An all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system

Abstract

The present application provides an all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system, including an energy subsystem, a drive subsystem, and a thermal management subsystem, wherein: the power battery is connected to the drive device controller and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the drive device controller; the drive device controller is connected to the motor and the DC-DC, controls the motor and provides 380V three-phase alternating current, the drive device controller is connected to the DC-DC and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the DC-DC, and the DC-DC supplies power to the circuit breaker box of the power distribution system, the coolant pump and the heat exchanger of the thermal management system, and the circuit breaker box supplies power to the whole-aircraft load through multiple internal circuit breakers; the circuit breaker box is connected to the emergency battery, and when the DC-DC cannot supply power to the circuit breaker box, the emergency battery supplies power to the circuit breaker box, and when the DC-DC supplies power to the circuit breaker box, it charges the emergency battery through the circuit breaker box.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of electricity, and specifically relates to an energy and drive system for an all-electric unmanned helicopter. Background Art

[0002] In order to achieve flight, traditional fuel helicopters generally consist of multiple systems such as power, fuel, electrical, transmission, rotor, and flight control. The chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy by the combustion of fuel, and then the mechanical energy is converted into other forms of energy such as electrical energy and hydraulic energy. Therefore, fuel is the source of all energy. The power system converts fuel into mechanical energy, and the electrical system converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The increasing complexity of helicopter design brought about by various energy conversions poses a test to the reliability of the helicopter. At the same time, with the development of helicopters, more and more electrical equipment has emerged on helicopters, and the use of electrical energy is increasing. Considering that fossil energy is not renewable, all-electric unmanned helicopters are one of the future development directions of helicopters. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An energy and drive system for an all-electric unmanned helicopter provided by this application reduces the complexity of the helicopter and improves the comprehensiveness of the helicopter.

[0004] Technical Solution: An energy and drive system for an all-electric unmanned helicopter includes an energy subsystem, a drive subsystem, and a thermal management subsystem, where:

[0005] The power battery is connected to the drive device controller and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the drive device controller; the drive device controller is connected to the motor and the DC-DC, controls the motor and provides 380V three-phase alternating current, the drive device controller is connected to the DC-DC and provides 700V high-voltage direct current to the DC-DC. The DC-DC powers the circuit breaker box of the power distribution system, the coolant pump and the heat exchanger of the thermal management system. The circuit breaker box supplies power to all the loads of the aircraft through multiple internal circuit breakers; the circuit breaker box is connected to the emergency battery. When the DC-DC cannot supply power to the circuit breaker box, the emergency battery supplies power to the circuit breaker box. When the DC-DC supplies power to the circuit breaker box, it charges the emergency battery through the circuit breaker box; the energy subsystem, the motor system, and the motor management system are respectively connected to the cooling interface of the thermal management subsystem, and convey the high-temperature coolant to the thermal management system. The cooling interface is connected to the heat exchange pump, and conveys the high-temperature coolant to the heat exchanger through the coolant pump; the heat exchanger is connected to the coolant interface of the energy subsystem, the cooling interface of the motor management system, and the cooling interface of the drive device, and conveys the cooled coolant to the energy subsystem, the drive device, and the motor management system; the motor is connected to the reducer, and converts the 24,000 rpm of the motor into 5,150 rpm through the drive reducer, and drives the main rotor blade and the tail rotor blade through the reducer.

[0006] Specifically, the energy subsystem is used to provide electrical energy to the entire aircraft; the power battery serves as the primary power source to supply high-voltage direct current to the entire aircraft; the emergency battery serves as the secondary power source to provide emergency power supply to the entire aircraft. Under normal circumstances, the emergency battery is charged by the power battery through DC-DC and cannot charge the power battery in reverse; the battery management system (BMS) diagnoses the health of the power battery and the emergency battery, and sends the system status of the power battery system and the emergency battery system to the drive device controller through the bus. The drive device controller sends the data of the BMS to the flight control computer, and the flight control computer sends it to the ground station.

[0007] Specifically, the drive subsystem is used to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy and provide mechanical energy to the entire aircraft, and also has the ability to communicate with the flight control computer bus; the drive device provides mechanical energy to the entire aircraft and drives the main rotor and tail rotor of the UAV; the drive device controller includes three functions: 1) controlling the drive device to maintain a constant speed; 2) transforming the high-voltage electricity of the power battery to 28V and distributing power to the electrical equipment of the entire aircraft; 3) monitoring and diagnosing the health of the drive device, accepting data from the battery management system at the same time, and sending the two parts of data to the flight control computer uniformly.

[0008] Specifically, the working principle of the energy and drive system: Under normal circumstances, the charger of the power battery charges the on-board energy subsystem. The flight control computer sends a power supply instruction, and the energy system turns on the contactor of the power battery pack. The power battery pack supplies power to the drive device controller. The drive device controller transmits the high voltage to the DC-DC, and the DC-DC converts the high-voltage electricity into a rated 28V. When the output voltage of the DC-DC meets 22V - 31V, it can be connected to the grid and then supply power to the on-board electrical equipment and also charge the emergency battery. At this time, each system on the aircraft makes pre-flight preparations; when taking off, the power battery charger needs to be unplugged. At this time, the power battery supplies power to the UAV. If the power battery fails to supply power, the emergency battery supplies power to the electrical equipment of the entire aircraft, and other systems of the UAV can still work except without power.

[0009] Specifically, when the output voltage of the DC-DC is less than 22V or greater than 31V, the drive device reports a system fault and disconnects the DC-DC power supply; when the power battery fails and cannot supply power to the entire aircraft normally, the entire aircraft enters the emergency power supply state. At this time, the 24V emergency battery supplies power to the entire aircraft.

[0010] Specifically, the energy subsystem includes a battery system, a battery management system, and a coolant interface; the thermal management subsystem includes a radiator assembly, pipelines, coolant, and a cooling interface; the drive subsystem includes a motor system, a motor management system, a coolant interface, a power distribution system, and a communication system. The motor system is mainly composed of a driving device, which is in turn composed of a 160-kW motor and a reducer. The motor management system consists of a driving device controller and a DC-DC converter. The power distribution system is mainly composed of a circuit breaker box and its attached cables. The circuit breaker box uses a thermal-magnetic circuit breaker. The communication system is mainly composed of a 1-channel CAN bus module and two 2-channel RS422 communication modules.

[0011] Specifically, the driving device controller of the drive subsystem collects information such as the rotational speed, voltage, current, temperature, and vibration of the driving device, and at the same time sends the received system status of the energy subsystem to the flight control system through the RS422 bus module.

[0012] Specifically, the flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sends the control instructions of the UAV to the driving device controller through the RS422 bus to control the energy and drive system. Then, the driving device controller sends the control instructions regarding the energy subsystem in the control instructions to the battery management device through the CAN bus module.

[0013] In summary, the energy and drive system of the all-electric unmanned helicopter provided in this application uses a power lithium battery to provide electrical energy for the helicopter, and a motor to provide mechanical energy for the helicopter. The power lithium battery is equipped with an energy management system (BMS), and the motor is equipped with a motor management system (MMS). The power lithium battery and the BMS system provide stable, reliable, and safe electrical energy for the all-electric unmanned helicopter; the motor and the MMS system provide stable, reliable, and safe power for the all-electric unmanned helicopter. Compared with traditional fuel-powered unmanned helicopters, this patent creatively integrates the power system, fuel system, electrical system, and transmission system of traditional fuel helicopters into an energy and drive system, reducing the complexity of the helicopter and improving the integration level of the helicopter. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the energy and drive system of an all-electric unmanned helicopter provided in this application. Detailed Description of the Embodiment

[0015] Starting from the analysis of the usage requirements of the unmanned helicopter, this patent sorts out four usage scenarios of the energy and drive system of the all-electric unmanned helicopter, namely ground debugging, takeoff, landing, and flight. After analyzing the four scenarios, the energy and drive system is designed.

[0016] The following will be further described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0017] As Figure 1 shown, the present application provides a fully electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system, including an energy subsystem, a drive subsystem, and a thermal management subsystem, where:

[0018] The power battery is connected to the drive device controller and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the drive device controller; the drive device controller is connected to the motor and the DC-DC, controls the motor and provides 380V three-phase alternating current, the drive device controller is connected to the DC-DC and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the DC-DC, and the DC-DC powers the circuit breaker box of the power distribution system, the coolant pump and the heat exchanger of the thermal management system. The circuit breaker box supplies power to the whole machine load through multiple internal circuit breakers; the circuit breaker box is connected to the emergency battery. When the DC-DC cannot supply power to the circuit breaker box, the emergency battery supplies power to the circuit breaker box. When the DC-DC supplies power to the circuit breaker box, it charges the emergency battery through the circuit breaker box; the energy subsystem, the motor system, and the motor management system are respectively connected to the cooling interface of the thermal management subsystem to transport the high-temperature coolant to the thermal management system. The cooling interface is connected to the heat exchange pump to transport the high-temperature coolant to the heat exchanger through the coolant pump; the heat exchanger is connected to the coolant interface of the energy subsystem, the cooling interface of the motor management system, and the cooling interface of the drive device to transport the cooled coolant to the energy subsystem, the drive device, and the motor management system; the motor is connected to the reducer, and the reducer converts the 24000rpm of the motor into 5150rpm and drives the main rotor and the tail rotor through the reducer.

[0019] Specifically, the energy subsystem is used to realize the function of supplying electric energy to the whole machine. The power battery, as the primary power source, is used to supply high-voltage direct current to the whole machine; the emergency battery, as the secondary power source, provides emergency power supply for the whole machine. Under normal circumstances, the emergency battery is charged by the power battery through the DC-DC and cannot charge the power battery reversely; the battery management system (BMS) diagnoses the health of the power battery and the emergency battery, and sends the system status of the power battery system and the emergency battery system to the drive device controller through the bus. The drive device controller sends the data of the BMS to the flight control computer, and the flight control computer sends it to the ground station.

[0020] Specifically, the drive subsystem is used to convert electric energy into kinetic energy, provide mechanical energy to the whole machine, and has the ability to communicate with the flight control computer bus. The drive device provides mechanical energy to the whole machine and drives the main rotor and the tail rotor of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the drive device controller has 3 functions: 1) controlling the drive device to maintain a constant speed; 2) transforming the high-voltage power of the power battery to 28V and distributing power to the electrical equipment of the whole machine; 3) monitoring and diagnosing the health of the drive device, receiving data from the battery management system at the same time, and sending the two parts of data to the flight control computer uniformly.

[0021] Specifically, the working principle of the energy and drive system: Under normal circumstances, the charger of the power battery charges the on-board energy subsystem. The flight control computer sends a power supply command, and the energy system turns on the contactor of the power battery pack. The power battery pack supplies power to the drive device controller, and the drive device controller transmits high voltage to the DC-DC. The DC-DC converts the high voltage into a rated 28V. When the output voltage of the DC-DC meets 22V - 31V, it can be connected to the grid and then supply power to the on-board electrical equipment and also charge the emergency battery. At this time, each system on the aircraft makes pre-flight preparations. When taking off, the power battery charger needs to be unplugged, and at this time, the power battery supplies power to the UAV. If the power battery fails to supply power, the emergency battery supplies power to all the electrical equipment on the aircraft, and other systems of the UAV can still work except for the lack of power.

[0022] Specifically, when the output voltage of the DC-DC is less than 22V or greater than 31V, the drive device reports a system fault and disconnects the DC-DC power supply. When the power battery fails and cannot supply normal power to the whole aircraft, the whole aircraft enters the emergency power supply state, and at this time, the 24V emergency battery supplies power to the whole aircraft.

[0023] Specifically, the energy subsystem includes a battery system, a battery management system, and a coolant interface; the thermal management subsystem includes a radiator assembly, pipelines, coolant, and a cooling interface; the drive subsystem includes a motor system, a motor management system, a coolant interface, a power distribution system, and a communication system. The motor system is mainly composed of a drive device, and the drive device is composed of a 160kw motor and a reducer. The motor management system is composed of a drive device controller and a DC-DC (converting 700 to 28V). The power distribution system is mainly composed of a circuit breaker box and its attached cables. The circuit breaker box uses a thermal magnetic circuit breaker. The communication system is mainly composed of 1 CAN bus module and 2 RS422 communication modules.

[0024] Among them: The battery system of the energy subsystem includes a 700V / 40kw·h power battery and a 24V / 0.25kw·h emergency battery. The battery management system mainly consists of a battery management device and its affiliated cables. The battery management device collects parameters such as the voltage, current, temperature, voltage of single cells, and temperature of single cells of the power battery and the emergency battery, and sends the system status of the energy system to the communication system of the drive subsystem through the CAN bus, and then sends the system status to the drive device control controller through the communication system. The power battery outputs 700V high-voltage direct current to the drive device controller, and the drive device controller transports the 700V high voltage to the DC-DC. Then the DC-DC converts the 700V high-voltage direct current into 28V, and then the DC-DC supplies 28V to the circuit breaker box, and then the circuit breaker box distributes 28V to each load of the whole machine. At the same time, the drive device converts the 700V high voltage into 380V three-phase alternating current, and then transports the alternating current to the motor. The drive device controller maintains the motor at a constant 24000rpm by adjusting the frequency of the three-phase alternating current. Then the reducer converts the speed of the motor into 5150rpm, and finally drives the main rotor and the tail rotor at the same time. The drive device controls the power supply of the thermal management subsystem according to the drive device parameters (temperature parameters), the temperature parameters of the energy system, and its own temperature. The emergency battery is charged and discharged through the circuit breaker box (when the power battery cannot supply power to the whole machine, the emergency battery supplies power to the whole machine load, and when the power battery supplies power, the circuit breaker box charges the emergency battery).

[0025] Specifically, the drive device controller of the drive subsystem collects information such as the speed, voltage, current, temperature, and vibration of the drive device, and at the same time sends the received system status of the energy subsystem to the flight control system through the RS422 bus module.

[0026] Specifically, the flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the control instructions of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the drive device controller through the RS422 bus to control the energy and drive system, and then the drive device controller sends the control instructions regarding the energy subsystem in the control instructions to the battery management device through the CAN bus module.

[0027] The energy and drive system adopts a unified heat dissipation design concept, and dissipates a total of 30kw of heat from the energy subsystem and the drive subsystem through the heat dissipation system. The heat exchanger of the heat dissipation system is equipped with a 3kW fan for heat dissipation, and the cooling pump power is 1kw. The thermal management subsystem uses liquid cooling for heat dissipation. The heat exchanger converts the high-temperature coolant passing through the radiator into low-temperature coolant, and then the low-temperature coolant cools the energy system and the drive system respectively.

[0028] It can be seen that for the energy and drive system of an all-electric unmanned helicopter provided in this application, the key technologies are mainly as follows:

[0029] a) After ground joint tests, the drive system can meet the drive power requirements of up to 160 kW for 2 minutes of a certain type of electric unmanned helicopter under a weight of 55 kg, and the energy system can meet the continuous discharge of 135 kW for 20 minutes under a weight of 198 kg;

[0030] b) The energy and drive systems communicate with the on-board flight control system through two CAN buses for the whole system data communication. The drive control subsystem is the communication center of the energy and drive systems, communicates with the flight control, and the flight control system conducts emergency control of the energy and drive systems through five discrete quantities;

[0031] c) The energy and drive systems adopt integrated thermal management for the battery subsystem and the drive subsystem;

[0032] d) The fuel system design is cancelled, and instead, the energy system is increased to provide energy for the whole aircraft;

[0033] e) The transmission design of the unmanned aircraft is cancelled, and the main rotor blade is directly driven by an electric motor. The drive control subsystem controls the motor to rotate at a constant speed. The unmanned helicopter realizes the change of lift through variable pitch, and the tail rotor blade is also directly driven by the electric motor subsystem and realizes the change of thrust through variable pitch;

[0034] f) An intelligent power distribution subsystem is added to the drive control subsystem, which can manage the electrical equipment of the whole aircraft through the drive subsystem by the flight control system.

[0035] In summary, for the energy and drive system of an all-electric unmanned helicopter provided in this application, compared with the current traditional fuel unmanned helicopter with the same lifting requirements, the system described in this patent has the following advantages:

[0036] The fuel system design is cancelled, shortening the design cycle of the unmanned aircraft and reducing design difficulties;

[0037] The transmission design of the unmanned aircraft is cancelled, and the main rotor blade is directly driven by an electric motor, reducing the weight of the unmanned helicopter.

[0038] The principle and implementation method of the patent are elaborated in the text. It should be noted that without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made to it, but these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the patent claims.

Claims

1. An all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system, characterized in that, It includes an energy subsystem, a drive subsystem and a thermal management subsystem, where: The power battery is connected to the drive device controller and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the drive device controller; the drive device controller is connected to the motor and the DC-DC, controls the motor and provides 380V three-phase alternating current, the drive device controller is connected to the DC-DC and supplies 700V high-voltage direct current to the DC-DC. The DC-DC powers the circuit breaker box of the power distribution system, the coolant pump and the heat exchanger of the thermal management system. The circuit breaker box supplies power to all the loads of the whole machine through multiple internal circuit breakers; the circuit breaker box is connected to the emergency battery. When the DC-DC cannot supply power to the circuit breaker box, the emergency battery supplies power to the circuit breaker box. When the DC-DC supplies power to the circuit breaker box, it charges the emergency battery through the circuit breaker box; the energy subsystem, the motor system and the motor management system are respectively connected to the cooling interface of the thermal management subsystem, and convey the high-temperature coolant to the thermal management system. The cooling interface is connected to the heat exchange pump, and conveys the high-temperature coolant to the heat exchanger through the coolant pump; the heat exchanger is connected to the coolant interface of the energy subsystem, the cooling interface of the motor management system and the cooling interface of the drive device, and conveys the cooled coolant to the energy subsystem, the drive device and the motor management system; the motor is connected to the reducer, converts the 24000rpm of the motor into 5150rpm through the drive reducer, and drives the main rotor blade and the tail rotor blade through the reducer.

2. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, wherein The energy subsystem is used to realize the function of supplying electric energy to the whole machine; the power battery, as a primary power source, is used to supply high-voltage direct current to the whole machine; the emergency battery, as a secondary power source, provides emergency power supply to the whole machine. Under normal circumstances, the emergency battery is charged by the power battery through the DC-DC and cannot charge the power battery in reverse; the battery management system diagnoses the health of the power battery and the emergency battery, and sends the system status of the power battery system and the emergency battery system to the drive device controller through the bus. The drive device controller sends the data of the battery management system to the flight control computer, and the flight control computer sends it to the ground station.

3. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The drive subsystem is used to convert electric energy into kinetic energy, supply mechanical energy to the whole machine, and has the ability to communicate with the flight control computer bus; the drive device supplies mechanical energy to the whole machine and drives the main rotor and the tail rotor of the UAV; the drive device controller has 3 functions: 1) Control the drive device to maintain a constant speed; 2) Step down the high-voltage power of the power battery to 28V and distribute power to all the electrical equipment of the whole machine; 3) Monitor and diagnose the health of the drive device, simultaneously receive the data from the battery management system, and send the two parts of data to the flight control computer uniformly.

4. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that Working Principle of Energy and Drive System: Under normal circumstances, the charger of the power battery charges the on-board energy subsystem. The flight control computer sends a power supply command, and the energy system turns on the contactor of the power battery pack. The power battery pack supplies power to the drive device controller. The drive device controller transmits high voltage to the DC-DC. The DC-DC converts the high voltage into a rated 28V. When the output voltage of the DC-DC meets 22V - 31V, it can be connected to the grid and then supply power to the on-board electrical equipment and also charge the emergency battery. At this time, each system on the aircraft makes pre-flight preparations; when taking off, the power battery charger needs to be unplugged. At this time, the power battery supplies power to the UAV. If the power battery fails to supply power, the emergency battery supplies power to all the electrical equipment on the aircraft. Except for the lack of power, other systems of the UAV can still work.

5. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the output voltage of the DC-DC is less than 22V or greater than 31V, the drive device reports a system fault and disconnects the DC-DC power supply; when the power battery fails and cannot supply normal power to the whole aircraft, the whole aircraft enters the emergency power supply state. At this time, the 24V emergency battery supplies power to the whole aircraft.

6. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The energy subsystem includes a battery system, a battery management system, and a coolant interface; the thermal management subsystem includes a radiator assembly, pipelines, coolant, and a cooling interface; the drive subsystem includes a motor system, a motor management system, a coolant interface, a power distribution system, and a communication system. The motor system is mainly composed of a drive device, and the drive device is composed of a 160kw motor and a reducer. The motor management system is composed of a drive device controller and a DC-DC. The power distribution system is mainly composed of a circuit breaker box and its attached cables. The circuit breaker box uses a thermal magnetic circuit breaker. The communication system is mainly composed of 1 CAN bus module and 2 RS422 communication modules.

7. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The drive device controller of the drive subsystem collects the rotational speed, voltage, current, temperature, and vibration information of the drive device, and at the same time sends the received system status of the energy subsystem to the flight control system through the RS422 bus module.

8. The all-electric unmanned helicopter energy and drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that The flight control system of the UAV sends the control instructions of the UAV to the drive device controller through the RS422 bus to control the energy and drive system. Then the drive device controller sends the control instructions regarding the energy subsystem in the control instructions to the battery management device through the CAN bus module.

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