Auxiliary ship berthing system based on unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The utility model discloses an auxiliary ship berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle, and belongs to the field of ship berthing. The system comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a camera, an unmanned aerial vehicle scheduling system, a remote computing center, a wireless communication system, a ship and berth matching system and a ship control center, the unmanned aerial vehicle scheduling system is connected with the unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle camera is connected with the remote computing center through the wireless communication system, and the remote computing center is connected with the ship and berth matching system through the wireless communication system. The remote computing center is connected with the ship and berth matching system, and the ship and berth matching system is connected with the ship control center through the wireless communication system. The ship berthing is intelligently assisted through the unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the ship berthing efficiency and safety are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the field of ship berthing. Specifically, the utility model relates to a ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Background Art

[0002] The existing ship auxiliary berthing technologies mainly rely on hardware systems such as mechanical structures, cameras, and radar arrays. For the design of the mechanical structure, such as the patent document CN118360906A, mechanical auxiliary tools are used to assist the ship in adjusting its attitude during berthing, but its operation is complex and not intuitive enough for the driver. Camera and radar array systems, such as the patent documents CN115588313A and CN218198711U, usually require installing multiple cameras, radars, as well as hardware devices such as processors and industrial control computers on each ship to assist the driver in obtaining the environmental information around the ship during the berthing process.

[0003] These existing auxiliary berthing technologies require the transformation of the hardware system for each ship, resulting in high costs, especially when installing and maintaining multiple cameras, radars, and computing units. This design limitation restricts the popularization of the auxiliary berthing system, and it is uneconomical especially for short-term berthing scenarios. The specific disadvantages are as follows:

[0004] 1. Poor intuitiveness of the mechanical structure design: Although the mechanical structure design can provide physical assistance, the driver cannot directly perceive the environmental changes during berthing through this system, which makes the berthing operation lack intuitiveness and cannot provide a comfortable and safe berthing experience.

[0005] 2. High cost of the multi-sensor system: To achieve berthing assistance, the ship needs to be equipped with multiple cameras, radars, sensors and other hardware, and a dedicated industrial control computer for data processing. This poses a relatively large burden on the cost of the ship, especially for small ships or ships that do not frequently use the auxiliary berthing function.

[0006] 3. Serious resource waste: The berthing time of the ship is relatively short, and each ship needs to be equipped with a complete set of complex equipment to ensure berthing safety, with a relatively low usage frequency, and the equipment resources are not efficiently utilized.

[0007] 4. Limitations of the berthing scenario: Most ship berthing scenarios occur at fixed berths in ports, berthing yards or anchorages, but the existing systems require each ship to be equipped with a complete set of auxiliary systems by itself, which leads to unnecessary repeated investment in actual applications.

[0008] 5. Insufficient intelligence of the berth: The existing berthing technologies rely on the hardware equipment on the ship, and the berths themselves in ports, anchorages, berthing yards, etc. lack intelligent transformation and cannot provide collaborative berthing support. Content of the Utility Model

[0009] The present utility model aims to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and proposes a ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to achieve the following objectives: to improve the efficiency and safety of ship berthing through intelligent UAV-assisted ship berthing.

[0010] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present utility model is as follows:

[0011] A ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the system includes a UAV equipped with a camera, a UAV dispatching system, a remote computing center, a wireless communication system, a ship-berth matching system, and a ship control center. Among them, the UAV dispatching system is connected to the UAV, the UAV camera is connected to the remote computing center through the wireless communication system, the remote computing center is connected to the ship-berth matching system, and the ship-berth matching system is connected to the ship control center through the wireless communication system.

[0012] Preferably, the UAV camera includes a night vision camera, a 360-degree panoramic camera, and a camera pan-tilt head.

[0013] Preferably, the UAV is also equipped with a battery management system, which is used to automatically control the UAV to return for charging when it detects that the UAV battery is low.

[0014] Preferably, the ship auxiliary berthing system includes multiple UAVs. Among them, the multiple UAVs are used to monitor multiple berths simultaneously, and the multiple UAVs are also used to monitor the same berth.

[0015] Preferably, the UAV dispatching system includes a port management system, a dispatching controller, a GPS, and a positioning base station. Among them, the port management system, the GPS, and the positioning base station are respectively connected to the dispatching controller. The port management system is used to judge whether a ship is about to berth; the dispatching controller is used to receive the positioning signals from the GPS and the positioning base station and to control the UAV to hover in the ship berth area in advance when it is found that the ship is about to berth.

[0016] Preferably, the remote computing center includes a GPU processing unit and a video encoder. The GPU processing unit is connected to the UAV camera through the wireless communication system and is used to receive and process the data collected by the UAV camera; the video encoder is respectively connected to the wireless communication system and the GPU processing unit and is used to compress and encode the video data processed by the GPU and send it to the ship-berth matching system through the wireless communication system.

[0017] Preferably, the wireless communication system includes a Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device and a 5G mobile communication device, and the Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device or the 5G mobile communication device is respectively connected between the remote computing center and the UAV camera, and between the ship-berth matching system and the ship control center.

[0018] Preferably, the ship-berth matching system includes an AIS system and a controller, where the controller is connected to the remote computing center and the AIS system; the controller is configured to obtain the real-time position of the ship according to the data collected by the AIS system to judge the ship's berth, so as to match the video captured by the UAV on the corresponding berth.

[0019] Preferably, the ship control center includes a large screen in the ship control room and a mobile terminal of the ship's driver. The large screen in the ship control room and the mobile terminal of the ship's driver are respectively connected to the ship controller, and are used to receive the video captured by the UAV on the corresponding berth to assist the ship in berthing.

[0020] Preferably, the UAV scheduling system, the remote computing center, the wireless communication system, and the ship-berth matching system are integrated on an industrial computer at the port end.

[0021] The technical effects of the present utility model are as follows:

[0022] 1. Reduce the ship modification cost and reduce resource waste: There is no need to install multiple hardware devices such as cameras and radars on each ship. Only by deploying a UAV system at the berth can the auxiliary berthing function be realized, greatly reducing the cost.

[0023] 2. Improve the berthing experience: The high-resolution images captured by the UAV are transmitted to the driver in real time. The driver can intuitively see the surrounding environment of the ship, assist in judging the berthing operation, and enhance the intuitiveness and safety of berthing.

[0024] 3. Intelligent berth system: The port berths are intelligently transformed, and the UAV system is coordinated with the port management to achieve intelligent scheduling and automatic video matching, improving the utilization rate of the berth and the efficiency of ship berthing.

[0025] 4. Flexible and efficient: The UAV can be flexibly scheduled among multiple berths. The UAV only needs to work for a short time during the berthing process, solving the problem of low equipment utilization rate in the traditional auxiliary system.

[0026] 5. Support multi-terminal access: The ship's driver does not need to purchase additional equipment or perform complex installations. The real-time video can be viewed through a mobile phone or a web browser, which is simple and convenient to operate.

[0027] 6. High scalability and compatibility: This system can be seamlessly integrated with the existing port management system and supports future expansion of new intelligent berth functions, such as automatic charging and drone collaboration, etc., with good scalability and upgrade capabilities. Description of the Drawings

[0028] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of a ship auxiliary berthing system based on drones according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiment

[0029] Next, with reference to the drawings, through the description of the embodiments, the specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail. The purpose is to help those skilled in the art have a more complete, accurate and in-depth understanding of the inventive concept and technical solution of the present invention, and to facilitate its implementation. To make the technical solution of the present invention clearer, the present invention is explained and illustrated through the following embodiments.

[0030] A ship auxiliary berthing system based on drones, as Figure 1 shown, the system includes a drone equipped with a camera, a drone scheduling system, a remote computing center, a wireless communication system, a ship-berth matching system, and a ship navigation control center. Among them, the drone scheduling system is connected to the drone, the drone camera is connected to the remote computing center through the wireless communication system, the remote computing center is connected to the ship-berth matching system, and the ship-berth matching system is connected to the ship navigation control center through the wireless communication system.

[0031] Since the ship berthing process is relatively short in time, even if an intelligent berth system for auxiliary berthing is equipped for each berth, the actual usage time of each system will be very short. Therefore, the system of this application adopts a scheme of multiple drone cameras plus centralized control, processing and transmission. The working process of this embodiment is as follows: When the ship is about to berth, the drone scheduling system dispatches the drone to start and hover above the berth where the ship is about to berth; then the drone collects real-time video during ship berthing through the camera and sends it to the remote computing center through the wireless communication system. After the remote computing center performs processing such as target detection and distance calculation on the video data, it sends the processed video data to the ship-berth matching system. The ship-berth matching system will locate the ship's position to determine the berth, and thus match the drone video data on the corresponding berth and send it to the ship navigation control center through the wireless communication system. The ship navigation control center views the video captured by the drone through the large screen in the navigation control room or a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone and makes a berthing operation decision.

[0032] Specifically, in this embodiment, the UAV camera includes a night vision camera, a 360-degree panoramic camera, and a camera pan-tilt head. Among them, the night vision camera can ensure that the UAV can work properly at night, expanding the usage scenarios of this system; the 360-degree panoramic camera can capture all-round details of ship berthing to improve the reliability of the captured video; the camera pan-tilt head is used to prevent the shaking of the video frame during shooting, improving the quality and reliability of the video; at the same time, both the night vision camera and the 360-degree panoramic camera can adopt high-resolution cameras to improve the picture clarity, facilitating the driver to make more accurate berthing operation decisions.

[0033] In addition, the UAV of this embodiment is also equipped with a battery management system, which is used to automatically control the UAV to return for charging when it detects that the UAV's battery power is insufficient. At the same time, considering that the UAV may need to hover for a long time during berthing, the UAV should be equipped with a large-capacity battery to achieve long endurance and support fast battery replacement.

[0034] In this embodiment, considering that there may be busy periods at the port or large ships berthing, the ship assisted berthing system of this embodiment includes multiple UAVs to achieve collaborative work, cover a wider perspective, and perform multi-perspective switching. Among them, multiple UAVs can be used to monitor multiple berths simultaneously to cope with the situation of multiple ships berthing at the same time during busy periods; and multiple UAVs are also used to monitor the same berth to address the problem that a single UAV cannot achieve all-round shooting for large ships. At the same time, for ordinary ships, multiple UAVs monitoring the same berth simultaneously can form redundant checks with each other, improving the reliability of the captured video.

[0035] In this embodiment, the UAV scheduling system includes a port management system, a scheduling controller, a GPS, and a positioning base station. Among them, the port management system, the GPS, and the positioning base station are respectively connected to the scheduling controller. The port management system is used to judge whether a ship is about to berth; the scheduling controller is used to receive the positioning signals from the GPS and the positioning base station and control the UAV to hover in the ship berth area in advance when it detects that a ship is about to berth. The port management system is a common means for those skilled in the art and is widely applied in each port, mainly used for ship entry and exit port detection and ship berth allocation, etc. Generally, after the port management system detects that a ship enters the port and allocates a berth, the scheduling controller can control the UAV to hover in the ship berth area in advance, so as to provide assistance for ship berthing in a timely manner. The scheduling controller can adopt a control chip such as a microcontroller MCU, and can be flexibly selected according to the actual situation during specific implementation.

[0036] The remote computing center of this embodiment includes a GPU processing unit and a video encoder. The GPU processing unit is connected to the UAV camera through the wireless communication system, and is used to receive and process the data collected by the UAV camera, supporting efficient data processing using existing algorithms such as object detection and distance calculation. In particular, deep learning models are used for object detection and tracking. The processed results are superimposed on the video image and provided to the ship's driver for berthing operation decision-making. The video encoder is respectively connected to the wireless communication system and the GPU processing unit, and is used to compress and encode the video data completed by the GPU processing unit and send it to the ship-berth matching system through the wireless communication system, which can reduce the transmission bandwidth requirement and improve the transmission efficiency.

[0037] The wireless communication system of this embodiment includes a Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device and a 5G mobile communication device. The Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device or the 5G mobile communication device is respectively connected between the remote computing center and the UAV, and between the ship-berth matching system and the ship control center. Among them, the Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device is suitable for high-bandwidth real-time video transmission within a short distance. If the ship and the edge computing device are far apart, the processed images can be transmitted through the mobile network of the 5G mobile communication device, especially in areas with a wide coverage. The application scenarios of the two are different, and they can be flexibly selected according to the actual situation during specific implementation.

[0038] Since the entire system is a collaborative work of multiple UAVs, there may be a situation where the UAV video does not match the berth. To solve this problem, the ship-berth matching system of this embodiment includes an AIS system and a controller. Among them, the AIS system of the ship continuously sends and receives information. The AIS system continuously sends and receives information to nearby ships and shore-based facilities through the VHF frequency band. It includes the static information of the ship (such as ship name, call sign, MMSI code, ship length, ship width, ship type, etc.) and dynamic information (such as ship position, course, speed, etc.). Ports, anchorages and other berthing areas can obtain the real-time position of the ship through this system. The controller is connected to the remote computing center and the AIS system; the controller is used to obtain the real-time position of the ship according to the data collected by the AIS system to judge the ship's berth, so as to match the video taken by the UAV at the corresponding berth, so as to ensure that the real-time video stream seen by the ship's driver matches the berth where he actually berths. The controller can use a control chip such as a microcontroller MCU, and can be flexibly selected according to the actual situation during specific implementation.

[0039] To further ensure the accurate matching of the UAV video and the berth, the system of this embodiment also supports manual matching. When the driver accesses the video stream, the port management personnel can monitor in real time and confirm whether the video matches the current berth of the ship to ensure correct operation. If the port management personnel find that the image viewed by the ship driver does not match the current berth, the port management personnel can manually match the berth and the image.

[0040] In this embodiment, the ship control center includes a large screen in the ship control room and a ship driver's mobile terminal (such as a mobile phone, a smart tablet, etc.). The large screen in the ship control room and the ship driver's mobile terminal are respectively connected to the ship controller and are used to receive the video taken by the UAV at the corresponding berth to assist the ship in berthing.

[0041] In addition, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the UAV scheduling system, the remote computing center, the wireless communication system, and the ship-berth matching system are all integrated on the industrial control computer at the port end. This facilitates port management and improves the integration degree of the system of the present application.

[0042] In summary, the system of the present application has the following advantages:

[0043] 1. Reduce the cost of ship modification and waste of resources: There is no need to install multiple hardware devices such as cameras and radars on each ship. Only by deploying a UAV system at the berth can the function of assisting berthing be realized, greatly reducing the cost.

[0044] 2. Improve the berthing experience: The high-resolution images taken by the UAV are transmitted to the driver in real time. The driver can intuitively see the surrounding environment of the ship and assist in judging the berthing operation, enhancing the intuitiveness and safety of berthing.

[0045] 3. Intelligent berth system: The port berths are intelligently transformed. Through the cooperation of the UAV system and port management, intelligent scheduling and automatic video matching are realized, improving the utilization rate of the berth and the efficiency of ship berthing.

[0046] 4. Flexible and efficient: The UAV can be flexibly scheduled among multiple berths. The UAV only needs to work for a short time during the berthing process, solving the problem of low equipment utilization rate in the traditional auxiliary system.

[0047] 5. Support multi-terminal access: The ship driver does not need to purchase additional equipment or perform complex installations. The real-time video can be viewed through a mobile phone or a Web browser, and the operation is simple and convenient.

[0048] 6. High scalability and compatibility: The system of the present application can be seamlessly integrated with the existing port management system and supports the future expansion of new intelligent berth functions such as automatic charging and UAV cooperation, with good scalability and upgrade capabilities.

[0049] The above has made an exemplary description of the present utility model in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the specific implementation of the present utility model is not limited by the above methods. As long as various non-substantive improvements are made by adopting the method concept and technical solution of the present utility model; or without improvement, the above concept and technical solution of the present utility model are directly applied to other occasions, they are all within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle-based ship auxiliary berthing system, characterized in that: The system includes a drone equipped with a camera, a drone scheduling system, a remote computing center, a wireless communication system, a ship-berth matching system, and a ship control center. Among them, the drone scheduling system is connected to the drone, the drone camera is connected to the remote computing center through the wireless communication system, the remote computing center is connected to the ship-berth matching system, and the ship-berth matching system is connected to the ship control center through the wireless communication system.

2. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: The drone camera includes a night vision camera, a 360-degree panoramic camera, and a camera pan-tilt head.

3. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: The drone is also equipped with a battery management system, which is used to automatically control the drone to return for charging when it detects that the drone's battery is low.

4. A ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: The ship assisted berthing system includes multiple drones, where multiple drones are used to monitor multiple berths simultaneously, and multiple drones are also used to monitor the same berth.

5. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drone scheduling system includes a port management system, a scheduling controller, a GPS, and a positioning base station. Among them, the port management system, the GPS, and the positioning base station are respectively connected to the scheduling controller. The port management system is used to judge whether a ship is about to berth; the scheduling controller is used to receive the positioning signals from the GPS and the positioning base station and to control the drone to hover in the ship berth area in advance when it discovers that the ship is about to berth.

6. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The remote computing center includes a GPU processing unit and a video encoder. The GPU processing unit is connected to the drone camera through the wireless communication system and is used to receive and process the data collected by the drone camera; the video encoder is respectively connected to the wireless communication system and the GPU processing unit and is used to compress and encode the video data processed by the GPU and send it to the ship-berth matching system through the wireless communication system.

7. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wireless communication system includes a Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device and a 5G mobile communication device. The Wi-Fi 6 / 6E communication device or the 5G mobile communication device is respectively connected between the remote computing center and the drone camera, and between the ship-berth matching system and the ship control center.

8. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ship-berth matching system includes an AIS system and a controller. The controller is connected to the remote computing center and the AIS system; the controller is used to obtain the real-time position of the ship based on the data collected by the AIS system to judge the ship berth, so as to match the video taken by the drone at the corresponding berth.

9. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 8, characterized in that: The ship control center includes a large screen in the ship control room and a ship driver's mobile terminal. The large screen in the ship control room and the ship driver's mobile terminal are respectively connected to the ship controller and are used to receive the video taken by the drone at the corresponding berth to assist the ship in berthing.

10. The ship auxiliary berthing system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drone scheduling system, the remote computing center, the wireless communication system, and the ship-berth matching system are integrated on an industrial computer at the port end.

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