Provided is a synchronous pinger type
underwater lighthouse
system comprising at least three
underwater lighthouses installed for use on the
seabed at predetermined positions, each
underwater lighthouse including a first
GPS receiver that surfaces at predetermined intervals, receives a
radio wave from a GNSS
satellite, and outputs a GPS
signal, a first
synchronization signal generating unit that includes a first high-precision oscillator and generates a first
synchronization signal having a predetermined period with a phase synchronized to the received GPS
signal, and a transmitting unit that transmits a transmission
signal having a predetermined period and comprising a PN sequence code into the water as an ultrasonic wave, in synchronization with the first
synchronization signal generated by the first synchronization signal
generating unit, wherein: an
underwater robot having a receiving unit that receives the transmission signal from the underwater lighthouse includes a second
GPS receiver that surfaces at predetermined intervals, receives a
radio wave from a GNSS
satellite, and outputs a GPS signal, a second synchronization signal
generating unit that includes a second high-precision oscillator and generates a second synchronization signal having the same period as the first synchronization signal with a phase synchronized to the received GPS signal, and a correlator for identifying the transmission signal transmitted from the underwater lighthouse; and the
underwater robot receives the transmission signal from the underwater lighthouse, obtains an
arrival time from the second synchronization signal generated by the second synchronization signal generating unit and the reception time of the transmission signal, obtains the distance to the identified underwater lighthouse from the
arrival time and the underwater
speed of sound, and performs position measurement on the basis of the distance.