KR102352856B1 - Apparatus for measuring ocean current - Google Patents

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention is an ocean current measuring device that provides surface current information for the rescue of survivors, a body maintaining watertightness, a buoyancy body detachably coupled to the outside of the body, and a lower part of the body or buoyancy body is connected to and includes a fluid having a weight member, wherein the main body includes a housing in which an upper housing and a lower housing are coupled, a control unit provided in the housing, a power supply unit supplying power to the control unit, and wireless communication with the outside It has a possible communication unit, wherein the control unit receives a GPS signal through the communication unit and transmits position information to an external ship terminal, thereby pre-stored current speed and direction information for each location and real-time transmitted current speed and direction information for each location To provide a current measuring device, characterized in that the location of the survivor is tracked by detecting the surface current around the distressed using

Description

Current measuring device {APPARATUS FOR MEASURING OCEAN CURRENT}

The present invention relates to a current measuring device, and more particularly, to a current measuring device capable of measuring and communicating location information by dropping it into the sea so as to provide surface current information for the rescue of survivors from marine accidents.

Despite efforts such as development of ship technology for safe navigation of ships, advancement of navigation-related equipment, training of professional personnel, and traffic control, the risk of fatal accidents at sea is increasing due to the increase in maritime traffic and activation of marine leisure. have. According to data from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, there were a total of 2,582 marine accidents in 2017, an increase of 11.9% from 2016, resulting in a total of 145 deaths and missing persons.

It is analyzed that the most important reason for the recent increase in marine accidents is the rapid increase in the marine leisure population and fishing boat users. In 2017, the number of accidents on leisure vessels increased by 134 cases compared to the previous year, and a total of 66 accidents on fishing vessels increased.

Currently, when a maritime accident occurs, a lot of equipment and manpower such as guard ships, aircraft, and private fishing boats are being put in to find the missing person or the wrecked ship. Although the drift prediction system has already been developed, there are limitations in predicting weather changes and the location of missing persons because various factors such as ocean currents, currents, and waves act in a complex way at sea.

Various techniques have been proposed to overcome these problems.

For example, according to Patent Document 1, a method for measuring current information performed by a marine radar system that receives a scattered wave of a emitted wave reflected by an ocean current to measure current information including velocity information and direction information, with respect to a scattered wave signal Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is performed, a plurality of velocity information is obtained using frequency information derived through Fast Fourier Transform, and multiple velocity information is obtained using amplitude information derived through Fast Fourier Transform. generating a covariance matrix, detecting a first-order region that is a region including a Bragg peak in a spectrum of a frequency domain for a scattered wave signal, and the plurality of velocities Among the information, velocity information included in the primary region is acquired as velocity information for ocean currents, and after obtaining a primary region covariance matrix that is a covariance matrix included in the primary region among the plurality of covariance matrices, the primary region covariance matrix A method of measuring ocean current information comprising the step of performing a multi-signal classification algorithm (MUSIC algorithm) using

However, this method has a problem in that it takes a lot of cost to build the system, and it is difficult to measure the local and detailed current in the area where the actual maritime accident occurred.

As another attempt, according to Patent Document 2, in a surface current measuring device including a buoy floating in the ocean and measuring the speed and direction of the ocean surface current while moving along the ocean surface current, at least three artificial satellites A GPS receiver for receiving the reflected GPS carrier, a signal processor for converting the GPS carrier received from the GPS receiver into location information of the buoy, and a GPS controller for storing the location information output from the signal processor at intervals of a predetermined time A surface current measuring device including a GPS that downloads the location information of the buoy moving along the surface current from the GPS controller to find out the speed and direction of the surface current has been proposed.

However, these conventional measuring devices are not structurally stable, it is difficult to supply electricity stably, and it does not provide sufficient buoyancy, so it was not helpful to rescue the survivors. In addition, due to the limitation of the communication method, the distance and bandwidth are large, and there is no control method or a method for correcting the error of the current measurement.

Patent Document 1: Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0130282 (published on Dec. 07, 2018) Patent Document 2: Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2002-0050863 (published on Jun. 28, 2002)

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide an apparatus for measuring ocean currents that solves the above-described problems of the existing technology. Through this, it is intended to provide a current measuring device capable of measuring and communicating location information by dropping it on the sea so as to provide surface current information for the rescue of survivors from marine accidents.

The technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs from the description below. There will be.

In order to achieve the above technical object, an embodiment of the present invention is a current measuring device that provides surface current information for the rescue of survivors, comprising a body maintaining watertightness, a buoyancy body detachably coupled to the outside of the body, , It is connected to the lower portion of the main body or the buoyancy body and includes a fluid having a weight member, wherein the main body includes a housing in which an upper housing and a lower housing are coupled, a control unit provided in the housing, and power supply to the control unit It has a power supply unit and a communication unit capable of wireless communication with the outside, wherein the control unit receives a GPS signal through the communication unit and transmits location information to an external ship terminal, thereby transmitting pre-stored current speed and direction information for each location and real-time transmission Provided is a current measuring device, characterized in that it tracks the location of the shipwreck by detecting the surface current around the shipwreck using the current speed and direction information for each location.

In an embodiment of the present invention, it is connected to the main body or the buoyancy body and may further include a buoyancy auxiliary body for the rescue of the survivors.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit transmits the location information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device to the external ship terminal through the communication unit, and the ship terminal is located on land or on a server provided on the ship. information, a unique identification code, and transmission time information can be transmitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit transmits the position information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device to the external ship terminal according to a predetermined time interval, but the previously measured position information value and the newly measured position information value If the difference between is greater than a predetermined distance, the location information and the unique identification code of the newly measured current measuring device can be transmitted to the external ship terminal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may transmit and receive a signal through LoRa communication with the external ship terminal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may receive a plurality of GPS signals through the communication unit and correct an error using the received plurality of GPS signals.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit transmits location information to an external ship terminal through the communication unit, and the external ship terminal receives location information from a plurality of current measuring devices to receive location information from a part or all of a predetermined area. Surface current information can be calculated.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a current measuring device capable of measuring and communicating location information by dropping it on the sea so as to provide surface current information for the rescue of survivors due to a marine accident.

In addition, the current measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has a low system construction cost and enables local and detailed current measurement in an area where an actual maritime accident has occurred.

In addition, the current measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention is structurally stable, it is possible to supply power stably, and it provides sufficient buoyancy to help rescue the survivors. and can correct errors in the control method or current measurement.

It should be understood that the effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described effects, and include all effects that can be inferred from the configuration of the invention described in the detailed description or claims of the present invention.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a current measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the current measuring device of FIG. 1 .
3 is a perspective view of a detailed structure of the current measuring device of FIG. 1 .
4 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the main body of the current measuring device of FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 is a communication construction diagram of the ocean current measuring device of FIG. 1 .

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention may be embodied in several different forms, and thus is not limited to the embodiments described herein. And in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to be “connected (connected, contacted, coupled)” with another part, it is not only “directly connected” but also “indirectly connected” with another member interposed therebetween. "Including cases where In addition, when a part "includes" a certain component, this means that other components may be further provided without excluding other components unless otherwise stated.

The terminology used herein is used only to describe specific embodiments, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present specification, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, but one or more other features It should be understood that this does not preclude the existence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a current measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the current measuring device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can transmit information through LoRa communication with the ship terminal 2, which is a transmitting device provided on the ship, and receives GPS information from the satellite 3 can receive

LoRa communication is a communication standard created for IoT communication. It reduces distance and bandwidth restrictions by using a private LoRa network of 900 MHz frequency band when transmitting and receiving data between the current measuring device 1 and the ship terminal 2 . can In particular, LoRa communication enables ultra-long-distance connection compared to other communication standards, can be operated with low power, and can communicate based on the node number assigned to the sensor without the need for a separate SIM.

As such, communication with low power and low cost is possible even in areas where WiFi communication is not possible, so LoRa communication is utilized when transmitting and receiving data onboard in small and medium-sized ships, and thus connection with the current measuring device 1 can be easily made. In addition, it is possible to link with the ship standard network (NMEA2000), and various extensions are possible.

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite navigation system that receives a signal from the GPS satellite 3 and calculates the current location of the destination. Location information consists of longitude, latitude, and elevation (altitude above sea level), and accurate time information can also be obtained. Currently, approximately 30 GPS satellites are in operation worldwide, and errors of several meters to several kilometers may appear depending on the type of GPS used. Since such a large error causes difficulty in rescue of the survivors, correction for accurate location recognition is required, which will be described later.

The current measuring device 1 according to the present invention can be urgently dropped into the sea when various marine accidents such as drift, overturning, stranding, and sinking of a ship occur. On the other hand, it is possible to perform observation activities at sea in advance and use it when a person in distress occurs.

The current measuring device 1 integrates and analyzes pre-observed tidal flow data and real-time measured current information, thereby predicting the exact location of a survivor and helping rescue operations.

Next, a detailed configuration of the current measuring device 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the current measuring device of FIG. 1 , FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the detailed structure of the current measuring device of FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the main body of the current measuring device of FIG. 3 , and FIG. 5 is FIG. This is the communication construction diagram of the current measuring device.

2 and 3, the current measuring device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a device that provides surface current information for the rescue of survivors, and includes a main body 10, a buoyant body 20, and a fluid ( 60) may be included. In addition, the current measuring device 1 may further include a buoyancy auxiliary body (40).

The body 10 is watertight and can accommodate an electronic/communication device therein. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the electronic/communication device inside the main body 10 from being damaged by exposure to seawater. The buoyancy body 20 provides buoyancy so that the current measuring device 1 can float in the sea, and may be detachably coupled to the outside of the main body 10 . The body 10 may have a spherical shape. In this case, the buoyancy body 20 may be provided in a ring shape to be coupled with the body 10, but is not limited to this shape. The main body 10 and the buoyancy body 20 may be coupled by fastening bolts. Alternatively, it is also possible to couple using a rope or other separate coupling member.

Although not shown, drags of various sizes may be connected to the outside of the main body 10 or the buoyancy body 20, and ropes, blades, lighting devices, identification plates, etc. may be attached or combined.

The buoyancy auxiliary body 40 may be connected to the main body 10 or the buoyancy body 20 to additionally provide buoyancy for rescue of a survivor. The buoyancy auxiliary body 40 may be provided in a triangular plate shape on the outside of the buoyancy body 20 as shown, but is not limited to this shape. For example, the buoyancy auxiliary body 40 may be provided in a rectangular or ring-shaped plate shape, or alternatively, it may be provided as a spherical member connected to the main body 10 or the buoyancy body 20 by a rope or the like.

The fluid 60 is connected to the lower portion of the main body 10 or the buoyancy body 20 and may have a weight member 66 . Referring to FIG. 3 , the fluid 60 may be connected to the lower portion of the body 10 by a rope 61 , and a ring 62 may be provided at the end of the rope 61 . A twist preventing member capable of preventing twisting of the rope 61 may be provided in the middle of the rope 61 or between the rope 61 and the ring 62 .

A center pole 64 having a plurality of radially provided flat plates 63 may be connected to the ring 62, and a weight member 66 may be connected to the lower portion of the center pole 64 via a rope or a ring 65. have. The degree to which the current measuring device 1 is submerged in water can be adjusted by using the weight member 66 . The flat plate 63 may be made of fiber or synthetic resin, and the shape may be a square or a triangle, but is not limited to these materials and shapes.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the main body 10 may include a housing 100 , a control unit 120 , a power supply unit 130 , and a communication unit 150 . In addition, the body 10 may further include a frame 110 , an auxiliary power supply unit 140 , and a driving unit 160 .

The housing 100 may be formed by combining the upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 , and various members including the control unit 120 may be accommodated therein. The housing 100 may have a spherical shape as a whole. The upper housing 101 and the lower housing 102 can be fixedly coupled by fastening the bolt 103 and the nut 104 between the flange provided at the lower end of the upper housing 101 and the flange provided at the upper end of the lower housing 102 . In addition, a sealing member 105 may be provided between both flanges for watertightness.

An accommodating part 106 for accommodating the communication unit 150 may be protrudingly installed on the upper end of the upper housing 101 , and an antenna may be provided in the accommodating part 106 .

Although not shown, an additional member for watertight or airtightness may be installed inside the housing 100, and a moisture absorption member for absorbing the introduced seawater or moisture may be installed. Since the watertight/airtight member and the moisture absorption member are known in the prior art, an additional description thereof will be omitted.

A frame 110 for installing various electronic/communication devices and providing appropriate strength may be provided inside the housing 100 . A first vertical frame 111 standing vertically is provided on the lower housing 102 , and the first horizontal frame 112 having a plate shape may be supported by the first vertical frame 111 .

A second vertical frame 113 and a third vertical frame 114 for supporting the auxiliary power supply unit 140 may be provided on the first horizontal frame 112 . A second horizontal frame 116 may be provided between a pair of or opposite third vertical frames 114 , and a fourth vertical frame 116 for supporting the communication unit 150 is disposed on the second horizontal frame 116 . A frame 115 may be provided.

The control unit 120 is provided in the housing 100 and may be in charge of calculating and communicating location information. As shown, the control unit 120 may be provided so as not to directly contact the housing 100 by being supported by the first vertical frame 111 . The control unit 120 may include a central processing unit (CPU). In addition, the control unit 120 may include an operation module 121 , a storage module 122 , and a communication module 123 as shown in FIG. 2 . The operation module 121 may be in charge of calculation of data such as measured values and stored values, and the storage module 122 may serve as a memory for permanently or temporarily storing various data. The communication module 123 may manage data transmission/reception. Details of the function and operation of the control unit 120 will be described later.

The power supply unit 130 may supply power to the electronic/communication device including the control unit 120 . The power supply unit 130 may include a primary battery or a secondary battery. In addition, the power supply unit 130 may be provided on the first horizontal frame 112, but is not limited to this arrangement.

The auxiliary power unit 140 may be supported by the second vertical frame 113 and the third vertical frame 114 , but is not limited thereto. The auxiliary power unit 140 may be provided to charge power to the power unit 130 or to directly supply power to the control unit 120 , for example, a solar cell. In this case, a part or the whole of the upper housing 101 may be made of a transparent material in order to introduce sunlight to the auxiliary power supply unit 140 which is a solar cell.

The communication unit 150 may perform wireless communication with the outside. The communication unit 150 may be supported by the fourth vertical frame 115 , but is not limited to this arrangement.

The control unit 120 may receive a GPS signal from the satellite 3 through the communication unit 150 , and may also transmit location information to the external ship terminal 2 . Through this, it is possible to detect the surface current around the victim and track the position of the survivor by using the pre-stored current speed and direction information for each location and the real-time transmitted current speed and direction information for each location. Therefore, compared to the case of simply tracking the location of the GPS receiver provided in the shipwrecked or accidental ship or tracking the location of the shipwrecked person or the shipwrecked ship using only a pre-developed drift prediction system, the actual ocean current fluctuations are reflected in real time and the location By minimizing the error of information, it is possible to accurately track and predict the location of the survivor.

The control unit 120 may transmit the location information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device 1 to the external ship terminal 2 through the communication unit 150 . The location information may be a value obtained by receiving a GPS signal or a value obtained by correcting it, and the unique identification code may be a unique value assigned to the current measuring device 1 . The ship terminal 2 may transmit location information of the current measuring device, a unique identification code, and transmission time information to a server provided on land or on a ship. Accordingly, the ship terminal 2 can serve as a network access point capable of forming an Internet of Things network by communicating with a plurality of ocean current measuring devices 1 having a unique identification code.

When a preset condition is satisfied, the control unit 120 may operate the communication unit 150 to start or end data transmission/reception including location information, and may adjust the type of transmission/reception information or the transmission/reception interval. Alternatively, the control unit 120 may start or end the operation of the communication unit 150 according to an external command signal, and may adjust the type of transmission/reception information or the transmission/reception interval. For example, the data transmission/reception interval may be set to be smaller when a distress report is received or the closer to a point predicted as the location of a person in distress.

The control unit 120 may transmit the location information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device 1 to the external ship terminal 2 according to a predetermined time interval. In addition, when the movement of the current measuring device 1 is large due to severe current or wave activity, the location information and unique identification code of the current measuring device 1 may be transmitted at shorter intervals than a predetermined time interval. . To this end, when the difference between the previously measured position information value and the newly measured position information value is greater than a predetermined distance, the position information and the unique identification code of the newly measured current measuring device 1 in the external ship terminal 2 can be sent.

On the other hand, as described above, the control unit 120 may transmit and receive signals through LoRa communication with the external ship terminal 2 . Figure 5 (a) shows an example of establishing private LoRa communication, (b) shows the Mac class. Also, the control unit 120 may receive a plurality of GPS signals through the communication unit 150 and correct errors using the received plurality of GPS signals.

The accuracy of the GPS signal is one of the most important factors in the rescue of a survivor. In an embodiment of the present invention, an error signal may be removed by using an average value of a plurality of GPS signals. In Korea, continuous reference point expansion projects have been carried out, and currently 60 satellite reference points have been installed and operated. Since it can be seen that the GPS signal has the same error within a radius of several tens of kilometers from the reference point, the GPS signal value can be corrected using this.

In addition, the control unit 120 transmits location information to the external ship terminal 2 through the communication unit 150 , and the external ship terminal 2 receives the location information from a plurality of current measuring devices 1 to determine a predetermined It is possible to calculate surface current information for part or all of the zone. As described above, by constructing a system using a plurality of current measuring devices 1, more accurate current information and location information can be recognized and corrected. In addition, by using a plurality of current measuring devices 1, the motion of the current at a point where the current measuring device 1 is not dropped is accurately predicted by interpolating the measured values of the nearby current measuring device 1, etc. it becomes possible to

Referring back to FIG. 4 , the driving unit 160 may be provided in the main body 10 . The driving unit 160 is provided on the inside or outside of the main body 10, and may be formed of a propeller, a seawater inlet and discharge device, or other members. By using the driving unit 160, the current measuring device 1 can be moved to a desired place, and through this, when a survivor is found, it is possible to approach the survivor and use the buoyancy of the current measuring device 1 .

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a current measuring device 1 capable of measuring and communicating location information by dropping it on the sea so as to provide surface current information for the rescue of a survivor from a marine accident. .

The current measuring device 1 has a low cost of system construction (transmission and reception modules, communication modules, etc.), and enables local and detailed current measurement in the area where the actual maritime accident occurred.

In addition, the current measuring device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is structurally stable, it is possible to supply power stably, and provides sufficient buoyancy to help rescue a survivor. In addition, by using the LoRa communication network, it is possible to provide a communication method with less bandwidth restrictions at low power and low cost. In addition, in the current measuring apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to correct the error of the control method or the current measurement, so that it is possible to provide more accurate position information.

The description of the present invention described above is for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can understand that it can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a dispersed form, and likewise components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1 Current measuring device
10 body
20 buoyant body
40 Buoyancy Aids
60 fluid
100 housing
110 frames
120 control
130 power supply
140 Auxiliary power supply
150 Ministry of Communications
160 drive

Claims (7)

A current measuring device that provides surface current information for the rescue of survivors,
A body that is watertight and
a buoyancy body detachably coupled to the outside of the body;
It is connected to the lower part of the main body or buoyancy body and includes a fluid having a weight member,
The main body includes a housing in which an upper housing and a lower housing are coupled, a control unit provided in the housing, a power supply supplying power to the control unit, a communication unit capable of wireless communication with the outside, and an outer side of the housing at the upper end of the housing a receiving part protruding to and accommodating the communication part therein, and disposed to be symmetrical to each other about the receiving part inside the housing, the lower housing is inclined from the receiving part to face the inner surface of the upper housing It has a pair of auxiliary power supply units extending toward the
The control unit receives the GPS signal through the communication unit and transmits the location information to the external ship terminal, so that the current speed and direction information for each location stored in advance and the current speed and direction information for each location transmitted in real time are used to surround the shipwreck. by detecting the surface current of the
The control unit transmits the location information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device to the external ship terminal according to a predetermined time interval, and the difference between the previously measured location information value and the newly measured location information value is greater than the predetermined distance In this case, the position information and the unique identification code of the newly measured current measuring device are transmitted to the external ship terminal, and the position information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device are transmitted at a shorter interval than the predetermined time interval,
The external ship terminal receives location information from a plurality of current measuring devices, calculates surface current information for part or all of a predetermined area, and interpolates the measured values of the current measuring devices using the plurality of current measuring devices ( interpolation) to predict the movement of the current at the point where the current measuring device is not dropped,
The control unit receives a plurality of GPS signals through the communication unit, and removes the error signal and corrects the error by using the average value of the plurality of received GPS signals,
Current measuring device.
The method of claim 1,
It is connected to the main body or the buoyancy body, characterized in that it further comprises a buoyancy auxiliary body for rescue of the survivors,
Current measuring device.
The method of claim 1,
The control unit transmits the location information and the unique identification code of the current measuring device to the external ship terminal through the communication unit, and the ship terminal transmits the location information, the unique identification code, and the current measuring device to a server provided on land or on the ship Characterized in transmitting visual information,
Current measuring device.
delete The method of claim 1,
The control unit is characterized in that for transmitting and receiving a signal through LoRa communication with the external ship terminal,
Current measuring device.
delete delete

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