JP2002188935A - Search support device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a search support device that can support a search operation so that a mobile object can be searched efficiently based on past mobile object information. A search support device that supports a search operation for searching for a moving object observed at a fixed point after an arbitrary time has elapsed, wherein the moving direction, speed, and observation time of the moving object observed at the fixed point are determined. Receiving means 1 for receiving the moving object information including the moving object information; and calculating means 2 for calculating the existence area of the moving object and the existence probability distribution of the moving object in the existence area based on the received moving object information and the current time. Display means 4 for displaying the calculated existence area and existence probability distribution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a search support device for assisting a search operation of a mobile object observed at a fixed point after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a third party searches for a moving body (hereinafter, also referred to as a target) such as a vehicle or a person that has been found in the past, the target provided by the third party must be located in the vicinity of ○ It is a common practice to search with the naked eye based on past target information such as “moves in the △△ direction”. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the target information that “the target moves west around 300 m west” is provided at a certain discovery point, in the re-search, the target information at the provided discovery point is From the observation point of the target specified based on it, the west direction is searched little by little with the naked eye.

Recently, a method of supporting a searcher using a search support device has been proposed. For example, in a search using a helicopter, the following two devices are known as this search support device.

One of them is to mount a video camera on a helicopter to monitor an image of the outside world and automatically point the video camera in a direction of a target that has been investigated by a third party. The target direction is superimposed and displayed on the monitor screen as a symbol. On the other hand, for example, two occupants each wear a see-through type helmet mount display (HMD), and observe the outside world and observe the target direction (helmet direction) of the other occupant. Is displayed as a symbol on the HMD.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional search support devices, the direction of the target is provided as search information. For this reason, when the provided search information has passed for a certain period of time, it is necessary to estimate in which direction the search target has moved, which is inefficient.

[0006] Further, in the information age, a lot of digitized information is becoming available, and it is assumed that re-search is performed from a lot of information.

[0007] However, it is almost impossible for a human to integrate and determine a plurality of pieces of information while predicting the present from past information. For this reason, the search may be confused, the search may be delayed while checking a plurality of pieces of information, or a place that cannot be misled by invalid old information may be searched.
In particular, in the case of a search target whose movement direction is unpredictable, the search time is delayed, so that the area to be searched becomes wider and the search becomes more difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention, which has been made in view of the above points, is to provide a search support device capable of supporting a search operation so that a mobile object can be efficiently searched based on past mobile object information. is there.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a search support apparatus for supporting a search operation for searching for a moving body observed at a fixed point after a predetermined time has elapsed. Receiving means for receiving moving object information including the moving direction, speed, and observation time of the moving object observed at the fixed point; and an area where the moving object exists based on the received moving object information and the current time. And calculating means for calculating the existence probability distribution of the moving object in the existence area, and display means for displaying the calculated existence area and existence probability distribution.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the existence area of the moving object and the existence probability distribution of the moving object in the existence area are calculated and displayed based on the past moving object information and the current time. It is possible to search for a moving object mainly at a high place, and it is possible to efficiently search for a moving object.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the search support device of the first aspect, the existence area calculated by the calculation means is a distance reached when the moving body moves linearly at the maximum speed from the fixed point. The existence probability calculated by the calculation means follows a normal probability distribution curve, and the average of the normal probability distribution curve indicates the elapsed time to the speed of the moving object obtained from the received moving object information. Expressed by the multiplied distance, the point on the terrain indicating the average of the normal probability distribution curve is in the moving direction of the moving object passing through the fixed point, and has a desired value in the existence area, To

[0012] According to the second aspect of the present invention, in a presence area having a radius equal to the distance reached when the moving body moves linearly at the maximum speed from the fixed point at which the moving body information is obtained, the desired area is determined according to the normal probability distribution curve. Since the existence probability distribution is displayed so as to have the value, the existence probability of the moving object can be clearly displayed, and the moving object can be searched more efficiently.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the search support apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the calculating means calculates each of the moving object information at the plurality of fixed points received by the receiving means. The existence area and the existence probability distribution are overlapped and synthesized and output.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the existence area and existence probability distribution of the moving object can be provided as more accurate information without wasting a plurality of pieces of target information. It is possible to efficiently search for a moving object in a short time without being distracted by unnecessary information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the search support apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, a topographic map including a terrain in the field of view of the searcher is displayed on the display means and is superimposed on the terrain map. And displaying the existence area and existence probability distribution from the calculation means.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the existence area and existence probability distribution of the moving object are displayed in a superimposed manner on the topographic map including the terrain in the field of view of the searcher, so that the moving object can be searched for more efficiently and in a shorter time. It is possible to do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the search support device of the fourth aspect, the topographic map is a digital map,
It is an external image obtained from a video camera or a radar screen obtained from a radar device.

According to the invention of claim 5, in particular, by superimposing and displaying the existence area and the existence probability distribution of the moving object on the outside world image obtained from the video camera, the searcher can view the outside world without looking at the outside world. It is possible to search for a moving object directly.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a search support device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a search support device, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a three-dimensional mesh of the existence probability distribution, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a display example when there are a plurality of provided target information.

The search support device according to the present embodiment is mounted on a flying object such as a helicopter. As shown in FIG. 1, a digital communication device 1, a calculation device 2, a symbol display device 3,
It has a display 4, a video camera 5, a position calculation device 6, and a clock device 7.

The digital communication device 1 receives target information observed at a fixed point, that is, an observation point in the past, and supplies the received target information to the calculation device 2. Computing device 2
, The present time is also supplied from the clock device 7, where the target existence area and the existence probability distribution in the existence area are computed based on the target information and the current time, and the computation result is sent to the symbol display device 3. Supply.

On the other hand, the video camera 5 captures an image of the outside world, detects the direction (direction and depression angle) of the camera, and supplies image information and direction information of the video camera 5 to the symbol display device 3. The position measuring device 6 detects the three-dimensional position of the video camera 5 and supplies the detected information to the symbol display device 3.

In the symbol display device 3, a video camera 5
Is displayed on the display 4 and the target existence area calculated by the calculation device 2 based on the camera orientation information from the video camera 5 and the three-dimensional position information of the camera from the position measurement device 6. And the presence probability distribution in the presence area is superimposed on the external image by the video camera 5 and displayed on the display 4.

Hereinafter, the operation of the search support apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, an observation time, a position vector, a velocity vector, and a type are received by the digital communication device 1 as target information observed at a fixed point in the past.

When the target information is received, the calculating device 2 first calculates an estimated position of the current target based on the received target information and the current time from the clock device 7. Here, if the received target observation time is t0, the observed target position vector is P, the observed target velocity vector is V, and the current time from the clock device 7 is t1, the current estimated position is P + V · (t1−t0).

After calculating the current estimated position, next, based on the elapsed time (t1-t0) and the type of the received target,
The estimated movement limit area W, that is, the existence area is calculated, and the existence probability distribution centering on the current estimated position is calculated.

Here, assuming that the maximum movement speed corresponding to the type of target is U, the movement limit area W is a circle having a radius centered on the observation point and U · (t1−t0). Also,
The existence probability distribution is a normal probability density function φ where variance is σd ² (standard deviation σd) and distance from the current estimated position is deviation u.
Approximating d (u), And this probability density function φd (u) is The total probability P integrated in the movement limit area (± W)
Variance σd ² such that d is a desired value, for example, 3σd.
Ask for.

When the existence probability distribution is superimposed on the external image captured by the video camera 5 and displayed on the display 4, a movement limit area of ± W centering on the observation point is divided into an appropriate amount, for example, 20 divisions. And the distance between the grid point of each mesh and the current target estimated position is defined as u, using the above probability density function φd (u), u
<Calculate the existence probability of the lattice point within the range of W. The values of the other grid points are set to 0.

To display the calculated existence probability,
Since the value as it is is too small, it is enlarged for easy viewing and displayed as a three-dimensional mesh as shown in FIG. Note that FIG.
In, the vertical and horizontal axes indicate the distance at which the coordinates of the observation point are (0, 0), and the height indicates the probability.

On the other hand, when a plurality of pieces of target information at a fixed point are received by the digital communication device 1, the calculation device 2 obtains a movement limit area and an existence probability distribution for each target information in the same manner as described above. The areas and the existence probability distributions are superimposed on each other and combined to be supplied to the symbol display device 3. The combined movement limit area and the existence probability distribution are superimposed on the external image picked up by the video camera 5 and displayed on the display 4. To be displayed.

In this case, if a plurality of pieces of target information at a fixed point are different from each other, for example, the first target information, that is, data 1
And the second target information, ie, data 2
Is different from the speed vector at the current position, the current estimated position calculated based on the data 1 and the current estimated position calculated based on the data 2 are different as shown in FIG. Will be distributed separately.

If the observation time of data 2 is earlier than that of data 1, the sum of the probabilities causes the height of the probability to be lower than that of data 1, and the difference in the height of the peaks in the three-dimensional mesh display. It is expressed as Note that FIG.
In order to make the explanation of the composition of the two existence probabilities easy to understand, it is shown by a contour line of an arbitrary scale.

By displaying the existence probability distribution on the display 4 as a three-dimensional mesh in this manner, when the received target information is information that has just been observed, the probability of the vicinity of the current estimated position is relatively low. It is displayed high, the current estimated position moves with the passage of time, and the existence probability distribution is displayed broadly and gently.

Therefore, for example, if there is target information similar to the case of FIG. 8 such as "the target moves west around 300 m west" at a certain discovery point, the past target information may be added as necessary. By superimposing the received presence probability distribution on the external image captured by the video camera 5 and displaying it on the display 4, the current estimated position with a high probability distribution displayed as shown in FIG. Can quickly search for the target.

According to the present embodiment, the past target information is received, the presence probability distribution is superimposed on the external image by the video camera 5 and displayed on the display 4, and the probability distribution displayed while observing the display 4 is displayed. Since the target can be searched directly at a high place, the target can be searched efficiently. Further, when there are a plurality of provided target information, the respective probability distributions are superimposed and displayed, so that the plurality of target information can be provided as more accurate information without wasting. Therefore, the time required for the search can be shortened, and the user will not be misled by invalid information that has passed.

(Second Embodiment) In a second embodiment of the present invention, the video camera 5 is omitted in FIG. 1, a database of a digital map is provided in place of the position calculation device 6, and an external world is displayed on the display 4. Instead of displaying the image, a digital map including the observation point and the movement limit area is displayed, and the existence probability distribution calculated by the calculation device 2 by superimposing on the digital map is displayed as a contour line.

FIG. 5 shows a display example on the display 4 in the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, the contour line divides the interval between the maximum value and the minimum value of the probability distribution into about 20 divisions, calculates the probability of the search area for each grid of the mesh of the first embodiment, and determines the point at which the division probability exists. Complement and seek. A region connecting the same probability points is contoured by surrounding it with a frame using a complementary function, for example, a spline function. In FIG. 5, each axis indicates a distance with the coordinates of the observation point being (0, 0).

According to the present embodiment, an area having a high probability that a target is considered to be present can be found on the map displayed on the display 4, which can contribute to the efficiency of the search operation.

(Third Embodiment) In a third embodiment of the present invention, a radar device is provided in place of the video camera 5 in FIG.
The existence probability distribution calculated by the calculation device 2 is displayed as contour lines superimposed on the radar screen.

FIG. 6 shows a display example on the display 4 in the third embodiment. Here, the radar screen is displayed with the horizontal axis as the azimuth and the vertical axis as the distance, and the contour lines indicating the existence probability distribution are displayed by performing coordinate conversion on the contour lines calculated in the second embodiment. In this case, the coordinate conversion is performed by calculating the azimuth and distance for each mesh point. When the radar screen is displayed in a fan shape with the vertical and horizontal coordinates as the distance, the contour lines of the existence probability distribution calculated in the second embodiment may be displayed in a superimposed manner without performing coordinate conversion.

According to the present embodiment, an area having a high probability that a target is considered to be present can be found on the radar screen displayed on the display 4, thus contributing to an efficient search operation as in the second embodiment. can do.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the display 4 may use a see-through type HMD 11 as shown in FIG. Here, the fixed point refers to an arbitrary location whose position is known, and is not necessarily limited to a fixed location.

[0045]

As described above, according to the search support apparatus of the present invention, moving body information including the moving direction, speed, and observation time of a moving body observed at a fixed point in the past is received, and the received moving Based on the body information and the current time, the existence area of the moving object and the existence probability distribution of the moving object in the existence area are calculated and displayed, so that it is possible to contribute to the support of the search operation, and You can search efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a search support device showing an outline of a first embodiment of a search support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a three-dimensional mesh of an existence probability distribution according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a display example when there are a plurality of pieces of target information provided in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display example of an existence probability distribution according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a display example of an existence probability distribution according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modification of the display shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a conventional search operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital communication device 2 Computing device 3 Symbol display device 4 Display 5 Video camera 6 Position calculating device 7 Clock device 11 Helmet mount display (HM
D)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A search support device for assisting a search operation for searching for a moving object observed at a fixed point after an elapse of an arbitrary time, comprising: a moving direction, a speed, and a moving direction of the moving object observed at the fixed point.
Receiving means for receiving mobile object information including an observation time; calculating means for calculating the existence area of the mobile object and the existence probability distribution of the mobile object in the existence area based on the received mobile object information and the current time And a display means for displaying the calculated presence area and presence probability distribution. 2. The existence area calculated by the calculation means is a range whose radius is the distance reached when the moving body moves linearly at the maximum speed from the fixed point, and the existence probability calculated by the calculation means is Follows the normal probability distribution curve, and the average of the normal probability distribution curve is represented by a distance obtained by multiplying the speed of the moving object obtained from the received moving object information by the elapsed time, and indicates the average of the normal probability distribution curve. The point on the terrain is in the moving direction of the moving object passing through the fixed point,
The search support device according to claim 1, wherein the search support device has a desired value in the presence area. 3. The calculating means superimposes and combines the existence area and existence probability distribution respectively calculated with respect to the moving body information at the plurality of fixed points received by the receiving means, and outputs the resultant. The search support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. Displaying a topographic map including a terrain in the sight of a searcher on the display means, and displaying the existence area and existence probability distribution from the calculation means so as to be superimposed on the terrain map. The search support device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The search support device according to claim 4, wherein the topographic map is a digital map, an external image obtained from a video camera, or a radar screen obtained from a radar device.