Micro unmanned aerial vehicle
By integrating a perception module, a main control module, and a recognition module into a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and employing lightweight artificial intelligence algorithms and acceleration chips, the problem of insufficient autonomy in nano-sized UAVs has been solved, enabling autonomous flight and navigation capabilities and expanding their application scope.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202210475172.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2022-04-29
- Publication Date
- 2025-12-30
- Estimated Expiration
- 2042-04-29
AI Technical Summary
Nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles lack autonomy and cannot fly, control, or navigate independently, which severely limits their applications.
A nano-shaped unmanned aerial vehicle was designed, comprising an airframe, a power unit, and a control unit. The control unit includes a perception module, a main control module, a navigation module, and an identification module. It employs lightweight artificial intelligence algorithms and acceleration chips to achieve autonomous flight control, navigation, and target identification.
It has achieved autonomous flight, control, and navigation capabilities for nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles, enabling them to perform tasks autonomously in confined spaces, free from dependence on external control equipment, and suitable for both defense and civilian applications.
Smart Images

Figure CN114995489B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle technology, specifically to a nano unmanned aerial vehicle. Background Technology
[0002] Currently, large and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are mainly used in aerial photography, agriculture, express delivery, rescue, surveying, and film and television production. However, large and medium-sized UAVs cannot enter certain space-constrained environments and cannot interact with operators at a safe distance. Therefore, for operational environments such as confined spaces, underground, collapsed buildings, jungles, and pipelines, smaller nano-sized UAVs are needed to enter these environments, perform tasks, and maintain an appropriate safe distance from operators. Generally, UAVs with a total weight of less than 50g and a characteristic dimension of less than 15cm are defined as nano-sized UAVs. Their main characteristic is their small size, allowing for flexible maneuverability in confined spaces.
[0003] With technological advancements, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gradually achieved intelligent and autonomous flight. For example, through environmental perception, artificial intelligence, and navigation technologies, medium and large UAVs can navigate and fly autonomously. However, because artificial intelligence algorithms typically consume significant computing resources and energy, and nano-sized UAVs are severely limited in platform size, power consumption, and computing power, technologies related to environmental perception, autonomous flight, and autonomous navigation applied to medium and large UAVs cannot be implemented on nano-sized UAVs. This results in existing nano-sized UAVs lacking autonomy and only being able to perform simple tasks via ground-based remote control, severely restricting their application. Summary of the Invention
[0004] Based on this, in order to solve the problem of lack of autonomy in nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles, this application provides a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle that can autonomously fly, control, identify, and navigate.
[0005] The nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this application includes:
[0006] Organism;
[0007] The power unit is mounted on the machine body; and
[0008] A control device, disposed on the machine body, includes:
[0009] The sensing module is used to collect flight information;
[0010] The main control module, connected to the sensing module, includes a first circuit board and a first control chip mounted thereon; the first control chip calculates the flight information fed back by the sensing module using an artificial intelligence algorithm and then outputs the data to the power unit.
[0011] Issue control commands to control flight; and
[0012] A navigation module and / or an identification module are connected to the main control module; the navigation module is used to plan an autonomous navigation path and transmit it to the main control module; the identification module is used to identify and analyze specific targets and feed them back to the main control module.
[0013] According to some embodiments of this application, the flight information includes: the aircraft's own data, environmental data, and / or specific target data.
[0014] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module further includes:
[0015] A first acceleration chip, disposed on the first circuit board, is used to accelerate the computation of the artificial intelligence algorithm; and / or
[0016] A communication chip, mounted on the first circuit board, is used to receive external control information and / or send information to the outside.
[0017] According to some embodiments of this application, the navigation module includes:
[0018] The second circuit board is connected to the sensing unit; and
[0019] The navigation processing chip and the second acceleration chip are disposed on the second circuit board;
[0020] The navigation processing chip is used to receive the flight information fed back by the sensing unit and execute the autonomous navigation path planning algorithm to generate an autonomous navigation path; the second acceleration chip is used to accelerate the calculation of the autonomous navigation path planning algorithm.
[0021] According to some embodiments of this application, the identification module includes:
[0022] The third circuit board is connected to the sensing unit; and
[0023] The third processing chip, located on the third circuit board, is used to intelligently calculate and analyze the specific target data fed back by the sensing unit and then feed it back to the main control module.
[0024] According to some embodiments of this application, the sensing module includes:
[0025] Fourth circuit board; and
[0026] A set of sensing units is disposed on the fourth circuit board for collecting the flight information.
[0027] According to some embodiments of this application, the fourth circuit board includes: a flexible circuit board that can be folded in three dimensions.
[0028] According to some embodiments of this application, the set of sensing units includes:
[0029] One or more of the following: inertial unit, optical flow sensor, lidar sensor, vision sensor, and microphone array.
[0030] According to some embodiments of this application, the nano-unmanned aerial vehicle further includes:
[0031] The energy management module is used to manage the energy collection and supply of nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles.
[0032] According to some embodiments of this application, the energy management module includes:
[0033] Battery submodule;
[0034] The fifth circuit board is connected to the battery submodule; and
[0035] The power management submodule, the discharge protection submodule, and / or the charging management submodule are disposed on the fifth circuit board.
[0036] According to some embodiments of this application, the first circuit board, the second circuit board, the third circuit board, and / or the fifth circuit board include:
[0037] HDI PCB board, organic substrate, ceramic substrate, metal substrate, glass substrate and / or silicon substrate, one or more of these.
[0038] According to some embodiments of this application, the connection method between the first circuit board, the second circuit board, the third circuit board, the fourth circuit board, and the fifth circuit board includes:
[0039] One or more of the following: board stacking, system-in-package, package-in-package, and system-on-chip.
[0040] The nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this application is flexible, compact, and adaptable to complex terrain. It can enter confined spaces that are inaccessible to micro, small, medium, and large unmanned robots to perform autonomous search and tracking tasks. Through the control chip of the main control module, it performs intelligent calculations on the data from the inertial unit and the perception module to achieve autonomous flight control, identification, and navigation, thereby eliminating dependence on external control equipment. Attached Figure Description
[0041] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings, without exceeding the scope of protection claimed by this application.
[0042] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle according to an example embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 1 ;
[0043] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle according to an example embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 2 ;
[0044] Figure 3 A block diagram of a control device according to a first exemplary embodiment of this application is shown;
[0045] Figure 4 A hardware schematic diagram of the main control module according to an example embodiment of this application is shown;
[0046] Figure 5 A hardware schematic diagram of a navigation module according to an example embodiment of this application is shown;
[0047] Figure 6 A hardware schematic diagram of a sensing module according to an example embodiment of this application is shown;
[0048] Figure 7 A hardware schematic diagram of an energy management module according to an example embodiment of this application is shown;
[0049] Figure 8 A block diagram of a control device according to a second exemplary embodiment of this application is shown;
[0050] Figure 9 A hardware schematic diagram of the identification module according to an example embodiment of this application is shown;
[0051] Figure 10A A block diagram of a control device according to a third exemplary embodiment of this application is shown;
[0052] Figure 10B An exploded view of the hardware composition of the control device according to a third exemplary embodiment of this application is shown; Detailed Implementation
[0053] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this application. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.
[0054] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.
[0055] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.
[0056] Nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have broad application prospects in both defense and civilian fields due to their small size and volume. However, their small size and volume place more stringent requirements on the control system. For example, they cannot provide sufficient installation space for environmental sensing devices, cannot provide high-power energy supply, and cannot utilize high-computing-power modules. As a result, nano-sized UAVs cannot perform autonomous flight control and still need to be remotely controlled from the ground to perform missions, thus severely limiting their application. To solve the problem of the lack of autonomy in nano-sized UAVs, this application provides a nano-sized UAV capable of autonomous flight and control.
[0057] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle according to an example embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 1 ; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle according to an example embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 2 .
[0058] See Figure 1This application provides a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle 1000 capable of autonomous flight and control, including a fuselage 1100, a power unit 1200, a control unit 1300, and a mission payload (not shown in the figure). The fuselage 1100 is used to support and connect other components. For example, the fuselage 1100 can be a structured frame, providing structural support for the entire aircraft and dissipating motor vibrations, thereby reducing the impact of the motors on the control unit and maintaining the stability and reliability of the entire aircraft structure during flight. The power unit 1200 is mounted on the fuselage 1100. See [reference needed]. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The power unit 1200 can be a set of motor-driven propellers. The motors can be brushed coreless motors or brushless coreless motors; this application does not limit this, as long as they can provide flight power for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The propellers can be two-bladed, three-bladed, or four-bladed, with a blade radius of approximately 15mm. The control unit 1300 realizes flight control, energy management, and mission execution of the UAV through information acquisition, processing, and calculation. The airframe 1100 and the power unit 1200 together provide structural support and convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, providing structural support and flight power for the UAV. The airframe 1100 and the power unit 1200 can be connected to the control module 1300 via a structured 3D circuit board.
[0059] Figure 3 A block diagram of a control device according to a first exemplary embodiment of this application is shown.
[0060] To achieve autonomous flight control of nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the first exemplary embodiment of this application, see [link to example]. Figure 3 The control device 1300 may include a main control module 1310, a navigation module 1320, a sensing module 1340, and an energy management module 1350. The modules are electrically connected via a data bus to enable data transmission and command interaction.
[0061] According to an example embodiment of this application, the main control module 1310 is used to receive data transmitted by other modules, process and calculate it, and then output corresponding commands to realize real-time autonomous control of the aircraft. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 4 The hardware components of the main control module 1310 may include a first circuit board 1311 and a first control chip 1312 disposed thereon.
[0062] The first circuit board 1311 can be an HDI PCB (High-Density Interconnect Printed Circuit Board), an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass substrate, or a silicon substrate, thereby compressing the size of the control components to match the dimensions of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, the compressed first circuit board 1311 can be 18mm × 18mm in size. The first control chip 1312 is used for information processing, data management, and task scheduling of the entire aircraft control device. For example, it analyzes the flight information fed back by the perception module 1340 and outputs control commands for the aircraft through artificial intelligence algorithms. According to some embodiments of the application, the flight information may include the aircraft's own data (e.g., attitude, position, speed, acceleration, etc.), environmental data (e.g., obstacles, etc.), and data of specific targets. According to an example embodiment of this application, the main control module 1310 may also include a first storage chip 1315 for storing information such as artificial intelligence algorithms, flight information fed back by the perception module 1340, and generated control commands.
[0063] According to some embodiments of this application, the main control module 1310 may further include a first acceleration chip 1313 for accelerating the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms, such as accelerating autonomous flight control artificial intelligence algorithms with computationally intensive characteristics, thereby achieving large-scale computations under hardware with limited computing power, thus adapting to the autonomous control requirements of nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to some embodiments of this application, to improve the safety margin of the nano-sized UAV and enable it to continue normal flight when autonomous control fails, the main control module 1310 may further include a communication chip 1314, disposed on the first circuit board 1311. The communication chip 1314 is used to receive external control signals (e.g., ground control signals) and send information to external devices or relay devices. According to some embodiments of this application, the communication chip 1314 may be a radio frequency chip or other chip with wireless communication capabilities.
[0064] According to an example embodiment of this application, the navigation module 1320 is used to receive flight information fed back by the sensing unit, execute an autonomous navigation path planning algorithm to plan an autonomous navigation path, and transmit the generated autonomous navigation path to the main control module 1310, thereby controlling the aircraft to fly along the navigation path by the main control module 1310 to achieve autonomous navigation. According to some embodiments of this application, autonomous navigation includes navigation functions such as self-positioning, environmental mapping, and path planning. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 5The navigation module 1320's hardware components may include a second circuit board 1321 and a navigation processing chip 1322, a second acceleration chip 1323, and a second storage chip 1324 disposed thereon. The second circuit board 1321 can be an HDI PCB board, organic substrate, ceramic substrate, metal substrate, glass substrate, or silicon substrate, with a size of 18mm × 18mm, thereby compressing the size of the control components to match the size of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle. The navigation processing chip 1322 is used to execute autonomous navigation path planning algorithms, thereby providing the aircraft's own position. Autonomous navigation path planning algorithms may include artificial intelligence algorithms such as positioning algorithms, visual inertial odometry algorithms, lightweight simultaneous localization and mapping algorithms, and multi-sensor fusion algorithms. The second acceleration chip 1323 is used to accelerate the aforementioned computationally intensive autonomous navigation path planning algorithms, thereby achieving autonomous navigation path planning with minimal power consumption. The second storage chip 1324 is used to store the aforementioned algorithms, template images, and other information. According to an example embodiment of this application, the perception module 1340 is used to collect flight information such as aircraft self-data, environmental data, and data of specific targets, and feeds the flight information back to the main control module 1310 or the navigation module 1320, thereby realizing autonomous flight control or autonomous navigation. Aircraft self-data may include attitude, position, altitude, speed, acceleration, etc.; environmental data may include environmental image information, the position and size of obstacles, the position and size of flyable passageways, etc. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 6 The hardware components of the sensing module 1340 may include a fourth circuit board 1341 and a set of sensing units disposed thereon. According to an example embodiment of this application, the fourth circuit board 1341 may be a three-dimensionally foldable flexible circuit board, which can be folded to a size adapted to a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle. The set of sensing units is used for flight information. The set of sensing units may include, but is not limited to, an inertial unit 1342 and an optical flow sensor 1343 for collecting data from the aircraft itself, and a set of lidar sensors 1344, a set of vision sensors 1345, and a set of microphone arrays 1346 for collecting environmental data and specific target data. The lidar sensors 1344 may be a five-directional 8×8 time-of-flight lidar array; the vision sensors 1345 may be a visible light / infrared camera; and the microphone array 1346 may be a 2×2 microphone array.
[0065] An inertial unit (IMU) is used to acquire the aircraft's attitude data. According to some example embodiments of this application, the IMU can be a six-axis IMU, such as a three-axis accelerometer or a three-axis gyroscope. An optical flow sensor is used to acquire the aircraft's speed and altitude information, thereby enabling the aircraft to maintain a fixed altitude and point of flight. A time-of-flight lidar array is used to detect obstacles below, in front of, behind, to the left, and to the right of the aircraft, as well as the distance, shape, and size of traversable paths, thereby enabling active obstacle avoidance. A visible light / infrared camera is used to provide visual information about specific targets for target detection, recognition algorithms, and visual inertial odometry algorithms. A microphone array can be used for long-range target localization and system wake-up.
[0066] According to an example embodiment of this application, the energy management module 1350 is used for collecting, supplying, and managing the energy of the entire aircraft. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 7 The hardware components of the energy management module 1350 may include a fifth circuit board 1351 and a power management submodule 1352, a discharge protection submodule 1353, a charging management submodule 1354 mounted on it, and a battery submodule 1355 connected thereto. The battery submodule 1355 may be a structured battery to provide energy to the aircraft. The power management submodule 1352 provides a stable and reliable power input to each module. The discharge protection submodule 1353 provides discharge protection. The charging management submodule 1354 provides charging protection. The fifth circuit board 1351 may be an HDIPCB board, an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass substrate, or a silicon substrate, and its size may be 18mm × 18mm, thereby achieving compression of the control component volume and adapting it to the airframe size of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle.
[0067] Figure 8 A block diagram of a control device according to a second exemplary embodiment of this application is shown.
[0068] To achieve autonomous flight control and target identification of nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the second exemplary embodiment of this application, see [link to example]. Figure 8 The control device 1300 may include a main control module 1310, an identification module 1330, a sensing module 1340, and an energy management module 1350. The modules are electrically connected via a data bus to achieve data transmission and command interaction. The main control module 1310, the sensing module 1340, and the energy management module 1350 are connected to... Figure 3 The corresponding modules in the application are identical in structure and function, and will not be described again here.
[0069] According to an example embodiment of this application, the identification module 1330 is used to identify and analyze specific targets and feed the results back to the main control module 1310, such as the detection, tracking, identification, and interaction of specific targets. When performing certain specific tasks, nano-sized UAVs need to accurately identify specific targets for attack or execute specific actions based on the interaction commands of specific targets. The identification module 1330 can intelligently process the data of specific targets fed back by the perception module 1340 to identify the targets, analyze the gestures and voice commands of specific targets, and feed them back to the main control module 1310, thereby controlling the aircraft to execute relevant commands. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 9 The hardware components of the recognition module 1330 may include a third circuit board 1331 and a third processing chip 1332 and a third storage chip 1334 disposed thereon. The third circuit board 1331 may be an HDI PCB board, an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass substrate, or a silicon substrate, and its size may be 18mm × 18mm, thereby achieving compression of the control component volume to adapt to the body size of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle. The third processing chip 1332 may be a lightweight artificial intelligence processor used to execute lightweight target detection and recognition algorithms, gesture / voice command interaction information parsing algorithms, etc. The third storage chip 1334 is used to store the aforementioned machine vision algorithms, acquired images, and calculation results.
[0070] Figure 10A A block diagram of a control device according to a third exemplary embodiment of this application is shown;
[0071] Figure 10B An exploded view of the hardware composition of the control device according to a third exemplary embodiment of this application is shown.
[0072] To achieve autonomous flight control, autonomous navigation, and specific target identification of nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the third exemplary embodiment of this application, see [link to example]. Figure 10A and 10B The control device 1300 may include a main control module 1310, a navigation module 1320, an identification module 1330, a sensing module 1340, and an energy management module 1350. The modules are electrically connected via a data bus to enable data transmission and command interaction.
[0073] According to an example embodiment of this application, the main control module 1310 is used to receive data transmitted by other modules, process and calculate it, and then output corresponding commands to realize real-time autonomous control of the aircraft. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 4 The hardware components of the main control module 1310 may include a first circuit board 1311 and a first control chip 1312 and a first acceleration chip 1313 disposed thereon.
[0074] The first circuit board 1311 can be an HDI PCB board, organic substrate, ceramic substrate, metal substrate, glass substrate, or silicon substrate, thereby compressing the size of the control components to match the size of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For example, the compressed size of the first circuit board 1311 can be 18mm × 18mm. The first control chip 1312 is used for information processing, data management, and task scheduling of the entire aircraft control device. For example, it analyzes the flight information fed back from the sensing module 1340 and outputs control commands for the aircraft through artificial intelligence algorithms. According to some embodiments of the application, the flight information may include the aircraft's own data (e.g., attitude, position, speed, acceleration, etc.), environmental data (e.g., obstacles, etc.), and data of specific targets. The first acceleration chip 1313 is used to accelerate the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms, such as accelerating autonomous flight control artificial intelligence algorithms with computationally intensive characteristics, thereby achieving large-scale computations with limited computing power hardware, thus adapting to the autonomous control requirements of nano-sized UAVs.
[0075] According to some embodiments of this application, in order to improve the safety margin of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle and enable it to continue normal flight when the autonomous control fails, the main control module 1310 may further include a communication chip 1314, which is disposed on the first circuit board 1311. The communication chip 1314 is used to receive external control signals (e.g., ground control signals) and send information to external devices or relay devices. According to some embodiments of this application, the communication chip 1314 may be a chip with wireless communication function, such as a radio frequency chip. According to an example embodiment of this application, the main control module 1310 may further include a first storage chip 1315, used to store information such as artificial intelligence algorithms, flight information fed back by the perception module 1340, and generated control commands.
[0076] According to an example embodiment of this application, the navigation module 1320 is used to receive flight information fed back by the sensing unit, execute an autonomous navigation path planning algorithm to plan an autonomous navigation path, and transmit the generated autonomous navigation path to the main control module 1310, thereby controlling the aircraft to fly along the navigation path by the main control module 1310 to achieve autonomous navigation. According to some embodiments of this application, autonomous navigation includes navigation functions such as self-positioning, environmental mapping, and path planning. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 5The navigation module 1320's hardware components may include a second circuit board 1321 and a navigation processing chip 1322, a second acceleration chip 1323, and a second storage chip 1324 disposed thereon. The second circuit board 1321 can be an HDI PCB board, organic substrate, ceramic substrate, metal substrate, glass substrate, or silicon substrate, with a size of 18mm × 18mm, thereby compressing the size of the control components to match the size of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle. The navigation processing chip 1322 is used to execute autonomous navigation path planning algorithms, thereby providing the aircraft's own position. Autonomous navigation path planning algorithms may include artificial intelligence algorithms such as positioning algorithms, visual inertial odometry algorithms, lightweight simultaneous localization and mapping algorithms, and multi-sensor fusion algorithms. The second acceleration chip 1323 is used to accelerate the aforementioned computationally intensive autonomous navigation path planning algorithms, thereby achieving autonomous navigation path planning with minimal power consumption. The second storage chip 1324 is used to store the aforementioned algorithms, template images, and other information.
[0077] According to an example embodiment of this application, the identification module 1330 is used to identify and analyze specific targets and feed the results back to the main control module 1310, such as the detection, tracking, identification, and interaction of specific targets. When performing certain specific tasks, nano-sized UAVs need to accurately identify specific targets for attack or execute specific actions based on the interaction commands of specific targets. The identification module 1330 can intelligently process the data of specific targets fed back by the perception module 1340 to identify the targets, analyze the gestures and voice commands of specific targets, and feed them back to the main control module 1310, thereby controlling the aircraft to execute relevant commands. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 9 The hardware components of the recognition module 1330 may include a third circuit board 1331 and a third processing chip 1332 and a third storage chip 1334 disposed thereon. The third circuit board 1331 may be an HDI PCB board, an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass substrate, or a silicon substrate, and its size may be 18mm × 18mm, thereby achieving compression of the control component volume to adapt to the body size of a nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle. The third processing chip 1332 may be a lightweight artificial intelligence processor used to execute lightweight target detection and recognition algorithms, gesture / voice command interaction information parsing algorithms, etc. The third storage chip 1334 is used to store the aforementioned machine vision algorithms, acquired images, and calculation results.
[0078] According to an example embodiment of this application, the perception module 1340 is used to collect flight information such as the aircraft's own data, environmental data, and data of specific targets, and feeds the flight information back to the main control module 1310 or the navigation module 1320, thereby realizing autonomous flight control or autonomous navigation. The nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle's own data may include attitude, position, velocity, acceleration, etc.; environmental data may include environmental image information, the position and size of obstacles, the position and size of flyable passageways, etc. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 6 The hardware components of the sensing module 1340 may include a fourth circuit board 1341 and a set of sensing units 1 disposed thereon. According to an example embodiment of this application, the fourth circuit board 1341 may be a three-dimensionally foldable flexible circuit board, which can be folded to a size adapted to the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The set of sensing units is used to collect flight information of the nano-sized UAV. The set of sensing units may include, but is not limited to, an inertial unit 1342 and an optical flow sensor 1343 for collecting its own data, and a set of lidar sensors 1344, a set of vision sensors 1345, and a set of microphone arrays 1346 for collecting environmental data and specific target data. The lidar sensors 1344 may be a five-directional 8×8 time-of-flight lidar array; the vision sensors 1345 may be a visible light / infrared camera; and the microphone array may be a 2×2 microphone array.
[0079] An inertial unit (IMU) is used to acquire the aircraft's attitude data. According to some example embodiments of this application, the IMU can be a six-axis IMU, such as a three-axis accelerometer or a three-axis gyroscope. An optical flow sensor is used to acquire the aircraft's speed and altitude information, thereby enabling the aircraft to maintain a fixed altitude and point of flight. A time-of-flight lidar array is used to detect obstacles below, in front of, behind, to the left, and to the right of the aircraft, as well as the distance, shape, and size of traversable paths, thereby enabling active obstacle avoidance. A visible light / infrared camera is used to provide visual information about specific targets for target detection, recognition algorithms, and visual-inertial odometry algorithms. A microphone array can be used for long-range target localization and recognition system wake-up.
[0080] According to an example embodiment of this application, the energy management module 1350 is used for collecting, supplying, and managing the energy of the entire aircraft. See also some embodiments of this application. Figure 8The hardware components of the energy management module 1350 may include a fifth circuit board 1351 and a power management submodule 1352, a discharge protection submodule 1353, a charging management submodule 1354, and a battery submodule 1355 connected thereto. The battery submodule 1355 may be a structured battery to provide energy to the aircraft. The power management submodule 1352 provides a stable and reliable power input to each module. The discharge protection submodule 1353 provides discharge protection. The charging management submodule 1354 provides charging protection. The fifth circuit board 1351 may be an HDI PCB board, an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass substrate, or a silicon substrate, and its size may be 18mm × 18mm, thereby achieving compression of the control component volume and adapting it to the airframe size of the nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle.
[0081] According to the example embodiments of this application, the circuit boards in the main control module 1310, the sensing module 1330, the navigation module 1320, the identification module 1340, and the energy management module 1350 can be packaged in any of the following ways: board stacking, system-in-package, package-within-package, and system-on-chip. This application does not limit this.
[0082] According to the example embodiments of this application, the first control chip 1312, navigation processing chip 1322, and third processing chip 1332 in the control device 1300 can be implemented by various processors, such as CPU processors, GPU processors, DSP processors, FPGA-based configurable processors, ASIC dedicated processors, etc., and this application does not limit them.
[0083] According to the example embodiments of this application, the sensing module 1330 can also enhance the aircraft's ability to determine its own position and direction by adding sensors (such as barometers, magnetometers, etc.), and this application does not limit this.
[0084] The nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provided in this application is flexible, compact, and adaptable to complex terrain. It can autonomously search for and track targets in confined spaces inaccessible to micro, small, medium, and large unmanned robots. Through the control chip of the main control module, lightweight artificial intelligence algorithms intelligently calculate data from the inertial unit and perception module to achieve autonomous flight control, thus eliminating dependence on external control equipment. This meets the application needs of nano-sized autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles in national defense and civilian fields such as counter-terrorism reconnaissance, wilderness rescue, disaster relief, pipeline inspection, and underground space inspection. Autonomous navigation is achieved through an intelligent and lightweight navigation module. An intelligent recognition module autonomously completes environmental exploration, target search, and human-machine interaction tasks, enabling perception of spatial constraints, detection and differentiation of objects or people, autonomous movement and obstacle avoidance, dynamic environmental monitoring to prevent collisions, and gesture or voice interaction with specific targets.
[0085] The embodiments of this application have been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. The descriptions of the embodiments above are only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this application. Furthermore, any changes or modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the ideas of this application, and on the specific implementation methods and application scope of this application, are all within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this application.
Claims
1. A nano-type unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that, Comprise: A machine body; A power device arranged on the machine body; and A control device arranged on the machine body, comprising: A sensing module for collecting flight information; A main control module connected to the sensing module, comprising a first circuit board and a first control chip arranged thereon; the first control chip outputs control instructions for flight control to the power device after calculating the flight information fed back by the sensing module through an artificial intelligence algorithm; and A navigation module and / or an identification module connected to the main control module; the navigation module is used for planning an autonomous navigation path and transmitting it to the main control module; the identification module is used for identifying and analyzing a specific target and feeding back to the main control module; Wherein, the sensing module comprises a fourth circuit board and a group of sensing units arranged on the fourth circuit board for collecting the flight information, and the fourth circuit board is a flexible circuit board which can be folded in three dimensions and is adapted to the size of the nano unmanned aerial vehicle; The main control module further comprises: A first acceleration chip arranged on the first circuit board for accelerated calculation of the artificial intelligence algorithm; and / or A communication chip arranged on the first circuit board for receiving external control information and sending information externally, so that the nano unmanned aerial vehicle can continue to fly normally when autonomous control fails; The navigation module comprises a second circuit board connected to the sensing module, and the identification module comprises a third circuit board connected to the sensing module, and the connection mode between the first circuit board, the second circuit board, the third circuit board and the fourth circuit board comprises one or more of board-to-board stacking, system-in-package, package-in-package and system-on-chip. The flight information comprises: Aerial vehicle self-data, environmental data and / or specific target data.
2. The nanocraft of claim 1, wherein, The navigation module further comprises: A navigation processing chip and a second acceleration chip arranged on the second circuit board; 3. The nanocraft of claim 1, wherein, Wherein, the navigation processing chip is used for receiving the flight information fed back by the sensing module and executing an autonomous navigation path planning algorithm to generate an autonomous navigation path; and the second acceleration chip is used for accelerated calculation of the autonomous navigation path planning algorithm. The identification module further comprises: A third processing chip arranged on the third circuit board for intelligent calculation and analysis of the specific target data fed back by the sensing module and feeding back to the main control module.
4. The nanocraft of claim 2, wherein, The group of sensing units comprises: One or more of an inertial unit, an optical flow sensor, a laser radar sensor, a visual sensor and a microphone array.
5. The nanocraft of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: An energy management module for managing the energy collection and supply of the nano unmanned aerial vehicle.
6. The nanocraft of claim 1, wherein, The energy management module comprises: A battery sub-module; 7. The nanocraft of claim 6, wherein, A fifth circuit board connected to the battery sub-module; and A power management sub-module, a discharge protection sub-module and / or a charging management sub-module arranged on the fifth circuit board. The first circuit board, the second circuit board, the third circuit board and / or the fifth circuit board comprise: 8. The nanocraft of any one of claims 1-7, wherein, One or more of an HDI PCB board, an organic substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal substrate, a glass carrier, and / or a silicon substrate.
Citation Information
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