JPH0233107B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tracking signal generation device for a moving object, and for example, scans a laser beam from at least two positions separated by a predetermined interval to determine a path, and tracks cars, airplanes, etc. on this path. The present invention relates to a follow-up signal generating device that generates a follow-up signal to cause a moving object to move.

For example, it would be convenient if a route could be determined by scanning a laser beam or the like, and a course instruction or direction guidance could be given so that a moving object such as a car or airplane would move along this route.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a moving object tracking signal generation device that can satisfy such demands.

To summarize this invention, two scanning signals are modulated based on predetermined first and second points corresponding to the scanning angle and distance information or route distance information to the moving object, and the first and second points are modulated. The modulated first and second signals are scanned so as to form an intersection on their respective trajectories with the center at , the modulated first and second signals are detected by the moving object, and each detection signal is The deviation of the moving object from the predetermined path is determined in accordance with the timing at which the moving object is output, and information representing the direction in which the moving object should travel is displayed. Additionally, the distance information or route distance information to the first and second moving objects is demodulated according to the detected first and second detection signals, and the respective distance information or route distance information is output simultaneously. When the distance information or route distance information is displayed.

The above objects and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are illustrative views for explaining the principle of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
Scanning signal generators 2a and 2b are provided on the ground surface 1 at a predetermined interval. The scanning signal generators 2a and 2b generate signals having different frequencies and sharp directivity, such as laser beams 3a and 3.
b are scanned so as to rotate in opposite directions at a constant speed. That is, the scanning signal generator 2a scans the laser beam 3a so as to rotate clockwise. On the other hand, the scanning signal generator 2b uses the laser beam 3
Scan b in a counterclockwise direction. Then, the laser beams 3a and 3b are set at predetermined angles θa,
When scanning within the range of θb, the respective trajectories intersect on line 4. If the frequency of the laser beams 3a and 3b is selected as an integer multiple, each laser beam 3
a and 3b interfere with each other, and the intersection can be visually observed. Such a laser beam 3a,
Line 4 connecting the intersections of 3b and 3b is a moving object (not shown)
is determined as the route to travel. Then, the moving object detects the laser beams 3a and 3b and
The moving object can be moved on the line 4 by determining the deviation with respect to the line 4 and steering the moving object to reduce the deviation.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing an example of a moving object applied to an airplane as an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the line 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 described above is defined as the course of the airplane 6. This course is selected as a landing course for airplane 6 to land on runway 5. For this purpose, the terminal PO of runway 5 is
Two scanning signal generators 2a and 2b are provided at positions separated from each other by a predetermined distance. Laser beams 3a and 3b having different frequencies are scanned at a constant speed from scanning signal generators 2a and 2b.

On the other hand, the airplane 6 is provided with a detector 7 that detects each of the laser beams 3a and 3b of two different frequencies. The detector 7 has a laser beam 3a,
Detect 3b. Then, the deviation of the airplane 6 from the line 4 is determined by a determination circuit, which will be described later.

Note that the scanning signal generators 2a and 2b are connected to the runway 5.
Position information of positions P1 and P2 that are a predetermined distance away from the terminal point P0, for example, position P1 is the terminal point P0.
It generates information indicating that the position is 2000 m away from P0, and the position P2 is 5000 m away from the terminal P0. That is, the laser beams 3a, 3
When b is scanned at angles θa ₁ and θb ₁ from a position P0 perpendicular to the runway 5, the laser beam is modulated based on the position information of the position P1. Furthermore, when the laser beams 3a and 3b are scanned at angles θa ₂ and θb ₂ , they are modulated based on position information at position P2. For example, when the airplane 6 reaches the position P2, it detects the modulated laser beams 3a and 3b, demodulates the detection output, and determines that the position P2 is 5000 m away from the end P0 of the runway 5. do. In addition, as mentioned above, the terminal end P of the runway 5
If the moving route is curved, the straight line distance between the end point P0 of the runway 5 and the moving object may be determined.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a scanning signal generator included in one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
The laser oscillator 21 generates a conventionally known laser beam. This laser oscillator 21
The laser beam generated is given to the scanning section 22. The scanning section 22 includes a reflecting mirror that receives the laser beam. This reflecting mirror is configured to be rotatable through 360° by a driving means such as a motor. As explained in FIGS. 1 to 3, one scanning signal generator 2a scans the laser beam 3a by rotating the reflecting mirror clockwise, and the other scanning signal generator 2b scans the laser beam 3a by rotating the reflecting mirror clockwise. is rotated counterclockwise to scan the laser beam 3b. Such control for rotating and scanning the laser beams 3a and 3b is performed based on a control program of a computer or the like.

The rotation angle of the reflecting mirror included in the scanning section 22 is detected by an angle detection circuit 23. That is, the angle detection circuit 23 detects that the reflecting mirror has rotated by angles θa ₁ , θb ₁ , θa ₂ and θb ₂ as explained in FIG. The detection output of this angle detection circuit 23 is
It is applied to the distance calculation circuit 24. This distance calculation circuit 24 is configured such that the laser beams 3a and 3b have angles θa ₁ ,
When the angle reaches θb ₁ , the distance from P0 to P1, for example, 2000 m is calculated, and when the angle reaches θa ₂ and θb ₂ , the distance from P0 to P2 is calculated, 5000 m. For example, the distance from P0 to P1 and the distance from P0 to P2 are stored in the ROM, and when the angles become θa ₁ and θb ₁ , and when the angles become θa ₂ and θb ₂ , the respective distances are stored in the ROM. Distance information may also be read out. Information calculated by this distance calculation circuit 24 is given to a modulation circuit 25. The modulation circuit 25 modulates the laser beam generated by the laser oscillator 21 based on the provided distance information.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of means for generating a follow-up signal included in one embodiment of the invention. In the figure, the detector 7 is installed on the airplane 6 described in FIG.
Detect b. For this purpose, the detector 7 is, for example, a solar cell, and includes two detectors 71, 72 to detect the laser beams 3a, 3b of different frequencies. One detector 71 detects the laser beam 3a, and the other detector 72 detects the laser beam 3b. These detectors 71, 72
The detection outputs of are amplified by amplifier circuits 73 and 74, respectively, and provided to a discrimination circuit 75. Discrimination circuit 7
Step 5 determines whether the detectors 71 and 72 detect the laser beams 3a and 3b simultaneously. If the detector 71 detects the laser beam 3a and then the detector 72 detects the laser beam 3b, it is determined that the airplane 6 is moving to the left of the line 4 and should be steered to the right. Generate a signal. Conversely, when the detector 72 detects the laser beam 3b and then the detector 71 detects the laser beam 3a, it determines that the airplane 6 is moving to the right of the line 4, and sends a signal to steer to the left. Occur. The output signal discriminated by this discrimination circuit 75 is given to a steering display 76. This steering indicator 7
6 displays information indicating whether the vehicle should be steered to the left or to the right.

Detector 7 amplified by the amplifier circuits 73 and 74
The detection output signals 1 and 72 are sent to the recovery circuit 7, respectively.
7,78. This demodulation circuit 77, 78
The system demodulates the laser beams 3a and 3b to extract distance information. That is, the demodulation circuit 7
7 and 78 are laser beams 3 demodulated based on distance information when the airplane 6 reaches position P2.
Distance information is extracted from a and 3b. Demodulation circuit 7
The distance information demodulated at 7 and 78 is given to an AND gate 79. This AND gate 79 supplies a signal to the position indicator 80 only when the laser beams 3a and 3b are detected simultaneously. The position indicator 80 displays given distance information, ie, that P2 is 5000 meters away from P0.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the laser beams 3a and 3b are scanned in a rotating manner from two points separated by a predetermined interval, and the intersection point where they intersect is determined as the course of the airplane 6. , by detecting the two laser beams 3a, 3b, it is possible to indicate whether the airplane 6 should be steered to the left or to the right.

In the above embodiment, a laser beam with a sharp directivity and a circular cross section is used for scanning. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a laser beam having an oval cross section may be scanned. Then, the upper side of one laser beam and the lower side of the other laser beam are made to overlap at the intersection, and when the overlapping part is detected, it is determined that the height is normal, and only one laser beam is used. It may be determined that the altitude is decreasing when the laser beam is detected, and that it is determined that the altitude is increasing when only the other laser beam is detected.

In the above embodiment, the laser beams 3a and 3b are generated from two points separated by a predetermined interval, but it is possible to provide a plurality of laser beam generators 2 and generate laser beams of different frequencies from each of them. It may be made to occur. and,
The moving object may be provided with a detector that detects laser beams having different frequencies, and the deviation of the moving object from the path and the current position of the moving object may be determined based on the respective detection outputs.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the frequencies of the two laser beams 3a and 3b are different, but the laser beams having the same frequency may be generated.
However, in this case, to identify each,
It is necessary to perform modulation based on the identification signal.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the two laser beams 3a and 3b were scanned so as to rotate at a constant speed, but the respective rotation speeds may be made to be different. Thereby, a line connecting the intersections of the two laser beams 3a and 3b can be arbitrarily set. Furthermore, two laser beams 3a, 3
The scanning speed of b may be made variable at the same time. This also makes it possible to moderate the degree of change in the locus of the intersection.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the moving object is applied to the airplane 6 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a car, a ship, or the like.

Furthermore, as a more preferred embodiment, an agricultural machine such as a rice transplanter may be used as the moving object. Then, the intersection of the two laser beams is determined on the rice planting line, and when rice planting in one row is completed, the intersection is determined in the next row. Setting such an intersection point can be relatively easily done by programmatically controlling the rotational speed of the laser beam.

As described above, according to the present invention, scanning signals modulated with position information from two points separated by a predetermined interval are scanned on the same plane, each scanning signal is detected by a moving object, and the detection output is Based on this, the deviation of the moving object from the predetermined path can be determined and displayed, and position information can be demodulated and displayed from the two detected scanning signals. Therefore, for a moving object, the deviation from the predetermined route and the current position can be easily known.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are illustrative views for explaining the principle of an embodiment of the present invention. Fourth
The figure is a schematic block diagram of a scanning signal generator included in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of means for determining the deviation of a moving object from its path and its current position, as an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2, 2a, 2b are scanning signal generators, 21 is a laser oscillator, 22 is a scanning unit, 23 is an angle detection circuit, 24 is a distance calculation circuit, 25 is a modulation circuit, 3a, 3b is a laser beam, 6 is a A moving object, 7 a detector, 75 a discrimination circuit, 76 a steering indicator, 77 and 78 a demodulation circuit, 79 an AND gate, and 80 a position indicator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A follow-up signal generating device that generates a follow-up signal for a moving object to move on a predetermined path, the first signal being provided at a predetermined first point and having sharp directivity. a first signal that generates a signal and scans the sharply directional first signal with the first point as the center;
scanning signal generating means, which is provided at a second point spaced apart from the predetermined first point by a predetermined distance, and generates a second signal having a sharp directivity different from the first signal; a second scanning signal generating means for scanning the second signal centering on a point No. 2;
a first scanning angle detection means for detecting an angle between the first signal and a reference position on the predetermined route in connection with the scanning of the signal; Second
a second scanning angle detection means for detecting an angle between the second signal and the reference position in connection with the scanning of the signal; the angle detected by the first and second scanning angle detection means; Distance information or route distance from the position of the intersection of the first and second signals to the reference position based on each angle and the distance between the first and second points and the reference position. a calculation means for calculating information, based on the distance information or route distance information calculated by the calculation means, the first and second
modulating means for modulating a signal; two detecting means provided on the moving object for detecting first and second signals modulated with the distance information or route distance information; and outputs from the two detecting means, respectively. determination means for determining the deviation of the moving object from the predetermined path according to the timing of the detection signal; 1
display means, displaying respective distance information or route distance between the predetermined first and second points and the moving object according to the first and second detection signals detected by the two detection means; demodulating means for demodulating information; gate means for outputting the distance information or route distance information when the respective distance information or route distance information demodulated by the demodulating means is simultaneously output; and output from the gate means. A tracking signal generation device for a moving object, comprising a second display means for displaying the distance to the moving object or the route distance in response to the distance information or the route distance information. 2. The first and second scanning signal generating means are
2. The moving object tracking signal generating device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second signals are generated as laser beams.