Real-time intelligent flight control method and system for unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The invention provides a real-time intelligent flight control method and system for an unmanned aerial vehicle. The real-time intelligent flight control method for the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises the following steps: acquiring terrain three-dimensional point cloud data in real time by using an airborne laser radar; planning a ground target patrol route in real time by using the terrain three-dimensional point cloud data; and guiding the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform autonomous navigation flight operation by using the ground target patrol route. According to the technical scheme, terrain three-dimensional point cloud data is acquired in real time by using an airborne laser radar; planning a ground target patrol route in real time by using the terrain three-dimensional point cloud data; guiding the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform autonomous navigation flight operation by using the ground target patrol route; the data acquisition integrity of unknown terrains and environment areas is improved, the flight risk is reduced, and reliable technical support is provided for intelligent reconnaissance inspection.

Description

Background Art

[0002] Drones for intelligent inspection and reconnaissance have great potential in improving inspection efficiency, accuracy and safety, but they are also accompanied by a series of potential risks. These risks mainly include:

[0003] 1. Technical risks

[0004] Insufficient sensor signal acquisition accuracy: During the reconnaissance and inspection process of drones, the sensors are affected by the flight environment and wind speed, resulting in data errors, affecting the inspection accuracy and fault diagnosis accuracy.

[0005] Unstable video transmission signal: Unstable video transmission signal leads to poor inspection results and affects the acquisition and analysis of real-time data.

[0006] Insufficient intelligence level: At present, the intelligence level of drone reconnaissance and inspection is still in the development stage. There are problems such as immature algorithms and low recognition accuracy, which affect the inspection effect.

[0007] Rapid equipment replacement: Drone technology is developing rapidly and equipment is being replaced quickly, which causes companies to face the risk of technology obsolescence and increased costs.

[0008] 2. Security Risks

[0009] Flight failure: During flight, the drone may suffer safety accidents such as falling or collision due to reasons such as low battery level and mechanical failure.

[0010] Poor environmental adaptability: In severe weather or complex environments, the flight stability and safety of the drone may be seriously affected.

[0011] Human error: Misoperation, interference and signal loss during remote control operation may also affect the stability and safety of the drone.

[0012] Therefore, there is an urgent need to invent a real-time intelligent flight control method and system for unmanned aerial vehicles to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0013] The present application provides a real-time intelligent flight control method and system for unmanned aerial vehicles, which is used to improve the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas, reduce flight risks, and provide reliable technical support for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0014] In a first aspect, a method for real-time intelligent flight control of a drone is provided, comprising the following steps:

[0015] Utilizes the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar;

[0016] Use terrain 3D point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time;

[0017] Use ground target patrol routes to guide UAVs to perform autonomous navigation flight operations.

[0018] In the above technical solution, the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar is used; the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain is used to plan ground target patrol routes in real time; the ground target patrol routes are used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations; the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas is improved, flight risks are reduced, and reliable technical support is provided for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0019] In a specific implementation scheme, the step of using terrain three-dimensional point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time includes terrain-simulating flight route planning and regional terrain-simulating flight route planning.

[0020] In a specific feasible implementation scheme, the steps of using ground target patrol routes to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations adopt a multi-task parallel execution mode.

[0021] In a specific implementation scheme, the parallel execution mode of the multiple tasks includes a real-time trajectory planning task and a trajectory tracking execution task.

[0022] In a specific implementation scheme, the steps of the real-time trajectory planning task include:

[0023] During the flight of the UAV, terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution are performed, and the track planning path is adjusted in real time.

[0024] In a specific implementation scheme, the steps of performing the task of tracking the track include:

[0025] By collecting the current position and preset flight trajectory of the UAV, the flight control quantity is calculated and generated to control the UAV to execute the preset route.

[0026] In the second aspect, a real-time intelligent flight control system for a UAV is provided, comprising:

[0027] The acquisition module is used to collect terrain 3D point cloud data in real time using airborne laser radar;

[0028] The route planning module is used to plan ground target inspection routes in real time using terrain 3D point cloud data;

[0029] The flight navigation module is used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations by using ground target patrol routes.

[0030] In the above technical solution, the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar is used; the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain is used to plan ground target patrol routes in real time; the ground target patrol routes are used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations; the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas is improved, flight risks are reduced, and reliable technical support is provided for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0031] In a specific implementation scheme, the route planning module includes:

[0032] A terrain-imitating flight route planning unit, used for terrain-imitating flight route planning;

[0033] The regional terrain-imitating flight route planning unit is used for regional terrain-imitating flight route planning.

[0034] In a specific implementation scheme, the flight navigation module includes:

[0035] The real-time track planning unit is used to perform terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution during the flight of the UAV, and make real-time adjustments to the track planning path;

[0036] The track tracking execution unit is used to collect the current position and preset flight track of the UAV, calculate and generate the flight control quantity, and control the UAV to execute the preset route.

[0037] In a specific implementation scheme, it also includes a UAV flight control communication module, wherein:

[0038] The UAV flight control communication module is electrically connected to the track tracking execution unit and is used for communication between the track tracking execution unit and the UAV flight control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 A flowchart of a real-time intelligent flight control method for a drone provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 2 A structural block diagram of a real-time intelligent flight control system for a UAV provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the autonomous terrain-imitating flight principle provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 4 A flow chart of the trajectory planning and tracking task provided for an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The present application is further described in detail below through the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Through these descriptions, the characteristics and advantages of the present application will become clearer and more specific.

[0044] The word "exemplary" is used exclusively herein to mean "serving as an example, embodiment, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Although various aspects of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless otherwise noted.

[0045] In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present application described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0046] To facilitate understanding of the real-time intelligent flight control method and system of unmanned aerial vehicles provided in the embodiments of the present application, its application scenario is first explained. The real-time intelligent flight control method of unmanned aerial vehicles provided in the embodiments of the present application is used to improve the data collection integrity of unknown terrain and environmental areas, reduce flight risks, and provide reliable technical support for intelligent reconnaissance inspections. Unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligent reconnaissance inspections show great potential in improving inspection efficiency, accuracy and safety, but are also accompanied by a series of potential risks. These risks mainly include: 1. Technical risks, insufficient sensor signal acquisition accuracy: During the reconnaissance inspection process of unmanned aerial vehicles, the sensors are affected by the flight environment and wind speed, resulting in data errors, affecting the inspection accuracy and fault diagnosis accuracy. Unstable video transmission signal: The instability of the video transmission signal leads to poor inspection results, affecting the acquisition and analysis of real-time data. Insufficient intelligence level: At present, the intelligence level of unmanned aerial vehicle reconnaissance inspections is still in the development stage, and there are problems such as immature algorithms and low recognition accuracy, which affect the inspection results. Fast equipment replacement: The rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicle technology and the rapid replacement of equipment have led to the risk of technology elimination and cost increase for enterprises. 2. Safety risks, flight failures: The drone may fall, collide, or experience other safety accidents during flight due to battery power loss, mechanical failure, and other reasons. Poor environmental adaptability: In severe weather or complex environments, the flight stability and safety of the drone may be seriously affected. Human error: Misoperation, interference, and signal loss during remote control operations may also affect the stability and safety of the drone. To this end, the embodiments of the present application provide a real-time intelligent flight control method and system for drones to improve the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas, reduce flight risks, and provide reliable technical support for intelligent reconnaissance inspections. The following is a detailed description of this with specific drawings and examples.

[0047] refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , Figure 1 A flowchart of a real-time intelligent flight control method for a drone provided in an embodiment of the present application; Figure 2This is a structural block diagram of the UAV real-time intelligent flight control system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] exist Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present application, a method for real-time intelligent flight control of a drone is provided, comprising the following steps:

[0049] Utilizes the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar;

[0050] Use terrain 3D point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time;

[0051] Use ground target patrol routes to guide UAVs to perform autonomous navigation flight operations.

[0052] In the above technical solution, the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar is used; the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain is used to plan ground target patrol routes in real time; the ground target patrol routes are used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations; the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas is improved, flight risks are reduced, and reliable technical support is provided for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0053] In a specific implementation scheme, the step of using terrain three-dimensional point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time includes terrain-simulating flight route planning and regional terrain-simulating flight route planning.

[0054] In a specific feasible implementation scheme, the steps of using ground target patrol routes to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations adopt a multi-task parallel execution mode.

[0055] In a specific implementation scheme, the parallel execution mode of the multiple tasks includes a real-time trajectory planning task and a trajectory tracking execution task.

[0056] In a specific implementation scheme, the steps of the real-time trajectory planning task include:

[0057] During the flight of the UAV, terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution are performed, and the track planning path is adjusted in real time.

[0058] In a specific implementation scheme, the steps of performing the task of tracking the track include:

[0059] By collecting the current position and preset flight trajectory of the UAV, the flight control quantity is calculated and generated to control the UAV to execute the preset route.

[0060] refer to Figure 1The real-time intelligent flight control method for UAV is used to capture ground points and obtain terrain data results, thereby calculating the distance between the UAV and the ground and obstacles, controlling the speed and direction of the UAV, autonomously flying along the predetermined target, adjusting the planned route in real time, and changing the route interval strips in the survey area, thereby ensuring that the flight trajectory and scanning angle meet the data result accuracy requirements, improving the data collection integrity of unknown terrain and environmental areas, reducing flight risks, and providing reliable technical support for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0061] Specifically, the airborne laser radar quickly acquires high-precision three-dimensional point cloud data of the transmission line channel. As the laser radar has high-precision modeling capabilities, it provides accurate three-dimensional flight navigation maps for UAV automated inspections. The UAV uses the autonomous terrain data collection front end to autonomously guide the UAV flight reconnaissance, and uses the high-precision three-dimensional point cloud data collected by the laser radar to plan the inspection route of key ground targets in real time, and generates high-precision geographic coordinate routes in real time to guide multi-rotor UAVs to perform autonomous navigation flight operations. According to the scene requirements and flight purposes at different stages of UAV operations, real-time route planning is basically divided into two types: terrain-imitating flight routes and regional terrain-imitating flight routes.

[0062] 1. Terrain-like flight routes

[0063] Terrain-following flight means that during the operation of the drone, the drone reaches a fixed height that is set to the known three-dimensional terrain, so that the height difference between the aircraft and the target object is maintained at a constant level. With the help of the terrain-following flight function, the drone's lidar system can adapt to different terrains, automatically generate a variable altitude route according to the terrain of the survey area, maintain consistent ground resolution, and obtain better data results.

[0064] Terrain-following flight is mainly used in places with large terrain undulations. Figure 3 For example, when there are objects with large height differences (buildings, mountains, etc.) in the survey area, if the flight is carried out at a fixed altitude, the data coverage (image) will be reduced in areas with relatively high altitudes due to the reduction in relative altitudes, and even the aerial triangulation will fail due to the small overlap rate. For drone lidar data collection, the overall data quality will be inconsistent due to fixed altitude flight, and the point density in areas with relatively low altitudes will be sparse and difficult to meet the accuracy requirements.

[0065] The terrain has certain height differences, especially in urban areas, where high-rise buildings, houses and trees can hinder flight. Research on real-time route planning technology, automatic ground adhesion and avoidance of air obstacles, and autonomous flight plans can effectively reduce the risk and difficulty of flight, thereby improving operational efficiency; to achieve the effects of drone terrain-following flight, real-time route planning and adjustment, and automatic obstacle avoidance, drone technology, wireless communication technology, PID control algorithm, navigation and positioning technology, and three-dimensional laser radar technology will be combined to study multi-sensor capture of three-dimensional space environment, calculate the distance between the drone and the ground and obstacles, control the speed and direction of the drone, and fly along the ground.

[0066] 2. Regional Terrain Flight Routes

[0067] In complex battlefield environments, drone reconnaissance and inspections require scanning flights over planar areas to obtain regional terrain data and even search for target objects. Therefore, it is necessary to perform terrain-simulating flights within a certain area through zigzag scanning flights.

[0068] Route design needs to consider the terrain-following flight strategy, the accuracy and efficiency of regional flight coverage, and the flight performance of the drone to achieve a fixed flight altitude and autonomous obstacle avoidance. The overall principles of route planning are as follows:

[0069] Planar area: Plan flight routes according to the scope of the survey area, generally arranged in the east-west direction. Design flight altitude, flight speed, and route interval according to the requirements of different reconnaissance requirements for point density. If the route exceeds the planned scope by more than 50 meters, the flight belt overlap rate is 30%.

[0070] Strip area: Try to go in a straight line; turn away from the route, increase the turning radius, and avoid turning around on the spot. The route exceeds the survey area by more than 50 meters, and the flight strip overlap rate is 30%.

[0071] The flight altitude of the drone and the viewing angle of the laser and camera determine the field of view of the data collection work, which affects the imaging resolution of the ground terrain and the field of view coverage area of ​​the ground targets, and determines the efficiency and quality of the reconnaissance work. Increasing the flight altitude and the field of view angle can increase the ground coverage of the field of view, but will reduce the imaging resolution and terrain quality of the ground. In actual operations, it is necessary to comprehensively determine the automatic flight altitude and flight zone coverage based on the requirements of reconnaissance efficiency and reconnaissance quality.

[0072] 3. Research on UAV intelligent flight control technology

[0073] According to the principles of route planning and the acquisition of real-time terrain data, the intelligent multi-channel coordinated control technology of UAVs is studied to achieve stable flight control of UAVs and overcome the interference of various complex environments on the flight stability of UAVs; the multi-loop intelligent control technology of UAVs is studied to achieve the complete control loop processing of "angular acceleration-attitude-acceleration-velocity-position" in order to provide sufficient control bandwidth and control channels for UAV flight control, thereby realizing highly sensitive and fast-response path following control.

[0074] 4. The UAV autonomous flight software system is a set of control algorithms and software integrated into a high-performance edge computing unit embedded in a smart pod, which is used to realize multi-source data acquisition, intelligent solution, flight control communication and intelligent control during the flight. The software adopts a multi-task parallel execution mode, which mainly includes two execution task paths: real-time trajectory planning tasks and track tracking tasks. Among them, the real-time trajectory planning task is mainly to perform intelligent solutions for terrain imitation, multi-strip adjustment, and obstacle avoidance during the flight, and adjust the planned path in real time; the track tracking execution task is mainly to collect the current status of the aircraft and the preset flight track, and intelligently control the solution to generate the flight control quantity, and then control the UAV to execute the preset route through the UAV flight control communication. The execution process of the trajectory planning task and the track tracking execution task is as follows: Figure 4 shown.

[0075] exist Figure 2 In the embodiment of the present application, a real-time intelligent flight control system for a drone is provided, comprising:

[0076] The acquisition module is used to collect terrain 3D point cloud data in real time using airborne laser radar;

[0077] The route planning module is used to plan ground target inspection routes in real time using terrain 3D point cloud data;

[0078] The flight navigation module is used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations by using ground target patrol routes.

[0079] In the above technical solution, the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar is used; the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain is used to plan ground target patrol routes in real time; the ground target patrol routes are used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations; the integrity of data collection in unknown terrain and environmental areas is improved, flight risks are reduced, and reliable technical support is provided for intelligent reconnaissance inspections.

[0080] In a specific implementation scheme, the route planning module includes:

[0081] A terrain-imitating flight route planning unit, used for terrain-imitating flight route planning;

[0082] The regional terrain-imitating flight route planning unit is used for regional terrain-imitating flight route planning.

[0083] In a specific implementation scheme, the flight navigation module includes:

[0084] The real-time track planning unit is used to perform terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution during the flight of the UAV, and make real-time adjustments to the track planning path;

[0085] The track tracking execution unit is used to collect the current position and preset flight track of the UAV, calculate and generate the flight control quantity, and control the UAV to execute the preset route.

[0086] In a specific implementation scheme, it also includes a UAV flight control communication module, wherein:

[0087] The UAV flight control communication module is electrically connected to the track tracking execution unit and is used for communication between the track tracking execution unit and the UAV flight control.

[0088] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present application may be implemented as a system, method or computer program product.

[0089] Therefore, the present disclosure may be specifically implemented in the following forms, namely: it may be completely hardware, it may be completely software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or it may be a combination of hardware and software, generally referred to herein as a "circuit", "module" or "system". In addition, in some embodiments, the present application may also be implemented in the form of a computer program product in one or more computer-readable media, and the computer-readable medium may contain computer-readable program code.

[0090] Any combination of one or more computer-readable media can be used. Computer-readable media can be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable storage media can be, for example, but not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices or devices, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable storage media include: electrical connections with one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memories (RAM), read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the above. In this document, computer-readable storage media can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can be used by an instruction execution system, device or device or used in combination with it.

[0091] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and cannot be understood as limiting the present application. A person of ordinary skill in the art can change, modify, replace and modify the above embodiments within the scope of the present application. On this basis, a variety of replacements and improvements can be made to the present application, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A real-time intelligent flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Utilizes the three-dimensional point cloud data of terrain collected in real time by airborne laser radar; Use terrain 3D point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time; Use ground target patrol routes to guide UAVs to perform autonomous navigation flight operations.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle real-time intelligent flight control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steps of using terrain three-dimensional point cloud data to plan ground target inspection routes in real time include terrain-simulating flight route planning and regional terrain-simulating flight route planning.

3. The real-time intelligent flight control method for unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that: The steps of using ground target patrol routes to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations adopt a multi-task parallel execution mode.

4. The real-time intelligent flight control method for unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The parallel execution mode of the multiple tasks includes a real-time track planning task and a track tracking execution task.

5. The real-time intelligent flight control method for unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that: The steps of the real-time trajectory planning task include: During the flight of the UAV, terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution are performed, and the track planning path is adjusted in real time.

6. The unmanned aerial vehicle real-time intelligent flight control method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The steps of performing the task of tracking the flight path include: By collecting the current position and preset flight trajectory of the UAV, the flight control quantity is calculated and generated to control the UAV to execute the preset route.

7. A real-time intelligent flight control system for unmanned aerial vehicles, characterized in that: include: The acquisition module is used to collect terrain 3D point cloud data in real time using airborne laser radar; The route planning module is used to plan ground target inspection routes in real time using terrain 3D point cloud data; The flight navigation module is used to guide the UAV to perform autonomous navigation flight operations by using ground target patrol routes.

8. The unmanned aerial vehicle real-time intelligent flight control system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The route planning module comprises: A terrain-imitating flight route planning unit, used for terrain-imitating flight route planning; The regional terrain-imitating flight route planning unit is used for regional terrain-imitating flight route planning.

9. The unmanned aerial vehicle real-time intelligent flight control system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The flight navigation module comprises: The real-time track planning unit is used to perform terrain-simulating track settlement, real-time multi-strip coverage optimal track solution and obstacle avoidance track solution during the flight of the UAV, and make real-time adjustments to the track planning path; The track tracking execution unit is used to collect the current position and preset flight track of the UAV, calculate and generate the flight control quantity, and control the UAV to execute the preset route.

10. The unmanned aerial vehicle real-time intelligent flight control system according to claim 9, characterized in that: It also includes a UAV flight control communication module, which The UAV flight control communication module is electrically connected to the track tracking execution unit and is used for communication between the track tracking execution unit and the UAV flight control.

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