Ship information providing system, and information processing method

Abstract

To provide a ship information providing system that makes it easy to use positional information for a small ship.SOLUTION: A ship information providing system includes: an acquisition unit that acquires positional information acquired by a measuring appliance for measuring a position of a ship which is not equipped with AIS; an area estimation unit that estimates an area in which the ship may be located in the future based on the acquired positional information; and an output unit that transmits area information indicating the estimated area to an electronic appliance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a ship information providing system and an information processing method.

Background Art

[0002] For large merchant ships, it is important to grasp the positions of other ships including small ships in order to ensure safe navigation. The positions of such other ships are grasped by visual observation by the crew of the large merchant ship, target detection using RADAR (radar), etc. When the other ship is a small ship, it may be difficult to detect even with a radar. Even for a small ship that is difficult to detect by radar, if the small ship is equipped with an AIS (Automatic Identification System), the position of the small ship can be grasped based on the data obtained by the AIS. However, since small ships are not required to be equipped with AIS, they may not necessarily be equipped. In such a case, it is conceivable that the position information is measured by a simple sensor such as a smartphone owned by the operator of the small ship and a position measurement system, and the measured position information is aggregated from an app installed on the smartphone to a cloud server via a network and provided to the large ship.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, when collecting the position information of one's own ship from a smartphone or the like mounted on a small ship, due to the transmission path, it takes a certain amount of time for the position information to reach the cloud server. Therefore, there is a time difference before providing the position information of the small ship to the large ship. That is, the timing when the position information of the small ship is collected from a smartphone or the like mounted on the small ship and reaches the large merchant ship via the cloud server is later than the timing when position information can be obtained from sensors with a short update interval such as radar and AIS installed on the large merchant ship. Therefore, it cannot be handled in the same way as the position information obtained from radar and AIS. For example, the time from when the position information of the small ship is transmitted from the app and aggregated in the cloud server until it reaches the navigation equipment of the large ship may take from several tens of seconds to several minutes. Therefore, even if the position information of the small ship can be collected, since the small ship has higher maneuverability than the large ship, after transmitting the position information, by the time the position information is received by the navigation equipment of the large ship, the small ship may already have moved to another location, making it difficult to utilize the position information.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to provide a ship information providing system and an information processing method that facilitate the utilization of the position information of ships for which it is difficult to accurately grasp the position, such as those not equipped with AIS.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above-described problems, one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires position information that is a result measured by a measuring device that measures the position of a ship not equipped with AIS, a region estimation unit that estimates a region where the ship may exist in the future based on the acquired position information, and an output unit that transmits area information indicating the estimated region to an electronic device.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is an information processing method executed by a computer, which includes acquiring position information that is a result measured by a measuring device that measures the position of a ship not equipped with AIS, estimating an area where the ship may exist in the future based on the acquired position information, and transmitting area information indicating the estimated area to an electronic device.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] As described above, according to this invention, even for a ship not equipped with AIS, it becomes easier to utilize the position information of the ship.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

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Figure 9

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, a ship information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a ship information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ship information providing system 1 includes a terminal device T, a web server WS, a ship information providing server 10, and an information processing device 20. The terminal device T is mounted on a small ship (small vessel) B that is sailing. Here, the case where the ship on which the terminal device T is mounted is a small ship will be described. However, as long as the ship is not required to be equipped with AIS, the terminal device T may be mounted on a ship other than a small ship. The terminal device T may be, for example, any of a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The terminal device T has an application program installed in advance. By executing this application program, the current position of the terminal device T is measured, and position information representing the measured current position is transmitted as small ship information to the web server WS. The measurement of the position information may be performed using GPS.

[0011] The terminal device T measures the current position at regular intervals and sequentially transmits small ship information including the measured position information to the web server WS. The terminal device T may transmit to the web server WS as small ship information not only the position information but also data indicating the destination and motion performance of the small ship B in the small ship information. The terminal device T is wirelessly communicably connected to the web server WS. The terminal device T may be connected to the web server WS by wireless communication based on any one of communication standards such as 4G, 5G, and LTE (Long Term Evolution), for example. The terminal device T is brought into a ship not equipped with AIS and is thus mounted on the ship. That is, the terminal device T functions as an electronic device that transmits position information capable of grasping the position of the ship even if the ship is not equipped with AIS.

[0012] In FIG. 1, only one small boat B is illustrated, but there may be a plurality of them. When there are a plurality of small boats B, different terminal devices T are mounted on each of the small boats B.

[0013] The web server WS receives the small boat information transmitted from the terminal device T and transmits the received small boat information to the ship information providing server 10.

[0014] The ship information providing server 10 generates area information (hereinafter also referred to as a dangerous area) using the small boat information received from the web server WS, and transmits the generated area information to the information processing device 20.

[0015] The information processing device 20 is mounted on a large ship (large vessel) S that is navigating. The large ship S may be a ship operated by a crew member, or may be a ship called an autonomous ship or an autonomous vessel that can be operated without a crew member directly operating it.

[0016] In addition to the information processing device 20, the large ship S has a sensor 21, a navigation management system 22, a route planning system 23, and a route control system 24. The sensor 21 is a sensor such as a radar, an automatic identification system (AIS) for ships, a gyro (GYRO), or a log. The navigation management system 22 is communicably connected to the sensor 21, the information processing device 20, and the route planning system 23. The navigation management system 22 supplies the area information obtained from the information processing device 20 and the result obtained from the sensor 21 to the route planning system 23. The navigation management system 22 may include the sensor 21, an electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS), and the like.

[0017] The route planning system 23 is communicably connected to the navigation management system 22 and the route control system 24. The route planning system 23 generates a navigation route for the large ship S based on various data obtained from the navigation management system 22, and outputs the generated navigation route to the route control system 24. The various data obtained from the navigation management system 22 are, for example, various information regarding the sea area where the ship sails. More specifically, there is area information, meteorological and oceanographic information, etc. The meteorological and oceanographic information is information regarding meteorology and oceanography, including meteorology such as weather, and information such as waves (wave height, wave direction, period, etc.) and tide level.

[0018] The route control system 24 is communicably connected to the route planning system 23. The route control system 24 operates the large ship S along the navigation route generated by the route planning system 23.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functions of the ship information providing server 10. The ship information providing server 10 includes a communication unit 101, a storage unit 102, an acquisition unit 103, a behavior estimation unit 104, a region estimation unit 105, a presence probability calculation unit 106, a data processing unit 107, an output unit 108, and a control unit 109. The ship information providing server 10 may be a single server device, or may be a cloud server in which a plurality of server devices are communicably connected.

[0020] The communication unit 101 has a function of communicating with the web server WS and a function of communicating with the information processing device 20. The storage unit 102 stores various data. The storage unit 102 may store performance data indicating the motion performance. The performance data may be data related to the motion and operation of the ship, such as the hull size, ship type, maximum speed, turning performance, etc., or may be a level determined according to the hull size, ship type, maximum speed, turning performance, etc. The level may have a relationship such that the higher the motion performance, the larger the value representing the level. It can also be said that the higher the motion performance, the higher the ability to avoid other ships. For example, for a small hull size, a high maximum speed, a high turning performance, etc., the motion performance is high. Also, for example, a pleasure boat has higher motion performance than a cargo ship in terms of ship type.

[0021] The storage unit 102 is composed of a storage medium, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access read / write Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or any combination of these storage media. For example, a non-volatile memory can be used for this storage unit 102.

[0022] The acquisition unit 103 acquires position information representing the position of a ship not equipped with AIS. Also, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire position information representing the position of a ship not obliged to be equipped with AIS. The acquisition unit 103 acquires data for each time when the position is detected. Also, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire performance data indicating the motion performance of the ship. When acquiring the performance data, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire it from the storage unit 102 or may acquire it from the information processing device 20. Here, when the information processing device 20 stores performance data indicating the motion performance of the large ship S on which this information processing device 20 is mounted, the acquisition unit 103 can acquire the performance data from the information processing device 20.

[0023] Based on the position information for each time acquired by the acquisition unit 103, the movement estimation unit 104 identifies the same ship based on the time-series position information, and estimates the future route of the ship based on the history of the positions indicated by the identified ship's position information.

[0024] Based on the acquired position information, the area estimation unit 105 estimates the area where the ship may exist in the future. The area estimation unit 105 estimates the area based on the route estimated by the movement estimation unit 104. The area estimation unit 105 may have a function of changing the size of the area according to the movement performance of the ship on which the electronic device to which the area information is to be transmitted is mounted. When the generated area overlaps with other generated areas, the area estimation unit 105 may connect them as one area including each overlapping area.

[0025] Based on the position information for each time acquired by the acquisition unit 103, the existence probability calculation unit 106 identifies the same ship based on the time-series position information, and based on the history of the positions indicated by the identified ship's position information, for each different range of the ship's course, obtains the existence probability, which is the probability that the ship may exist in the future.

[0026] When the generated area overlaps with other generated areas, the data processing unit 107 connects them as one area including each overlapping area. Also, the data processing unit 107 may perform processing for displaying in different display modes according to the existence probability obtained for each range.

[0027] The output unit 108 transmits the area information indicating the estimated area to the electronic device. The output unit 108 may transmit the obtained existence probability to the electronic device as area information. The output unit 108 may display the transmitted area information in different display modes for each existence probability. The output unit 108 may also display the area information superimposed on the electronic nautical chart.

[0028] The control unit 109 controls each part of the ship information providing server 10.

[0029] The above-described communication unit 101, acquisition unit 103, motion estimation unit 104, area estimation unit 105, existence probability calculation unit 106, data processing unit 107, output unit 108, and control unit 109 may be configured by a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0030] Next, the operation of the ship information providing system 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the ship information providing system 1.

[0031] (Step S101) First, the position information of ships existing in the sea area to be monitored is observed. For example, the terminal device T of the small ship B measures its current position at regular intervals, and transmits small ship information including the position information based on the measurement result to the web server WS every time the measurement result is obtained. In addition, AIS information is transmitted from ships equipped with AIS that exist in the sea area to be monitored. The AIS information includes, for example, the ship name, position of the ship, course of the ship, speed of the ship, destination of navigation, ship identification information that can individually identify a plurality of ships, ship type, etc. In addition, by observing ships existing in the sea area to be monitored with observation equipment installed on land, the positions where the ships exist are detected. The observation equipment may be a radar, or may be an analysis device that detects the position by analyzing an image obtained from a camera that images the sea area to be monitored. The observation equipment detects at what position in which direction and at what distance a ship exists based on the position where the observation equipment is installed. Here, the positions of both ships that are not obliged to be equipped with AIS and ships that are obliged to be equipped with AIS are detected by the observation equipment, but at least the positions of ships that are not obliged to be equipped with AIS can be measured and utilized in the ship information providing server 10.

[0032] (Step S102) Next, the acquisition unit 103 of the ship information providing server 10 acquires position information which is the result measured by a measuring device that measures the positions of ships existing in the sea area to be observed. For example, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire the small ship information transmitted from the measuring device by directly receiving it from the terminal device T, or may acquire the position information from a web server WS that has received the position information from the measuring device. This measuring device may be either the terminal device T or the observation device described later. This position information may be the position information where the positions of ships not equipped with AIS are measured. Also, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire the AIS information via the communication unit 101 in response to the communication unit 101 receiving it, or may acquire the AIS information received by another AIS information receiving device. Also, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire the result of the position information being observed from the land-based observation device. Here, the acquisition unit 103 acquires the position information at regular intervals.

[0033] Here, the acquisition unit 103 may acquire additional information in addition to the position information. The additional information is information related to the situation of the ship, and for example, at least any one of ship identification information (or identification information of the terminal device), information about the ship (ship type, size, destination, etc.), motion performance, maritime traffic rules, weather and sea state information, etc. may be sufficient. The acquisition unit 103 may use the information transmitted from the terminal device T to the web server WS for the ship identification information (or identification information of the terminal device) and the information about the ship (ship type, size, destination, etc.), or may obtain it from the AIS information. The acquisition unit 103 may obtain the performance data from the storage unit 102. The acquisition unit 103 may extract the maritime traffic rules from the chart data. The acquisition unit 103 may acquire the weather and sea state information from a server device that distributes the weather and sea state information.

[0034] (Step S103) Next, the action estimation unit 104 identifies the same ship based on the position information sequentially acquired by the acquisition unit 103, and estimates the future route of the ship based on the history of the positions indicated by the identified ship's position information. The action estimation unit 104 estimates the future route for ships not obligated to carry AIS. The action estimation unit 104 excludes, for example, the position information obtained from AIS information, and among the position information obtained by the observation device, excludes the position information that can be estimated to be the same ship based on the position information obtained from AIS information, thereby extracting ships not obligated to carry AIS. Here, since the action estimation unit 104 obtains time-series position information about ships not obligated to carry AIS, it predicts the future route by extending the tip of the route along the course based on the history of the positions indicated by the ship's past position information. When the history of the position information indicates that the ship is going straight, the action estimation unit 104 can obtain the future route by extending the course in the straight-ahead direction. Also, when the course is gradually changing to the starboard side or port side based on the history of the position information, the action estimation unit 104 can obtain the future course by determining the course the ship would take if the change of course continues.

[0035] Here, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the future route estimated by the action estimation unit 104. This diagram shows the positions of ships when viewed from above the sea area in a plan view. Here, the positions of a plurality of ships and the estimated future routes are shown. Among the ships shown in this diagram, for ship B1, positions P0, P1, P2, and P3 are shown as the history of the position information. Position P0 indicates the latest position among the history of the position information, and positions P1, P2, and P3 indicate older position information in that order. The action estimation unit 104 determines the future route R1 based on positions P0, P1, P2, and P3. Similarly, for ship B2, a future route R2 is required, for ship B3, a future route R3 is required, and for ship B4, a future route R4 is required. For ship B5, since it is stopped, a result indicating a stop is obtained for the future route as well.

[0036] (Step S104) Next, the ship information providing server 10 determines a danger area based on the future routes. The danger area indicates an area where a ship may exist in the future. When determining the danger area, the calculation can be performed by at least one of the area estimation unit 105 and the existence probability calculation unit 106 to obtain the danger area. The area estimation unit 105 estimates an area where a ship may exist in the future by determining an area including the future course. Also, the area estimation unit 105 may determine the danger area by setting the danger area on the course based on the history of the acquired position information.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the danger area determined by the area estimation unit 105. The area estimation unit 105 estimates an area based on the route estimated by the behavior estimation unit. The area estimation unit 105 may have a function of changing the size of the area according to the motion performance of the ship on which the electronic device to which the area information is to be transmitted is mounted. In this figure, the danger area DA1 for ship B1 is generated as an area including the future course R1. The danger area DA2 for ship B2 is generated as an area including the future course R2. The danger area DA3 for ship B3 is generated as an area including the future course R3. The danger area DA4 for ship B4 is generated as an area including the future course R4. The danger area DA5 for ship B5 is generated as an area surrounding the latest position of ship B5. The contour shapes of the danger areas DA1, DA2, DA3, and DA4 are generally elliptical, and the contour shape of the danger area DA5 is generally circular.

[0038] The area estimation unit 105 may determine the size of the danger area in terms of the size in the longitudinal direction (course direction) and the size in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the course) starting from the latest position of the ship according to the speed, maneuverability, etc. of the ship. For example, the higher the speed, the larger the size in the longitudinal direction. In the case of a ship with high maneuverability and capable of making a large course change, the larger the angle at which the course can be changed, the larger the size in the width direction may be.

[0039] Next, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the danger area obtained by the presence probability calculation unit 106. Here, as an example, the case of obtaining the danger area of ship B1 will be described. The presence probability calculation unit 106 obtains the presence probability for each range with a different course based on the future course R1, with the future course R1 as a reference. The presence probability calculation unit 106 obtains an area L1 in the range of the angle ang1 so as to include the starboard side and the port side of the future course R1 respectively. Also, an area L2 in the range of the angle ang2, which is an angle wider than the range of the area L1 of the angle ang1, is obtained, and an area L3 in the range of the angle ang3, which is an angle wider than the range of the area L2 of the angle ang2, is obtained. The overlapping area with the area L1 is excluded from the area L2. The overlapping areas with the area L1 and the area L2 are excluded from the area L3. The presence probability calculation unit 106 determines a level representing the degree of danger for each of the areas obtained in this way. Here, the level of the area L1 is 1, the level of the area L2 is 2, and the level of the area L3 is 3. The degree of danger of level 1 is the highest, and the degree of danger of level 3 is the lowest. Here, it can also be said that the presence probability represents the distribution on the plane of the probability that the target ship will be at a certain time later.

[0040] The presence probability calculation unit 106 may set the danger area so that the starboard side and the port side have the same angle with respect to the future course R2 as a reference. Also, the presence probability calculation unit 106 may determine the size in the longitudinal direction of each of the areas L1 to L3 according to the length of the future course R1.

[0041] Further, for example, when the existence probability calculation unit 106 determines that there is a possibility that the future course of the ship may change to the starboard side (or port side) based on the ship's situation, it may widen the area with a higher possibility of a course change. The existence probability calculation unit 106 may use the additional information acquired by the acquisition unit 103 as the ship's situation. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a danger area set to have different widths on the port side and the starboard side. This FIG. 7 shows a danger area determined when the possibility of ship B1 heading to the port side is higher than the possibility of heading to the starboard side. For example, for area L1, the area on the port side is wider than the area on the starboard side with respect to the future route R1 as a reference.

[0042] As the ship's situation, various information (destination of AIS information, ship type of AIS information, size of the ship, maneuverability, maritime traffic rules, weather and sea state information, etc.) can be used. For example, when using the destination of the ship included in the AIS information as the ship's situation, even if the existence probability calculation unit 106 is based on the history of the ship's past positions and the ship is heading to the port side (or starboard side) or going straight, but the destination is in a direction different from the direction of progress, it may be determined such that the area in the direction of the course towards the destination becomes larger.

[0043] Further, when the behavior estimation unit 104 uses the ship type included in the AIS information as the ship's situation, when the ship type indicates a general cargo ship, the behavior estimation unit 104 may determine the danger area such that the area in the direction along the route frequently traveled by general cargo ships becomes wider based on the history of the acquired position information and the route frequently traveled by general cargo ships.

[0044] In addition, when the action estimation unit 104 uses the information on the size of the ship as the situation of the ship, the larger the size of the ship, the smaller the angle extending to the starboard side and the port side of the danger area may be set. When the size of the ship is large, generally, the course-changing angle is small, so there is a low possibility that the course will change suddenly in the near future, and thus the size in the width direction is reduced. Here, the size of the ship may be stored in advance in the storage unit 102 (or another storage device) together with the ship identification information (or the identification information of the terminal device T), and the stored size of the ship may be read based on the ship identification information (or the identification information of the terminal device T) for use.

[0045] In addition, when the action estimation unit 104 uses the motion performance as the situation of the ship, the higher the motion performance of the ship, the larger the angle extending to the starboard side and the port side of the danger area may be set. When the motion performance of the ship is high, generally, it is possible to change the course at a large course-changing angle, so there is a possibility that the course will be changed at a large angle in the near future, and the size in the width direction may be increased. Also, when the motion performance is low, since it takes a certain amount of time from when the rudder angle is changed until the course of the ship is actually changed (the course is gradually changed after advancing a certain distance), the angle extending to the starboard side and the port side of the danger area may be set to be small.

[0046] In addition, when the action estimation unit 104 uses the maritime traffic rules as the situation of the ship, in the maritime traffic rules, since there are also sea areas where the route is defined, along the route defined by the maritime traffic rules, the angle extending to the starboard side and the port side of the danger area may be determined so that the existence probability becomes high. For example, when the ship is sailing on one end side in the width direction of the route, since the possibility of heading toward the center side of the route is higher than the possibility of taking a course deviating from the route, the danger area may be set so that the size in the direction toward the center side of the route becomes large.

[0047] In addition, when the behavior estimation unit 104 uses meteorological and oceanographic conditions as the situation of the ship, if the meteorological and oceanographic conditions indicate bad weather, generally, in order to follow a course that is less affected by waves and wind, the angle spreading to the starboard side and port side of the danger area may be determined so that the probability of existence towards such a course increases. For example, if taking a course on the starboard side has less influence from waves and wind than taking a course on the port side, the danger area may be determined by making the size of the starboard side larger.

[0048] (Step S105) Next, the data processing unit 107 performs processing on the danger area. There are various processing methods. For example, the data processing unit 107 processes the shape of the danger area obtained by the area estimation unit 105 so that the contour is surrounded by a polygon-shaped figure. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the case where the danger area obtained by the area estimation unit 105 is processed. In this FIG. 8, the case where it is processed with respect to the danger area generated as shown in FIG. 5 is illustrated. The data processing unit 107 generates a polygon (here, a hexagon) that surrounds the area of the danger area DA1 so as to be inscribed, thereby generating a processed danger area DA1a whose contour shape is processed into a polygon. In addition, for the danger areas DA2, DA3, and DA4, when the data processing unit 107 detects that there is an overlapping area with other danger areas, it generates a polygon that surrounds the overlapping danger areas together, thereby generating a processed danger area DA6a. In this way, the data processing unit 107 can generate a polygon that surrounds the danger areas together when there is an overlap in the danger areas by generating a danger area that surrounds the sea area where the ship may exist, and it becomes possible to manage them as one danger area.

[0049] Here, there is a gap between the danger area DA1a and the danger area DA6a. However, depending on the motion performance of the ship on which the information processing device 20 that has received the danger area is mounted, it may be possible to navigate through this gap. Therefore, it is not necessary to avoid the ship by making an unnecessarily large detour, and it is possible to select a navigation route that does not increase fuel consumption.

[0050] Also, depending on the motion performance of the ship on which the information processing device 20 that receives the information on the danger area is mounted, it may be difficult to safely navigate through the gap in the danger area. In this case, the data processing unit 107 may perform processing to change the size of the danger area according to the motion performance of the ship that receives the danger area. For example, the motion performance of the ship is represented by a level, and the higher this level, the higher the motion performance (higher avoidance performance, or higher turning performance, higher maximum speed, etc.) is given a value. Then, the data processing unit 107 reduces the degree of expanding (inflating) the size of the danger area as the level is higher, and increases the degree of expanding the size of the danger area as the level is lower. Thereby, when referring to the danger area in a ship with low motion performance, a navigation route can be generated based on the danger area processed to have an expanded size. Also, since a danger area with an expanded size is generated according to the motion performance, when the motion performance of the ship is low and it is difficult to navigate through the gap in the danger area, the interval of the gap can be shortened or eliminated, so that a route other than the route passing through the gap can be selected. Note that the processing of the data processing unit 107 may be performed in the ship information providing server 10, or the function of the data processing unit 107 may be mounted on the information processing device 20, and the information processing device 20 may perform processing on the danger area received from the ship information providing server 10 according to the motion performance of its own ship. As described above, when the data processing unit 107 performs processing according to the motion performance of the ship, the avoidable range can be set according to the motion performance of the ship that utilizes the danger area.

[0051] Next, the data processing unit 107 may process the shape of the danger area according to the existence probability for the danger area obtained by the existence probability calculation unit 106. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example when the danger area obtained by the existence probability calculation unit 106 is processed. In this FIG. 9, the case where a danger area processed based on the existence probability for each range generated as shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is generated is illustrated. The data processing unit 107 generates a danger area for processing based on the area for each existence probability generated for the future course R1 of the ship B1. Here, with the position of the ship B1 as a reference, danger areas represented by different polygons corresponding to the areas for each existence probability in the direction along the future course R1 are generated. For example, for the ship B1, a danger area DA1ba and a danger area DA1bb are generated along the future course R1. Here, the danger area DA1ba is an area with a higher existence probability than the danger area DA1bb. In addition, the data processing unit 107 also generates danger areas for the ships B2 and B3 according to the existence probability respectively. Here, for the respective danger areas of the ships B2 and B3, areas with the same existence probability and overlapping are grouped and generated as one area. For example, for the danger area DA3ba, it is grouped as an area where both the ships B2 and B3 may exist and the existence probability is the same. Also, for the danger area DA3bb, it is grouped as an area where the ship B2 may exist and the existence probability is lower than that of the danger area DA3ba.

[0052] Also, for the danger areas with the lowest existence probabilities of the ships B2, B3, and B4, since there are overlapping parts, they are grouped as one danger area DA4bc. Note that for the ship B4, a danger area DA4bb which is an area with a higher existence probability than the danger area DA4bc and a danger area DA4ba which is an area with a higher existence probability than the danger area DA4bb are generated. Also, for ship B5, a danger area DA5ba and a danger area DA5bb are generated based on the position where ship B5 is located. Here, the probability of the existence of danger area DA5ba is higher than that of danger area DA5bb.

[0053] The data processing unit 107 may perform processing so as to display, in different display modes, the danger areas generated by such processing according to the existence probabilities obtained for each range indicated by the danger areas. Note that the data processing unit 107 may also deliver to the output unit 108 the danger areas for which no processing has been performed on the danger areas, together with the processed danger areas.

[0054] (Step S106) The output unit 108 transmits data representing the danger areas processed by the data processing unit 107 to the information processing device 20. The output unit 108 may also transmit to the information processing device 20 the data representing the danger areas not processed by the data processing unit 107. Further, the output unit 108 may also transmit to the information processing device 20 the time-series data of the collected position information of the ships. The information processing device 20 receives the data representing the danger areas transmitted from the output unit 108 and outputs it to the navigation management system 22. The navigation management system 22 displays the data representing the danger areas obtained from the information processing device 20 by superimposing it on the electronic chart on the display screen of the navigation management system 22. Here, it is possible to display danger areas, future routes, past positions of ships, etc., as shown in any of FIGS. 4, 5, 8, and 9. Also, regarding the danger areas, it may be selected and displayed based on an instruction from the input device of the navigation management system 22 as to whether to display the state before processing or the state after processing. Also, regarding whether to display or not display the future route and the past positions of the ships, it may be selected and displayed based on an instruction from the input device of the navigation management system 22.

[0055] In this way, since the dangerous area is displayed on the display screen of the navigation management system 22, when the ship is a ship operated by a crew member, the crew member operating the ship can consider the position where the dangerous area exists, the current position, course, speed, etc. of their own ship, and consider the route. Also, when the ship is an autonomous ship, data representing the dangerous area is output from the navigation management system 22 to the route planning system 23, and the route planning system 23 generates a route planned to avoid the dangerous area based on the data representing the dangerous area and outputs it to the route control system 24. Thereby, the route control system 24 can navigate the ship based on the route generated by the route planning system 23.

[0056] In the above-described embodiment, since the dangerous area is generated based on the time-series data of the position information of the small ship and transmitted to the information processing device 20, even if there is a communication lag or a lag based on the calculation time from when the position information is acquired from the terminal device T of the small ship B until the information is distributed to the information processing device 20, information based on the area where the ship may exist in the future can be provided, so the position information is easy to utilize. Also, as for the small ship, since the large merchant ship can be made to grasp the area where the small ship may exist, it is also possible for the large ship to avoid the small ship.

[0057] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the position information of the small ship may not be transmitted to the information processing device 20, and even if it is transmitted, it may not be output from the information processing device 20 to the navigation management system 22 or the route planning system 23. Also, the position information of the small ship may not be displayed in the navigation management system 22. Thereby, the dangerous area can be grasped without revealing the position information of the small ship to the large ship side. Some small ships and other ships may not want to reveal their own position to other ships. Even in such a case, the other ship can be made to grasp the area where there is a possibility of collision or the like without revealing the position (or track) of its own ship to the other ship.

[0058] In the embodiment described above, the information processing apparatus 20 has been described in the case of being mounted on a large ship S. However, the ship on which the information processing apparatus 20 is mounted is not limited to a large ship and may be mounted on a small ship. When the information processing apparatus 20 is mounted on a small ship, the functions of the information processing apparatus may be mounted on the terminal device T, and the information regarding the dangerous area may be displayed on the display screen of the terminal device T. Also, although the case where the information processing apparatus 20 is mounted on a ship that is autonomously operated by the route control system 24 has been described, it may be mounted on a ship directly operated by the crew of the ship.

[0059] Also, according to the embodiment described above, for example, even in a case where the time from when the position information is measured in the terminal device T mounted on the small ship B until the position information is received by the web server WS is from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, and the time from when the position information is received from the web server WS by the ship information providing server 10 until the information is received by the communication device of the large ship S after the information processing using the position information is performed in the ship information providing server 10 takes about 30 seconds, the ship information providing server 10 estimates the area where the small ship will exist in the future based on the position information of the small ship, and transmits the estimated area to the information processing apparatus 20 of the large ship S. Thereby, even if the small ship has moved during the period until the position information of the small ship is collected and information is provided to the large ship S, it is possible to provide an area where the small ship may exist in the future, so that it is possible to easily utilize the position information of the small ship.

[0060] The ship information providing server 10 in the above-described embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed to realize it. Here, the "computer system" shall include hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. Further, the "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, etc., and a storage device such as a hard disk built into a computer system. Furthermore, the "computer-readable recording medium" also includes those that hold a program dynamically for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and those that hold a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that becomes a server or a client in that case. Also, the above program may be for realizing a part of the aforementioned functions, and may further be realizable in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, or may be realized using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0061] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and designs and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0062] 1 Ship information providing system 10 Ship information providing server 20 Information processing device 21 Sensor 22 Navigation management system 23 Route planning system 24 Route control system 101 Communication unit 102 Memory unit 103 Acquisition unit 104 Action estimation unit 105 Area estimation unit 106 Existence probability calculation unit 107 Processing unit 107 Data processing unit 108 Output unit 109 Control unit T Terminal device WS Web server

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires position information which is a result measured by a measuring device that measures the position of a ship not equipped with an AIS; An area estimation unit that estimates an area where the ship may exist in the future based on the acquired position information; An output unit that transmits area information indicating the estimated area to an electronic device; A ship information providing system having the above.

2. The acquisition unit acquires data for each time when a position is detected, Based on the position information for each time acquired by the acquisition unit, it identifies the same ship based on the time-series position information, and based on the history of the positions indicated by the position information of the identified ship, it has a behavior estimation unit that estimates the future route of the ship, The area estimation unit estimates the area based on the route estimated by the behavior estimation unit. The ship information providing system according to claim 1.

3. It has an acquisition unit that acquires performance data indicating the motion performance of the ship, The area estimation unit Changes the size of the area according to the motion performance of the ship on which the electronic device to which the area information is to be transmitted is mounted. The ship information providing system according to claim 2.

4. A data processing unit that, when the estimated area overlaps with other generated areas, connects them as one area including each overlapping area. The ship information providing system according to claim 2.

5. The acquisition unit acquires data for each time when a position is detected, The ship information providing system Based on the position information for each time acquired by the acquisition unit, identify the same ship based on the time-series position information, and based on the history of the positions indicated by the position information of the identified ship, for each different range of the course of the identified ship, have an existence probability calculation unit that obtains the existence probability, which is the probability that the ship may exist in the future. The output unit transmits the obtained existence probability to the electronic device as area information. The ship information providing system according to claim 1.

6. Have a data processing unit that performs processing for displaying in different display modes according to the existence probability obtained for each range. The output unit transmits the data after being processed by the data processing unit, so that the display device displays in different display modes for each existence probability. The ship information providing system according to claim 5.

7. The output unit superimposes and displays the area information on the electronic nautical chart. The ship information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. An information processing method executed by a computer, comprising: Obtain position information that is the result measured by a measuring device that measures the position of a ship not equipped with AIS. Based on the obtained position information, estimate the area where the ship may exist in the future. Transmit area information indicating the estimated area to an electronic device. An information processing method including this.

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