Method for reducing false alarm rate in foreign object monitoring device and foreign object monitoring device using the same

Abstract

To provide a method for preventing an alarm from being generated due to a stationary aircraft or the like on a runway or the like being erroneously detected as a foreign object, and for reducing a false alarm rate, and to provide a foreign object monitoring device using this method, and further to enable detection of foreign objects in the vicinity of the aircraft or the like.SOLUTION: A device has input / output means for an external aircraft monitoring system and an aircraft model corresponding to the shape of each aircraft or the like, and includes: identifying the position of the aircraft or the like using position information included in monitoring information received from the external aircraft monitoring system; selecting the aircraft model using the information of the aircraft model included in the monitoring information, and determining the orientation of the aircraft model using nose orientation information included in the monitoring information; and excluding, from the foreign object determination, a range corresponding to the selected aircraft model and the orientation of the determined aircraft model from the position of the aircraft or the like, based on the identified position of the aircraft or the like, thereby preventing erroneous detection as a foreign object, reducing the false alarm rate, and enabling detection of foreign objects in the vicinity of the aircraft or the like.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device and a monitoring device using this method, and in particular to a method for preventing the issuance of an alarm (foreign object alert) due to the false detection of a stationary aircraft, vehicle, etc. as an FOD by preventing the false recognition of stationary aircraft, vehicles, etc. on a runway or taxiway in an airport's monitored area as a foreign object, thereby reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device, i.e., the probability of issuing a false alarm, and a foreign object monitoring device using this method. [Background technology]

[0002] Obstacles on airport runways and wide grounds, especially on runways and taxiways that are monitored areas, such as tire fragments, lights, bolts and nuts, fuel caps, concrete fragments, metal fragments, etc., are called FOD (foreign object debris), and these FODs may damage moving objects such as aircraft traveling in the monitored area and cause dangerous situations such as accidents. Therefore, a system is required to detect foreign objects on runways and taxiways in the monitored area of ​​an airport to prevent accidents from occurring. As part of this, for example, in order to detect foreign objects on runways, a monitoring device combining various devices such as visible and infrared cameras and radars is placed so that the runways and taxiways are monitored, and research and development of a monitoring system that detects foreign objects in the monitored area is being carried out.

[0003] Examples of monitoring systems for detecting foreign objects in this monitoring area include the monitoring management system described in Patent Document 1 and the monitoring system described in Patent Document 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the monitoring management system described in Patent Document 1 is a monitoring management system that determines the presence or absence of foreign objects on a road surface using measurement data from multiple radar devices 101, and holds radar device management information that manages the measurement ranges of the multiple radar devices 101 and monitoring area management information that manages multiple monitoring areas, accepts user designation of a first monitoring area in the measurement ranges of the multiple radar devices, stores position information of the first monitoring area in the monitoring area management information, selects measured radar data values ​​of a measurement point included in the first monitoring area from the measured radar data values ​​of the multiple radar devices, determines the presence or absence of a foreign object in the first monitoring area based on the selected measured radar data value, and outputs a monitoring result image showing the presence or absence of a foreign object in the first monitoring area.

[0004] The surveillance system 500 described in Patent Document 2 is a surveillance system for detecting foreign objects, debris or damage within an airport, as shown in FIG. 3, which includes one or more cameras 508 for acquiring images of the airport, a processing device for detecting foreign objects, debris or damage within the airport from images acquired by the one or more cameras 508, and a weapon impact monitoring system 950 for detecting weapon impacts within the airport and instructing one or more cameras 951 to acquire images in the area of ​​the detected weapon impact. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-194371 A [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 2014-513642 DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] International standards such as EUROCAE ED-235 MASPS (Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards) issued by the European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) have been established as minimum performance requirements for such foreign object monitoring devices (FOD monitoring systems). For example, these standards stipulate performance requirements such as the FOD objects to be detected, a detection rate of 95% or more on clear days, and a false alarm rate of 15% or less.

[0007] Moving objects such as aircraft and vehicles are, naturally, not subject to FOD detection, and in conventional foreign object monitoring systems, moving objects such as aircraft and vehicles traveling on runways or taxiways are excluded from the range in which they are determined to be FOD or not, so as to avoid false detection as FOD.

[0008] However, depending on the conditions, for example, when an aircraft or vehicle is stationary on a runway or taxiway, the aircraft or vehicle stationary on the runway or taxiway may be erroneously detected as an FOD, and a false alarm may be issued indicating that an FOD has been detected, even though no FOD actually exists. As a result, there is a problem in that the probability of issuing a false alarm increases, resulting in a poor false alarm rate.

[0009] In addition, when FOD has fallen from an aircraft or vehicle, etc., there is a problem that it is difficult to detect FOD in the vicinity of the aircraft or vehicle. For example, in the case of a monitoring and management system that uses measurement data from multiple radar devices to determine the presence or absence of foreign objects on the road surface, such as the monitoring and management system described in Patent Document 1, the reflected power of the aircraft or vehicle is excessive compared to the reflected power of the FOD to be detected, so a problem of saturation of the received power may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to stop transmission from the radar device or reduce the transmission power for aircraft, vehicles, etc. that are present within the coverage area of ​​the radar device (hereinafter simply referred to as aircraft, vehicles, etc. within the coverage area). In such a case, there is a problem that it is very difficult to detect FOD in the vicinity of the aircraft, vehicles, etc. within the coverage area. Furthermore, in addition to the monitoring and management system described in Patent Document 1, there are foreign object (FOD) monitoring devices that use LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) or specific low-power millimeter wave radar, but as with the monitoring and management system described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to stop the transmission of the radar sensor or reduce the transmission output for the scanning area in which aircraft, vehicles, etc. are present within the coverage area, and similarly, there is a problem that it is very difficult to detect FODs in the vicinity of aircraft, vehicles, etc. within the coverage area. Also, in the case of a monitoring system that detects foreign objects within an airport from images acquired by one or more cameras, such as the monitoring system described in Patent Document 2, the image acquisition by the camera is easily affected by the brightness and weather conditions of the airport and other external factors, and there is a problem that it is difficult to detect FODs in the vicinity of aircraft, vehicles, etc. separately from the aircraft, vehicles, etc.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to prevent the issuance of an alarm (foreign object alert) due to the false detection of a stationary aircraft, vehicle, etc. as an FOD by preventing the false recognition of an aircraft, vehicle, etc. on a runway or taxiway in the surveillance area of ​​an airport as a foreign object, thereby reducing the false alarm rate, i.e., the probability of issuing a false alarm, in a foreign object surveillance device. Another aim is to make it possible to detect FODs present in the vicinity of aircraft, vehicles, etc. by determining in detail the range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not an aircraft, vehicle, etc. is an FOD so as not to falsely recognize an aircraft, vehicle, etc. on a runway or taxiway in the surveillance area of ​​an airport as a foreign object, and excluding the aircraft, vehicle, etc. from the determination of whether or not an FOD is present. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The invention according to claim 1 relates to a foreign object monitoring device that detects foreign objects on runways and taxiways in an airport surveillance area, the foreign object monitoring device comprising: a millimeter wave radar unit for detecting foreign objects on runways and taxiways in an airport surveillance area; a high sensitivity camera unit for acquiring image data of the detected foreign object; an interlocking control unit for interlocking control between the millimeter wave radar unit and the high sensitivity camera unit; a data processing and display unit for determining whether or not a foreign object is present on the runway or taxiway in the surveillance area based on a detection signal from the millimeter wave radar unit and issuing an alarm when a foreign object is detected; and an operator terminal for receiving the alarm issued by the data processing and display unit, the foreign object monitoring device detecting foreign objects on runways and taxiways in an airport surveillance area, the data processing and display unit having input / output means for connecting to an external aircraft surveillance system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the airport surveillance area, the data processing and display unit receiving surveillance information from the aircraft surveillance system via the input / output means, The surveillance information further includes aircraft and vehicle dimensional information; The data processing and display unit uses the position information of the aircraft or vehicle contained in the received surveillance information to identify the position of the aircraft or vehicle in the surveillance area of ​​the airport, and based on the identified position of the aircraft or vehicle in the surveillance area of ​​the airport, For the range of dimensional information from the location of aircraft and vehicles,This method reduces the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device, by preventing false alarms from being issued due to aircraft or vehicles in the airport's monitored area being mistakenly detected as foreign objects by excluding them from the determination of whether or not foreign objects are present on runways and taxiways in the airport's monitored area, thereby reducing the false alarm rate.

[0012] The invention according to claim 2 is as follows: a data processing and display unit that determines whether or not a foreign object is present on the runway or taxiway in the monitored area of ​​the airport based on a detection signal from the millimeter wave radar unit and issues an alarm when a foreign object is detected, and an operator terminal that receives the alarm issued by the data processing and display unit, wherein the foreign object monitoring device detects foreign objects on the runway or taxiway in the monitored area of ​​the airport, the data processing and display unit has input / output means for an external aircraft monitoring system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the monitored area of ​​the airport, the data processing and display unit receives monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system via the input / output means, the monitoring information further including information on the direction of the nose of the aircraft or vehicle and model information, and the data processing and display unit determines a range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object is present, the data processing and display unit having a model for each model of aircraft or vehicle. a data processing and display unit that uses position information of the aircraft or vehicle included in the received surveillance information to identify a position of the aircraft or vehicle in a surveillance area of ​​the airport, the data processing and display unit that uses information on the model of the aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information to select a model model, and that uses information on the orientation of the nose of the aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information to determine an orientation of the model model, and the data processing and display unit that uses the position information of the aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information and the orientation of the selected model model and the determined model model based on the position of the aircraft or vehicle in the identified surveillance area of ​​the airport, excludes a range that corresponds to the state of the orientation of the selected model model and the determined model model from the position where the aircraft or vehicle is present on a runway or taxiway in the surveillance area of ​​the airport, thereby preventing a false alarm from being issued due to an aircraft or vehicle in the surveillance area of ​​the airport being erroneously detected as a foreign object, and reducing the false alarm rate. It is.

[0013] Claim 3 The invention according to claim 2 In the invention described in the above, the data processing and display unit further combines the information on dimensions estimated from the reflected echo obtained from the detection signal of the millimeter wave radar unit to determine the range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object is present.

[0014] Claim 4 The invention relates to claims 1 to 5. 3 In any one of the above-described inventions, the monitoring information is information in ASTERIX format.

[0015] Claim 5 The invention according to claim 4 In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is an MLAT.

[0016] Claim 6 The invention according to claim 4 In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is a surveillance system that utilizes ADS-B.

[0017] Claim 7 The invention according to claim 4 In the invention described above, the aircraft monitoring system is a system that compares aircraft position information from a radar monitoring an airport with flight plan information and processes the position information of aircraft taking off and landing at the airport.

[0018] Claim 8 The invention according to claim 7In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is a TAPS.

[0019] Claim 9 The invention relates to claims 1 to 5. 3 The present invention relates to a foreign object monitoring device using a method for reducing a false alarm rate, the method being characterized in that the method for reducing a false alarm rate in the foreign object monitoring device described in any one of the above is used.

[0020] Claim 1 0 The invention according to claim 9 In the invention described in the above, the monitoring information is information in ASTERIX format.

[0021] Claim 1 1 The invention according to claim 1 0 In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is an MLAT.

[0022] Claim 1 2 The invention according to claim 1 0 In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is a surveillance system that utilizes ADS-B.

[0023] Claim 1 3 The invention according to claim 1 0 In the invention described above, the aircraft monitoring system is a system that compares aircraft position information from a radar monitoring an airport with flight plan information and processes the position information of aircraft taking off and landing at the airport.

[0024] Claim 1 4 The invention according to claim 1 3 In the invention described above, the aircraft surveillance system is a TAPS. Effect of the Invention

[0025] The invention of claim 1 is configured as described above, and thus can prevent aircraft or vehicles stationary on a runway or taxiway in an airport's surveillance area from being mistakenly detected as a foreign object (FOD), thereby reducing the probability of a false alarm (false alarm rate) being issued in a foreign object alert.Furthermore, the range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object (FOD) is present can be determined in more detail.

[0026] Claim 2 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, This prevents aircraft and vehicles stationary on runways and taxiways in the airport's surveillance area from being mistakenly detected as foreign objects (FOD), thereby reducing the probability of false alarms (false alarm rate). Furthermore, it is possible to determine in more detail the range to be excluded from the judgment of whether or not there is a foreign object (FOD), and to detect a foreign object (FOD) existing in the vicinity of an aircraft or vehicle in the surveillance area of ​​an airport. Furthermore, if a foreign object (FOD) existing in the vicinity of this aircraft or vehicle has fallen from an aircraft or vehicle, it can be used as information to identify the aircraft or vehicle that caused the foreign object (FOD).

[0027] Claim 3 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore claims 2 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention according to claim 1. Furthermore, it is possible to determine in more detail the range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object (FOD) is present.

[0028] Claim 4 The invention is configured as described above, and claims 1 to 3 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above.

[0029] Claim 5 ~Claims 7 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore claims 4 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above.

[0030] Claim 8 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore claims 7 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above.

[0031] Claim 9 The invention is configured as described above, and claims 1 to 3 It is possible to obtain a foreign object monitoring device having the same effects as the invention related to the above.

[0032] Claim 1 0 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore claims 9The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above.

[0033] Claim 1 1 ~Claim 1 3 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore, claim 1 0 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above.

[0034] Claim 1 4 The invention according to the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore, claim 1 3 The present invention has the same effects as those of the invention described above. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0035] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a monitoring device using a method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a runway monitoring system according to a conventional example. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an integrated airfield damage assessment system including a system for detecting foreign object, debris or damage (FOD) and airfield runway damage, according to a prior art example, and an exemplary embodiment of a weapon strike monitoring system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0036] a data processing and display unit that determines whether or not a foreign object is present on the runway or taxiway in the monitored area of ​​the airport and issues an alarm when a foreign object is detected, and an operator terminal that receives the alarm issued by the data processing and display unit, said foreign object monitoring device detecting foreign objects on the runway or taxiway in the monitored area of ​​the airport, said data processing and display unit having an input / output means for an external aircraft monitoring system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the monitored area of ​​the airport, and a model for determining an area to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object is present, said data processing and display unit having an input / output means for an external aircraft monitoring system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the monitored area of ​​the airport, and a model for determining an area to be excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object is present, said model including an input / output means for an external aircraft monitoring system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the monitored area of ​​the airport and an operator terminal that receives the alarm issued by the data processing and display unit, The device has a model model for each type that is suited to the shape of the model, receives surveillance information from an aircraft surveillance system via an input / output means, identifies the position of an aircraft or vehicle in the airport's surveillance area using position information of the aircraft or vehicle contained in the received surveillance information, selects a model model using information on the model of the aircraft or vehicle contained in the surveillance information, and determines the orientation of the model model using information on the nose direction of the aircraft or vehicle contained in the surveillance information. Based on the position of the aircraft or vehicle in the identified surveillance area of ​​the airport, the model model selected from the position where the aircraft or vehicle is located and the range of orientation of the determined model model are excluded from the determination of whether or not a foreign object is present on the runway or taxiway in the surveillance area of ​​the airport, thereby preventing aircraft or vehicles in the surveillance area of ​​the airport from being erroneously detected as a foreign object and reducing the false alarm rate. EXAMPLES

[0037] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a block diagram showing an outline of a monitoring device using a method for reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device.

[0038] In FIG. 1, the foreign object monitoring device 1 is composed of a millimeter wave radar unit 2 for detecting FOD (Foreign object debris) on the runways and taxiways of an airport, a high sensitivity camera unit 3 for acquiring image data of the detected FOD, an interlocking control unit 4 for controlling the interlocking between the millimeter wave radar unit 2 and the high sensitivity camera unit 3, a data processing and display unit 6 having input / output means for monitoring information from an external aircraft monitoring system 5 that monitors the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. on the airport surface, which is the monitored area of ​​the airport, and determining whether or not FOD is present in the monitored area of ​​the airport (on the runways and taxiways of the airport) from the detection results obtained by the radar detection signal of the millimeter wave radar unit 2 and the monitoring information from the external aircraft monitoring system 5, and an operator terminal 7 that receives a foreign object alert warning (hereinafter simply referred to as a foreign object alert) issued by the data processing and display unit 6 when an FOD is detected.

[0039] In this embodiment, the monitoring area of ​​the foreign object monitoring device 1 is an airport runway, taxiway, etc. By detecting FODs in this monitoring area, the foreign object monitoring device 1 makes it possible to prevent accidents caused by FODs and to shorten the time required for runway inspections that are carried out by closing the runway.

[0040] The millimeter wave radar unit 2 has a millimeter wave radar for detecting FOD, and is arranged so that the millimeter wave radar covers the runways and taxiways at the airport, and is configured to scan the coverage area to detect FOD and receive a radar detection signal. For simplicity's sake, this embodiment will be described assuming that the millimeter wave radar unit 2 is installed in only one location. In actual operation at an airport, multiple millimeter wave radar units 2 are installed and arranged so that no blind spots occur within the entire monitoring area of ​​the foreign object monitoring device 1.

[0041] In this embodiment, the millimeter wave radar for detecting FOD used in the millimeter wave radar unit 2 is a wideband millimeter wave radar using the 90 GHz band, and has a maximum transmission and reception bandwidth of 8 GHz. By using the 90 GHz band millimeter wave radar, it is possible to achieve both high detection performance and weather resistance to bad weather, compared to conventional foreign object (FOD) monitoring devices using LIDAR or specific low-power millimeter wave radar. In addition, since the millimeter wave radar for detecting FOD used in the millimeter wave radar unit 2 has high power resistance characteristics, it is not necessary to stop transmission of the radar sensor or reduce the transmission output for the scanning area where aircraft, vehicles, etc. are present within the coverage area, as in conventional foreign object (FOD) monitoring devices using LIDAR or specific low-power millimeter wave radar, or the monitoring management system described in Patent Document 1, and this does not lead to the inability to detect foreign objects around the aircraft or the deterioration of detection performance.

[0042] The high-sensitivity camera unit 3 uses a high-sensitivity camera to capture images of FODs detected by the data processing and display unit 6 and acquire image data of the FODs. The images of FODs captured by the high-sensitivity camera unit 3 are automatically displayed on a display unit (not shown) of the data processing and display unit 6. In this embodiment, the images of FODs captured by the high-sensitivity camera unit 3 are real-time images, but they may be still images or video images captured at regular intervals. The data processing and display unit 6 is also configured to enable control of the pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) of the high-sensitivity camera.

[0043] The aircraft monitoring system 5 is an aircraft monitoring system independent of the foreign object monitoring device 1 according to the present invention, and is currently used as a monitoring system for monitoring the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in the monitoring area of ​​an airport, i.e., an external aircraft monitoring system. In this embodiment, the aircraft monitoring system 5 is an MLAT (Multilatation) system that monitors the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in the monitoring area of ​​an airport by receiving signals transmitted from transponders mounted on aircraft, vehicles, etc. at three or more receiving stations and measuring the positions of the aircraft, vehicles, etc. from differences in reception conditions.

[0044] The data processing and display unit 6 has an input / output means (not shown) for the aircraft monitoring system 5, and receives monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 via this input / output means. This monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 includes information on the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. on the airport surface, which is the monitored area of ​​the airport, at the time when this monitoring information was created (hereinafter, simply referred to as position information of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in the monitored area of ​​the airport). In this embodiment, the monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 is information in the ASTERIX (short for All Purpose Structured Eurocontrol Surveillance Information Exchange) format, which is an international standard for ATS (Air Traffic Services) information exchange.

[0045] In this embodiment, the aircraft monitoring system 5 uses MLAT as described above, but is not limited to this. For example, the aircraft monitoring system 5 may be a monitoring system using ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast), which is a system that constantly broadcasts the current position information of the aircraft (aircraft) via a broadcast data link based on the position information acquired by the aircraft from a GPS or the like, or a TAPS (Trajectorized Airport Traffic Data Processing) system that collates aircraft position information from an airport surveillance radar (including at least high-precision radars used in ARSR (Air Route Surveillance Radar), ASR (Airport Surveillance Radar), SSR (Secondary Surveillance Radar), and WAM (Wide Area Multilateration)) with flight plan information from FACE (Flight Object Administration Center System), displays the aircraft position, flight name, etc. on a display device used by an air traffic controller, and processes aircraft information (including position information, etc.) taking off and landing at the airport. The system may be an Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS), which is a system similar to TAPS, or a system that monitors the position information of other aircraft, vehicles, etc.

[0046] The data processing and display unit 6 has a function of controlling the transmission and reception of millimeter-wave radar signals from the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 and the rotation of the millimeter-wave radar antenna via the interlocking control unit 4, as well as a function of monitoring the operating state (antenna rotation angle, etc.) of the millimeter-wave radar unit 2. The data processing and display unit 6 also has a function of receiving radar detection signals from the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 via the interlocking control unit 4, and has a function of detecting FOD within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 using the radar detection signals from the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 and monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5.

[0047] If the data processing and display unit 6 detects an FOD as a result of its FOD detection, it controls the high sensitivity camera unit 3 via the interlocking control unit 4 to photograph the detected FOD to obtain image data of the FOD, and automatically displays the FOD image obtained by the high sensitivity camera unit 3 on the display unit (not shown) of the data processing and display unit 6. Furthermore, if the data processing and display unit 6 detects an FOD as a result of its FOD detection, it also has the function of issuing a foreign object alert and notifying this foreign object alert to the display unit (not shown) of the data processing and display unit 6 and the operator terminal.

[0048] The operator terminal 7 is a terminal carried by an operator's staff member who operates the monitoring device 1 according to the present invention, and in this embodiment is a tablet or portable PC terminal carried by an airport staff member or staff member. The operator terminal 7 is capable of receiving a foreign object alert from the data processing and display unit 6 via a wired, wireless or electric communication line, and is also capable of displaying the contents of this foreign object alert.

[0049] Next, the operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, in order to detect FOD within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter wave radar unit 2, the millimeter wave radar unit 2 scans the coverage area with the millimeter wave radar under the control of the data processing unit and display unit 6. The radar detection signal received by the millimeter wave radar unit 2 is transmitted to the data processing and display unit 6 via the interlocking control unit 4 together with the reception time.

[0050] Furthermore, the data processing / display unit 6 receives monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 via an input / output means (not shown) for connecting with the aircraft monitoring system 5 .

[0051] The data processing and display unit 6 detects FOD within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter wave radar unit 2, using the radar detection signal received from the millimeter wave radar unit 2 via the interlocking control unit 4 and the monitoring information received from the aircraft monitoring system 5. A detailed description of this part will be given later.

[0052] When the data processing and display unit 6 detects an FOD as a result of its FOD detection, it controls the high sensitivity camera unit 3 via the interlocking control unit 4 based on the position information of the detected FOD, and captures images of the detected FOD to obtain image data of the FOD. The data processing and display unit 6 automatically displays this acquired FOD image data on the display unit (not shown) of the data processing and display unit 6.

[0053] Furthermore, the data processing and display unit 6 issues a foreign object alert, displays this foreign object alert on a display unit (not shown) of the data processing and display unit 6, and also transmits this foreign object alert to the operator terminal 7. This foreign object alert contains position information of the detected FOD, information on the radar cross section of the FOD obtained from the detection result performed by the radar detection signal of the millimeter wave radar unit 2, and image data of the FOD captured by the high sensitivity camera unit 3.

[0054] Below, we will explain in detail the method of detecting FOD within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 performed by the data processing and display unit 6, and also the method of reducing the probability of issuing a false foreign object alert (false alarm rate) when detecting FOD within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter-wave radar unit 2.

[0055] First, the simplest method will be described. First, the data processing and display unit 6 detects whether or not there is a reflected echo due to FOD or the like on a runway, taxiway, or the like within the coverage area of ​​the millimeter-wave radar unit 2, based on the radar detection signal of the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 received from the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 via the interlocking control unit 4. Based on the detection result obtained by the radar detection signal of this millimeter-wave radar unit 2, it is determined whether or not the reflected echo present on the runway, taxiway, or the like within the coverage area is a reflected echo due to FOD (hereinafter simply referred to as FOD determination). When making this FOD determination, two consecutive detection results obtained by the radar detection signal of the millimeter-wave radar unit 2 are compared, and any object (reflected echo) that does not exist in the same position is determined to be a moving object (aircraft, vehicle, etc.), and is excluded from the FOD determination.

[0056] Next, the data processing and display unit 6 compares the detection results obtained from two consecutive radar detection signals from the millimeter wave radar unit 2, and determines whether an object (reflected echo) that is in the same position is an FOD object, assuming that it is a non-moving object.When making this FOD determination, the position of the aircraft, vehicle, etc. in the airport's surveillance area is identified using the position information of the aircraft, vehicle, etc. in the airport's surveillance area obtained from the surveillance information received from the aircraft surveillance system 5, and based on the identified positions of the aircraft, vehicle, etc. in the airport's surveillance area, the reflected echoes of aircraft and vehicles that are in the corresponding positions are uniformly excluded from the FOD determination, for example, within a radius of 40 m for aircraft, and a radius of 6 m for vehicles.

[0057] In this way, the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in the airport's surveillance area are identified using position information of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in the airport's surveillance area obtained from surveillance information received from aircraft surveillance system 5, and a certain range from the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. in this identified airport's surveillance area is excluded from the FOD determination, thereby making it possible to prevent stationary aircraft, vehicles, etc. from being erroneously detected as FOD. Therefore, it is possible to prevent false alarms (foreign object alerts) from being issued due to stationary aircraft, vehicles, etc. being erroneously detected as FOD, thereby making it possible to reduce the probability of issuing false foreign object alerts (false alarm rate).

[0058] Next, a more preferable method will be described, with the same contents as the simplest method described first being omitted.

[0059] The surveillance information received from the aircraft surveillance system 5 includes not only information on the positions of aircraft, vehicles, etc. on the airport surface, which is the surveillance area of ​​the airport, at the time the surveillance information was created, but also information on the nose direction, moving speed, model, dimensions, etc.

[0060] The data processing and display unit 6 compares two successive detection results obtained by the radar detection signal from the millimeter wave radar unit 2 and, for those that are in the same position (reflected echoes), uses the monitoring information received from the aircraft monitoring system 5 to make an FOD judgment. By using this information (nose direction, moving speed, model, dimensions, etc.), it is possible to more precisely determine the range to be excluded from the FOD judgment.

[0061] To be more specific, for example, the range to be excluded from FOD determination can be determined in more detail by setting the range to be excluded from FOD determination to a circular range that corresponds to the dimensional information of aircraft, vehicles, etc. contained in the surveillance information received from the aircraft monitoring system 5.

[0062] As another specific example of the range to be excluded from FOD determination, model models (corresponding to the shape of the model for determining the range to be excluded from FOD determination) for each model of aircraft, vehicle, etc. can be prepared in advance, and the model information of the aircraft, vehicle, etc. contained in the surveillance information received from the aircraft monitoring system 5 can be used to select the model model to be applied when determining FOD, and the orientation of the model model to be applied when determining FOD can be determined using information on the nose direction of the aircraft, vehicle, etc. contained in the surveillance information, thereby setting the range to be in accordance with the model model of the relevant model and its condition (nose direction, travel speed, etc.), making it possible to determine the range to be excluded from FOD determination in more detail.

[0063] Furthermore, by combining this monitoring information (position, nose direction, moving speed, model, dimensions, etc.) received from the aircraft monitoring system 5 with information obtained from the detection results performed using the radar detection signal of the millimeter wave radar unit 2 received from the millimeter wave radar unit 2 via the interlocking control unit 4, such as information on dimensions estimated from reflected echoes, it is possible to determine the range to be excluded from FOD judgment in more detail.

[0064] In this way, by determining the range to be excluded from the FOD judgment in more detail and excluding it from the FOD judgment, it is possible to prevent stationary aircraft, vehicles, etc. from being erroneously detected as FOD. Therefore, it is possible to prevent false alarms (foreign object alerts) from being issued due to stationary aircraft, vehicles, etc. being erroneously detected as FOD, and it is possible to reduce the probability of issuing a false alarm (false alarm rate) for foreign object alerts. Furthermore, when a range according to the model of the relevant aircraft is excluded from the FOD judgment, it is also possible to detect FOD that exists in the vicinity of aircraft, vehicles, etc. If this FOD has fallen from an aircraft, vehicle, etc., it is also possible to use this information to identify the aircraft, vehicle, etc. that caused the FOD.

[0065] Furthermore, by transmitting information used to identify the aircraft, vehicles, etc. that caused the FOD, in other words information linked to the source of the FOD, and information about FOD present in the vicinity of aircraft, vehicles, etc., to an external monitoring system, such as an airport monitoring system, via the input / output means for the external monitoring system possessed by the data processing / display unit 6, it is possible to share this information, which was difficult to capture with conventional airport monitoring systems, with external monitoring systems such as an airport monitoring system.

[0066] In this embodiment, a certain range from the position of an aircraft or vehicle in the airport monitoring area is excluded from the FOD judgment by using the monitoring information received from the aircraft monitoring system 5, so that a stationary aircraft or vehicle is not erroneously detected as an FOD, a foreign object alert is prevented from being erroneously issued, and the probability of issuing a false alarm (false alarm rate) of a foreign object alert is reduced, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, instead of receiving monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 and using this monitoring information, a transmitting / receiving antenna of a transponder mounted on an aircraft or vehicle used for monitoring in the MLAT may be added to the configuration to directly obtain information on the aircraft or vehicle (position, nose direction, moving speed, model, dimensions, etc.). Also, instead of receiving monitoring information from the aircraft monitoring system 5 and using this monitoring information, a receiving antenna of ADS-B may be added to the configuration to directly obtain information on the aircraft or vehicle (position, nose direction, moving speed, model, dimensions, etc.). [Industrial Applicability]

[0067] The method of reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to the present invention and a monitoring device using this method can be widely used in technical fields such as monitoring wide areas or monitoring areas that are limited in scope (roads, corridors inside buildings, sea routes, etc.). [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 1 Foreign object monitoring device 2 Millimeter wave radar section 3 High sensitivity camera section 4 Interlocking control section 5. Aircraft Surveillance System 6 Data processing and display section 7 Operator terminal

Claims

1. a millimeter wave radar unit for detecting foreign objects on runways and taxiways in a surveillance area of ​​an airport; A high-sensitivity camera unit for acquiring image data of the detected foreign object; an interlocking control unit that controls the millimeter wave radar unit and the high sensitivity camera unit in interlocking relation with each other; a data processing and display unit that judges whether or not a foreign object is present on the runway and taxiway in the monitoring area based on the detection signal from the millimeter wave radar unit, and issues an alarm when a foreign object is detected; an operator terminal for receiving an alarm issued by the data processing and display unit, the foreign object monitoring device detecting foreign objects on runways and taxiways in a monitoring area of ​​an airport, The data processing and display unit has an input / output means for connecting to an external aircraft monitoring system that monitors the positions of aircraft and vehicles in the airport monitoring area, the data processing and display unit receives monitoring information from a monitoring system of the aircraft via the input / output means; The data processing and display unit uses the aircraft and vehicle position information included in the received surveillance information to identify the positions of the aircraft and vehicles in the surveillance area of ​​the airport; The data processing and display unit excludes the identified positions of aircraft and vehicles in the airport surveillance area from the determination of whether or not there is a foreign object on the runway and taxiway in the airport surveillance area, based on the identified positions of aircraft and vehicles in the airport surveillance area, thereby preventing false alarms from being issued due to aircraft and vehicles in the airport surveillance area being mistakenly detected as foreign objects, thereby reducing the false alarm rate. A method for reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device comprising:

2. The surveillance information further includes aircraft and vehicle dimensional information; The data processing and display unit uses the position information and dimensional information of the aircraft or vehicle contained in the surveillance information to exclude the range of the position of the aircraft or vehicle from the dimensional information from the judgment of whether or not the foreign object exists.

2. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 1.

3. The monitoring information further includes information on the heading of the aircraft or vehicle and model information, the data processing and display unit has a model for determining an area to be excluded from the determination of whether or not the foreign object is present, the model being adapted to the shape of each model of aircraft or vehicle; The data processing and display unit selects a model using information on the type of aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information, and determines the orientation of the model using information on the nose orientation of the aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information; The data processing and display unit uses the position information of the aircraft or vehicle included in the surveillance information, the selected model and the determined orientation of the model, and excludes from the determination of whether or not the foreign object is present a range that corresponds to the state of the selected model and the determined orientation of the model from the position where the aircraft or vehicle is present.

2. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 1.

4. The data processing and display unit further combines the information on dimensions estimated from the reflected echo obtained from the detection signal of the millimeter wave radar unit to determine a range to be excluded from the determination of whether or not the foreign object is present.

4. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 3.

5. The monitoring information is in ASTERIX format. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The aircraft surveillance system is a MLAT.

6. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 5.

7. The aircraft surveillance system is an ADS-B based surveillance system.

6. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 5.

8. The aircraft monitoring system is a system that compares aircraft position information from a radar monitoring an airport with flight plan information and processes the position information of aircraft taking off and landing at the airport.

6. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 5.

9. The aircraft surveillance system is TAPS.

9. A method for reducing a false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to claim 8.

10. The method for reducing the false alarm rate in a foreign object monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is used. A foreign object monitoring device using a method for reducing a false alarm rate, comprising:

11. The monitoring information is in ASTERIX format. A foreign object monitoring device using the method for reducing the false alarm rate according to claim 10.

12. The aircraft surveillance system is a MLAT. A foreign object monitoring device using the method for reducing the false alarm rate according to claim 11.

13. The aircraft surveillance system is an ADS-B based surveillance system. A foreign object monitoring device using the method for reducing the false alarm rate according to claim 11.

14. The aircraft monitoring system is a system that compares aircraft position information from a radar monitoring an airport with flight plan information and processes the position information of aircraft taking off and landing at the airport. A foreign object monitoring device using the method for reducing the false alarm rate according to claim 11.

15. The aircraft surveillance system is TAPS. A foreign object monitoring device using the method for reducing the false alarm rate according to claim 14.

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