Information processing apparatus, method, and storage medium

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of suitably acquiring accurate information on berthing.SOLUTION: The controller 13 of the information processing device 1 acquires measurement data obtained by the LIDAR 3, which is a measurement device provided in the target vessel, measuring the docking location. Then, the controller 13 acquires contour data Dc indicating the contour position of the target ship. Then, the controller 13 calculates the opposite shore distance, which is the distance between the target ship and the berthing location, based on the measurement data and the contour data Dc.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to ship docking procedures. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there have been known technologies for providing support for docking (berthing) of ships. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a method for controlling an automatic docking device that automatically docks a ship by changing the attitude of the ship so that light emitted from a lidar is reflected by objects around the docking position and can be received by the lidar. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-59403 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When providing advanced berthing assistance such as automatic berthing of a ship at a berthing location, it is necessary to accurately grasp the distance to the berthing location, etc. However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose a method for calculating the accurate distance to the berthing location, etc.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a main object of the present disclosure is to provide an information processing device that can suitably acquire accurate information regarding docking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The claimed invention is a measurement data acquisition means for acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring the docking location using a measuring device provided on the ship; a contour data acquisition means for acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship; a calculation means for calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; a filtering means for determining the target measurement points by filtering and selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data; The filtering means is an information processing device that selects, for each vertical line on which the measurement device performs measurement, the measurement point that is closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point. The claimed invention also includes: a measurement data acquisition means for acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring the docking location using a measuring device provided on the ship; a contour data acquisition means for acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship; a calculation means for calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; and The calculation means is an information processing device that searches for the nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the docking speed of the ship at the docking location based on the average value of the distance between each of the plurality of contour points and the nearest point.

[0007] The claimed invention also includes: The computer Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; determining the target measurement point by selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data through filtering; This method selects, for each vertical line on which the measurement device makes measurements, the measurement point closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point. The claimed invention also includes: The computer Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; The method searches for the nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the docking speed of the ship as it approaches the docking location based on the average value of the distance between each of the plurality of contour points and the nearest point.

[0008] The claimed invention also includes: Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; determining the target measurement point by selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data through filtering; The program causes a computer to execute a process of selecting, as the target measurement point, the measurement point that is closest to the position of the measurement device for each vertical line on which the measurement device performs measurement. The claimed invention also includes: Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; This is a program that causes a computer to execute a process of searching for the nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculating the docking speed at which the ship approaches the docking location based on the average value of the distances between each of the plurality of contour points and the nearest point. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving assistance system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the information processing device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contour points identified by contour data in a ship coordinate system. [Figure 4] (A) shows an overhead view of the target vessel approaching the berthing location. (B) shows an overhead view of the target vessel, clearly indicating the correspondence between each contour point and its nearest neighbor. [Figure 5] (A) shows the correspondence between contour points and nearest neighboring points at processing time t. (B) shows the correspondence between contour points and nearest neighboring points at processing time t+1. [Figure 6] (A) A diagram showing the nearest neighbor average vector superimposed on the target vessel at processing time t. (B) A diagram showing the nearest neighbor average vector superimposed on the target vessel at processing time t+1. [Figure 7] This is a diagram in which an arrow indicating the nearest point average vector, a vector corresponding to the reference direction of the ship coordinate system, and an arrow indicating the approach angle are superimposed for the target ship at processing time t. [Figure 8] This is a diagram in which measurement points contained in the lidar point cloud data used to generate contour points are superimposed on the target ship. [Figure 9] (A) A diagram showing some of the measurement points measured by the lidar on a virtual two-dimensional plane illuminated by the lidar's emitted light. (B) A diagram showing only the measurement points with the longest distance for each vertical line in the ship's coordinate system. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a front view of the target vessel and docking location, showing the vertical measurement range of the lidar. [Figure 11] This is a perspective view of the docking location with measurement points clearly indicated. [Figure 12] Experimental results regarding nearest neighbor search processing are presented. [Figure 13] 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating an outline of a process for calculating docking parameters. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, an information processing device includes: measurement data acquisition means for acquiring measurement data of a docking location measured by a measuring device provided on a ship; contour data acquisition means for acquiring contour data indicating a contour of the ship; and calculation means for calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the ship and the docking location, based on the measurement data and the contour data. According to this aspect, the information processing device can accurately calculate the shore distance based on the contour data indicating the contour of the ship.

[0011] In one aspect of the information processing device, the calculation means calculates the distance across the shore based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data. This aspect enables the information processing device to suitably calculate the distance across the shore.

[0012] In another aspect of the information processing device, the calculation means searches for a nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the opposite bank distance based on the nearest point found. This aspect enables the information processing device to suitably calculate the opposite bank distance.

[0013] In another aspect of the information processing device, the information processing device further includes filtering means for selecting or integrating measurement points indicated by the measurement data by filtering, thereby determining the target measurement points. With this aspect, the information processing device can suitably reduce the number of target measurement points and reduce the processing load.

[0014] In another aspect of the information processing device, the filtering means selects, for each vertical line on which the measurement device performs measurements, the measurement point closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point. With this aspect, the information processing device can suitably reduce the number of target measurement points and reduce the processing load.

[0015] In another aspect of the information processing device, the contour data acquisition means generates the contour data based on measurement data generated by the measurement device before approaching the docking location. This aspect allows the information processing device to suitably acquire the contour data necessary for calculating the distance to the opposite shore.

[0016] In another aspect of the information processing device, the contour data acquisition means generates the contour data by setting the measurement point of the measurement data with the longest measurement distance for each vertical line measured by the measurement device as the contour point of the ship. This aspect enables the information processing device to preferably generate the contour data.

[0017] In another aspect of the information processing device, the calculation means searches for a nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the docking speed of the ship at the docking location based on an average value of the distances from each of the plurality of contour points to the nearest point. With this aspect, the information processing device can calculate the docking speed with high accuracy.

[0018] In another aspect of the information processing device, the calculation means searches for a nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates an approach angle of the ship to the docking location based on an average of vectors from each of the plurality of contour points to the corresponding nearest point. With this aspect, the information processing device can calculate the approach angle with high accuracy.

[0019] According to another preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a control method executed by a computer, which includes acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring a docking location using a measuring device provided on a ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship, and calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the ship and the docking location, based on the measurement data and the contour data. By executing this control method, the computer can accurately calculate the shore distance.

[0020] According to another preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a program that causes a computer to execute a process of acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring a docking location using a measuring device provided on a ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship, and calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the ship and the docking location, based on the measurement data and the contour data. By executing this program, the computer can accurately calculate the shore distance. Preferably, the program is stored in a storage medium. [Example]

[0021] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0022] (1) Overview of the driving assistance system Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a driving assistance system according to an embodiment. The driving assistance system includes an information processing device 1 that moves together with a ship, which is a moving body, and a sensor group 2 mounted on the ship. Hereinafter, the ship that moves together with the information processing device 1 will also be referred to as the "target ship."

[0023] The information processing device 1 is electrically connected to the sensor group 2, and provides operational support for the target ship on which the information processing device 1 is installed based on the outputs of various sensors included in the sensor group 2. Operational support also includes berthing support such as automatic berthing (docking). Here, "docking" includes docking the target ship to a quay as well as docking the target ship to a structure such as a pier. In addition, hereinafter, "docking location" is a general term for structures such as a quay or pier that are the target for docking. The information processing device 1 may be a navigation device installed on the target ship, or an electronic control device built into the ship.

[0024] The sensor group 2 includes various external and internal sensors provided on the target ship. In this embodiment, the sensor group 2 includes at least a Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging, or Laser Illuminated Detection and Ranging) 3.

[0025] The LIDAR 3 emits a pulsed laser beam over a predetermined angular range in the horizontal and vertical directions to discretely measure the distance to an object in the external world and generate three-dimensional point cloud data indicating the position of the object. In this case, the LIDAR 3 includes an irradiation unit that irradiates laser light while changing the irradiation direction, a light receiving unit that receives reflected light (scattered light) of the irradiated laser light, and an output unit that outputs scan data based on the light receiving signal output by the light receiving unit. Data measured for each direction of laser light irradiation (scanning position) is generated based on the irradiation direction corresponding to the laser light received by the light receiving unit and the response delay time of the laser light identified based on the above-mentioned light receiving signal. Note that the LIDAR 3 is not limited to the above-mentioned scan-type LIDAR, but may also be a flash-type LIDAR that generates three-dimensional data by irradiating a diffused laser beam within the field of view of a two-dimensional array sensor. The LIDAR 3 is an example of a "measurement device" in the present invention.

[0026] (2) Configuration of information processing device 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1. The information processing device 1 mainly includes an interface 11, a memory 12, and a controller 13. These elements are connected to each other via a bus line.

[0027] The interface 11 performs interface operations related to the exchange of data between the information processing device 1 and an external device. In this embodiment, the interface 11 acquires output data from each sensor in the sensor group 2 and supplies it to the controller 13. The interface 11 also supplies, for example, signals related to the control of the target vessel generated by the controller 13 to each component of the target vessel that controls the operation of the target vessel. For example, the target vessel may include a drive source such as an engine or an electric motor, a screw that generates a forward thrust based on the drive force of the drive source, a thruster that generates a lateral thrust based on the drive force of the drive source, and a rudder, which is a mechanism for freely determining the direction of travel of the vessel. During automatic operation such as automatic docking, the interface 11 supplies control signals generated by the controller 13 to each of these components. If the target vessel is equipped with an electronic control device, the interface 11 supplies the control signal generated by the controller 13 to the electronic control device. The interface 11 may be a wireless interface such as a network adapter for wireless communication, or a hardware interface for connecting to an external device via a cable or the like. The interface 11 may also perform interface operations with various peripheral devices such as an input device, a display device, and a sound output device.

[0028] The memory 12 is configured by various types of volatile and non-volatile memory, such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a hard disk drive, and a flash memory. The memory 12 stores programs for the controller 13 to execute predetermined processes. The programs executed by the controller 13 may be stored in a storage medium other than the memory 12.

[0029] The memory 12 also stores information necessary for the processing executed by the information processing device 1 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the memory 12 stores contour data Dc, which is position data related to the contour of the target ship. The contour data Dc will be described later. The memory 12 may also store, for example, map data including information related to the position of the berthing location. In another example, the memory 12 may store information related to the downsampling size when downsampling is performed on the point cloud data obtained when the lidar 3 performs one cycle of measurement (scanning).

[0030] The controller 13 includes one or more processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit), and controls the entire information processing device 1. In this case, the controller 13 executes programs stored in the memory 12, etc., to perform processing related to operational support for the target ship, etc.

[0031] Furthermore, functionally, the controller 13 has a berthing parameter calculation unit 16. The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 calculates parameters (also referred to as "berthing parameters") required for berthing at a berthing location. Here, the berthing parameters include the distance to the berthing location (distance from berth), the approach angle to the berthing location, the speed at which the vessel approaches the berthing location (berthing speed), etc. The controller 13 functions as a "measurement data acquisition means," a "contour data acquisition means," a "calculation means," a computer that executes a program, etc.

[0032] The processes executed by the controller 13 are not limited to being realized by software programs, but may be realized by any combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Furthermore, the processes executed by the controller 13 may be realized by using a user-programmable integrated circuit, such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or a microcomputer. In this case, the programs executed by the controller 13 in this embodiment may be realized by using this integrated circuit.

[0033] (3) Outline data structure The contour data Dc will now be described. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing contour points Po identified by the contour data Dc in a coordinate system based on the target ship (also called a "ship coordinate system").

[0034] As shown in FIG. 3, the contour data Dc is data in which a plurality of contour points Po (24 in FIG. 3) representing the contour of the target ship are recorded as coordinates in a ship coordinate system. Here, the ship coordinate system is a coordinate system based on the hull of the target ship, and here, the front (forward) direction of the target ship is defined as "X b ” coordinate, and the side direction of the target ship is “Y b ” coordinate, and the vertical direction of the target ship is “Z b The measurement data measured by the LIDAR 3 in a coordinate system based on the LIDAR 3 is converted into the ship coordinate system shown in FIG. 3. Note that the process of converting point cloud data in a coordinate system based on a LIDAR installed on a moving body into the coordinate system of the moving body is disclosed in, for example, International Publication WO2019 / 188745.

[0035] The contour data Dc may be generated by the controller 13. This process is described in "(6) Generate contour data This is explained in more detail in the " section.

[0036] (3) Calculating the distance to the opposite shore Next, a method for calculating the distance to the opposite bank using the contour data Dc will be described. In summary, for each contour point Po, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 searches for a point (also called a "nearest point") at which the distance is shortest among the measurement points (measurement points) at the docking location indicated by the point cloud data, and calculates the distance to the opposite bank based on the searched nearest point. In this way, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 can accurately calculate the distance to the opposite bank even when self-position estimation is not performed.

[0037] FIG. 4A shows an overhead view of a target ship approaching a docking location 50. For ease of explanation, the target ship and the docking location 50 are represented in a two-dimensional coordinate system on a horizontal plane with a predetermined point as the origin. The target ship is equipped with multiple LIDARs 3 capable of measuring the entire surroundings, but here, the description focuses on three LIDARs 3 located near the docking location 50. FIG. 4A clearly shows the measurement ranges "R1" to "R3" of each LIDAR 3. Also shown in FIG. 4A are the contour points Po based on the contour data Dc, as well as the measurement points (also referred to as "target measurement points Pm") measured by the LIDARs 3 on the docking location 50 that are the search targets for the nearest points. The target measurement points Pm may be all measurement points (irradiated points) measured by the LIDARs 3 when they emit laser light and receive the reflected light, or may be points selected or integrated from the measurement points using predetermined filtering.

[0038] In this case, for each of all contour points Po, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 searches for the nearest point that is the target measurement point Pm closest to the contour point Po. In FIG. 4A, as a representative example, a dashed line connects contour point Po1 to a nearby target measurement point Pm, and a thick line connects contour point Po1 to target measurement point Pm1, which is the nearest point to contour point Po1. Similarly, as another representative example, a dashed line connects contour point Po2 to a nearby target measurement point Pm, and a thick line connects contour point Po2 to target measurement point Pm2, which is the nearest point to contour point Po2. In FIG. 4A, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 determines 24 nearest points corresponding to the 24 contour points Po. Hereinafter, the distance between any contour point Po and the nearest point to that contour point Po (i.e., the distance corresponding to the length of the thick line) will also be referred to as the "nearest point distance."

[0039] Next, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 determines the smallest distance among the nearest point distances for all contour points Po as the opposite shore distance. FIG. 4(B) shows an overhead view of the target ship, clearly indicating the correspondence between each contour point Po and its nearest neighbor. Here, a dashed line connects a pair of contour point Po and its nearest neighbor, the target measurement point Pm, and a thick line connects the pair of contour point Po and target measurement point Pm with the smallest nearest point distance. In the example of FIG. 4(B), the nearest point distance between contour point Po1 and its nearest neighbor, the target measurement point Pm1, is the smallest, so the docking parameter calculation unit 16 determines the distance between contour point Po1 and target measurement point Pm1 as the opposite shore distance.

[0040] In this way, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 can suitably calculate the distance to the opposite shore by using the contour data Dc without using the self-position estimation result or the like.

[0041] Here, a method for determining the target measurement point Pm will be described.

[0042] First, when the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 detects that the target ship is approaching a berthing location based on the output of the sensor group 2 or an external input by a user, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 acquires point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 whose measurement range includes the direction in which the berthing location is located on the target ship. In this case, for example, information about the measurement range of each LIDAR 3 in the ship coordinate system may be stored in advance in the memory 12, etc.

[0043] The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then performs filtering on the acquired point cloud data, such as downsampling the point cloud data or removing data obtained by laser light reflecting off the water surface (also referred to as "water surface reflection data"). In this case, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 first removes data present below the water surface position from the point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 as water surface reflection data (i.e., false detection data). The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 estimates the water surface position based on, for example, the average height value of point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 when there are no objects other than the water surface in the vicinity. The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then performs downsampling on the point cloud data after the water surface reflection data has been removed, which is a process of integrating measurement points for each grid space of a predetermined size. The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then regards each measurement point indicated by the point cloud data after downsampling as the target measurement point Pm described above, and searches for the nearest point and calculates the distance to the opposite shore.

[0044] Furthermore, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 may execute a process of selecting a target measurement point Pm for each vertical measurement line instead of or in addition to removing and / or downsampling the water surface reflection data. For details of this process, see "(7) A method for reducing the processing load of nearest neighbor searches This is explained in more detail in the "

[0045] (4) Calculation of berthing speed Next, a method for calculating the docking speed will be described. In summary, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 calculates the docking speed based on the average value of the nearest point distances to all the contour points Po. In this way, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 can preferably calculate the docking speed while maintaining continuity.

[0046] Fig. 5(A) is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship between the contour point Po and the nearest neighbor point at a certain processing time "t," and Fig. 5(B) is a diagram showing the correspondence relationship between the contour point Po and the nearest neighbor point at the processing time "t+1" that follows processing time t. In Fig. 5(A) and Fig. 5(B), the pair of contour point Po and target measurement point Pm for which the nearest neighbor point distance is the smallest is connected by a thick line, and other pairs of contour point Po and their nearest neighboring point, the target measurement point Pm, are connected by dashed lines.

[0047] 5(A) and 5(B), the pair of contour point Po and target measurement point Pm for which the nearest point distance is the smallest is different between processing time t and processing time t+1. Specifically, at processing time t, the distance between contour point Po1 and target measurement point Pm1 is the opposite shore distance (the smallest value of the nearest point distance), and at processing time t+1, the distance between contour point Po3 and target measurement point Pm3 is the opposite shore distance. Therefore, if the docking speed were calculated based on these opposite shore distances, there is a possibility that the calculated docking speed would be discontinuous (i.e., there would be a sudden change from the docking speed calculated immediately before).

[0048] Taking the above into consideration, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 calculates the average value of the nearest point distances for all contour points Po as an approximation of the distance from the center of the target ship to the docking location, and calculates the change in this average value over time as the docking speed.

[0049] FIG. 6(A) is a diagram superimposed with an arrow A1 indicating a vector (also called the "average vector of nearest neighbors") obtained by averaging vectors (see dashed lines) starting from each contour point Po and ending at the corresponding nearest neighbor point for the target ship at processing time t. The n vectors (dashed lines) from each contour point Po to the corresponding nearest neighbor point are expressed as a1 = [a 1x,a 1y ,a 1z ], a2=[a 2x ,a 2y ,a 2z ], a n =[a nx ,a ny ,a nz ], the docking parameter calculation unit 16 calculates the average vector A1 of these based on the following formula.

[0050]

number

[0051] Then, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 calculates the average value of the nearest point distance, which corresponds to the length of the nearest point average vector (that is, the length of the arrow A1), using the following formula.

[0052]

number

[0053] (5) Calculating approach angle Figure 7 shows the arrow A1 indicating the nearest point average vector and the reference direction of the ship coordinate system (the coordinate axis X shown in Figure 3) for the target ship at processing time t. b) and an arrow A3 representing the approach angle are superimposed on each other.

[0054] Based on the arrow A1 indicating the nearest point average vector, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 uses the function "atan2" which calculates the arc tangent from two arguments that define the tangent, to calculate the approach angle "θ" indicated by the arrow A3 using the following formula.

[0055]

number

[0056] (6) Generate contour data The controller 13 may generate the contour data Dc based on the point cloud data output by the LIDAR 3. In this case, it is assumed that the LIDAR 3 is mounted on the target ship in an orientation such that part of the hull of the target ship is included in the field of view of the LIDAR 3. Then, the controller 13 generates the contour data Dc based on the point cloud data of the LIDAR 3 generated in a situation far from the shore and with no obstacles or other ships around (i.e., a situation where there are no objects other than the water surface within a predetermined distance from the target ship).

[0057] FIG. 8 is a diagram in which measurement points included in the point cloud data of the LIDAR 3 used to generate the contour data Dc are superimposed on the target ship. In the example of FIG. 8, six LIDARs 3 are located near the center of the target ship on both sides of the target ship, and the measurement ranges R1 to R6 of each LIDAR 3 are shown. The LIDARs 3 then irradiate the target ship with laser light within the measurement ranges R1 to R6, thereby generating point cloud data measuring a portion of the target ship. In this case, the controller 13 performs noise removal processing, such as removing water surface reflection data, on the point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 when the target ship is far from the shore and is free of obstacles or other ships around, thereby obtaining point cloud data that primarily represents the measurement points of the hull.

[0058] Then, the controller 13 searches for the measurement point with the longest measured distance for each vertical measurement line (that is, the scanning line of the elevation and depression angles) in the acquired point cloud data as a contour point.

[0059] FIG. 9(A) is a diagram showing some of the measurement points measured by the LIDAR 3 on a virtual two-dimensional plane (i.e., a virtual scanning plane) onto which the emitted light from the LIDAR 3 is irradiated. In FIG. 9(A), the "vertical lines" correspond to the lines in the vertical direction (i.e., the direction of the elevation and depression angles of the LIDAR 3) of the measurement points measured by the LIDAR 3, and the "horizontal lines" correspond to the lines in the horizontal direction of the measurement points measured by the LIDAR 3. The intersections of the grid represent the positions where the emitted light is irradiated, and the circles represent the positions where the measurement points exist. Then, the controller 13 adopts the measurement point with the longest distance for each vertical line as the contour point.

[0060] FIG. 9(B) is a diagram showing only the measurement points with the longest distances for each vertical line extracted and displayed in the ship coordinate system. As shown in FIG. 9(B), the measurement points with the longest distances for each vertical line can be approximately regarded as contour points of the hull of the target ship. Therefore, the controller 13 converts these measurement points into data in the ship coordinate system and uses them as contour data Dc. This allows the controller 13 to appropriately acquire the contour data Dc.

[0061] Furthermore, the contour data Dc in FIG. 9(B) has a large number of contour points, and some of the contour points are close to each other. However, the number of contour points may be any number sufficient to represent the contour of the target vessel. Taking the above into consideration, the controller 12 may sample the contour points to be used as the contour data Dc at appropriate intervals. This reduces the computational load. FIG. 9(C) is a diagram showing the contour points adopted as the contour data Dc through sampling. Among the measurement points (also referred to as "contour candidate points") with the longest distance for each vertical line shown in FIG. 9(B), FIG. 9(C) shows the points adopted as contour points through sampling and the other points. In this case, for example, the controller 13 calculates the distance between adjacent contour candidate points and samples contour points from the contour candidate points so that the sampled contour points are spaced at approximately the same intervals. This allows appropriate contour points to be set.

[0062] (7) A method for reducing the processing load of nearest neighbor searches Next, a method for reducing the processing load of searching for the nearest point for each contour point Po, which is executed in calculating the opposite shore distance, will be described.

[0063] The search for nearest neighbors imposes a heavy processing load if all measurement points in the point cloud data are treated as target measurement points Pm. For example, if six LIDARs 3, each with 76 vertical and horizontal lines, are used, the maximum number of measurement points obtained from the three LIDARs on the docking location 50 side will be 17,328 (= 76 × 76 × 3). The search for nearest neighbors for 17,328 pieces of data imposes a relatively heavy computational load, and high-performance hardware is required to complete this computationally intensive process for multiple contour points Po within the required time.

[0064] Taking the above into consideration, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 searches for the measurement point (hereinafter also referred to as the "neighboring point") with the shortest measurement distance (i.e., the distance from the LIDAR 3 that measured it) for each vertical line, and determines the searched neighboring point as the target measurement point Pm. Note that if part of the hull of the target ship is included in the field of view of the LIDAR 3, that data must be excluded from the search.

[0065] Fig. 10 is a front view of the target ship and the docking location 50, clearly showing the vertical measurement range of the lidar 3. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the docking location 50, clearly showing the measurement points.

[0066] First, as shown in Fig. 10, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 excludes data that is lower than a dashed line 51 indicating the water surface position as water surface reflection data from the point cloud data. Next, as shown in Fig. 11, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 extracts the measurement point with the shortest measurement distance for each vertical line (vertical lines A to E in Fig. 11) as a nearby point. The nearby points extracted here are data near the edge of the docking location 50. Then, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 determines the nearby points corresponding to all vertical lines as target measurement points Pm.

[0067] In this case, the number of target measurement points Pm is at most the number of vertical lines, so when three LIDARs 3, each with 76 vertical and horizontal lines, are used, the number becomes 228 (=76×3). Therefore, in this case, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 only needs to search for the nearest point for 228 points, which makes it possible to suitably reduce the calculation load compared to when all point cloud data is targeted (i.e., when a maximum of 17,328 points need to be searched).

[0068] In order to confirm the effect of the above-mentioned reduction in processing load, the applicant measured the time required for nearest neighbor search processing using a lidar 3 with the same specifications in two cases: when all measurement points in the point cloud data were treated as target measurement points Pm (also referred to as "when all point clouds were used"), and when neighboring points searched for each vertical line were treated as target measurement points Pm (also referred to as "when edge-near point clouds were used"). Figure 12 shows the measurement results of the time required for nearest neighbor search processing. In this experiment, point cloud data of one side of the cliff was collected using three lidars 3 with 76 vertical and horizontal lines each and a frame rate of 24 Hz (cycle: 41.7 ms).

[0069] As shown in Figure 12, when all point clouds are used, the processing time exceeds the frame period of 41.7 ms and is therefore not enough to keep up. However, when the point clouds near the edge are used, the processing time is shortened, meaning that processing can be carried out with ample time to spare within the frame period.

[0070] (8) Processing flow 13 is an example of a flowchart showing an outline of the calculation process of the docking parameters in this embodiment. The information processing device 1 repeatedly executes the process of the flowchart in FIG.

[0071] First, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 of the information processing device 1 acquires the contour data Dc (step S11). In this case, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 may acquire the contour data Dc stored in advance in the memory 12, or may generate the contour data Dc based on the point cloud data output by the LIDAR 3.

[0072] Next, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 acquires the point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 and filters the point cloud data (step S12). In this case, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 performs filtering such as removing water surface reflection data, downsampling, and / or extracting neighboring points for each vertical line on the point cloud data generated by the LIDAR 3 that includes the docking location in its measurement range when the LIDAR 3 approaches within a predetermined distance to the docking location. In this way, the docking parameter calculation unit 16 determines the number of measurement points required in searching for the nearest points as target measurement points Pm.

[0073] The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then calculates the distance between each contour point Po indicated by the contour data Dc and each target measurement point Pm (step S13). The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then determines the nearest point for each contour point Po from the target measurement point Pm (step S14). The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then determines the minimum distance between the nearest points for all contour points Po as the opposite shore distance (step S15). At this time, the contour point Po and target measurement point Pm that form the minimum distance are also identified. The berthing parameter calculation unit 16 then calculates the berthing speed based on the average value of the nearest point distances for each contour point Po (step S16). Furthermore, the berthing parameter calculation unit 16 calculates the approach angle based on the nearest point average vector, which is the average vector from each contour point Po to the nearest point (step S17).

[0074] As described above, the controller 13 of the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment acquires measurement data obtained by measuring the docking location using the lidar 3, which is a measuring device provided on the target ship. The controller 13 then acquires contour data Dc indicating the contour position of the target ship. The controller 13 then calculates the shore distance, which is the distance between the target ship and the docking location, based on the measurement data and the contour data Dc. This allows the information processing device 1 to accurately calculate the shore distance, which is one of the important parameters for docking at the docking location, even when self-location estimation is not performed.

[0075] In the above-described embodiments, the program can be stored using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media and supplied to a controller or the like that is a computer. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical storage media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / Ws, and semiconductor memories (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs (Random Access Memory)).

[0076] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the examples, the present invention is not limited to the above examples. Various modifications within the scope of the present invention that would be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention. In other words, the present invention naturally includes various modifications and alterations that would be possible for those skilled in the art in accordance with the entire disclosure, including the claims, and the technical ideas. Furthermore, the disclosures of the above-cited patent documents and other documents are incorporated herein by reference. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1. Information processing equipment 2 Sensor group 3 Rider

Claims

1. a measurement data acquisition means for acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring the docking location using a measuring device provided on the ship; a contour data acquisition means for acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship; a calculation means for calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; a filtering means for determining the target measurement points by filtering and selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data; The filtering means selects, for each vertical line on which the measurement device performs measurement, a measurement point that is closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point.

2. a measurement data acquisition means for acquiring measurement data obtained by measuring the docking location using a measuring device provided on the ship; a contour data acquisition means for acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the ship; a calculation means for calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; and The calculation means searches for the nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the docking speed of the ship at the docking location based on the average value of the distance between each of the plurality of contour points and the nearest point.

3. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation means searches for a nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates the opposite bank distance based on the nearest point found.

4. 4. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the contour data acquisition means generates the contour data based on measurement data generated by the measuring device before approaching the docking location.

5. 5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the contour data acquisition means generates the contour data by setting the measurement point of the measurement data with the longest measurement distance as the contour point of the ship for each vertical line measured by the measurement device.

6. 6. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation means searches for a nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculates an approach angle of the ship to the docking location based on an average of vectors from each of the plurality of contour points to the corresponding nearest point.

7. The computer Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; determining the target measurement point by selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data through filtering; A method for selecting, for each vertical line where the measurement device makes measurements, the measurement point closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point.

8. The computer Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; A method for calculating the docking speed of the vessel at the docking location based on the average value of the distances between each of the contour points and the nearest point, the method comprising: searching for the nearest point to each of the contour points from the plurality of target measurement points;

9. Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; determining the target measurement point by selecting or integrating the measurement points indicated by the measurement data through filtering; A program that causes a computer to execute a process of selecting, for each vertical line on which the measurement device performs measurements, the measurement point that is closest to the position of the measurement device as the target measurement point.

10. Measurement data is acquired by measuring the docking location using measuring equipment installed on the ship, acquiring contour data indicating the contour of the vessel; calculating a shore distance, which is the distance between the vessel and the docking location, based on distances between a plurality of contour points indicated by the contour data and a plurality of target measurement points based on the measurement data; A program that causes a computer to execute a process of searching for the nearest point to each of the plurality of contour points from the plurality of target measurement points, and calculating the docking speed at which the ship approaches the docking location based on the average value of the distances between each of the plurality of contour points and the nearest point.

11. A storage medium storing the program according to claim 9 or 10.

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