JP6495004B2 - Underwater vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an underwater traveling transport vehicle that travels underwater by transporting earth and sand collected in, for example, a river or a lake.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an underwater traveling vehicle has been known that includes an endless track device (hereinafter referred to as a caterpillar) as traveling means (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In addition, a water depth measuring device that measures the water depth by attaching an ultrasonic transmitter / receiver to a vehicle traveling underwater, receiving ultrasonic echoes emitted to the bottom of the water, and measuring the ultrasonic wave transmission / reception time. Proposed. (For example, patent document 3).
By the way, because the surface layer of the riverbed, lake bottom, etc. is a sediment layer such as earth and sand, the depth (water depth) to the sediment layer changes due to water flow, etc., so the underwater traveling transport vehicle tilts, You may not be able to run smoothly.
Therefore, it is conceivable that a water depth measuring device equipped with an ultrasonic transmitter / receiver is attached to an underwater traveling transport vehicle, and the vehicle travels while measuring the water depth so that it does not pass through a portion with many undulations.

JP-A-8-302730 JP 2000-255232 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-181256

By the way, in the conventional depth measuring apparatus using ultrasonic waves, when the water is cloudy, the accuracy of measuring the depth is lowered. Therefore, the conventional water depth measuring device is not suitable as a device that assists the traveling of a vehicle that is heavy like an underwater traveling and transporting vehicle and in which earth and sand are agitated during traveling and the water is likely to become cloudy.
Also, the vehicle tilts when the water depth is different before and after the vehicle traveling direction and right and left. Therefore, it is conceivable to measure the attitude of the vehicle by attaching an attitude sensor such as an inclinometer to the vehicle. However, when the attitude sensor is attached to the vehicle, the attitude of the vehicle at the traveling position can be measured, but there is a problem that the difference in water depth ahead of the traveling direction cannot be detected in advance.

  The present invention has been made in view of conventional problems, and an underwater traveling transport vehicle that can detect a difference in water depth ahead of the traveling direction in advance and can smoothly travel on a sedimentary layer such as a riverbed. The purpose is to provide.

As a result of intensive studies, the inventors have used an electromagnetic wave radar that is not affected by water turbidity as a means for measuring the water bottom position in the forward direction of the vehicle, and the electromagnetic wave radar is moved forward from the left and right sides of the vehicle in the forward direction of the vehicle. It has been found that the difference between the right and left water depths in the traveling direction of the vehicle can be detected in advance if it is mounted so as to protrude, and the present invention has been achieved.
That is, the present invention includes a base, a cargo bed mounted on the base, and an endless track device (hereinafter referred to as a caterpillar) attached to a lower portion of the base, and travels underwater. An electromagnetic wave radar device mounted on each side of the vehicle in the traveling direction of the vehicle, a support member for supporting the electromagnetic wave radar device, and a control device for driving and controlling the vehicle, The difference in water depth between the left and right electromagnetic radar devices detected in the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices is calculated from the distance between the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices and the bottom of the vehicle, or the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices. The distance between the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices and the bottom of the water, respectively, and the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices and the bottom of the water are detected. Calculate the difference between the thickness of the left and right deposited layers from the distance between the deposited layer and the boundary surface of the base layer, or the difference in water depth between the left and right and the thickness of the left and right deposited layers It is characterized by calculating both the difference and the difference .
Thus, the right and left and the water depth difference of the car both the traveling direction, since the difference in thickness of the deposited layer of Hidariyu can be detected in advance, by controlling the traveling direction of water running transportation vehicle by using the information, It can run smoothly on sedimentary layers such as the riverbed.

In addition, the present invention includes a GPS device that measures the position of the vehicle.
Thereby, since the water depth of the present position of the said vehicle and the water depth of the right and left of a vehicle advancing direction can also be detected, the water depth of the driving route of a vehicle can be preserve | saved as data.
In addition, the present invention further includes a front / rear inclinometer that measures the degree of inclination before and after the traveling direction of the vehicle, or a left / right inclinometer that measures the degree of inclination left and right in the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is characterized by that.
Thereby, when the sedimentary layer is inclined, the position of the electromagnetic wave radar device can be corrected, so that the difference between the water depth at the current position of the vehicle and the water depth in the vehicle traveling direction can be grasped more accurately. it can.

In the present invention, when the calculated difference in water depth between the left and right in the traveling direction of the vehicle exceeds a preset threshold, the traveling of the vehicle is temporarily stopped and the traveling direction of the vehicle is It is characterized by performing control to change the.
As a result, it is possible to avoid a portion with a lot of undulations as a travel route, and thus it is possible to smoothly travel the underwater travel transport vehicle.
In the present invention, the control device may temporarily stop the progress of the vehicle when the calculated difference between the thicknesses of the left and right deposit layers in the traveling direction of the vehicle exceeds a preset threshold value. The vehicle is controlled to change the traveling direction of the vehicle.
Accordingly, the vehicle can be prevented from sinking into the sediment layer, so that the underwater vehicle can be smoothly driven.

  The summary of the invention does not list all necessary features of the present invention, and a sub-combination of these feature groups can also be an invention.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the remote control system of the underwater traveling transport vehicle which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the method to detect the position of the boundary surface of the deposition layer and substrate layer of a water bottom using the underwater travel conveyance vehicle of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of water depth. It is a figure which shows an example of a display screen. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the remote control system of an underwater traveling conveyance vehicle. It is a figure which shows the correction method of the position coordinate of an electromagnetic wave radar apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1A and 1B are diagrams showing the configuration of a remote operation system 1 for an underwater travel transport vehicle. The remote operation system 1 for an underwater travel transport vehicle is an underwater travel transport vehicle that travels underwater such as lakes and rivers. 10 and a remote control room 20 for remotely operating the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10.
The underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 includes a base 11, a loading platform 12 that is attached to the rear of the base 11 in the vehicle traveling direction and carries a transported object 2 such as clay, and a vehicle traveling direction of the base 11 (hereinafter referred to as the front). Caterpillars 13L, 13R as traveling means attached to the left and right sides, an electromagnetic wave radar device 14 as a water bottom state detecting means, a support member 15 that supports the electromagnetic wave radar device 14, and an engine (not shown) as a power source. A drive control device 16, a GPS receiver 17, and a vehicle-side transceiver 18 are provided. Reference numeral 16k denotes an engine intake / exhaust chimney.

The electromagnetic wave radar device 14 includes a transmission antenna 14a that irradiates a detection target with an electromagnetic wave, a reception antenna 14b that is arranged integrally with the transmission antenna 14a and receives a reflected wave from the detection target, and information on the reflected wave collected by the reception antenna 14b. To the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 and a calculation unit 14c for calculating the distance between the detection target and the front of the base 11 that is in front of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 in the traveling direction.
In this example, the detection target is the bottom 3 where the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 travels. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the position of the boundary surface between the deposition layer 4 and the substrate layer 5 constituting the ground of the bottom 3. Can also be detected. That is, the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 processes the information of the reflected wave from the surface of the water bottom 3 collected by the receiving antenna 14b by the calculation unit 14c, so that the water depth H ₀ at the current position of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 and the front side. Not only the difference from the water depth H at the installation position of a certain electromagnetic wave radar device 14 but also the thickness C ₄ (C ₄ = H _z −H) of the deposited layer 4 can be detected.

In this example, the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14 are arranged at three locations on the left and right front sides of the base 11 and in front of the central portion. Hereinafter, the electromagnetic wave radar devices disposed in front of the left and right caterpillars 13L and 13R are referred to as electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L and 14R, respectively. The electromagnetic wave radar device disposed in front of the center of the base 11 is referred to as the electromagnetic wave radar device 14M. That's it.
The support member 15 protrudes to the front of the base 11 from the left and right front and the front of the center of the mounting base 15a provided at the central portion of the base 11, and has electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, 14 The support rod 15b to which 14R is attached is provided.
In order to simplify the description, the height of the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 is the same as the vehicle center position O of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10, that is, a predetermined position from the ground position when the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is not tilted. Assume that the height is H ₀ . In this example, H ₀ = 1 m.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the distance from the vehicle center position O to the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 is D, the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, and 14R are left, right, and center in front of the vehicle center position O by the distance D. It can be seen that the distance between the vehicle center position O and the bottom 3 of the vehicle, that is, the difference between the water depth at the current vehicle center position O of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 and the right and left water depths in the vehicle traveling direction is detected.
That is, the underwater traveling vehicle 10 according to the present invention can detect in advance a change in water depth ahead in the vehicle traveling direction by measuring the distance between the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 and the bottom 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the GPS receiver 17 is attached to the tip of a first support rod 17 p erected on the base 11, receives a signal from the artificial satellite S, and receives the GPS receiver 17. position coordinate P of the mounting position _{(x p, y p, z} p) determined.
The vehicle-side transmitter / receiver 18 is attached to the tip of the second support bar 18p erected on the base 11, and the position coordinate P data measured by the GPS receiver 17 and the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M. , 14R, the data H _L , H _M , and H _R of the front, left, and right bottom positions of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 are transmitted to the remote operation room 20 described later and driven from the remote operation room 20. An operation command signal for controlling the control device 16 is received.
The lengths of the first and second support rods 17p and 18p are set so that the position of the tip is above the water surface W at the predicted maximum water depth position. That is, the GPS receiver 17 and the vehicle-side transceiver 18 are disposed above the water surface W. Needless to say, the tip of the intake / exhaust chimney 16k of the engine is also above the water surface W.

The remote operation room 20 includes an operation room side transmitter / receiver 21, an arithmetic unit 22, an operation unit 23, and a display unit 24, and remotely operates the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 by wireless communication.
The operation room side transceiver 21 transmits the data of the position coordinates P (x _p , y _p , z _p ) transmitted from the vehicle side transceiver 18 of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10, the front left and right and center bottom positions. The data H _L , H _M , and H _R are received and sent to the calculation device 22, and an operation command signal is transmitted to the drive control device 16.
The arithmetic unit 22 includes a course calculation unit 22a and a water bottom state estimation unit 22b.
The course calculation means 22a converts the position coordinate P from the previously stored position of the GPS receiver 17 into the coordinate of the vehicle center position O of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 (hereinafter referred to as the ground position O). The converted data on the ground position O is stored in time series. Hereinafter, the coordinates of the ground position are set to O (x ₀ , y ₀ , z ₀ ), and the traveling direction N of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is determined from the time series data of the ground position O (x ₀ , y ₀ , z ₀ ). Is calculated, and the position coordinates Q _k (x _kq , y _kq , z _kq ) of the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, 14R are calculated and sent to the water bottom state estimating means 22b. Here, k = L, M, R. In this example, since the mounting position of the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 is the same height as the vehicle center position O, z _kq = z ₀ .

The underwater state estimating means 22b detects the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 from the data H _L , H _M , and H _R of the three bottom positions in front of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 detected by the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, 14R. left and right front and center front of the water depth h _L, h _M, calculates the h _R, calculates the magnitude [Delta] h _W of the left and right front inclined, the degree [Delta] h _D of the slope.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the ground position of the water surface W is z _w , the water depth h _k is calculated by h _k = z _w −z ₀ + H _k (where k = L, M, R).
In addition, the magnitude of the inclination ΔH _W is the difference between the water depth on the left side in front of the traveling direction and the water depth on the right side (ΔH _W = H _L −H _R ). water traveling carrier vehicle 10 represents the magnitude of the lateral inclination, the degree [Delta] H _D of the slope, the difference ΔH _LM = H _L -H _M and left depth and central water depth ahead in the traveling direction, the traveling direction forward represented in the middle of the difference between the difference ΔH _MR = H _M -H _R of water depth and the right water depth _{(ΔH D = ΔH LM -ΔH MR} ).
As described above, if not only the magnitude of the inclination ΔH _W but also the degree of inclination ΔH _D which is the difference between ΔH _LM and ΔH _MR is calculated, for example, the water depth abruptly changes on the right or left side in front of the traveling direction. It can be detected whether or not.

Operating means 23, when the magnitude [Delta] H _W of the left and right front of the slope of the water traveling carrier vehicle 10 calculated by the water bottom condition estimation means 22b exceeds a threshold value K _W set in advance, or the degree [Delta] H _D of the slope in advance if it exceeds the set threshold _the K _D, the progression of the water traveling carrier vehicle 10 temporarily stops, the control signal for changing the traveling direction of the water traveling carrier vehicle 10, via the operating chamber side transceiver 21, Transmit to the vehicle-side transceiver 18. The threshold value K _W is suitably about 10 ° in terms of angle.
For example, the display unit 24 displays a trajectory (three-dimensional) including the water depth of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 from the starting point A calculated by the course calculation unit 22a as shown in FIG. Data), and the water depths h _L , h _M , and h _R at the left and right front and the center front as shown in FIG. 4B are displayed as, for example, color differences. May also be displayed on the size [Delta] H _W and inclination degree [Delta] H _D slope that is calculated by the water bottom condition estimating unit 22b.

Next, operation | movement of the remote control system 1 of the underwater traveling delivery vehicle of this invention is demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, before departure, the first support rod 17p of the GPS receiver 17 is shrunk, the ground position of the water surface W of the lake water is measured, and the height direction data z _w is transmitted to the remote control room 20 (step). with S10), and stored in advance in the transmitted data z _w a path calculation means 22a (step S11).
Then, after extending the first support rod 17p to a predetermined length, the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is caused to travel (step S12). It should be noted that the load 2 on the loading platform 12 may be before the measurement of the ground position of the water surface W or after the measurement.
While the underwater traveling vehicle 10 is traveling, the GPS receiver 17 obtains the position coordinates P (x _p , y _p , z _p ) of the mounting position of the GPS receiver 17 and the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, 14R. The data H _L , H _M , and H _R of the left and right and center water bottom positions in front of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 are acquired and transmitted to the remote control room 20 (step S13).
In step S14, the position coordinates P of the mounting position of the transmitted GPS receiver 17 in step _{S13 (x p, y p,} z p) data H _L of water bottom position, H _M, and H _R, water travel transportation The water depths h _L , h _M , h _R at the left and right front and the center front of the vehicle 10 are calculated, the left and right front inclination magnitude ΔH _W = H _L −H _R, and the inclination degree ΔH _D = ΔH _LM −ΔH _MR is calculated (step S14).
Then, whether or not the calculated slope magnitude ΔH _W of the left and right front of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 exceeds a preset threshold value K _W , and the slope degree ΔH _D exceeds a preset threshold value K _D. (Step S15).
In step S15, ΔH _W ≦ K _W and, in the case of [Delta] H _D ≦ K _D continues the running of the water running transport vehicle 10.
In other cases, that is, when ΔH _W > K _W or ΔH _D > K _D , the advancing of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is temporarily stopped and the traveling direction of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is changed. .

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the embodiment. It is apparent from the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, three electromagnetic wave radar devices 14 are provided. However, the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L and 14R may be two, or four or more. In the case of two units, the determination of the advancing / stopping of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is performed based only on the magnitude ΔH _W of the left and right front inclination. In the case of four or more, the difference between the adjacent water depth H is changed in one direction, and may be the degree [Delta] H _D of the slope of the change in the difference between adjacent water depth H.
In the above embodiment, the underwater travel vehicle 10 is determined from the position coordinates P (x _p , y _p , z _p ) of the GPS receiver 17 mounting position and the water bottom position data H _L , H _M , H _R. The water depths h _L , h _M , and h _R at the left and right front and the center front of the water are calculated. However, the data of the water depth is not always necessary, and if the right and left front inclination is ΔH _W = H _L −H _R It is possible to determine whether or not to change the traveling direction of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10. However, since the water depth data is data necessary when the transport route of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is set in advance, it is preferable that the GPS receiver 17 is provided as in this example.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the advancing direction of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 was controlled using data H _L , H _M , and H _R of the water bottom position detected by the electromagnetic wave radar device 14, the measurement was performed by the electromagnetic wave radar device 14. The traveling direction of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 may be controlled using the thickness C ₄ of the deposition layer 4 in the traveling direction of the vehicle.
Specifically, as the thickness of the deposited layer 4 increases, the sinking of the vehicle increases. Therefore, the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 detects the thicknesses C _L , C _M , and C _R of the deposited layer 4, and the thickness difference ΔC _W = C _L −C _R between the left and right fronts and the degree of thickness difference ΔC _D = ΔC _LM −ΔC _MR (where ΔC _LM = C _L −C _M , ΔC _MR = C _M −C _R ), and the thickness difference ΔC _W and the thickness difference degree ΔC _D May be used to determine whether or not to change the traveling direction of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10.
Alternatively, both water bottom position data H _L , H _M , H _R and the thickness data C _L , C _M , C _R of the deposited layer 4 may be used.
Thereby, the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 can be traveled more smoothly.

By the way, when the water depth difference in the vehicle traveling direction is large, a deviation occurs between the calculated value of the position coordinate Q _k (x _kq , y _kq , z _kq ) of the electromagnetic wave radar device 14 and the actual position coordinate.
In such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 is provided with a front and rear inclinometer 19 such as a posture sensor that measures the degree of inclination of the vehicle in the forward and backward direction, and the inclination angle in the forward direction is provided. While measuring θ, it is preferable to correct the z coordinate z _kq of the position coordinate P of the electromagnetic wave radar devices 14L, 14M, and 14R using the inclination angle θ, the vehicle center position O, and the distance D between the radar devices. The corrected position coordinate P ′ is a position obtained by rotating P by θ around the vehicle center position O of the vehicle. That is, in the z _kq ≒ z ₀ if theta <10 °, if theta ≧ 10 °, the z _kq ≒ z ₀ -sinθ. Here, the sign of θ is + when the water depth ahead is deep (counterclockwise). This correction may be performed by the arithmetic unit 22 in the remote operation room 20.
In addition to the forward / backward inclinometer 19, a right / left inclinometer that measures the degree of inclination in the left / right direction of travel may be provided. However, when a caterpillar is used as the traveling means as in the present invention, Even if there is an inclination, it can run smoothly, but if there is an inclination in the left and right direction of travel, it cannot smoothly run, so if the inclination in the left and right direction is, for example, 10 ° or more, it stops once and changes the traveling route Take control. Therefore, the right / left inclinometer may be omitted.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the system which remotely controls the underwater traveling delivery vehicle 10 in the remote operation room 20 was demonstrated, the arithmetic unit 22 and the operation means 23 of the remote operation room 20 are mounted in the underwater traveling delivery vehicle 10. Then, the self-propelled underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 can be configured. When there is a management center that manages the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10, the vehicle-side transceiver 18 transmits a locus (three-dimensional data) including the water depth of the underwater traveling transport vehicle 10 from the starting point A. Is also possible.

1 Remote control system for underwater vehicles, 2 transported objects, 3 water bottoms, 4 sediment layers,
5 Basement layer, W Water surface,
10 underwater travel vehicle, 11 base, 12 cargo bed, 13L, 13R caterpillar,
14 electromagnetic wave radar device, 15 support member, 16 drive control device,
16k chimney for intake and exhaust, 17 GPS receiver, 18 vehicle side transceiver,
20 remote operation room, 21 operation room side transceiver, 22 arithmetic unit, 22a course calculation means,
22b Water bottom state estimation means, 23 operation means, 24 display means.

Claims (5)

An underwater traveling transport vehicle that travels underwater, comprising a base, a cargo bed mounted on the base, and an endless track device attached to a lower portion of the base,
Electromagnetic wave radar devices attached to the left and right of the vehicle in the traveling direction of the base, and
A support member for supporting the electromagnetic wave radar device;
A control device for driving and controlling the vehicle,
Calculate the difference in water depth between the left and right electromagnetic radar devices detected by the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices from the distance between the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices and the bottom of the vehicle, or
Detected by the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices, respectively, the distance between the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices and the bottom of the water, and the installation position of the left and right electromagnetic wave radar devices, the deposition layer and the base layer constituting the water bottom, Calculating the difference between the thickness of the deposited layer on the left and right in the vehicle traveling direction from the distance to the boundary surface of the vehicle, or
An underwater traveling vehicle that calculates both the difference in water depth between the left and right and the difference in thickness between the left and right sedimentary layers .   The underwater traveling transport vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a GPS device that measures the position of the vehicle.   The vehicle is further provided with a front / rear inclinometer for measuring the degree of inclination of the vehicle in the forward / backward direction, or a left / right inclinometer for measuring the degree of inclination of the vehicle in the forward / backward direction. Item 3. An underwater traveling transport vehicle according to Item 2. The control device performs control to temporarily stop the travel of the vehicle and change the travel direction of the vehicle when the calculated difference in water depth between the left and right of the travel direction of the vehicle exceeds a preset threshold value. The underwater traveling transport vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The controller temporarily stops the vehicle when the calculated difference between the thicknesses of the left and right deposit layers in the vehicle traveling direction exceeds a preset threshold, and the vehicle traveling direction The underwater traveling transport vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein control for changing the control is performed.

Images