Unmanned aerial vehicle nest return centering mechanism and return centering method

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and provides a centering mechanism and a centering method for a machine nest of an unmanned aerial vehicle. The centering mechanism includes a flight platform, a push rod assembly, a guide rail assembly, a transmission mechanism and a driving mechanism. The push rod assembly is installed on the landing surface of the flight platform. The push rod assembly includes a plurality of push rod bodies distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform. The push rod bodies move relative to or toward each other along the track body of the guide rail assembly. The transmission mechanism is connected to the push rod body and is located at one end of the push rod body. A driving mechanism connected to the transmission mechanism is provided on the back of the landing surface of the flight platform. The present invention solves the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during return, reduces the structural complexity of the machine nest centering mechanism, has a low mass specific gravity, reduces the cost of the machine nest centering mechanism, realizes the advantages of high efficiency, reliability, light weight, safe and stable structure, easy production, installation and maintenance of the machine nest centering mechanism, and provides safety guarantee for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and in particular relates to a nest centering mechanism and a centering method for an unmanned aerial vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, are unmanned aircraft that are controlled by radio remote control equipment and self-contained program control devices. With the continuous development of drone technology and its wide application in various industries, drones are increasingly being used in more and more scenarios. For example, they are gradually being used in aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, micro selfies, express delivery, disaster relief, wildlife observation, infectious disease monitoring, surveying and mapping, news reporting, power inspections, disaster relief, film and television shooting, creating romance, and so on.

[0003] When returning to the destination, current drones often need to be controlled to land precisely at a designated location, and the drone nest is a platform for remote and precise take-off and landing of drones. However, drones are affected by factors such as flight speed, energy consumption, and positioning accuracy. When taking off and landing, the positioning accuracy of the drone itself is affected, resulting in the drone being unable to land accurately. If the position of the drone landing in the nest deviates from the center of the flight platform, the drone's posture will change unpredictably during take-off and landing. In severe cases, the drone may tilt or overturn, increasing safety risks in the use of drones.

[0004] In order to ensure that the UAV is centered in the machine nest, existing UAVs often use synchronous motor screw devices, which have complex structures, heavy weight and high costs, and cannot meet the actual needs of the UAV nest to be simple, lightweight and low-cost. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the problem that the synchronous motor screw device used for centering the position during takeoff and landing of the existing UAV has a complex structure, heavy weight, high cost, and is difficult to meet the lightweight and low-cost requirements of the UAV nest, the present invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism and a centering method, and utilizes an efficient, reliable and lightweight centering mechanism to be applied to the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle during return, thereby providing safety protection for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, in an embodiment provided by the present invention, a mechanism for returning an unmanned aerial vehicle to a nest is provided, comprising a flight platform, and further comprising:

[0008] A push rod assembly, the push rod assembly is installed on the landing surface of the flight platform, the push rod assembly includes a plurality of push rod bodies, and the push rod bodies are distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform;

[0009] A guide rail assembly, the guide rail assembly comprising a track body distributed along the periphery of the landing surface of the flight platform, and the push rod body slides along the track body; and

[0010] The transmission mechanism is connected to the push rod body and is located at one end of the push rod body. The back side of the landing surface of the flying platform is provided with a driving mechanism connected to the transmission mechanism.

[0011] When the unmanned aerial vehicle is landing, if the landing position of the unmanned aerial vehicle deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform of the machine nest, at this time, the driving mechanism is started, and the transmission mechanism is connected to drive the push rod assembly to slide along the guide rail assembly, and the push rod bodies distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform will return the unmanned aerial vehicle located at the eccentric position of the landing surface to the center, and the push rod body of the centering mechanism pushes the unmanned aerial vehicle on the landing surface to move toward the center position of the flight platform. It is efficient, reliable and lightweight, solves the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return, and provides safety protection for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0012] In some optional embodiments, the push rod assembly includes a plurality of push rod bodies that are parallel to each other in pairs, and the plurality of push rod bodies located around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform are distributed in a tic-tac-toe pattern, and the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other in pairs move relative to or toward each other.

[0013] Before the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other move toward each other and move to the surroundings of the landing surface at the center of the flight platform to ensure that enough landing space is reserved at the center of the flight platform. Since the position where the unmanned aerial vehicle lands at the machine nest deviates from the center of the flight platform. Therefore, after the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other move relative to each other, and the multiple push rod bodies distributed in a tic-tac-toe shape move synchronously toward the center of the flight platform, moving the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center of the flight platform toward the center of the flight platform, realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle and solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during return.

[0014] In some optional embodiments, the guide rail assembly includes at least four rail bodies distributed around the landing surface of the flight platform, the rail bodies are distributed in a rectangular shape, the rail bodies are provided with rail grooves, and the push rod body is provided with balls that move along the rail grooves.

[0015] The existence of the guide rail assembly enables the push rod body to maintain smooth movement when moving relative to or towards each other, and the two parallel push rod bodies do not deflect when moving. The push rod body is driven to move by the transmission mechanism, and the ball on the push rod body moves on the track groove of the fixed track body. The track groove guides the push rod body and limits it at the same time, which is beneficial to the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0016] In some optional embodiments, the transmission mechanism includes:

[0017] The transmission belt, the push rod body is fixedly connected to any position on the transmission belt;

[0018] Synchronous pulley, which is used to drive the transmission belt to rotate. The transmission belt is wound around the synchronous pulley;

[0019] The transmission shaft is located at the back of the landing surface of the flight platform and is connected to the driving mechanism, and the synchronous pulley is installed on the transmission shaft.

[0020] In some optional embodiments, the transmission mechanism further comprises:

[0021] A plurality of tension wheels are rotatably arranged on the side of the flying platform, and a transmission belt passes around the tension wheel and is wound around a synchronous belt wheel.

[0022] The transmission mechanism drives the transmission shaft to rotate under the drive mechanism, and the transmission shaft drives the synchronous pulley to rotate, thereby driving the transmission belt wrapped around the synchronous pulley to rotate, and the push rod body fixedly connected to the transmission belt moves along the track body, thereby moving the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the flight platform toward the center position of the flight platform, realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle and solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return.

[0023] In some optional embodiments, the transmission belt is a transmission rope, and a fixing part connected and fixed to any position on the transmission belt is provided on the push rod body. A transmission belt is connected to both ends of each push rod body of the push rod assembly, and the transmission belts at both ends of the push rod body rotate synchronously driven by the same transmission shaft, and the transmission belts at the same end of the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other are wound around the same synchronous pulley.

[0024] Driven by the driving mechanism, the same transmission shaft rotates, driving the synchronous pulleys at both ends to rotate synchronously, and the two transmission belts located at the same end of the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other rotate synchronously under the drive of the same synchronous pulley, thereby driving the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other to move synchronously, and the push rod bodies that are parallel to each other move relative to or towards each other, thereby moving the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the flight platform toward the center position of the flight platform, thereby realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0025] The present application utilizes a transmission rope to drive the push rod body, which reduces the complexity of the structure compared to the traditional motor screw device, has the advantages of high efficiency, reliability and lightweight, and meets the actual needs of the drone nest to be simple, lightweight and low-cost, making the drone nest centering mechanism safe and stable, easy to produce, and convenient to install and maintain.

[0026] In some optional embodiments, at least two tensioning wheels are wound around the same transmission belt, the two transmission belts on the same synchronous pulley rotate in opposite directions, and the two parallel push rod bodies connected by the two transmission belts on the same synchronous pulley move synchronously relative to or toward each other, thereby facilitating the pushing of the unmanned aerial vehicle that has deviated from its position back to the center.

[0027] In some optional embodiments, two groups of transmission shafts are provided on the back side of the landing surface of the flying platform, and the two groups of transmission shafts are cross-distributed. Each group of transmission shafts is connected to a driving mechanism. When the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the two groups of transmission shafts are driven to rotate by the two driving mechanisms respectively, thereby driving the two mutually parallel push rod bodies in a tic-tac-toe shape on the landing surface of the flying platform to move respectively, thereby completing the centering operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle in both the horizontal and longitudinal directions.

[0028] In some optional embodiments, the driving mechanism includes:

[0029] Motor, the motor is installed on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform;

[0030] a driving gear mounted on a motor shaft of the motor; and

[0031] The driven gear is fixed on the transmission shaft, and is meshed and connected with the driving gear.

[0032] When the two sets of transmission shafts are driven to rotate respectively by the two driving mechanisms, the motor of each driving mechanism can drive the driving gear to rotate after being energized, and drive the corresponding transmission shaft to rotate through the meshing driven gear, and drive the push rod body on the landing surface of the flight platform to move under the movement of the transmission belt of the transmission mechanism, so as to perform the centering operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0033] In a first aspect, in an embodiment provided by the present invention, a method for centering a nest centering mechanism of an unmanned aerial vehicle is provided, the method comprising the following steps:

[0034] Step 1: When the landing position of the UAV deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform, the flight platform tilts;

[0035] Step 2: When the flight platform is tilted, the drive mechanism is powered on to start working, driving the transmission mechanism to move;

[0036] Step 3: The transmission mechanism drives the push rod body of the push rod assembly connected thereto to move relative to the guide rail assembly, and the push rod bodies distributed around the center position of the flight platform landing surface push the deviated unmanned aerial vehicle to move toward the center position of the flight platform, thereby completing the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the center;

[0037] The method for centering the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism further comprises the following steps:

[0038] Before the returning unmanned aerial vehicle takes off, the driving mechanism drives the push rod body of the push rod assembly to move toward each other and return to its original position through the transmission mechanism. The push rod body moves to the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform. Before the unmanned aerial vehicle takes off, it detects and moves away from the push rod body before taking off and leaves the machine nest.

[0039] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0040] Compared with the centering structure of a conventional synchronous motor screw device, the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention cleverly utilizes a lightweight transmission mechanism to drive the push rod bodies distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform to move synchronously relative or toward each other, so as to push the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the landing surface and move it toward the center position of the flight platform, thereby solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return, reducing the structural complexity of the nest centering mechanism, having a low mass specific gravity, and reducing the cost of the nest centering mechanism, thereby achieving the advantages of high efficiency, reliability, lightweight, safe and stable structure, and easy production, installation and maintenance of the nest centering mechanism, thereby providing safety protection for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0041] These and other aspects of the present invention will be more clearly understood in the following description of the embodiments. It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory and cannot limit the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the landing surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest returning mechanism of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the back side of the landing surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest returning mechanism of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the connection between the push rod body and the track body of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest return mechanism of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of a transmission belt on one side of a transmission shaft of a UAV nest returning mechanism of the present invention.

[0047] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the transmission belts on both sides of the transmission shaft of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism of the present invention.

[0048] Description of reference numerals:

[0049] 1-Flying platform;

[0050] 2-push rod assembly; 21-push rod body; 22-ball; 23-fixing member;

[0051] 3-guide rail assembly; 31-rail body; 32-rail groove;

[0052] 4-transmission mechanism; 41-tensioning wheel; 42-transmission belt; 43-synchronous pulley; 44-transmission shaft;

[0053] 5-driving mechanism; 51-motor; 52-driving gear; 53-driven gear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0055] The inventors of the present application have discovered that the existing drone nest centering mechanism often uses a synchronous motor screw device to perform the centering operation. The synchronous motor screw device has a complex structure, is heavy, and is expensive, and is difficult to meet the actual needs of the drone nest being simple, lightweight, and low-cost.

[0056] To solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a UAV nest centering mechanism, which utilizes an efficient, reliable and lightweight centering mechanism to be applied to the centering of the UAV during its return, thereby providing safety protection for the return of the UAV.

[0057] The technical solution of the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and through specific implementation methods.

[0058] Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the structure of the landing surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest return mechanism of the present invention is shown. Figure 2 A structural schematic diagram of the back side of the landing surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism of the present invention is shown.

[0059] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in the first embodiment provided by the present invention, the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism includes a flight platform 1, a push rod assembly 2, a guide rail assembly 3, a transmission mechanism 4 and a driving mechanism 5.

[0060] In the embodiment of the present invention, the flying platform 1 is used as a carrying platform for the unmanned aerial vehicle to take off or land, and the middle position of the top of the flying platform 1 forms a landing surface. Among them, the push rod assembly 2 is installed on the landing surface of the flying platform 1, and the push rod assembly 2 includes a plurality of push rod bodies 21, and the push rod bodies 21 are distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flying platform 1.

[0061] In one embodiment of the present invention, the push rod assembly 2 includes a plurality of push rod bodies 21 which are parallel to each other. The plurality of push rod bodies 21 which are located around the center of the landing surface of the flying platform 1 are distributed in a tic-tac-toe pattern. The push rod bodies 21 which are parallel to each other move relative to or toward each other.

[0062] Before the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other move toward each other and move to the periphery of the landing surface at the center of the flight platform 1 to ensure that sufficient landing space is reserved at the center of the flight platform 1. Since the position where the unmanned aerial vehicle lands at the machine nest deviates from the center of the flight platform 1. Therefore, after the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other move relative to each other, and the multiple push rod bodies 21 distributed in a tic-tac-toe shape move synchronously toward the center of the flight platform 1, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center of the flight platform 1 is moved toward the center of the flight platform 1, realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle and solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return.

[0063] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the guide rail assembly 3 includes a track body 31 distributed along the periphery of the landing surface of the flight platform 1, and the push rod body 21 slides along the track body 31. The guide rail assembly 3 includes at least four track bodies 31 distributed along the periphery of the landing surface of the flight platform 1. In one embodiment of the present invention, see Figure 1 As shown, the guide rail assembly 3 includes four rail bodies 31 distributed around the landing surface of the flight platform 1. The four rail bodies 31 are distributed in a rectangular shape. Figure 3 As shown, the track body 31 is provided with a track groove 32 , and the push rod body 21 is provided with a ball 22 moving along the track groove 32 .

[0064] The guide rail assembly 3 installed on the landing surface of the flying platform 1 enables the push rod body 21 to maintain smooth movement when moving relative to or towards each other. The two push rod bodies 21 parallel to each other do not deflect when moving. The push rod body 21 is driven to move by the transmission mechanism 4, and the ball 22 on the push rod body 21 moves on the track groove 32 of the track body 31 fixed in position. The track groove 32 guides the push rod body 21 and limits it at the same time, which is beneficial to centering the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0065] See also Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the transmission mechanism 4 is connected to the push rod body 21 and is located at one end of the push rod body 21 , and a driving mechanism 5 connected to the transmission mechanism 4 is provided on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform 1 .

[0066] When the unmanned aerial vehicle is landing, if the landing position of the unmanned aerial vehicle deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 of the machine nest, at this time, the driving mechanism 5 is started, and the transmission mechanism 4 is turned on to drive the push rod assembly 2 to slide along the guide rail assembly 3, and the push rod bodies 21 distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 will return the unmanned aerial vehicle located at the eccentric position of the landing surface to the center, and the push rod body 21 of the centering mechanism pushes the unmanned aerial vehicle on the landing surface to move toward the center position of the flight platform 1, which is efficient, reliable and lightweight, solves the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return, and provides safety protection for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0067] See also Figure 4 As shown, the transmission mechanism 4 includes a transmission belt 42, a synchronous pulley 43, a transmission shaft 44 and a plurality of tension wheels 41. Among them, the push rod body 21 is fixedly connected to any position on the transmission belt 42, and the push rod body 21 is provided with a fixing member 23 connected and fixed to any position on the transmission belt 42. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fixing member 23 is a rubber or silicone plug provided in the middle for the transmission belt 42 to pass through and fixedly connected to the transmission belt 42. In order to ensure the stability of the connection between the fixing member 23 and the transmission belt 42, the surface of the transmission belt 42 is provided with anti-skid protrusions or anti-skid patterns to increase the friction between the fixing member 23 and the transmission belt 42. When the friction is greater than the resistance between the two, the fixing member 23 and the transmission belt 42 will not move relative to each other.

[0068] In one embodiment of the present invention, the fixing member 23 and the transmission belt 42 may also be fixed by bonding with glue or the like to ensure that no relative movement occurs between the fixing member 23 and the transmission belt 42 after the connection.

[0069] See also Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the synchronous pulley 43 is used to drive the transmission belt 42 to rotate, the transmission belt 42 is wound around the synchronous pulley 43, the transmission shaft 44 is located on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform 1 and is connected to the driving mechanism 5, and the synchronous pulley 43 is installed on the transmission shaft 44.

[0070] A plurality of tension wheels 41 are rotatably arranged on the side of the flying platform 1 , and a transmission belt 42 passes over the tension wheels 41 and is wound around a synchronous belt wheel 43 .

[0071] In the present invention, the transmission belt 42 is preferably a transmission rope, and each push rod body 21 of the push rod assembly 2 is connected to a transmission belt 42 at both ends. The transmission belts 42 at both ends of the push rod body 21 rotate synchronously under the drive of the same transmission shaft 44, and the transmission belts 42 at the same end of the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other are wound around the same synchronous pulley 43.

[0072] The transmission mechanism 4 is assembled as follows: a certain portion in the middle of each transmission rope is fixedly connected to the push rod body 21 , the transmission rope passes around four tension wheels 41 at the same time, and is wound around the synchronous pulley 43 for multiple turns; the synchronous pulley 43 is connected to the driving mechanism 5 through the transmission shaft 44 .

[0073] The transmission mechanism 4 drives the transmission shaft 44 to rotate under the drive of the driving mechanism 5, and the transmission shaft 44 drives the synchronous pulley 43 to rotate, thereby driving the transmission belt 42 wrapped around the synchronous pulley 43 to rotate, and the push rod body 21 fixedly connected to the transmission belt 42 moves along the track body 31, thereby moving the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the flight platform 1 toward the center position of the flight platform 1, realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle and solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return.

[0074] Driven by the driving mechanism 5, the same transmission shaft 44 rotates, driving the synchronous pulleys 43 at both ends to rotate synchronously, and the two transmission belts 42 located at the same end of the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other rotate synchronously under the drive of the same synchronous pulley 43, thereby driving the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other to move synchronously, and the push rod bodies 21 that are parallel to each other move relative to or towards each other, thereby moving the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the flight platform 1 toward the center position of the flight platform 1, thereby realizing the centering of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0075] The present application utilizes a transmission rope to drive the push rod body 21, which reduces the complexity of the structure compared to the traditional motor 51 screw device, has the advantages of high efficiency, reliability and lightweight, and meets the actual needs of the drone nest to be simple, lightweight and low-cost, making the drone nest centering mechanism safe and stable, easy to produce, and convenient to install and maintain.

[0076] See also Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, at least two tension wheels 41 are wound around the same transmission belt 42. Preferably, in one embodiment of the present invention, four tension wheels 41 are wound around the same transmission belt 42. The two transmission belts 42 on the same synchronous pulley 43 rotate in opposite directions, and the two parallel push rod bodies 21 connected by the two transmission belts 42 on the same synchronous pulley 43 move synchronously relative to or toward each other, so as to facilitate the unmanned aerial vehicle that has deviated from its position to return to the center.

[0077] Among them, see Figure 2 and Figure 5As shown, two groups of transmission shafts 44 are provided on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform 1, and the two groups of transmission shafts 44 are cross-distributed, and each group of transmission shafts 44 is connected to a driving mechanism 5. When the unmanned aerial vehicle is centered, the two groups of transmission shafts 44 are driven to rotate by the two driving mechanisms 5 respectively, thereby driving the two mutually parallel push rod bodies 21 in a criss-cross shape on the landing surface of the flying platform 1 to move respectively, thereby completing the centering operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle in both the horizontal and longitudinal directions.

[0078] See also Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the driving mechanism 5 includes a motor 51, a driving gear 52 and a driven gear 53. The motor 51 is mounted on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform 1, the driving gear 52 is mounted on the motor 51 shaft of the motor 51, and the driven gear 53 is fixed on the transmission shaft 44, and the driven gear 53 is meshed and connected with the driving gear 52.

[0079] The synchronous pulley 43 is fixedly connected to the driven gear 53 through the transmission shaft 44; the driving gear 52 is fixed on the motor shaft of the motor 51, the track body 31 is fixed on the flight platform 1, the track groove 32 is opened on the track body 31, and the ball 22 is fixed on the push rod body 21.

[0080] When the two sets of transmission shafts 44 are driven to rotate respectively by the two driving mechanisms 5, the motor 51 of each driving mechanism 5 can drive the driving gear 52 to rotate after being energized, and drive the corresponding transmission shaft 44 to rotate through the meshing driven gear 53, and drive the push rod body 21 of the landing surface of the flying platform 1 to move under the movement of the transmission belt 42 of the transmission mechanism 4, so as to perform the centering operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0081] The working principle of the present invention is:

[0082] After the motor 51 is powered on, the force is transmitted to the driven gear 53 through the driving gear 52, and then the force is transmitted to the transmission shaft 44. The synchronous pulleys 43 on both sides of the transmission shaft 44 follow the movement, and the transmission belt 42 moves with the synchronous pulley 43 under the action of the tensioning wheel 41. The two parallel push rod bodies 21 each correspond to a transmission belt 42 that is wound on the synchronous pulley 43 in a different direction. The transmission belts 42 on both sides of the transmission shaft 44 are set to move towards each other or in opposite directions at the same time, and the push rod body 21 is driven to move by the transmission belt 42. The ball 22 on the push rod body 21 moves on the fixed track groove 32, thereby centering the unmanned aerial vehicle; similarly, another group of motors 51 drives the push rod body 21 to move in another direction.

[0083] Therefore, the UAV nest centering mechanism of the present invention, when the UAV lands, if the landing position of the UAV deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 of the nest, at this time, the driving mechanism 5 is started, and the transmission mechanism 4 is turned on to drive the push rod assembly 2 to slide along the guide rail assembly 3, and the push rod bodies 21 distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 will center the UAV located at the eccentric position of the landing surface, and the push rod body 21 of the centering mechanism pushes the UAV on the landing surface to move toward the center position of the flight platform 1. It is efficient, reliable and lightweight, solves the centering problem of the UAV during its return, and provides safety protection for the return of the UAV.

[0084] In the first embodiment provided by the present invention, a method for centering a nest centering mechanism of an unmanned aerial vehicle is also provided, the method comprising the following steps:

[0085] Step 1: When the landing position of the UAV deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1, the flight platform 1 tilts;

[0086] Step 2: When the flying platform 1 is tilted, the driving mechanism 5 is powered on to start working, driving the transmission mechanism 4 to move;

[0087] Step 3: The transmission mechanism 4 drives the push rod body 21 of the push rod assembly 2 connected thereto to move relative to the guide rail assembly 3. The push rod bodies 21 distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 push the deviated unmanned aerial vehicle toward the center position of the flight platform 1, completing the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the center.

[0088] The method for centering the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism further comprises the following steps:

[0089] Before the returning unmanned aerial vehicle takes off, the driving mechanism 5 drives the push rod body 21 of the push rod assembly 2 to move toward and return to its original position through the transmission mechanism 4, and the push rod body 21 moves to the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1. Before the unmanned aerial vehicle takes off, it detects and moves away from the push rod body 21 and then takes off and leaves the nest.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present invention, before and after the UAV takes off or lands, the driving mechanism 5 drives the push rod body 21 of the push rod assembly 2 to move toward and return to its original position through the transmission mechanism 4, and the push rod body 21 pushes the landing surface UAV to move toward the center position of the flight platform 1, thereby solving the problem of the UAV returning to the center during its return and providing safety protection for the return of the UAV.

[0091] To sum up, compared with the centering structure of the conventional synchronous motor 51 screw device, the unmanned aerial vehicle nest centering mechanism and the centering method disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention cleverly utilize the lightweight transmission mechanism 4 to drive the push rod bodies 21 distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform 1 to move synchronously relative or toward each other, so as to push the unmanned aerial vehicle that deviates from the center position of the landing surface and move it toward the center position of the flight platform 1, thereby solving the centering problem of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its return, reducing the structural complexity of the nest centering mechanism, having a low mass specific gravity, and reducing the cost of the nest centering mechanism, thereby achieving the advantages of the nest centering mechanism being efficient, reliable, lightweight, safe and stable in structure, easy to produce, install and maintain, and providing safety protection for the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0092] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A nest return mechanism for an unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising a flight platform (1), characterized in that: Also includes: A push rod assembly (2), the push rod assembly (2) is installed on the landing surface of the flying platform (1), the push rod assembly (2) comprises a plurality of push rod bodies (21), and the push rod bodies (21) are distributed around the central position of the landing surface of the flying platform (1); A guide rail assembly (3), the guide rail assembly (3) comprising a track body (31) distributed along the periphery of the landing surface of the flight platform (1), and the push rod body (21) slides along the track body (31); and A transmission mechanism (4) is connected to the push rod body (21) and is located at one end of the push rod body (21); a driving mechanism (5) connected to the transmission mechanism (4) is provided on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform (1); The push rod assembly (2) comprises a plurality of push rod bodies (21) which are parallel to each other in pairs. The plurality of push rod bodies (21) are arranged around the center of the landing surface of the flying platform (1) in a tic-tac-toe pattern. The push rod bodies (21) which are parallel to each other in pairs move relative to or towards each other. The guide rail assembly (3) comprises at least four rail bodies (31) distributed along the periphery of the landing surface of the flight platform (1), the rail bodies (31) are distributed in a rectangular shape, a rail groove (32) is provided on the rail body (31), and a ball (22) moving along the rail groove (32) is provided on the push rod body (21); The transmission mechanism (4) comprises: The transmission belt (42) is fixedly connected to the push rod body (21) at any position on the transmission belt (42); A synchronous pulley (43), the synchronous pulley (43) is used to drive the transmission belt (42) to rotate, and the transmission belt (42) is wound around the synchronous pulley (43); A transmission shaft (44), the transmission shaft (44) is located on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform (1) and is connected to the driving mechanism (5), and the synchronous pulley (43) is installed on the transmission shaft (44); The transmission belt (42) is a transmission rope, and a fixing member (23) connected and fixed to any position on the transmission belt (42) is provided on the push rod body (2). Both ends of each push rod body (21) of the push rod assembly (2) are connected to a transmission belt (42). The transmission belts (42) at both ends of the push rod body (21) rotate synchronously under the drive of the same transmission shaft (44), and the transmission belts (42) at the same end of two mutually parallel push rod bodies (21) are wound around the same synchronous pulley (43); The transmission mechanism (4) further comprises: A plurality of tension wheels (41), wherein the tension wheels (41) are rotatably arranged on the side of the flying platform (1), and a transmission belt (42) passes around the tension wheels (41) and is wound around a synchronous belt wheel (43); Two groups of transmission shafts (44) are arranged on the back of the landing surface of the flying platform (1), the two groups of transmission shafts (44) are distributed in a cross shape, and each group of transmission shafts (44) is connected to a driving mechanism (5).

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle nest return mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least two tensioning wheels (41) are wound around the same transmission belt (42), the two transmission belts (42) on the same synchronous pulley (43) rotate in opposite directions, and the two parallel push rod bodies (21) connected by the two transmission belts (42) on the same synchronous pulley (43) move synchronously relative to or towards each other.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle nest return mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving mechanism (5) comprises: A motor (51), the motor (51) is mounted on the back side of the landing surface of the flying platform (1); A driving gear (52), the driving gear (52) being mounted on the motor (51) shaft of the motor (51); and The driven gear (53) is fixed on the transmission shaft (44), and the driven gear (53) is meshedly connected with the driving gear (52).

4. A method for centering a drone nest centering mechanism, comprising the drone nest centering mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: S1. When the landing position of the unmanned aerial vehicle deviates from the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform (1), the flight platform (1) tilts; S2, when the flying platform (1) is tilted, the driving mechanism (5) is powered on to start working, and the transmission mechanism (4) is driven to move; S3, the transmission mechanism (4) drives the push rod body (21) of the push rod assembly (2) connected thereto to move relative to the guide rail assembly (3), and the push rod bodies (21) distributed around the center position of the landing surface of the flight platform (1) push the deviated unmanned aerial vehicle to move toward the center position of the flight platform (1), thereby completing the return of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the center.

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