A flash flood early warning monitoring system and method using a drone formation

Abstract

The present invention provides a flash flood early warning monitoring system and method using a drone formation, the system includes a control center and a plurality of drone devices wirelessly connected to the control center, the drone device includes a drone host, a sound monitoring device connected to the drone host, an image monitoring device, a positioning device, a vibration monitoring device, a communication module, and a laser radar device; the control center is used to control the drone device to collect hydrological data on the river and the mountainous areas on both sides according to the survey route, conduct flash flood risk analysis, and determine the cruise route and fixed monitoring points of the drone equipment. When there is a risk of flash flood, the drone equipment is used to automatically patrol according to the determined cruise route and land at a fixed monitoring point. When a flash flood is detected, the control center promptly issues a flash flood early warning. The present invention utilizes the strong mobility of drones, can be deployed quickly and accurately, and saves a lot of human resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of mountain torrent disaster prevention and control, and in particular to a mountain torrent early warning monitoring system and method utilizing a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles. Background Art

[0002] In mountainous areas, flash floods often occur due to the influence of weather, terrain and other factors. Flash floods are sudden and destructive, so early warning of flash floods is necessary to avoid loss of life and property.

[0003] Existing flash flood warning methods include satellite warning, on-site equipment deployment and human warning, etc. Satellite warning generally obtains less information and has a large error; on-site equipment deployment requires a lot of manpower deployment, and equipment loss is relatively large; human warning methods require a lot of human resources, and key areas are often short of manpower, resulting in low warning effects. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides a flash flood early warning and monitoring system and method using a drone formation. The airborne equipment can obtain accurate and rich hydrological information, and warn and monitor flash flood risks. The strong mobility of drones can be used to deploy them quickly and accurately, saving a lot of human resources. The advantages of drone formations can be used to effectively cover early warning and monitoring blind spots, thereby improving early warning efficiency.

[0005] The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0006] A flash flood early warning monitoring system using a drone formation includes a control center and a plurality of drone devices wirelessly connected to the control center, wherein the drone devices include a drone host, a sound monitoring device connected to the drone host, an image monitoring device, a positioning device, a vibration monitoring device, a communication module, and a laser radar device; the laser radar device is used to obtain a ground digital elevation model to determine the river section, the river length, the area of ​​the mountains on both sides of the river, the greening rate, the maximum water storage capacity on both sides of the river, and the current water storage capacity parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river; the control center is used to control the drone devices to survey the river and the two sides according to the survey route Hydrological data is collected in the side mountainous areas, flash flood risk analysis is carried out, and the cruise routes and fixed monitoring points of the UAV equipment are determined. When there is a risk of flash floods, the UAV equipment is used to automatically patrol according to the determined cruise routes and land at fixed monitoring points. Sound monitoring devices, image monitoring devices, positioning devices, and vibration monitoring devices are used to collect sound, image, and vibration data respectively, and the collection results are transmitted back to the control center through the communication module. The control center analyzes the collected sound, image, and vibration data, monitors the real-time dynamics of flash floods, and when a flash flood is detected, the control center promptly issues a flash flood warning.

[0007] Furthermore, the sound monitoring device includes a microphone.

[0008] Furthermore, the positioning device is a GPS or Beidou positioning device.

[0009] Furthermore, the vibration monitoring device includes an acceleration sensor.

[0010] Furthermore, the laser radar device adopts a LIDAR system.

[0011] A flash flood early warning monitoring method using a drone formation is implemented using the above system, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0012] Step 1: Build a ground digital elevation model to determine the river section, river length, mountain area on both sides of the river, greening rate, maximum water storage on both sides of the river, and current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river;

[0013] Step 2: The control center dispatches multiple drones to form a drone formation to patrol the river regularly, monitor the water volume in the river, and update the current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river;

[0014] Step 3: When the control center receives the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, it calculates the probability and intensity of flash floods based on the expected precipitation and the maximum and current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river, and issues warning information in advance;

[0015] Step 4: After receiving the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, the control center dispatches a fleet of drones to conduct fixed monitoring and early warning of the river.

[0016] Furthermore, the step 4 specifically includes:

[0017] The control center controls the UAV equipment to patrol along the planned cruise route, land at the pre-set fixed monitoring point of the UAV equipment, collect sound, image and vibration data of the surrounding area through the sound monitoring device, image monitoring device and vibration monitoring device, and transmit the collection results back to the control center through the communication module;

[0018] The control center analyzes the collected sound, image and vibration data to monitor the real-time dynamics of flash floods. When a flash flood is detected, the control center will issue a flash flood warning in a timely manner.

[0019] Furthermore, the communication module in the drone device includes a mobile communication device and a WLAN device. The mobile communication device is used for communication between the drone device and the mobile communication base station, and the WLAN device is used for communication between drone devices. The communication modules of the drone device form a wireless ad hoc network. When the communication module of a drone device cannot connect to the control center, the communication modules of other drone devices are used as relay nodes to connect to the control center.

[0020] Furthermore, adjacent drone equipment monitors the arrival time of flash floods to obtain the flow rate of flash floods, and then uses the distance information from the downstream to obtain the estimated time for the flash floods to reach the downstream. The control center promptly notifies the relevant downstream areas of the estimated time for the flash floods to arrive downstream to improve the efficiency and quality of early warning.

[0021] Furthermore, the flash flood warning method in step four includes the control center notifying people in relevant areas by wireless communication, or controlling drone equipment to follow the river valley or to a designated area to remind people in relevant areas by sound or light to avoid and guard against flash floods.

[0022] The present invention utilizes airborne equipment to obtain accurate and rich hydrological information such as vibration, images and sounds, to warn and monitor flash flood risks, and provides three modes of automatic monitoring: fixed monitoring point, automatic cruise and manual control. It not only utilizes the strong mobility of drones to enable rapid and accurate deployment, but also can be deployed in a fixed manner, thus saving power consumption and improving monitoring time and efficiency. It utilizes the advantages of drone formations to effectively cover early warning and monitoring blind spots and improve early warning efficiency. It combines mobile communications with WLAN Mesh self-organizing networking technology to improve communication quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a flash flood early warning monitoring system using a UAV formation according to the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of monitoring points when the present invention performs early warning monitoring.

[0025] In the figure: 10—UAV equipment, 11—UAV host, 12—sound monitoring device, 13—image monitoring device, 14—positioning device, 15—vibration monitoring device, 16—communication module, 17—lidar device, 20—control center. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the present invention.

[0027] See also Figure 1The embodiment of the present invention provides a flash flood early warning monitoring system using a drone formation, including a control center 20 and a plurality of drone devices 10 wirelessly connected to the control center 20. The control center 20 is located in a safe area or high ground without flash flood risk, and is used to manage, maintain and control the drone devices 10.

[0028] The drone device 10 includes a drone host 11 , a sound monitoring device 12 connected to the drone host 11 , an image monitoring device 13 , a positioning device 14 , a vibration monitoring device 15 , a communication module 16 , and a laser radar device 17 .

[0029] The control center 20 is used to control the UAV equipment 10 to collect hydrological data on the river channel and the mountainous areas on both sides according to the survey route, conduct flash flood risk analysis (specifically, calculate the probability and intensity of flash floods based on the expected precipitation and the maximum water storage capacity and current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river channel, and issue early warning information), and determine the cruise route and fixed monitoring points of the UAV equipment; when there is a risk of flash floods, the UAV equipment 10 is used to automatically patrol according to the determined cruise route and land at a fixed monitoring point, and the sound monitoring device 12, image monitoring device 13, and vibration monitoring device 15 are used to collect sound, image and vibration data respectively, and transmit the collection results back to the control center 20 through the communication module 16.

[0030] The sound monitoring device 12 can adopt a microphone or other sound receiving device, the image monitoring device 13 can adopt a mainstream commercial image acquisition device such as a camera, the positioning device 14 adopts the currently more mature GPS or Beidou positioning device, and the vibration monitoring device 15 can adopt an acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor has the characteristics of small size and light weight, and is suitable for vibration testing of small and light components, and can be used to monitor vibrations when flash floods occur. The communication module 16 can adopt a mainstream commercial mobile Internet device, and the laser radar device 17 can use the currently popular LIDAR system, which integrates laser, global positioning system and inertial navigation system, and can easily obtain a ground digital elevation model.

[0031] In good weather conditions, the control center 20 controls the UAV equipment 10 or conducts on-site surveys to collect hydrological data on the river and the mountains on both sides according to the survey route, conducts flash flood risk analysis, and determines the cruise route of the UAV equipment and fixed monitoring points (such as Figure 2 The drone device 10 or the on-site survey route includes an overall survey of the mountain area and a survey of the valley route.

[0032] The hydrological data include geographical information of mountainous areas (such as altitude, area, etc.), valley distribution (such as valley length, vegetation distribution on both sides, water mark elevation, etc.), vegetation information, hydrological and meteorological data over the years, etc.

[0033] The drone equipment cruise route refers to the rivers and valleys with flash flood risks, which can be located and determined by the positioning device 14 in the drone equipment 10. When there is a flash flood risk, the drone equipment 10 can automatically patrol along the planned cruise route and automatically monitor the risk.

[0034] The fixed monitoring point of the drone equipment is used to land the drone equipment at the fixed monitoring point when there is a risk of flash floods, so as to facilitate long-term monitoring of key areas and key areas. Multiple fixed monitoring points can be set up along the river. The fixed monitoring point should be set up next to the river, and a high platform can be built with reinforced concrete to avoid the risk of flash floods. The size of the fixed monitoring point can be 1 to 2 square meters, which is used to park the drone equipment during flash flood monitoring. The distance between fixed monitoring points should not be too far to minimize the monitoring blind area, generally set at about 500m to 1000m; it should not be too close to avoid waste; multiple points can be set for key and critical areas.

[0035] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a flash flood early warning monitoring method using a drone formation, which is performed using the above system, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0036] Step 1: Construct a ground digital elevation model to determine parameters such as the river section, river length, mountain area on both sides of the river, greening rate, maximum water storage on both sides of the river, and current water storage on both sides of the river. In the ground digital elevation model, it can be assumed that both sides of the river are virtual reservoirs, and the reservoirs have parameters such as maximum water storage, current water storage, and area. The parameters of the virtual reservoirs are different at every certain distance, and the river is composed of several virtual reservoirs in series. If the mountain area on both sides of the river is large and the greening rate is high, the maximum water storage capacity is large. On the contrary, if the mountain area on both sides of the river is small and the greening rate is low, the maximum water storage capacity is small.

[0037] Step 2: The control center 20 dispatches multiple drone devices 10 to form a drone formation to patrol the river regularly, monitor the water volume of the river, and update parameters such as the current water storage volume of the mountains on both sides of the river;

[0038] By monitoring the water volume in the river, the maximum water storage capacity and current water storage capacity of the virtual reservoir can be inferred. If there is no rain for a long time, the current water storage capacity will continue to decrease; if the water volume in the river remains stable and large, it means that the maximum water storage capacity is large.

[0039] Step 3: When the control center 20 receives the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, it calculates the probability and intensity of flash floods based on the expected precipitation and the maximum water storage capacity and current water storage capacity of the mountains on both sides of the river, and issues warning information in advance.

[0040] When receiving heavy rain warning information, the amount of water can be estimated based on the precipitation information and the area of ​​the mountains on both sides of the river. Then, based on the maximum water storage capacity of the virtual reservoirs on both sides of the river, the probability and intensity of flash floods can be estimated and warning information can be issued. If the maximum water storage capacity is small, the current water storage capacity is large, and the precipitation is large, the probability of flash floods is high. Conversely, if the maximum water storage capacity is large, the current water storage capacity is small, and the precipitation is small, the probability of flash floods is low.

[0041] Step 4: After receiving the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, the control center 20 dispatches a fleet of drones to conduct fixed monitoring and early warning of the river.

[0042] The step 4 is specifically as follows:

[0043] The control center 20 controls the drone device 10 to patrol along the planned cruise route, land at a preset drone device fixed monitoring point, collect sound, image and vibration data of the surrounding area through the sound monitoring device 12, the image monitoring device 13, and the vibration monitoring device 15, and transmit the collection results back to the control center 20 through the communication module 16;

[0044] The control center 20 analyzes the collected sound, image and vibration data, monitors the real-time dynamics of flash floods, and when a flash flood is detected, the control center 20 promptly issues a flash flood warning and notifies the people in a timely manner.

[0045] The communication module 16 in the drone device 10 includes a mobile communication device and a WLAN device. The mobile communication device is used for communication between the drone device 10 and the mobile communication base station, and the WLAN device is used for communication between drone devices 10. When some drone devices 10 have difficulty in mobile communication due to poor signals from mobile communication base stations in mountainous areas, they can be combined with WLAN devices, especially using WLAN Mesh technology, to improve communication quality and early warning efficiency.

[0046] Areas at risk of flash floods are generally located in mountainous areas, which are remote, with few mobile communication base stations and poor signals. It is likely that mobile communication devices alone will not be able to connect to mobile communication base stations. The combination of mobile communication and WLAN Mesh self-organizing network technology can greatly improve the communication quality. WLAN Mesh self-organizing network technology is a relatively mature technology, and major communication manufacturers have launched commercial products. By using WLAN Mesh self-organizing network technology, multiple WLAN nodes can form a wireless Mesh network, and any node can send and receive signals and communicate with the outside world. When a node cannot communicate with the outside world, it can automatically route to a nearby node that can communicate. Therefore, when using WLAN Mesh self-organizing network technology, as long as there is a node in the network that can communicate with the outside world, all nodes in the network can communicate with the outside world through this node as a relay.

[0047] In the flash flood warning method described above, the control center 20 can not only notify the personnel in the relevant area by conventional communication methods, but also control the drone equipment 10 to follow the river valley or to the designated area to remind the personnel in the relevant area by sound or light to avoid and prevent flash floods.

[0048] The conventional communication methods mentioned above refer to wireless communication methods such as television, radio, and mobile communication. However, these methods have many shortcomings, such as power outages, failure of conventional communication equipment, or personnel resting at night, unable to communicate or communication equipment not working. At this time, the drone device 10 can be controlled to go down the valley or to a designated area, and actively remind people in the relevant area to take precautions against flash floods by means of high-decibel speakers or red and yellow lights. This early warning method can well fill the shortcomings of conventional early warning methods, improve early warning efficiency, and protect people's property safety.

[0049] In the flash flood warning method, the adjacent UAV device 10 can obtain the flow rate of the flash flood by monitoring the arrival time of the flash flood, and then use the distance information from the downstream to obtain the estimated time when the flash flood reaches the downstream. The control center 20 can promptly notify the downstream related areas of the estimated time when the flash flood arrives downstream, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of the warning.

[0050] It is very important to obtain the precise time when the flash flood reaches the downstream. When a flash flood breaks out, two adjacent drone monitoring points can calculate the flow rate of the flash flood by recording the time when the flash flood passes and combining the distance between the two adjacent drone monitoring points. Combined with the distance from a certain area downstream to the drone monitoring point, the estimated time when the flash flood reaches a certain area can be calculated, which can greatly improve the efficiency and quality of early warning.

[0051] By counting the flow velocities at all adjacent drone monitoring points along the river, the accuracy of flash flood flow velocities can be corrected, further improving the accuracy of the estimated time for flash floods to reach a certain area downstream, and further improving the quality of early warnings.

[0052] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A flash flood early warning monitoring method using a drone formation, characterized in that: A flash flood early warning monitoring system is used, the flash flood early warning monitoring system comprising a control center (20) and a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle devices (10) wirelessly connected to the control center (20), the unmanned aerial vehicle devices (10) comprising an unmanned aerial vehicle host (11), a sound monitoring device (12) connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle host (11), an image monitoring device (13), a positioning device (14), a vibration monitoring device (15), a communication module (16), and a laser radar device (17); the laser radar device (17) is used to obtain a ground digital elevation model to determine the cross section of a river channel, the length of the river channel, the area of ​​mountains on both sides of the river channel, the greening rate, the maximum water storage capacity on both sides of the river channel, and the current water storage capacity of mountains on both sides of the river channel. The control center (20) is used to control the unmanned aerial vehicle devices (10) according to the survey data. The route collects hydrological data from the river and the mountainous areas on both sides, performs flash flood risk analysis, and determines the cruise route and fixed monitoring points of the unmanned aerial vehicle equipment. When there is a risk of flash flood, the unmanned aerial vehicle equipment (10) is used to automatically patrol according to the determined cruise route and land at the fixed monitoring point. The sound monitoring device (12), the image monitoring device (13), the positioning device (14), and the vibration monitoring device (15) are used to collect sound, image, and vibration data respectively, and the collection results are transmitted back to the control center (20) through the communication module (16). The control center (20) analyzes the collected sound, image, and vibration data to monitor the real-time dynamics of the flash flood. When the flash flood is detected, the control center (20) promptly issues a flash flood warning. The method comprises the following steps: Step 1: Build a ground digital elevation model to determine the river section, river length, mountain area on both sides of the river, greening rate, maximum water storage on both sides of the river, and current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river; Step 2: The control center (20) dispatches a plurality of drone devices (10) to form a drone formation to patrol the river regularly, monitor the water volume of the river, and update the current water storage parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river; Step 3: When the control center (20) receives the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, it calculates the probability and intensity of flash floods based on the expected precipitation and the maximum water storage capacity and current water storage capacity parameters of the mountains on both sides of the river, and issues warning information in advance; Step 4: After the control center (20) receives the heavy rain warning information from the weather station, the control center (20) dispatches a fleet of drones to conduct fixed monitoring and early warning of the river; The step 4 specifically includes: The control center (20) controls the drone device (10) to patrol along the planned patrol route. Logic, landing at a preset fixed monitoring point of the UAV equipment, collecting sound, image and vibration data of the surrounding area through a sound monitoring device (12), an image monitoring device (13) and a vibration monitoring device (15), and transmitting the collected results back to the control center (20) through a communication module (16); The control center (20) analyzes the collected sound, image and vibration data to monitor the real-time dynamics of flash floods. When a flash flood is detected, the control center (20) issues a flash flood warning in a timely manner.

2. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The sound monitoring device (12) comprises a microphone.

3. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The positioning device (14) is a GPS or Beidou positioning device.

4. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The vibration monitoring device (15) comprises an acceleration sensor.

5. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The laser radar device (17) adopts a LIDAR system.

6. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The communication module (16) in the drone device (10) comprises a mobile communication device and a WLAN device. The mobile communication device is used for communication between the drone device (10) and a mobile communication base station. The WLAN device is used for communication between drone devices (10). The communication modules (16) of the drone devices (10) form a wireless ad hoc network. When the communication module (16) of a drone device (10) cannot connect to the control center (20), the communication modules (16) of other drone devices (10) are used as relay nodes to connect to the control center (20).

7. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The adjacent UAV equipment (10) obtains the flow rate of the flash flood by monitoring the arrival time of the flash flood, and then obtains the estimated time when the flash flood will arrive downstream by using the distance information from the downstream. The control center (20) promptly notifies the downstream related areas of the estimated time when the flash flood will arrive downstream to improve the efficiency and quality of early warning.

8. The flash flood early warning and monitoring method using a drone formation as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The flash flood warning method in step 4 includes the control center (20) notifying personnel in the relevant area by wireless communication, or controlling the drone equipment (10) to follow the river valley or to the designated area, and reminding personnel in the relevant area to avoid and prevent flash floods by sound or light.

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