Modular unmanned aerial vehicle capable of being reconstructed in air

Abstract

The invention discloses a modular unmanned aerial vehicle capable of being reconstructed in the air, belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and is used for free change of an air combination form of the modular unmanned aerial vehicle, user demand customization and application scene diversification. Comprising a dual-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, a central control module, a butt joint structure control module, a butt joint structure module, a tilt steering engine control module, a visual identification tracking module and a wireless communication module, the modularized unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a double-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle body, a vehicle body control center flight controller, a combined butt joint controller, a camera visual identification device, a vehicle arm, a magnetic butt joint combined structure, a separation steering engine, a brushless motor, a propeller, a tilting platform, a platform fixing support, a tilting steering engine, a GPS positioning navigation module, a battery box and a flight controller. When a plurality of modularized unmanned aerial vehicle single bodies are combined in the air, visual identification of the modularized unmanned aerial vehicle single bodies tracks a tail taper sleeve opening of another unmanned aerial vehicle, meanwhile, the magnetic butt joint structures are controlled to be powered on, mutual attraction is conducted, and butt joint and air posture reconstruction of the modularized unmanned aerial vehicles are achieved. When the modularized unmanned aerial vehicle assembly is split, the coil current of the magnetic butt joint structure is reversed through the combined butt joint controller, magnetic reversing is achieved, and instantaneous air separation of the unmanned aerial vehicle assembly is achieved.

Description

[0001] Technical field: The present invention discloses a modular drone that can be reconfigured in the air, belonging to the technical field of drones Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the country has been vigorously promoting the development of low-altitude economy and intelligent manufacturing. Modular drones are an emerging direction in the field of drones. They have the characteristics of "reconfigurable, replaceable, multi-purpose, and freely customizable". Compared with traditional integrated drones, they can be freely combined and separated in the air. However, the mainstream modular drones in the current market have the following pain points: (1) The basic unit is a quad-rotor drone, and the drone unit module structure is complex, and the disassembly is not flexible and convenient; (2) The basic unit is a single-rotor drone, which has insufficient load capacity and cannot be restored after separation, and the execution cost is expensive; Summary of the invention

[0003] 1. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a modular drone that can be reconfigured in the air, so as to solve the problems in the prior art that the different modular units of the modular drone are not flexible and convenient to disassemble, have insufficient load capacity, and cannot be restored after separation.

[0004] Expensive and other issues

[0005] 2. A modular drone that can be reconfigured in the air, comprising a modular drone, a central control module, a docking structure control module, a docking structure module, a tilting servo control module, a visual recognition tracking module and a wireless communication module, wherein the modular drone comprises a dual-rotor drone body, a body control center, a combined docking controller, a camera visual recognition, an arm, a magnetic docking combined structure, a brushless motor, a propeller, a tilting platform, a GPS positioning and navigation module, a battery box, a flight control, a copper wire coil, a support column, and a carbon fiber plate

[0006] 3. The body control center is a rectangular parallelepiped and can be divided into three layers. The three layers are composed of a carbon fiber skeleton and a carbon fiber support rod. Four angular support structures are provided at the bottom, and the support structures are protected by soft foam materials. The lower layer is 4 cm high and 10 cm long, and is provided with the hardware circuit part of the modular drone, which is fixed around with carbon fiber plates; the middle layer is 3 cm high and 10 cm long, and four support columns are provided at the four corners to fix the battery box. The upper layer is the main control part, which is provided with the drone flight control, combined docking controller, and GPS positioning and navigation module. The combined docking controller is provided near the docking structure, and the flight control is located in the center.

[0007] 4. The combined docking structure is a hollow truncated cone with a cone thickness of 2 cm. It is fixed to the front and tail of the modular drone. The front surface of the combined docking structure is evenly distributed with 400 turns of copper wire coils, and the tail is wound with 400 turns of copper wire coils inside the combined docking structure. The outer periphery of the combined docking structure is fixed with a cylindrical sleeve, and two carbon fiber support columns are fixed at the bottom, with the same height as the bottom support column of the body control center.

[0008] 5. The combined docking structure is connected to the combined docking controller of the body control center, the flight control is connected to the brushless motor and tilting platform carried on the two arms of the modular drone, and the battery box is connected to the combined docking structure and the flight control for power supply.

[0009] 6. Preferably, the platform fixing bracket is fixed to one end of the machine arm, the tilting servo is fixed to the platform fixing bracket, the tilting platform is fixed to the output shaft of the tilting servo, the brushless motor is fixed to the top of the rotating platform, and a propeller is provided on the top of the brushless motor.

[0010] 7. Preferably, the combined controller is located near the combined docking structure on the upper layer of the body control center, and the GPS navigation module should be consistent with the positive direction of the flight control. The three-layer structure of the combined control center adopts a perforated nested connection structure, and the carbon fiber support columns are nested in three layers through the perforations at the four corners.

[0011] 8. Preferably, the dual-rotor drone monomer and structure keep the center of gravity at a lower position, and the camera is located on the combined docking structure and fixed at four corners.

[0012] 9. Preferably, the brushless motor controls the propeller, thereby controlling the height of the quad-rotor drone; the tilt-steering servo controls the tilt-steering platform, thereby controlling the flight attitude of the modular drone.

[0013] 10. Preferably, the camera visual tracking adopts neural network training, collects photos of cone sleeves in different scenes and lighting conditions for training, and realizes visual recognition and tracking of drones under different conditions. 11. Preferably, modular drones can be freely combined, docked and separated instantly, and modular drones can be transformed from single-frame state to

[0014] When the drone is in any combination, the flight control sends a combination command, the camera of the visual recognition module performs visual recognition and tracking, returns the spatial position information of the target drone, and the flight control adjusts the body to approach and automatically adjusts the drone shape. When the judgment distance reaches 5cm, the combined docking controller controls the current of the copper wire coil of the combined docking structure, adjusts the magnetic force, and realizes the combination of drones; when the drones are separated, the combined docking device controls the reverse current of the copper wire coil to achieve the reverse magnetic force and control the instantaneous separation of the drones.

[0015] 12. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: (1) Compared with the quad-rotor module drone, this project is split into multiple dual-rotor drone units, so it has a more flexible and convenient free combination method; (2) Compared with the single-rotor module drone, this project has a higher load capacity, more diverse execution capabilities, and can be recycled repeatedly. The drone module can realize the functions of "instant separation, free combination, multi-purpose, and repeated recycling" in the air. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] 1. Figure 1 This is a single body structure diagram of a modular drone that can be reconfigured in the air according to the present invention.

[0017] 2. Figure 2 yes Figure 1 The structure of the drone after the two bodies merged

[0018] 3. Figure 3 This is the structure diagram of the body control center

[0019] 4. Figure 4 This is the power structure diagram of the modular drone

[0020] 5. The reference numerals include: 1-propeller protection cover, 2-machine arm, 3-camera visual recognition, 4-combined docking structure, 5-battery box, 6-carbon fiber plate, 7-support beam, 8-combined controller, 9-GPS positioning and navigation module, 10-flight control, 11-propeller, 12-brushless motor, 13-tilt platform, 14-support column, 15-protection disc, 16-copper wire coil DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solution of the present invention is described clearly and completely below. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] A modular drone that can be reconfigured in the air, including a modular drone, a central control module, a docking structure control module, a docking structure module, a tilting servo control module, a visual recognition tracking module and a wireless communication module, wherein the modular drone includes a dual-rotor drone body, a body control center, a combined docking controller 8, a camera visual recognition 3, an arm, a magnetic docking combined structure, a brushless motor 12, a propeller 11, a tilting platform 13, a GPS positioning and navigation module 9, a battery box 5, a flight control 10, a copper wire coil 16, a support column 14, and a carbon fiber plate 6

[0023] The body control center is a rectangular parallelepiped and can be divided into three layers. The three layers are composed of carbon fiber plates 6 and carbon fiber columns 14. Four angular support structures are provided at the bottom, and the support structures are protected by soft foam materials. The lower layer is 4 cm high and 10 cm long, and is provided with the hardware circuit part of the modular drone, which is fixed around with carbon fiber plates 6; the middle layer is 3 cm high and 10 cm long, and four support columns 14 are provided at the four corners to fix the battery box 5. The upper layer is the main control part, which is provided with the drone flight control 10, the combined docking controller 4, and the GPS positioning navigation module 9. The combined docking controller 4 is provided near the docking structure, and the flight control 10 is located in the center.

[0024] The combined docking structure 4 is a hollow truncated cone with a cone thickness of 2 cm. It is fixed to the front and tail of the modular drone. The front surface of the combined docking structure 4 is evenly distributed with 400 turns of copper wire coils 16, and the tail is wound with 400 turns of copper wire coils inside the combined docking structure 4. The outer periphery of the combined docking structure 4 is fixed with a cylindrical protective disc 15, and two carbon fiber support columns 14 are fixed at the bottom, and the height is the same as the bottom support column of the body control center.

[0025] The combined docking structure 4 is connected to the combined docking controller 8 of the body control center, the flight control is connected to the brushless motor 12 and the tilting platform 13 carried on the two arms 2 of the modular drone, and the battery box 5 is connected to the combined docking structure 4 and the flight control 10 for power supply.

[0026] The tilting platform 13 is fixed on one end of the machine arm, the tilting platform 13 is fixed on the platform fixing bracket, the tilting platform 13 is fixed on the output shaft of the tilting servo, the brushless motor 12 is fixed on the top of the rotating platform, and a propeller 11 is provided on the top of the brushless motor 12.

[0027] The upper layer of the body control center, the combined controller 8 is located near the combined docking structure 4, and the GPS navigation module 9 must be consistent with the positive direction of the flight control 10. The three-layer structure of the combined control center adopts a perforated nested connection structure. Through the perforations at the four corners, the carbon fiber support columns 14 are nested in three layers.

[0028] The dual-rotor drone monomer and structure keep the center of gravity at a lower position, and the camera 3 is located on the combined docking structure and fixed at four corners.

[0029] The brushless motor 12 controls the propeller, thereby controlling the height of the quad-rotor drone; the tilt servo controls the tilt platform 13, thereby controlling the flight attitude of the modular drone.

[0030] The camera 3 visual tracking adopts neural network training, collects photos of different scenes and lighting conditions of the combined docking structure 4 for training, and realizes the visual recognition and tracking of the drone under different conditions.

[0031] Modular drones can be freely combined, docked and separated instantly. When a modular drone is transformed from a single state to any combination form, the flight control 10 issues a combination command, the camera 3 of the visual recognition module performs visual recognition and tracking, and returns the spatial position information of the target drone. The flight control 10 adjusts the body to approach and automatically adjusts the drone form. When the judgment distance reaches 5cm, the combined docking controller 8 controls the current of the copper wire coil 16 of the combined docking structure 4, adjusts the magnetic force, and realizes the combination of drones; when separating the drones, the combined docking device 8 controls the current of the copper wire coil 16 to reverse, realizes the magnetic force reversal, and controls the drone to separate instantly.

[0032] 1-propeller protection cover, 2-machine arm, 3-camera visual recognition, 4-combined docking structure, 5-battery box, 6-carbon fiber plate, 7-support beam, 8-combined controller, 9-GPS positioning and navigation module, 10-flight control, 11-propeller, 12-brushless motor, 13-tilt platform, 14-support column, 15-protection disc, 16-copper wire coil

[0033] The control system of the present invention is implemented as follows:

[0034] When the modular drone is not combined, the remote control box and the flight control box communicate with each other using the S.BUS communication protocol. The two modular drone monomers realize signal transmission through the wireless communication MavLink protocol. Only one remote control is needed to realize the flight control of the two drone monomers. The combined docking controller includes a single-chip microcomputer and a current control module. The single-chip microcomputer and the flight control are connected to the combined docking structure and the battery box. The camera of the visual recognition module is connected to the flight control. When the remote control issues a combined command, the flight control controls the electric adjustment and the tilting servo to achieve the balance of the body, and sends a signal to communicate with the camera. The camera captures the position information and distance information of the combined drone in real time, and sends it to the flight control through serial communication. The flight control controls the body to approach the target drone through the PID position control algorithm, and determines the target distance. When the distance is less than 5cm, the flight control sends a PWM signal to the single-chip microcomputer, instructing the combined controller to control the current of the copper wire coil, and then controls the magnetic force. After docking, the two drone flight controls communicate to jointly maintain the stability of the two bodies. When the two drones separate, the flight control combined controller realizes the reversal of current, and the magnetic force reverses to achieve instantaneous separation. The flight control responds to the known magnetic force changes while keeping the attitude of the two separated drones stable.

[0035] Compared with the quad-rotor module drone, the modular drone designed by the present invention can be reconfigured in the air. This project is divided into multiple dual-rotor drone units, so it has a more flexible and convenient free combination method; (2) Compared with the single-rotor module drone, this project has a higher load capacity, more diverse execution capabilities, and can be recycled repeatedly. The drone module can realize the functions of "instant separation, free combination, multi-purpose, and repeated recycling" in the air.

[0036] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features thereof may be replaced by equivalents, and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A modular drone that can be reconfigured in mid-air, characterized in that: It includes a modular drone, a central control module, a docking structure control module, a docking structure module, a tilting servo control module, a visual recognition tracking module and a wireless communication module. The modular drone includes a dual-rotor drone body, a body control center, a combined docking controller, a camera visual recognition, an arm, a magnetic docking combined structure, a brushless motor, a propeller, a tilting platform, a platform fixing bracket and a tilting servo, a GPS positioning navigation module, a battery box, a flight control, a copper wire coil, a support column and a carbon fiber plate. The body control center is a rectangular parallelepiped and can be divided into three layers. The three layers are composed of a carbon fiber skeleton and a carbon fiber support rod. Four angular support structures are provided at the bottom, and the support structures are protected by soft foam materials. The lower layer is 4 cm high and 10 cm long and is provided with the hardware circuit part of the modular UAV, which is fixed around with carbon fiber plates; the middle layer is 3 cm high and 10 cm long, and four supporting columns are provided at the four corners to fix the battery box. The upper layer is the main control part, which is provided with the UAV flight control, combined docking controller, and GPS positioning and navigation module. The part close to the docking structure is provided with a combined docking controller, and the flight control is located in the center. The combined docking structure is a hollow truncated cone with a cone thickness of 2 cm. It is fixed to the front and tail of the modular drone. The front surface of the combined docking structure is evenly distributed with 400 turns of copper wire coils, and the tail is wound with 400 turns of copper wire coils inside the combined docking structure. A cylindrical sleeve is fixed to the periphery of the combined docking structure, and two carbon fiber support columns are fixed to the bottom, with the same height as the bottom support column of the body control center. The combined docking structure is connected to the combined docking controller of the body control center, the flight control is connected to the brushless motor and the tilting platform carried on the two arms of the modular drone, and the battery box is connected to the combined docking structure and the flight control for power supply.

2. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The platform fixing bracket is fixed to one end of the machine arm, the tilting servo is fixed to the platform fixing bracket, the tilting platform is fixed to the output shaft of the tilting servo, the brushless motor is fixed to the top of the rotating platform, and a propeller is arranged on the top of the brushless motor.

3. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper layer of the body control center, the combined controller is located near the combined docking structure, and the GPS navigation module must be consistent with the positive direction of the flight control. The three-layer structure of the combined control center adopts a perforated nested connection structure, through the perforations at the four corners, the carbon fiber support columns are nested in three layers.

4. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The twin-rotor UAV monomer and structure keep the center of gravity at a lower position, and the camera is located on the combined docking structure and fixed at four corners.

5. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The brushless motor controls the propeller, thereby controlling the height of the quadrotor drone; the tilt-steering servo controls the tilt-steering platform, thereby controlling the flight attitude of the quadrotor drone.

6. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The camera visual tracking adopts a neural network for training, collects photos of the cone sleeve in different scenes and lighting conditions for training, and realizes the visual recognition and tracking of the UAV under different conditions.

7. The mid-air reconfigurable modular drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The modular drones can be freely combined for docking and instantaneous separation. When the modular drones are transformed from a single state into any combination form, the flight control issues a combination command, the camera of the visual recognition module performs visual recognition and tracking, and returns the spatial position information of the target drone. The flight control adjusts the body to approach and automatically adjusts the drone form. When the judgment distance reaches 5 cm, the combined docking controller controls the current of the copper wire coil of the combined docking structure, adjusts the magnetic force, and realizes the combination of the drones; when the drones are separated, the combined docking device controls the reverse current of the copper wire coil to realize the reverse magnetic force and control the instantaneous separation of the drones.

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