SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING POSITION OF UNDERWATER VEHICLE
First Claim
1. A position detection system for an underwater vehicle, the system comprising:
- an underwater vehicle being movable in a three-dimensional space;
vertical position detecting means for detecting the vertical position of the underwater vehicle;
relative distance detecting means for detecting the relative distances of the underwater vehicle from its surrounding structures in a horizontal plane determined by the vertical position of the underwater vehicle;
measurement image acquiring means for acquiring, based on the relative distances detected by the relative distance detecting means, a measurement image that is the image data representing the outer shapes of the structures in the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected;
image storing means for storing images, each of the stored images having at least one pixel to which horizontal position information of the three-dimensional space is attached, each of the stored images being the image data of the outer shapes of the structures in a given horizontal plane of the three-dimensional space;
image selecting means for selecting, based on the vertical position detected by the vertical position detecting means, one of the stored images that corresponds to the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected from among the images stored on the image storing means;
corresponding-area identifying means for identifying the area in the selected image that corresponds to the measurement image by performing correlation-based map matching on the selected image and the measurement image; and
horizontal position calculating means for identifying, from the corresponding area in the selected image identified by the corresponding-area identifying means, the pixel that corresponds to the position at which the relative distances have been detected and for calculating the horizontal position of the underwater vehicle based on the position of the identified pixel and the position of the pixel in the selected image to which the horizontal position information is attached.
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Abstract
An object of the invention is to provide a system for detecting the position of an underwater vehicle that enables an improvement in the accuracy of detecting the position of the underwater vehicle.
The position detection system comprises: a pressure sensor 18 that detects the vertical position of an underwater vehicle 9; a range sensor unit 23 that detects the relative distances of the underwater vehicle 9 from its surrounding structures; a measurement image acquisition unit 36 that acquires a measurement image of the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected; an image storage unit 34 that stores images, each of which has at least one pixel to which horizontal position information is attached and is the image data representing the outer shapes of the structures in a given horizontal plane; an image selector 35 that selects, based on the vertical position of the underwater vehicle 9, one of the stored images that corresponds to the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected; a corresponding-area identification unit 37 that identifies the area in the selected image that corresponds to the measurement image by performing map matching; and horizontal position calculator 38 that identifies, from the corresponding area in the selected image identified by the corresponding-area identification unit 37, the pixel that corresponds to the position at which the relative distances have been detected and calculates the horizontal position of the underwater vehicle.
31 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A position detection system for an underwater vehicle, the system comprising:
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an underwater vehicle being movable in a three-dimensional space; vertical position detecting means for detecting the vertical position of the underwater vehicle; relative distance detecting means for detecting the relative distances of the underwater vehicle from its surrounding structures in a horizontal plane determined by the vertical position of the underwater vehicle; measurement image acquiring means for acquiring, based on the relative distances detected by the relative distance detecting means, a measurement image that is the image data representing the outer shapes of the structures in the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected; image storing means for storing images, each of the stored images having at least one pixel to which horizontal position information of the three-dimensional space is attached, each of the stored images being the image data of the outer shapes of the structures in a given horizontal plane of the three-dimensional space; image selecting means for selecting, based on the vertical position detected by the vertical position detecting means, one of the stored images that corresponds to the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected from among the images stored on the image storing means; corresponding-area identifying means for identifying the area in the selected image that corresponds to the measurement image by performing correlation-based map matching on the selected image and the measurement image; and horizontal position calculating means for identifying, from the corresponding area in the selected image identified by the corresponding-area identifying means, the pixel that corresponds to the position at which the relative distances have been detected and for calculating the horizontal position of the underwater vehicle based on the position of the identified pixel and the position of the pixel in the selected image to which the horizontal position information is attached. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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2. A position detection system for an underwater vehicle, the system comprising:
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an underwater vehicle being movable in a three-dimensional space; vertical position detecting means for detecting the vertical position of the underwater vehicle; relative distance detecting means for detecting the relative distances of the underwater vehicle from its surrounding structures in a horizontal plane determined by the vertical position of the underwater vehicle; measurement image acquiring means for acquiring, based on the relative distances detected by the relative distance detecting means, a measurement image that is the image data representing the outer shapes of the structures in the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected; image storing means for storing images, each of the stored images having at least one pixel to which horizontal position information of the three-dimensional space is attached, each of the stored images being the image data of the outer shapes of the structures in a given horizontal plane of the three-dimensional space; image selecting means for selecting, based on the vertical position detected by the vertical position detecting means, one of the stored images that corresponds to the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected from among the images stored on the image storing means; corresponding-area identifying means for extracting a plurality of areas in the selected image that are estimated to correspond to the measurement image by performing correlation-based map matching on the selected image and the measurement image and for identifying, from among the plurality of areas extracted, an area that includes a movable range of the underwater vehicle as the area in the selected image that corresponds to the measurement image; and horizontal position calculating means for identifying, from the corresponding area in the selected image identified by the corresponding-area identifying means, the pixel that corresponds to the position at which the relative distances have been detected and for calculating the horizontal position of the underwater vehicle based on the position of the identified pixel and the position of the pixel in the selected image to which the horizontal position information is attached. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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11. A position detection method for an underwater vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting the vertical position of the underwater vehicle being movable in a three-dimensional space; detecting the relative distances of the underwater vehicle from its surrounding structures in a horizontal plane determined by the vertical position of the underwater vehicle; acquiring, based on the relative distances detected in the relative distance detecting step, a measurement image that is the image data representing the outer shapes of the structures in the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected; providing an image storage unit that stores images, each of the stored images having at least one pixel to which horizontal position information of the three-dimensional space is attached, each of the stored images being the image data of the outer shapes of the structures in a given horizontal plane of the three-dimensional space; selecting, based on the vertical position detected in the vertical position detecting step, one of the stored images that corresponds to the horizontal plane in which the relative distances have been detected from among the images stored on the image storage unit; identifying the area in the selected image that corresponds to the measurement image by performing correlation-based map matching on the selected image and the measurement image; and identifying, from the corresponding area in the selected image identified by the corresponding-area identifying step, the pixel that corresponds to the position at which the relative distances have been detected and calculating the horizontal position of the underwater vehicle based on the position of the identified pixel and the position of the pixel in the selected image to which the horizontal position information is attached.
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Specification