Unmanned aerial vehicle automatic tracking method and system and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention aims to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle automatic tracking method, an unmanned aerial vehicle automatic tracking system and electronic equipment, and aims to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle tracking method which can reliably and automatically track an excavator and provide excavator information meeting requirements for a remote driver at the same time. Common working conditions of the excavator are summarized, and two tracking modes including a driving mode and an operation mode are set for the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the common working conditions of the excavator. And the moving parameters of the excavator can be obtained by adopting different modes in a targeted manner according to different tracking modes. In different tracking modes, the information obtained in the process of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator is beneficial for the unmanned aerial vehicle to reliably and automatically track the excavator under the corresponding working condition and provide detailed excavator information for a remote driver.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of drone technology, and in particular to a method, system and electronic device for automatic tracking of drones. Background Art

[0002] Remote-controlled excavators are widely used in engineering construction due to their advantages such as ensuring the safety of the driver. In order to provide sufficient information to the remote-operated driver to assist the driver in judging the situation of the remote-controlled excavator, drones are often used to collect information about the excavator.

[0003] At present, there are cases in other technical fields where drones are used to track moving target objects. However, these existing technologies can only be applied to relatively single application scenarios and have great limitations. The construction conditions of excavators are relatively complex during construction operations. Under different construction conditions, the driver's information requirements for remote control of excavators are different, and existing technologies are difficult to meet the above requirements.

[0004] Therefore, how to enable the drone to reliably and automatically track the excavator and at the same time provide the remote driver with the excavator information that meets the requirements is a problem that needs to be solved at present. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the present application is dedicated to providing a drone automatic tracking method, system and electronic device, so as to provide a drone tracking method that can reliably and automatically track an excavator and at the same time provide the remote driver with the excavator information that meets the requirements.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for automatically tracking a drone, comprising:

[0007] Acquiring movement parameters of the excavator according to a tracking mode used by the drone, wherein the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operation mode, wherein the driving mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is driving, and the operation mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is performing an excavation operation;

[0008] A flight control instruction is determined according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and the movement of the UAV is controlled according to the flight control instruction.

[0009] Optionally, obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the drone includes:

[0010] When the tracking mode of the UAV is the driving mode, the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system of the excavator are obtained, and the movement parameter includes the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system;

[0011] or,

[0012] When the tracking mode of the UAV is the operation mode, a UAV image set is obtained, where the UAV image set is at least two images including the excavator acquired by the image acquisition device of the UAV; and a movement vector of the excavator is acquired as the movement parameter based on the UAV image set.

[0013] Optionally, the acquiring the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the traveling system of the excavator includes:

[0014] Acquire the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z axes as the acceleration of the excavator, wherein the inertial acceleration is obtained by collecting data using an inertial measurement unit installed on the excavator;

[0015] A hydraulic value set obtained by collecting data of the traveling system of the excavator at least twice within a preset time period is obtained, and the hydraulic values ​​in the hydraulic value set are obtained by collecting data through a liquid pressure sensor installed on the excavator.

[0016] Optionally, acquiring the movement vector of the excavator as the movement parameter according to the drone image set includes:

[0017] Performing image recognition on the images in the drone image set, and marking the positions of the characteristic structures of the excavator in the images in the drone image set as reference points according to the image recognition results;

[0018] According to the reference points in at least two images in the drone image set, a movement vector of the excavator is obtained as the movement parameter.

[0019] Optionally, determining the flight control instruction according to the movement parameters of the excavator includes:

[0020] When the tracking mode of the UAV is the driving mode, determining the hydraulic acceleration according to the hydraulic value set and the correction constant obtained by calibrating the excavator;

[0021] determining a required acceleration according to the inertial acceleration and the hydraulic acceleration, wherein the required acceleration is the acceleration that the UAV needs to have in order to track the excavator;

[0022] The flight control instruction is determined according to the required acceleration.

[0023] Optionally, determining the flight control instruction according to the movement parameters of the excavator includes:

[0024] When the tracking mode of the UAV is the operation mode, a threshold area is obtained, where the threshold area is a rectangular area in the image recognition result that includes the image of the excavator;

[0025] When the reference point is not located in the threshold area, obtaining the flight altitude of the UAV and the resolution of the UAV image;

[0026] Determine a required movement vector of the drone according to the flight altitude of the drone, the resolution of the drone image, the threshold area, the movement vector of the excavator and the reference point, wherein the required movement vector is the actual distance and direction that the drone needs to move in order to make the reference point located at the center of gravity of the drone image;

[0027] The flight control instruction is determined according to the required movement vector.

[0028] Optionally, controlling the movement of the drone according to the flight control instruction includes:

[0029] Encapsulating the flight control instructions into analog quantities and inputting them into the joystick circuit of the drone to control the movement of the drone;

[0030] or,

[0031] The flight control instructions are packaged as digital quantities and input into the bus of the drone to control the movement of the drone.

[0032] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a drone automatic tracking system, comprising:

[0033] drones and excavators;

[0034] The drone is used to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the drone, the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operating mode, the driving mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is driving, and the operating mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is performing excavation operations; determine the flight control instructions according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and control the movement of the drone according to the flight control instructions.

[0035] Optionally, the excavator is equipped with an inertial measurement unit and a liquid pressure sensor for obtaining movement parameters of the excavator, wherein the movement parameters include the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system of the excavator;

[0036] The inertial measurement unit is used to collect the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z axes;

[0037] The liquid pressure sensor is used to collect a set of hydraulic pressure values ​​of the traveling system of the excavator.

[0038] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor;

[0039] The memory is connected to the processor and is used to store programs;

[0040] The processor is used to implement the automatic tracking method of the drone as described in the first aspect by running the program in the memory.

[0041] This application provides a method for automatic tracking of drones, summarizes the common working conditions of excavators, and sets two tracking modes for drones: driving mode and operation mode, according to the common working conditions of excavators. Different methods are used to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator in a targeted manner according to different tracking modes. Under different tracking modes, the information obtained in the process of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator is conducive to the drone being able to reliably and automatically track the excavator under the corresponding working conditions and provide detailed excavator information to the remote driver. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without paying any creative work.

[0043] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for automatically tracking a drone provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 2 An example image of a portion of a drone image including a threshold area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the logical structure of a drone automatic tracking system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0048] The first embodiment of the present application provides a method for automatically tracking a drone, such as Figure 1 As shown, the method may specifically include the following steps:

[0049] Step 101, obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the UAV, the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operating mode, the driving mode is used to control the UAV to automatically track the excavator while it is driving, and the operating mode is used to control the UAV to automatically track the excavator while it is performing excavation operations.

[0050] This embodiment proposes that various working conditions that occur during excavator operations can be summarized into two categories based on the information needs of remote drivers under these working conditions. A typical situation of the first type of working condition is that the excavator is moving between various construction sites or between various construction locations within a construction site. At this time, the excavator has a relatively high moving speed, and the driver mainly needs to clarify the location information of the excavator and the overall environmental information around the excavator; a typical situation of the second type of working condition is that the excavator is performing excavation operations at the construction location. At this time, the excavator hardly moves or only moves at a low speed within a small range. The driver needs to clarify the various working structures of the excavator, such as the working conditions of the boom and the detailed details of the surrounding environment of these working structures, so as to avoid problems such as the boom colliding with obstacles.

[0051] This embodiment proposes that the drone should have different tracking logics under the above two working conditions. For example, when the excavator is transferring between construction sites, the excavator's slewing base and working device (including boom, dipper arm and bucket) are fixed, and the excavator can be roughly regarded as an ordinary vehicle with a special-shaped structure and a large volume. Its tracking logic can be that whenever the excavator is detected to move, the drone will move accordingly. However, when the excavator is performing excavation operations, the remote driver needs to focus on the excavator's slewing base and working device, and control the movement of these mechanisms to perform excavation operations. Under this working condition, the drone should reduce the movement frequency as much as possible to keep the image transmitted by the drone as stable as possible, avoid frequent and small movements of the image, and avoid image shaking when the drone starts and stops, which affects the remote driver's judgment or causes 3D dizziness.

[0052] In summary, in this embodiment, the tracking mode of the drone is set to driving mode and working mode. The driving mode corresponds to the first type of working condition mentioned above, and the working mode corresponds to the second type of working condition mentioned above. Furthermore, compared with the technical solution of using a fixed method to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator, and then using a complex software algorithm to determine whether the drone needs to move, this embodiment proposes a more logically simple implementation method. The drone selects a suitable method to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode currently being used, and distinguishes them in the stage of obtaining the movement parameters. Therefore, in different tracking modes, the parameters that best reflect the movement of the excavator in the current working content of the excavator can be selected as the movement parameters. For example, for an excavator in a driving state, parameters such as the wind speed relative to the excavator and the walking speed of the excavator can be collected as the movement parameters of the excavator; and for an excavator in an excavation operation state, the movement of the excavator boom and the slewing structure can be collected as the movement parameters of the excavator, and specifically, the movement of the excavator boom and the slewing structure can be read through a communication connection with the excavator.

[0053] The switching method between the tracking modes provided in this embodiment can be set according to actual needs, such as manual switching by the remote driver, automatic switching by analyzing the operating instructions of the excavator, or automatic switching of the tracking mode by analyzing the moving speed of the excavator, the movement of the slewing base and the movement of the working device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

[0054] Step 102: Determine a flight control instruction according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and control the movement of the UAV according to the flight control instruction.

[0055] After obtaining the movement parameters that can reflect the movement of the excavator in the current tracking mode of the UAV, the movement parameters are further processed and converted into flight control instructions of the UAV through calculation and other methods. The movement of the UAV can be controlled according to the obtained flight control instructions, so that the UAV can automatically track the excavator.

[0056] For example, when the wind speed relative to the excavator is obtained as a movement parameter in the driving mode, the movement speed of the excavator is determined according to the wind speed relative to the excavator, and then converted into a flight control command to control the drone to move synchronously with the excavator at the same speed. Or, when the excavator's rotating structure is found to rotate 180° in the working mode, the drone is controlled to move in a circle with the excavator being tracked as the center, rotating at least 90°, which can avoid the problem of the excavator boom being blocked.

[0057] The second embodiment of the present application further defines the automatic drone tracking method in the first embodiment in more detail and specificity. Some or all of the technical features in the second embodiment can be combined with or replaced with the first embodiment alone or in combination, so as to obtain more feasible automatic drone tracking methods.

[0058] The following is a detailed description of the automatic tracking method of the drone in the second embodiment of the present application:

[0059] Optionally, the movement parameters of the excavator are obtained according to the tracking mode used by the drone, including: when the tracking mode of the drone is a driving mode, the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the excavator's walking system are obtained, and the movement parameters include the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system; or, when the tracking mode of the drone is an operating mode, a drone image set is obtained, and the drone image set is at least two images including the excavator acquired by the drone's image acquisition device; the movement vector of the excavator is obtained as the movement parameter according to the drone image set.

[0060] This embodiment further limits the method of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator in the driving mode and the working mode.

[0061] In driving mode, the excavator is roughly regarded as an ordinary vehicle with a special structure and a large volume. The drone only needs to move synchronously according to the movement of the vehicle. In layman's terms, "I fly forward when the car moves forward, and I fly backward when the car moves backward." Under the premise of balancing the air resistance by using the default technical solution to compensate for air resistance, according to Newton's first law, when the excavator is driving smoothly, the drone can keep in sync with the excavator without additional operations. When the driving state of the excavator changes, such as turning / accelerating / decelerating, the internal combustion engine or motor needs to do work, and the excavator will generate acceleration in the corresponding direction. Therefore, by obtaining the acceleration of the excavator, the current motion state of the excavator can be determined. When the acceleration of the excavator is 0, the excavator is in a uniform motion or stationary state, and the drone can continue to maintain the current flight state; when the acceleration of the excavator is not 0, the excavator will perform operations such as turning / accelerating / decelerating, and the flight state of the drone needs to be adjusted accordingly. In addition, the hydraulic value of the excavator's walking system will also be obtained in the driving mode to assist in analyzing whether the actual motion state of the excavator has indeed changed.

[0062] In the operation mode, based on the requirement of "reducing the frequency of image movement and jitter", this embodiment directly starts from the image itself and obtains a drone image set. The images in the drone image set can be captured from the video shot by the drone's image acquisition device, or the drone's image acquisition device is set to periodically acquire images as drone images. After obtaining the drone image, the movement of the excavator in the image is analyzed, for example, the number of pixels moved by the excavator is analyzed to obtain the movement vector of the excavator as the movement parameter.

[0063] Optionally, the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the excavator's walking system are obtained, including: obtaining the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z axes as the acceleration of the excavator, the inertial acceleration is obtained by collecting data through an inertial measurement unit installed on the excavator; obtaining a set of hydraulic values ​​obtained by collecting data at least twice within a preset time period for the excavator's walking system, the hydraulic values ​​in the hydraulic value set are obtained by collecting data through a liquid pressure sensor installed on the excavator.

[0064] This embodiment further limits the method of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator in the driving mode. Specifically, for acceleration, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) is installed on the excavator to directly read the acceleration CAN values ​​of the X / Y / Z axes as the acceleration of the excavator. The directions of the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis can be set with reference to the spatial coordinate system, for example, the X-axis and Y-axis are parallel to the horizontal plane and perpendicular to each other, the Z-axis is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis are perpendicular to each other.

[0065] For the hydraulic value set, a liquid pressure sensor is installed on the excavator, such as a hydraulic motor oil inlet high pressure sensor, and the sensor data is directly read as the hydraulic value. In order to analyze the change of the excavator's driving state, it is necessary to obtain at least two hydraulic values ​​within a period of time, and analyze the change of the excavator's driving state according to the change of the hydraulic value.

[0066] Optionally, the movement vector of the excavator is obtained as a movement parameter based on the drone image set, including: performing image recognition on the images in the drone image set, and marking the positions of the characteristic structures of the excavator in the images in the drone image set as reference points based on the image recognition results; and obtaining the movement vector of the excavator as a movement parameter based on the reference points in at least two images in the drone image set.

[0067] This embodiment further limits the method of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator in the working mode.

[0068] By performing image recognition on the images in the drone image collection, the position of the excavator in the image can be determined. In order to more accurately analyze the movement of the excavator in the image, this embodiment proposes marking a certain characteristic structure of the excavator as a reference point, and obtaining the movement vector of the excavator by analyzing the changes of the reference point in multiple images.

[0069] The reference point can be set according to actual needs and should meet the requirement of easy identification, such as the boom of an excavator, or a striking mark can be drawn on the excavator and used as a reference point in the image.

[0070] Optionally, flight control instructions are determined based on the movement parameters of the excavator, including: when the tracking mode of the UAV is the driving mode, the hydraulic acceleration is determined based on the hydraulic value set and the correction constant obtained by calibrating the excavator; the required acceleration is determined based on the inertial acceleration and the hydraulic acceleration, and the required acceleration is the acceleration that the UAV needs to have in order to track the excavator; and the flight control instructions are determined based on the required acceleration.

[0071] Obtaining the inertial acceleration and hydraulic value set of the excavator in driving mode can describe the current motion state of the excavator, and then determine how the drone should move to track the excavator. Specifically, it is necessary to first integrate the two different types of data, hydraulic value and inertial acceleration, into the same type of data for subsequent analysis. This embodiment proposes to determine the acceleration provided by the excavator as the hydraulic acceleration based on the change of hydraulic value over a period of time. Let the hydraulic acceleration be a s , the calculation function is as follows:

[0072] a s =f s (p 1 ,p 2, c)

[0073] p 1 ,p 2, are two hydraulic values ​​collected within a period of time, and c is a constant obtained by calibrating the excavator, which is used to correct the calculation of the hydraulic acceleration of the excavator.

[0074] Then, according to the inertial acceleration obtained from IMC, that is, a x 、a y and a z And hydraulic acceleration are fused and calculated. Let the acceleration that the UAV needs to have in order to track the excavator be the required acceleration a 无人机 , the calculation function is as follows:

[0075] a 无人机 =f fa (a x , ay , a z , a s )

[0076] Finally, the required acceleration is converted into flight control instructions for the UAV's up, down, left, right, forward, backward, acceleration and deceleration.

[0077] In this embodiment, the purpose of fusing hydraulic acceleration and inertial acceleration is to eliminate the errors accumulated by the IMU during the data acquisition process and the abnormal values ​​generated in calculating the hydraulic acceleration based on the hydraulic value, thereby improving the accuracy, reliability and robustness of the required acceleration.

[0078] Optionally, flight control instructions are determined based on the movement parameters of the excavator, including: when the tracking mode of the UAV is the operation mode, obtaining a threshold area, the threshold area being a rectangular area in the image recognition result that includes the image of the excavator; when the reference point is not located in the threshold area, obtaining the flight altitude of the UAV and the resolution of the UAV image; determining the required movement vector of the UAV based on the flight altitude of the UAV, the resolution of the UAV image, the threshold area, the movement vector of the excavator and the reference point, the required movement vector being the actual distance and direction that the UAV needs to move in order to make the reference point located at the center of gravity of the UAV image; and determining the flight control instructions based on the required movement vector.

[0079] In the operation mode, in order to reduce the frequent movement and jitter of the picture, this embodiment proposes a technical idea of ​​first placing the excavator in the central focus area of ​​the picture. When the excavator moves slightly during operation, the drone does not move first. Until the accumulated displacement is large and the excavator leaves the center of the picture, the drone only moves once, so that the excavator returns to the focus of the picture.

[0080] Based on the above technical ideas, a threshold area needs to be set, such as Figure 2 The black solid line box in the picture is the threshold area, and the excavator moves within the threshold area. Specifically, when the reference point on the excavator moves within the threshold area, the drone remains stationary.

[0081] When the reference point leaves the threshold area, it means that the drone needs to move, and the excavator needs to be relocated to the center of the drone image by moving. Based on the rectangular display form of the drone image, it is necessary to make the excavator be located at the center of gravity of the rectangular drone image after the drone moves.

[0082] Set the flight altitude to H and the drone image resolution to M*N. Set a reference point of the excavator to A(x,y), A is initially located at the geometric center of the M*N rectangle, and the threshold area is M'*N'. According to the above parameters, the required movement vector of the drone is determined. The calculation function is as follows:

[0083] L 无人机 =f fl (H,M,N,M',N',A)

[0084] After obtaining the required movement vector of the UAV, the required movement vector is converted into flight control instructions for the UAV's up, down, left, right, front, back, acceleration and deceleration.

[0085] In this embodiment, the method of calculating the displacement vector based on the pixels of the drone image and then obtaining the flight control instructions can achieve millimeter-level accuracy and second-level directional accuracy.

[0086] Optionally, controlling the movement of the drone according to the flight control instructions includes: encapsulating the flight control instructions as analog quantities and inputting them into the joystick circuit of the drone to control the movement of the drone; or encapsulating the flight control instructions as digital quantities and inputting them into the bus of the drone to control the movement of the drone.

[0087] This embodiment proposes a method for controlling a drone according to a flight control command, which can be packaged as an analog quantity and directly input into a joystick circuit; or it can be packaged as a digital quantity and sent to a drone bus. The method provided in this embodiment can be used to guide the modification of drones of various structural types in the prior art, so that these drones can execute the drone automatic tracking method of this embodiment.

[0088] The third embodiment of the present application also proposes an automatic tracking system for a drone, comprising: a drone and an excavator; the drone is used to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the drone, the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operating mode, the driving mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is driving, and the operating mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is performing excavation operations; determine the flight control instructions according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and control the movement of the drone according to the flight control instructions.

[0089] Optionally, an inertial measurement unit and a liquid pressure sensor are installed on the excavator to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator, which include the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the excavator's walking system; the inertial measurement unit is used to collect the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z three axes; the liquid pressure sensor is used to collect the hydraulic value set of the excavator's walking system.

[0090] The drone automatic tracking system provided in this embodiment belongs to the same application concept as the drone automatic tracking method provided in the above embodiments of this application, and can execute the drone automatic tracking method provided in any of the above embodiments of this application, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method. For technical details not fully described in this embodiment, please refer to the specific processing content of the drone automatic tracking method provided in the above embodiments of this application, and will not be repeated here.

[0091] For example, Figure 3 As shown, a specific implementation logic of the automatic tracking system of the unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this embodiment. The IMU sensor and walking pressure sensor (hydraulic sensor) on the excavator side collect input and send it to the unmanned aerial vehicle through the remote control data transmission system, where CAN-H is a high-level data line and CAN-L is a low-level data line. The CAN module on the unmanned aerial vehicle side transmits data with the excavation end through the CAN-H and CAN-L data lines, and transmits the acquired data to the flight instruction calculation unit. The unmanned aerial vehicle side allows manual control of the unmanned aerial vehicle through the unmanned aerial vehicle remote control. The unmanned aerial vehicle remote control includes a remote control rod circuit module, which is connected to the unmanned aerial vehicle remote control rod, and is used to generate analog control instructions according to the operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle remote control rod, and transmit it to the flight instruction calculation unit. The unmanned aerial vehicle remote control also remotely controls the MCU (microcontroller unit) to generate digital control instructions and transmit them to the flight instruction calculation unit. The remote control host computer can be located inside or outside the unmanned aerial vehicle for performing more complex operations, such as obtaining the excavator image through the HDMI interface, analyzing the excavator image to obtain the excavator's movement parameters, and converting the excavator's movement parameters into flight control instructions. The flight command calculation unit comprehensively processes analog control commands, digital control commands, flight control commands from the remote control host computer, and data obtained by the CAN module, and converts them into actual movements of the UAV.

[0092] The third embodiment of the present application also provides an electronic device, see Figure 4 As shown, the device includes:

[0093] Memory 400 and processor 410;

[0094] The memory 400 is connected to the processor 410 and is used to store programs;

[0095] The processor 410 is used to implement the drone automatic tracking method disclosed in any of the above embodiments by running the program stored in the memory 400.

[0096] Specifically, the electronic device may further include: a bus, a communication interface 420 , an input device 430 and an output device 440 .

[0097] The processor 410, the memory 400, the communication interface 420, the input device 430 and the output device 440 are connected to each other via a bus.

[0098] A bus may include a pathway that transfers information between components of a computer system.

[0099] Processor 410 may be a general purpose processor, such as a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, etc., or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the scheme of the present invention. It may also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components.

[0100] The processor 410 may include a main processor, and may also include a baseband chip, a modem, and the like.

[0101] The memory 400 stores a program for executing the technical solution of the present invention, and may also store an operating system and other key services. Specifically, the program may include a program code, and the program code includes a computer operation instruction. More specifically, the memory 400 may include a read-only memory (ROM), other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, a disk storage, a flash, and the like.

[0102] The input device 430 may include a device for receiving data and information input by a user, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a camera, a scanner, a light pen, a voice input device, a touch screen, a pedometer, or a gravity sensor.

[0103] Output device 440 may include a device that allows information to be output to a user, such as a display screen, a printer, a speaker, etc.

[0104] The communication interface 420 may include any transceiver or the like to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

[0105] The processor 410 executes the program stored in the memory 400 and calls other devices, which can be used to implement each step of any drone automatic tracking method provided in the above embodiments of the present application.

[0106] For the aforementioned method embodiments, for the sake of simplicity, they are all described as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should be aware that the present application is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to the present application, some steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by the present application.

[0107] It should be noted that each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. For the device embodiment, since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiment.

[0108] The steps in the methods of each embodiment of the present application can be adjusted in order, combined and deleted according to actual needs, and the technical features recorded in each embodiment can be replaced or combined.

[0109] The modules and sub-modules in the devices and terminals of the various embodiments of the present application can be combined, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

[0110] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed terminals, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the terminal embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of modules or submodules is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, for example, multiple submodules or modules can be combined or integrated into another module, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0111] The modules or submodules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components of the modules or submodules may or may not be physical modules or submodules, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network modules or submodules. Some or all of the modules or submodules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0112] In addition, each functional module or submodule in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing module, or each module or submodule may exist physically separately, or two or more modules or submodules may be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules or submodules may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules or submodules.

[0113] Professionals may further appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the composition and steps of each example have been generally described in the above description according to function. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0114] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly by hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software units may be placed in a random access memory (RAM), a memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically programmable ROM, an electrically erasable programmable ROM, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art.

[0115] Finally, it should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0116] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for automatically tracking a drone, characterized in that: include: Acquiring movement parameters of the excavator according to a tracking mode used by the drone, wherein the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operation mode, wherein the driving mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is driving, and the operation mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is performing an excavation operation; A flight control instruction is determined according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and the movement of the UAV is controlled according to the flight control instruction.

2. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of obtaining the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the drone includes: When the tracking mode of the UAV is the driving mode, the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system of the excavator are obtained, and the movement parameter includes the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system; or, When the tracking mode of the UAV is the operation mode, a UAV image set is obtained, where the UAV image set is at least two images including the excavator acquired by the image acquisition device of the UAV; and a movement vector of the excavator is acquired as the movement parameter based on the UAV image set.

3. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 2, characterized in that: The obtaining of the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic pressure value of the traveling system of the excavator includes: Acquire the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z axes as the acceleration of the excavator, wherein the inertial acceleration is obtained by collecting data using an inertial measurement unit installed on the excavator; A hydraulic value set obtained by collecting data of the traveling system of the excavator at least twice within a preset time period is obtained, and the hydraulic values ​​in the hydraulic value set are obtained by collecting data through a hydraulic pressure sensor installed on the excavator.

4. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 2, characterized in that: The acquiring the movement vector of the excavator as the movement parameter according to the drone image set includes: Performing image recognition on the images in the drone image set, and marking the positions of the characteristic structures of the excavator in the images in the drone image set as reference points according to the image recognition results; According to the reference points in at least two images in the drone image set, a movement vector of the excavator is obtained as the movement parameter.

5. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 3, characterized in that: The step of determining the flight control instruction according to the movement parameters of the excavator comprises: When the tracking mode of the UAV is the driving mode, determining the hydraulic acceleration according to the hydraulic value set and the correction constant obtained by calibrating the excavator; determining a required acceleration according to the inertial acceleration and the hydraulic acceleration, wherein the required acceleration is the acceleration that the UAV needs to have in order to track the excavator; The flight control instruction is determined according to the required acceleration.

6. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step of determining the flight control instruction according to the movement parameters of the excavator comprises: When the tracking mode of the UAV is the operation mode, a threshold area is obtained, where the threshold area is a rectangular area in the image recognition result that includes the image of the excavator; When the reference point is not located in the threshold area, obtaining the flight altitude of the UAV and the resolution of the UAV image; Determine a required movement vector of the drone according to the flight altitude of the drone, the resolution of the drone image, the threshold area, the movement vector of the excavator and the reference point, wherein the required movement vector is the actual distance and direction that the drone needs to move in order to make the reference point located at the center of gravity of the drone image; The flight control instruction is determined according to the required movement vector.

7. The automatic tracking method of a drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of controlling the movement of the drone according to the flight control instruction comprises: Encapsulating the flight control instructions into analog quantities and inputting them into the joystick circuit of the drone to control the movement of the drone; or, The flight control instructions are packaged as digital quantities and input into the bus of the drone to control the movement of the drone.

8. An automatic tracking system for unmanned aerial vehicles, characterized in that: include: drones and excavators; The drone is used to obtain the movement parameters of the excavator according to the tracking mode used by the drone, the tracking mode includes a driving mode and an operating mode, the driving mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is driving, and the operating mode is used to control the drone to automatically track the excavator that is performing excavation operations; determine the flight control instructions according to the movement parameters of the excavator, and control the movement of the drone according to the flight control instructions.

9. The automatic tracking system for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 8, characterized in that: The excavator is equipped with an inertial measurement unit and a hydraulic pressure sensor for obtaining movement parameters of the excavator, wherein the movement parameters include the acceleration of the excavator and the hydraulic value of the walking system of the excavator; The inertial measurement unit is used to collect the inertial acceleration of the excavator on the X / Y / Z axes; The liquid pressure sensor is used to collect a set of hydraulic pressure values ​​of the traveling system of the excavator.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: including memory and processor; The memory is connected to the processor and is used to store programs; The processor is used to implement the drone automatic tracking method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 by running the program in the memory.

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