Barrel integrated attack top unmanned aerial vehicle and control method thereof

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control technology, specifically to an integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV and its control method. The UAV includes a main body, wings, a recoilless gun mounted obliquely on the fuselage, a reconnaissance module, a flight control module, and a communication module. The control method includes: receiving waypoint instructions; the waypoint manager determining a flight sequence including takeoff, landing, hovering, level flight, and mode transitions based on preset decision logic; executing the sequence and generating control commands through a flight mode controller; and achieving attitude stabilization through an attitude controller. This invention achieves deep integration of the UAV platform and weapon, possessing rapid deployment, flexible multi-mode flight, intelligent route optimization, and precise top-attack capabilities, significantly improving the UAV's combat effectiveness and survivability in complex battlefield environments.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control technology, and in particular to a top-attack UAV with an integrated gun barrel and its control method. Background Technology

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as a general-purpose weapon platform, leverage their aerial mobility to conduct tactical operations through top-attack strikes, delivering precise, beyond-visual-range top-attack damage to ground equipment and personnel, greatly enriching the tactics and methods of ground assault operations. However, due to limitations in ground mobility platform integration schemes, traditional approaches generally employ rotary-wing UAVs as carriers. Rotary-wing UAV platforms suffer from inherent shortcomings such as limited payload capacity, slow speed, resulting in short endurance and long strike links, making them ill-suited to the rapid mobility requirements of ground assault operations. While wide-speed hybrid-wing eVTOL UAVs possess features such as vertical takeoff and landing, wide speed, and hovering maneuverability, if the traditional platform + payload integration method is continued, only small payload modules such as reconnaissance and small-caliber weapons can be integrated, leading to long strike links and low combat effectiveness.

[0003] To meet the needs of striking armored targets, suppressing and destroying time-sensitive targets and personnel in complex scenarios, it is essential to develop a wide-speed hybrid wing eVTOL UAV that is equipped with a recoilless weapon system, capable of automatically identifying, tracking, accurately aiming and automatically attacking targets without being affected by environmental or other factors.

[0004] Recoilless rifles are a type of recoilless weapon. In recent years, with the emergence of new technologies such as lightweighting, informatization, intelligence, unmanned operation, and networking, the battlefield role of this weapon has become increasingly prominent, its combat capabilities have become stronger, and its battlefield status has continued to rise. Because recoilless rifles are lightweight and have low recoil, they exert less impact on the payload platform, thus they can be installed and used on unmanned combat platforms, making them suitable for combat in various complex environments.

[0005] In view of this, this application conducts in-depth research on the aforementioned deficiencies in the prior art and proposes an integrated design scheme for a recoilless gun with top-attack capability to be integrated into an eVTOL UAV. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide an integrated gun-barrel top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and its control method. Addressing the integrated close-range offensive and defensive needs of the land battlefield, and considering the problems of low load capacity, long attack links, and weak wide-speed adaptability of existing rotary-wing UAV systems, this invention utilizes tail-seat vertical takeoff (eVTOL) UAV technology to develop an integrated design of a recoilless gun and UAV. It primarily solves technical problems such as the novel layout design of integrating the UAV airframe with small- and medium-caliber artillery (machine gun / gun integration), machine gun / gun integrated precision ground attack technology, and a novel over-the-horizon attack infantry fighting vehicle technical architecture. It also breaks through key technologies such as multi-domain spatial coupling perception and collaborative combat mechanisms, low-yield precision ground attack, and a novel over-the-horizon attack infantry fighting vehicle technical architecture.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an integrated gun-barrel top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising the UAV body, wings, recoilless gun, reconnaissance module, flight control module, and communication module; The wing is connected to the drone body, and the wing is also provided with control surfaces for controlling the roll attitude of the drone in horizontal flight mode. The recoilless gun is mounted on the UAV body. The installation direction of the recoilless gun is consistent with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, and the gun barrel is set at an angle so that the rear projectile and gas jet generated when it is fired avoid the UAV duct and body structure. The reconnaissance module is installed on the nose of the UAV body and is used for target identification and tracking; The flight control module is used to control the UAV's flight attitude, mode switching, and launch stability; The communication module is used for data interaction with the ground command and control system.

[0008] On the other hand, the present invention also includes a control method for an integrated gun-barrel top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising the following steps: Receive waypoint instructions from the ground command and control system; Based on the sequence and type of waypoint instructions and on a preset decision logic, the waypoint manager determines the sequence of flight modes, including takeoff, landing, hovering, level flight, level-to-hover transition, and hovering-to-level transition. The flight mode sequence is executed by the flight mode controller, and the corresponding flight mode-specific controller is invoked to generate control commands for the desired attitude and desired thrust. The attitude controller calculates and outputs control commands to the UAV control surfaces based on the error between the desired attitude and the actual attitude, in order to stabilize the UAV attitude.

[0009] This invention discloses an integrated gun-barreled top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and its control method. By integrating a recoilless gun at a specific side angle near the center of mass of the abdomen of a tail-mounted eVTOL UAV, it effectively solves the problem of damage to the airframe structure caused by the launch gas jet and the rear projectile. Through a hierarchical control architecture including waypoint management, flight mode control, and attitude control, it achieves fully autonomous flight of the UAV, including vertical take-off and landing, high-speed horizontal cruise, stable hovering, and smooth transitions between modes. Among these, intelligent route optimization decisions based on distance thresholds significantly improve mission range and efficiency. Through real-time disturbance torque calculation and active compensation control of the flight control module, it effectively suppresses the strong impact disturbances caused by weapon launch, ensuring the stability of continuous precision strikes. By supporting multi-aircraft information sharing, situational fusion, and collaborative task allocation, it realizes the systemic collaborative combat capability of UAV swarms, thereby significantly improving the overall firepower, maneuverability, strike accuracy, anti-jamming capabilities, and overall battlefield effectiveness of the UAV system. Attached Figure Description

[0010] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below.

[0011] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the drone body of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of the recoilless gun of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a drone lighthouse attack according to the present invention.

[0014] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of a recoilless gun from another perspective of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the combat scenario of the integrated gun barrel top-attack drone of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the three-stage top-attack process of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the hierarchical control architecture of the integrated gun barrel UAV of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 8 This is Table I of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 9 This is Table II of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 10 This is Table III of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the transition of the integrated gun barrel top-attack UAV of the present invention from horizontal to hovering.

[0022] Figure 12 This is a flowchart of the control method for the integrated gun barrel top-attack UAV of the present invention.

[0023] In the diagram: 101 - UAV body, 102 - Wing, 103 - Recoilless gun, 104 - Reconnaissance module, 105 - Flight control module. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, but should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0025] Please see Figures 1 to 12 The present invention provides an integrated gun-barrel top-attack drone, including a drone body 101, wings 102, a recoilless gun 103, a reconnaissance module 104, a flight control module 105, and a communication module. The wing 102 is connected to the drone body 101. The wing 102 is also provided with a control surface for controlling the roll attitude of the drone in horizontal flight mode. The recoilless gun 103 is mounted on the UAV body 101. The installation direction of the recoilless gun 103 is consistent with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, and the gun body is set at an angle so that the rear projectile and gas jet generated when it is fired avoid the UAV duct and fuselage structure. The reconnaissance module 104 is installed on the nose of the UAV body 101 and is used for target identification and tracking; The flight control module 105 is used to control the UAV's flight attitude, mode switching, and launch stability; The communication module is used for data interaction with the ground command and control system.

[0026] In this embodiment, the present invention discloses an integrated gun-barrel top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be deployed on confined take-off and landing platforms such as land vehicles and ships, without spatial limitations. Taking land warfare as an example, the new UAV can be deployed using an infantry fighting vehicle as a platform to achieve firepower propulsion, conduct top-attack attacks or destroy / deny enemy tank targets, and its application scenarios include... Figure 5 As shown, the specific steps include: 1. The combat personnel will quickly assemble and deploy the drones on the armored vehicles; 2. Infantry fighting vehicles form a temporary command and control center, guiding drones to the front lines via telemetry and control links; 3. The UAV transmits its electro-optical reconnaissance images back to the infantry fighting vehicle command and control terminal in real time, which facilitates the judgment and decision-making of the combat personnel; 4. The information from the transmitted images, along with relevant intelligence guidance information, will be displayed holographically on the individual combat helmet. Combat personnel can use the guidance information, in conjunction with the follow-up system, to remotely control and guide the drone. 5. When approaching the target, the UAV's optoelectronic system will autonomously identify the target's features and transmit the relevant images and analysis results back to the combat personnel in real time for battlefield surveillance. 6. Once the combat personnel issue the attack command, the UAV will conduct friend-or-foe identification and target feature identification. Upon detecting enemy tanks or armored vehicles, it will launch an attack. The process mainly consists of three phases: takeoff, operation (top attack / damage), and recovery (see [link to relevant documentation]). Figure 6 ); 7. The drone will transmit the above process back in real time and generate an attack assessment result. After assessment by ground combat personnel, the drone will be guided back to base. 8. In the presence of a large number of enemy armored targets, UAVs can conduct swarm operations, and the electro-optical reconnaissance images of each UAV can be fused and stitched together on the ground to quickly construct a battlefield situation map, providing decision-making basis for ground combat personnel; 9. After assessment by ground personnel, operational orders will be issued to assign the UAV to the nearest operational area and guide the UAV there. 10. The unmanned swarm will use telemetry and control links to communicate with each other and use relevant algorithms to allocate targets. Once a target is selected, the swarm will immediately launch an attack and then conduct a battlefield assessment. 11. Once enemy targets are discovered to still exist, a second attack will be launched until all targets are eliminated and confirmed.

[0027] The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV of the present invention mainly comprises two parts: the UAV body 101 and the recoilless gun 103. The UAV body 101 mainly adopts a tail-spinning vertical takeoff eVTOL UAV, such as... Figure 1 As shown.

[0028] The tail-seat vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) UAV can achieve vertical takeoff and landing, unlike the existing US military "Predator" UAV which requires a large takeoff and landing space. It is simple and convenient to deploy and use, and can be maintained remotely without human intervention. Figure 1 As shown, the drone body 101 is equipped with a pair of large wings 102, enabling the drone to fly horizontally. When in storage or transport, the wings 102 can be easily detached, and the fuselage can be placed vertically to reduce storage space. When needed, the wings 102 can be reassembled onto the fuselage.

[0029] The drone body 101 has a reconnaissance module 104 deployed in its nose. This reconnaissance module 104 is a highly integrated tri-light camera, integrating visible light, laser, and infrared thermal imaging lenses into one unit. It is suitable for operation in different time periods and weather conditions, meeting the needs of all-area, all-weather monitoring. It can perform daily monitoring using visible light, provide long-range night vision with laser technology, and operate in low-light or no-light environments with thermal imaging, offering a more comprehensive monitoring solution.

[0030] The flight control module 105 is located behind the reconnaissance module 104. It primarily controls the UAV's flight. During takeoff and landing, the UAV body 101 is in a vertical position; during flight, reconnaissance, and attack, it is in a horizontal position. The flight control module 105 is responsible for the transition control between vertical and horizontal flight modes. In terms of control algorithms, the flight control module 105 acquires data input from sensors, including an atmospheric data system for pitot tubes and barometric pressure, and an inertial navigation system with accelerometers and gyroscopes, used to measure parameters such as position, ground speed, airspeed, altitude, attitude (roll, pitch, and yaw), heading, and velocity. Based on these measured parameters and trajectory commands, it generates trajectory commands for acceleration and heading, which are then controlled by the deflection of the slipstream control surfaces within the UAV's duct to produce overall roll, pitch, and yaw maneuvers. Furthermore, to cope with the vibrations caused by the firing of the recoil cannon and the change in the center of gravity due to mass changes, the flight control module 105 must also achieve fuselage stabilization control, using a control loop to cancel impulses.

[0031] The rear of the flight control module 105 is a battery module, which is mainly used to provide energy for the drone. Its main limitations are the application scenario, fuselage space, drone payload and other factors.

[0032] The rear of the battery module serves as the mounting space for the Armed Police, specifically the space for the recoilless rifle 103. The recoilless rifle 103 is a traditional anti-tank light weapon, possessing advantages such as high firepower, high mobility, lightweight portability, and compatibility with multiple ammunition types. The recoilless rifle 103 mainly consists of a launch tube, a sight, a firing mechanism, and a braking mechanism. The launch tube is the main component of the launcher and is traditionally made of fiberglass. The launch tube is made of titanium alloy lining + carbon fiber reinforced composite material; these high-strength, low-density materials significantly reduce the system's weight. Both ends of the tube are equipped with a braking mechanism consisting of a high-strength aluminum alloy braking ring and a steel deformation ring, which meets firing strength requirements while reducing the overall weight of the weapon system.

[0033] During firing, the recoilless rifle 103 will generate projectiles, accompanied by a high-speed gas jet, shock wave, flame, and a danger zone formed by fragments of the sealing cap. To avoid damage to the UAV ductwork, etc., caused by the recoilless rifle 103, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the recoilless rifle 103 mainly employs the following techniques during firing: 1. The recoilless gun 103 is installed at the center of gravity of the UAV, and its installation direction is consistent with the UAV's orientation, so that the recoil generated by its firing is offset by the fuselage, which facilitates stability. 2. The recoilless cannon 103 is installed at a side angle, deviating from the horizontal and vertical axes of the UAV fuselage. When viewed from the front, the cannon points southeast, and when viewed from the side, its downward tilt angle is large. This ensures that the projectiles and airflow generated by the recoilless cannon 103 during firing can avoid the duct, reducing the impact of firing on the fuselage.

[0034] 3. The installation method of the recoilless rifle 103 facilitates the use of UAVs in top-attack tactics, known as "lighthouse attacks." With the recoilless rifle 103 pointing inwards, the UAV does not need to change its fuselage position when employing the "lighthouse" hovering top-attack method. Upon target selection, the UAV, guided by its electro-optical system, flies towards the target. Once within attack range, it hovers around the target, its weapon nozzle always pointing towards the target. Once the target's attributes are confirmed, the flight / fire control system coordinates to achieve precise targeting and execute a top-attack. After completion, it returns horizontally to the recovery phase.

[0035] 4. In storage and flight conditions, the recoilless rifle 103 is vertically mounted on the belly of the tail-mounted vertical takeoff eVTOL UAV, secured in position by a bracket. To achieve continuous strike capability, the recoilless rifle 103 uses a drum magazine, which holds ammunition of the appropriate caliber and allows for automatic loading. When an attack is required, the UAV's electro-optical system targets the target, and the hatches on both the upper and lower sides of the fuselage automatically open. The electro-optical image information provides the target's position guidance information to the fire control computer, which obtains the deflection angle value of the recoilless rifle 103 through coordinate transformation, guiding the recoilless rifle 103 to aim at the target.

[0036] The rear of the recoilless rifle 103 houses the engine, ducted fan, and slipstream rudder (i.e., propeller). The UAV body 101 adopts a tail-sitting vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configuration with a single ducted fan piston engine. The wing 102 is a straight high-wing monoplane including ailerons, with a relatively long nose and a rearward-positioned center of gravity, located approximately one-third of the wing root chord length. Takeoff and landing utilize a vertical tail-sitting method, with four curved "spring feet" arranged at the trailing edge of the duct to provide shock absorption upon landing. Each landing strut is equipped with a helical spring, the material of which depends on the energy absorption capacity during descent. In terms of overall control strategy, the aircraft abandons the traditional tail-mounted elevators and rudders as primary control surfaces, instead employing slipstream rudders arranged radially around the longitudinal axis within the ailerons of the wing 102 and the ducted fan. VTOL control primarily utilizes a combination of slipstream rudder deflections to achieve roll, pitch, and yaw control. In horizontal flight mode, roll is controlled by ailerons, while pitch and yaw are controlled by slipstream rudders.

[0037] On the other hand, please see Figure 12 The present invention also includes a control method for an integrated gun-barrel top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This control method is based on a complete mathematical model and a hierarchical control architecture. First, the mathematical model and control architecture are explained.

[0038] A. Coordinate system This application uses several coordinate systems, with the inertial frame starting from the i-th frame pointing north. i j pointing east i and the k pointing downwards i Composed of components, centered at any arbitrary location. The origin of the fuselage coordinate system is located at the center of gravity of the integrated gun-body UAV, and is determined by the i-axis pointing towards the nose of the aircraft. b j pointing to the right wing b and k pointing to the bottom of the aircraft b composition.

[0039] B. Kinematic Model Using standard aircraft kinematics equations:

[0040] in It is the position of the inertial frame of reference. It is a quaternion representing the current attitude. It is the rotation matrix from the object to the inertial frame. It is the inertial velocity expressed in the coordinates of the object. It's about quality. It is the total applied force. It is the angular rate expressed in volume coordinates. It is the moment of inertia, and It is the net torque expressed in volume coordinates.

[0041] C. Dynamic Model The integrated gun-body UAV model consists of four parts: wings / fuselage, duct, propeller, and control blades. The total force and torque are given by the following formula:

[0042] also

[0043] in It is a force generated by gravity. and It is due to the forces and moments generated by the wings and fuselage. and It is due to the force and torque generated by the propeller. and It is due to the forces and torques generated by the duct. and It is due to the force and torque generated by the control blades inside the duct.

[0044] 1) Gravity: Gravity is caused by... Given, among which It is the acceleration caused by gravity in the body's coordinate system.

[0045] 2) Wing aerodynamics: The aerodynamic forces generated by the wings and fuselage are given by the aircraft's kinematic equations.

[0046] in It is air density. It is the planar shape and area of ​​the wing. It's wingspan.

[0047] ( It is a subscript , (or no subscript) It's airspeed. It is the angle of attack. It is the sideslip angle.

[0048] Time is

[0049] The lift model is a laminar airfoil model and a flat plate model, given by the above equation.

[0050] In the formula, This is the static lift coefficient. It is a linear lift coefficient.

[0051] It is a mixture function. It is the transition rate, and It is the cutoff point. Drag is given by the aircraft's kinematic equations.

[0052] in It is parasitic resistance. It is the Oswald efficiency factor.

[0053] 3) Propeller: The airflow through the rotor can be represented as follows:

[0054] in It's the twisting of the blades. It is the radius of the propeller, and This is the angular velocity of the propeller. For simplicity, the angular velocity will be modeled as:

[0055] Here, It's the accelerator in command. It is a scaling factor.

[0056] The thrust generated by the propeller is:

[0057] in It is the slope of the rotor lift curve. It refers to the number of leaves. It is the chord of the propeller blade. The far-field velocity is:

[0058] The induction rate is:

[0059] The above three equations can be solved iteratively. The force exerted by the propeller on the integrated gun-barrel UAV is given by the following equation:

[0060] The torque generated by the propeller is:

[0061] in It is a scaling parameter.

[0062] 4) Ductwork: The radial airflow velocity around the ductwork is:

[0063] And along The airflow velocity in the direction is:

[0064] This refers to the angular position around the duct. Note that this model assumes u to be constant around the duct. The dynamic pressure and angle of attack at each position on the duct are given in the paper "Turbe. Modeling, Control, and Flight Testing of a SmallDucted Fan Aircraft":

[0065] The lift and drag per unit span around the culvert are:

[0066] in It is a chord. and The lift and drag models in equations (5) and (7) are used. The total lift is obtained by decomposing equations (19) and (20) into components for each axis and integrating over the entire duct. and resistance .

[0067] The force exerted by the crosswind on the drone is given by the following formula:

[0068] in It is the mass flow rate of the surrounding air. It is the radius of the duct. Crosswinds also induce a torque, causing the integrated gun-body UAV to rotate away from the crosswind, as described in the paper "Turbe. Modeling, Control, and Flight Testing of a Small Ducted Fan Aircraft".

[0069]

[0070] In the formula, This is the duct moment coefficient.

[0071] The total force on the duct is:

[0072] The total torque on the duct is

[0073] in It is the distance from the center of gravity of the integrated gun-body UAV to the aerodynamic center of the duct.

[0074] 5) Control Blades: There are eight independent control blades located within the duct and extending beyond it. For simplified notation, each blade is assigned a number from 1 to 8, where the blades are arranged along... The axis is labeled 1, and the numbering proceeds counterclockwise. To simplify calculations, a local coordinate system centered on the duct center is used. , Indicates; will be used for the first Each leaf .set up , In the direction of controlling the blades, and Calculated using the right-hand rule. The rotation matrix from the control blade coordinate system to the vehicle body coordinate system is:

[0075] in yes and The angle between them.

[0076] The positive deflection of the blades is defined by the right-hand rule in the local control blade coordinate system. Therefore, by the first... The force generated by each control blade is:

[0077] in It controls the planar shape and area of ​​the blades. and These are the drag coefficient and lift coefficient of the blades, respectively. It is the first The deflection of each control blade. Note that it is assumed that the airflow through the control blades is parallel to... . No. The torque generated by each control blade is:

[0078] in From the center of gravity of the integrated gun barrel UAV to the first The distance between the aerodynamic centers of each control blade. Rotating the above two equations into the main frame, by using the preceding equations and combining the effects of each control blade, we obtain:

[0079]

[0080] 6) Control Efforts: The integrated gun-body UAV has 10 control surfaces, with one aileron and eight control blades on each wing. To simplify the controller design, the 10 controls are integrated into standard aileron, elevator, and rudder controls. The aileron force is a mixture of aileron and control blade forces. The aileron force of the wing is:

[0081] Here and These are the commands for the left and right ailerons, respectively. The aileron commands from the control surfaces are:

[0082] Combining the above two equations, we get:

[0083] The control forces of the ailerons and the control forces of the control blades are combined. The elevator command is given by the following formula:

[0084] The rudder command is given by

[0085] According to the command , ,and Equations (32)-(34) assume that the control effort is uniformly distributed and commands can be obtained for each control surface.

[0086] like Figure 7 As shown, the control architecture of this invention includes a waypoint manager. Flight mode controller The system consists of a flight mode-specific controller and an attitude controller. Each component will be discussed in detail below, and the following notation will be used. Expected values ​​will be indicated by ^, and errors by ~. Orientation is... and The angle between them. The physical explanation of direction is the direction the tip of the wing faces.

[0087] A: Waypoint Manager The flight plan of the integrated gun-body UAV consists of a series of waypoints of different types. The goal is to track the current waypoint and determine when to switch to the next waypoint. It outputs the current waypoint type and user-specified parameters to... Table I (see Table I) Figure 8 This shows the waypoint types, their required parameters, and... When to switch to the next waypoint.

[0088] B. Flight Mode Controller When the waypoint manager switches waypoints, the flight mode controller generates a series of sub-waypoints that explicitly describe which flight modes should be used: takeoff, landing, hovering, turning, leveling, hovering to leveling, and leveling to hovering, as well as the switching conditions between these flight modes. This requires considering the types of previous and current waypoints to determine whether the integrated gun-body UAV should transition to a different flight state. Clearly, if the previous waypoint type was hovering and the current waypoint type is leveling, the integrated gun-body UAV will need to transition. However, even if both the previous and current waypoint types are hovering, It may also decide to transition to level flight. If the hover waypoint is far enough, as determined by a pre-specified distance threshold, transitioning to level flight, flying toward the current waypoint, and then transitioning back to hover flight will be faster than flying to the current waypoint in a continuous hover. In this case, the flight mode controller will specify where the integrated gun-body UAV should transition to level flight, where it should fly in level flight, where it should transition to hover flight, and where it should move in hover flight. A complete list of possible flight mode sequences is provided in Table II, and a complete list of flight modes and switching conditions is shown in Table III. The FMC sends the desired position, attitude, and / or orientation to the flight mode controller.

[0089] C. Maximum Flight Mode Controller Hovering, level, HTL, and LTH flight modes each have their own controllers. These controllers acquire the required position, altitude, airspeed, or bearing, and calculate... and This section will provide detailed information about the different controllers.

[0090] 1) Hovering: The hovering controller has three components: horizontal, directional, and vertical. The hovering controller controls the horizontal position of the integrated gun-body UAV via tilting Table II: the flight mode required to switch from one waypoint type to another. Note that the flight mode number is defined in Table III.

[0091] The integrated gun-barrel drone orients itself towards the desired location. This is achieved by first calculating the error between the drone's current position and the desired position. . This error is input into the velocity vector field calculated by the following formula:

[0092] in Set maximum value ,and It is a scaling parameter. It is divided into its northern and eastern parts:

[0093] The required north tilt angle can be calculated using the following formula:

[0094] Set maximum value , It's a scaling parameter. It's calculated using a similar vector field. Essentially, these vector field calculations aim to determine the desired angle of tilt of the integrated gun-barrel drone in each direction. and It is converted into a quaternion and merged. This quaternion is then combined with the ones from... The desired orientation is combined to obtain the vertical component of the hover controller, which controls the altitude of the integrated cannon-mounted UAV by controlling the throttle, while maintaining a limited climb rate. The required vertical speed is:

[0095] in Set maximum value ,and This is the scaling parameter. It is used in the calculation. This is used as the input to the PID controller that outputs thrust. A feedforward term, calculating the thrust required to counteract gravity, is added to the output of the PID loop to achieve the desired thrust. The required thrust is converted into... Use a propeller model.

[0096] This throttle controller cannot be used alone. If the airspeed on the control blades is too low, the integrated gun-body UAV will not have sufficient control authority to maintain stability. To solve this problem, it is necessary to ensure that the airspeed on the control blades is above a certain speed (determined through simulation). There are two ways to do this. The first is to choose a minimum value. While this is simple, it's too conservative in most cases. Another approach is to continuously calculate the minimum value. Ensure that the wind speed on the control blades exceeds the minimum value. This method will allow for more aggressive acceleration, but requires an accurate model of the propeller and a good estimate of the airspeed.

[0097] 2) Horizontal: The horizontal controller employs a continuous closed-loop design. The outer loop calculates the desired heading by observing the desired and current positions of waypoints. The desired heading is:

[0098] The desired heading is converted into the desired yaw rate using the following formula:

[0099] in Set the maximum value. This is a scaling parameter. The inner loop uses the desired yaw rate and converts it to roll angle using the following formula:

[0100] in Set maximum value and It is a scaling parameter.

[0101] Through A PID loop is used to counteract excessive sideslip. The PID loop outputs the desired heading change, which will drive... It is zero. This is achieved by using a PID loop. To control the height, this circuit outputs... By coming from The expected course of the loop and and Airspeed is controlled by a PID controller, which outputs... control accomplish. 3) Level to Hover Transition: The transition between level flight and hovering flight can be considered a 2D problem. If we define a local coordinate system, where it is aligned with the current heading, , This becomes clear using the right-hand rule. The local coordinate system is centered at the desired ending position, which means the starting position of the transition is... Throughout the transition, the integrated gun-barrel drone will attempt to operate only in... Movement in a plane. By combining relevant terms and simplifying control, the kinematics and dynamics of the integrated gun-barrel UAV are simplified to two dimensions, resulting in:

[0102] in,

[0103] and They are and Aerodynamic forces on the shaft yes The aerodynamic torque on the shaft, T is the thrust, and M is the torque generated by the control surfaces. Clearly, it can be expressed as... To control . It can be used to control or But control It is an obvious choice because it allows for control. . Based on the available control, a system dependent on u and , so that:

[0104] In addition, ensure that the integrated gun barrel drone is in Completing the transformation at that point would be useful. To satisfy all these constraints, a vector field approach will be explored. exist The position is low, and is At x=0. Furthermore, it is hoped that... If the overshoot of the integrated gun-barrel UAV is x=0, then a function that satisfies these requirements is:

[0105] in, It is an adjustable parameter that determines how aggressive the maneuver can be.

[0106] Similarly, when want to , and when The following functions satisfy these conditions:

[0107] in, Determine the conversion rate, and force .

[0108] Although only specified and This shift strategy will ensure Approaching zero. If we assume the integrated gun barrel drone is... Among them and but At that time, the integrated gun barrel drone will "slide" to On this point Therefore, the integrated gun barrel drone will correct and move back. Given sufficient damping, the integrated gun-barrel drone will eventually converge to... , , ,and Once there is and Then it is easy to calculate. . The controller consists of a feedforward term and a proportional term. The feedforward term attempts to counteract gravity and aerodynamic forces (primarily along the axis of gravity). (shaft resistance) to maintain current The proportional term is based on Controlling changes in airspeed. Combining the two, we get:

[0109] in It is an adjustable gain. Using equation (49) and the propeller model, it can be calculated. . Instead of creating a controller to calculate M, a desired pose is created. To do this, a transformation is performed. From the equation This is converted to a quaternion and merged with the original orientation of the integrated gun-body UAV. With this desired attitude, the attitude controller will attempt to keep the integrated gun-body UAV from rolling or yawing, allowing for the use of 2D assumptions while still tracking. .

[0110] Figure 11 The transformation performed using this method is shown. As illustrated, the integrated gun-barrel UAV is able to transition with a 30-meter height gain while stopping precisely where desired.

[0111] 4) Hover to Level Transition: The hover to level transition is easier to execute. The strategy consists of two parts. First, set the throttle to its maximum value. Second, calculate the desired distance using the following formula:

[0112] in It is the scaling factor. With The increase, It will decrease until it reaches 0. By comparing the current orientation of the integrated gun barrel UAV with... .

[0113] D. Maximum value based quaternion PID attitude controller Attitude error can be calculated based on the paper "A Hovering Control Strategy for a Tail-SitterVTOL UAV that Increases Stability Against Large Disturbance":

[0114] It is a quaternion multiplier. The vector components of the error quaternion. Corresponding to Errors in the shaft. These can be directly applied to a simple PID controller:

[0115] in, , and .

[0116] S1: Receive waypoint instructions sent by the ground command and control system.

[0117] In this embodiment, this step is performed by the waypoint manager in the control architecture. The waypoint manager receives mission instructions sent by the ground command and control system via a communication link. The received waypoint instructions follow... Figure 8 The specifications defined in Table I include the type (e.g., takeoff, landing, hovering, level) and the corresponding necessary parameters (e.g., position coordinates, hovering radius or time, expected airspeed, etc.) for each waypoint.

[0118] S2: Based on the sequence and type of waypoint instructions and a preset decision logic, the waypoint manager determines the flight mode sequence, which includes takeoff, landing, hovering, level flight, level to hover transition, and hover to level transition.

[0119] In this embodiment, after parsing the waypoint instructions, the waypoint manager determines the detailed flight mode sequence required to execute the entire mission based on the built-in preset decision logic.

[0120] The manager first based on Figure 8 The waypoint transition conditions defined in Table I monitor the completion status of the current waypoints. Simultaneously, the manager evaluates the mission path and applies specific optimization rules: when the manager determines that the straight-line distance between two adjacent hovering waypoints exceeds a preset distance threshold, it automatically inserts a "horizontal flight" segment into the flight mode sequence, and plans "hovering-to-horizontal transition" and "horizontal-to-hovering transition" processes before and after this segment, respectively. This aims to prevent the UAV from using a low-speed, high-energy-consumption hovering flight mode throughout the entire journey between two distant points, instead utilizing a high-speed horizontal flight mode to improve maneuverability, shorten mission time, and save energy.

[0121] Based on the above logic, the manager ultimately generates an ordered sequence of flight mode instructions. This sequence consists of a series of basic flight states and transitions between states, specifically selected from a set including takeoff, landing, hovering, level flight, level-to-hover transition (HTL), and hover-to-level transition (LTH). The construction of the flight mode sequence follows... Figure 9 The sequence of flight modes required to transition from one waypoint type to another, as defined in Table II, and Figure 10The execution and switching conditions for each flight mode are listed in Table III.

[0122] For example, for a mission involving distant hovering points A and B, the generated sequence might be: "Takeoff -> Hovering (Approach Point A) -> LTH -> Level Flight -> HTL -> Hovering (Approach Point B) -> Landing". This sequence is then output to the flight mode controller as the execution outline for all subsequent low-level control actions.

[0123] S3: Execute the flight mode sequence through the flight mode controller, and call the corresponding flight mode-specific controller to generate control commands for the desired attitude and desired thrust.

[0124] In this embodiment, this step is performed by the flight mode controller in the control architecture. This controller receives the flight mode sequence from the waypoint manager and is responsible for coordinating and invoking a series of flight mode-specific controllers to translate high-level mode instructions into executable low-level control commands.

[0125] The flight mode controller activates the corresponding specific controller based on the current flight mode to be executed. These specific controllers include a hover controller for stationary hovering or short-range circling, a level controller for high-speed cruise flight, a level-to-circling transition controller for a smooth transition from level flight to hovering, and a circling-to-level transition controller for a rapid transition from hovering to level flight.

[0126] Each activated controller is based on the aforementioned complete mathematical model for calculation and design. These controllers receive real-time status feedback from the UAV and, in conjunction with the mission objective corresponding to the current mode, run their internally integrated control algorithms. By processing the error between the status information and the target command, each controller performs calculations and ultimately outputs two sets of unified, low-level control commands: one set defines the desired attitude command that the UAV body needs to achieve in the target orientation, and the other set defines the desired thrust command that the propulsion system needs to generate in total thrust.

[0127] The specific algorithm principles and implementation steps of the hover controller, level controller, level-to-disk rotation conversion controller, and disk-to-level conversion controller will be described in detail below. These generated desired attitude and thrust commands will serve as inputs to the next-level attitude controller to drive the UAV to complete precise flight maneuvers.

[0128] S4: Based on the error between the desired attitude and the actual attitude, the attitude controller calculates and outputs control commands to the UAV control surface to stabilize the UAV attitude.

[0129] In this embodiment, this step is performed by the attitude controller at the bottom of the control architecture. The core task of this controller is to drive the actual flight attitude of the UAV to accurately track the desired attitude command issued by the flight mode controller at the next higher level.

[0130] The operation of the attitude controller begins with the calculation of the attitude error. The controller receives the desired attitude command, expressed as a quaternion, and compares it with the UAV's current actual attitude, also expressed as a quaternion, acquired in real-time by onboard sensors. Through specific quaternion operations, the attitude error, representing the deviation between the two, can be directly calculated. The vector portion of this error clearly defines the angular deviations that the UAV needs to correct in the roll, pitch, and yaw axes within the fuselage coordinate system.

[0131] Subsequently, the attitude controller inputs the calculated attitude error vector into its core control law calculation unit. This unit employs a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control strategy. Specifically, the control law performs comprehensive calculations based on the current attitude error, its cumulative magnitude over time, and the rate of change of the error, thereby calculating the three-axis control torque commands required to quickly and smoothly eliminate the attitude error on the UAV's body. This calculation process ensures that the UAV has a rapid response capability and good stability to external disturbances (such as gusts) and internal state changes.

[0132] After receiving the required control torque command, the attitude controller enters the control allocation and command output stage. This is a crucial step in translating the abstract control torque into concrete physical actuator actions. As described in the "Control Effort" section above, the UAV of this invention achieves full attitude control through ten independent control surfaces (including two ailerons and eight ducted control blades). The attitude controller's built-in control allocation algorithm, based on the current flight state and the control efficiency of each control surface, intelligently decomposes and maps the calculated total control torque command and the desired thrust command from the upper layer into independent deflection commands for these ten control surfaces, as well as throttle commands for the propeller propulsion system. This algorithm ensures that the allocation of control commands across the available control surfaces is coordinated and efficient.

[0133] Ultimately, these precisely calculated deflection and throttle commands are sent in real time to the corresponding servos and motor drivers, driving all control surfaces and the propulsion system to work in tandem to generate the necessary aerodynamics and torque, enabling the UAV's actual attitude to dynamically and stably converge to the desired attitude. In particular, during top-attack maneuvers, to counteract the instantaneous strong disturbances caused by recoilless rifle firing, the attitude controller can synchronously calculate and output additional compensation control commands at the moment of firing based on a pre-set anti-disturbance algorithm. This actively offsets the launch impact by rapidly deflecting the corresponding control surfaces, ensuring the stability of the flight platform during and after the attack.

[0134] Furthermore, the method of the present invention also includes a top-attack control step: S5: Control the drone to enter the hovering flight mode and dynamically adjust the hovering trajectory so that the axis of the recoilless gun barrel continues to point towards the target. S6: When the attack conditions are met, calculate the aiming parameters of the recoilless gun based on the target information; S7: Controls the firing of the recoilless gun, while simultaneously coordinating the control surface movements through the flight control module to counteract the firing impact.

[0135] Specifically, the simultaneous coordination of the flight control module with the control surface actions to counteract the launch impact includes the following steps: The flight control module calculates the disturbance torque generated during launch in real time; A counteracting compensation torque command is generated to drive the control surfaces to deflect in order to maintain fuselage stability.

[0136] In this embodiment, firstly, the UAV is controlled to enter a hovering flight mode, and its hovering trajectory is dynamically adjusted according to the "lighthouse attack" principle, so that the axis of the recoilless gun, which is fixedly mounted on the side of the fuselage, can naturally and continuously point at the ground target during the UAV's horizontal hovering. When the target is confirmed by the reconnaissance module and all attack conditions are met, the fire control system quickly calculates the precise aiming parameters based on the real-time target coordinates, the UAV's own state, and environmental parameters, combined with the ballistic model, and sets them on the firing mechanism. Finally, while controlling the recoilless gun to fire, the attitude controller in the flight control module calculates the instantaneous disturbance torque generated by the launch in real time according to the preset anti-disturbance algorithm, and synchronously generates the opposite compensating control torque command. Through the control distribution algorithm, all available control surfaces are driven to coordinate their actions to actively offset the launch impact, thereby ensuring the attitude stability of the UAV platform while completing the precision strike.

[0137] Furthermore, the method also includes a cluster collaborative control step: S8: Multiple drones share reconnaissance information via communication links; S9: The ground command and control system or a designated lead aircraft integrates shared information to generate a comprehensive battlefield situation. S10: Assign strike missions to each UAV within the cluster based on the overall battlefield situation; S11: Each drone executes a coordinated attack based on the allocation results.

[0138] In this embodiment, the cluster collaborative control is achieved through the following steps: First, multiple UAVs performing the same combat mission share in real time optical, infrared, and laser reconnaissance images of the target area, UAV status information, and preliminary identification results acquired by the airborne reconnaissance module through their respective communication modules and data links; the ground command and control center or the lead aircraft designated by the cluster aggregates all shared information through the communication link, and uses image fusion and data fusion algorithms to perform spatiotemporal registration, correlation, and comprehensive processing on the heterogeneous and asynchronous information sent back by each UAV, generating a unified and accurate comprehensive battlefield situation map covering the mission area, providing a global view for command and decision-making; subsequently, the mission planning system in the command and control system or the lead aircraft... Based on the generated comprehensive battlefield situation, the threat level, target value and distribution are assessed. Using a pre-set collaborative task allocation algorithm, the optimal reconnaissance area, target to be attacked or flight path is dynamically assigned to each UAV in the cluster to achieve efficient allocation of firepower and reconnaissance resources. Finally, each UAV receives and confirms its assigned task through data link, and according to the aforementioned autonomous control and strike methods S1 to S7, it independently or in formation maintains coordination with its relative position, and flies synchronously or sequentially to the designated area to carry out collaborative reconnaissance and precision strikes on the assigned targets. During the mission execution, it continuously shares updated information to support the dynamic replanning of the cluster's overall tasks and the evaluation of collaborative effects, thereby forming an integrated cluster combat capability.

[0139] The above-disclosed embodiments are merely one or more preferred embodiments of this application and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this application. Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes for implementing the above embodiments and equivalent changes made in accordance with the claims of this application still fall within the scope of this application.

Claims

1. A top-attack unmanned aerial vehicle with an integrated gun barrel, characterized in that, It includes the drone body, wings, recoilless rifle, reconnaissance module, flight control module, and communication module; The wing is connected to the drone body, and the wing is also provided with control surfaces for controlling the roll attitude of the drone in horizontal flight mode. The recoilless gun is mounted on the UAV body. The installation direction of the recoilless gun is consistent with the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, and the gun barrel is set at an angle so that the rear projectile and gas jet generated when it is fired avoid the UAV duct and body structure. The reconnaissance module is installed on the nose of the UAV body and is used for target identification and tracking; The flight control module is used to control the UAV's flight attitude, mode switching, and launch stability; The communication module is used for data interaction with the ground command and control system.

2. A control method for an integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV, employing the integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Receive waypoint instructions from the ground command and control system; Based on the sequence and type of waypoint instructions and on a preset decision logic, the waypoint manager determines the sequence of flight modes, including takeoff, landing, hovering, level flight, level-to-hover transition, and hovering-to-level transition. The flight mode sequence is executed by the flight mode controller, and the corresponding flight mode-specific controller is invoked to generate control commands for the desired attitude and desired thrust. The attitude controller calculates and outputs control commands to the UAV control surfaces based on the error between the desired attitude and the actual attitude, in order to stabilize the UAV attitude.

3. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The control steps for executing the hovering mode include: Calculate the horizontal error between the current position of the drone and the hovering target point; Based on the horizontal error, the desired horizontal velocity vector is calculated using a preset vector field function; Based on the desired horizontal velocity vector, calculate and control the roll and pitch attitude of the UAV to make it tilt and fly towards the target point; Based on the altitude error, the thrust is calculated and adjusted by a closed-loop controller to maintain the target altitude.

4. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The control steps for executing level flight mode include: Calculate the desired heading angle based on the desired waypoint location and the current location; Calculate the desired yaw rate based on the error between the desired heading angle and the actual heading angle; Calculate and control the roll angle of the UAV based on the desired yaw rate; Based on altitude error and sideslip angle feedback, pitch angle and heading correction are calculated and controlled respectively; Adjust the throttle according to the airspeed error to control the flight airspeed.

5. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, When performing a horizontal-to-disc rotation, the specific steps include: Establish a local two-dimensional coordinate system centered on the target point; Based on the position of the UAV in the local coordinate system, the desired pitch angle and airspeed are calculated using the designed vector field function. Based on the desired airspeed, and in conjunction with feedforward drag compensation, the thrust is calculated and adjusted. The desired pitch angle is converted into the desired attitude, which is then tracked and executed by the attitude controller.

6. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, When performing a transition from hovering to horizontal, the specific steps include: Set the drone throttle command to the maximum value; Control the drone to gradually increase the pitch angle until the fuselage turns to a horizontal attitude.

7. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The method also includes a top-attack control step: Control the drone to enter hovering flight mode and dynamically adjust the hovering trajectory to keep the gun barrel axis of the recoilless gun pointing to the target. When the attack conditions are met, the aiming parameters of the recoilless gun are calculated based on the target information; The recoilless gun is controlled to fire, and the flight control module coordinates the movement of the control surfaces to counteract the impact of the launch.

8. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The simultaneous coordination of the flight control module with the control surface actions to offset the launch impact specifically includes the following steps: The flight control module calculates the disturbance torque generated during launch in real time; A counteracting compensation torque command is generated to drive the control surfaces to deflect in order to maintain fuselage stability.

9. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The method also includes a cluster collaborative control step: Multiple drones share reconnaissance information via communication links; Ground command and control systems or designated lead aircraft integrate shared information to generate a comprehensive battlefield situation. Based on the overall battlefield situation, assign strike missions to each UAV within the cluster; Each drone executes a coordinated attack based on the assigned results.

10. The integrated gun-barrel top-attack UAV control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The preset decision logic specifically includes: When the waypoint manager determines that the distance between adjacent hovering waypoints exceeds a preset threshold, it automatically inserts a horizontal flight segment and the corresponding mode transition process into the flight mode sequence.

Images