• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.72-79
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• 2019

Underwater object detection method adopting electrical resistivity technique was proposed recently, and the need of advanced data processing algorithm development counteracting various marine environmental conditions was required. In this paper, we present an improved water tank experiment system and its operation results, which can provide efficient test and verification. The main features of the system are as follows: 1) All the processes enabling real time process for not only simultaneous gathering of object images but also the electrical field measurement and visualization are carried out at 5 Hz refresh rates. 2) Data acquisition and processing for two detection lines are performed in real time to distinguish the moving direction of a target object. 3) Playback and retest functions for the saved data are equipped. 4) Through the monitoring screen, the movement of the target object and the measurement status of two detection lines can be intuitively identified. We confirmed that the enhanced physical modeling system works properly and facilitates efficient experiments.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2023

In order to estimate the radial speed of an underwater object so-called target with active sonar, Continuous Wave (CW) pulse is generally used, but if a target is slow and at near distance, it is not easy to estimate the radial velocity of the target due to acoustic reverberation in the ocean. In 2017, Wang et al. utilized broadband signal of two Hyperbolic Frequency Modulation (HFM) pulses, which is known as a doppler-invariant pulse, with equal frequency band and in opposite sweep directions to overcome this problem and successfully estimate the radial speed of slow-moving nearby target. They demonstrated the estimation of the radial velocity with computer simulation using the parameters of two HFM starting time differences and receiving times. However, for it uses two HFM pulses with equal frequency, cross-correlation between the two pulses negatively affect the detection performance. To mitigate this cross-correlation effect, we suggest using two different band HFM with the opposite sweep directions. In this paper, a method of radial velocity estimation is derived and simulated using two HFM pulses with the pulse length of 1 second and bandwidth of 400 Hz. Applying the suggested method, the radial velocity was estimated with approximately 6 % of relative error in the simulation.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.118-128
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• 2018

In this paper, we have studied how to search an underwater object by learning the image generated by the side scan sonar in the convolution neural network. In the method of human side analysis of the side scan image or the image, the convolution neural network algorithm can enhance the efficiency of the analysis. The image data of the side scan sonar used in the experiment is the public data of NSWC (Naval Surface Warfare Center) and consists of four kinds of synthetic underwater objects. The convolutional neural network algorithm is based on Faster R-CNN (Region based Convolutional Neural Networks) learning based on region of interest and the details of the neural network are self-organized to fit the data we have. The results of the study were compared with a precision-recall curve, and we investigated the applicability of underwater object detection in convolution neural networks by examining the effect of change of region of interest assigned to sonar image data on detection performance.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.551-560
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• 2012

Target detection by acoustic barrier method includes active and passive sonar technique and time reversal process whose theoretical background is already well defined. In this paper, the concept and theory of underwater detection by passive ocean time reversal is established. Also, the reason that this study was conducted was to investigate feasibility of complex mathematical modeling to provide some predictive capability for underwater acoustic barrier with passive time reversal. It may eventually lead to a useful predictive tool when designing underwater acoustic barrier detection system using the passive time reversal concept.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.370-376
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• 2023

In the underwater image, it is not clear to distinguish the shape of the target due to underwater noise and low resolution. In addition, as an input of deep learning, underwater images require pre-processing and segmentation must be preceded. Even after pre-processing, the target is not clear, and the performance of detection and identification by deep learning may not be high. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish and clarify the target. In this study, the importance of target shadows is confirmed in underwater images, object detection and target area acquisition by shadows, and data containing only the shape of targets and shadows without underwater background are generated. We present the process of converting the shadow image into a 3-mode image in which the target is white, the shadow is black, and the background is gray. Through this, it is possible to provide an image that is clearly pre-processed and easily discriminated as an input of deep learning. In addition, if the image processing code using Open Source Computer Vision (OpenCV)Library was used for processing, the processing speed was also suitable for real-time processing.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.293-299
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• 2017

Small unmanned platforms maneuvering underwater are the key naval future forces, utilized as the asymmetric power in war. As a method of detecting and identifying such platforms, we introduce a property estimation technique based on an iterative numerical analysis. The property estimation technique can estimate not only the position of a target but also its physical properties. Moreover, it will have a potential in detecting and classifying still target or multiple targets. In this study, we have conducted the property estimation of an small underwater target using the data acquired from the lake experiment. As a result, it shows that the properties of a small platform may be roughly estimated from the in site data even using one channel.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.215-222
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• 2017

An active synthetic aperture sonar mounted on small UUV is generated various trajectory disturbances in the traveling path by the influence of external underwater environments. That is the phase mismatch occurs in the synthetic aperture processing of the signals reflected from seabed objects and fetches the detection performance decreases. In this paper, we compensated deteriorated images by the active SAS autofocus processing using DPC and analyzed the effects of detection performance when the periodic trajectory disturbances occur in the side direction at a constant velocity and straight movement of UUV. Through simulations, the deteriorated images according to the periodic disturbance magnitudes and period variations in the platform were compensated using difference phases processing of the overlapping displaced phase centers on the adjacent transmitted ping signals, and we conformed the improved performance characteristics of azimuth resolution and detection images at 3dB reference point.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.56-62
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• 2010

Weakly electric fish uses active sensing to detect the distortion of self-generated electric field in the underwater environments. The active electrolocation makes it possible to identify target objects from the surroundings without vision in the dark sea. Weakly electric fish have many electroreceptors over the whole body surface of electric fish, and sensor readings from a collection of electroreceptors are represented as an electric image. Many researchers have worked on finding features in the electric image to know how the weakly electric fish identify the target object. In this paper, we suggest a new mechanism of how the electrolocation can recognize a given target object among object plants. This approach is based on the differential components of the electric image, and has a potential to be applied to the underwater robotic system for object localization.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.41-49
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• 2014

Detection and processing techniques for small objects on seabed by the active synthetic aperture sonar can be increased the detection performance because it can be used by short sensor array in small unmanned underwater systems that are spatially constrained. But the limited conditions on constant speed and straight movement of the platform cause a large error in the number of external environmental factors and exact phase synthesis process. In this study, analyzed the applicability of active synthetic aperture processing that is mounted on such a system, and compared detection resolution change in accordance with the phase difference mismatch caused by the along track disturbance. Various simulations were performed as a coherently focus processing model by adding along track disturbance mismatched parameter on the configuring simulator. As the result, detection performance of active synthetic processing for small objects on seabed was found a number of changes by the phase difference mismatch errors according to track disturbances and S/N ratio variations.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.225-233
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• 2024

Active sonar transmits sound waves to detect covertly maneuvering underwater objects and detects the signals reflected back from the target. However, in addition to the target's echo, the active sonar's received signal is mixed with seafloor, sea surface reverberation, biological noise, and other noise, making target recognition difficult. Conventional techniques for detecting signals above a threshold not only cause false detections or miss targets depending on the set threshold, but also have the problem of having to set an appropriate threshold for various underwater environments. To overcome this, research has been conducted on automatic calculation of threshold values through techniques such as Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) and application of advanced tracking filters and association techniques, but there are limitations in environments where a significant number of detections occur. As deep learning technology has recently developed, efforts have been made to apply it in the field of underwater target detection, but it is very difficult to acquire active sonar data for discriminator learning, so not only is the data rare, but there are only a very small number of targets and a relatively large number of non-targets. There are difficulties due to the imbalance of data. In this paper, the image of the energy distribution of the detection signal is used, and a classifier is learned in a way that takes into account the imbalance of the data to distinguish between targets and non-targets and added to the existing technique. Through the proposed technique, target misclassification was minimized and non-targets were eliminated, making target recognition easier for active sonar operators. And the effectiveness of the proposed technique was verified through sea experiment data obtained in the East Sea.