A drone system with both flight and inhabiting functions

Abstract

A drone system with both flight and lodging functions comprises a drone body and a controllable adhesion-desorption composite component connected thereto; the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component is a sandwich structure, with a top layer being an adhesion structure that directly contacts the surface of a target object for adhesion; a middle layer being a sensor that monitors the adhesion state; and a bottom layer being a driver that drives the top adhesion structure to desorb. The drone body is equipped with a target recognition unit and a target tracking unit; the target recognition unit recognizes and captures environmental surface markers, obtains feature point coordinates, and then sends the relevant data to the target tracking unit; the target tracking unit comprises a flight control system, a laser module, and an optical flow module; the laser module cooperates with a barometer to achieve fusion altitude determination, and the optical flow module measures speed in real time; the flight control system receives data from the target recognition unit and enables the drone to perform corresponding flight actions. The present invention achieves reliable lodging and controllable go-around on the surfaces of different target objects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of intelligent flying robots, and particularly relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle system with both flying and inhabiting functions. Background Art

[0002] How to improve the endurance is the main problem faced by small unmanned aerial vehicles in long-term mission execution. The main ways to achieve this goal include using ground power supply, developing new energy sources, etc. However, these methods also face many problems, such as the cable increasing the weight of the aircraft, the flight range being limited, and the wireless power transmission technology being immature.

[0003] Introducing bionics into robots has become a major research hotspot in the field of robots in recent years. Enabling unmanned aerial vehicles to land and inhabit (inhabit) on the surface of complex target objects to improve the endurance time has been widely studied and applied. The specific implementation methods include claw-and-spike type grasping, negative pressure adsorption, electromagnetic adsorption, etc. For example, Professor Kaiyu Hang of Yale University and others achieved the inhabiting and re-flight of unmanned aerial vehicles through the combination of a modular landing gear and an unmanned aerial vehicle. Mao Chenxi of Nanjing University of Science and Technology and others achieved the landing inhabiting and crawling of unmanned aerial vehicles by introducing a claw-and-spike type structure.

[0004] However, at the present stage, these methods often have great limitations. For example, the mechanism design is complex, the target surface is damaged, additional energy consumption is generated, and the target surface is required to be magnetically conductive or electrically conductive, etc., which greatly limits the types of surfaces that can be inhabited. Therefore, how to realize an inhabiting unmanned aerial vehicle system with strong adaptability to the target object surface and ultimately improve the endurance of the unmanned aerial vehicle is still a major problem. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle system with both inhabiting and flying functions, realizing reliable inhabiting and controllable re-flight on the surfaces of different target objects.

[0006] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0007] An unmanned aerial vehicle system with both flying and inhabiting functions, including an unmanned aerial vehicle body a and a controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b connected thereto. The controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b is the inhabiting unit; the unmanned aerial vehicle body a realizes communication with the controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b.

[0008] The controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b has a three-layer structure. The top layer is an adhesion structure 1, which directly contacts the surface of the target object for adhesion; the middle layer is a sensor 2, which is used to monitor the adhesion state; the bottom layer is a driver 3, which is used to drive the top adhesion structure to achieve detachment.

[0009] The controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b is of a sandwich structure. The adhesion structure 1 adopts a mushroom-shaped array, the sensor 2 adopts a flexible pressure sensor, and the actuator 3 adopts an LCE actuator.

[0010] The controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b is made of flexible materials as a whole and will not cause any damage to the environmental surface and the UAV body a.

[0011] The controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b is a modular component and can be integrated on different UAV bodies a according to actual needs.

[0012] The UAV body a is equipped with a target recognition unit and a target tracking unit. The target recognition unit integrates a vision module, which is used to identify and capture environmental surface markers, obtains the coordinates of feature points by combining image detection algorithms, and then sends relevant data to the target tracking unit. The target tracking unit includes a flight control system, a laser module, and an optical flow module. The laser module is used to cooperate with the barometer to achieve integrated altitude control, and the optical flow module is used to measure the real-time speed of the aircraft. The flight control system receives the data from the target recognition unit, so that the UAV makes corresponding flight actions.

[0013] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The present invention integrates the controllable adhesion and detachment composite component b on the UAV body a, realizes dwelling and takeoff again on different target surfaces, has strong adaptability, and greatly improves the endurance of the UAV. The target recognition unit integrates vision technology to identify and capture specific markers, enabling the UAV system to have real-time tracking and autonomous perching functions, and realizing the dwelling and takeoff again of the UAV system on the surface of moving objects. The UAV system of the present invention can be widely used in technical fields such as environmental monitoring and target tracking. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is the overall schematic diagram of the UAV system of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 It is the structural schematic diagram of the controllable adhesion and detachment composite component of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 It is the schematic diagram of the tracking - dwelling - takeoff again process of the UAV system of the present invention.

[0017] Specific Implementation Manner

[0018] The following will describe the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0019] As Figure 1As shown, a UAV system with both flight and lodging functions includes a UAV body a and a controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b connected thereto, wherein the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b is a lodging unit; the UAV body a has an expansion interface to achieve communication with the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b; the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b is a modular component that can be integrated on different UAVs according to actual needs and has strong adaptability.

[0020] The drone body a is equipped with a target recognition unit and a target tracking unit; the target recognition unit integrates a visual module, which is used to identify and capture environmental surface marks, obtain feature point coordinates in combination with an image detection algorithm, and then send the relevant data to the target tracking unit; the target tracking unit includes a flight control system, a laser module, and an optical flow module. The laser module is used to cooperate with the barometer to achieve fusion altitude determination, and the optical flow module is used to measure the aircraft's real-time speed. The flight control system receives data from the target recognition unit, thereby enabling the drone to perform corresponding flight actions.

[0021] Reference Figure 2 The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b has a three-layer structure, which in this embodiment is a sandwich structure. The top layer is an adhesion structure 1, which adopts a mushroom-shaped array and directly contacts the target surface for adhesion. The middle layer is a sensor 2, which adopts a flexible pressure sensor to monitor the adhesion state. The bottom layer is a driver 3, which adopts an LCE driver to drive the top adhesion structure to achieve desorption. The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b is highly adaptable and can achieve adhesion to different target surfaces, including smooth and wet surfaces. The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component b is made of a flexible material as a whole and does not cause any damage to the surrounding surface or the drone body a. When the drone is loitering, the adhesion structure 1 of the mushroom-shaped array is in full contact with the target surface, so that the drone body a is firmly attached to the target surface. When the drone takes off, the heating and expansion characteristics of the LCE driver are utilized. The heating wire is used to heat the LCE driver, causing the LCE to shrink and deform, thereby driving the adhesion structure 1 of the mushroom-shaped array to peel off from the target surface, completing the desorption process.

[0022] Reference Figure 3 The complete process of parachuting and go-around of a drone system with both flight and parachuting functions is as follows: the target recognition unit accurately identifies the target object and determines the parachuting location, the target tracking unit follows the target object to achieve parachuting at a specific location; when a go-around is required, the drone autonomously flies away from the surface of the target object; the drone responds according to the adhesion and desorption status, stops the propellers in time after the adhesion is completed, and starts again in time after the desorption process is completed, realizing the tracking-parachuting-go-around functions.

Claims

1. A drone system with both flight and lodging capabilities, characterized by: The invention comprises a drone body (a) and a controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) connected thereto, wherein the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) is a host unit; the drone body (a) realizes communication with the controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b); The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) is a three-layer structure, the top layer is an adhesion structure (1), and the top layer directly contacts the surface of the target object for adhesion; The middle layer is a sensor (2) for monitoring the adhesion state; the bottom layer is a driver (3) for driving the top adhesion structure to achieve desorption; The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) is a sandwich structure, the adhesion structure (1) adopts a mushroom-shaped array, the sensor (2) adopts a flexible pressure sensor, and the driver (3) adopts an LCE driver.

2. The UAV system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) is made of flexible materials as a whole and will not cause any damage to the environmental surface and the drone body (a).

3. The UAV system according to claim 1, wherein: The controllable adhesion-desorption composite component (b) is a modular component and can be integrated on different UAV bodies (a) according to actual needs.

4. The UAV system according to claim 1, wherein: The UAV body (a) is equipped with a target recognition unit and a target tracking unit; the target recognition unit integrates a visual module for identifying and capturing environmental surface marks, obtains feature point coordinates in combination with an image detection algorithm, and then sends the relevant data to the target tracking unit; the target tracking unit includes a flight control system, a laser module, and an optical flow module. The laser module is used to cooperate with a barometer to achieve fusion altitude determination, and the optical flow module is used to measure the aircraft's real-time speed. The flight control system receives data from the target recognition unit, thereby enabling the UAV to perform corresponding flight actions.

Images