Portable UAV landing platform and landing platform leveling method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a portable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing platform and a landing platform leveling method. The portable UAV landing platform has an inclination detection mechanism, comprising a cavity with a regular polygonal or circular cross-section, a conductive metal terminal disposed at the center of the cavity bottom, K conductive metal strips disposed in a circular array on the sidewalls of the cavity, the conductive metal strips extending to the cavity top, a conductive liquid disposed within the cavity with a volume smaller than the cavity volume, the conductive liquid having a resistance much lower than that of the conductive metal strips, the top of each conductive metal strip and the conductive metal terminal connected in series with a digital ammeter via a low-resistance wire and powered by a power supply of the same voltage, the conductive metal terminal and the top of the conductive metal strip. The power supply, the conductive liquid, a portion of the conductive metal strips, and the ammeter are connected via wires. Under the assumption that the resistance of the conductive liquid and the wires is negligible, the resistance of the connected portion of the conductive metal strips is calculated using the equation U=IR and converted to the length of the connected portion. Finally, a controller calculates the lengths of the conductive metal strips, compares them, and converts them into the required lifting compensation for each lifting mechanism. Finally, the lifting mechanisms are controlled to compensate for the respective compensations, thereby leveling the landing platform.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a landing platform and a leveling method, and in particular to a portable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing platform and a landing platform leveling method. Background Art

[0002] Drones have many application scenarios in both military and civilian fields. In order to prevent them from rolling and tilting during takeoff and landing and reduce the risk of accidents during takeoff and landing, drones need flat ground.

[0003] Portable drones have the advantage of being easy to carry. Their take-off locations are generally outdoors, where it is often difficult to find a flat road. Therefore, a landing platform is required for take-off, and the landing platform needs to be equipped with a leveling device for leveling the landing platform. Patent application number CN202211556124.9 discloses an automatic take-off and landing control device for drones, including a landing platform for providing a take-off and landing site for the drone; an automatic leveling device for adjusting the landing platform to a horizontal position; a positioning device for establishing a real-time position communication connection between the drone and the landing platform; a position identification device for accurately identifying the take-off and landing points on the landing platform; and a drone battery replacement device for automatically replacing batteries for the drone. Its specification discloses that automatic leveling is achieved through the cooperation of a spirit level and a controller.

[0004] When a spirit level is used for leveling in the above-mentioned patent, the spirit level is generally used to measure the horizontality in one direction, while the lifting and landing platform needs to be adjusted to be horizontal across the entire surface, so it requires adjustment in two directions. If leveling is performed using a spirit level, at least two spirit levels must be set up, but the spirit level can only measure the inclination angle and cannot convert the inclination angle into the height required for compensation of the four-corner supports. During leveling, the four-corner support structure needs to be continuously raised and lowered until both spirit levels show that the inclination angle is 0 before the leveling is completed. This process is inefficient. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Based on the disadvantages that the use of a spirit level for leveling in the prior art will cause the compensation amount of the four-corner support structure to become unknown, and the inclination angle of the spirit level needs to be reduced to 0 by continuous lifting and lowering, which makes the leveling process complicated and inefficient, the present invention provides a portable UAV landing platform and a landing platform leveling method.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above technical problems is:

[0007] Portable UAV landing platform, including:

[0008] A telescopic mechanism group, which is provided with K groups of telescopic mechanisms distributed in a circular array or a rectangular array, where K ≥ 3 and K is a positive integer;

[0009] The lifting and lowering platform is arranged at the output end of the telescopic mechanism and is leveled by the extension and contraction of each telescopic mechanism;

[0010] The tilt detection mechanism includes a cavity with a regular polygonal or circular cross-section, a conductive metal terminal provided at the center of the bottom of the cavity, K conductive metal strips distributed in a circular array on the sidewalls of the cavity, the conductive metal strips extending to the top of the cavity, a conductive liquid smaller than the volume of the cavity provided in the cavity, the resistance of the conductive liquid being much smaller than the resistance of the conductive metal strips, the top of each conductive metal strip and the conductive metal terminal being connected in series to a digital ammeter via a low-resistance wire and powered by a power supply of the same voltage, and the conductive metal terminal and the top of the conductive metal strip being connected;

[0011] The controller is connected to the inclination detection mechanism and the telescopic mechanism to receive inclination information detected by the inclination detection mechanism and control the coordinated operation of the telescopic mechanisms to level the landing platform. This solution connects a power supply, a conductive fluid, a portion of the conductive metal strips, and an ammeter via wires. Neglecting the resistance of the conductive fluid and wires, the resistance of the connected conductive metal strips is calculated using the equation U = IR and converted to the length of the connected portion. Finally, the controller calculates the length of each conductive metal strip, compares it, and converts it into the required lifting compensation for each lifting mechanism. Finally, the lifting mechanisms are controlled to compensate for each compensation amount, thereby leveling the landing platform.

[0012] Preferably, the top of the cavity is a transparent plate, and the bottom of the landing platform is equipped with K rangefinders connected to a controller and distributed in a circular or rectangular array. A hemispherical float is placed within the conductive fluid within the cavity. The float's top is horizontal and is a hollow structure with an inner cavity. A counterweight filler is placed at the bottom of the inner cavity, and the cavity remains horizontal after stabilization due to the counterweight filler. Each rangefinder cooperates with the horizontal surface of the float's top to measure the distance between them. This solution adds a float within the conductive fluid, providing a horizontal top surface for post-leveling testing. Specifically, multiple rangefinders simultaneously act on different unknowns on the float's top surface to obtain distance values. The leveling of the landing platform is determined by comparing these distance values. If not, leveling can be continued based on the difference in distance values.

[0013] Preferably, a gap is provided between the float and the side wall of the cavity to allow the float to rotate, and the rangefinder action area is located in the center area of ​​the top of the float so that when the float moves in the above gap, the rangefinder can always act on the top surface of the float to obtain the distance value.

[0014] Preferably, it also includes a box body, which has a bottom shell and a flip cover covering the bottom shell, the bottom shell has a concave cavity, the telescopic mechanism group, the inclination detection mechanism, the digital ammeter and the controller are all arranged in the concave cavity, wherein the display of the digital ammeter is embedded in the bottom shell.

[0015] Preferably, the landing platform is arranged at the top opening of the cavity, and a gap is provided between the edge of the landing platform and the side wall of the bottom shell.

[0016] Preferably, the telescopic mechanism is a telescopic cylinder, the top of which is hinged to the bottom of the lifting and lowering platform.

[0017] Preferably, when the telescopic mechanisms are distributed in a circular array, K≥3 and K is a positive integer; when the telescopic mechanisms are distributed in a rectangular array, K=4.

[0018] Preferably, the conductive liquid is mercury liquid, and the density of the float is less than that of the mercury liquid.

[0019] The method for leveling the lifting platform includes the following steps:

[0020] S1: Place the portable drone landing platform on the ground and wait for it to stabilize;

[0021] S2: Roll detection: Turn on the power switch to energize the tilt detection mechanism. The tilt detection mechanism measures the current of each group and uses each digital current transformer to measure the current in the circuit where the conductive metal strip and the conductive liquid are located. At the same time, the resistance of the circuit is calculated based on the current and the power supply voltage. The resistance is then converted into the length of the conductive segment of the conductive metal strip and finally into a compensation value.

[0022] S3, leveling: Based on the compensation value obtained in step S2, the controller controls each telescopic mechanism to compensate for the corresponding compensation value through telescopic compensation, wherein the resistance of the wire and the conductive liquid is ignored. The calculation is performed using U=IR, where U is a constant, R is the resistance of the conductive segment of the conductive strip, and I is measured by a digital ammeter.

[0023] Preferably, the system further includes step S4, a leveling test: after leveling and stabilization, the controller controls the rangefinder to illuminate the top surface of the float, obtains a set of distance value data, and compares the distance values. When the difference between any two distance values ​​in the set of distance value data is within a preset error range, the landing platform is considered leveled. When a difference in the set of distance values ​​exceeds the preset error range, the controller controls the maximum and minimum distance values ​​to perform fine adjustments on the corresponding sides to ensure that the difference in each distance value is within the preset error range. During the configuration, if the lifting mechanisms are arranged in a rectangular array, four rangefinders are arranged in a rectangular array on the line connecting two diagonal lifting mechanisms. If the lifting mechanisms are arranged in a circular array, the rangefinders are arranged in a circular array on the same circumference, with each rangefinder located on the line connecting the center of the cavity to the lifting mechanisms. In this way, the distance value measured by the rangefinder can reflect whether the landing platform at the corresponding lifting mechanism is too high or too low, thereby performing secondary compensation.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows: the present application connects the power supply, conductive liquid, part of the conductive metal strips and the ammeter through wires. On the premise that the resistance of the conductive liquid and the wires is negligible, the resistance of the conductive metal strips in the connected part is calculated by U=IR and converted into the length of the connected part. Finally, the length of each conductive metal strip is counted and compared by the controller, and then converted into the compensation amount required for the lifting compensation of each lifting mechanism. Finally, the lifting mechanism is controlled to compensate according to the respective compensation amounts, thereby leveling the lifting platform. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these drawings are drawn only for the purpose of explaining the preferred embodiments and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the drawings are merely schematic representations of the composition or structure of the depicted objects and may contain exaggerated representations. Furthermore, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0026] Figure 1 A perspective view of this application;

[0027] Figure 2 This is the explosion diagram of this application (landing platform explosion);

[0028] Figure 3 This is the exploded view of this application (excluding the landing platform);

[0029] Figure 4 A cross-sectional view of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 This is a bottom view of the landing platform;

[0031] Figure 6 is a top view of the box;

[0032] Figure 7 This is a circuit diagram of the tilt detection mechanism;

[0033] In the figure: 10, box body; 101, bottom box; 1011, concave cavity; 1012, inner cavity; 1013, transparent plate; 102, flip cover; 20, lifting and landing platform; 30, digital ammeter; 40, lifting mechanism; 401, hinge point; 50, wire; 60, inclination detection mechanism; 601, conductive metal strip; 602, rangefinder; 603, float; 604, conductive metal end; 605, power supply. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these descriptions are only illustrative and exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] It should be noted that like reference numerals denote like items in the following drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it may not be further defined or explained in subsequent drawings. Example

[0036] This embodiment mainly describes the title of the portable UAV landing platform, which is as follows:

[0037] Refer to the attached Figures 1-6 , which includes:

[0038] A telescopic mechanism group, which is provided with K groups of telescopic mechanisms 40 distributed in a circular array or a rectangular array, K ≥ 3 and K is a positive integer;

[0039] The lifting and lowering platform 20 is provided at the output end of the telescopic mechanism 40 and is leveled by the telescopic movement of each telescopic mechanism 40;

[0040] The tilt detection mechanism 60 includes a cavity having a regular polygonal or circular cross-section. A conductive metal terminal 604 is provided at the center of the cavity bottom. K conductive metal strips 601 are provided in a circular array on the sidewalls of the cavity. The conductive metal strips 601 extend to the top of the cavity. A conductive liquid smaller than the cavity volume is provided within the cavity. The resistance of the conductive liquid is much lower than that of the conductive metal strips 601. The top of each conductive metal strip 601 and the conductive metal terminal 604 are connected in series to a digital ammeter 30 via a low-resistance power supply line 605 50 and are powered by the power supply 605 at the same voltage. The conductive metal terminal 604 is connected to the top of the conductive metal strip 601.

[0041] The controller is connected to the inclination detection mechanism 60 and the telescopic mechanism 40 to receive the inclination information detected by the inclination detection mechanism 60 and control the telescopic mechanisms 40 to cooperate to level the landing platform 20 .

[0042] Preferably, the top of the cavity is a transparent plate 1013, and the bottom of the landing platform 20 is provided with a rangefinder 602 connected to the controller and distributed in a circular array or a rectangular array. A hemispherical float 603 is provided in the conductive liquid in the cavity. The top of the float 603 is horizontal and it is a hollow structure with an inner cavity 1012. A counterweight filler is provided at the bottom of the inner cavity 1012 and it is in a horizontal state after stabilization under the action of the counterweight filler. Each rangefinder 602 cooperates with the horizontal plane at the top of the float 603 to measure the distance between the two.

[0043] Preferably, a gap is provided between the float 603 and the side wall of the cavity to allow the float 603 to rotate, and the effective area of ​​the rangefinder 602 is located in the central area of ​​the top of the float 603 so that when the float 603 moves in the above-mentioned gap, the rangefinder 602 can always act on the top surface of the float 603 to obtain the distance value.

[0044] Preferably, the device further comprises a box body 10, comprising a bottom shell 101 and a flip cover 102 covering the bottom shell 101. The bottom shell 101 has a recessed cavity 1011, and the telescopic mechanism assembly, the tilt detection mechanism 60, the digital ammeter 30, and the controller are all disposed within the recessed cavity 1011. The display of the digital ammeter 30 is embedded in the bottom shell 101. When in use, the box body 10 is laid flat with the flip cover 102 open. When carried, the flip cover 102 is closed and the box body 10 is provided with a handle for holding.

[0045] Preferably, the landing platform 20 is arranged at the top opening of the cavity 1011, and a gap is provided between the edge of the landing platform 20 and the side wall of the bottom shell 101. The gap is used for leveling the landing platform 20 to avoid interference.

[0046] As an example, the telescopic mechanism 40 is a telescopic cylinder, the top of which is hinged to the bottom of the lifting platform 20. Since a conventional hinged seat has the disadvantage of being limited when rotating, the hinged seat can be replaced by a universal joint structure.

[0047] Preferably, when the telescopic mechanisms 40 are distributed in a circular array, K≥3 and K is a positive integer; when the telescopic mechanisms 40 are distributed in a rectangular array, K=4.

[0048] Preferably, the conductive liquid is mercury liquid, and the density of the float 603 is less than that of the mercury liquid. Example

[0049] This embodiment mainly describes the title of the leveling method of the lifting platform 20, which is as follows:

[0050] The following steps are included:

[0051] S1: Placement, the portable drone landing platform 20 is placed on the ground, wait for it to stabilize;

[0052] S2: Tilt detection: Turn on the power supply 605 to energize the tilt detection mechanism 60. The tilt detection mechanism 60 measures the current of each group and uses each digital current rheostat to measure the current in the circuit where the conductive metal strip 601 and the conductive liquid are located. At the same time, the resistance of the circuit is calculated based on the current and the voltage of the power supply 605. The resistance is then converted into the length of the conductive segment of the conductive metal strip 601 and finally into a compensation value.

[0053] S3, leveling: Based on the compensation value obtained in step S2, the controller controls each telescopic mechanism 40 to compensate for the corresponding compensation value by telescoping, wherein the resistance of the power supply 605 line 50 and the conductive liquid is ignored. The calculation is performed using U=IR, where U is a constant, R is the resistance of the conductive segment of the conductive strip, and I is measured by a digital ammeter 30.

[0054] Preferably, step S4 is further included, i.e., leveling test: after leveling and stabilization, the controller controls the rangefinder 602 to illuminate the top surface of the float 603 to obtain a set of distance value data, and compares the distance values. When the difference between any two distance values ​​in the set of distance value data is within a preset error range, the landing platform 20 is considered to be leveled. When a difference in the set of distance values ​​exceeds the preset error range, the controller controls the maximum and minimum values ​​of the distance values ​​to perform fine adjustments accordingly so that the difference between the distance values ​​is within the preset error range. During the setting, if the lifting mechanisms 40 are arranged in a rectangular array, four rangefinders 602 are set and distributed in a rectangular array on the line 50 connecting the two lifting mechanisms 40 located at two diagonal groups. If the lifting mechanisms 40 are arranged in a circular array, the rangefinders 602 are distributed in a circular array on the same circumference and each rangefinder 602 is located on the line 50 connecting the center of the cavity to the lifting mechanisms 40. In this way, the distance value measured by the rangefinder 602 can reflect whether the landing platform 20 at the lifting mechanism 40 on the corresponding side is too high or too low, thereby performing secondary compensation. Taking K=4 as an example, during the leveling test, four sets of distance values ​​A, B, C, and D are obtained. The difference is first obtained by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value. If the difference is within the allowable error range, it is considered that the landing platform 20 is leveled successfully. If the difference is greater than the allowable error range, if the difference is not within the allowable error range, A / 2, B / 2, C / 2, and D / 2 are first calculated, and then the average is (A / 2+B / 2+C / 2+D / 2) / 4. The obtained average is subtracted from half of each data, such as (A / 2+B / 2+C / 2+D / 2) / 4-A / 2. The lifting mechanism 40 is proportionally controlled according to the obtained difference to perform height compensation. In addition, a rangefinder 602 can be set at the center position of the landing platform 20 (the center position is located at the intersection of the connecting line 50 of the other four rangefinders 602) to obtain a standard distance value E. Each data is divided by 2 and the difference is calculated with half of the standard value, that is, E / 2-A / 2, E / 2- B / 2, E / 2- C / 2, E / 2- D / 2, each difference is the compensation amount.

[0055] The above is a detailed introduction to the titles provided by the present invention. Specific examples are used in this article to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the present invention and its core ideas. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, without departing from the principles of the present invention, the present invention can also be improved and modified. These improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. Portable UAV landing platform, characterized by: include: A telescopic mechanism group, which is provided with K groups of telescopic mechanisms distributed in a circular array or a rectangular array, where K ≥ 3 and K is a positive integer; The lifting and lowering platform is arranged at the output end of the telescopic mechanism and is leveled by the extension and contraction of each telescopic mechanism; The tilt detection mechanism includes a cavity with a regular polygonal or circular cross-section, a conductive metal end is provided at the center of the bottom of the cavity, K conductive metal strips are provided in a circular array on the side wall of the cavity, the conductive metal strips extend to the top of the cavity, a conductive liquid smaller than the volume of the cavity is provided in the cavity, the resistance of the conductive liquid is much smaller than the resistance of the conductive metal strips, the top of each conductive metal strip and the conductive metal end are connected in series with a digital ammeter through a low-resistance wire and powered by a power supply of the same voltage, the conductive metal end and the top of the conductive metal strip are connected, the top of the cavity is a transparent plate, and the bottom of the landing platform is provided with K conductive metal strips. The controller is connected to the rangefinders distributed in a circular or rectangular array. A hemispherical float is disposed within the conductive liquid in the cavity. The float's top is horizontal and is a hollow structure with an inner cavity. A counterweight filler is disposed at the bottom of the inner cavity and is stabilized by the counterweight filler to maintain a horizontal state. Each rangefinder cooperates with the horizontal surface of the float's top to measure the distance between the two. A gap is provided between the float and the cavity sidewall to allow the float to rotate. The rangefinder's active area is located in the center of the float's top, so that when the float moves in the gap, the rangefinder can always act on the float's top surface to obtain the distance value. The controller is connected with the inclination detection mechanism and the telescopic mechanism and is used for receiving the inclination information detected by the inclination detection mechanism and controlling the coordinated actions of the telescopic mechanisms to level the landing platform.

2. The portable UAV landing platform according to claim 1, characterized in that: The invention also includes a box body, which has a bottom shell and a flip cover covering the bottom shell. The bottom shell has a concave cavity, and the telescopic mechanism group, the inclination detection mechanism, the digital ammeter and the controller are all arranged in the concave cavity, wherein the display of the digital ammeter is embedded in the bottom shell.

3. The portable UAV landing platform according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lifting and landing platform is arranged at the top opening of the concave cavity, and a gap is arranged between the edge of the lifting and landing platform and the side wall of the bottom shell.

4. The portable UAV landing platform according to claim 1, characterized in that: The telescopic mechanism is a telescopic cylinder, the top of which is hinged to the bottom of the lifting platform.

5. The portable UAV landing platform according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the telescopic mechanisms are distributed in a circular array, K ≥ 3 and K is a positive integer; when the telescopic mechanisms are distributed in a rectangular array, K = 4.

6. The portable UAV landing platform according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive liquid is mercury liquid, and the density of the float is less than the density of the mercury liquid.

7. The method for leveling the lifting platform is characterized in that: The following steps are included: S1: Place the portable drone landing platform according to any one of claims 1-6 on the ground and wait for it to stabilize; S2: Roll detection: Turn on the power switch to energize the tilt detection mechanism. The tilt detection mechanism measures the current of each group and uses each digital current transformer to measure the current in the circuit where the conductive metal strip and the conductive liquid are located. At the same time, the resistance of the circuit is calculated based on the current and the power supply voltage. The resistance is then converted into the length of the conductive segment of the conductive metal strip and finally into a compensation value. S3, leveling: Based on the compensation value obtained in step S2, the controller controls each telescopic mechanism to compensate for the corresponding compensation value through telescopic compensation, wherein the resistance of the wire and the conductive liquid is ignored. The calculation is performed using U=IR, where U is a constant, R is the resistance of the conductive segment of the conductive strip, and I is measured by a digital ammeter.

8. The method for leveling a lifting platform according to claim 7, characterized in that: The system also includes step S4, a leveling test: after leveling and stabilization, the controller controls the rangefinder to illuminate the top surface of the float to obtain a set of distance value data, and compares the distance values. When the difference between any two distance values ​​in the set of distance value data is within a preset error range, the landing platform is considered to be leveled. When there is a difference in the set of distance values ​​that exceeds the preset error range, the controller controls the maximum and minimum values ​​of the distance values ​​to perform fine adjustments accordingly so that the difference between each distance value is within the preset error range.

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