JP2008014874A - Radar for marine vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure detection accuracy and tracking accuracy of a target, even when it is mounted on a small vessel by solving the problem due to the errors of antenna azimuth angle caused by the variation of attitude of a radar antenna which varies, in response to the rolling and pitching of the vessel mounted with the same. <P>SOLUTION: Attitude angle sensors 2 detect the rolling angle and the pitching angle of a vessel body, respectively, and an azimuth error correction part 6 obtains an angle, in which the azimuth angle of the antenna is projected on the horizontal surface as a correction antenna azimuth angle, on the basis of the antenna azimuth angle and the attitude angles (rolling angle, pitching angle) which are the directivity directions of the beam in a vessel body reference plane, parallel to a bow and stern direction that is the travel direction of the vessel body and parallel to the lateral direction. A radar image data generating part 7 and a target tracking part 8 perform processings, by using the antenna azimuth angle after the correction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a marine radar, and more particularly to a marine radar with improved azimuth angle accuracy and target tracking performance when a target is detected in a state where the hull is moving.

A pulse-type radar widely used for ships detects an object all around (omnidirectional) by rotating the antenna once in about 2 to 3 seconds. In addition, for the purpose of preventing a collision with another ship using such a radar, an automatic collision prevention assistance device (ARPA) is mounted on many ships (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). .
JP 2003-48595 A JP 2003-337170 A

  In recent years, such marine radar has been mounted on smaller ships. However, when the radar is mounted on a small ship, the inventor has found that a unique problem occurs as described below.

  In general, since an antenna of a marine radar is fixed at a place with a good line of sight on the hull, it takes a posture similar to that of the hull. Therefore, when the attitude of the hull changes (that is, shakes) due to wind and snow waves, the rotation axis of the antenna is also shaken. When the antenna scanning plane is parallel to the sea surface (horizontal plane), the antenna azimuth angle indicates the actual antenna pointing direction, but the antenna scanning plane is not parallel to the sea surface as the hull changes in attitude. Then, an error occurs between the direction in which the beam is actually directed in the horizontal plane and the antenna azimuth angle.

  The error causes the accuracy of the radar image to deteriorate. In ARPA, the speed and position of the other ship are estimated from the temporal change of the measurement position of the other ship. However, the error of the antenna azimuth is directly affected as the error of the measurement position in the azimuth direction of the other ship. In particular, the farther the other ship is, the more affected by the heading error, the more the estimated speed error of the other ship becomes larger. For this reason, for a distant target, so-called target lost (a phenomenon in which the speed of the target appears to change suddenly during target tracking and the target tracking is interrupted) or target transfer (target During tracking of a target, a tracking error such as a phenomenon of erroneously tracking the position of another target close to the target is likely to occur, and there is a problem that tracking performance deteriorates.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a marine radar that solves the problem caused by an error in antenna azimuth caused by a change in the attitude of a radar antenna that changes in accordance with the motion of a ship that is mounted.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.
(1) A radar that uses an antenna whose beam directing direction turns within a hull reference plane (reference plane in the hull coordinate system) that is parallel to the fore-and-aft direction, which is the direction of travel of the hull. Transmitting and receiving pulsed radio waves from the antenna repeatedly at a constant period, and receiving and receiving signals that are reflected waves from the target of the pulsed radio waves by the antenna; In a marine radar provided with a distance detection means for detecting a distance,
Hull attitude angle detection means for detecting an attitude angle of the hull reference plane with respect to a horizontal plane (ground);
Correction antenna azimuth angle detecting means for obtaining an angle obtained by projecting the antenna azimuth angle on a horizontal plane based on the antenna azimuth angle and the attitude angle which is the beam directing direction in the hull reference plane as a correction antenna azimuth angle; It is characterized by providing.

  (2) The hull attitude angle detecting means detects a rolling angle or a pitching angle of the hull, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detecting means is a function having the rolling angle or the pitching angle and the antenna azimuth as a variable. The corrected antenna azimuth is obtained by the calculation of

  (3) The hull attitude angle detection means individually detects a rolling angle and a pitching angle of the hull, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means uses the rolling angle, the pitching angle, and the antenna azimuth as variables. The correction antenna azimuth is obtained by calculating a function to

  (4) The corrected antenna azimuth detecting means obtains the corrected antenna azimuth by calculating the function when the rolling angle or pitching angle exceeds a predetermined threshold.

(5) Based on the corrected antenna azimuth angle detected by the corrected antenna azimuth angle detection means and the distance to the target detected by the distance detection means, the two-dimensional positions of the plurality of targets in the horizontal plane are determined. A target tracking means for repeatedly detecting and tracking the positions of those targets,
Video data generating means for generating video data for displaying the video of the target in the horizontal plane based on the corrected antenna azimuth and the received signal;
Mark display data generating means for generating display data of a mark representing the position of the target being tracked by the target tracking means;
Display means for displaying the video data and the display data of the mark.

  (1) The hull attitude angle detection means detects an attitude angle of a hull reference plane (a reference plane of the hull coordinate system and an antenna scanning plane) with respect to a horizontal plane, and the correction antenna direction detection means is within the hull reference plane. Based on the antenna azimuth angle and attitude angle, which are the beam directing directions, the angle obtained by projecting the antenna azimuth onto the horizontal plane is obtained, but since the angle is the beam directing direction in the horizontal plane, The error due to the inclination of the hull reference plane can be corrected. Therefore, it is possible to detect a target with high positional accuracy even in a small ship that is easily shaken by wind and snow or waves.

  (2) The hull attitude angle detection means detects the rolling angle or pitching angle of the hull, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means calculates the correction antenna azimuth angle by calculating a function having the rolling angle or pitching angle and the antenna azimuth angle as variables. Since the output of a conventional sensor (a sensor provided for another normal purpose) that detects the rolling angle or pitching angle of the hull can be used, the configuration of the hull attitude angle detection means is easy. Become.

  (3) The hull attitude angle detection means detects the rolling angle and the pitching angle of the hull individually, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means detects the correction antenna azimuth by calculating a function having the rolling angle, the pitching angle and the antenna azimuth as variables. Since the output of a conventional sensor that detects the attitude angle of the hull from the rolling angle and the pitching angle can be used, the configuration of the hull attitude angle detection means is facilitated.

  (4) When the rolling angle or pitching angle of the hull exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means obtains the correction antenna azimuth angle by the calculation of the function, thereby reducing the fluctuation of the hull. The calculation processing amount at the time can be reduced, and the calculation processing unit that performs the calculation of the function can perform other processes accordingly. Therefore, the overall performance of the equipment using this marine radar is improved.

  (5) The target tracking means repeatedly detects the two-dimensional positions of a plurality of targets in the horizontal plane based on the corrected antenna azimuth and the distance to the target, and tracks the positions of the targets. The video data generating means generates video data for displaying the video of the target in the horizontal plane based on the corrected antenna azimuth angle and the received signal, and the mark display data generating means determines the position of the tracking target. Since the display data of the mark to be generated is generated and the display means displays the video data and the mark display data, it is possible to reliably track the target, and about any of the mark indicating the target image and the position of the target being tracked In addition, it is possible to perform display with less error in the azimuth direction.

A configuration of a marine radar according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the marine radar 100. In FIG. 1, a radar antenna 1 is an antenna whose scanning plane is a plane parallel to the hull reference plane parallel to the fore-and-aft direction, which is the traveling direction of the hull. The beam direction turns. The radar antenna 1 outputs an antenna azimuth angle signal that is a beam directing direction in the hull reference plane (scanning plane).

  The attitude angle sensor 2 is a sensor that detects a rolling angle and a pitching angle. For example, it uses three or more GPS antennas to detect an attitude angle of a plane formed by the three GPS antennas.

  The attitude angle sensor 2 may be provided integrally with the unit of the radar antenna 1 so that the plane on which the attitude angle is to be detected and the scanning surface of the radar antenna are parallel to each other. That is, a “radar antenna unit with an attitude angle sensor” is configured, and this unit is mounted on the hull. As a result, even if there is a slight error in the mounting angle of the radar antenna unit with attitude angle sensor to the hull, the plane where the attitude angle should be detected and the radar antenna scanning plane are always kept in parallel. It is difficult to be affected by the error in the mounting angle of the unit with respect to the hull, and the antenna azimuth can be corrected with high accuracy according to the attitude angle of the hull.

  The azimuth sensor 3 is a sensor that detects the heading of the hull, and obtains the heading by, for example, measuring the positional relationship between two or more GPS antennas. When using GPS, the attitude angle sensor 2 and the azimuth sensor 3 simultaneously detect the attitude angle and the heading using the same GPS antenna.

  The radar transmitter / receiver 4 repeatedly transmits a pulsed radio wave at a constant period using the radar antenna 1 and receives a reception signal that is a reflected wave at a target of the pulsed radio wave.

  The video signal processing unit 5 sequentially reads video signals output from the radar transceiver 4 (video signals for one sweep by one transmission / reception of the pulsed radio wave) and displays the signals as radar images. I do.

  The azimuth error correction unit 6 corrects the antenna azimuth angle input from the radar antenna 1 based on the rolling angle and pitching angle input from the attitude angle sensor 2 and outputs a corrected antenna azimuth signal.

  The radar image data generation unit 7 develops display data for displaying each sweep video signal read from the video signal processing unit 5 as a radar image on the two-dimensional image memory in each direction of the correction antenna azimuth. Video data corresponding to a sweep video signal is developed.

  The target tracking unit 8 includes a video signal of each sweep read from the video signal processing unit 5, information on the corrected antenna azimuth from the azimuth error correction unit 6, information on the bow direction from the azimuth sensor 3, and a positioning device 12. The target is tracked based on the ship's own speed information.

  The other ship display data generation unit 9 generates display data for displaying the position of the target (other ship) tracked by the target tracking unit 8 with a mark.

  The display control unit 10 includes radar image data generated by the radar image data generation unit 7, display data of the tracking target mark generated by the other ship display data generation unit 9, bow direction by the direction sensor 3, and Generates a display signal of an image to be finally displayed based on information on a display mode to be displayed, and outputs the display signal to the display 11.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a so-called αβ tracker tracking method performed by the target tracking unit 8 shown in FIG. 1 for target tracking.

Here, a state in which the (n + 1) th scan is predicted from the nth scan is shown as a linear predictor in which the position smoothing constant is α and the speed smoothing constant is β. When the predicted position in the nth scan is P (n) and the measurement position is M (n), the tracking error E (n) is
E (n) = M (n) -P (n)
It is. The smoothing position S (n) and the smoothing speed V (n) are
S (n) = P (n) + αE (n)
V (n) = V (n−1) + βE (n) / T
Is required. Here, T is a sample period. From this, the predicted position P (n + 1) of the (n + 1) scan is
P (n + 1) = S (n) + V (n) T
Is required.

  α = 0 corresponds to the predicted position, and α = 1 corresponds to the smoothed position of the measurement position. The smaller α is, the deeper the smoothing is. In this way, the momentum of the target n is estimated and its position is tracked.

  The positioning device 12 is made up of a GPS receiver, for example, and obtains the position and speed of the ship. The echo obtained by the radar is the relative position of the target, and the speed obtained by the tracking unit based on it is the relative speed. Further, in order to obtain the true speed, the ship speed of the positioning device 12 is added to the relative speed.

Next, processing contents of the azimuth error correction unit 6 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
First, the azimuth error due to rolling will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 3, the bow direction is O-x, and the starboard direction when the hull reference plane is horizontal (the front side starboard direction) O-y. An axis perpendicular to the xy plane (horizontal plane) including the x axis and the y axis is taken as the z axis. The z-axis corresponds to the rotation axis of the antenna when the entire rolling angle and pitching angle are 0 °, and the xy plane corresponds to the scanning plane of the antenna.

  A target on the xy plane is T, and its coordinates are (X, Y, O). If the azimuth angle from the bow direction of this target is θ,

It is. If the hull is tilted to the port side by the rolling angle R, the y axis moves to the y 'axis and the z axis moves to the z' axis, but the x axis does not change. The rotation axis of the antenna moves from z to z ', and the radio wave scanning plane also moves from the xy plane to the xy' plane.

  If the beam is launched only in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the antenna, that is, the xy 'plane, the reflected wave from the target T in the xy plane does not return. However, since the vertical beam width of the radar is actually about 20 °, the radio wave hits and the reflected wave returns.

  Since the beam has a spread perpendicular to the xy ′ plane, when a perpendicular is drawn from T to the xy ′ plane and its leg is T ′, the antenna is directed in the OT ′ direction in the xy ′ plane. An image of the target T appears on the scope. In this case, the antenna is turned by ∠BOT 'from the bow direction. If this angle is θ ′, this θ ′ is the correction antenna azimuth angle.

From the above

It becomes. (2) Organizing the formula,

The relationship holds. Here, (θ−θ ′) is an azimuth error.

Next, the azimuth | direction error by pitching is demonstrated based on FIG.
In FIG. 4, the method of taking each axis is the same as in FIG. 3, and the bow direction is Ox, and the starboard direction when the hull reference plane is horizontal (the normal lateral starboard direction) Oy. An axis perpendicular to the xy plane (horizontal plane) including the x axis and the y axis is taken as the z axis. A target on the xy plane is T, and its coordinates are (X, Y, O).

  Here, if the pitching angle P is inclined backward in the bow direction, the radio wave scanning plane moves to the x′y plane. If a perpendicular line is drawn from T to the x′y plane and its leg is T ′, an image of the target T appears when the antenna is directed in the O-T ′ direction within the x′y plane. In this case, the antenna is turned by ∠B'OT '. When this angle is θ ′, this θ ′ is the correction antenna azimuth angle.

From the above

It becomes. (4) Organizing the formula,

The relationship holds.

  Next, an azimuth error when rolling and pitching are combined will be described.

Here, if the rolling angle is R, the pitching angle is P, the antenna azimuth is θ, and the corrected antenna azimuth to be obtained is θ ″,

The relationship holds.

The proof of the above equation (6) is as follows.
Considering the xy plane, the relationship between the old coordinates (x, y) and the new coordinates (x ′, y ′) when the coordinate axis is rotated by the angle θ with the origin as it is is

It is. For example, the point A (1, 0) becomes A ′ (√2 / 2, −√2 / 2) in the new coordinates by rotating the xy coordinate axis by 45 degrees.

  The pitching angle P is P rotated around the y axis, and if converted to coordinates (x, y, z) → (x ′, y ′, z ′),

It becomes.

  Further, if the rolling angle R is R rotated around the x ′ axis and converted to coordinates (x ′, y ′, z ′) → (x ″, y ″, z ″),

  That is, the point (X, Y, Z) is converted to (X ″, Y ″, Z ″) by the occurrence of pitching with the pitching angle P and rolling with the rolling angle R.

become.

(10) Formula. Therefore, the point T (X, Y, 0) is

become.

When the relationship between (X ″, Y ″) and tan θ ″ is obtained,

become. That is, equation (13) matches equation (6).

  FIG. 5 shows the difference between the corrected antenna azimuth angle and the uncorrected antenna azimuth angle θ when the rolling angle R is 2.5 °, 5.0 °, 10.0 °, and 20.0 ° in equation (3). The relationship of (azimuth error) θe is shown.

  The azimuth error θe is maximized when θ = 45 ° and 135 °, and does not depend on the rolling angle R.

  As is apparent from FIG. 5, the azimuth error θer due to rolling and the antenna azimuth angle θ can be approximated by the following relational expression.

θer = Asin (2θ) (14)
Here, A is the maximum value of θer when the rolling angle R is determined, and is obtained from equation (3).

  FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the corrected antenna azimuth angle and the uncorrected antenna azimuth angle θ when the pitching angle P is 2.5 °, 5.0 °, 10.0 °, and 20.0 ° in equation (5). The relationship of the difference (azimuth error) θe is shown.

  The azimuth error θe is maximized when θ = 45 ° and 135 °, and does not depend on the pitching angle P.

  As apparent from FIG. 6, the azimuth error θep due to pitching and the antenna azimuth angle θ can be approximated by the following relational expression.

θep = −Bsin (2θ) (15)
Here, B is the maximum value of θep when the pitching angle P is determined, and is obtained from equation (5).

  Thus, as the hull moves, the azimuth error due to rolling and the azimuth error due to pitching change in a sine wave shape, so the maximum value and phase of the waveform are detected and the above formula (14) or (15) May determine the azimuth error θer due to rolling or the azimuth error θep due to pitching. However, when rolling and pitching are combined, the azimuth error θe is not an addition of θer and θep.

  For example, when the rolling angle and the pitching angle are in the same ratio, the azimuth error θe is maximized when the true azimuth is 0 ° or 180 °. The maximum value is larger than the sum of the maximum azimuth error values for the case of only the rolling angle and the pitching angle. In addition, the direction in which θe has the maximum value varies depending on the ratio of rolling to pitching angle.

  Therefore, when the rolling angle and the pitching angle are equal to or larger than the predetermined angles, the rolling angle R and the pitching angle P are individually detected, and the corrected antenna azimuth angle θ ″ can be obtained by the equation (6).

Next, two configuration examples of a marine radar according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the example shown in FIG. 1, the azimuth error with respect to the target tracking unit 8 and the radar image data generation unit 7 is corrected. However, the influence of the azimuth error is usually not so conspicuous for the radar image, and the radar image is observed. Since there is a case where the problem does not occur, only the azimuth data processed by the target tracking unit 8 may be corrected. FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the marine radar 101.

In FIG. 7, the radar image data generation unit 7 develops display data for displaying each sweep video signal read from the video signal processing unit 5 as a radar image on a two-dimensional image memory. Video data corresponding to the video signal of each sweep is developed in the direction.
Other configurations and operations are the same as those shown in FIG. With this configuration, even if the azimuth correction processing of the radar image is omitted, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the ARPA tracking unit that is greatly affected by the azimuth error.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the radar including the ARPA function including the target tracking unit 8 is illustrated. However, the radar may be applied to a radar that does not include the target tracking unit (without the ARPA function). FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the marine radar 102.

  In FIG. 8, the azimuth error correction unit 6 corrects the antenna azimuth angle input from the radar antenna 1 based on the rolling angle and the pitching angle input from the attitude angle sensor 2, and outputs a corrected antenna azimuth signal. The radar image data generation unit 7 develops display data for displaying each sweep video signal read from the video signal processing unit 5 as a radar image on the two-dimensional image memory in each direction of the correction antenna azimuth. Video data corresponding to a sweep video signal is developed. Other configurations and operations are the same as those shown in FIG.

  In this way, a radar image with high azimuth angle accuracy can be displayed.

In the example shown above, either the rolling angle or the pitching angle is detected and the azimuth error is corrected by that angle, or both the rolling angle and the pitching angle are detected, and the azimuth error is detected at both angles. However, even when both the rolling angle and the pitching angle are detected, the azimuth error may be corrected using only one of the angles.
For example, the azimuth error may be corrected using only the larger one of the rolling angle and the pitching angle. As a result, the amount of calculation required for processing can be reduced.

In the above example, the azimuth error is corrected by the detected rolling angle and / or pitching angle. However, if the rolling angle and the pitching angle are within a predetermined threshold, the azimuth error is corrected. Instead, the azimuth error may be corrected only when the rolling angle and the pitching angle are larger than a predetermined threshold. That is, when the rolling angle and the pitching angle are so small that the azimuth error does not become a problem (for example, within 3 °), the azimuth error is not corrected.
As a result, the amount of calculation processing when the hull is little shaken can be reduced, and the calculation processing unit that calculates the function can perform other processing accordingly. Therefore, the overall performance of the equipment using this marine radar is improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the ship radar which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the method of the alpha beta tracker which a target tracking part performs. It is a figure shown about the azimuth | direction error by rolling. It is a figure shown about the azimuth | direction error by pitching. It is a figure shown about an antenna azimuth angle and azimuth | direction error when changing a rolling angle into 4 types. It is a figure shown about an antenna azimuth and an azimuth | direction error when changing a pitching angle into 4 types. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the ship radar which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the ship radar which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1-Radar antenna 100-102-Marine radar

Claims (5)

A radar that uses an antenna whose beam directs in a hull reference plane that is parallel to the fore-and-aft direction, which is the direction of travel of the hull, and that rotates in a fixed cycle. A transmission / reception unit that repeatedly transmits and receives a reception signal that is a reflected wave from the target of the pulsed radio wave by the antenna, and a distance detection unit that detects a distance to the target by the reception signal. In marine radar,
Hull attitude angle detection means for detecting an attitude angle of the hull reference plane with respect to a horizontal plane;
Correction antenna azimuth angle detecting means for obtaining an angle obtained by projecting the antenna azimuth angle on a horizontal plane based on the antenna azimuth angle and the attitude angle which is the beam directing direction in the hull reference plane as a correction antenna azimuth angle; Marine radar equipped with.   The hull attitude angle detection means detects a rolling angle or a pitching angle of the hull, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means calculates a function using the rolling angle or the pitching angle and the antenna azimuth as a variable. The marine radar according to claim 1, wherein the correction antenna azimuth is obtained.   The hull attitude angle detecting means individually detects a rolling angle and a pitching angle of the hull, and the correction antenna azimuth angle detecting means is a function having the rolling angle, the pitching angle, and the antenna azimuth angle as variables. The marine radar according to claim 1, wherein the correction antenna azimuth is obtained by calculation.   4. The ship according to claim 2, wherein the correction antenna azimuth angle detection means obtains the correction antenna azimuth angle by calculation of the function when the rolling angle or pitching angle exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 5. Radar. Based on the corrected antenna azimuth detected by the corrected antenna azimuth detecting means and the distance to the target detected by the distance detecting means, the two-dimensional positions of the plurality of targets in the horizontal plane are repeatedly detected. And target tracking means for tracking the positions of those targets,
Video data generating means for generating video data for displaying the video of the target in the horizontal plane based on the corrected antenna azimuth and the received signal;
Mark display data generating means for generating display data of a mark representing the position of the target being tracked by the target tracking means;
The marine radar according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising display means for displaying the video data and display data of the mark.

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