A field data recovery system and method based on unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The invention discloses a field data recovery system and method based on an unmanned aerial vehicle. The system comprises a ground control device, an unmanned aerial vehicle recovery device and a field data collection device. The data recovery device comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle, a power module, a wireless router and a recovery control module. The unmanned aerial vehicle recovery device comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power module, a second narrowband radio frequency module, a recovery control module and a wireless router arranged on the unmanned aerial vehicle. The field data collection device comprises a main controller, a Wi-Fi module, a third narrowband radio frequency module and a sensor module. The invention constructs a temporary wireless local area network through a wireless router, thereby avoiding the costly construction of basic network facilities. By arranging a narrowband radio frequency module for transmitting control instructions and status information between a ground control site and a recovery control module, the operation difficulty is reduced and the success rate of data recovery is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of data acquisition, and in particular to a digital information transmission method based on a wireless local area network and a remote control method based on LoRa technology. Background Art

[0002] In the fields of environmental monitoring, geological testing, and animal protection, it is often necessary to deploy data acquisition equipment in field environments with complex terrain, unattended operation, and backward infrastructure to provide data support for analyzing environmental changes. After the acquisition equipment is installed, it is usually necessary to manually return to the field environment to find the data acquisition equipment, remove storage media such as memory cards, and recover data. This method is easily affected by objective conditions such as terrain, season, and weather, wastes manpower and material resources, is full of dangers and uncertainties, and results in a long data recovery cycle, which has an adverse impact on the real-time nature of the data.

[0003] Industrial drone technology is becoming increasingly mature. Commercial-grade rotor drones can carry several kilograms of equipment and fly more than ten kilometers, and can work in a variety of weather conditions. Using drones as carriers of data acquisition devices can ignore the inconvenience caused by mountainous terrain to walking, greatly reduce the labor burden and cost, and be suitable for a variety of weather environments, increasing the frequency of recycling. However, in the wild environment, the data acquisition device cannot obtain electricity from the power grid, and the Wi-Fi module consumes a lot of power and can only be turned on when necessary; at the same time, due to the high mountains and dense forests, it is difficult for drones to get close to the data acquisition equipment and need to connect at a distant location, so connection failures or signal interruptions often occur. Therefore, RF communication technology is applied to recycling, high-speed data recovery is performed through Wi-Fi, and the received equipment is remotely controlled through a wireless narrowband RF module. Wireless digital communication can be performed over several kilometers to tens of kilometers to wake up the Wi-Fi module to quickly transmit data, and at the same time, the data recovery situation on the drone end is monitored in real time, which is convenient for personnel to operate, avoid blind recovery, and improve recovery efficiency.

[0004] By using wireless routing equipment carried by drones, it is possible to quickly reach the vicinity of the collection equipment and build a temporary wireless LAN. The recovery equipment carried by the drone and the collection equipment arranged on the ground can be connected to this network at the same time, thereby automatically recovering the time data. To further avoid personnel entering the field environment and improve the success rate of recovery, the recovery equipment and field data collection devices are equipped with narrowband radio frequency modules, which can receive instructions sent by the control personnel and return the recovery status in real time, reducing the difficulty of operation, increasing the probability of successful recovery, and facilitating the modification of other control functions. Summary of the invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a field data recovery system and method based on drones, which can carry collection devices and network equipment to recover information stored in networked data collection equipment arranged on the ground, or build a temporary network link to upload data in the collection equipment, thereby solving the problems of high labor recovery costs, high risks and poor data real-time performance.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0007] A field data recovery system based on a UAV, comprising a ground control device, a UAV recovery device and a field data acquisition device;

[0008] 1. Ground Control Device

[0009] The ground control device includes a ground control server and a first narrowband radio frequency module; the ground control server is connected to the first narrowband radio frequency module through a serial port, communicates with the UAV recovery device and the field data collection device through the first narrowband radio frequency module, sends instructions and receives and analyzes feedback information;

[0010] The first narrowband radio frequency module has a working mode and a listening mode, wherein the working mode is a mode in which the module operates in a normal working state, and the listening mode is a low-power consumption mode that only has reception but no transmission, and has a wake-up function, and sends an interrupt signal after receiving information in any mode;

[0011] 2. UAV recovery device

[0012] The drone recovery device includes a drone and a power module, a second narrowband radio frequency module, a recovery control module and a wireless router placed on the drone;

[0013] The wireless router is used to form a local area network, so that the recovery control module can communicate and transmit data with the field data acquisition device through the local area network;

[0014] The power module is used to supply power to the second narrowband radio frequency module, the wireless router and the recycling control module;

[0015] The recovery control module is used to recover data from the field data collection device; the recovery control module is connected to the local area network formed by the wireless router via wired or wireless, the recovery control module has a storage space and an expansion interface, can enter a standby mode, and wake up through the second narrowband radio frequency module;

[0016] The second narrowband radio frequency module and the first narrowband radio frequency module of the ground control device are of the same model, and the second narrowband radio frequency module is used for communication with the first narrowband radio frequency module;

[0017] 3. Field Data Collection Device

[0018] The field data collection device comprises a main controller, a Wi-Fi module, a third narrowband radio frequency module and a sensor module, wherein the Wi-Fi module, the third narrowband radio frequency module and the sensor module are all connected to the main controller;

[0019] The main controller receives the instruction of the first narrowband radio frequency module through the third narrowband radio frequency module, performs corresponding operations and controls the sensor module to work; the third narrowband radio frequency module and the first narrowband radio frequency module of the ground control device adopt the same model;

[0020] The Wi-Fi module is used to communicate with the wireless router carried by the drone.

[0021] Furthermore, the ground control server is a mobile device with a serial port and a corresponding program, including a laptop computer.

[0022] Furthermore, the first narrowband RF module adopts E22-230T30S, which is used for the ground control device to communicate remotely through wireless RF digital signals and communicate with the host computer through a serial port; or the first narrowband RF module adopts E90-DTU (230N37) module.

[0023] Furthermore, the wireless router supports a 2.4 GHz operating frequency band and has a wired network port to support the recycling control module to be connected via a network cable.

[0024] Furthermore, the power module can support auxiliary power supply to the drone.

[0025] Furthermore, the wireless router has the function of expanding access to the Internet, can insert a SIM card to access the Internet, and upload data in real time in an environment covered by a 3G, 4G or 5G network.

[0026] Furthermore, the main controller adopts an ARM-based embedded system or a mounted Linux operating system or directly operates the serial port through a bare metal program to receive the third narrowband radio frequency module instruction through the serial port.

[0027] A method for recovering field data based on a drone, comprising the following steps:

[0028] S1: When the UAV is at the target location, the ground control device sends a start command through the first narrowband RF module to wake up the field data acquisition device and turn on the Wi-Fi module communication function, receive the returned data, and analyze the narrowband RF signal returned by the field data acquisition device;

[0029] If there is no return information of successful startup, it will be forwarded through the UAV recovery device, and the narrowband RF signal returned by the field data collection device will be analyzed. If no feedback can be obtained through the forwarding of the UAV recovery device, the ground control device will lose control, report the coordinates and error type of the UAV, and end the data recovery. If there is a return information of successful startup, or after receiving the return information, proceed to the subsequent steps;

[0030] S2: The UAV recovery device receives the start command sent by the ground control device through the second narrowband radio frequency module, starts the recovery control module to run the recovery program, and the UAV recovery device detects the current LAN IP and MAC address and determines whether the target device is detected; if so, jump to S4; if not, jump to S3;

[0031] S3: If the target device does not exist, the recovery control module records the number of searches and determines whether it exceeds the preset number of searches. If it does not exceed the preset number of searches, the drone adjusts its position in a small range according to the preset program and re-detects the target device. If it exceeds the preset number of searches, the drone coordinates and error type are reported, and the data recovery ends.

[0032] S4: The UAV recovery device has completed the Wi-Fi connection with the field data collection device. The Linux-based recovery device recovers data through SCP instructions based on SSH mutual trust; it starts to recover all the data stored in the field data collection device. After the transmission is completed, the transmission results are compared and analyzed through the narrowband radio frequency network to determine whether the recovery is normal: if the recovery is normal, jump to S5; if the recovery is abnormal, it is deemed that the target device is not detected, and jump to S3;

[0033] S5: After the recovery is completed, the ground control device analyzes the recovery results, lists the recovery list, and sends it to the field data collection device through the first narrowband radio frequency network. The field data collection device deletes the corresponding information according to the recovery list to release storage space;

[0034] S6: The recycling control module sends the recycling status, error code and related error information through the second narrowband radio frequency module, sets the recycling control module and the second narrowband radio frequency module to standby mode and listening mode, ends the recycling process, and waits for the next instruction.

[0035] Furthermore, the startup instruction includes the IP address and physical address information of the ground device to be recovered and the instruction verification information, and triggers the recovery program at the same time; after the recovery control module is started, it automatically detects all devices in the local area network, and the identity information of the target device is obtained by parsing the IP address and physical address information in the startup instruction, and comparing it with the IP address and physical address existing in the local area network.

[0036] Furthermore, when the drone recovery device detects whether the target device exists, it retrieves the IP by calling the ARP command, or executes the PING command on possible IPs in sequence to detect whether the target device exists.

[0037] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: by using the drone to carry the recovery equipment to recover data, and by using the wireless router to build a temporary wireless local area network, it avoids the huge cost of basic network infrastructure construction, and also avoids personnel entering the rugged and difficult field environment to carry out the recovery operation, which is safe and efficient, saves time and reduces costs. In addition, by setting a narrowband radio frequency module for transmitting control instructions and status information between the ground control station and the recovery control module, the difficulty of operation is reduced and the success rate of data recovery is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] Figure 1 It is a structural block diagram of the acquisition system of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 2 The figure is a flow chart of the data recovery method of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the moving process of the UAV in the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, a field data recovery system based on a drone includes: a ground control device, a drone recovery device and a field data collection device, the three of which communicate through a narrowband radio frequency network, and the drone recovery device and the field data collection device communicate at a high speed through a Wi-Fi network;

[0043] The ground control device includes a ground control server and a first narrowband radio frequency module; the ground control server is usually a server, but can also be a mobile device such as a laptop computer with a serial port and a corresponding program installed, which is connected to the first narrowband radio frequency module through the serial port, and can communicate with the UAV recovery device and the field data collection device through the first narrowband radio frequency module, send instructions, and receive and analyze feedback information;

[0044] The first narrowband RF module adopts E22-230T30S, which is used for the ground control device to communicate remotely through wireless RF digital signals, and uses serial port to communicate with the host computer, with a transmission power of 30dBm and a transmission distance of 8km. If the ground control device and the field data acquisition device are far apart, the E90-DTU (230N37) module can be used, with a transmission power of 37dBm and a transmission distance of 15km. Considering the installation size problem, 37dBm power RF equipment can be selected for the UAV recovery device and the ground control device, and a 30dBm device can be selected for the field data acquisition device. Then the ground control device forwards the command through the UAV recovery device to transmit the command to the field data acquisition device. The narrowband RF module has a working mode and a listening mode, wherein the working mode is a mode running in a normal working state (with receiving and sending functions), and the listening mode is a low-power mode with only receiving but not sending, and has a wake-up function, and sends an interrupt signal after receiving information in any mode;

[0045] The field data collection devices (including various sensor devices) are set up with AP points at intervals to gradually transmit the data to the data collector. When the drone arrives, the data collector transmits the data through radio frequency. The drone only hovers over the data collector and does not need to land in the forest to avoid damage. AP points are set up at intervals of 100m-150m. Multiple data collectors can be set up, and each data collector corresponds to the field data collection device in the corresponding area. The specific search method is as follows:

[0046] like Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the radius of the area that the aircraft can theoretically cover at a fixed position can be estimated by the flight altitude and the general communication distance. Generally, the flight altitude is h meters and the theoretical communication distance is r meters. According to the Pythagorean theorem, the ground coverage radius of the aircraft can be calculated to be approximately m. With the initial position as the center, to ensure that there is no omission, each time you need to move m, according to Figure 3 Move clockwise 8 times in the order shown, checking the signal strength after each move until all squares are covered, and select the position with the highest signal strength for communication. If the target is still not found after all squares are checked, that is, the position error is large, or the field data acquisition device on the ground is damaged and communication is impossible, you can return.

[0047] The UAV recovery device includes a UAV, a power module, a second narrowband radio frequency module, a recovery control module and a wireless router; the second narrowband radio frequency module, the recovery control module and the wireless router are connected in this order, and the above three and the power module are mounted on the UAV, and the UAV, the second narrowband radio frequency module, the recovery control module and the wireless router are all connected to the power module;

[0048] The drone is used to carry data recovery devices into the wild environment. It has certain waterproof and moisture-proof properties, can work in rainy weather, has sufficient load-carrying capacity, can carry wireless routers, recovery control modules, second narrowband radio frequency modules and power modules, has sufficient range, can take off from villages, roads and other places that are easy for control personnel to reach, and fly to any ground collection equipment;

[0049] The wireless router is used to recover data from the field data collection device. It can be connected to the local area network formed by the wireless router through wired or wireless connection. It has sufficient storage space or can support external storage such as memory cards. It has expansion interfaces such as USB and UART, so that the recovery control module can communicate and transmit data with the field data collection device through the local area network. It supports at least 2.4GHz working frequency band, has a wired network port to support the recovery control module to be connected through a network cable, supports 802.1n wireless communication protocol, wireless bandwidth of more than 300Mbps, has sufficient transmission power, can pass through the surface vegetation layer at an altitude of 50 meters from the ground to cover the ground collection equipment, and ensure that the ground collection equipment and the recovery equipment are connected through the wireless local area network as much as possible within a certain flight error range. The wireless router can expand the function of connecting to the Internet. If the wireless router can insert a SIM card to access the Internet, data can be uploaded in real time in an environment covered by 3G, 4G or 5G networks;

[0050] The power module is used to power the second narrowband radio frequency module, the wireless router and the data recovery control module, and includes a battery and a transformer module, which can provide multiple different power outputs, and can power the wireless router, the recovery control module and the narrowband radio frequency module at the same time, and support auxiliary power supply to the drone to extend the range of the drone;

[0051] The recovery control module is used to recover data from the field data collection device, can be connected to the local area network formed by the wireless router through wired or wireless, has sufficient storage space or can support external storage such as memory card, has expansion interfaces such as USB and UART, has an Internet port that can be connected to the router through an Internet cable, can enter the standby mode, and wake up through the narrowband radio frequency module;

[0052] The second narrowband RF module and the first narrowband RF module of the ground control device adopt the same model to ensure two-way communication; the recovered ground collection equipment can include meteorological detection devices that support Wi-Fi, infrared cameras and other field work equipment that can access the wireless network.

[0053] The field data collection device includes a main controller, a Wi-Fi module, a third narrowband radio frequency module, and a sensor module, and each module is connected to the main controller;

[0054] According to the specific use case, the main controller can be an ARM-based embedded system, which can operate the serial port based on the Linux operating system or directly operate the serial port through a bare metal program, receive instructions from the narrowband RF module through the serial port, perform corresponding operations and send instructions through the narrowband RF module, and can control the operation of modules such as sensors, and have corresponding storage capacity. Taking the infrared camera as an example, it can connect to an SD card and store 32GB of data;

[0055] The Wi-Fi module is a high-power Wi-Fi chip, i.e., a corresponding peripheral circuit, but does not require an additional power amplifier. In the case of a good outdoor radio environment, the power reaches 20dBm, and with a 5dB gain antenna, a transmission distance of about 100 meters can be achieved, realizing communication with the router carried by the drone;

[0056] The third narrowband RF module uses E22-230T30S, with a transmission power of 30dBm and a transmission distance of 8km. Due to power and volume considerations, a high-power RF radio cannot be selected as a narrowband RF module. If the communication distance exceeds the allowable range of E22-230T30S, the control command can be forwarded through the drone relay;

[0057] The other sub-modules (including sensor modules) are configured according to the actual needs of the data acquisition device. Taking the infrared camera as an example, it includes a camera module, a microphone module, etc. In addition, it also includes necessary modules to maintain the normal operation of the device, such as a power module.

[0058] like Figure 2 As shown, a method for recovering field data based on a drone comprises the following steps:

[0059] S1: When the UAV is at the target location, the ground control device sends a start command through the first narrowband RF module to wake up the field data acquisition device and turn on the Wi-Fi module communication function, receive the returned data, and analyze the narrowband RF signal returned by the field data acquisition device; the start command is divided into three types of information, including: recovery equipment information, including the number of the recovery control module, the address of the program to be started, etc.; the ground equipment recovery information includes the number of the ground equipment, longitude and latitude information, SSH password, IP address and physical address, etc.; the verification information includes the sender identification number, verification code, etc.

[0060] If there is no return information of successful startup, it will be forwarded through the UAV recovery device, and the narrowband RF signal returned by the field data collection device will be analyzed. If no feedback can be obtained through the forwarding of the UAV recovery device, the ground control device will lose control, report the coordinates and error type of the UAV, and end the data recovery. If there is a return information of successful startup, or after receiving the return information, proceed to the subsequent steps;

[0061] S2: The UAV recovery device receives the start command sent by the ground control device through the second narrowband radio frequency module, starts the recovery control module to run the recovery program, and the UAV recovery device detects the current LAN IP and MAC address and determines whether the target device is detected; if so, jump to S4; if not, jump to S3;

[0062] S3: If the target device does not exist, the recovery control module records the number of searches and determines whether it exceeds the preset number of searches. If it does not exceed the preset number of searches, the drone adjusts its position in a small range according to the preset program and re-detects the target device. If it exceeds the preset number of searches, the drone coordinates and error type are reported, and the data recovery ends.

[0063] S4: The UAV recovery device has completed the Wi-Fi connection with the field data collection device. The Linux-based recovery device recovers data through SCP instructions based on SSH mutual trust; it starts to recover all the data stored in the field data collection device. After the transmission is completed, the transmission results are compared and analyzed through the narrowband radio frequency network to determine whether the recovery is normal: if the recovery is normal, jump to S5; if the recovery is abnormal, jump to S3;

[0064] S5: After the recovery is completed, the ground control device analyzes the recovery results, lists them in a recovery list, and sends them to the field data collection device through the first narrowband radio frequency network. The field data collection device deletes the corresponding information according to the recovery list to release storage space; the recovery list is a table that records the file name, file size, and modification time to be recovered;

[0065] S6: The recycling control module sends the recycling status, error code and related error information through the second narrowband RF module, sets the recycling control module and the second narrowband RF module to standby mode and listening mode, ends the recycling process, and waits for the next instruction. The recycling control module has two modes, including: working mode and standby mode. The working mode is the mode in which the system is running under normal working conditions, and the standby mode is the operating mode in which the operating system is turned off but the power is maintained; the narrowband RF module (including the first narrowband RF module, the second narrowband RF module, and the third narrowband RF module) has a working mode and a listening mode. The working mode is the mode in which the system is running under normal working conditions, and the listening mode is a low-power mode that has the function of receiving but not transmitting.

Claims

1. A method for recovering field data based on drones, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1: When the UAV is at the target location, the ground control device sends a start command through the first narrowband radio frequency module to wake up the field data acquisition device and turn on the Wi-Fi module communication function, receive the returned data, and analyze the narrowband radio frequency signal returned by the field data acquisition device; wherein the start command includes the IP address and physical address information of the ground device to be recovered and the command verification information, and triggers the recovery program at the same time; If there is no return information of successful startup, it will be forwarded through the UAV recovery device, and the narrowband RF signal returned by the field data collection device will be analyzed. If no feedback can be obtained through the forwarding of the UAV recovery device, the ground control device will lose control, report the coordinates and error type of the UAV, and end the data recovery. If there is a return information of successful startup, or after receiving the return information, proceed to the subsequent steps; S2: The UAV recovery device receives the start command sent by the ground control device through the second narrowband radio frequency module, starts the recovery control module in the UAV recovery device to run the recovery program, and automatically detects all devices in the local area network after the recovery control module is started, wherein the identity information of the target device is obtained by parsing the IP address and physical address information in the start command, and compares it with the IP address and physical address existing in the local area network to determine whether the target device is detected; if so, jump to S4; if not, jump to S3; S3: If the target device does not exist, the recovery control module records the number of searches and determines whether it exceeds the preset number of searches. If it does not exceed the preset number of searches, the drone adjusts its position in a small range according to the preset program and re-detects the target device. If the preset number of times is exceeded, the drone coordinates and error type will be reported, and the data recovery will end; S4: The UAV recovery device has completed the Wi-Fi connection with the field data collection device. The Linux-based recovery device recovers data through SCP instructions based on SSH mutual trust; it starts to recover all the data stored in the field data collection device. After the transmission is completed, the transmission results are compared and analyzed through the narrowband radio frequency network to determine whether the recovery is normal: if the recovery is normal, jump to S5; If the recycling is abnormal, jump to S3; S5: After the recovery is completed, the ground control device analyzes the recovery results, lists the recovery list, and sends it to the field data collection device through the first narrowband radio frequency network. The field data collection device deletes the corresponding information according to the recovery list to release storage space; S6: The recycling control module sends the recycling status, error code and related error information through the second narrowband radio frequency module, sets the recycling control module and the second narrowband radio frequency module to standby mode and listening mode, ends the recycling process, and waits for the next instruction.

2. The recycling method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the drone recovery device detects whether the target device exists, it searches by calling the ARP command, or executes the PING command on possible IPs in sequence to detect whether the target device exists.

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