Underground Complex Navigation and Positioning System and Method Based on the Bionic Principle of Ant Colony Pheromone

Abstract

The present invention relates to an underground complex navigation and positioning system and method based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromones. The system includes a controller, a dart launcher, and a plurality of darts mounted on a drone. A micro base station and a signal transmitter are installed on the darts. The dart launcher includes a launching mechanism and a signal receiver. The method includes: moving the drone in the underground space along a preset forward direction and launching darts along the complex environment along the way; the darts are embedded in corresponding positions in the underground space, and at the same time, the basic information of the current drone flight path and the basic positioning information are stored in the micro base station; the drone obtains corresponding data information from the signal transmitters of all the launched darts through the signal receiver, and uses the ant colony algorithm to solve for the optimal path, and correspondingly controls the flight state of the drone. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can improve the spatial exploration range and exploration efficiency in the underground complex environment, and ensure stable, efficient, and accurate navigation and positioning.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of UAV control, and particularly to an underground complex navigation and positioning system and method based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones. Background Art

[0002] An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an unpiloted aircraft controlled by a radio remote control device and a self-contained program control device. UAVs are widely used, have low costs, and high efficiency. Currently, UAVs are widely used in industries such as police, urban management, agriculture, geology, meteorology, electricity, emergency rescue, and video shooting.

[0003] In addition, existing technologies use UAVs to perform navigation and positioning in underground environments. However, UAVs usually rely on GPS for navigation, positioning, and flight control. This method has limited spatial exploration range, and due to the underground environment, problems such as unstable signals may also occur, resulting in the inability to achieve stable, efficient, and accurate navigation and positioning in complex underground environments in practical applications. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned defects existing in the prior art, and to provide an underground complex navigation and positioning system and method based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones, which can improve the spatial exploration range and exploration efficiency in complex underground environments, and ensure stable, efficient, and accurate navigation and positioning.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention can be achieved through the following technical solutions: An underground complex navigation and positioning system based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones, including a controller, a dart launcher, and multiple darts mounted on a UAV. A micro base station and a signal transmitter are installed on the dart. The dart launcher includes a launching mechanism and a signal receiver. The signal transmitter and the signal receiver are communicatively connected. The micro base station is used to store basic information on the current flight path and positioning basic information of the UAV.

[0006] The signal transmitter is used to send the information stored in the micro base station to the signal receiver.

[0007] The controller uses the ant colony algorithm to complete path optimization according to the information received by the signal receiver, and accordingly controls the flight state of the UAV.

[0008] Further, a ZIGBEE chip is provided in the micro base station.

[0009] Further, the signal transmitter and the signal receiver are communicatively connected through ZIGBEE signals.

[0010] Further, a battery is also installed on the dart for supplying electric energy to the micro base station and the signal transmitter.

[0011] Further, the launching mechanism includes a launching tube and a disc for storing a plurality of darts circumferentially. A spring is arranged in the launching tube. The disc is connected with a gear. The disc is driven to rotate by the gear, so that the darts are sequentially fed into the launching tube and ejected from the launching tube under the action of the spring.

[0012] An underground complex navigation and positioning method based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone includes the following steps:

[0013] S1. According to the preset forward direction, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) moves in the underground space and launches darts along the complex environment along the way;

[0014] S2. The darts are embedded in corresponding positions of the underground space, and the basic information of the current UAV flight path and the positioning basic information are stored in the micro base station at the same time;

[0015] S3. The UAV obtains corresponding data information from the signal transmitters of all the launched darts through the signal receiver, and uses the ant colony algorithm to solve and obtain the optimal path, and correspondingly controls the flight state of the UAV.

[0016] Further, the path basic information and the positioning basic information in the step S2 include the position information of the UAV, the position information of the micro base station, and the pheromone concentration between the two.

[0017] Further, the specific process of using the ant colony algorithm to solve and obtain the optimal path in the step S3 is as follows:

[0018] 1) Initialize the terrain matrix, the pheromone matrix, the heuristic factor matrix and the taboo matrix. Among them, the pheromone matrix is composed of a plurality of pheromone concentration combinations. The heuristic factor is the reciprocal of the distance between one position and another position. The taboo matrix is the matrix of the positions that the UAV has passed through;

[0019] 2) Combine the data information obtained by the signal receiver and use the roulette method to solve and select the next path;

[0020] 3) Update the pheromone matrix and the taboo matrix, continue to iterate and solve until the preset number of iterations is reached, and obtain the corresponding navigation path according to the pheromone concentration in the current pheromone matrix, which is the optimal path.

[0021] Further, the probability of using the roulette method to solve and select the next path in the step 2) is specifically:

[0022]

[0023] Among them, $P_{k}$ is the selection probability of the $k$-th path, where $i$ and $j$ are the positions of the UAV and the small cell respectively, $\tau$ is the pheromone concentration from $i$ to $j$ at the current time $t$, $\eta$ is the length of path $ij$, $\Psi$ is the cumulative height difference on path $ij$, and $allowed_{k}$ is the set of paths not visited by the UAV.

[0024] Further, the formula for updating the pheromone matrix in step 3) is:

[0025] $\tau$ ij (t + 1)=\tau ij (t)*(1 - \rho)+\Delta\tau ij $0\lt\rho\lt1$

[0026]

[0027] where $\rho$ is the pheromone residue concentration coefficient, $\Delta\tau$ is the content of newly added pheromone, which is the total pheromone left by the UAV on the path, $\Delta t$ is the number of visits of the UAV on path $ij$, and $\iota$ is the preset amount of newly added pheromone per time.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0029] First, the present invention mounts a controller, a dart launcher and multiple darts on the UAV, installs a small cell, a signal transmitter on the dart, and sets a signal receiver on the dart launcher. The small cell stores the basic information of the current UAV flight path and the basic positioning information; the signal transmitter sends the information stored in the small cell to the signal receiver; the controller uses the ant colony algorithm to complete path optimization according to the information received by the signal receiver and controls the flight state of the UAV accordingly. Thus, during the underground space exploration of the UAV, by continuously releasing darts, the self-organizing network construction in the underground unstructured environment can be realized, a dedicated communication protocol is constructed using the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone, based on the information communication between the UAV and the self-organizing network, and combined with the ant colony algorithm, complex positioning and navigation under uncertain conditions in the underground space can be achieved, without relying on GPS and not being restricted by GPS signal conditions, and it can operate efficiently and stably throughout the process.

[0030] Second, in the present invention, the UAV obtains corresponding data information from the signal transmitter of the already launched dart through the signal receiver of the dart launcher, enabling the UAV to achieve signal relay through the darts along the way, supporting the UAV cluster to conduct underground space exploration, constructing cluster cooperative navigation using the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone, and completing path optimization in combination with the ant colony algorithm to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of navigation and positioning.

[0031] III. When the present invention uses the ant colony algorithm for path optimization, it first initializes the terrain matrix, pheromone matrix, heuristic factor matrix, and taboo matrix. In each step of constructing the path, the roulette method is used to select the next path, and the pheromone matrix and taboo matrix are iteratively updated. Finally, the navigation path is obtained according to the pheromone concentration in the pheromone matrix, which fully ensures the accuracy of path optimization. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the system of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the dart launcher in the present invention;

[0034] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of the method of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the application process of the embodiment;

[0036] Explanation of the marks in the figure: 1. Controller, 2. Dart launcher, 3. Dart, 4. Micro base station, 5. Signal transmitter, 6. Launch mechanism, 7. Signal receiver, 8. Battery. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0037] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0038] Embodiment

[0039] As Figure 1 shown, an underground complex navigation and positioning system based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone includes a controller 1, a dart launcher 2, and multiple darts 3 carried on a drone. Among them, a micro base station 4 and a signal transmitter 5 are installed on the dart 3. The dart launcher 2 includes a launch mechanism 6 and a signal receiver 7. The signal transmitter 5 and the signal receiver 7 are communicatively connected. The micro base station 4 is used to store the basic information of the current flight path of the drone and the basic positioning information;

[0040] The signal transmitter 5 is used to send the information stored in the micro base station 4 to the signal receiver 7;

[0041] The controller 1 uses the ant colony algorithm to complete path optimization according to the information received by the signal receiver 7 and correspondingly controls the flight state of the drone.

[0042] In addition, a battery 8 is also installed on the dart 3 to provide electrical energy to the micro base station 4 and the signal transmitter 5.

[0043] In this embodiment, the battery 8 is a detachable high-energy density battery to ensure long-term effective operation. A ZIGBEE chip is provided in the micro base station 4, and the signal transmitter 5 and the signal receiver 7 are communicatively connected via ZIGBEE signals.

[0044] As Figure 2 shown, the launching mechanism 6 includes a launching tube and a disc that stores multiple darts circumferentially. A spring is provided in the launching tube, and the disc is connected to a gear. The disc is rotated by the gear to sequentially feed the darts into the launching tube and shoot them out of the launching tube under the action of the spring.

[0045] Applying the above system to actual use to implement an underground complex navigation and positioning method based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones. As Figure 3 shown, it includes the following steps:

[0046] S1. According to the preset forward direction, the drone moves in the underground space and launches darts in the complex environment along the way.

[0047] S2. The darts are embedded in the corresponding positions of the underground space, and at the same time, the basic information of the current drone flight path and the positioning basic information are stored in the micro base station.

[0048] S3. The drone obtains the corresponding data information from the signal transmitters of all the launched darts through the signal receiver, and uses the ant colony algorithm to solve for the optimal path and correspondingly control the flight state of the drone.

[0049] The application process of this embodiment is as Figure 4 shown:

[0050] 1. The initially departing drone autonomously selects the forward direction, freely explores in the underground space, and launches darts in the complex environment (such as various forks) along the way in the underground space.

[0051] 2. The darts are embedded in the key positions of the underground space, awakening the communication micro base station and the signal transmitter of the micro base station. At the same time, the flight path and positioning basic information of the drone during this period are recorded in the base station.

[0052] 3. The drone realizes signal relay through the darts along the way, supports the drone to obtain the basic path information by communicating with the base station, and supports the drone to return.

[0053] 4. The drone swarm explores the underground space, constructs swarm cooperative navigation through the bionic principle of ant pheromones, and combines the ant colony algorithm to complete path optimization.

[0054] Among them, the basic path information includes the basic information of the location and the pheromone concentration. It should be noted that the communication between the drone and the base station is based on wireless communication via the ZIGBEE chip, but in actual applications, it is not limited to this communication method.

[0055] Before departure, the UAV initializes the terrain matrix, pheromone matrix, heuristic factor matrix, and taboo matrix. The heuristic factor is the reciprocal of the distance from one point to another, and the taboo matrix is the matrix that records the points visited by the UAV. In each step of constructing the path, the UAV uses the roulette wheel method to select the next path, and the probability of selecting each path is expressed as:

[0056]

[0057] where i and j represent the positions of the UAV and the base station respectively, τ represents the pheromone concentration from i to j at time t, η represents the length of path ij, Ψ represents the cumulative height difference on path ij, and allowedk represents the set of unvisited paths.

[0058] After each iteration of the UAV, the pheromone matrix and taboo matrix of each point are updated. The formula for updating the pheromone concentration is:

[0059] τ ij (t + 1) = τ ij (t) * (1 - ρ) + Δτ ij 0 < ρ < 1

[0060] where ρ represents the pheromone residue concentration coefficient, and Δτ represents the amount of newly added pheromone. Its calculation formula is:

[0061]

[0062] That is, the total pheromone left by all UAVs on the path. Among them, Δt represents the number of visits of all UAVs on path ij, and ι represents the amount of newly added pheromone per time (a preset value).

[0063] The UAV iterates until the set maximum number of iterations is reached, and then the iteration ends. Finally, the navigation path can be obtained according to the pheromone concentration in the pheromone matrix.

[0064] In summary, in this technical solution, a dart launcher and darts are carried on a drone. During the exploration of the underground space of the drone, darts are continuously released in the underground space to realize the construction of an ad-hoc network in the underground unstructured environment. A dedicated communication protocol is constructed using the bionic principle of ant colony pheromones. Based on the information communication between the drone and the ad-hoc network, combined with the ant colony algorithm, complex positioning and navigation are realized under the conditions of no GPS and uncertain underground space. It can perform complex navigation in the underground complex environment without relying on GPS and is not restricted by GPS signal conditions, and can operate efficiently and stably throughout the process. When encountering a complex environment similar to multiple forks underground, a drone swarm is constructed for collaborative navigation. The drone swarm uses the bionic principle of ant colony pheromones to explore in clusters to achieve the navigation function, and can construct a relatively complete map of the underground environment, improving the accuracy of navigation and positioning.

Claims

1. A method for underground complex navigation and positioning based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones, which is applied to an underground complex navigation and positioning system based on the bionic principle of ant pheromones, and is characterized in that, The underground complex navigation and positioning system includes a controller, a dart launcher and a plurality of darts carried on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A micro base station and a signal transmitter are installed on the dart. The dart launcher includes a launching mechanism and a signal receiver. The signal transmitter and the signal receiver are communicatively connected. The micro base station is used to store the basic information of the current flight path of the UAV and the basic positioning information. The signal transmitter is used to send the information stored in the micro base station to the signal receiver. The controller uses the ant colony algorithm to complete path optimization according to the information received by the signal receiver, and correspondingly controls the flight state of the UAV. The underground complex navigation and positioning method includes the following steps: S1. According to a preset forward direction, the UAV moves in the underground space and launches darts along the complex environment along the way. S2. The dart is embedded in the corresponding position of the underground space, and at the same time, the basic information of the current flight path of the UAV and the basic positioning information are stored in the micro base station. S3. The UAV obtains corresponding data information from the signal transmitters of all the launched darts through the signal receiver, and uses the ant colony algorithm to solve for the optimal path, and correspondingly controls the flight state of the UAV. In step S2, the basic path information and the basic positioning information include the position information of the UAV, the position information of the micro base station, and the pheromone concentration between the two. The specific process of using the ant colony algorithm to solve for the optimal path in step S3 is as follows: 1) Initialize the terrain matrix, the pheromone matrix, the heuristic factor matrix and the taboo matrix. Among them, the pheromone matrix is composed of a combination of multiple pheromone concentrations. The heuristic factor is the reciprocal of the distance between one position and another position. The taboo matrix is the matrix of the positions that the UAV has passed through. 2) Combine the data information obtained by the signal receiver, and use the roulette wheel method to solve and select the next path. The probability of using the roulette wheel method to solve and select the next path is specifically: , Among them, is the selection probability of the k th path, i , j are the positions of the UAV and the small cell respectively, τ is the current time t from i to j pheromone concentration, η is the length of path ij , Ψ is the cumulative height difference on path ij , allowedk is the set of paths not visited by the UAV; 3) Update the pheromone matrix and the taboo matrix, and continue to iterate and solve until the preset number of iterations is reached. According to the pheromone concentration in the current pheromone matrix, the corresponding navigation path is obtained, which is the optimal path. The formula for updating the pheromone matrix is: , , Among them, ρ is the residual concentration coefficient of pheromone, Δτ is the content of newly added pheromone, that is, the total pheromone left by the drone on the path, Δt is the drone at ij the number of visits on the path, ι is the preset amount of newly added pheromone per time.

2. The underground complex navigation and positioning method based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone according to claim 1, wherein A ZIGBEE chip is provided in the micro base station.

3. The underground complex navigation and positioning method based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone according to claim 2, characterized in that, The signal transmitter and the signal receiver are communicatively connected through ZIGBEE signals.

4. A method for underground complex navigation and positioning based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone, characterized in that, A battery is also installed on the dart to provide electrical energy for the micro base station and the signal transmitter.

5. A method for underground complex navigation and positioning based on the bionic principle of ant colony pheromone, characterized in that The launching mechanism includes a launching tube and a disc for storing a plurality of darts circumferentially. A spring is arranged in the launching tube. The disc is connected with a gear. The disc is driven to rotate by the gear, and the darts are sequentially sent into the launching tube and ejected from the launching tube under the action of the spring.

Images