A real-time cross-station handover control method for unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

The present application discloses a method for real-time cross-station power transfer control of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the method mainly includes the following steps: Step S1. The unmanned aerial vehicle establishes a connection with multiple unmanned aerial vehicle control stations on the ground, and the unmanned aerial vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle control station are connected through a communication link, and real-time data information is exchanged; Step S2. After the unmanned aerial vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle control station on the ground are started, an information list library is established internally and the information list library is initialized respectively. The unmanned aerial vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle control station broadcast their own information list library through the communication link and maintain their own information list library according to the received information at the same time; Step S3. The dynamic transfer of control rights between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle control station is realized by manual intervention or autonomous selection of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The present application is based on a link system, which can not only realize the coordinated control and dynamic power transfer of one unmanned aerial vehicle, but also realize the coordinated control and dynamic power transfer of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles at the same time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle system control, and in particular to a method for real-time cross-station handover control of unmanned aerial vehicles. Background Art

[0002] At present, the mainstream UAV system includes a UAV control station and a UAV. The UAV control station monitors and controls the UAV through line-of-sight wireless links or satellite communication wireless links, controls the flight of the UAV, obtains information about the UAV and its payload, and issues instructions to the UAV to guide the UAV to complete related tasks. In the future, UAVs will develop rapidly in the direction of intelligence, clustering, and manned / unmanned collaboration. UAV systems are bound to be widely used, which requires the evolution of UAV system technology to constantly adapt to new needs.

[0003] Combined with the current use process of the existing UAV system, the UAV is monitored and controlled by the UAV ground station during the take-off, landing, cruising, and mission execution stages, and the UAV and the UAV control station that controls it are tightly coupled, that is, the UAV control station with control rights cannot be changed during the entire process. Therefore, during the take-off, landing, cruising, and mission execution of the UAV, it is heavily dependent on the UAV control station with control rights, which severely limits the use of the UAV system and the flexibility of mission execution.

[0004] The invention patent application with publication number CN113377129A discloses a method for two ground stations to collaboratively control an unmanned aerial vehicle. Through the information exchange and confirmation between the control station and the request station in the same data link system (requiring a primary and a secondary link), the control station and the request station can clarify the current control authority in real time, and make corresponding control authority requests and respond. The handover process of control authority is fully considered, and the function of platform control authority handover is realized. In the process of handing over control authority, the flight safety of the unmanned aerial vehicle is improved by waiting for confirmation time; at the same time, the function of two ground stations collaboratively controlling the flight platform and the mission platform at the same time is also realized.

[0005] The above-mentioned prior art requires two links, the primary and the secondary, to complete the handover, which involves two links to complete, and can only perform collaborative control and handover of one drone at a time, and requires relevant personnel to participate in the judgment and control throughout the process. Therefore, when there is only one link or when multiple drones need to realize the handover of control at the same time, the collaborative control and handover described in the patent are no longer applicable. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to solve the problems and shortcomings existing in the above-mentioned prior art, the present application proposes a real-time cross-station handover control method for UAVs, so that during the use of the UAV system, based on a link system, not only can the collaborative control and dynamic handover of a UAV be supported under a link system, but also the collaborative control and dynamic handover of multiple UAVs can be realized at the same time.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned invention object, the technical solution of this application is as follows:

[0008] A method for real-time cross-station handover control of a UAV mainly includes the following steps:

[0009] Step S1. The UAV establishes a connection with multiple UAV control stations on the ground. The UAV and the UAV control stations are connected via a communication link and data information is exchanged in real time; wherein the communication link includes an uplink and a downlink;

[0010] Step S2. After the UAV and the UAV control station on the ground are started, they respectively establish an information list library inside and initialize the information list library. The UAV control station broadcasts the station information regularly through the communication link at a certain period. After the UAV receives the information broadcast by the UAV control station, it updates and maintains the local information list library, and at the same time broadcasts the maintained local information list library to the outside through the communication link at a certain period. After receiving the information broadcast by the UAV, the UAV control station updates and maintains the information list library in the station;

[0011] Step S3: Dynamic transfer of control rights between the UAV and the UAV control station is achieved through manual intervention or autonomous selection by the UAV.

[0012] Preferably, in step S3, the dynamic transfer of control rights between the drone and the drone control station is achieved through manual intervention, including:

[0013] The staff in the unauthorized UAV control station independently selects UAVs within the communication link range of the station. For the selected UAV, the unauthorized UAV control station actively initiates a control application instruction for the UAV and broadcasts the control application instruction through the uplink;

[0014] After receiving the control right application command, the drone will broadcast the control right level, ID, geographic location and uplink communication quality information of the drone control station to be authorized and to be handed over according to the information list library maintained by the drone itself;

[0015] After receiving the message broadcast by the drone, the drone control station to be handed over will parse the content, determine whether to hand over the right according to the priority, geographical location and uplink communication quality of the control station, and pass the judgment result to the staff in the station. The staff in the drone control station to be handed over will give a reply instruction of the right handover information according to the judgment result, and broadcast the reply instruction of the right handover information through the communication link;

[0016] After receiving the information, the drone confirms the information of the drone control station to be authorized, and broadcasts the reply instruction of the handover information through the communication link. After receiving the information, the drone control station to be authorized analyzes the content. If the analysis result is disagreement, the process ends; if the analysis result is agreement, the drone control station to be authorized further initiates the confirmation message of receiving the handover authority. After receiving it, the drone confirms and broadcasts the message.

[0017] After the control station of the drone to be handed over receives the confirmation information of the handover authority, it releases the control right and sends a message of releasing the control right. After the drone receives it, it broadcasts the change information of the control right through the communication link. After the control station of the authorized drone receives it, the handover is completed.

[0018] At the same time, the UAV control station and the UAV update and maintain their own list information bases; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage area of ​​the update of its control rights.

[0019] Preferably, in step S3, the dynamic transfer of control rights between the drone and the drone control station is achieved by autonomous selection of the drone, including:

[0020] The UAV combines its own geographic location information and the UAV control station within the communication link range, and the communication quality of the uplink to calculate the location distance threshold N, the communication link quality threshold M, and the duration factor T in real time. It makes a comprehensive judgment based on the type of the UAV control station, and obtains a list of UAV control stations that can be handed over and the optimal pairing UAV control station based on whether the conditions for handover of control are met.

[0021] When there is a UAV control station that meets the handover conditions, the UAV actively initiates and broadcasts the control handover command to the UAV control station within the communication range through the communication link;

[0022] After receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be handed over will parse the content and automatically respond to the control right transfer message command through the communication link; after receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be authorized will parse the content and wait for the authorization to be completed;

[0023] After receiving the control transfer message command sent by the control station to be handed over, the drone automatically responds and broadcasts the control transfer message command. After receiving the message, the control station to be authorized automatically responds. After receiving the response message, the drone parses it. At the same time, the drone updates the control transfer result information through the communication link. After receiving the message, the control station to be handed over and the control station to be authorized confirm that the handover is completed.

[0024] The UAV and UAV control station update and maintain their respective list information bases based on the final handover results; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage of the updated control rights.

[0025] Beneficial effects of this application:

[0026] (1) The method of the present application can be used to help implement usage scenarios that require the control of a drone to be handed over in real time, for example: during the drone take-off and landing phase, the cruising phase, and the mission execution phase. By using this method, drone control stations distributed in different phases and geographical locations can obtain the control of a drone in real time, thereby changing the way the existing drone system is used and improving the way the drone system executes tasks and the flexibility of executing tasks.

[0027] (2) The method of the present application can be based on a link system (a link of a TDD system) to complete the coordinated control of one or more drones and the use scenario of dynamic handover. During the handover process, only the staff in the control station need to perform simple participation judgment, and even a completely autonomous dynamic handover scenario can be realized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The foregoing and following detailed description of the present application will become more apparent when read in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0029] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of the application method;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the drone and the drone control station for this application;

[0031] Figure 3 Create and maintain a flow chart for this application information list library;

[0032] Figure 4 This is the manual intervention method handover control flow chart for this application;

[0033] Figure 5 This is the control flow chart of the autonomous selection of the UAV in this application.

[0034] In the attached figure:

[0035] 1. Drone; 2. Drone control station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in this application, the following will further illustrate the technical solutions for achieving the invention purpose of this application through several specific embodiments. It should be noted that the technical solutions claimed for protection in this application include but are not limited to the following embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0037] At present, the mainstream UAV system includes a UAV control station and a UAV. The UAV control station monitors and controls the UAV through line-of-sight wireless links or satellite communication wireless links, controls the flight of the UAV, obtains information about the UAV and its payload, and issues instructions to the UAV to guide the UAV to complete related tasks. In the future, UAVs will develop rapidly in the direction of intelligence, clustering, and manned / unmanned collaboration. UAV systems are bound to be widely used, which requires the evolution of UAV system technology to constantly adapt to new needs.

[0038] Combined with the current use process of the existing UAV system, the UAV is monitored and controlled by the UAV ground station during the take-off, landing, cruising, and mission execution stages, and the UAV and the UAV control station that controls it are tightly coupled, that is, the UAV control station with control rights cannot be changed during the entire process. Therefore, during the take-off, landing, cruising, and mission execution of the UAV, it is heavily dependent on the UAV control station with control rights, which severely limits the use of the UAV system and the flexibility of mission execution.

[0039] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application proposes a method for real-time cross-station handover control of UAVs. This method, based on a link system (the link of a TDD system), can not only support the coordinated control and dynamic handover of a UAV under a link system, but also realize the coordinated control and dynamic handover of multiple UAVs at the same time; and the strategy for realizing the coordinated control and dynamic handover of UAVs is basically completed automatically, and only requires the staff in the control station to perform simple participation judgment.

[0040] This embodiment discloses a method for real-time cross-station handover control of a UAV. Figure 1 , this method mainly includes the following steps.

[0041] Step S1. The UAV establishes connections with multiple UAV control stations on the ground and exchanges data information in real time.

[0042] In this embodiment, it should be noted that the UAV is connected to the UAV ground control station through a communication link, and wireless data information is transmitted through the communication link. Among them, the communication link between the UAV and the UAV control station includes an uplink and a downlink, the ground to the air is the uplink (that is, the transmission line from the UAV control station to the UAV is the uplink), and the air to the ground is the downlink (that is, the transmission line from the UAV broadcast message to the UAV control station is the downlink).

[0043] Step S2. After the UAV and the UAV control station on the ground are powered on, they respectively establish corresponding information list libraries internally and initialize their own information list libraries. After initialization, the information list libraries are blank; the UAV control station broadcasts the station information regularly through the uplink at a certain period. After the UAV receives the information broadcast by the UAV control station, it updates and maintains the local information list library, and at the same time broadcasts the maintained local information list library outward through the downlink at a certain period. After receiving the information broadcast by the UAV, the UAV control station updates and maintains the information list library in the station.

[0044] In this embodiment, it should be noted that there is no fixed order for the drone control station and the drones to broadcast messages. As long as their own broadcast cycles are reached, they will automatically broadcast messages to the outside, and the broadcast cycle is set according to needs.

[0045] In this embodiment, it should also be noted that the information list library established within the drone itself mainly includes the control station ID, control station type, control station priority, control station geographical location, uplink quality, control right application status, control right control status, the ID of the drone and the drone type of the drone. When the drone broadcasts a message to the outside, it will broadcast its own drone ID, drone type, control station ID, control station type, control station priority, control station geographical location, uplink quality, control right application status, control right control status and other information.

[0046] In this embodiment, the uplink quality includes the uplink packet loss rate; wherein the uplink packet loss rate is calculated as follows:

[0047]

[0048] Where M represents the packet loss rate; m 发 Indicates the total number of messages sent by the UAV control station; m 收 Indicates the total number of messages received by the drone.

[0049] It is obtained by dividing the number of broadcast messages received by the drone by the total number of messages broadcast by the drone control station.

[0050] In this embodiment, it is also necessary to further explain that the information list library established inside the UAV control station mainly includes its own control station ID, control station type, control station priority, control station geographical location, downlink quality, control right application status and control status of this station control right.

[0051] In this embodiment, similarly, the quality of the downlink includes the downlink packet loss rate, and the calculation method of the downlink packet loss rate refers to that of the uplink.

[0052] Step S3: Dynamic transfer of control rights between the UAV and the UAV control station is achieved through manual intervention or autonomous selection by the UAV.

[0053] In this embodiment, there are two ways to transfer the control of the drone, one is to use manual intervention, and the other is to let the drone make an autonomous choice. The two transfer methods will be described in detail below.

[0054] First of all, it should be noted that in this embodiment, the drone control station that currently has control over the drone is defined as a drone control station to be handed over, and the drone control station that wants to obtain control of the drone is defined as a drone control station to be authorized.

[0055] The station staff manually intervenes to transfer control rights:

[0056] The staff in the unauthorized drone control station autonomously selects the drone that has established a connection with the station, and selects the drone that they want to control as the target drone. For the selected target drone, the unauthorized drone control station actively initiates a control application instruction for the drone, and broadcasts the control application instruction through the communication link; the control application instruction initiated by the unauthorized drone control station includes not only the instruction itself, but also the unauthorized drone control station’s own ID, control station priority, control station type, control station geographical location and other information;

[0057] After receiving the control request command, the target UAV broadcasts the priority, ID, geographic location and uplink communication quality information of the UAV control station to be authorized and to be handed over according to the information list library maintained by the UAV itself;

[0058] After receiving the message broadcast by the target drone, the drone control station to be handed over parses the content, and determines whether to hand over the right according to the priority, geographical location and uplink communication quality of the control station to be handed over and the authorized control station, and transmits the parsed content and the judgment result to the staff in the station. The staff in the drone control station to be handed over gives a reply instruction of the right handover information according to the parsed content and the judgment result, and broadcasts the reply instruction of the right handover information through the communication link;

[0059] After receiving the reply command of the handover information, the drone confirms the information of the unauthorized drone control station and broadcasts the reply command of the handover information through the communication link. After receiving the information, the unauthorized drone control station analyzes the content. If the analysis result is disagreement, the process ends; if the analysis result is agreement, the unauthorized drone control station further initiates the confirmation message of receiving the handover authority. After receiving it, the drone confirms and broadcasts the message.

[0060] After the control station of the drone to be handed over receives the confirmation information of the handover authority, it releases the control right and sends a message of releasing the control right. After the drone receives it, it broadcasts the change information of the control right through the communication link. After the control station of the authorized drone receives it, the handover is completed.

[0061] At the same time, the UAV control station and the UAV update and maintain their own list information bases; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage area of ​​the update of its control rights.

[0062] In this embodiment, it should be noted that when the drone control station broadcasts a message through a communication link, all drones that have established a connection relationship with it will receive the message it broadcasts, but only the designated drone will perform the corresponding operation after receiving the message, while other drones will directly filter out the message after receiving it without any processing. The processing method of the drone broadcast message refers to the method of the drone control station mentioned above.

[0063] In this embodiment, it should also be noted that when the drone control station to be handed over determines whether the right should be handed over, it first determines the priority of the control stations to be handed over and to be authorized. If the conditions are not met, the right will not be handed over; further, if the priority conditions are met, it is then determined whether the absolute value of the difference between the distance S1 between the drone and the drone control station to be handed over and the distance S2 between the drone and the drone control station to be authorized |S1-S2|, as well as the uplink packet loss rate M between the drone and the drone control station to be authorized meet the conditions. If both conditions are met at the same time, it means that the right can be handed over.

[0064] The priority requirement is met only when the priority of the control station to be authorized is greater than or equal to the control station to be handed over.

[0065] When |S1-S2|>N and the uplink quality M<10%, it means that the handover condition is met.

[0066] In this embodiment, N represents the location distance threshold, which is set according to actual needs and is not a fixed value; the packet loss rate M can also be set according to actual needs and is not a fixed value.

[0067] The drone autonomously chooses to transfer control:

[0068] The drone combines its own geographic location information and the drone control station with which it has established a connection, and the communication quality of the uplink to calculate the location distance threshold N, the uplink packet loss rate M and the duration factor T between the drone and the drone control station to be authorized in real time, and makes a comprehensive judgment based on the type of drone control station. Based on whether the conditions for control handover are met, the drone control station list that can be handed over and the optimal paired drone control station are obtained;

[0069] When there is a UAV control station that meets the handover conditions, the UAV actively initiates and broadcasts the control handover command to the UAV control station within the communication range through the communication link;

[0070] After receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be handed over will parse the content and automatically respond to the control right transfer message command through the communication link; after receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be authorized will parse the content and wait for the authorization to be completed;

[0071] After receiving the control transfer message command sent by the control station to be handed over, the drone automatically responds and broadcasts the control transfer message command. After receiving the message, the control station to be authorized automatically responds. After receiving the response message, the drone parses it. At the same time, the drone updates the control transfer result information through the communication link. After receiving the message, the control station to be handed over and the control station to be authorized confirm that the handover is completed.

[0072] The UAV and UAV control station update and maintain their respective list information bases based on the final handover results; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage of the updated control rights.

[0073] In this embodiment, when judging whether the conditions for handover are met, the priority level of the control station to be authorized is first judged. If not, the right is not handed over. If the priority level of the control station meets the conditions, the absolute value of the difference between the distance S1 between the drone and the drone control station to be handed over and the distance S2 between the drone and the drone control station to be authorized |S1-S2|, as well as the uplink packet loss rate M between the drone and the drone control station to be authorized are judged to see whether they meet the conditions. If both conditions are met at the same time, and this state lasts for at least a factor of T=5 seconds or more, the right is automatically handed over, otherwise the original control right is maintained.

[0074] The priority requirement is met only when the priority of the control station to be authorized is greater than or equal to the control station to be handed over.

[0075] When |S1-S2|>N and the uplink quality M<10%, it means that the handover condition is met.

[0076] In this embodiment, it should be noted that the value of the duration factor T can be configured according to demand and is not a fixed value.

[0077] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and does not constitute any form of obstruction to the present application. Any simple modifications or equivalent changes made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for real-time cross-station handover control of unmanned aerial vehicles. It is characterized in that The following steps are involved: Step S1. The UAV establishes a connection with the UAV control station on the ground. The UAV and the UAV control station are connected via a communication link to exchange data information in real time; wherein the communication link includes an uplink and a downlink; Step S2. After the UAV and the UAV control station on the ground are started, they respectively establish an information list library inside and initialize the information list library. The UAV control station broadcasts the station information regularly through the communication link at a certain period. After the UAV receives the information broadcast by the UAV control station, it updates and maintains the local information list library, and at the same time broadcasts the maintained local information list library to the outside through the communication link at a certain period. After receiving the information broadcast by the UAV, the UAV control station updates and maintains the information list library in the station; Step S3. Dynamic transfer of control rights between the UAV and the UAV control station is achieved through manual intervention or autonomous selection by the UAV; The information list library established inside the drone includes the control station ID, control station type, control station priority, control station geographical location, uplink quality, control right application status, control right control status, the drone ID and drone type of the ground drone control station with which the drone has established a connection; The information list library established inside the drone control station includes its own control station ID, control station type, control station priority, control station geographical location, downlink quality, control right application status and control status of this station.

2. A method for real-time cross-station handover control of a UAV according to claim 1, It is characterized in that In step S3, the dynamic transfer of control rights between the UAV and the UAV control station is achieved through manual intervention, including: The staff in the unauthorized UAV control station independently selects UAVs within the communication link range of the station. For the selected UAV, the unauthorized UAV control station actively initiates a control application instruction for the UAV and broadcasts the control application instruction through the communication link; After receiving the control request command, the drone will broadcast the priority, control station ID, geographic location and uplink communication quality information of the drone control station to be authorized and to be handed over according to the information list library maintained by the drone itself; After receiving the message broadcast by the drone, the drone control station to be handed over analyzes the content, determines whether to hand over the right according to the priority, geographical location and uplink communication quality of the control station, and transmits the analyzed content and the judgment result to the staff in the station. The staff in the drone control station to be handed over gives a reply instruction of the right handover information according to the analyzed content and the judgment result, and broadcasts the reply instruction of the right handover information through the communication link; After receiving the information, the drone confirms the information of the drone control station to be authorized, and broadcasts the reply instruction of the handover information through the communication link. After receiving the information, the drone control station to be authorized analyzes the content. If the analysis result is disagreement, the process ends; if the analysis result is agreement, the drone control station to be authorized further initiates the confirmation message of receiving the handover authority. After receiving it, the drone confirms and broadcasts the message. After the control station of the drone to be handed over receives the confirmation information of the handover authority, it releases the control right and sends a message of releasing the control right. After the drone receives it, it broadcasts the change information of the control right through the communication link. After the control station of the authorized drone receives it, the handover is completed. At the same time, the UAV control station and the UAV update and maintain their own list information bases; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage area of ​​the update of its control rights.

3. A method for real-time cross-station handover control of a UAV according to claim 1, It is characterized in that In step S3, the UAV and the UAV control station realize dynamic transfer of control rights through autonomous selection by the UAV, including: The UAV combines its own geographic location information and the UAV control station within the communication link range, and the communication quality of the uplink to calculate the location distance threshold N, the communication link quality threshold M, and the duration factor T in real time. It makes a comprehensive judgment based on the type of the UAV control station, and obtains a list of UAV control stations that can be handed over and the optimal pairing UAV control station based on whether the conditions for handover of control are met. When there is a UAV control station that meets the handover conditions, the UAV actively initiates and broadcasts the control handover command to the UAV control station within the communication range through the communication link; After receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be handed over will parse the content and automatically respond to the control right transfer message command through the communication link; after receiving the control right handover command, the control station of the unmanned aerial vehicle to be authorized will parse the content and wait for the authorization to be completed; After receiving the control transfer message command sent by the control station to be handed over, the drone automatically responds and broadcasts the control transfer message command. After receiving the message, the control station to be authorized automatically responds. After receiving the response message, the drone parses it. At the same time, the drone updates the control transfer result information through the communication link. After receiving the message, the control station to be handed over and the control station to be authorized confirm that the handover is completed. The UAV and UAV control station update and maintain their respective list information bases based on the final handover results; the UAV periodically broadcasts the list information base to notify all UAV control stations within the UAV coverage of the updated control rights.

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