Modular reconfigurable and adaptive control tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The application discloses a modular reconfigurable and self-adaptive control tunnel unmanned plane and belongs to the field of unmanned planes. Specifically, the application comprises a minimum module unit of a single-rotor attached to a slipstream rudder, wherein the minimum module unit comprises a fuselage, a power assembly, a control assembly, a connecting assembly and a take-off and landing assembly; two module units are spliced into a minimum flight unit through connecting rods; a plurality of flight units can be connected in a head-to-tail mode or a side-by-side mode; the self-rotation torque is offset through the reverse rotation of the rotors on the two sides of the connecting rods; the pitch of the flight unit is controlled through the differential speed of the rotors; and the lateral change of the flight unit is controlled by the slipstream rudder surface. The application can assemble, disassemble and scale the aircraft according to the weight and size requirements of the load, and has the ability to complete the reconnaissance and transportation through small windows and long and narrow tunnels.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and particularly relates to a tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle with modular reconfiguration and adaptive control. BACKGROUND

[0002] Multi-rotor is a great innovative achievement in the field of aviation in recent years, and has been fully developed in the civil field. As high-tech equipment, the technology has been mature. The commonly seen in the current society are quad-rotor, hexa-rotor, octo-rotor or more-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. Generally, the intervals and angles between each rotor are the same, and the rotors are arranged in a symmetrical manner to ensure the balance and stability of the unmanned aerial vehicle during flight.

[0003] Compared with fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles have lower requirements for flight sites, and do not need a runway for take-off and landing. They can take off and land vertically in a square-meter space. The control principle is simple, and the four remote sensing operations of the controller correspond to the front, rear, left, right, up and down and yaw directions of the aircraft. In the city high-rise and coal mine geological environment investigation, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles show incomparable advantages over other types of unmanned aerial vehicles.

[0004] At present, most of the multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles in China have triangular, square, regular hexagonal and regular octagonal frame layouts. Few enterprises research rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicles, and there are few related records. Many enterprises are not confident in the flight stability of rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicles, are confused about the industry application field of rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicles, have doubts about the direction flexibility of rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicles, and are worried about the volume of rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicles. Because such a long strip-shaped space widens the industry application field of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, but at the same time, it also increases the difficulty of unmanned aerial vehicle flight control.

[0005] When the length of the rectangular frame unmanned aerial vehicle is long and the length-width ratio is small, the through-put of the unmanned aerial vehicle is improved to a certain extent. Moreover, the rectangular frame is more suitable for installing rectangular task loads. Three or four throwing boxes are installed in sequence according to the symmetrical order to ensure the stability of the center of gravity of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Each throwing box can carry emergency materials with similar quality, and the material throwing work can be efficiently completed. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle with modular reconfiguration and adaptive control. A single-rotor is added with a minimum module unit of a slip rudder to form a minimum flight unit. A plurality of minimum flight units are connected end to end or side by side. The unmanned aerial vehicle can be assembled, disassembled, scaled and flown according to the weight and size requirements of the load.

[0007] The tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle with modular reconfiguration and adaptive control comprises a plurality of minimum flight units, each of which is composed of two minimum module units.

[0008] The minimum module unit includes a battery slot, a flight control slot, a rotor and a motor, a rudder, a connecting groove, a carbon tube and a foot stand on the fuselage.

[0009] The rotor and the motor are fixed above the fuselage, the motor drives the rotor to rotate at high speed to generate thrust, and the fuselage around the connecting groove evenly distributed in four directions at the lower end of the motor is used for installing the carbon tube;

[0010] A foot stand is arranged at the collinear bottom end of the adjacent two connecting grooves for supporting the fuselage;

[0011] The battery slot and the flight control slot are arranged in the fuselage center below the connecting groove from top to bottom; the flight control slot is connected with a slip rudder assembly below. The slip rudder assembly includes a rudder and a slip rudder surface, the rudder is symmetrically installed on both sides of the slip rudder surface, and the slip rudder surface is suspended below.

[0012] The two minimum module units are connected by the carbon tube to keep mirror image symmetry to form a minimum flight unit, and the two rotors rotate clockwise and counterclockwise respectively to cancel the counter torque.

[0013] Specifically, the two rudders of the two minimum module units provide torsion respectively, the bevel gear transmits force and changes the movement direction of the two slip rudder surfaces, and the two slip rudder surfaces can move in the same direction or in opposite directions, so as to realize controllable rotation in the lateral direction; the rotors on both sides can realize differential motion, and in the process of forward flight, the differential motion of the motors makes the rotational speeds of the rotors on both sides different to generate a thrust difference to cancel the counter torque;

[0014] The tunnel unmanned aerial vehicle realizes module reconfiguration and adaptive control, specifically:

[0015] 1) At least two minimum flight units are connected in a line to form longitudinal extension;

[0016] Specifically, for each minimum flight unit, the rotational directions of the rotors of the two minimum module units are clockwise and counterclockwise directions or are counterclockwise and clockwise directions.

[0017] Then the minimum module units of all the minimum flight units are connected in sequence to form a line layout in the order of “clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise……” or in the order of “counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise……”.

[0018] Since the counter torque is cancelled by the differential motion of the rotors on both sides of each minimum flight unit, only the lift of the minimum flight units at both ends needs to be changed to cancel the overall counter torque.

[0019] At the same time, only the movement direction of the synchronous slip rudder surfaces of the minimum flight units at both ends needs to be changed, and the two ends can move in the same direction or in opposite directions, so as to realize controllable rotation in the lateral direction.

[0020] 2) At least two minimum flight units are connected side-by-side to form a grid extension:

[0021] The specific method is as follows:

[0022] Connect the smallest module unit in the smallest flight unit A that rotates clockwise (counterclockwise) to the smallest module unit in the smallest flight unit B that rotates counterclockwise (clockwise). Up to three smallest flight units B can be connected to form a "clockwise-counterclockwise" intersecting block layout, similar to a common "quadcopter", and the control method is the same.

[0023] Similarly, the minimum number of longitudinally extended flight units can be set according to actual needs to achieve adaptive control; the layout of longitudinal extension and grid extension is composed of any number of minimum flight units connected together.

[0024] The advantages of this invention are:

[0025] (1) A modular, reconfigurable and adaptive control tunneling UAV, which uses the reverse rotation of the rotor to counteract the self-rotation torque; the rotor differential speed controls the pitch; and the slipstream control surface controls the lateral changes, making the control simple.

[0026] (2) A modular, reconfigurable and adaptive control tunneling UAV, the longitudinal extension scheme can load and unload the scaled aircraft according to the weight and size requirements of the load, only need to change the lift of the minimum flight units at both ends to counteract the overall anti-torsion and control the overall pitch; the synchronous slipstream control surfaces of the minimum flight units at both ends control the lateral changes, the control is simple, it can increase the maximum payload of the UAV, and can be applied to high-load application scenarios.

[0027] (3) A modular, reconfigurable, and adaptively controlled tunneling UAV, with a grid extension scheme similar to common multi-rotor control methods. It can load and unload scaled aircraft according to the weight and size requirements of the payload, and can also increase the maximum payload of the UAV, making it applicable to high-load application scenarios.

[0028] (4) A modular, reconfigurable and adaptive control tunneling UAV, which reduces production costs and increases versatility due to the modularization of flight units. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the smallest module unit of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the smallest flight unit of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the longitudinal extension scheme of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4A schematic diagram of the grid extension scheme of the present application;

[0033] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the rotor steering of the longitudinal extension scheme of the present application;

[0034] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the rotor steering of the grid extension scheme of the present application;

[0035] In the figure: 1-battery slot; 2-flight control slot; 3-rotor and motor; 4-rudder; 5-sliding flow rudder; 6-connection groove; 7-carbon tube; 8-leg; 9-minimum flight unit A; 10-minimum flight unit B; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0037] The present application discloses a modular reconfigurable and adaptive control tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle, which is composed of a minimum module unit by adding a sliding flow rudder to a single rotor, two module units are spliced into a minimum flight unit, and multiple flight units can be connected head to tail or side by side to form a series aircraft, characterized by small cross section and detachable length of the fuselage. The present application can detach and zoom the aircraft according to the weight and size requirements of the load, and has the ability to complete reconnaissance and transportation through narrow windows and long tunnels.

[0038] As shown in Figure 1 The minimum module unit includes a fuselage, a power assembly, a control assembly, a connection assembly and a take-off and landing assembly; specifically including: a battery slot 1, a flight control slot 2, a rotor and a motor 3, a rudder 4, a sliding flow rudder 5, a connection groove 6, a carbon tube 7 and a leg 8.

[0039] The power assembly is a single rotor and motor located above the fuselage, the control assembly is a rudder and a single sliding flow rudder located below the fuselage, the connection assembly is a connection groove and a detachable connection carbon tube surrounding the fuselage and respectively facing the four directions of front, back, left and right, and the take-off and landing assembly is a leg surrounding the fuselage and respectively facing the left front, left rear, right front and right rear and extending downward, ensuring that the sliding flow rudder does not touch the ground.

[0040] The rotor and the motor are fixed on the top of the fuselage, mainly providing lift; the motor is a DC motor, which drives the rotor to rotate at high speed to generate thrust, and the connection groove is evenly distributed in four directions around the fuselage at the lower end of the motor, used for installing the carbon tube;

[0041] A leg is provided at the collinear bottom end of the adjacent two connection grooves for supporting the fuselage;

[0042] The battery slot and the flight control slot are arranged from top to bottom in the center of the fuselage below the connecting groove; the flight control slot is connected with the slip rudder assembly below. The slip rudder assembly comprises a rudder and a slip rudder surface, the rudder is symmetrically provided with slip plates on both sides, the slip plates are fixed by cooperating with the mounting slots on the fuselage, and the slip rudder surface is connected in suspension below.

[0043] As shown in Figure 2 , two minimum module units are connected by carbon tubes, keep mirror symmetry to form the minimum flight unit, and disperse stress to ensure the reliability of the structure. Two rotors rotate clockwise and counterclockwise respectively, and the self-rotation torque is offset. The pitch of the flight unit is controlled by the differential speed of the rotors, and the lateral change of the flight unit is controlled by the slip rudder surface.

[0044] The carbon tube is a hollow connecting rod, which can be placed with a line and used to connect other module units.

[0045] Specifically, two rudders of two minimum module units provide torsional force respectively, the bevel gear transmits force and changes the motion direction of two slip rudder surfaces, which can move in the same direction or in the opposite direction, so as to realize controllable rotation in the lateral direction. The differential motion of the rotors on both sides can realize differential motion, and in the process of forward flight, the differential motion of the motors makes the rotational speeds of the rotors on both sides different to produce a thrust difference to offset the counter torque. The feasibility of the motion design of the application is ensured.

[0046] The calculation formula is:

[0047] W a1 and W a2 are the output powers of the two motors, p out is the motor output corresponding to the target pitch angular velocity, δ throttle represents the motor output corresponding to the target lifting speed.

[0048] The tunneling unmanned aerial vehicle realizes module reconfiguration and adaptive control, specifically:

[0049] 1) At least two minimum flight units are connected in a line to form a longitudinal extension.

[0050] Specifically, for each minimum flight unit, the rotational directions of the rotors of the two minimum module units are clockwise and counterclockwise directions or are counterclockwise and clockwise directions.

[0051] Then, the minimum module unit with counterclockwise direction rotation in the front minimum flight unit A is connected with the minimum module unit with clockwise direction rotation in the rear minimum flight unit B, and all the minimum module units of the minimum flight units are connected in turn to form a one-line layout in the order of "clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise……" or in the order of "counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise……".

[0052] Since each minimum flight unit cancels out the anti-torque through the differential rotation of the two rotors, it is only necessary to change the lift of the minimum flight units at both ends to cancel out the overall anti-torque.

[0053] Meanwhile, the control of the slipstream rudder of the smallest flight unit can be regarded as a synchronous slipstream rudder, moving in the same direction. By simply changing the direction of movement of the synchronous slipstream rudder surfaces of the two smallest flight units, the two ends can move in the same direction or in opposite directions, thereby achieving controllable lateral rotation.

[0054] 2) At least two minimum flight units are connected side-by-side to form a grid extension:

[0055] The specific method is as follows:

[0056] Connect the smallest module unit in the smallest flight unit A that rotates clockwise (counterclockwise) to the smallest module unit in the smallest flight unit B that rotates counterclockwise (clockwise). Up to three smallest flight units B can be connected to form a "clockwise-counterclockwise" intersecting block layout, similar to a common "quadcopter", and the control method is the same.

[0057] Similarly, the minimum number of longitudinally extended flight units can be set according to actual needs to achieve adaptive control; the layout of longitudinal extension and grid extension is composed of any number of minimum flight units connected together.

[0058] Example:

[0059] like Figure 3 The diagram shows a schematic of the longitudinal extension scheme. The smallest flight unit A and the smallest flight unit B are connected by a single carbon fiber tube, forming a straight line. The clockwise rotating module in unit A is connected to the counterclockwise rotating module in unit B. The rotation directions of the four smallest module units form a straight line layout of "clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise". This layout can be formed by connecting any number of smallest flight units. For example, three smallest flight units form a "clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-counterclockwise" layout, four smallest flight units form a "clockwise-counterclockwise-counterclockwise-counterclockwise-counterclockwise" layout, and so on.

[0060] A schematic diagram of the rotor steering in the longitudinal extension scheme is shown below. Figure 5 As shown.

[0061] During control, the pitch of the flight unit is controlled by the lift difference between the rotors and motors connected to both sides of the carbon tube; the two slipstream control surfaces of unit A are set to be synchronous and in the same direction, and the two slipstream control surfaces of unit B are set to be synchronous and in the same direction. The same-direction deflection of the control surfaces on both sides causes the flight unit to roll, and the opposite-direction deflection causes the flight unit to yaw.

[0062] by Figure 3For example, the module unit number from right to left is a1, a2, b1, b2, and the control output formula of the four motors is as follows:

[0063]

[0064] The lateral control of the flight unit is completed by the slip rudder, as follows:

[0065]

[0066] H is the output rudder of the slip rudder, q out represents the motor output corresponding to the target roll angular velocity, r out represents the motor output corresponding to the target yaw angular velocity.

[0067] Through the above design, the unmanned aerial vehicle can be composed of any number of minimum flight units, the difference in lift of the rotors of the flight units at both ends controls the pitch, and the other rotors provide lift; the synchronous slip rudders of the flight units at both ends control the lateral direction, and the other slip rudders remain in the middle and do not need to be controlled. According to the weight and size requirements of the load, the aircraft is assembled and disassembled and scaled, and the control method is the same, which takes into account high load while the cross section of the fuselage is small.

[0068] As shown in Figure 4 , it is a schematic diagram of the grid extension scheme; the minimum flight unit A and the minimum flight unit B are composed of two connected carbon tubes and are connected side by side. The clockwise rotating module units in unit A are connected with the counterclockwise rotating module units in unit B, and the counterclockwise rotating module units in unit A are connected with the clockwise rotating module units in unit B, forming a clockwise "forward-reverse-forward-reverse" block layout, which can be composed of any number of minimum flight units, for example: three minimum flight units form a "six-rotor" layout, four minimum flight units form an "eight-rotor" layout, and so on.

[0069] The grid extension scheme rotor turning direction schematic diagram is shown in Figure 6 .

[0070] When controlling, it is similar to the common "four-rotor", and the control method is the same. For example, Figure 4 , the module unit number from the top right in the counterclockwise direction is a1, a2, b1, b2, and the motor control output formula is as follows:

[0071]

[0072] The slip rudder of the flight unit assists in completing the lateral control, as follows:

[0073]

[0074] The application has small cross section of the fuselage during forward flight, the length of the fuselage can be changed and the control method is simple. The rotor provides the lift and the horizontal force during forward flight, the pitch is controlled by the differential speed of the rotors on two sides, the lateral change is controlled by the rudder, and the crossing through the narrow window and the long tunnel is realized.

Claims

1. A modular reconfigurable and adaptive control tunnel drone, characterized by, The minimum flight unit comprises two minimum module units which are fixed by carbon tubes and keep mirror symmetry; two rotors rotate clockwise and counterclockwise respectively and offset each other's reverse torque; The minimum module unit comprises a battery groove, a flight control groove, a rotor and a motor, a rudder, a slipstream rudder surface, a connecting groove, a carbon tube and a foot stand on the fuselage; The rotor and the motor are fixed above the fuselage, the motor drives the rotor to rotate at high speed to generate thrust, and the fuselage around the connecting groove which is evenly distributed in four directions at the lower end of the motor is used to install the carbon tube; The battery groove and the flight control groove are arranged from top to bottom in the center of the fuselage below the connecting groove; the flight control groove is connected with the slipstream rudder assembly below; the slipstream rudder assembly comprises a rudder and a slipstream rudder surface, the rudder is symmetrically installed on both sides of the slipstream rudder surface, and the slipstream rudder surface is fixed by cooperating with the installation groove on the fuselage through the slipstream rudder surface. The modular reconfiguration and adaptive control are as follows: 1) At least two minimum flight units are connected in a line to form longitudinal extension; Specifically, for each minimum flight unit, the rotation directions of the rotors of the two minimum module units are clockwise and counterclockwise or counterclockwise and clockwise; Then, the minimum module units of all the minimum flight units are connected in turn to form a line layout in the order of "clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-……” or "counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-clockwise-counterclockwise-……”; Since the reverse torque of each minimum flight unit is offset by the differential of the rotors on both sides, only the lift of the minimum flight units at both ends needs to be changed to offset the overall reverse torque; at the same time, only the movement direction of the synchronous slipstream rudder surfaces of the minimum flight units at both ends needs to be changed, which can move in the same direction or in opposite directions, thereby realizing controllable rotation in the lateral direction; 2) At least two minimum flight units are connected side by side to form grid extension: Specifically, The minimum module units in the minimum flight unit A which rotate clockwise and counterclockwise are connected with the minimum module units in the minimum flight unit B which rotate counterclockwise and clockwise, and at most three minimum flight units B are connected to form a square layout with "clockwise-counterclockwise” interval intersection, which is similar to the common "four-rotor” and has the same control method; Similarly, the number of minimum flight units in longitudinal extension can be set according to actual needs to realize adaptive control; the layout of longitudinal extension and grid extension is composed of any number of connected minimum flight units.

2. The modular reconfigurable and adaptive control tunnel drone of claim 1, wherein, A foot stand is arranged at the collinear bottom end of the adjacent two connecting grooves to support the fuselage.

3. The modular reconfigurable and adaptive control tunnel drone of claim 1, wherein, The two rudders of the two minimum module units provide torque, the bevel gears change the movement direction of the two slipstream rudder surfaces, which can move in the same direction or in opposite directions, thereby realizing controllable rotation in the lateral direction; the rotors on both sides can realize differential motion, and during forward flight, the differential motion of the motors makes the rotation speeds of the rotors on both sides different to generate a thrust difference and thereby offset the reverse torque.

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