A method, device and storage medium for re-election of pilots for an unmanned ship formation

Abstract

The present invention discloses a pilot re-election method, device, and storage medium for an unmanned vessel formation. This method monitors the pilot node in the unmanned vessel formation for downtime and the follower nodes for communication failure. When the pilot node is detected to be down, the follower node with the shortest target distance is elected as the new pilot node. When the follower node is detected to be a communication failure node, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node, thereby invalidating the election information sent by the communication failure node. The technical solution of the present invention improves the stability of the unmanned vessel formation during mission execution.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pilot election, and in particular to a pilot re-election method, device and storage medium for an unmanned ship formation. Background Art

[0002] The control of an unmanned vessel formation relies heavily on the navigator. Other members interact with the navigator to maintain the formation's state. The navigator is the central node for indirect communication with the formation and plays a crucial role in mission completion. However, during a mission, the navigator could experience a system failure, malfunction, or even be shot down by enemy aircraft. This could render the formation leaderless and out of control, potentially causing devastating damage to the unmanned vessel formation and ultimately leading to mission failure.

[0003] In the prior art, patent CN113534819A discloses a method for path planning for a pilot-following multi-agent formation. The normal operation of the model in this patent relies heavily on the leadership of the pilot agent and ignores the inherent complexity of the environment and the various uncertainties that may occur to the navigator. In actual applications, the navigator's communication equipment may malfunction, consume too much energy, or shut down due to insufficient battery power. Even when performing a confrontational mission, the navigator may be attacked and destroyed by enemy aircraft. In this case, the system will fail due to the loss of the navigator, and the other members will be leaderless and may even collide with each other, causing additional losses and mission failure. Therefore, the existing technology lacks a complete fault-tolerant mechanism, has poor robustness, and high loss costs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a pilot re-election method, device and storage medium for an unmanned ship formation, which improves the stability of the unmanned ship formation when performing tasks.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for re-electing a pilot of an unmanned vessel formation, comprising the following steps:

[0006] Monitor the downtime of the pilot node in the unmanned ship formation and the communication failure of the follower node;

[0007] When it is detected that the navigator node is down, the follower node with the shortest target distance is elected as the new navigator node; when it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node.

[0008] Furthermore, the election information sent by the communication failure node is invalidated, specifically:

[0009] After receiving the election information sent by the communication failure node, the first follower node sends communication failure information to the communication failure node; the first follower node is a follower node with normal communication.

[0010] Furthermore, the downtime monitoring of the pilot includes the following steps:

[0011] When any follower node in the unmanned ship formation fails to receive the navigation information sent by the navigator node within a first preset time, the navigator node is judged to be down; the first preset time is the upper limit of the time for the follower node to receive the navigation information sent by the navigator node.

[0012] Furthermore, after determining that the pilot node is down, the second follower node waits for a second preset time and then sends election information to a third follower node; the second follower node is a follower node that has not received the pilot information within the first preset time, and the third follower node is a follower node that does not include the second follower node;

[0013] Comparing target distances: after receiving the election information sent by the second follower node, the third follower node compares the target distances between the third follower node and the second follower node; when the target distance of the third follower node is greater than or equal to the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node remains silent; when the target distance of the third follower node is less than the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node sends election information to the fourth follower node and sends non-elected information to the second follower node; the fourth follower node is a follower node that has not sent election information within a fourth preset time;

[0014] The third follower node is set as the second follower node, the fourth follower node is set as the third follower node, and the step of comparing the target distance size is repeated until any follower node does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information, and the follower node that does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information is elected as the new navigator node.

[0015] Furthermore, the fourth preset time is equal to n times the first preset time, where n is the total number of nodes in the unmanned ship formation.

[0016] Furthermore, the follower node is monitored for communication failure, specifically:

[0017] When the pilot node does not receive the follow-up information replied by the follower node within a third preset time, the follower node is determined to be a communication failure node; the third preset time is 4 times the maximum information transmission delay time.

[0018] Furthermore, the first preset time is calculated according to the following formula:

[0019] T = t1 + 3t2;

[0020] Where t1 is the fixed time interval for the navigator to send navigation information, and t2 is the maximum information transmission delay time.

[0021] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a pilot re-election device for an unmanned vessel formation, comprising a downtime monitoring module and a re-election module;

[0022] The downtime monitoring module is used to monitor the downtime of the pilot node in the unmanned ship formation and monitor the communication failure of the follower node;

[0023] The re-election module is used to elect a follower node with the shortest target distance as a new navigator node when it is detected that the navigator node is down; when it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, broadcast the node number of the communication failure node to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node.

[0024] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium, which includes a stored computer program. When the computer program is executed, it controls the device where the readable storage medium is located to execute the navigator re-election method for the unmanned ship formation described in any method embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] The embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The present invention provides a method, device, and storage medium for re-electing a navigator for an unmanned ship formation. The method monitors the downtime of the navigator node and the communication failure of the follower node in the unmanned ship formation, and when the navigator node is detected to be down, the follower node with the shortest target distance is elected as the new navigator node. When the follower node is detected to be a communication failure node, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node. It can be seen that the present invention monitors the downtime of the navigator node and uses the downtime monitoring results to guide the navigator node re-election process, thereby realizing the timely discovery of the navigator node downtime and the timely election of the new navigator node, thereby improving the stability and safety of the unmanned ship formation when performing tasks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 1 is a flow chart of a method for re-electing a pilot of an unmanned vessel formation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 2. It is a structural diagram of a pilot re-election device for an unmanned ship formation provided by one embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is another flowchart of a method for re-electing a pilot of an unmanned ship formation provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described are only some of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] like Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for re-electing a pilot of an unmanned vessel formation, comprising the following steps:

[0032] Step S101: The pilot node in the unmanned vessel formation is monitored for downtime and the follower nodes are monitored for communication failure. The pilot node sends navigation information to the follower nodes in the unmanned vessel formation at regular intervals; after receiving the navigation information, the follower nodes reply with follow information to the pilot node.

[0033] In one embodiment, the pilot node sends a pilot message to all follower nodes every t1 to prove that it is operating normally. The pilot message is specifically a heartbeat signal. After receiving the pilot message, the follower node replies with a follow message to the pilot node. The follow message is specifically an acknowledgment signal.

[0034] If the pilot node does not receive the follow-up message from the follower node after a second preset time, the pilot node resends the pilot message to the follower node that did not reply to the follow-up message; the second preset time is twice the maximum information transmission delay time; the pilot message is only repeatedly sent once to the follower node that did not reply to the follow-up message.

[0035] Step S102: When it is detected that the pilot node is down, a follower node with the shortest target distance is elected as a new pilot node; when it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node.

[0036] In this embodiment of the present invention, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node to inform the first follower node that the election information sent by the communication failure node is invalid. When all first follower nodes receive the election information from the communication failure node, they will reply with a communication failure message to prompt their communication failure. The communication failure message is a heartbeat signal.

[0037] In one embodiment, when the pilot node does not receive the follow-up information replied by the follower node within a third preset time, the follower node is determined to be a communication failure node; the third preset time is 4 times the maximum information transmission delay time;

[0038] Invalidating the election information sent by the communication failure node, specifically: after receiving the election information sent by the communication failure node, the first follower node sends communication failure information to the communication failure node; the first follower node is a follower node with normal communication;

[0039] After receiving the communication failure information, the follower node returns to the location of the ground station (or dock) for repair.

[0040] As one embodiment, step S102 includes the following sub-steps:

[0041] Sub-step S1021: When any follower node in the unmanned ship formation does not receive the navigation information sent by the navigator node within a first preset time, it is determined that the navigator node is down.

[0042] The first preset time is calculated according to the following formula:

[0043] T = t1 + 3t2;

[0044] Where t1 is the fixed time interval for the pilot to send navigation information, t2 is the maximum information transmission delay time. The first preset time is the upper limit of the time for the follower node to receive the navigation information sent by the pilot node.

[0045] Sub-step S1022: The second follower node waits for a second preset time (i.e., 2t2) and then sends election information to the third follower node; the second follower node is a follower node that has not received the pilot information within the first preset time, and the third follower node is a follower node that does not include the second follower node.

[0046] Sub-step S1023: Comparing target distances: after the third follower node receives the election information sent by the second follower node, it compares the target distances of the third follower node and the second follower node; when the target distance of the third follower node is greater than or equal to the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node remains silent; when the target distance of the third follower node is less than the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node sends election information to the fourth follower node and sends non-elected information to the second follower node; the fourth follower node is a follower node that has not sent election information within a fourth preset time, and the fourth preset time is equal to n times the first preset time (i.e., nt1), and n is the total number of nodes in the unmanned ship formation (i.e., including the navigator node and the follower node).

[0047] Sub-step S1024: Set the third follower node as the second follower node, set the fourth follower node as the third follower node, and repeat the target distance comparison step (i.e., sub-step S1023) until any follower node does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information, and then elect the follower node that does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information as the new navigator node.

[0048] As one embodiment, the process of electing a follower node with the shortest target distance as a new navigator node includes three types of information, namely, election information, reply information, and elected information; the election information is used to announce the election, and the follower node includes the node number of the follower node and the distance between the follower node and the enemy aircraft when sending the election information; the reply information is used to reply to the election information, specifically, the reply information is used to reply the non-elected information to the non-elected follower node; the elected message is used to announce the node number of the new navigator node.

[0049] As one example, p i represents the unmanned ship node i, which includes the pilot node and the follower node, d i Indicates the distance between the unmanned ship node i and the target point (such as an enemy aircraft), i Used to record (or identify) the current navigator node of the unmanned ship node i;

[0050] When the follower node p i When receiving a selection message, the follower node p i Record the node number j of the pilot node in the elected information in the elected i In variables;

[0051] When the follower node p i When receiving an election message, compare the follower node p contained in the election message k The target distance and follower node p i The size of the target distance, when the follower node p i The target distance is greater than or equal to the follower node p k The target distance is i Remain silent; when the follower node p i The target distance is less than the follower node p k The target distance is i Send election information to the fourth follower node, and send non-elected information to the follower node p k ; The fourth follower node is a follower node that has not sent election information within a fourth preset time, the fourth preset time is equal to n times the first preset time, and n is the total number of nodes in the unmanned ship formation (i.e. including the navigator node and the follower node).

[0052] The present invention solves the problem of loss of control of an unmanned ship formation when the navigator in the formation fails, crashes, or is destroyed. By introducing a navigator crash detection method and a re-election method for restoring the system's operational capabilities, the present invention improves the fault-tolerance mechanism, enhances the system's robustness, and reduces crash losses.

[0053] Based on the above-mentioned embodiments of the invention, the present invention provides corresponding device embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown;

[0054] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a pilot re-election device for an unmanned vessel formation, comprising a downtime monitoring module 101 and a re-election module 102;

[0055] The downtime monitoring module is used to monitor the downtime of the pilot node in the unmanned ship formation and to monitor the communication failure of the follower node;

[0056] The re-election module is used to elect a follower node with the shortest target distance as a new navigator node when it is detected that the navigator node is down; when it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, broadcast the node number of the communication failure node to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node.

[0057] For the convenience and brevity of description, the device embodiment of the present invention includes all the implementation methods of the above-mentioned pilot re-election method embodiment applied to the unmanned ship formation, which will not be repeated here.

[0058] Based on the above-mentioned embodiments of the invention, the present invention provides a corresponding embodiment of a readable storage medium; another embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium, which includes a stored computer program. When the computer program is executed, the device where the readable storage medium is located is controlled to execute the navigator re-election method for the unmanned ship formation as described in any method embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] Exemplarily, the computer program may be divided into one or more modules, which are stored in the memory and executed by the processor to implement the present invention. The one or more modules may be a series of computer program instruction segments capable of performing specific functions, and the instruction segments are used to describe the execution process of the computer program in the terminal device.

[0060] The terminal device may be a computing device such as a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a PDA, a cloud server, etc. The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a processor and a memory.

[0061] The processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The processor is the control center of the terminal device, connecting various parts of the entire terminal device using various interfaces and lines.

[0062] The memory can be used to store the computer programs and / or modules. The processor implements various functions of the terminal device by running or executing the computer programs and / or modules stored in the memory and calling the data stored in the memory. The memory can mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area can store an operating system, at least one application required for a function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.); the data storage area can store data created based on the use of the mobile phone (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.). In addition, the memory can include a high-speed random access memory and can also include a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk, a memory, a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card, at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

[0063] Wherein, if the module / unit integrated in the terminal device is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium (i.e., the above-mentioned readable storage medium). Based on this understanding, the present invention implements all or part of the process in the above-mentioned embodiment method, and can also be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, it can implement the steps of the above-mentioned various method embodiments. Wherein, the computer program includes computer program code, and the computer program code can be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form. The computer-readable medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording medium, USB flash drive, mobile hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electric carrier signal, telecommunication signal and software distribution medium, etc.

[0064] It should be noted that the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment. In addition, in the drawings of the device embodiments provided by the present invention, the connection relationship between the modules indicates that there is a communication connection between them, which may be specifically implemented as one or more communication buses or signal lines. A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement the present invention without inventive effort.

[0065] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0066] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the above embodiments can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, the program can include the processes in the above embodiments. The storage medium can be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM).

Claims

1. A method for re-electing a pilot of an unmanned vessel fleet, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Monitor the downtime of the pilot node in the unmanned ship formation and the communication failure of the follower node; When the pilot node is detected to be down, the follower node with the shortest target distance is elected as the new pilot node; When it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, the node number of the communication failure node is broadcast to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node; wherein, after determining that the pilot node is down, the second follower node waits for a second preset time and then sends the election information to the third follower node; the second follower node is a follower node that has not received the pilot information within the first preset time, and the third follower node is a follower node that does not include the second follower node; wherein, the second preset time is twice the maximum information transmission delay time; the first preset time is the upper limit of the time for the follower node to receive the pilot information sent by the pilot node; After receiving the election information sent by the second follower node, the third follower node compares the target distances of the third follower node and the second follower node; when the target distance of the third follower node is greater than or equal to the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node remains silent; when the target distance of the third follower node is less than the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node sends election information to the fourth follower node and sends non-elected information to the second follower node; the fourth follower node is a follower node that has not sent election information within a fourth preset time; wherein the fourth preset time is equal to n times the first preset time, and n is the total number of nodes in the unmanned ship formation; The third follower node is set as the second follower node, the fourth follower node is set as the third follower node, and the target distance comparison step is repeated until any follower node does not receive the non-elected information within a first preset time after sending the election information, and the follower node that does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information is elected as the new navigator node.

2. The pilot re-election method for an unmanned vessel fleet according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pilot node sends navigation information to the follower nodes of the unmanned ship formation at fixed time intervals; after receiving the navigation information, the follower node replies with follow information to the pilot node; If the pilot node does not receive the follow-up information replied by the follower node after the second preset time, the pilot node resends the pilot information to the follower node that has not replied to the follow-up information.

3. The pilot re-election method for an unmanned vessel fleet according to claim 2, characterized in that: Invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node, specifically: After receiving the election information sent by the communication failure node, the first follower node sends communication failure information to the communication failure node; the first follower node is a follower node with normal communication.

4. The pilot re-election method for an unmanned vessel fleet according to claim 3, characterized in that: Performing downtime monitoring on the pilot includes the following steps: When any follower node in the unmanned ship formation does not receive the navigation information sent by the navigator node within a first preset time, it is determined that the navigator node is down.

5. The pilot re-election method for an unmanned vessel fleet according to claim 1, characterized in that: Perform communication failure monitoring on the follower node, specifically: When the pilot node does not receive the follow-up information replied by the follower node within a third preset time, the follower node is determined to be a communication failure node; the third preset time is 4 times the maximum information transmission delay time.

6. The pilot re-election method for an unmanned vessel fleet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first preset time is calculated according to the following formula: T = t1 + 3t2; Where t1 is the fixed time interval for the navigator to send navigation information, and t2 is the maximum information transmission delay time.

7. A pilot re-election device for an unmanned ship formation, characterized in that: Includes downtime monitoring module and re-election module; The downtime monitoring module is used to monitor the downtime of the pilot node in the unmanned ship formation and to monitor the communication failure of the follower node; The re-election module is configured to, when it is detected that the pilot node is down, elect a follower node with the shortest target distance as a new pilot node; when it is detected that the follower node is a communication failure node, broadcast the node number of the communication failure node to the first follower node to invalidate the election information sent by the communication failure node; wherein, after determining that the pilot node is down, the second follower node waits for a second preset time and then sends election information to the third follower node; the second follower node is a follower node that has not received the pilot information within the first preset time, and the third follower node is a follower node that does not include the second follower node; wherein, the second preset time is twice the maximum information transmission delay time; and the first preset time is the upper limit of the time for the follower node to receive the pilot information sent by the pilot node; After receiving the election information sent by the second follower node, the third follower node compares the target distances of the third follower node and the second follower node; when the target distance of the third follower node is greater than or equal to the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node remains silent; when the target distance of the third follower node is less than the target distance of the second follower node, the third follower node sends election information to the fourth follower node and sends non-elected information to the second follower node; the fourth follower node is a follower node that has not sent election information within a fourth preset time; wherein the fourth preset time is equal to n times the first preset time, and n is the total number of nodes in the unmanned ship formation; The third follower node is set as the second follower node, the fourth follower node is set as the third follower node, and the target distance comparison step is repeated until any follower node does not receive the non-elected information within a first preset time after sending the election information, and the follower node that does not receive the non-elected information within the first preset time after sending the election information is elected as the new navigator node.

8. A readable storage medium, characterized in that: The readable storage medium includes a stored computer program, and when the computer program is executed, it controls the device where the readable storage medium is located to execute the navigator re-election method of the unmanned ship formation according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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