An autonomous recovery and release device and system for a rotary-wing UAV

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. The device is installed above the rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and can realize the autonomous recovery and release of the rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle under the action of a recovery net. The structure includes a screw rod and at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies. The screw rod is arranged inside a rectangular sleeve and connected to the output end of a driving motor. The screw rod is threaded with a limit nut. A compression spring and a connecting rod slider are respectively sleeved at the bottom of the screw rod. The short connecting rods of the at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies are respectively connected to the connecting rod slider through a long strip notch arranged on the rectangular sleeve, and the long connecting rods of the at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies are respectively connected to the top of the rectangular sleeve. The autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention is small in size and light in weight. It can be used for small rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicles with small size and load. It has strong position error tolerance and attitude error tolerance capabilities. The control accuracy requirement is low during recovery, which greatly reduces the control difficulty.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and in particular to an autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle and a system thereof. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of aviation technology, various types of drones have begun to be widely used in the fields of agricultural and forestry plant protection, disaster relief, logistics and transportation. However, in the actual application process, it is found that the endurance and load capacity of drones are limited by their size. Among them, large drones have strong endurance and load capacity, but their maneuverability, operability and safety are weak, especially not suitable for operation in complex environments. Although small drones can operate in complex terrain environments, they have the disadvantages of short endurance and cannot fly for a long time and long distance. Therefore, based on the comprehensive characteristics of large and small drones, a mother-and-child drone is adopted, that is, a large drone is used as the mother drone, carrying a small drone as a child drone to the target location, and then releasing the child drone, recovering the child drone and returning after completing the operation, which can effectively solve the problems related to drone endurance, load and environmental adaptability. However, how to safely and efficiently complete the release and recovery of the child drone is a key issue in the research and development of mother-and-child drones. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention cleverly designs a device that can efficiently and reliably complete the recovery and release of small rotary-wing drones. On the one hand, the device can cooperate with the mother-child drone to solve the problem of short flight time and inability to fly for a long time and long distance in existing small drones; on the other hand, the device can also effectively solve the problem that existing small drones cannot be safely and efficiently recovered and released. At the same time, the recovery and release device provided by the present invention can be used for the recovery and release of rotary-wing drones in fixed scenes, and can also be used for large rotary-wing drones as mother machines to release and recover small rotary-wing drones as daughter machines in the air, so that the mother machine can release and recover the daughter machine under the conditions of hovering in the air or flying at a low speed.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above technical problems is: an autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV, comprising a screw, a mounting sleeve, a drive motor and at least two sets of connecting rod assemblies, wherein:

[0005] The screw rod is arranged inside the installation sleeve and connected to the output end of the driving motor, and the thread on the screw rod is matched with a limit nut;

[0006] The connecting rod assembly is composed of a long connecting rod and a short connecting rod hinged to the long connecting rod;

[0007] The mounting sleeve is provided with at least two long strip-shaped notches matching the connecting rod assembly;

[0008] A compression spring and a connecting rod slider are respectively sleeved on the bottom of the screw rod, the connecting rod slider is arranged above the compression spring, and the limit nut is arranged above the connecting rod slider;

[0009] The short connecting rods in the at least two connecting rod assemblies extend into the interior of the mounting sleeve through the long strip notches and are fixedly connected to the connecting rod sliders, and the long connecting rods in the at least two connecting rod assemblies are connected to the top of the mounting sleeve.

[0010] Furthermore, the mounting sleeve is a rectangular sleeve, a rectangular sleeve bottom cover is provided at the lower end of the rectangular sleeve, the driving motor is installed below the rectangular sleeve bottom cover, and one end of the compression spring is connected to the rectangular sleeve bottom cover; a screw support bearing is provided at the top of the screw, and the screw support bearing is installed in the center of the top of the rectangular sleeve for fixing the screw; the limiting nut is composed of a screw nut and a motor slider integrally arranged with the screw nut, and the motor slider can slide along the screw under the drive of the motor, and remain no longer moved under the self-locking of the screw spiral transmission.

[0011] Preferably, the connecting rod assembly is provided with four groups, which are symmetrically arranged in pairs and extended in four directions, and the rectangular sleeve is provided with four long strip notches correspondingly.

[0012] The present invention also provides a rotary-wing UAV autonomous recovery and release system, comprising a rotary-wing UAV, the autonomous recovery and release device in the above-mentioned scheme, and a recovery net. The autonomous recovery and release device is installed on the top of the rotary-wing UAV, and can realize the recovery and release of the rotary-wing UAV on the recovery net.

[0013] Furthermore, during the recovery and release of the rotorcraft UAV, the connecting rod slider can slide up and down in the rectangular sleeve and drive the long connecting rod in the connecting rod assembly to rotate upward, and the connecting rod assembly can sequentially pass through three states of downward folding, outward expansion, and upward folding; wherein: during the process of the connecting rod assembly being folded downward, the connecting rod slider can be moved to a position where the compression spring is compressed; during the process of the connecting rod assembly being expanded outward, the connecting rod slider moves from bottom to top, and the motor slider can play a limiting role; during the process of the connecting rod assembly being folded upward, the sliding range of the connecting rod slider and the rotation range of the long connecting rod in the connecting rod assembly can be changed by changing the position of the motor slider.

[0014] Furthermore, the mesh size of the recovery net matches the size of the autonomous recovery and release device when it is in an upwardly retracted or downwardly retracted state.

[0015] Furthermore, the recovery net can be installed at a fixed position or under a large UAV serving as a mother aircraft.

[0016] Preferably, the autonomous recovery and release device is mounted and fixed to the top of the rotary-wing UAV via a device mounting member.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and effects:

[0018] (1) The autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV provided by the present invention is provided with a compression spring, a connecting rod slider and a limit nut on the outside of the screw rod, respectively. The connecting rod slider is connected to the connecting rod assembly, and the limit nut is used to limit the movement of the connecting rod slider; during the recovery process of the rotary-wing UAV, the autonomous recovery and release device, under the action of the recovery net, the connecting rod assembly is retracted downward by the elasticity of the compression elasticity. After successfully passing through the mesh of the recovery net, the compression spring in the compressed state restores the elastic deformation, driving the connecting rod assembly to expand outward, and the limit nut limits the connecting rod slider. The UAV is hung on the net, and the recovery work is completed. The entire recovery process is passively realized, and no active drive of the device is required; during the release process of the rotary-wing UAV, the limit nut is driven by the motor to move upward, changing the limit of the connecting rod slider. Due to the action of gravity, the connecting rod assembly is retracted upward, and the UAV falls out of the recovery net to complete the release operation. During this process, the driving motor is controlled by the controller. In summary, the autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV described in the present invention can safely, reliably and efficiently complete the recovery and release of the UAV.

[0019] (2) The recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV described in the present invention is small in size and light in weight, and can be used for small rotary-wing UAVs with small size and load. During recovery, the connecting rod assembly can be inserted into any grid of the recovery net at any angle, and has strong position error tolerance and attitude error tolerance capabilities. In addition, the device has low control accuracy requirements for the UAV, which greatly reduces the control difficulty.

[0020] (3) The autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV described in the present invention is installed above the rotary-wing UAV, so that the rotary-wing UAV can be autonomously recovered and released under the recovery net. On the one hand, it can be applied to the recovery and release of the rotary-wing UAV in a fixed scene, and on the other hand, it can be applied to the large rotary-wing UAV as the mother aircraft to release and recover the small rotary-wing UAV as the daughter aircraft in the air, so that the mother aircraft can release and recover the daughter aircraft under the conditions of hovering in the air or flying at a low speed. The recovery process is passively completed by using the elasticity of the compression spring arranged on the outside of the screw rod, without the need for the device itself to be driven, thereby improving the reliability of the recovery process. The release process is actively completed under the drive of the motor, so that multiple autonomous recovery and release of the rotary-wing UAV can be achieved.

[0021] (4) During the recovery process of the rotary-wing UAV autonomous recovery and release device of the present invention, the deployment process of the connecting rod assembly does not affect the flight attitude and stability of the UAV.

[0022] (5) The autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention can facilitate manual hanging of the rotary-wing UAV on the recovery net in advance, and can also facilitate manual removal of the rotary-wing UAV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0024] Figure 1 The present invention is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of an autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV installed on the top of the rotary-wing UAV.

[0025] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention in an outwardly deployed state.

[0027] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention in a downwardly retracted state.

[0028] Figure 5 The figure is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the autonomous recovery and release device for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention in an upwardly retracted state.

[0029] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the rotor UAV waiting for recovery in the rotor UAV autonomous recovery and release system of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the recovery process of the rotary-wing UAV in the autonomous recovery and release system of the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the autonomous recovery and release system for the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention, in which the connecting rod assembly is in an outwardly deployed state, and the rotary-wing UAV completes net recovery and waits for release.

[0032] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the release process of the rotary-wing UAV in the autonomous recovery and release system of the rotary-wing UAV of the present invention.

[0033] Explanation of reference numbers: 1. Rotary-wing UAV; 2. Autonomous recovery and release device for rotary-wing UAV; 21. Driving motor; 22. Connecting assembly; 221. Long connecting rod; 222. Short connecting rod; 23. Rectangular sleeve; 231. Rectangular sleeve bottom cover; 24. Screw; 25. Compression spring; 26. Connecting rod slider; 27. Screw nut; 28. Motor slider; 29. ​​Screw support bearing; 3. Device mounting parts; 4. Recovery net. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with embodiments. The following embodiments are for explanation of the present invention but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0035] Example 1: Figures 2 to 5 As shown, an autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV comprises a screw rod 24, a mounting sleeve, a drive motor 21 and at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies 22, wherein: the screw rod 24 is arranged inside the mounting sleeve and connected to the output end of the drive motor 21, and the screw rod 24 is threaded with a limit nut; the connecting rod assembly 22 is composed of a long connecting rod 221 and a short connecting rod 222 hinged to the long connecting rod 221; the mounting sleeve is provided with at least two long strip notches matching the connecting rod assembly 22; a compression spring 25 and a connecting rod slider 26 are respectively sleeved at the bottom of the screw rod 24, the connecting rod slider 26 is arranged above the compression spring 25, and the limit nut is arranged above the connecting rod slider 26; the short connecting rods 222 in the at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies 22 respectively extend into the interior of the mounting sleeve through the long strip notches and are fixedly connected to the connecting rod slider 26, and the long connecting rods 221 in the at least two groups of connecting rod assemblies 22 are respectively connected to the top of the mounting sleeve.

[0036] Specifically, in this embodiment 1, the mounting sleeve is a rectangular sleeve 23, a rectangular sleeve bottom cover 231 is provided at the lower end of the rectangular sleeve 23, the driving motor 21 is installed below the rectangular sleeve bottom cover 231, and one end of the compression spring 25 is connected to the rectangular sleeve bottom cover 231; a screw support bearing 29 is provided at the top of the screw rod 24, and the screw support bearing 29 is installed at the top center of the rectangular sleeve 23 for fixing the screw rod 24; the limiting nut is composed of a screw rod nut 27 and a motor slider 28 integrally arranged with the screw rod nut 27, and the motor slider 28 can slide along the screw rod 24 under the drive of the motor, and remain no longer moving under the self-locking of the screw spiral transmission.

[0037] Further, as a preferred implementation scheme, in this embodiment 1, the connecting rod assembly 22 is provided with four groups, which are symmetrically arranged in pairs and extended in four directions, and the rectangular sleeve 23 is correspondingly provided with four long strip-shaped notches.

[0038] Example 2: Figures 1 to 9 As shown, a rotary-wing UAV autonomous recovery and release system includes a rotary-wing UAV 1, the autonomous recovery and release device 2 described in Example 1, and a recovery net 4. The autonomous recovery and release device 2 is fixed to the top of the rotary-wing UAV 1 through a device mounting part 3, so that the rotary-wing UAV can be recovered and released on the recovery net 4.

[0039] like Figures 3 to 5 As shown, during the recovery and release process of the rotary wing UAV, the connecting rod slider 26 can slide up and down in the rectangular sleeve 23, and drive the long connecting rod 221 in the connecting rod assembly 22 to rotate upward, and the connecting rod assembly 22 can be retracted downward ( Figure 4 ), expand outwards ( Figure 3 ), collapse upwards ( Figure 5 ) three states; wherein: during the process of the connecting rod assembly 22 being folded downward, the connecting rod slider 26 can be moved to a position where the compression spring 25 is compressed; during the process of the connecting rod assembly 22 being expanded outward, the connecting rod slider 26 moves from bottom to top, and the motor slider 28 can play a limiting role; during the process of the connecting rod assembly 22 being folded upward, the sliding range of the connecting rod slider 26 and the rotation range of the long connecting rod 221 in the connecting rod assembly can be changed by changing the position of the motor slider 28.

[0040] like Figures 6 to 9 As shown, in this embodiment 2, the mesh size of the recovery net 4 is the same as that of the autonomous recovery and release device 2 when it is retracted upward ( Figure 5 ) or collapse downwards ( Figure 4 ) state.

[0041] As an alternative implementation, in this embodiment 2, the recovery net 4 can be installed in a fixed position or under a large unmanned aerial vehicle serving as a mother aircraft.

[0042] Specifically, in the autonomous recovery and release system for the rotary-wing UAV described in Example 2, the recovery and release process of the rotary-wing UAV is as follows:

[0043] like Figure 6 As shown, the connecting rod assembly is in the outward deployed state, and the rotorcraft is waiting to be recovered:

[0044] When the rotor drone 1 performs autonomous recovery, the rotor drone 1 flies below the recovery net 4. Figure 3 As shown, at this time, the motor slider 28 in the autonomous recovery and release device 2 of the rotor drone slides to the Figure 3 The connecting rod slider 26 slides upward under the action of the compression spring 25, and under the limiting action of the motor slider 28, the connecting rod slider 26 slides to the position shown in FIG. Figure 4The long connecting rod 221 in the connecting rod assembly rotates to the position shown by the short connecting rod 222 and the driving of the connecting rod slider 26. Figure 3 In the position shown in , the connecting rod assembly is in the outward deployed state and the rotorcraft drone is waiting to be recovered.

[0045] like Figure 4 , Figure 7 , Figure 3 , Figure 8 As shown, the connecting rod assembly is retracted downward, and the rotor drone begins to recover:

[0046] The rotor drone 1 flies upward under the control of the flight control system, approaching the recovery net 4, until one or more of the long connecting rods 221 of the connecting rod assembly 22 touch the recovery net. Then, as the rotor drone 1 continues to fly upward, the long connecting rod 221 of the connecting rod assembly rotates downward under the action of the recovery net 4, and drives the connecting rod slider 26 to slide downward through the short connecting rod 222. Under the action of the connecting rod slider 26, the compression spring 25 is compressed. At this time, the connecting rod assembly is in a state as shown in FIG. Figure 4 The rotor drone 1 flies upward until the long connecting rod 222 of the connecting rod assembly is higher than the recovery net 4 and loses contact with the recovery net 4. At this time, the long connecting rod 222 of the connecting rod assembly loses the function of recovering the net 4, and the connecting rod slider 26 slides upward under the action of the compression spring 25 in a compressed state until it reaches Figure 3 The long link of the connecting rod assembly will also rotate to the position shown in Figure 3 , the connecting rod assembly changes to the outwardly extended state. Then the rotor UAV 1 stops flying and is suspended on the recovery net 4 through the connecting rod assembly under the action of gravity. At this time, the long connecting rod 222 in the connecting rod assembly tends to rotate upward under the action of the recovery net 4, but due to the limiting effect of the motor slider 28, the connecting rod slider 26 cannot slide upward, and the long connecting rod 222 of the connecting rod assembly cannot rotate. At this point, the recovery process of the UAV ends. Figure 8 shown.

[0047] like Figure 8 The connecting rod assembly is in an outwardly deployed state, the rotor UAV completes recovery and waits for release. As shown in the schematic diagram, the connecting rod assembly is in an outwardly deployed state, and the rotor UAV 1 is suspended on the recovery net 4 through the connecting rod assembly under the action of gravity, and due to the limiting effect of the motor slider 28, the long connecting rod of the connecting rod assembly cannot rotate upward, and the connecting rod assembly will not fall out of the mesh of the recovery net 4.

[0048] like Fig. 9 As shown in the schematic diagram of the release process of the rotary wing drone, when the rotary wing drone 1 is released autonomously, the drive motor 21 drives the motor slider 28 to slide upward until Figure 5The motor slider 28 is located in the middle. The connecting rod slider 26 loses the limit of the motor slider 28. At the same time, due to gravity, the long connecting rod of the connecting rod assembly is rotated upward by the action of the recovery net 4, driving the connecting rod slider 26 to slide upward, and the connecting rod assembly is in Figure 5 The rotor drone 1 loses its suspension and falls under the action of gravity, and then the rotor drone 1 starts to fly independently. During flight, the motor 21 drives the motor slider 26 to slide downward to Figure 3 At the position shown in , the connecting rod assembly returns to the outwardly deployed state again, and the rotor drone can be recovered next time. At this point, the release process of the drone is completed. Figure 6 shown.

[0049] The autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV described in Example 1 of the present invention is relatively simple to install and disassemble, has a stable and reliable structure, is easy to use, and is small in size and light in weight. It can be suitable for use with small UAVs with smaller size and load. It can realize the autonomous recovery and release of rotary-wing UAVs in fixed scenes, and can also realize the release and recovery of small rotary-wing UAVs by large rotary-wing UAVs in the air.

[0050] The autonomous recovery and release device for rotory-wing UAVs described in Example 1 of the present invention can realize multiple autonomous releases and recoveries of multiple rotory-wing UAVs. The recovery process is passively realized and does not require active driving of the device. At the same time, it has strong tolerance for position errors and attitude errors of the UAVs and low requirements for the control accuracy of the UAVs. This improves the reliability of the recovery process while greatly reducing the control difficulty.

[0051] In addition, it should be noted that the shapes and names of the parts and components of the specific embodiments described in this specification may be different. Any equivalent or simple changes made based on the structure, features and principles described in the patent concept of the present invention are included in the protection scope of the patent of the present invention. The technicians in the technical field of the present invention can make various modifications or supplements to the specific embodiments described or replace them in a similar manner, as long as they do not deviate from the structure of the present invention or exceed the scope defined by the claims, they should all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV, characterized in that: It includes a screw rod, a mounting sleeve, a drive motor and at least two connecting rod assemblies, wherein: The screw rod is arranged inside the installation sleeve and connected to the output end of the driving motor, and the thread on the screw rod is matched with a limit nut; The connecting rod assembly is composed of a long connecting rod and a short connecting rod hinged to the long connecting rod; The mounting sleeve is provided with at least two long strip-shaped notches matching the connecting rod assembly; A compression spring and a connecting rod slider are respectively sleeved on the bottom of the screw rod, the connecting rod slider is arranged above the compression spring, and the limit nut is arranged above the connecting rod slider; The short connecting rods in the at least two connecting rod assemblies extend into the interior of the mounting sleeve through the long strip notches and are fixedly connected to the connecting rod sliders, and the long connecting rods in the at least two connecting rod assemblies are connected to the top of the mounting sleeves respectively; The mounting sleeve is a rectangular sleeve, and a rectangular sleeve bottom cover is provided at the lower end of the rectangular sleeve. The driving motor is installed below the rectangular sleeve bottom cover, and one end of the compression spring is connected to the rectangular sleeve bottom cover; a screw support bearing is provided at the top of the screw, and the screw support bearing is installed in the center of the top of the rectangular sleeve for fixing the screw; the limiting nut is composed of a screw nut and a motor slider integrally arranged with the screw nut, and the motor slider can slide along the screw under the drive of the motor, and remain no longer moving under the self-locking of the screw spiral transmission.

2. The autonomous recovery and release device for a rotary-wing UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting rod assembly is provided with four groups, which are symmetrically arranged in pairs and extended in four directions. The rectangular sleeve is provided with four long strip notches correspondingly.

3. A rotary wing UAV autonomous recovery and release system, characterized in that: It comprises a rotary-wing UAV, the autonomous recovery and release device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, and a recovery net, wherein the autonomous recovery and release device is installed on the top of the rotary-wing UAV, and can realize the recovery and release of the rotary-wing UAV on the recovery net.

4. The autonomous recovery and release system for a rotary wing UAV according to claim 3 is characterized in that: During the recovery and release process of the rotor UAV, the connecting rod slider can slide up and down in the rectangular sleeve and drive the long connecting rod in the connecting rod assembly to rotate upward. The connecting rod assembly can sequentially pass through three states of downward folding, outward expansion, and upward folding; wherein: during the process of the connecting rod assembly being folded downward, the connecting rod slider can be moved to a position that compresses the compression spring; during the process of the connecting rod assembly being expanded outward, the connecting rod slider moves from bottom to top, and the motor slider can play a limiting role; during the process of the connecting rod assembly being folded upward, the sliding range of the connecting rod slider and the rotation range of the long connecting rod in the connecting rod assembly can be changed by changing the position of the motor slider.

5. The autonomous recovery and release system for a rotary wing UAV according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The mesh size of the recovery net matches the size of the autonomous recovery and release device when it is in an upwardly retracted or downwardly retracted state.

6. The autonomous recovery and release system for a rotary wing UAV according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The recovery net can be installed in a fixed position or under a large UAV serving as a parent aircraft.

7. The autonomous recovery and release system for a rotary wing UAV according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The autonomous recovery and release device is fixed to the top of the rotary-wing UAV via a device mounting piece.

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