Measuring mechanism for traction force vector of tethered UAV tethered cable

Abstract

The present invention provides a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle tether cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism, which can measure and feedback the tether cable traction tension vector information in real time, so that the flight control system can effectively control the unmanned aerial vehicle, maintain a normal flight attitude at any time, and ensure the flight safety of the tethered unmanned aerial vehicle. The measurement mechanism includes: an adaptive follow-up tether cable connection mechanism and a sensor group; the adaptive follow-up tether cable connection mechanism includes: two semicircular pull rings and a sliding buckle connection assembly; the sensor group includes: angle sensors for measuring the two semicircular pull rings and a tension sensor arranged between the tether cable and the tethered unmanned aerial vehicle connection point; the direction indicated by the synthesis of the two semicircular pull rings is the traction tension vector direction, and the tension measured by the tension sensor is the size of the traction tension vector. The present invention provides a reliable basis and effect feedback for the tethered unmanned aerial vehicle flight control system to implement effective control, thereby ensuring flight safety.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a tension measurement mechanism, in particular to a tethered unmanned aerial vehicle tethering cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism, belonging to the field of tethered unmanned aerial vehicle flight control. Background Art

[0002] At present, in the field of tethered UAV flight control, due to the effect of tethered traction, there is an important flight parameter that has no effective monitoring method, namely: the measurement of the traction force vector (including the size and direction of the traction force). This parameter changes with the flight conditions such as wind force, wind direction, tether cable length (weight), and flight altitude. Especially when the wind force and wind direction change suddenly, the UAV is often out of control due to the lack of effective monitoring and control methods, which seriously affects the use function of the mount and the wind resistance of the UAV, and even leads to a crash. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this: the present invention provides a tethered UAV tether cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism, which can measure and feedback the tether cable traction tension vector information in real time, so that the flight control system can effectively control the UAV, maintain a normal flight posture at any time, and ensure the flight safety of the tethered UAV.

[0004] The mooring cable is connected to the tethered UAV through a mooring cable traction mechanism, and the mooring cable extension line passing through the connection point between the mooring cable and the mooring cable traction mechanism always passes through the center of gravity of the tethered UAV, and the direction indicated by the mooring cable extension line is the direction of the pulling force vector;

[0005] The tethered drone tether cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism includes: a direction measurement component for measuring the direction indicated by the tether cable extension line and a tension sensor arranged between the tether cable and the tether cable traction mechanism, the angle measured by the direction measurement component is the direction angle of the traction tension vector, and the tension measured by the tension sensor is the magnitude of the traction tension vector.

[0006] The mooring cable traction mechanism comprises: two semicircular pull rings and a sliding buckle connection assembly; the two semicircular pull rings are connected to the drone body after crossing, and the centers of the two semicircular pull rings coincide with the center of gravity of the moored drone; the semicircular pull ring can rotate around the line between its two end points on a hemispherical surface formed by the two semicircular pull rings with the center of gravity of the drone as the center;

[0007] The sliding buckle connection assembly is installed at the intersection of the two semicircular pull rings, and the sliding buckle connection assembly can slide along the two semicircular pull rings, so that the sliding buckle connection assembly can stop at any point on the hemispherical surface formed by the two semicircular pull rings with the center of gravity of the drone as the center of the circle; the connection point between the mooring cable and the moored drone is set on the sliding buckle connection assembly;

[0008] The direction measuring component comprises two angle sensors for measuring the rotation angles of the two semicircular pull rings respectively, and the direction indicated by the synthesis of the rotation angles of the two semicircular pull rings is the direction of the traction force vector.

[0009] Both ends of the semicircular pull ring are connected to the bottom surface of the drone body through a pull ring hinge seat;

[0010] The pull ring hinge seat comprises: a mounting seat and a pull ring rotating shaft supported in the mounting seat by a bearing, the pull ring rotating shaft can rotate around its axis; one end of the pull ring rotating shaft extends out of the mounting seat and is connected to the corresponding semicircular pull ring end; when the semicircular pull ring rotates, it rotates around the axis of the pull ring rotating shaft in the pull ring hinge seat connected thereto; a sensor mounting hole is provided on the mounting seat;

[0011] An angle sensor is installed in the sensor installation hole of at least one of the two pull ring hinge seats connected to the same semicircular pull ring, and the angle of the pull ring shaft is measured by the angle sensor to obtain the angle of the semicircular pull ring connected thereto.

[0012] The sliding buckle connection assembly comprises: a sliding buckle seat and a connecting rod; the two semicircular pull rings are respectively an upper guide pull ring and a lower guide pull ring;

[0013] An open groove is processed at one end of the slide buckle seat for the lower guide pull ring to pass through, and one or more guide pull ring rollers are arranged at the end of the open end of the open groove; at the same time, a guide pull ring slide is arranged on the end surface of the end where the open groove of the slide buckle seat is located, and an upper guide pull ring slide groove is arranged on the guide pull ring slide for the upper guide pull ring to be embedded, and the upper guide pull ring is slidably matched with the upper guide pull ring slide groove;

[0014] The other end of the sliding buckle seat is connected to a connecting rod, and a connection point for connecting to a mooring cable is provided on the connecting rod. The tension sensor is connected in series between the mooring cable and the mooring cable connection point on the connecting rod, and is used to measure the magnitude of the traction tension vector of the mooring cable of the tethered drone.

[0015] Beneficial effects:

[0016] An angle sensor is docked on the rotating shaft at the root of the pull ring of the adaptive follow-up mooring cable connection mechanism of the tethered UAV, and a tension sensor is installed between the connection point of the mooring cable and the sliding buckle connection assembly. The sensor group can sense and feedback the traction tension vector information of the mooring cable, providing a reliable basis and effect feedback for the effective regulation of the UAV flight control system, ensuring flight safety, and overcoming the technical difficulties that have long restricted the further increase of flight altitude and extension of hovering time of this type of aircraft, greatly improving the wind resistance and working reliability of the UAV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the pull ring hinge seat;

[0019] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the mooring cable slider connection assembly.

[0020] Among them: 1-UAV body, 2-UAV center of gravity, 3-upper guide pull ring, 4-pull ring hinge seat, 5-lower guide pull ring, 6-slide buckle connection assembly, 4-1 pull ring shaft, 4-2 bearing, 4-3 mounting seat, 4-4 angle sensor mounting hole, 6-1 upper guide pull ring slide, 6-2 lower guide pull ring roller, 6-3 slide buckle seat, 6-4 connecting rod, 6-5 quick-release connector, 6-6 mooring cable fixing pile DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0022] This embodiment provides a tethered UAV tether cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism, through which the tether cable traction tension vector information can be measured and fed back in real time, so that the flight control system can effectively control the UAV.

[0023] The basic principle of the measuring mechanism is: the mooring cable is connected to the tethered UAV through the mooring cable pulling mechanism. First, the mooring cable pulling mechanism is set to ensure that the mooring cable extension line passing through the connection point between the mooring cable and the mooring cable pulling mechanism always passes through the center of gravity of the UAV. The direction indicated by the extension line is the direction of the traction tension vector; on this basis, multiple sensors are arranged to measure the direction and magnitude of the traction tension.

[0024] The adaptive follow-up mooring cable pulling mechanism constructed in this example is:

[0025] like Figure 1As shown, the adaptive follow-up mooring cable traction mechanism includes: an upper guide pull ring 3, a lower guide pull ring 5, four pull ring hinge seats 4 and a sliding buckle connection assembly 6; wherein the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 are both semicircular pull rings, and the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 are cross-arranged on the drone body 1 (so that the line between the two end points of the guide pull ring 3 and the line between the two end points of the lower guide pull ring 5 are perpendicular to each other), forming a follow-up mechanism. Specifically, four pull ring hinge seats 4 distributed in a cross shape are arranged on the bottom edge or side of the drone body 1, and each pull ring corresponds to two pull ring hinge seats 4 (that is, the two ends of each pull ring correspond to one pull ring hinge seat 4); after the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 are crossed, the ends of the pull rings are connected to the corresponding pull ring hinge seats, that is, the two ends of each pull ring are connected to the drone body 1 through the pull ring hinge seats. The centers of the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 coincide with the center of gravity 2 of the UAV, and each pull ring can rotate around the line between its two end points on the hemispherical surface formed by the two pull rings with the center of gravity of the UAV as the center.

[0026] The intersection of the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 is connected by a sliding buckle connection assembly 6. The mooring cable connection point is designed on the sliding buckle connection assembly 6 connecting the intersection of the two pull rings, and can move along the pull ring under the constraint of the sliding buckle connection assembly 6, so that the connection point can stop at any point on the hemispherical surface formed by the pull ring with the center of gravity of the drone as the center of the circle according to the flight state. So far, no matter how the flight state of the tethered drone changes, the torque between the mooring cable connection point and the center of gravity caused by the change will drive the connection point to automatically reach the appropriate position on the spherical surface, so that the mooring cable extension line connected to the connection point always passes through the center of gravity of the drone. At the same time, the direction indicated by the mooring cable extension line is the direction of the traction tension vector. The guiding effect of the two pull rings ensures the follow-up position of the sliding buckle connection assembly 6 on the spherical surface.

[0027] Specifically: the structure of the pull ring hinge seat 4 is as follows Figure 2 As shown, it includes: a mounting seat 4-3 and a pull ring shaft 4-1 supported in the mounting seat 4-3 through a bearing 4-2; the pull ring shaft 4-1 can rotate around its axis; one end of the pull ring shaft 4-1 is supported in the bearing 4-2, and the other end extends out of the mounting seat 4-3 and is provided with a U-shaped groove for the pull ring to be embedded and installed. After the end of the pull ring is embedded in the U-shaped groove, it is fixedly connected to the pull ring shaft 4-1. An angle sensor mounting hole 4-4 is provided on the mounting seat 4-3.

[0028] The structure of the sliding buckle connection component 6 is as follows Figure 3As shown, it includes: a sliding buckle seat 6-3, a connecting rod 6-4 and a quick-release connector 6-5. One end of the sliding buckle seat 6-3 is processed with an open groove for the lower guide pull ring 5 to pass through, and the end of the open end of the open groove is provided with two lower guide pull ring rollers 6-2. At the same time, an upper guide pull ring slide is provided on the end surface of the open groove end of the sliding buckle seat 6-3, and an upper guide pull ring slide groove 6-1 for the upper guide pull ring 3 to be embedded is provided on the upper guide pull ring slide. The other end of the sliding buckle seat 6-3 is connected to the connecting rod 6-4, and the connecting rod 6-4 is provided with a quick-release connector 6-5 (such as a buckle) for quick connection with the mooring cable fixing pile 6-6. The mooring cable is bound to the mooring cable fixing pile 6-6, and the mooring cable fixing pile 6-6 is quickly connected to the mooring cable sliding buckle connection assembly 6 through the quick-release connector 6-5.

[0029] Secondly, install the sensor to measure the mooring cable pulling force vector:

[0030] An angle sensor is installed in the sensor installation hole 4-4 on the pull ring hinge seat 4, which is used to sense the rotation angle of the pull ring connected to it (the rotation angle of the pull ring connected to it is obtained by sensing the rotation angle of the pull ring shaft 4-1 through the angle sensor), and the direction indicated by the synthesis of the two pull ring angles is the direction of the traction tension vector (the angle of the vector is a three-dimensional space angle from the center of the circle to a point on the sphere, and each pull ring angle reflects the plane angle of the plane where it is located, and the three-dimensional space angle is jointly expressed by these two angle values); a tension sensor is connected in series between the connection point on the mooring cable and the connecting rod 6-4, and the tension measured by the tension sensor is the size of the traction tension vector; thereby, the vector information of the traction tension can be obtained through the signals fed back by the angle sensor and the tension sensor.

[0031] The realization process of the traction tension vector measurement mechanism of the tethered UAV tethering cable is as follows: modify the pull ring hinge seat 4, that is, connect the angle sensor with the pull ring shaft 4-1 connected to the ends of the upper guide pull ring 3 and the lower guide pull ring 5 respectively, and lead the angle sensor signal line to the flight control system; modify the tethering cable slider connection assembly 6, that is, install the tension sensor in series between the connection points on the tethering cable and the tethering cable slider connection assembly 6, and lead the tension sensor signal line to the flight control system.

[0032] The actual operation process and function of the mooring cable traction force vector measurement mechanism are as follows:

[0033] When the tethered UAV is launched, under the combined effect of the flight attitude, wind force, wind direction, length (weight) of the tethering cable, flight altitude, etc. at that time, the sliding buckle connection assembly 6 will stay at a certain position on the spherical surface defined by the two pull rings, and the extension line of the tethering cable will pass through the center of gravity of the UAV. At this time, the direction of the tethering cable pulling force vector points from the center of gravity of the UAV to the sliding buckle connection assembly 6, and is quantitatively fed back to the flight control system through the signal line by the angle sensor installed in the pull ring hinge seat 4; at the same time, the tension sensor installed in the sliding buckle connection assembly 6 quantitatively feeds back the current tension to the flight control system through the signal line.

[0034] When any flight state parameter such as flight attitude, wind force, wind direction, mooring cable length (weight), flight altitude, etc. changes, the previous equilibrium state is destroyed, and the generated eccentric torque will drive the slider connection assembly 6 to a new equilibrium position. At the same time, the new mooring cable traction tension vector signal is updated and fed back to the flight control system.

[0035] At this point, the expected function of the present invention has been fully realized, namely: online measurement of the traction tension vector information of the mooring cable and real-time feedback to the flight control system, providing a reliable basis and effect feedback for the flight control system to effectively control the UAV.

[0036] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A tethered UAV tethered cable traction force vector measurement mechanism, characterized by: The mooring cable is connected to the tethered UAV through a mooring cable traction mechanism, and the mooring cable extension line passing through the connection point between the mooring cable and the mooring cable traction mechanism always passes through the center of gravity of the tethered UAV, and the direction indicated by the mooring cable extension line is the direction of the traction tension vector; The traction tension vector measurement mechanism includes: a direction measurement component for measuring the direction indicated by the mooring cable extension line and a tension sensor arranged between the mooring cable and the mooring cable traction mechanism, the angle measured by the direction measurement component is the direction angle of the traction tension vector, and the tension measured by the tension sensor is the magnitude of the traction tension vector; The mooring cable traction mechanism comprises: two semicircular pull rings and a sliding buckle connection assembly (6); the two semicircular pull rings are connected to the drone body (1) after crossing, and the centers of the two semicircular pull rings coincide with the center of gravity of the moored drone; the semicircular pull ring can rotate around the line between its two end points on a hemispherical surface formed by the two semicircular pull rings with the center of gravity of the drone as the center of the circle; The sliding buckle connection component (6) is installed at the intersection of the two semicircular pull rings, and the sliding buckle connection component (6) can slide along the two semicircular pull rings, so that the sliding buckle connection component (6) can stop at any point on the hemispherical surface formed by the two semicircular pull rings with the center of gravity of the drone as the center of the circle; the connection point between the mooring cable and the moored drone is arranged on the sliding buckle connection component (6); The direction measuring component comprises two angle sensors for measuring the rotation angles of the two semicircular pull rings respectively, and the direction indicated by the synthesis of the rotation angles of the two semicircular pull rings is the direction of the traction force vector.

2. The tethered UAV tether cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: Both ends of the semicircular pull ring are connected to the bottom surface of the drone body (1) via a pull ring hinge seat (4); The pull ring hinge seat (4) comprises: a mounting seat (4-3) and a pull ring rotating shaft (4-1) supported in the mounting seat (4-3) via a bearing (4-2), wherein the pull ring rotating shaft (4-1) can rotate around its axis; one end of the pull ring rotating shaft (4-1) extends out of the mounting seat (4-3) and is connected to the corresponding end of the semicircular pull ring; when the semicircular pull ring rotates, it rotates around the axis of the pull ring rotating shaft (4-1) in the pull ring hinge seat (4) connected thereto; and a sensor mounting hole (4-4) is provided on the mounting seat (4-3); An angle sensor is installed in the sensor installation hole (4-4) of at least one of the two pull ring hinge seats (4) connected to the same semicircular pull ring, and the rotation angle of the semicircular pull ring connected thereto is obtained by measuring the rotation angle of the pull ring rotation axis (4-1) through the angle sensor.

3. The tethered UAV tethering cable traction tension vector measurement mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The sliding buckle connection assembly (6) comprises: a sliding buckle seat (6-3) and a connecting rod (6-4); the two semicircular pull rings are respectively an upper guide pull ring (3) and a lower guide pull ring (5); An open groove for allowing the lower guide pull ring (5) to pass through is processed at one end of the slide buckle seat (6-3), and one or more guide pull ring rollers (6-2) are arranged at the end of the open end of the open groove; at the same time, a guide pull ring slide seat is arranged on the end surface of the end where the open groove of the slide buckle seat (6-3) is located, and an upper guide pull ring slide groove (6-1) for the upper guide pull ring (3) to be embedded is arranged on the guide pull ring slide seat, and the upper guide pull ring (3) is slidably matched with the upper guide pull ring slide groove (6-1); The other end of the sliding buckle seat (6-3) is connected to a connecting rod (6-4), and a connection point for connecting to a mooring cable is provided on the connecting rod (6-4). The tension sensor is connected in series between the mooring cable and the mooring cable connection point on the connecting rod (6-4) and is used to measure the magnitude of the pulling tension vector of the mooring cable of the tethered drone.

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