Moving body control system, moving body controller, and moving body control method

Abstract

To allow a moving body, which moves underwater, to make a movement suitable for a place independently of operator's steering.SOLUTION: A management server 3 has: a storage unit 33 that stores plural record data items in which a water-surface moving body ID, an underwater navigation moving body ID, positions of a water-surface moving body 1 and an underwater navigation moving body 2 when the underwater navigation moving body 2 executes a predetermined movement, and an orientation of the underwater navigation moving body 2 when the underwater navigation moving body 2 executes the predetermined movement are associated with one another; a receiving unit 341 that receives the water-surface moving body ID or the underwater navigation moving body ID and a designated position where the underwater navigation moving body 2 is caused to execute the predetermined movement; and a control information generation unit 342 that generates control information for use in moving the water-surface moving body 1 and the underwater navigation moving body 2 to the designated position, and causing the underwater navigation moving body 2 to the orientation of the underwater navigation moving body 2 represented by the record data stored in the storage unit 33 in association with the water-surface moving body ID or the underwater navigation moving body ID and the designated position which are received by the receiving unit 341.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mobile object control system, a mobile object control device, and a mobile object control method. [Background technology]

[0002] A combined water-air drone is known in which a surface drone capable of flying in the air is coupled with a submersible drone capable of operating underwater, moves to a predetermined location, and then separates the submersible drone, which is then recovered after the submersible drone has completed its work (see, for example, non-patent document 1). [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0003] [Non-Patent Document 1] KDDI Corporation, KDDI Research, Inc., Prodrone Inc., “World’s first water-air combined drone succeeds in remote underwater photography ~ Safe and efficient inspection of offshore wind power generation equipment without launching a ship ~”, [online], December 14, 2021, KDDI, [Searched February 25, 2022], Internet<URL:https: / / news.kddi.com / kddi / corporate / newsrelease / 2021 / 12 / 14 / 5593.html> Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In order to operate a conventional combined water-air drone, an operator had to operate the combined water-air drone using a control device while visually observing the combined water-air drone or while looking at images taken by the combined water-air drone.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and has an object to enable a moving body operating underwater to perform operations appropriate to the location, without being controlled by an operator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A mobile object control system according to a first aspect of the present invention is a mobile object control system comprising a mobile object in which a surface mobile object that moves on the water and a submersible mobile object that submerges underwater are detachably coupled, and a mobile object control device that generates control information for controlling the surface mobile object and the submersible mobile object, wherein the mobile object control device generates control information in which surface mobile object information for identifying the surface mobile object, submersible mobile object information for identifying the submersible mobile object, positions of the surface mobile object and the submersible mobile object when the submersible mobile object performs a predetermined operation, and an orientation of the submersible mobile object when the submersible mobile object performs the predetermined operation are associated with each other. The device has a memory unit that stores multiple recorded data, a reception unit that receives surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle that is to be combined with the submersible vehicle to perform a specified operation or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to perform the specified operation, and a control information generation unit that moves the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle toward the designated position and generates the control information for orienting the submersible vehicle in the direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the surface vehicle information or submersible vehicle information received by the reception unit and the designated position.

[0007] The accepting unit may accept the designated position by displaying a plurality of the record data on an information terminal and accepting an operation to select the record data corresponding to the designated position via the information terminal.

[0008] The reception unit may receive a plurality of the designated positions in association with one combination of the surface vehicle information and the submersible vehicle information, and the control information generation unit may generate the control information indicating the plurality of the designated positions.

[0009] The control information generation unit may generate the control information by correcting the designated position based on the underwater environment predicted at the scheduled movement time of the submersible vehicle.

[0010] The specified action may be underwater photography by the submersible moving body, the recorded data may be captured image data generated by the submersible moving body photographing underwater, and the reception unit may accept the location where the captured image data was taken as the designated location by accepting a selection of one of the captured image data from a plurality of the captured image data.

[0011] The specified action is underwater photography by the submersible mobile body, the recorded data is image data generated by the submersible mobile body photographing underwater, and the reception unit may accept another position based on the position where the image data was generated as the specified position.

[0012] The control information generation unit may identify the sharpness of the subject contained in the captured image data, determine the distance to the subject corresponding to the identified sharpness by referring to data correlating the sharpness with the distance to the subject, and generate the control information for directing the underwater vehicle to a position at the determined distance from the subject.

[0013] If a first position of the submersible mobile body corresponding to the distance to the subject determined based on the identified sharpness is closer to the subject than a second position corresponding to the specified position, the control information generation unit may generate the control information for causing the submersible mobile body to photograph the subject at the first position and the second position.

[0014] The specified operation is underwater photography by the submersible mobile body, and the recorded data is captured image data generated by the submersible mobile body photographing underwater, and the reception unit may display a plurality of the captured image data on an information terminal, and store in the memory unit one or more of the captured image data for which a specified selection operation has been performed, in association with the surface mobile body information, the submersible mobile body information, and the position of the surface mobile body, the submersible mobile body, and the orientation of the submersible mobile body at the time the captured image data was generated.

[0015] A mobile body control device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a mobile body control device for controlling a mobile body in which a surface mobile body that moves on the water and a submersible mobile body that submerges underwater are detachably coupled, and includes a memory unit that stores a plurality of recorded data in which surface mobile body information for identifying the surface mobile body, submersible mobile body information for identifying the submersible mobile body, positions of the surface mobile body and the submersible mobile body when the submersible mobile body performs a predetermined operation, and an orientation of the submersible mobile body when the submersible mobile body performs the predetermined operation, are associated with each other; The device has a reception unit that receives surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle to be coupled with the submersible vehicle or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to perform the specified operation, and a control information generation unit that moves the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle toward the designated position and generates control information for orienting the submersible vehicle in a direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the surface vehicle information or the submersible vehicle information received by the reception unit and the designated position.

[0016] A third aspect of the mobile object control method of the present invention is a method executed by a computer to control a mobile object in which a surface mobile object that moves on the water and a submersible mobile object that submerges underwater are detachably coupled, the computer includes a step of storing in a memory unit a plurality of record data items in which surface mobile object information for identifying the surface mobile object, submersible mobile object information for identifying the submersible mobile object, positions of the surface mobile object and the submersible mobile object when the submersible mobile object performs a predetermined operation, and an orientation of the submersible mobile object when the submersible mobile object performs the predetermined operation are associated with each other. the step of receiving surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle to be coupled with the submersible vehicle that is to be caused to perform a predetermined operation or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to be caused to perform the predetermined operation; the step of moving the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle toward the designated position, and generating control information for orienting the submersible vehicle in a direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the received surface vehicle information or the submersible vehicle information and the designated position. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to cause a moving object operating in water to perform an operation suitable for the location without being controlled by an operator. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a mobile object control system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a mobile object control system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a mobile object control system. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a movement path when an underwater object K is a seawall. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a movement path when the underwater object K is a ship. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an underwater vehicle 1. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of control information. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining three-dimensional spatial coordinates. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a management server 3. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of recording data. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing an example of record data that a reception unit 341 causes the information terminal 4 to display. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the management server 3. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the water vehicle 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] [Overview of the mobility control system] 1 to 3 are diagrams for explaining an overview of a mobile object control system. The mobile object control system includes a mobile object 100 and a management server 3 which is a mobile object control device that controls the mobile object 100.

[0020] The moving body 100 has a surface moving body 1 capable of moving on the water, and a submersible moving body 2 detachably connected to the surface moving body 1 and capable of submerging underwater. The surface moving body 1 may be capable of flying. The moving body 100 can move in either a state in which the submersible moving body 2 is housed in the surface moving body 1, or a state in which the submersible moving body 2 is not housed in the surface moving body 1. As shown in FIG. 2, even in a state in which the submersible moving body 2 is not housed in the surface moving body 1, the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 may be connected by a cable C, but the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 do not have to be connected by a cable C.

[0021] The surface vehicle 1 is provided with a movement mechanism 10 for moving the surface vehicle 1, and an attachment / detachment mechanism 11 for attaching and detaching the submersible vehicle 2. The movement mechanism 10 includes, for example, a thruster for moving the surface vehicle 1 on the water. The movement mechanism 10 may include mechanisms necessary for flying the surface vehicle 1, such as a propeller and a rudder. The attachment / detachment mechanism 11 includes members that form a space to accommodate the submersible vehicle 2, a mechanism for fixing the submersible vehicle 2, and a mechanism for releasing the submersible vehicle 2.

[0022] The moving body 100 moves based on the control information received from the management server 3, and executes a predetermined operation at the submerged location indicated by the control information. The predetermined operation is, for example, an operation of photographing an underwater object or an operation of processing an underwater object. In the following description, a case where the predetermined operation is an operation of photographing an object K to be inspected will be mainly illustrated.

[0023] The management server 3 is a mobile object control device, such as a computer, that transmits control information to the mobile object 100 via a network such as a mobile phone network or Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The management server 3 transmits to the information terminal 4 recorded data indicating the position and orientation of the submersible mobile object 2 when the submersible mobile object 2 performed a specified operation in the past, and creates control information by receiving designation data including a designated position input by the user U at the information terminal 4.

[0024] The management server 3 is managed, for example, by a business operator who uses the mobile body 100 to observe the state of underwater objects and perform maintenance on underwater objects. Details of the control information will be described later, but the control information is information indicating the latitude, longitude, and depth of multiple submersible locations where the submersible mobile body 2 performs a predetermined operation underwater, and the orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 when performing the operation. The control information may further include information indicating the operation to be performed by the submersible mobile body 2 at each submersible location.

[0025] The information terminal 4 is a terminal used by a user U who has requested a business operator to observe an underwater object or perform maintenance of an underwater object using the moving body 100, and is, for example, a personal computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. Although details will be described later, the information terminal 4 displays on a display recorded data, which is image data previously generated by the submersible moving body 2, or real-time image data generated by the submersible moving body 2, transmitted from the management server 3. The information terminal 4 transmits designation data indicating a position designated by the user from among multiple positions of the underwater object K indicated by the displayed image data to the management server 3. The designation data may include the position of one submersible location, or may include the positions of multiple submersible locations, or a route passing through multiple submersible locations.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a state in which a submersible vehicle 2 is housed in a surface vehicle 1, and the submersible vehicle 2 has not yet reached the submersible location. The surface vehicle 1 moves with the submersible vehicle 2 housed therein to a position above the submersible location indicated by control information received from a management server 3. The position above the submersible location is, for example, a position vertically above the submersible location. In other words, the position above the submersible location is at the same latitude and longitude as the submersible location and is above the water surface. The position above the submersible location may be a landing location at a specified absolute position.

[0027] In Fig. 1, seaweed is shown as the underwater object K. The control information includes information indicating the positions of multiple submersible locations where the submersible mobile body 2 photographs the underwater object K. Fig. 1 shows the position of the mobile body 100 at the time when the surface mobile body 1 moves with the submersible mobile body 2 stowed to a position above the first submersible location.

[0028] When the moving body 100 moves to a position above the initial submersible location, as shown in Figure 2, the surface moving body 1 releases the submersible moving body 2 by operating the attachment / detachment mechanism 11, making the submersible moving body 2 movable underwater.

[0029] After releasing the submersible vehicle 2, the surface vehicle 1 receives acoustic signals periodically emitted by the submersible vehicle 2 and identifies the relative position of the submersible vehicle 2 with respect to the surface vehicle 1 by analyzing the received acoustic signals. The surface vehicle 1 identifies the direction in which the submersible vehicle 2 should move based on the relationship between the identified relative position of the submersible vehicle 2 and the position of the target submersible location. The surface vehicle 1 moves the submersible vehicle 2 toward the submersible location by transmitting control data indicating the direction in which it should move to the submersible vehicle 2 via cable C. If the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 are not connected by cable C, the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 may transmit and receive control data acoustically or wirelessly.

[0030] When the submersible mobile body 2 reaches the submersible location, the surface mobile body 1 causes the submersible mobile body 2 to perform a predetermined operation. When the submersible mobile body 2 performs the predetermined operation, the surface mobile body 1 moves toward above the next submersible location and transmits control data to the submersible mobile body 2 for moving the submersible mobile body 2 to the next submersible location. As an example, the surface mobile body 1 transmits control data for moving the submersible mobile body 2 so that the surface mobile body 1 and the submersible mobile body 2 move toward the latitude and longitude position of the next submersible location at approximately the same speed.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a movement path of the surface-water moving body 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the underwater object K is viewed from above the surface-water moving body 1. As shown in FIG. 3, as an example, the surface-water moving body 1 moves from one end side of the underwater object K to the other end side, and when it reaches the other end side, it moves in the depth direction, and then moves from the other end side to the one end side. The submersible moving body 2 also moves underwater along the same movement path in accordance with the movement of the surface-water moving body 1. By moving the surface-water moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 in this manner, it is possible to perform operations at multiple positions of the underwater object K even if the underwater object K spreads out in a planar shape.

[0032] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a movement path when the underwater object K is a seawall. When the underwater object K has long surfaces in the vertical and horizontal directions as shown in Fig. 4, the submersible moving body 2 performs an operation while moving up and down. In the example shown in Fig. 4, the surface moving body 1 moves the submersible moving body 2 downward while keeping the position of the surface moving body 1 fixed. The surface moving body 1 may change the length of the cable C in response to changes in the depth of the submersible location.

[0033] When the submersible mobile body 2 reaches the lowest submersible location where it is to perform an action, the surface mobile body 1 moves horizontally toward a position above the next submersible location, and moves the submersible mobile body 2 to the next submersible location. The surface mobile body 1 then moves the submersible mobile body 2 upward while keeping the position of the surface mobile body 1 fixed. By repeating such actions by the surface mobile body 1 and the submersible mobile body 2, actions can be performed at multiple positions of the underwater object K, even if the underwater object K has long surfaces in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

[0034] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a movement path when the underwater object K is a ship. Fig. 5(a) shows the underwater object K seen from the side, and Fig. 5(b) shows the underwater object K seen from above. As shown in Fig. 5, the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 perform operations at multiple submersible locations while moving horizontally, and when the submersible moving body 2 reaches a predetermined position in the horizontal direction, it changes depth, and then performs operations at multiple submersible locations while moving in the opposite horizontal direction.

[0035] Result data (e.g., captured image data) indicating the results obtained by the submersible vehicle 2 executing the operation is transmitted to the management server 3 via the surface vehicle 1. The management server 3 associates the result data with the user who requested the work using the vehicle 100, stores the result data in a storage medium, or transmits the result data to the information terminal 4.

[0036] The user U can check the result data via the information terminal 4. If the user U wants to save the transmitted result data as record data for use in future work, the user U sets the information terminal 4 to record the result data as record data. In this case, the information terminal 4 transmits a request to record the result data as record data to the management server 3. The information terminal 4 transmits the request in association with information for identifying the user U (for example, the name or ID of the user U). As a result, the management server 3 stores the record data in association with the user U.

[0037] [Configuration of water vehicle 1] 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the surface vehicle 1. The surface vehicle 1 has a movement mechanism unit 10, an attachment / detachment mechanism unit 11, a communication unit 12, an acoustic signal receiving unit 13, a GPS receiver 14, a storage unit 15, and a control unit 16. The control unit 16 has a control information acquisition unit 161, a position identification unit 162, a movement control unit 163, and a submersion control unit 164.

[0038] As described above, the movement mechanism unit 10 includes mechanisms necessary for flying the surface-water moving body 1, such as a propeller and a rudder. The movement mechanism unit 10 also includes a thruster for moving the surface-water moving body 1 on the water. The movement mechanism unit 10 operates based on the control of the movement control unit 163, and moves the surface-water moving body 1 in the air or on the water.

[0039] The attachment / detachment mechanism 11 is a mechanism for attaching and detaching the submersible vehicle 2. The attachment / detachment mechanism 11 has, for example, an arm for fixing the submersible vehicle 2, and can switch between a state in which the submersible vehicle 2 is housed in the surface vehicle 1 and a state in which the submersible vehicle 2 is released from the surface vehicle 1 by changing the shape or orientation of the arm. The attachment / detachment mechanism 11 may include a mechanism for winding up the cable C.

[0040] The communication unit 12 has a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the management server 3. The communication unit 12 receives data including, for example, control information from the management server 3. The communication unit 12 inputs the received control information to the control information acquisition unit 161. The communication unit 12 may transmit to the management server 3 data (for example, captured image data) indicating the results of an operation performed by the submersible mobile object 2 at a submersible location.

[0041] The acoustic signal receiving unit 13 has multiple receivers that receive acoustic signals emitted by the submersible vehicle 2. The acoustic signal receiving unit 13 inputs the multiple acoustic signals received by each of the multiple receivers to the position identifying unit 162. Since the multiple receivers are provided at different positions on the surface vehicle 1, the timing at which the acoustic signal emitted by the submersible vehicle 2 reaches each of the multiple receivers is different. The position identifying unit 162 identifies the relative position of the submersible vehicle 2 with respect to the surface vehicle 1 based on the timing at which the acoustic signal reaches each of the multiple receivers.

[0042] The GPS receiver 14 receives radio waves from GPS satellites. The GPS receiver 14 inputs to the position specifying unit 162 data that is included in the received radio waves and is used to specify latitude and longitude.

[0043] The storage unit 15 has storage media such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 15 stores control information received by the communication unit 12. The storage unit 15 may store captured image data transmitted from the submersible vehicle 2. The storage unit 15 stores a program executed by the control unit 16.

[0044] The control unit 16 has, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 16 executes the programs stored in the storage unit 15 to function as a control information acquisition unit 161, a position identification unit 162, a movement control unit 163, and a submarine navigation control unit 164.

[0045] The control information acquisition unit 161 acquires control information including the submersible location of the submersible mobile body 2 via the communication unit 12. The control information may include information indicating an operation to be performed by the submersible mobile body 2 in association with the submersible location. The control information acquisition unit 161 stores the acquired control information in the storage unit 15.

[0046] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of control information. In the control information shown in Fig. 7, an action ID, the latitude, longitude, and depth of the submersible location, the orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 when it operates, and the content of the action to be performed are associated with each of a plurality of submersible locations where the submersible mobile body 2 should perform a predetermined action. The orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 when it operates is represented by a combination of an angle A1 based on north and an angle A2 based on the horizontal plane, and is exemplified in the form of (A1, A2) in Fig. 7. In Fig. 7, an action of normal shooting and an action of enlarged shooting (zoomed-up shooting) are exemplified as the content of the action.

[0047] The action ID includes information indicating the order in which the submersible mobile object 2 performs predetermined actions. In the example shown in Fig. 7, the submersible mobile object 2 performs the actions in the order of the numbers indicated by the action ID. The control information may further include information indicating the time at which the submersible mobile object 2 should perform each action.

[0048] The control information acquisition unit 161 acquires the control information before the moving body 100 starts moving, but may acquire the control information after the moving body 100 starts moving. As an example, the control information acquisition unit 161 may transmit data (e.g., captured image data) indicating the results of the operation performed by the submersible moving body 2 at the submersible location indicated by the control information acquired before the moving body 100 starts moving to the management server 3, and further acquire control information created by the management server 3 based on the data indicating the results.

[0049] The control information acquisition unit 161 may request new control information from the management server 3 and acquire the new control information when data indicating the results of the operation performed by the submersible mobile body 2 does not satisfy a predetermined condition. As an example, the control information acquisition unit 161 acquires new control information when the clarity of the underwater object K in the captured image is not at a predetermined level or higher. In this way, by the control information acquisition unit 161 acquiring control information even after the submersible mobile body 2 has performed an operation, it becomes possible for the submersible mobile body 2 to move to a submersible location where a good operation result can be obtained, for example, when the operation result of the submersible mobile body 2 is not good.

[0050] The position identifying unit 162 identifies the absolute position of the surface moving body 1 and the relative position from the absolute position to the submerged location. Specifically, the position identifying unit 162 first identifies latitude and longitude as information indicating the absolute position of the surface moving body 1 based on data input from the GPS receiver 14. The position identifying unit 162 also identifies a vector from the identified absolute position of the surface moving body 1 to the position of the submerged location indicated by the control information, thereby identifying a relative position from the absolute position of the surface moving body 1 to the submerged location. The relative position is represented by the coordinates of the end position of the vector in a three-dimensional spatial coordinate system with the absolute position as the origin.

[0051] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining three-dimensional spatial coordinates. In the three-dimensional spatial coordinates shown in FIG. 8, x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that are perpendicular to each other are shown. The x-axis direction corresponds to the north-south direction, the y-axis direction corresponds to the east-west direction, and the z-axis direction corresponds to the vertical direction. The relative position of the submerged location with respect to the surface vehicle 1 is represented by the three-dimensional coordinates (x, y, z) of the submerged location when the surface vehicle 1 is at the origin. The direction in which the submerged vehicle 2, released from the surface vehicle 1, should move is represented by a combination of the angle θ from the x-axis in the xy plane and the angle φ from the xy plane.

[0052] The position identifying unit 162 may identify the position of the submersible mobile unit 2. Specifically, as described above, the position identifying unit 162 identifies the relative position of the submersible mobile unit 2 with respect to the surface mobile unit 1 based on the timing at which the acoustic signal arrives at each of the multiple receivers included in the acoustic signal receiving unit 13. The position identifying unit 162 may further identify the absolute position of the submersible mobile unit 2 based on the identified absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1 and the relative position of the submersible mobile unit 2.

[0053] Furthermore, the position identifying unit 162 may identify the relative position of the submersible location with respect to the absolute position of the submersible moving body 2. The position identifying unit 162 notifies the movement control unit 163 and the submersible control unit 164 of the identified absolute positions of the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2, the relative position of the submersible location with respect to the absolute position of the surface moving body 1, and the relative position of the submersible location with respect to the absolute position of the submersible moving body 2.

[0054] The movement control unit 163 controls the movement mechanism unit 10 to fly the surface-water moving body 1. The movement control unit 163 controls the movement mechanism unit 10 to fly the surface-water moving body 1 toward a position above the submerged location indicated by the control information. Specifically, the movement control unit 163 identifies a vector from the absolute position of the surface-water moving body 1 notified by the position identification unit 162 to a position above the submerged location indicated by the control information, and controls the rudder of the movement mechanism unit 10 to fly the surface-water moving body 1 in the direction of the identified vector.

[0055] When the submersible mobile unit 2 is submerged underwater, the movement control unit 163 controls the surface mobile unit 1 so as to be located vertically above the position of the submersible mobile unit 2. Specifically, the movement control unit 163 first identifies the latitude and longitude of the position vertically above the submersible mobile unit 2 based on the absolute position of the submersible mobile unit 2 notified by the position identification unit 162. Next, the movement control unit 163 identifies a vector from the absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1 to the identified position vertically above the submersible mobile unit 2, and controls the rudder of the movement mechanism unit 10 so as to fly the surface mobile unit 1 in the direction of the identified vector. By maintaining the surface mobile unit 1 above the submersible mobile unit 2, the cable C can be made short, thereby preventing the cable C from getting caught on an underwater structure. In addition, the time required to wind the cable C can be shortened.

[0056] If the control information includes multiple submersible locations, when the submersible mobile body 2 acquires result data (e.g., captured image data) indicating the result of a predetermined operation at a first submersible location among the multiple submersible locations, the movement control unit 163 moves the surface mobile body 1 toward a position above a second submersible location different from the first submersible location. By repeating such movement control, the movement control unit 163 enables the submersible mobile body 2 to perform operations at all submersible locations included in the control information.

[0057] When the surface-water vehicle 1 is not flying but on the water, the position of the surface-water vehicle 1 may change due to the influence of waves. In such a case, when the movement control unit 163 determines that the surface-water vehicle 1 has moved a predetermined distance or more away from the position, the movement control unit 163 may operate the thrusters to return the surface-water vehicle 1 to the position.

[0058] The submersible vehicle 2 performs a predetermined operation at all submersible locations, and the submersible vehicle 2 communicates with the surface vehicle 1. When the surface vehicle 1 is accommodated in the base, the movement control unit 163 causes the surface vehicle 1 to fly according to the route indicated by the control information. The movement control unit 163 causes the surface vehicle 1 to fly, for example, to a predetermined base.

[0059] The submersion control unit 164 controls the position of the submersion mobile unit 2. Specifically, when the surface mobile unit 1 arrives at a position above the submersion location, the submersion control unit 164 moves the submersion mobile unit 2 toward the submersion location. More specifically, when the surface mobile unit 1 reaches a position above the submersion location while the submersion mobile unit 2 is housed in the surface mobile unit 1, the submersion control unit 164 releases the submersion mobile unit 2 by controlling the attachment / detachment mechanism unit 11. Next, with the submersion mobile unit 2 released from the surface mobile unit 1, the submersion control unit 164 moves the submersion mobile unit 2 toward the submersion location by transmitting control data to the submersion mobile unit 2 via the cable C.

[0060] The submersible control unit 164, for example, moves the submersible mobile unit 2 toward the submersible location by transmitting control data including the relative position of the submersible location to the position of the surface mobile unit 1 to the submersible mobile unit 2. The submersible control unit 164 transmits control data indicating the relative position of the submersible location to the surface mobile unit 1 to the submersible mobile unit 2, for example, when the submersible mobile unit 2 is released from the surface mobile unit 1. Since the absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1 is determined based on radio waves from a GPS satellite and is highly accurate, the submersible mobile unit 2 can reach the submersible location with high accuracy by the submersible control unit 164 moving the submersible mobile unit 2 in a direction corresponding to the relative position of the submersible location to the surface mobile unit 1. The control data may include at least one of the direction and speed of the submersible mobile unit 2.

[0061] The submersible control unit 164 may move the submersible mobile body 2 to the submersible location by transmitting to the submersible mobile body 2 control data including the relative position of the submersible location with respect to the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2. For example, after the submersible mobile body 2 starts moving, the submersible control unit 164 moves the submersible mobile body 2 in a direction corresponding to the relative position of the submersible location with respect to the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2. By the submersible control unit 164 doing this, even if the position of the submersible mobile body 2 deviates from the straight line connecting the surface mobile body 1 and the submersible location due to the influence of water currents, the submersible mobile body 2 can reach the submersible location while correcting its trajectory.

[0062] The submersible control unit 164 may transmit control data indicating the orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 to the submersible mobile body 2. For example, when the submersible mobile body 2 reaches a submersible location, the submersible control unit 164 transmits control data indicating the orientation associated with the submersible location in the control information to the submersible mobile body 2. When the submersible mobile body 2 reaches a submersible location, the submersible control unit 164 may receive notification of the orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 at that time from the submersible mobile body 2, and transmit control data to the submersible mobile body 2 indicating the difference between the notified orientation and the orientation associated with the submersible location in the control information.

[0063] However, it is conceivable that radio waves from GPS satellites cannot reach a position above the submersible location due to an obstruction above the surface vehicle 1. In such a case, the position identifying unit 162 cannot recognize that it has reached a position above the submersible location. Therefore, when the position identifying unit 162 cannot identify the absolute position of the surface vehicle 1 at a position above the submersible location, the submersible control unit 164 may move the submersible vehicle 2 from the closest position where the position identifying unit 162 identified the absolute position of the surface vehicle 1 toward the submersible location.

[0064] That is, the submersible control unit 164 transmits to the submersible mobile unit 2 control data for moving the submersible mobile unit 2 toward the submersible location from the location closest to the submersible location among multiple locations for which the position identification unit 162 has identified the absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1. By operating the submersible control unit 164 in this manner, even if a situation occurs in which radio waves from a GPS satellite cannot reach the surface mobile unit 1, the submersible mobile unit 2 can be moved to the submersible location with high accuracy.

[0065] When the submersible control unit 164 receives a notification from the submersible mobile body 2 that the submersible mobile body 2 has detected an underwater obstacle by a sensor (e.g., LiDAR), it may transmit control data for changing the course of the submersible mobile body 2. When the submersible control unit 164 receives a notification from the submersible mobile body 2 that an obstacle has been detected, it may transmit to the submersible mobile body 2 control data for stopping the movement of the submersible mobile body 2 and may request new control information from the management server 3. When the control information acquisition unit 161 receives new control information, the submersible control unit 164 transmits to the submersible mobile body 2 control data for moving the submersible mobile body 2 in a direction based on the new control information.

[0066] The submersion control unit 164 may transmit to the submersion mobile body 2 control data for causing the submersion mobile body 2 to execute the operation indicated by the control information. For example, when the submersion control unit 164 determines that the submersion mobile body 2 has reached a submersion location based on the absolute position of the submersion mobile body 2 notified by the position identification unit 162, it transmits to the submersion mobile body 2 control data including an instruction to cause the submersion mobile body 2 to execute a predetermined operation. By the submersion control unit 164 operating in this manner, the submersion mobile body 2 can execute an operation at an appropriate timing.

[0067] The submersible control unit 164 may transmit control data including the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2. By transmitting such control data, the submersible mobile body 2 can add the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2 at the time when the underwater object K was photographed to the captured image data.

[0068] When it is determined that the submersible mobile body 2 has reached a submersible location, the submersible control unit 164 may transmit control data indicating the content of the operation to be performed to the submersible mobile body 2. By operating in this manner, when there are multiple types of operations to be performed by the submersible mobile body 2, the submersible mobile body 2 can appropriately perform the operation to be performed at the submersible location.

[0069] When the submersible mobile body 2 executes a predetermined operation at the submersible location, it transmits result data (e.g., captured image data) to the surface mobile body 1, for example, via cable C. The submersible mobile body 2 has a data transmission unit that transmits result data indicating the result of the operation executed by the submersible mobile body 2 to the surface mobile body 1, in association with the position and orientation of the submersible mobile body 2, and may transmit the result data upon completion of the operation. The result data is, for example, captured image data generated by the submersible mobile body 2 by photographing an underwater object K at the submersible location.

[0070] The position of the submersible mobile body 2 associated with the result data is, for example, the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2 included in the control data transmitted by the submersible control unit 164. The orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 associated with the result data is, for example, the orientation measured by a compass possessed by the submersible mobile body 2. If the submersible mobile body 2 has a gyro sensor, the orientation of the submersible mobile body 2 may be a relative orientation with respect to the orientation of the surface mobile body 1, determined based on the magnitude of the angle of the submersible mobile body 2 that changed after it was released from the surface mobile body 1. The submersible mobile body 2 may transmit the result data when it has completed operations at all submersible locations included in the control information.

[0071] The submersible control unit 164 receives the result data transmitted by the submersible mobile unit 2. The submersible control unit 164 transmits the result data to the management server 3 so that the user who requested the work can understand the progress. Note that the result data transmitted by the submersible mobile unit 2 does not include information indicating the position or orientation of the submersible mobile unit 2, and the submersible control unit 164 may add the absolute position and orientation of the submersible mobile unit 2 at the time of receiving the result data from the submersible mobile unit 2 to the captured image data.

[0072] When the submersible mobile body 2 receives the result data at the first submersible location, the submersible control unit 164 moves the submersible mobile body 2 to the second submersible location, which is the next submersible location. Specifically, the submersible control unit 164 moves the submersible mobile body 2 to a position vertically below the position of the surface mobile body 1 between the first and second submersible locations, thereby moving the submersible mobile body 2 to the second submersible location.

[0073] That is, the submersible control unit 164 transmits control data to the submersible mobile unit 2 to move the submersible mobile unit 2 so as to reduce the difference in the horizontal direction between the positions of the surface mobile unit 1 and the submersible mobile unit 2, based on the relationship between the absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1 notified by the position specifying unit 162 and the absolute position of the submersible mobile unit 2. More specifically, the submersible control unit 164 specifies a position which is the latitude and longitude corresponding to the absolute position of the surface mobile unit 1 and the depth corresponding to the absolute position of the submersible mobile unit 2, and transmits control data to the submersible mobile unit 2 indicating the direction from the absolute position of the submersible mobile unit 2 to the specified position. By the submersible control unit 164 operating in this manner, the submersible mobile unit 2 can move toward the second submersible location while maintaining a constant depth, without changing the length of the cable C.

[0074] The submersion control unit 164 raises the submersible mobile body 2 when result data has been acquired at all of the multiple submersible locations. The submersion control unit 164 may raise the submersible mobile body 2 when result data that satisfies a predetermined condition has been acquired. The predetermined condition is, for example, a condition that the clarity of the underwater object K in the captured image data is equal to or higher than a reference level. The submersion control unit 164 may raise the submersible mobile body 2 when result data that satisfies the predetermined condition has been acquired at all of the multiple submersible locations, or may raise the submersible mobile body 2 when result data that satisfies the predetermined condition has been acquired at some of the submersible locations that have been set in advance.

[0075] The submersion control unit 164 raises the submersible vehicle 2, for example, by controlling the attachment / detachment mechanism unit 11 to reel in the cable C. The submersion control unit 164 may transmit control data to the submersible vehicle 2 including an instruction to raise the vehicle to the position of the surface vehicle 1 while reeling in the cable C, or without reeling in the cable C. The submersion control unit 164 may raise the submersible vehicle 2 by transmitting control data to the submersible vehicle 2 including a direction and distance for moving the submersible vehicle 2 toward the surface vehicle 1, based on the relative position of the submersible vehicle 2 with respect to the surface vehicle 1.

[0076] If there is result data that does not satisfy a predetermined condition, the submersible control unit 164 may move the submersible mobile unit 2 to return to the submersible location corresponding to the result data. In this case, the submersible control unit 164 notifies the movement control unit 163 of the submersible location to return to, and the movement control unit 163 moves the surface mobile unit 1 to above the submersible location to return to.

[0077] [Administration Server 3 Configuration] 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of the management server 3. The management server 3 has a first communication unit 31, a second communication unit 32, a storage unit 33, and a control unit 34. The control unit 34 has a reception unit 341, a control information generation unit 342, and a result data acquisition unit 343.

[0078] The first communication unit 31 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the information terminal 4 via a network. For example, the first communication unit 31 transmits record data input from the reception unit 341 to the information terminal 4, and receives designated data input at the information terminal 4. The first communication unit 31 inputs the received designated data to the reception unit 341.

[0079] The second communication unit 32 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the surface vehicle 1 via the network. The second communication unit 32 transmits, for example, control information to the surface vehicle 1, and receives data (for example, captured image data) indicating the results of the submersible vehicle 2 executing a predetermined operation.

[0080] The storage unit 33 has storage media such as a ROM, a RAM, and an SSD. The storage unit 33 stores a program executed by the control unit 34. The storage unit 33 also stores result data when the submersible vehicle 2 executes a predetermined operation. Specifically, the storage unit 33 stores a plurality of record data indicating the position and orientation of the submersible vehicle 2 when result data was previously acquired.

[0081] More specifically, the storage unit 33 stores a plurality of record data in which surface vehicle information for identifying the surface vehicle 1, submersible vehicle information for identifying the submersible vehicle 2, the positions of the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 when the submersible vehicle 2 performs a predetermined operation, and the orientation of the submersible vehicle 2 when the submersible vehicle 2 performs a predetermined operation are associated. The surface vehicle information is, for example, a surface vehicle ID unique to the surface vehicle 1, and the submersible vehicle information is, for example, a submersible vehicle ID unique to the submersible vehicle 2. When the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 correspond one-to-one, the surface vehicle information and the submersible vehicle information may be the same. In the record data, instead of the surface vehicle information and the submersible vehicle information, the vehicle information for identifying the vehicle 100 may be associated with the position and orientation of the submersible vehicle 2.

[0082] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of recorded data. The recorded data shown in Fig. 10 corresponds to one moving body 100, and is associated with the surface moving body ID of the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body ID of the submersible moving body 2 included in the moving body 100. In the recorded data shown in Fig. 10, an action ID, a position of the surface moving body, a position of the submersible moving body, and an image data ID are associated with each other. The position of the submersible moving body includes latitude, longitude, depth, and direction. The image data ID is information used when accessing image data generated by photographing an underwater object K at each position.

[0083] The control unit 34 includes, for example, a CPU. The control unit 34 executes a program stored in the storage unit 33 to function as a reception unit 341, a control information generation unit 342, and a result data acquisition unit 343.

[0084] The receiving unit 341 receives the surface moving body ID of the surface moving body 1 or the submersible moving body ID of the submersible moving body 2, and a designated position at which the submersible moving body 2 is to perform a predetermined operation. The receiving unit 341 receives the designated position, for example, by displaying a plurality of recorded data on the information terminal 4 and receiving an operation to select recorded data corresponding to the designated position via the information terminal 4. The receiving unit 341 may receive the designated position by displaying, as recorded data, real-time captured image data of the underwater object K being photographed by the submersible moving body 2 on the information terminal 4.

[0085] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of recorded data that the reception unit 341 displays on the information terminal 4. In Fig. 11(a), the photographing date and the photographed subject are displayed as information for identifying the recorded data. The reception unit 341 displays on the information terminal 4, for example, the photographing date and the photographed subject for which recorded data exists that is associated with a combination of one surface moving body ID and a submersible moving body ID specified by the user U.

[0086] When the user U selects, for example, "Breakwater A" on the screen shown in Fig. 11(a), the reception unit 341 accepts "Breakwater A" as the specified position. On the screen shown in Fig. 11(a), one shooting date is paired with a shooting subject in the same row, and the reception unit 341 recognizes that the recording data when breakwater A was photographed on May 1, 2022 was specified.

[0087] Next, the reception unit 341 refers to the storage unit 33 to cause the information terminal 4 to display a plurality of captured image data G when the breakwater A was photographed on May 1, 2022. In FIG. 11(b), captured image data G1, G2, and G3 are displayed, but the user U can display other captured image data G by moving the slide bar SB.

[0088] Each captured image data is displayed in association with information indicating the position where the image was captured (e.g., latitude, longitude, depth), and the user U can designate multiple designated positions where the submersible moving body 2 captures images by referring to the information indicating the positions. That is, the reception unit 341 accepts the position where the captured image data was captured as the designated position by accepting the selection of one captured image data from the multiple captured image data. In this way, the reception unit 341 accepts multiple designated positions in association with a combination of one piece of surface moving body information and one piece of submersible moving body information. The reception unit 341 may display an image showing the entire underwater object K on the information terminal 4, and accept multiple designated positions selected by the user U in the displayed image.

[0089] The receiving unit 341 may display the multiple pieces of captured image data on the information terminal 4 with the multiple pieces of captured image data arranged on an underwater map (for example, an underwater space map displayed in three dimensions). At this time, the information terminal 4 may display a route traveled by the submersible mobile body 2 in the past. The user U can easily specify a position where he or she wants the submersible mobile body 2 to take a picture by specifying a position while looking at the multiple pieces of captured image data or the route displayed on the map.

[0090] The reception unit 341 may receive another position based on the position where the captured image data was generated as the designated position. For example, the reception unit 341 may receive a selection of captured image data from the user U and receive the designated position by acquiring text data or image data indicating the designated position based on the position where the selected captured image data was captured. The text data is text data indicating a direction and a distance, such as "1m to the right" or "2m up". The reception unit 341 operates in this manner, so that the user U can specify a position different from the position where the image was captured in the past as a new image capture position.

[0091] The reception unit 341 can also receive an instruction to register captured image data that has not been registered as record data as new record data. In this case, the reception unit 341 displays a plurality of captured image data generated by the submersible mobile unit 2 on the information terminal 4, and stores one or more captured image data items for which a predetermined selection operation has been performed in the storage unit 33 in association with the surface mobile unit information, the submersible mobile unit information, and the positions of the surface mobile unit 1 and the submersible mobile unit 2 and the orientation of the submersible mobile unit 2 at the time the captured image data items were generated. The reception unit 341 operates in this manner, and record data such as that shown in FIG. 10 is stored in the storage unit 33.

[0092] The control information generating unit 342 generates control information for moving the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 toward the designated position and for directing the submersible moving body 2 in the direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the storage unit 33 in association with the surface moving body information or submersible moving body information received by the receiving unit 341 and the designated position. More specifically, when the user U selects the recorded data of the action ID1 shown in FIG. 10, the receiving unit 341 generates control information indicating the latitude, longitude, depth, and direction of the submersible moving body 2 corresponding to the action ID1. When the surface moving body 1 acquires such control information, the submersible moving body 2 can perform a predetermined action at the position and direction corresponding to the action ID1.

[0093] When the user U selects multiple designated positions, the control information generating unit 342 generates multiple pieces of control information indicating the multiple designated positions selected by the user U. For example, when the user U selects multiple designated positions corresponding to action ID 1 to action ID 8 in Fig. 10, the control information generating unit 342 generates control information indicating the multiple designated positions corresponding to action ID 1 to action ID 8. By the control information generating unit 342 generating such control information, the submersible vehicle 2 can sequentially perform predetermined actions at the multiple designated positions.

[0094] Incidentally, when the definition of the underwater object K in the past captured image data is low, it is considered desirable to capture the underwater object K because it is closer to the underwater object K. Therefore, the control information generating unit 342 may determine the definition of the subject included in the captured image data, and determine the distance to the underwater object K corresponding to the specified definition by referring to data in which the definition is associated with the distance to the underwater object K, which is the subject. Then, the control information generating unit 342 generates control information for directing the submersible mobile body 2 to a position at the determined distance from the underwater object K. The data in which the definition is associated with the distance to the underwater object K is data in which the distance decreases as the definition is lower, and is stored in, for example, the storage unit 33. By performing such processing by the control information generating unit 342, when the definition of the underwater object K in the captured image data is low, the probability that the submersible mobile body 2 can generate captured image data in which the definition of the underwater object K is higher than in the past captured image data increases.

[0095] However, if the underwater object K is photographed at a position closer to the underwater object K than the position specified by the user U, it is expected that the user U will have difficulty in understanding which position was photographed and comparing it with past captured image data. Therefore, when the first position of the submersible mobile body 2 corresponding to the distance to the subject determined based on the specified sharpness is closer to the subject than the second position corresponding to the specified position, the control information generating unit 342 generates control information for making the submersible mobile body 2 photograph the subject at the first position and the second position. In this way, the control information generating unit 342 generates control information that allows the submersible mobile body 2 to photograph the underwater object K at multiple positions with different distances to the underwater object K, so that the user U can view an image in which a desired range is photographed and an image with high sharpness.

[0096] The result data acquisition unit 343 acquires the result data generated by the submersible moving body 2 via the second communication unit 32. When the submersible moving body 2 photographs an underwater object K, the result data acquisition unit 343 stores multiple captured image data in the storage unit 33 in association with the surface moving body ID of the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body ID of the submersible moving body 2. The result data acquisition unit 343 may store multiple captured image data in the storage unit 33 in association with the photographing date and text data indicating the name of the subject designated by the user U.

[0097] [Processing flow on Management Server 3] Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the management server 3. The flowchart shown in Fig. 12 starts from the point in time when the user U starts up a given application software and issues an instruction to cause the underwater vehicle 2 to execute a given operation.

[0098] The reception unit 341 acquires a moving object ID (e.g., a surface moving object ID and a submersible moving object ID) input by the user U (S1). When the surface moving object ID and the submersible moving object ID are associated with each other in the storage unit 33, the reception unit 341 may acquire only one of the surface moving object ID and the submersible moving object ID.

[0099] When the receiving unit 341 acquires the moving object ID, it identifies the recorded data stored in the storage unit 33 in association with the moving object ID. The receiving unit 341 transmits information indicating an outline of the identified recorded data to the information terminal 4 (S2). The information indicating the outline of the recorded data is, for example, information indicating at least one of the photographing date or the name of the underwater object K, as shown in FIG. 11(a).

[0100] Next, the reception unit 341 acquires selection information indicating the recording data selected by the user U (S3). The selection information includes information indicating, for example, any of the subjects to be photographed shown in FIG.

[0101] Next, the reception unit 341 transmits a plurality of captured image data sets generated by capturing images of the subject selected by the user U in the past to the information terminal 4 (S4). The reception unit 341 acquires, as a designated position, a position corresponding to one or more captured image data sets selected by the user U from the plurality of captured image data sets (S5).

[0102] The control information generating unit 342 generates control information indicating the latitude, longitude, depth, and direction associated with the designated position acquired by the receiving unit 341 in the recorded data stored in the memory unit 33 (S6). The control information generating unit 342 transmits the generated control information to the surface vehicle 1 (S7).

[0103] [Processing flow for surface vehicle 1] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the surface vehicle 1. The flowchart shown in FIG.

[0104] First, the surface moving body 1 acquires control information from the management server 3 (S11). The surface moving body 1 moves based on the positions of multiple submerged locations included in the acquired control information (S12). Specifically, the movement control unit 163 controls the movement mechanism unit 10 to move toward the first submerged location. The movement control unit 163 determines whether the moving body 100 has reached above the submerged location or a landing location at the specified absolute position during the movement of the moving body 100 (S13). When the movement control unit 163 determines that the moving body 100 has not reached above the submerged location based on the absolute position of the surface moving body 1 notified by the position identification unit 162 (NO in S13), the moving control unit 163 continues moving (S12).

[0105] When the movement control unit 163 determines that the moving body 100 has reached above the submersible location (YES in S13), it ends the movement of the surface moving body 1. When the movement control unit 163 ends the movement of the surface moving body 1, the submersible control unit 164 controls the attachment / detachment mechanism unit 11 to release the submersible moving body 2 (S14).

[0106] When the submersible mobile body 2 is released, the submersible mobile body 2 is moved to the submersible location (S15). The submersible mobile body 2 is determined to have reached the submersible location based on the absolute position of the submersible mobile body 2 notified by the position specifying unit 162 (S16). When the submersible mobile body 2 is determined to have not reached the submersible location (NO in S16), the submersible mobile body 2 waits until the submersible mobile body 2 reaches the submersible location. When the submersible mobile body 2 is determined to have reached the submersible location (YES in S16), the submersible mobile body 2 is caused to perform the operation associated with the submersible location in the control information by transmitting control data to the submersible mobile body 2 for performing the operation (S17).

[0107] When the submersible control unit 164 receives a notification from the submersible mobile unit 2 that an action has been performed, it determines whether or not the action has been performed at all submersible locations (S18). If there is still a submersible location where an action has not been performed (NO in S18), the submersible control unit 164 moves the submersible mobile unit 2 to the next submersible location. The submersible control unit 164 repeats the processes from S15 to S18 until the action has been performed at all submersible locations.

[0108] When the operation has been performed at all submersible locations (YES in S18), the submersible control unit 164 controls the attachment / detachment mechanism unit 11 to wind up the cable C, and sends control data for raising the submersible vehicle 2 to the submersible vehicle 2, thereby raising the submersible vehicle 2 (S19). When the submersible vehicle 2 has risen and been housed in the surface vehicle 1, the movement control unit 163 moves the surface vehicle 1 toward the base (S20).

[0109] [First Modification] In the above description, an example has been given in which the memory unit 33 stores the recorded data in association with a surface mobile body ID and a submersible mobile body ID, and the receiving unit 341 receives a designated position along with the surface mobile body ID and the submersible mobile body ID. However, the memory unit 33 may store recorded data that is not associated with a surface mobile body ID and a submersible mobile body ID, and the receiving unit 341 may receive a designated position without receiving a surface mobile body ID or a submersible mobile body ID. In this case, the control information generating unit 342 generates control information for causing the submersible mobile body 2 to perform a predetermined operation in an orientation associated with the designated position received by the receiving unit 341 in the recorded data.

[0110] [Second modified example] In the above description, the position of the underwater object K to be photographed is constant, but it is also possible that the position of the underwater object K changes. For example, if the subject to be photographed is inside an aquaculture net containing farmed fish, the aquaculture net may be drifting and moving due to environmental changes such as ocean currents and tides (high tide / low tide).

[0111] The details of the environmental changes, such as real-time data or predicted data of the underwater environment, such as ocean currents and tides, can be obtained from external organizations such as the Japan Meteorological Agency. Therefore, the control information generating unit 342 may generate control information by correcting the designated position based on the underwater environment predicted at the scheduled movement time of the submersible mobile unit 2. Data indicating whether the subject to be photographed will be affected by the environmental change is stored in the storage unit 33, and the control information generating unit 342 may generate a control signal for moving the submersible mobile unit 2 to the corrected designated position to change the diving location in accordance with the underwater environment specified by the data indicating the underwater environment, when the subject to be photographed will be affected by the environmental change.

[0112] Specifically, the control information generating unit 342 predicts the change in the position of the aquaculture net corresponding to the speed and direction of the ocean current or the tide level, for example, using a machine learning model. The control information generating unit 342 may predict the change in the position of the aquaculture net corresponding to the speed and direction of the ocean current or the tide level by referring to data recorded in a database indicating the position of the subject that has changed according to the past speed and direction of the ocean current and the tide level. The control information generating unit 342 corrects the designated position based on the predicted change.

[0113] More specifically, the control information generator 342 corrects the designated position of the diving location by predicting that if the wave height rises by 1 meter, the position of the aquaculture net will move 1 meter south. Because tide levels are predictable, the above-mentioned processing allows the control information generator 342 to correct the position of the diving location to the optimal position with high accuracy. By operating in this manner, the control information generator 342 can allow the submersible vehicle 2 to properly capture the subject, even if the subject moves depending on the underwater conditions.

[0114] [Effects of water vehicle 1 and management server 3] As described above, the moving body 100 has the surface moving body 1 and the submersible moving body 2 detachably coupled to the surface moving body 1, and the surface moving body 1 has a movement control unit 163 that flies the surface moving body 1 toward a position above a submersible location indicated by control information including the submersible location of the submersible moving body 2, and a submersible control unit 164 that moves the submersible moving body 2 toward the submersible location when the surface moving body 1 arrives at the position above the submersible location. With the moving body 100 configured in this way, the submersible moving body 2 can move to a specified submersible location underwater without being operated by the user U.

[0115] The management server 3, which functions as a mobile object control device, has a reception unit 341 that receives a designated position at which the submersible mobile object 2 is to perform a predetermined operation, and generates control information for moving the mobile object 100 toward the designated position and for orienting the submersible mobile object 2 in the direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the storage unit 33 in association with the mobile object ID and the designated position received by the reception unit 341. With the management server 3 configured in this way, the user U can cause the submersible mobile object 2 to perform an operation equivalent to when the submersible mobile object 2 performed a predetermined operation in the past, without having to control the direction of the submersible mobile object 2.

[0116] In the above explanation, the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 move autonomously based on control information, but some of the operations of the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 may be performed based on the control of an operator. For example, if the surface vehicle 1 receives manual operation data from the management server 3 or another device while the surface vehicle 1 and the submersible vehicle 2 are moving autonomously based on control information, the autonomous operation may be stopped and the vehicle may operate based on the manual operation data.

[0117] Furthermore, this invention will make it possible to contribute to Goal 9 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to "build resilient infrastructure, promote industry, innovation and infrastructure."

[0118] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by distributing or integrating functionally or physically in any unit. In addition, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment resulting from the combination combines the effect of the original embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0119] 1 Water vehicle 2 Submersible vehicle 3 Management Server 4. Information terminals 10 Moving mechanism section 11 Detachable mechanism 12 Communications Department 13 Acoustic signal receiving unit 14 Receiver 15 Storage section 16 Control section 31 First Communications Department 32 2nd Communications Department 33 Storage section 34 Control section 100 Mobile 161 Control information acquisition unit 162 Location identification part 163 Movement control section 164 Submersion Control Unit 341 Reception Department 342 Control Information Generation Unit 343 Result Data Acquisition Unit

Claims

1. A mobile body control system comprising: a mobile body in which a surface mobile body that moves on the water and a submersible mobile body that submerges underwater are detachably connected; and a mobile body control device that generates control information for controlling the surface mobile body and the submersible mobile body, The mobile object control device includes: a storage unit that stores a plurality of recorded data in which surface vehicle information for identifying the surface vehicle, submersible vehicle information for identifying the submersible vehicle, the positions of the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs a predetermined operation, and the orientation of the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs the predetermined operation are associated with each other; a reception unit that receives surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle coupled to the submersible vehicle that is to perform a predetermined operation or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to perform the predetermined operation; a control information generating unit that generates the control information for moving the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle toward the designated position and orienting the submersible vehicle in a direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the surface vehicle information or the submersible vehicle information received by the receiving unit and the designated position; A mobile control system having the above configuration.

2. the accepting unit accepts the designated position by displaying a plurality of the record data on an information terminal and accepting an operation to select the record data corresponding to the designated position via the information terminal. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

3. the reception unit receives a plurality of the designated positions in association with one combination of the surface vehicle information and the submersible vehicle information; The control information generation unit generates the control information indicating a plurality of the designated positions. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

4. the control information generation unit generates the control information by correcting the designated position based on an underwater environment predicted at a scheduled movement time of the submersible vehicle. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

5. the predetermined operation is photographing underwater by the underwater vehicle, the recorded data is image data generated by the underwater vehicle photographing the underwater world, the accepting unit accepts a selection of one of the plurality of pieces of captured image data, thereby accepting a position at which the captured image data was captured as the designated position; The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

6. the predetermined operation is photographing underwater by the underwater vehicle, the recorded data is image data generated by the underwater vehicle photographing the underwater world, the accepting unit accepts another position based on a position where the captured image data was generated as the designated position; The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

7. the control information generating unit identifies a definition of the subject included in the captured image data, determines a distance to the subject corresponding to the identified definition by referring to data correlating the definition with the distance to the subject, and generates the control information for directing the underwater vehicle to a position at the determined distance from the subject. The vehicle control system according to claim 6.

8. when a first position of the underwater moving body corresponding to the distance to the subject determined based on the identified sharpness is closer to the subject than a second position corresponding to the specified position, the control information generation unit generates the control information for causing the underwater moving body to photograph the subject at the first position and the second position. The vehicle control system according to claim 7.

9. the predetermined operation is photographing underwater by the underwater vehicle, the recorded data is image data generated by the underwater vehicle photographing the underwater world, the reception unit displays a plurality of the captured image data on an information terminal, and stores in the storage unit one or more of the captured image data for which a predetermined selection operation has been performed, in association with the surface vehicle information, the submersible vehicle information, and the positions of the surface vehicle, the submersible vehicle, and the orientation of the submersible vehicle at the time the captured image data was generated. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 .

10. A mobile body control device for controlling a mobile body in which a surface mobile body that moves on the water and a submersible mobile body that submerges in water are detachably connected, a storage unit that stores a plurality of recorded data in which surface vehicle information for identifying the surface vehicle, submersible vehicle information for identifying the submersible vehicle, the positions of the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs a predetermined operation, and the orientation of the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs the predetermined operation are associated with each other; a reception unit that receives surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle coupled to the submersible vehicle that is to perform a predetermined operation or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to perform the predetermined operation; a control information generating unit that generates control information for moving the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle toward the designated position and orienting the submersible vehicle in a direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the designated position and the surface vehicle information or the submersible vehicle information received by the receiving unit; A mobile control device having the above configuration.

11. A method for controlling a moving body in which a surface moving body that moves on water and a submersible moving body that submerges in water are detachably coupled, the method comprising the steps of: The computer includes: storing in a memory unit a plurality of recorded data items associated with surface vehicle information for identifying the surface vehicle, submersible vehicle information for identifying the submersible vehicle, the positions of the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs a predetermined operation, and the orientation of the submersible vehicle when the submersible vehicle performs the predetermined operation; receiving surface vehicle information of the surface vehicle coupled to the submersible vehicle to be caused to perform a predetermined operation or the submersible vehicle information of the submersible vehicle, and a designated position at which the submersible vehicle is to be caused to perform the predetermined operation; a step of moving the surface vehicle and the submersible vehicle towards the designated position, and generating control information for orienting the submersible vehicle in a direction indicated by the recorded data stored in the memory unit in association with the received surface vehicle information or submersible vehicle information and the designated position; A mobile object control method comprising the steps of:

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