Hull imaging system

Abstract

To provide a hull imaging system configured to easily and accurately specify a portion to be imaged, in hull exterior imaging during dry docking, and enable efficient imaging so as not to affect the time allocated for other tasks.SOLUTION: A hull imaging system includes a mobile body and a three-dimensional model generation server 2. The mobile body is configured to: create image data with position information by linking image information obtained when an imaging unit captures an image, horizontal position information of the mobile body measured by a horizontal position measurement unit and height position information of the mobile body measured by a height position measurement unit obtained when the imaging unit captures the image; and transmit the image data with position information to the three-dimensional model generation server 2. The three-dimensional model generation server 2 synthesizes multiple pieces of image information using the received image data with position information, in accordance with the linked horizontal position information and height position information, to generate a three-dimensional model 106 of a ship 102.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a hull imaging system, and more particularly to a hull imaging system capable of easily and accurately identifying imaging locations during imaging of the hull exterior when the ship is in dry dock, and capable of efficiently performing imaging without pressing other working hours.

Background Art

[0002] As a ship is put into service for navigation, various organisms adhere to and accumulate on the hull exterior immersed in seawater. Hull fouling organisms increase the resistance to movement during ship navigation, thus increasing the fuel consumption. In addition, hull fouling organisms cause the cross-border movement of organisms, becoming alien organisms and affecting the ecosystem.

[0003] Therefore, as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when a ship is dry-docked for regular inspection, a hull fouling removal operation is performed. In addition, imaging of the hull exterior is performed to grasp the deposition status of hull fouling organisms and leave a traceability of their subsequent removal.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Conventionally, imaging of the hull exterior during dry docking has been performed manually based on the operator's subjectivity. Therefore, during the operation cycle, especially when the dry docks for inspection are different, it is difficult to accurately unify the imaging locations. If the photographing location is not unified, even if an image with hull fouling organisms is recorded, it is difficult to identify which part of the hull exterior the image is from, and it is also difficult to confirm whether the hull fouling organisms have been removed.

[0006] Also, when the ship is in dry dock, there are various inspection operations, not limited to the removal of hull fouling organisms, and since the working time is limited, efficient photographing operations are required.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a hull photographing system that can easily and accurately identify the photographing location during the photographing of the hull exterior when the ship is in dry dock, and can efficiently photograph without squeezing other working times.

[0008] Furthermore, other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] The above problems are solved by the following inventions.

[0010] 1. A hull photographing system including a moving body and a three-dimensional model generation server, wherein the moving body includes an imaging unit for photographing a plurality of locations on the hull exterior of the ship, a horizontal position measuring unit, a height position measuring unit, an information processing unit, and a transmission unit, the information processing unit creates position information-attached image data by linking the image information captured at the time when the imaging unit captures an image, the horizontal position information of the moving body by the horizontal position measuring unit at the time when the imaging unit captures an image, and the height position information of the moving body by the height position measuring unit at the time when the imaging unit captures an image, the transmission unit transmits the position information-attached image data created by the information processing unit to the three-dimensional model generation server, and the three-dimensional model generation server uses the received position information-attached image data to synthesize a plurality of the image information according to the linked horizontal position information and height position information, and generates a three-dimensional model of the ship. A hull photography system characterized by the following. 2. The moving body is a floating body that floats on the water surface around the ship and can move on the water surface, The height position measuring unit acquires the position of the water surface relative to the hull from the data of the draft gauge provided on the ship, and acquires the height position information of the floating body based on the position of the water surface. The hull photography system according to item 1, characterized by the above. 3. The moving body is a floating body that floats on the water surface around the ship and can move on the water surface, The height position measuring unit is a depth gauge that acquires the water depth from the water surface to the bottom of the water, and acquires the height position information of the floating body based on this water depth. The hull photography system according to item 1, characterized by the above. 4. The moving body is an unmanned aircraft that floats in the space around the ship and can move in the space, The height position measuring unit acquires the distance from the water surface around the ship by a non-contact sensor provided on the unmanned aircraft, and acquires the position of the water surface relative to the hull from the data of the draft gauge provided on the ship. Based on these positions of the water surface and the distance from the water surface, the height position information of the unmanned aircraft is acquired. The hull photography system according to item 1, characterized by the above. 5. The moving body is a wall-running body that adsorbs to the outer hull of the ship and can move along the outer hull surface, The height position measuring unit acquires the distance from the water surface around the ship by a non-contact sensor provided on the wall-running body, and acquires the position of the water surface relative to the hull from the data of the draft gauge provided on the ship. Based on these positions of the water surface and the distance from the water surface, the height position information of the wall-running body is acquired. The hull photography system according to item 1, characterized by the above.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, in photographing the hull exterior when entering a shipyard, it is possible to provide a hull photographing system that can easily and accurately identify the photographing location and can efficiently photograph without squeezing other working hours.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

[0014] 〔First Embodiment〕 (Configuration of the Hull Photographing System) FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of the hull photographing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the hull photographing system of the present invention includes a moving body 1 and a three-dimensional model generation server 2, and photographs the hull exterior of a ship 102 that has entered a shipyard 101. In this embodiment, the moving body 1 is a floating body that floats on the water surface 103 around the ship 102 and can move on the water surface 103. As such a moving body (floating body) 1, for example, a boat can be used.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the moving body of the hull photographing system according to the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the floating body 1 is configured to incorporate an imaging unit 3 that captures images of multiple locations on the outer hull of the ship 102, a horizontal position measuring unit 4, a height position measuring unit 5, an information processing unit 6, and a transmitting unit 7. The floating body 1 is provided with the imaging unit 3. For the purpose of photographing the outer hull of the ship during dry-docking, from the perspective of preventing reflection into the subject, etc., it is preferable that the floating body 1 has a matte finish so that light does not reflect, for example, the appearance is formed in matte black or the like.

[0016] The imaging unit 3 includes an imaging lens 31 and an imaging element (such as a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor, etc.) 32, and is configured to receive the subject image formed by the imaging lens 31 with the imaging element 32 and convert it into image information, which is an electrical signal, and output it. The subject image formed by the imaging lens 31 is an image of the subject viewed from the rear principal point of the imaging lens 31, and is an image within a predetermined angle of view centered on the optical axis of the imaging lens 31. In the following description, the "position of the floating body 1" means the "position of the rear principal point of the imaging lens 31". The imaging unit 3 may be configured to capture still images or moving images.

[0017] As the horizontal position measuring unit 4, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), which is a satellite positioning system, can be used. GPS detects the absolute position of the floating body 1, that is, the latitude and longitude, as horizontal position information. Note that the satellite radio waves received by GPS also include time information.

[0018] The horizontal position measuring unit 4 may be configured to detect the relative position as the horizontal position information instead of the absolute position. For example, if beacons are installed at three or more locations within the shipyard 101 and the radio waves from these beacons are received by the horizontal position measuring unit 4, the relative position of the floating body 1 with respect to the installation locations of the beacons can be detected. If a beacon is installed on the hull of the ship 102, the relative position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull can be detected.

[0019] The height position measuring section 5 of the floating body 1 obtains information on the distance from the bottom of the ship to the water surface 103 from the data of the bow draft gauge 104 and the stern draft gauge 105 provided on the ship 102, and obtains the height position information of the floating body 1 based on this distance information. The bow draft gauge 104 and the stern draft gauge 105 detect the distance from the bottom of the ship to the water surface 103 (height information of the part submerged in the water). Therefore, the height position information obtained by the height position measuring section 5 is the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull.

[0020] Also, the height position measuring section 5 of the floating body 1 may be a depth gauge such as an acoustic sonar, for example. The depth gauge obtains the water depth from the water surface 103 to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101 which is the bottom of the water. In this case, the height position information obtained by the height position measuring section 5 is the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101. A plurality of blocking timbers are installed on the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101. When draining the seawater in the shipyard 101, the bottom of the ship 102 is placed on the upper surfaces of the plurality of blocking timbers. The height from the bottom 107 to the upper surfaces of the respective blocking timbers is constant and known. In the state where the bottom of the ship is resting on the plurality of blocking timbers, the relative height position of the ship 102 with respect to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101 is the height from the bottom 107 to the upper surfaces of the respective blocking timbers. Therefore, by taking the difference between the height from the bottom 107 to the upper surfaces of the respective blocking timbers and the depth information obtained for the floating body 1, the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull is calculated.

[0021] Furthermore, the height position measuring section 5 of the floating body 1 may be one that detects the draft mark for dock worker confirmation marked on the inner wall of the shipyard 101. If the draft mark at the position of the water surface 103 is detected by image processing, the water depth from the water surface 103 to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101, that is, the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101 can be obtained. By taking the difference between this relative height position and the height from the bottom 107 to the upper surfaces of the respective blocking timbers, the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull is calculated.

[0022] In addition, if the hull and the draft mark are photographed simultaneously, the water depth at the time of photography can be known. By taking the difference between this water depth information and the height from the bottom 107 to the upper surface of each blocking timber, the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull can be calculated. To photograph the hull and the draft mark simultaneously, an imaging unit for photographing the draft mark may be provided separately from the imaging unit 3 for photographing the hull, and these two imaging units may be operated synchronously.

[0023] Note that the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101 is slightly inclined for drainage. The ship 102 enters the dry dock in a state where the stern trim, that is, the stern side is submerged compared to the bow side, in accordance with the inclination of the bottom 107.

[0024] The inclination of the bottom of the shipyard 101 is, for example, about 1 / 200 m to 1 / 300 m. When the overall length of the hull is 300 m, the ship 102 enters the dry dock with a stern trim of about 1 m to 1.5 m. The stern trim of about 1 m to 1.5 m means a hull state where the stern side is submerged by 1 m to 1.5 m compared to the bow side.

[0025] The data obtained from the bow draft gauge 104 and the stern draft gauge 105 is the distance from the bottom of the ship 102 to the water surface 103 (height information of the part submerged in water). Therefore, even if there is a difference between the bow side and the stern side due to the stern trim, it corresponds to the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the bottom of the ship 102.

[0026] On the other hand, the water depth information in the shipyard 101 corresponds to the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101. Due to the slight inclination of the bottom 107, when the overall length of the hull is long, there is a difference even at the same time between the bow side and the stern side. When draining the seawater in the shipyard 101, the bottom of the ship 102 touches the keel parallel to the upper surfaces of a plurality of blocking timbers due to the stern trim. The height from the bottom 107 to the upper surface of each blocking timber is constant and known even if the bottom 107 has an inclination. Therefore, in the state where the bottom of the ship is placed on a plurality of blocking timbers, there is no difference between the bow side and the stern side in the relative height position of the ship 102 with respect to the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101. Therefore, by taking the difference between the height from the bottom 107 to the upper surface of each board and the water depth information obtained in the floating body 1, the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull can be calculated.

[0027] The information processing unit 6 creates image data with position information in which the horizontal position information of the floating body 1 by the horizontal position measuring unit 4 at the time when the imaging unit 3 captures an image, the height position information of the floating body 1 by the height position measuring unit 5 at the same time, and the image information captured at the same time are linked.

[0028] The transmission unit 7 wirelessly transmits the image data with position information created by the information processing unit 6 to the three-dimensional model generation server 2. The transmission radio wave to the three-dimensional model generation server 2 may conform to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard or the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) standard.

[0029] Note that the floating body 1 may be provided with a time detection unit, a distance measurement unit, a direction detection unit, and a pitch angle detection unit. The time detection unit detects time information from satellite radio waves or a built-in clock. If the time information is linked to the horizontal position information, the height position information, and the image information respectively, at the three-dimensional model generation server 2, the horizontal position information, the height position information, and the image information for which the linked time information is the same time can be linked to create image data with position information.

[0030] The distance measurement unit detects the distance from the floating body 1 to the hull, which is the subject, based on the amount of extension of the imaging lens 31 when the imaging unit 3 is in the focused state. The direction detection unit detects the direction in which the optical axis of the imaging lens 31 is directed by detecting the geomagnetism. The pitch angle detection unit detects the pitch angle (elevation angle or depression angle) of the optical axis of the imaging lens 31. The pitch angle detection unit can be configured by providing height position measuring units at two locations (front and rear) along the optical axis of the imaging unit 3 on the floating body 1. By comparing the two height position information detected by the two height position measuring units provided at the two locations, the pitch angle of the optical axis can be detected. By providing these distance measurement unit, azimuth detection unit, and elevation angle detection unit, and obtaining the distance from the floating body 1 to the hull, the azimuth toward which the optical axis of the imaging lens 31 is directed, and the elevation angle information of the optical axis, it becomes easier to synthesize a plurality of image information in the three-dimensional model generation server 2. However, even without this information, it is possible to synthesize a plurality of image information.

[0031] The three-dimensional model generation server 2 uses the plurality of position information-attached image data transmitted from the transmission unit, and synthesizes them according to the linked horizontal position information and height position information to generate a three-dimensional model (3D mapping data) 106 of the entire hull exterior.

[0032] (Shooting procedure of the hull exterior) The shooting of the hull exterior using this hull shooting system can start when the ship 102 enters the shipyard 101 and stops. When the shooting starts, the floating body 1 moves on the water surface 103 and performs shooting while orbiting around the entered ship 102. At the same time as the shooting, horizontal position information and height position information are acquired. The shooting at this time is to shoot the upper part of the hull that appears on the water surface 103.

[0033] In the shipyard 101, after the ship 102 stops, the gate ship is closed and the seawater in the shipyard 101 is drained. During the drainage of the seawater, the ship 102 descends together with the water surface 103 with the stern trim, and when the bottom of the ship touches the keel parallel to each sleeper on the bottom 107 of the shipyard 101, the relative position between the shipyard 101 and the ship 102 is fixed. Thereafter, the water surface 103 will descend relative to the hull. When the water surface 103 descends relative to the hull, the lower part of the hull that was previously in the sea and not visible appears on the water surface 103. Therefore, the floating body 1 shoots the lower part of the hull that newly appears in this way.

[0034] When the drainage in the shipyard 101 is completed, the entire hull appears. Therefore, the floating body 1 can complete the shooting of the entire hull by the time the drainage is completed.

[0035] This hull imaging system can effectively utilize the dormant time during which other operations cannot be performed, such as during seawater drainage, and complete the overall imaging of the hull before the drainage is completed. Therefore, it can efficiently perform imaging without squeezing other working hours and can shorten the shipyard working period. In addition, in this hull imaging system, horizontal position information and height position information are acquired simultaneously during imaging. Therefore, the imaging location can be easily and accurately identified, and traceability can be ensured. Furthermore, in this hull imaging system, image information is synthesized to generate a three-dimensional model 106. Therefore, it is easy to know which part of the hull the captured image is from, and even when there are unphotographed areas, it is easy to determine the existence of unphotographed areas.

[0036] In the shipyard 101, after the drainage is completed, cleaning and inspection work of the hull and removal work of hull-attached organisms are carried out. Therefore, the hull imaged during seawater drainage is the hull that may have fouling and hull-attached organisms before cleaning and removal of hull-attached organisms are performed. The condition of fouling and biological attachment can be recorded based on the images taken during seawater drainage. Also, it is possible to determine the locations where fouling and biological attachment are likely to occur from the images taken during seawater drainage.

[0037] In the shipyard 101, after various operations are completed, seawater is injected into the shipyard 101. During the seawater injection, the water surface 103 rises with respect to the hull. When the water surface 103 rises with respect to the hull, the lower part of the hull that was visible until then becomes invisible below the water surface 103. Therefore, the floating body 1 captures the lower part of the hull before the lower part of the hull goes below the water surface 103. When the water surface 103 rises to a predetermined position, the ship 102 floats and the bottom of the ship separates from the bottom of the shipyard 101. Thereafter, the ship 102 rises together with the water surface 103. At this time, the floating body 1 also captures the upper part of the hull that appears above the water surface 103.

[0038] In this way, the hull imaged during seawater injection is the hull without fouling and hull-attached organisms after cleaning and removal of hull-attached organisms are completed. Images taken during the injection of seawater can record the results of the cleaning and the removal of hull fouling organisms. By sending the images recording such work results to other shipyards in the country or abroad, it is possible to prove that the cleaning work and the removal work have been carried out correctly. In this embodiment, for the ship bottom, after drainage, it can be photographed as usual.

[0039] 〔Second Embodiment〕 FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configuration of the hull photographing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the moving body is an unmanned aircraft 11 that can float in the space around the ship 102 and move in the space. As the unmanned aircraft 11, for example, a so-called drone can be used. From the viewpoint of preventing reflection of light such as matte black on the subject during photographing of the ship's exterior, it is preferable that the unmanned aircraft 11 has an appearance that does not reflect light.

[0040] In this embodiment, the height position measuring unit 5 acquires the distance from the water surface around the ship by means of a non-contact sensor provided in the unmanned aircraft 11, and acquires the position of the water surface 103 with respect to the hull from the data of the bow draft gauge 104 and the stern draft gauge 105 provided in the ship, and based on these positions of the water surface 103 and the distance from the water surface 103, acquires the height position information of the unmanned aircraft 11. As the non-contact sensor, for example, a radio wave type water level gauge, an ultrasonic level gauge, or the like can be used. Also in this embodiment, the height position information acquired by the height position measuring unit 5 is the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull.

[0041] In this embodiment, by photographing the periphery of the hull as in the first embodiment and photographing the ship bottom with the unmanned aircraft 11, more detailed mapping data including the ship bottom can be generated. Since the other configurations and photographing procedures are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

[0042] 〔Third Embodiment〕 Figure 4 is a side view showing the configuration of the hull photographing system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the moving body is a wall-running body 12 that adsorbs to the outer hull of the ship 102 and can move along the outer hull surface. The wall-running body 12 can adsorb to the outer hull by, for example, magnetic force or air suction, and can move along the outer hull surface by driving wheels or caterpillars. From the viewpoint of preventing reflection of light such as matte black, the wall-running body 12 preferably has an appearance that does not reflect light.

[0043] In this embodiment, the imaging unit 3 is configured such that the optical axis of the imaging lens 31 faces the hull, and always photographs the outer hull surface even when moving along the outer hull surface.

[0044] In this embodiment, the height position measuring unit 5 acquires the distance from the surrounding water surface of the ship by means of a non-contact sensor provided in the wall-running body 12, acquires the position of the water surface 103 with respect to the hull from the data of the bow draft gauge 104 and the stern draft gauge 105 provided in the ship, and acquires the height position information of the unmanned aircraft 11 based on the position of the water surface 103 and the distance from the water surface 103. As the non-contact sensor, for example, a radio wave type water level gauge or an ultrasonic level gauge can be used. Also in this embodiment, the height position information acquired by the height position measuring unit 5 is the relative height position of the floating body 1 with respect to the hull.

[0045] In this embodiment, the bottom of the ship may be photographed using the unmanned aircraft 11 of the second embodiment, or the bottom of the ship may be photographed by running the wall-running body on the bottom of the ship. Since the other configurations and photographing procedures are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

Description of reference numerals

[0046] 1 Floating body 2 Three-dimensional model generation server 3 Imaging unit 4 Horizontal position measuring unit 5 Height position measurement unit 6 Information processing unit 7 Transmission unit 11 Unmanned aerial vehicle 12 Wall-climbing vehicle 31 Imaging lens 32 Image sensor 101 Dock 102 Ship 103 Water surface 104 Bow draft gauge 105 Stern draft gauge 106 Three-dimensional model 107 Bottom

Claims

1. A hull imaging system comprising a moving body and a three-dimensional model generation server, wherein the moving body includes an imaging unit that captures a plurality of locations on the outer hull of a ship, a horizontal position measuring unit, a height position measuring unit, an information processing unit, and a transmission unit, the information processing unit creates position information-attached image data by linking the image information captured at the time when the imaging unit captures an image, the horizontal position information of the moving body by the horizontal position measuring unit at the time when the imaging unit captures the image, and the height position information of the moving body by the height position measuring unit at the time when the imaging unit captures the image, the transmission unit transmits the position information-attached image data created by the information processing unit to the three-dimensional model generation server, and the three-dimensional model generation server generates a three-dimensional model of the ship by synthesizing the plurality of pieces of image information according to the linked horizontal position information and height position information using the received position information-attached image data. A hull imaging system characterized by the above.

2. The moving body is a floating body that floats on the water surface around the ship and can move on the water surface, and the height position measuring unit obtains the position of the water surface relative to the hull from the data of the draft gauge provided on the ship, and obtains the height position information of the floating body based on the position of the water surface. The hull imaging system according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. The moving body is a floating body that floats on the water surface around the ship and can move on the water surface, and the height position measuring unit is a depth gauge that obtains the water depth from the water surface to the bottom, and obtains the height position information of the floating body based on this water depth. The hull imaging system according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

4. The moving body is an unmanned aerial vehicle that floats in the space around the ship and can move in the space, and the height position measuring unit obtains the distance from the water surface around the ship by a non-contact sensor provided on the unmanned aerial vehicle, obtains the position of the water surface relative to the hull from the data of the draft gauge provided on the ship, and obtains the height position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the position of the water surface and the distance from the water surface. The hull imaging system according to Claim 1, characterized by the above.

5. The moving body is a wall-climbing vehicle that adsorbs to the outer hull of the ship and can move along the outer hull surface. The height position measurement unit acquires the distance from the water surface around the ship by a non-contact sensor included in the wall surface traveling body, acquires the position of the water surface with respect to the hull from the data of the draft gauge included in the ship, and based on these positions of the water surface and the distance from the water surface, acquires the height position information of the wall surface traveling body. The hull photographing system according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

Images