. At this time,
R/W terminal of signal memory 48 and switch 4
Since the pulses of the clock pulse generator 67 are inputted to the control terminal 9, the signal memory 48 is not always in the writing state, but alternates with the reading state of the signal to the display 25.

Writing is performed in this way, but r
When the count value of the counter 33 reaches (P-1),
Since the r counter 33 outputs a carry pulse with the next input pulse and resets the flip-flop 52, writing of signals to the signal memories 8 and 48 is stopped. This carry pulse will be referred to as the "signal capture completion signal" from now on.

FIG. 8 shows the sequence of operations performed by the device of the present invention and whether each memory is in a write state or a read state. In FIG. 8, h is a trigger pulse;
W indicates writing, and R indicates reading. Also, the 8th
In the figure, the overall operating state of the present invention is that signal acquisition, creation of a contour map, and signal acquisition are performed alternately. In this case, the completion of signal capture is indicated by the signal capture completion signal.

The case of writing the contour map to the display memory will be described with reference to FIG. 8. Writing of signals to the signal memories 8 and 48 is stopped by the carry pulse of the r counter 33. This is because the flip-flop 52 has been reset, so the R/W terminals of the signal memories 8 and 48 are set to "L", and the switch 9 and
49 is "OFF", counters 33, 34, 36, 3
This is because 7 stops counting. When the signal writing is stopped, that is, when the signal acquisition is completed, a contour map is written into the display memory 10 based on the contents stored in the signal memory 8. More precisely, one line of the contour map is written in the x direction.

Writing of the contour map is performed mainly by the circuit shown in FIG. 6 (corresponding to the second circuit means described in the claims) having a computer configuration. CPU101,
RAM102, ROM103, input device 104,
It is composed of an output device 105. Here, output device 105 includes latches 106-110 and decoder 1.
Consists of 11. The CPU 101 performs calculations, judgments, data transfers, etc. using a program stored in the ROM 103. The RAM 102 is the input device 10
Memory of detection signal input from 4, CPU 101
It performs calculations and stores judgment results, etc. ROM
103 stores programs and constant values. The input device 4 is connected to the data output of the signal memory 8 and the output of the display range setter 112.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the CPU 101 for creating a contour map. The display memory 10 stores a seabed depth D meters for the contour map and a straight line distance R meters for the straight line distance marker. Its capacity is β×
V×2N, and is the same as the signal memory 48 except for the difference between α and β, and the display memory 10 has
RAM is used.

Next, explanation will be given using a flowchart.

Step: When the detection signal capture completion signal output from the r counter 33 is input to the CPU 101, the computer starts its operation.

Step: Write D and R based on the current transmission. Delete the stored contents from x=0 to (2N-1) in the y direction address of the display memory 10 indicated by the count value of the y counter 51. In other words, write 0. For the writing method, refer to the following steps.

Step: Extract P detection signals from the signal memory 8 for each beam in order from the 0th beam. At this time, θ of the signal memory 8 is applied to the latch 107.
The r-direction address is set in the latch 106 by the CPU 101, and the detection signal at that address is input from the signal memory 8 to the CPU 101 through the input device 104.

Step: Among the P signals, for example, the position where the maximum detection signal exists is set as the seabed position.

Step: The display memory 10 is written when the output pulse of the clock pulse generator 67 is "H", and read when it is "L". and,
For writing, the CPU 101 sets the writing position in the x direction to the latch 110, D to the latch 108, and R to the latch 108.
is set in latch 109, CPU 101
The flip-flop 13 is then set, and this is done by the first output pulse of the monostable multivibrator (MS) 61 after the flip-flop 13 is set. At this time, the y-direction address is output by the y counter 51. 1st
Figure 0 shows a timing chart for such an operation.

Step: When writing of R and inverted D for one transmission is completed, the decoder 111 outputs a trigger pulse h.

Next, a case will be described in which the detection signal, contour map, and marker are output to the display. The output pulse period of the clock pulse generator 67 is equal to the time required to display one pixel on the display, and the pulse duty is 50%.

The signals stored in the signal memory 48 and the display memory 10 are read out one by one each time the pulse of the clock pulse generator 67 becomes L, regardless of whether the signal is being taken in or the contour map is being written. It is displayed on the display 25. The read address is determined by the counts of the x counter 66 and the y counter 65. Since the counts of the x counter 66 and the y counter 65 correspond to each pixel of the display shown in FIG. 3, the x counter 66 is a 4N up counter and the y counter 65 is a V up counter. Comparator 17
outputs "L" when the count value of the x counter 66 is less than (2N-1), and outputs "H" when it is more than 2N, and switches the display between the first sonar screen and the contour map. used for. The adder 50 is a circuit for displaying the signal at the latest detected signal address in the y direction of the signal memory 48 and the display memory 10 indicated by the count value of the y counter 51 at the upper end of the screen. The adder 45 subtracts 2N from the count value of the x counter 66, and the count value of the x counter 45 is 2N~(4N-1).
When the x direction of the signal memory 48 is 0~(2N-1)
This is a circuit for reading out the signal. ROM14
The output D of the display memory 10 is input to the display memory 10, and a predetermined value as shown in FIG. 11, for example, is outputted according to the input value. Figure 11 shows ROM14
If you follow this figure 11, contour lines every 5 meters will be displayed in 11 different colors.

Comparators 57, 59, adders 56, 58, OR circuit 60, and variable marker setter 75 are circuits for displaying two variable markers on the first sonar screen. The variable marker setter 75 has a range of 0 to (N-
1) Outputs the value Pr.

The comparator 15 is a circuit for displaying two variable markers on the depth map screen, and the output R of the ROM 72 and display memory 10 is input to the comparator 15. ROM72 has Pv× from Pv and DpL.
Outputs the value of DpL/N. When this value and R match, a variable marker is displayed.
Note that the four variable markers are displayed in a different color from the detection signal and the contour map. Variable marker value display 7
3 displays the value output by the ROM 72 on a numerical display such as an LED or liquid crystal. The variable marker setter 75 and the comparator 15 described above correspond to the third circuit means described in the claims.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a circuit according to another embodiment, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals. In the embodiment described above, the images of the first sonar and the second sonar were displayed separately in different areas, but in the embodiment of FIG. 12, the images of both sonar are displayed superimposed. Therefore, the scale of the image of the first sonar is made to match the scale of the image of the contour map of the second sonar. Therefore, the portion surrounded by the chain line in FIG. 5 is changed to the portion surrounded by the chain line in FIG. 12, and the circuit corresponding to FIG. 6 is configured as shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 14 shows the display state on the display by the circuit configurations of FIGS. 12 and 13. In Figure 14, the starboard side image is displayed on the right half of the screen, and the port side image is displayed on the left half of the screen.
Corresponding to each video, a contour map is displayed superimposed on it. In Figure 14, the vertical direction (time direction) is the y direction, the horizontal direction (distance direction) is the x direction, and 0 to (N/2-1) in the x direction.
The image of the starboard side is displayed in , and the image of the port side is displayed in N/2 to (N-1), and the total number of pixels is ^N2 . In addition,
In FIG. 14, the distance numbers in the x direction represent the straight-line distance from the own ship to the target position, and the solid line scale is the distance scale regarding the seabed state image obtained by the first sonar.

In FIG. 12, the display memory 10 stores a seabed depth D for a contour map and a horizontal distance H for a horizontal distance marker. Note that, unlike the above, the value of Xm is Xm=±(Rm/DpL)+N/2. (+ when on the port side, - when on the starboard side) Its capacity is β×N×N, where β is the total number of bits of D and H. Further, the capacity of the signal memory 48 is α×N×N.

In the chain line, the variable marker setter 7 outputs a horizontal distance Phv output. The Phv and the output of the display memory 10 are input to the comparator 15, and when these two values match, a variable marker is displayed. Note that the two variable markers are displayed in a different color from the detection signal and the contour map.

In the above embodiment, the first sonar (Seidrukking sonar) performs underwater detection in two directions, the port side and the starboard side of the ship.
The present invention is not limited thereto; for example, underwater detection may be performed in either the port or starboard direction of the ship.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to display on the display screen an image of the seabed condition, a contour map related thereto, and a distance scale with a scale common to both images. The location of an object can be easily, accurately, and quickly detected, improving usability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining the states of each beam of the Siderutzking sonar and scanning sonar, respectively; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the screen display state on the display according to the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is an overhead view of the two sonars, Figure 5 is a circuit block diagram of this embodiment, and Figure 6 shows the processing of signals from the output section of the circuit in Figure 5 and the generation of signals given to each input section. A circuit block diagram, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the horizontal distance H and depth D by the sonar beam,
8 and 10 are signal timing charts to explain the operation of each part, FIG. 9 is a flowchart to also explain the operation, and FIG. 11 is a ROM
12 is a circuit block diagram of another embodiment, FIG. 13 is a circuit block diagram corresponding to FIG. 6 for the embodiment of FIG. 12,
FIG. 14 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 for the embodiment of FIG. 12. 1 is a transducer for scanning sonar (first sonar); 3 and 4 are transducers for sidetracking sonar (second sonar); and 25 is a display.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Saidrutsking sonar, which is composed of a transducer that detects underwater in a wide range of directions to the side of the ship; A scanning sonar that searches a wide area below the ship by receiving echo signals with reception beams that are sequentially formed in different directions; a first circuit means for displaying an image indicative of the seabed condition based on the detection signal; An underwater detection display device comprising: second circuit means for displaying a contour map; and third circuit means for displaying a distance scale of a scale common to both images. 2. In the underwater detection and display device according to claim 1, the side-durtz king sonar is composed of a transducer that detects water in the port and starboard directions of the ship. Features an underwater detection display device. 3. In the underwater detection display device according to claim 2, the seabed condition image and the contour contour map related thereto are displayed in separate areas on the display screen, and both areas are displayed separately. An underwater detection display device characterized in that the underwater detection display device displays a distance scale of a scale common to both of the images. 4. In the underwater detection display device according to claim 2, a seabed condition image and a depth contour map related thereto are superimposed and displayed on a display screen, and both of the above are displayed on this screen. An underwater detection display device characterized in that it displays a distance scale of a common scale in images.