A control module for agricultural drones

Abstract

The present application provides an agricultural drone control module, which mainly relates to the field of drone control. The control module provided in the present application is used to adjust the spacing between drone nozzles during spraying operations, wherein the control module includes a sensing module, which is used to obtain the operation data of the agricultural drone, and the sensing module includes a mass sensor, an altitude sensor, and a parameter setting module. The control module also includes a calculation module, which calculates the landing time of the droplets sprayed by the agricultural drone based on the operation data output by the sensing module, and calculates the first spacing of the centrifugal nozzles of the agricultural drone based on the landing time. Based on the first spacing output by the calculation module, the driving module drives the centrifugal nozzle to move relative to the centrifugal nozzle in the horizontal direction to adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzle to the first spacing. The present application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to improve the coverage of the spraying of the agent, improve the operation efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of agents and labor costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of drone control, and more specifically, to an agricultural drone control module. Background Art

[0002] At present, agricultural drones have broad application prospects in agricultural spraying, which can achieve crop protection and nutritional regulation. However, the existing technology has some shortcomings, and the technical problems that need to be solved are gradually becoming prominent.

[0003] At present, most agricultural drones use a fixed-spacing nozzle layout in spraying operations. This layout cannot be adjusted according to the growth status and growth environment of crops, resulting in poor spraying effects, waste of pesticides, and inconvenience in use. In addition, the flight altitude of the drone will also affect the choice of nozzle spacing. If the flight altitude is high, a larger nozzle spacing is required to ensure that the liquid medicine can be evenly sprayed on the target area during flight. If the flight altitude is low, a smaller nozzle spacing is required to ensure that the sprayed medicine can be evenly distributed.

[0004] How to enable the drone to automatically adjust the distance between nozzles during operation is the key to solving these problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides an agricultural drone control module. The sensing module obtains the data sensed by the sensor carried by the drone and the operating parameters set by the parameter setting module; the calculation module uses the data obtained by the sensing module to calculate the optimal nozzle spacing at the time of the drone spraying operation; the driving module drives the nozzle arm to adjust according to the calculation result of the calculation module so that the nozzle reaches the set first spacing. The present application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to improve the coverage of the pesticide spraying, so that the spraying operation of the agricultural drone can become more intelligent, efficient and accurate, and improve the growth quality and yield of crops.

[0006] In the first aspect, a control module for an agricultural drone is provided, the control module is installed on the agricultural drone, and the agricultural drone also includes a rotor, a centrifugal nozzle, a liquid storage tank and a driving module; the centrifugal nozzle is fixed to one side of the liquid storage tank through the driving module, and the liquid storage tank is used to store the medicine to be sprayed. Among them, the control module includes a sensing module and a computing module; specifically, the sensing module is used to obtain the operation data of the agricultural drone, and the sensing module includes a mass sensor, an altitude sensor and a parameter setting module; wherein the mass sensor is used to obtain the value of the load of the agricultural drone, the altitude sensor is used to obtain the value of the flight altitude of the agricultural drone, and the parameter setting module is used to input the operation parameters of the agricultural drone. The computing module calculates the landing time of the droplets sprayed by the agricultural drone based on the operation data output by the sensing module, and calculates the first spacing of the centrifugal nozzle of the agricultural drone based on the landing time. The driving module drives the centrifugal nozzle to move relative to each other in the horizontal direction based on the first spacing output by the computing module to adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzle to the first spacing.

[0007] Based on this technical solution, the agricultural drone obtains the data sensed by the onboard sensor and the operating parameters set by the parameter setting module through the sensing module, and calculates the optimal nozzle spacing for the drone spraying operation based on the data obtained by the sensing module through the calculation module; the driving module drives the nozzle arm to adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the calculation results of the calculation module, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0008] It should be understood that the first spacing includes the distance between the centrifugal nozzles determined according to operating parameters such as the current flight altitude of the UAV and the rotor speed. When the spacing between the two centrifugal nozzles in any horizontal direction is less than or equal to the first spacing, at room temperature, standard atmospheric pressure, and windless environment, the agent sprayed by the two nozzles can evenly cover the operating range under the nozzle UAV, so as to achieve full coverage of the agent spraying and improve the coverage range of the agent spraying.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the centrifugal nozzle includes an atomizing disk, which rotates at high speed to cause the teeth on the outer edge to collide with the agent to be sprayed. Under the high-speed collision, the agent to be sprayed is broken into atomized particles to form droplets that are sprayed outward through the centrifugal nozzle.

[0010] Based on this technical solution, a centrifugal nozzle is used to spray the agent, and the first spacing of the centrifugal nozzle is automatically adjusted so that the centrifugal nozzle reaches the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the agent spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce agent waste and labor costs.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the driving module includes a nozzle arm and a slide rail, and the centrifugal nozzle is slidably fixed on the slide rail through the nozzle arm. The driving module receives the first spacing output by the calculation module, and the driving module drives the nozzle arm to move relatively in a horizontal direction on the slide rail to adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles to the first spacing.

[0012] Based on this technical solution, the centrifugal nozzle is fixed to the slide rail by the nozzle arm. After the driving module receives the first spacing output by the calculation module, it drives the nozzle arm to slide and adjust on the slide rail so that the centrifugal nozzle reaches the first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the operating parameters input through the parameter setting module include: droplet size, rotation speed of the atomizing disk, radius of the teeth, density of the agent to be sprayed, number of rotors, and diameter of the rotors.

[0014] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and combined with the operating conditions, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the calculation module calculates the landing time based on the operation data output by the sensing module. Specifically, the calculation module calculates the air resistance coefficient of the droplets based on the density of the sprayed agent and the particle size of the droplets output by the sensing module; the calculation module calculates the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field generated by the rotor based on the load of the agricultural drone, the number of rotors, and the diameter of the rotors output by the sensing module; the calculation module calculates the landing time based on the flight altitude of the agricultural drone output by the sensing module, combined with the air resistance coefficient of the droplets and the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field.

[0016] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and combined with the operating conditions, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the calculation module calculates the first spacing based on the falling time. Specifically, the calculation module calculates the initial velocity of the droplets sprayed in the horizontal direction based on the rotation speed of the atomizing disk and the radius of the teeth output by the sensing module; the calculation module calculates the distance of the droplets sprayed in the horizontal direction based on the falling time and the initial velocity; the calculation module outputs the first spacing based on the distance of the droplets sprayed in the horizontal direction.

[0018] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, calculating the landing time includes:

[0020]

[0021] Among them, H is the value of the flight height of the agricultural drone, V S is the wind speed of the downward wind field, μ is the air resistance coefficient, and the landing time t is calculated by obtaining the value H of the flight altitude of the agricultural UAV.

[0022] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, calculating the spray distance of the droplets along the horizontal direction includes:

[0024]

[0025] Among them, R f is the spraying distance of the droplets in the horizontal direction, V X is the initial velocity of the droplet, μ is the air resistance coefficient, t is the falling time, and the spraying distance R of the droplet along the horizontal direction is calculated based on the falling time t f .

[0026] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, outputting the first spacing includes

[0028] N≤2R f ,

[0029] Where N is the first spacing, R f is the horizontal spraying distance of the droplets.

[0030] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0031] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, a method for determining a particle size of a droplet includes:

[0032] d=An+Bf+C,

[0033] Wherein, d is the particle size of the droplet, n is the rotation speed of the atomizing disk, f is the flow rate of the atomizing disk, and A, B, and C are unknown coefficients; determining the unknown coefficients includes fitting through the numerical value of the measured droplet particle size d.

[0034] Based on this technical solution, the droplet size value obtained by experimental testing is fitted with the two dependent variables of the atomizer disk speed and the atomizer disk flow rate to determine the value of the undetermined coefficient of the fitting formula, and the calculation formula of the droplet size is obtained. During the operation of the agricultural drone, the droplet size can be determined according to the atomizer disk speed and the atomizer disk flow rate, thereby determining the droplet falling time and the corresponding spraying distance. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic equipment adjustment to increase the coverage of the spraying agent, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of agents and labor costs.

[0035] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, calculating the air resistance coefficient of the droplet includes:

[0036]

[0037] Among them, μ is the air resistance coefficient, d is the particle size of the droplets, and ρ is the density of the agent to be sprayed.

[0038] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, calculating the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field includes:

[0040]

[0041] Among them, V S is the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field, M is the number of rotors, D is the diameter of the rotor, L is the value of the agricultural UAV load, and g is the acceleration of gravity.

[0042] Based on this technical solution, after the agricultural drone inputs the relevant operating parameters, the agricultural drone can automatically adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles based on the set operating parameters and the parameters during the spraying operation sensed by the sensor, so that the nozzles reach the set first spacing. This application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to increase the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0043] In a second aspect, the present application provides an agricultural drone, comprising the above-mentioned first aspect and an agricultural drone control module of any implementation method of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a commonly used agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a scene of an agricultural drone spraying operation provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Figure 3 An agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0047] Figure 4 This is a data stream processing schematic diagram of an agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a process for automatically adjusting the spacing between centrifugal nozzles provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a method for generating droplets for spraying by an agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of force analysis of droplets during spraying operations of an agricultural UAV provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0052] The terms used in the implementation section of this application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0053] In this application, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same effects and functions. It should be understood that there is no logical or temporal dependency between "first", "second", and "third", and no limitation is imposed on the quantity and execution order.

[0054] In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way.

[0055] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" etc. described in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, the phrases "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", "in some other embodiments", etc. that appear at different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways.

[0056] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more.

[0057] It should be understood that the specific examples in this article are only intended to help those skilled in the art better understand the embodiments of the present application, rather than to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0058] It should also be understood that the various implementation methods described in this specification can be implemented individually or in combination, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0059] Unless otherwise stated, all technical and scientific terms used in the embodiments of the present application have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art of the present application. The terms used in this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. The term "and / or" used in this application includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0060] In the current agricultural drone market, most drones use fixed-distance nozzles to achieve agricultural operations during spraying operations. Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a commonly used drone structure provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 In the figure, a coordinate system is established with gravity Y as the reference direction, and a side view of an agricultural drone on the XY plane is drawn. Among them, the commonly used drone has four rotors 11, and the rotors 11 control the flight state of the drone by controlling the speed, etc. Secondly, it also has a liquid storage tank 12, which is used to contain the medicine to be sprayed. A stirring device can be set in the liquid storage tank 12 to keep the medicine to be sprayed uniform during the operation of the drone. The liquid storage tank 12 and the rotor 11 are set on a load-bearing frame 15, and the load-bearing frame 15 also has four landing brackets 14 for assisting the drone to land smoothly on the ground. A spraying device is fixed under the liquid storage tank 12, wherein the spraying device includes at least one group of nozzles 13, each group of nozzles includes at least two nozzles, and the nozzles 13 are fixed to the lower side of the liquid storage tank 12 through a mounting arm 16. A liquid guide tube can also be set in the mounting arm 16 to flow the spraying agent in the liquid storage tank 12 back into the nozzles 13.

[0061] However, due to the different growth conditions and growth environments of different crops, this fixed-spacing nozzle layout may lead to poor operation results, waste of pesticides, or inconvenience in use.

[0062] At the same time, the market demand for agricultural drones that can automatically adjust the distance between nozzles is increasing. Therefore, in recent years, spraying devices that can automatically adjust the distance between nozzles have become one of the research hotspots, so that the distance between nozzles can be automatically adjusted according to actual conditions, providing a more flexible, efficient and controllable solution for agricultural operations.

[0063] The nozzle structure of agricultural drones is usually composed of nozzles, liquid pipes, sealing rings and other components. The nozzle mainly plays the role of spraying medicine into the air. Its spraying effect and quality of the medicine spraying are closely related to the designed nozzle structure. Commonly used nozzles include fan nozzles, spherical nozzles, double-flow nozzles, four-flow nozzles, etc., and their spraying effects and coverage ranges are different.

[0064] The fan-shaped nozzle has a relatively simple structure and is suitable for occasions with a large spraying range, such as farmland, orchards, olive groves, etc. The spherical nozzle can perform 360-degree rotation spraying and is suitable for scenes such as small fruit trees with irregular shapes. The double-flow nozzle and the four-flow nozzle can simultaneously spray a mixture of liquid and air, which has better spraying effect and drug utilization efficiency, but is more expensive and difficult to maintain.

[0065] This application focuses on the research and provides a method for adjusting the spacing of centrifugal nozzles for agricultural drones. Centrifugal nozzles are widely used in agriculture, gardening, firefighting and other fields. The centrifugal nozzle is mainly composed of a fixed block, a centrifugal rotating mechanism, an atomizing disk and other components. Its spraying principle is to use centrifugal force to send the liquid into the nozzle, making it a torrent and producing a mist-like spray. The centrifugal rotating mechanism and the atomizing disk in its internal structure constitute the central axis and the rotating part respectively. When the atomizing disk rotates, the centrifugal force will send the liquid to the nozzle to form a mist-like spray.

[0066] The spray effect of centrifugal nozzles is affected by many factors, such as the flow rate of the liquid, gravity, the speed and angle of the nozzle rotation, etc. Its application in agriculture can be used for spraying and fertilizing crops, and it has excellent effects when the spraying liquid is relatively viscous. Centrifugal nozzles are a type of nozzle with strong practicality. They have stable spray effects, adjustable nozzle angles and ranges, convenient maintenance and management, and a wide range of applications, which is conducive to improving the spraying efficiency in agriculture and gardening.

[0067] The present application provides an agricultural drone. The sensing module obtains data sensed by sensors carried by the drone and operating parameters set by a parameter setting module; the calculation module uses the data obtained by the sensing module to calculate the optimal nozzle spacing at the time of the drone spraying operation; the driving module drives the nozzle arm to adjust according to the calculation result of the calculation module so that the nozzle reaches the set first spacing. The present application can adjust the spraying spacing through automatic adjustment of the equipment to improve the coverage of the pesticide spraying, improve the operating efficiency of the agricultural drone, and reduce the waste of pesticides and labor costs.

[0068] In order to better understand the solution of the embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 A brief introduction is given to possible operation scenarios of the embodiments of the present application.

[0069] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a scene of an agricultural drone spraying operation provided by an embodiment of the present application. As can be seen from the figure, during the flight operation of the drone, the rotation of the rotor will generate a downward pressure wind field, with the gravity direction Y as a reference, setting the direction parallel to the ground and the X direction.

[0070] It should be understood that the X direction includes all directions parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the gravity direction Y. The drawings only schematically illustrate one X direction, which does not constitute any limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0071] It should be understood that the droplets sprayed by the centrifugal nozzle are 360 ​​degrees around, and the attached figure is only a two-dimensional plane schematic diagram, and does not constitute any limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0072] It should be understood that the first spacing includes the distance between the centrifugal nozzles determined according to operating parameters such as the current flight altitude of the UAV and the rotor speed. When the spacing between the two centrifugal nozzles in any horizontal direction is less than or equal to the first spacing, at room temperature, standard atmospheric pressure, and windless environment, the agent sprayed by the two nozzles can evenly cover the operating range under the nozzle UAV, so as to achieve full coverage of the agent spraying and improve the coverage range of the agent spraying.

[0073] It should be understood that in some embodiments, the first spacing is also referred to as the optimal spacing, the optimal nozzle spacing, the optimal nozzle spacing, etc. These are only references in name and do not constitute any limitation on the protection scope of the present application. The specific protection scope shall be subject to the claims. The droplets sprayed by the centrifugal nozzle have an initial velocity V in the X direction. X The droplets move in a parabolic motion under the combined effect of their initial velocity in the X direction and their own gravity and the wind field force. The spray height of the droplets is defined as H, and the radius of the droplets sprayed by the nozzle is defined as the width R. f , the distance between the two nozzles is N, given by Figure 2 It can be seen intuitively that if we want to ensure that there is no dead angle in the spraying process of agricultural drones and to ensure uniform and comprehensive spraying, the nozzle spacing N should be less than or equal to twice the width R f , that is, N≤2R f .

[0074] Figure 3 This is an agricultural drone provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 3In the figure, the agricultural drone includes 6 rotors 21 (only 2 are drawn in the figure due to the viewing angle), and the 6 rotors 21 are symmetrically arranged. It also includes a liquid storage tank 22, which is used to carry the medicine to be sprayed. The liquid storage tank 22 and the 6 rotors 21 are arranged on a load-bearing frame 25. A control module 29 and a drive module 28 are arranged under the liquid storage tank 22. The drive module 28 is connected to the nozzle 23. The drone has 4 nozzles 23 (only 2 are drawn in the figure due to the viewing angle). The drive module 28 is used to adjust the spacing between the symmetrical nozzles 23. The drive module 28 includes an adjustment rail 26 and a nozzle arm 27. The drive module 28 adjusts the distance between the symmetrical nozzles 23 through the nozzle arm 27 by receiving the drive instruction of the control module 29. Among them, the nozzle arm 27 is also wrapped with a liquid guide tube for guiding the medicine in the liquid storage tank 22 to the nozzle 23.

[0075] It should be understood that in a possible embodiment provided in the present application, the number of rotors 21 and nozzles 27 is only for illustration and does not constitute any limitation to the present application. The specific scope of protection shall be subject to the claims.

[0076] It should be understood that the number of slide rails 26 and the number of nozzle arms 27 are related to the number of nozzles 26, and are set according to actual conditions during actual use. This application does not make any special limitations on this, and the specific scope of protection shall be based on the claims.

[0077] It should be understood that Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the XY plane, and the number of components shown is only for illustration. The embodiment of the present application uses the XY plane as a reference to describe the automatic adjustment method and device structure between a pair of symmetrical nozzles 23, which does not constitute any limitation to the present application. The specific protection scope shall be subject to the claims. It should also be understood that in the scenario of multiple pairs of symmetrical nozzles, the reuse of the technical solution of the present application should also be within the protection scope of the present application.

[0078] Figure 4: This is a data flow processing diagram of an agricultural drone provided by an embodiment of the present application. The control module 29 of the present application includes a sensing module and a computing module, and the sensing module is used to obtain the sensing data of the sensing equipment carried by the drone and the set operating parameters. The drone is equipped with a mass sensor, an altitude sensor and a parameter setting module; wherein the mass sensor is used to measure the total load of the drone, the altitude sensor is used to measure the flight altitude of the drone during flight operation, and the parameter setting module is used to input the operating parameters before the drone operates, wherein the operating parameters of the drone include but are not limited to: the rotation speed of the atomizer disk, the radius of the atomizer disk, the drug flow rate of the atomizer disk, the number of rotors, the diameter of the rotors, etc. The computing module calculates the optimal nozzle spacing at the sampling time of the sensing module through the data value obtained by the sensing module, and outputs the calculation result to the driving module 28. The driving module 28 adjusts the spacing between the two nozzles 23 in the horizontal direction by driving the nozzle arm 27 according to the calculation value of the computing module.

[0079] It should be understood that the sensing module and the computing module can sense and compute in real time. Since the mass of the liquid storage tank 22 changes over time during the spraying operation of the drone, a sampling period can be set, and the sampling results of each sampling period or every few sampling periods can be calculated, and the nozzle spacing can be adjusted through the driving module 28. This application does not make any special limitation on this, and the specific protection scope shall be subject to the claims.

[0080] The following will be combined Figures 5 to 7 The following describes the process of adjusting the distance between drones.

[0081] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of automatic adjustment of the spacing between centrifugal nozzles provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 Explain the method of confirming the spacing of centrifugal nozzles for this application.

[0082] S201: Fitting the relationship between the particle size d of the sprayed droplets and the rotation speed n and flow rate f of the atomizing disk, and the calculation module calculates the initial velocity V of the droplets along the first direction X .

[0083] When the centrifugal nozzle sprays, the liquid is atomized and thrown out by the high-speed rotating atomizing disk. The ejected droplets have an initial velocity V in the horizontal direction. X , and is carried to the ground by the downward pressure wind field of the rotor. The centrifugal atomizer disk rotates at high speed, causing the teeth on the outer edge of the atomizer disk to hit the liquid medicine. Under the high-speed collision, the liquid is broken and atomized. Here, the broken droplets are approximated as spheres, and the particle size of the droplets is defined as d, the rotation speed of the atomizer disk is n, and the flow rate of the medicine is f. Among them, the particle size d of the impact atomized droplets is related to the rotation speed n of the atomizer disk and the flow rate f of the medicine, and the relationship is:

[0084] d=An+Bf+C (1)

[0085] Among them, A, B, and C are unknown coefficients. The rotation speed n of the atomizer disk and the flow rate f of the agent are known quantities that can be obtained through the machine settings of the drone. Before the actual operation of the drone, the specific values ​​of the unknown coefficients A, B, and C can be determined through multiple experiments. The values ​​of the unknown coefficients can be fitted according to the actual measured particle size d and the set rotation speed n and flow rate f. After multiple experiments and multiple fittings to find the average, more accurate values ​​of the unknown coefficients A, B, and C can be obtained.

[0086] This technical method is applicable to drones of different models and parameters and nozzles of different parameters. Before the drone performs a spraying operation, the diameter d of the droplets sprayed by the nozzle of the drone can be calculated by substituting the rotation speed n of the atomizing disk and the flow rate f of the agent into formula (1), and the diameter d of the droplets can be input into the parameter setting module so that the subsequent calculation module can obtain the parameter value to calculate other values.

[0087] The centrifugal atomizer disk rotates at high speed, causing the teeth on the outer edge of the atomizer disk to collide with the liquid medicine. Under the high-speed collision, the liquid is broken into atomized liquid, and the droplets are sprayed out with an initial velocity in the horizontal direction. Here, it can be roughly understood that the initial velocity of the droplet spray is V X The speed of the teeth on the edge of the atomizer disk is the same. Figure 6 The initial velocity V of the droplets X The determination and calculation of are described.

[0088] Figure 6 The diagram is a schematic diagram of a method for generating droplets for spraying by an agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application. The rotation radius of the teeth on the atomizing disk is defined as R, and the rotation speed is defined as n; wherein the unit of the radius R is mm, and the unit of the rotation speed n is rpm. The rotation of the atomizing disk can be approximated as uniform circular motion. According to the linear velocity calculation formula of uniform circular motion, the initial velocity V of the droplets sprayed can be obtained. X (i.e. the linear velocity of the teeth on the atomizing disk) is:

[0089]

[0090] When the droplets are sprayed out from the teeth on the atomizing disk, they have an initial velocity V parallel to the ground. X , in the horizontal direction, it is also affected by air resistance, so the movement speed of the droplets in the X direction gradually decreases.

[0091] By setting the rotation radius R and the rotation speed n of the teeth on the atomizing disk through the parameter setting module, the calculation module obtains the parameter value from the sensing module and uses formula (2) to calculate the initial velocity V of the droplet spraying: XThe value of .

[0092] S202: The calculation module calculates the air resistance coefficient μ of the droplets.

[0093] The following will be combined Figure 7 The movement trajectory and force conditions of the droplets are analyzed.

[0094] Figure 7 : This is a schematic diagram of the force analysis of a droplet during a spraying operation of an agricultural drone provided in an embodiment of the present application. Here, the droplet is approximately regarded as a sphere, the diameter of the droplet is d, and the droplet has an initial velocity V in the X direction when it is sprayed from the nozzle. X , and is subject to air resistance f in the opposite direction to the initial velocity X In the gravity direction Y, the force f of the droplet due to its own gravity mg and the wind field generated by the UAV rotor Y Under the combined effect of the droplets, the droplets fall to the ground with an initial velocity of V in the Y direction. Y When the droplets are just sprayed, i.e. at t = 0, the initial velocity V of the droplets in the Y direction is Y =0.

[0095] The droplets are approximated as spheres, the diameter of the droplets is defined as d, and the liquid density of the spray is defined as ρ; then at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and standard atmospheric pressure, the air resistance coefficient μ of the droplets can be calculated as:

[0096]

[0097] By inputting the liquid density ρ of the spray into the parameter setting module, the calculation module obtains the parameter value from the sensing module and uses formula (3) to calculate the value of the air resistance coefficient μ of the droplet.

[0098] S203: The calculation module calculates the wind speed V of the downward pressure wind field generated by the rotor S .

[0099] Define the speed of the downward pressure wind field of the UAV rotor as V S , the load of the drone is L, the number of drone rotors is M, and the rotor diameter of the drone is D. Under the condition of temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and standard atmospheric pressure, the wind speed V of the downward pressure wind field of the drone can be calculated. S for:

[0100]

[0101] Where g is the acceleration due to gravity.

[0102] By inputting the UAV load as L, the number of UAV rotors as M, and the UAV rotor diameter as D into the parameter setting module, the calculation module obtains the parameter value from the sensing module and uses formula (4) to calculate the wind speed V of the UAV downward pressure wind field S The value of .

[0103] The droplets move in a parabolic motion under the action of the wind field, with an initial velocity V in the horizontal X direction. X The air resistance f X Under the action of the wind force f, it slows down and performs deceleration motion; the initial velocity in the Y direction of gravity is 0, and the wind force f Y Under the action of its own gravity mg, the droplet accelerates; the whole droplet moves in a parabola. The air resistance coefficient is μ, then in the horizontal direction X, the air resistance f X for:

[0104] f X =μmV X 2 (5)

[0105] In the direction of gravity Y, the initial velocity of the droplet is V Y = 0, under the action of the downward pressure wind field, the air resistance f of the droplets Y for:

[0106] f Y =μm·(V S -V Y ) 2 (6)

[0107] Where m is the mass of the droplet.

[0108] In actual situations, the air resistance f that the droplets experience under the action of the downward pressure wind field is Y It is much larger than its own gravity, so in order to simplify the calculation workload, the influence of its own gravity acceleration on the droplets is ignored here. Therefore, the parametric equation of the flight trajectory of the droplets under the action of the wind field can be obtained:

[0109]

[0110]

[0111] Combination Figure 2 It can be seen that R f is the width of the droplet spray, and H is the height at which the droplets fall.

[0112] S204: Obtain the UAV operating height H, and the calculation module calculates the droplet landing time t.

[0113] The altitude sensor obtains the altitude parameter H of the drone, and the calculation module obtains the parameter information in the perception module to calculate the wind speed V of the downward pressure wind field of the drone. S The value of , the value of the air resistance coefficient μ of the droplets and the value of the UAV's flight altitude H are substituted into formula (8) to calculate the value of the movement time t of the droplets from being sprayed to landing on the ground.

[0114] S205: According to the droplet landing time t, the calculation module calculates the spraying distance R of the droplet along the first direction f .

[0115] The calculation module calculates the initial velocity V of the droplet calculated by formula (2) in the previous step. X The value of , the value of the air resistance coefficient μ calculated by formula (3), and the value of the droplet landing time t calculated by formula (8) are substituted into formula (7), and the calculation module calculates the spraying distance R of the droplet along the first direction f The value of .

[0116] S206: Spraying distance R according to the first direction f , the calculation module outputs the value of the UAV nozzle spacing N.

[0117] Combination Figure 2 It can be seen that in order to ensure that the drone sprays the medicine evenly and without dead angles, the spacing N between the drone nozzles should be less than or equal to twice the diffusion distance R of the droplets. f , that is, N≤2R f .

[0118] The calculation module calculates the spray distance R of the droplets along the first direction according to step S205. f The value of the spacing N of the drone nozzles is output to the drive module.

[0119] It should be understood that during the operation of the drone, the drone can adjust the flight altitude according to factors such as the height of the crops and the planting density. The drone will adjust the spacing of the centrifugal nozzles according to the flight altitude to ensure that the droplets sprayed by the agent are uniform and without dead angles.

[0120] It should be understood that the present application can be applied to drones with multiple nozzles. The present application can be used to determine the distance between two nozzles in any horizontal direction. The specific scope of protection shall be based on the claims, and the present application does not make any special limitation on this.

[0121] S207: The driving module 28 drives the nozzle arm 27 to adjust the nozzle spacing of the UAV according to the spacing value output by the calculation module.

[0122] The driving module 28 drives the mechanical structure of the nozzle arm 27 to adjust the nozzle arm 27 to a suitable spacing in the horizontal direction on the slide rail 26 according to the value of the nozzle spacing N output by the calculation module.

[0123] It should be understood that the adjustment of a group of nozzle arms 27 on the slide rail 26 is symmetrical, with the central axis of the UAV mechanical structure as the axis of symmetry, and they are adjusted in opposite directions. This application does not make any special limitation on this, and the specific scope of protection shall be subject to the claims.

[0124] It should be understood that the value of the nozzle spacing N output by the calculation module is calculated based on the load L of the drone and the flight altitude H of the drone at the sampling moment. Therefore, the value of the nozzle spacing N output by the calculation module is the most appropriate nozzle spacing at the sampling moment.

[0125] In a possible implementation, during the actual operation, the drone sprays the same crop planted in the same area at the same height, and the mass of the drug carried by the drone changes linearly. Therefore, the calculation module can also calculate the linear change of the load L according to the flow rate f of the sprayed drug, thereby calculating the impact of the load L on the nozzle spacing N. Such linear calculations are all prior art, and those skilled in the art can implement them according to the technical solution of this application in combination with the prior art, which should be included in the protection scope of this application, and this application will not repeat them.

[0126] In a possible implementation, during the actual operation, the drone needs to spray the same pesticide in different crop planting areas in a continuous operation scenario, and the flight altitude will be adjusted during the flight. The sensing module can also have a built-in trigger module. When the drone altitude adjustment needs to readjust the nozzle spacing, the terminal device sends a first message to the trigger module, so that the trigger module triggers the sensing module to obtain the current drone flight altitude H, and sends the altitude information H value to the calculation module. The calculation module calculates the nozzle spacing N according to the current altitude value and adjusts it through the driving module 28. Such triggering methods are all prior art, and those skilled in the art can implement them according to the technical solution of this application in combination with the prior art, which should be included in the protection scope of this application, and this application will not repeat them.

[0127] As a non-limiting example, in one possible implementation, the rotation speed of the atomizer disk is in the range of 1000rpm to 16000rpm, the radius R of the atomizer disk is 42mm, the UAV has 6 rotors, and the diameter of the rotor is 1030mm. The total flight load of the UAV is 120kg. After first measuring and fitting the coefficients through experiments, the values ​​of the A, B, and C coefficients to be determined can be determined. After determining the values ​​of the coefficients to be determined A, B, and C, the particle size d of the droplets can be calculated, and the particle size d of the droplets, the rotation radius R of the atomizer disk, the rotation speed n of the atomizer disk, the liquid density ρ of the agent, the number M of the UAV rotors, and the diameter D of the UAV rotors are input into the parameter setting module, the mass sensor inputs the measured UAV load L into the sensing module, and the altitude sensor inputs the measured UAV flight altitude H into the sensing module. The calculation module performs calculations by obtaining the data values ​​sampled in the sensing module. When the flight altitude H of the UAV is 3m, the calculation module calculates the width R f The value is 750mm, then the spacing N value output to the driving module nozzle is 1500mm, and the driving module 28 then drives the nozzle arm 27 to adjust the relative direction on the slide rail 26 so that the spacing between the two nozzles is 1500mm.

[0128] The method in the embodiment of the present application, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The storage medium includes at least: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a disk or an optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

[0129] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An agricultural drone control module, characterized in that: Installed on an agricultural drone, the agricultural drone also includes a rotor, a centrifugal nozzle, a liquid storage tank and a drive module, the centrifugal nozzle is fixed to one side of the liquid storage tank through the drive module, the liquid storage tank is used to store the medicine to be sprayed, and the control module includes: A sensing module, used to obtain the operation data of the agricultural drone, the sensing module includes a mass sensor, an altitude sensor and a parameter setting module, wherein the mass sensor is used to obtain the value of the load of the agricultural drone, the altitude sensor is used to obtain the value of the flight altitude of the agricultural drone, and the parameter setting module is used to input the operation parameters of the agricultural drone; A calculation module, which calculates the landing time of the droplets sprayed by the agricultural drone based on the operation data output by the sensing module, and calculates the first spacing of the centrifugal nozzle based on the landing time; The driving module drives the centrifugal nozzle to move relatively in the horizontal direction to adjust the distance between the centrifugal nozzles to the first distance based on the first distance output by the calculation module, and the driving module includes a nozzle arm and a slide rail, and the centrifugal nozzle is slidably fixed on the slide rail through the nozzle arm; The centrifugal nozzle comprises an atomizing disk, and the atomizing disk rotates at a high speed so that the teeth on the outer edge collide with the medicine to be sprayed. Under the high-speed collision, the medicine to be sprayed is crushed and atomized to form the droplets, which are sprayed outward through the centrifugal nozzle; The operating parameters inputted by the parameter setting module include: the particle size of the droplets, the rotation speed of the atomizing disk, the radius of the teeth, the density of the medicine to be sprayed, the number of the rotors and the diameter of the rotors; The method for determining the particle size of the droplets comprises: d=An+Bf+C Wherein, d is the particle size of the droplets, n is the rotation speed of the atomizer disk, f is the flow rate of the atomizer disk, and A, B, and C are unknown coefficients; determining the unknown coefficients includes fitting by measuring the value of the particle size d of the droplets.

2. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation module calculates the landing time based on the operation data output by the sensing module, and further includes: The calculation module calculates the air resistance coefficient of the droplets based on the density of the to-be-sprayed agent and the particle size of the droplets output by the sensing module; The calculation module calculates the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field generated by the rotor based on the load of the agricultural drone, the number of the rotors, and the diameter of the rotors output by the sensing module; The calculation module calculates the landing time based on the flight altitude of the agricultural UAV output by the sensing module, combined with the air resistance coefficient of the droplets and the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field.

3. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation module calculates the first spacing based on the landing time, and further includes: The calculation module calculates the initial velocity of the droplets sprayed in the horizontal direction based on the rotation speed of the atomizing disk and the radius of the tooth-shaped object output by the sensing module; The calculation module calculates the distance that the droplets are sprayed along the horizontal direction by combining the falling time and the initial velocity; The calculation module outputs the first spacing based on the distance that the droplets are sprayed along the horizontal direction.

4. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: Calculating the landing time includes: Wherein, H is the value of the flight altitude of the agricultural UAV, V S is the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field, μ is the air resistance coefficient, and the landing time t is calculated by obtaining the value H of the flight altitude of the agricultural UAV.

5. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: Calculating the spraying distance of the droplets along the horizontal direction includes: Among them, R f is the spraying distance of the droplets along the horizontal direction, V X is the initial velocity of the droplet, μ is the air resistance coefficient, t is the falling time, and the spraying distance R of the droplet along the horizontal direction is calculated based on the falling time t. f .

6. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: Outputting the first spacing includes: N≤2R f Wherein, N is the first spacing, R f is the spraying distance of the droplets along the horizontal direction.

7. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 1, characterized in that: Calculating the air resistance coefficient of the droplet includes: Wherein, μ is the air resistance coefficient, d is the particle size of the droplets, and ρ is the density of the agent to be sprayed.

8. The agricultural drone control module according to claim 2, characterized in that: Calculating the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field includes: Among them, V S is the wind speed of the downward pressure wind field, M is the number of the rotors, D is the diameter of the rotors, L is the value of the load of the agricultural UAV, and g is the acceleration of gravity.

9. An agricultural drone, characterized in that: include: The agricultural UAV control module according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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