Unmanned aerial vehicle homing method, unmanned aerial vehicle and computer readable storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of unmanned planes, and discloses a homeward flight method of an unmanned plane, the unmanned plane and a computer readable storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: obtaining homeward flight triggering information generated when the unmanned plane inspects a target power line; in response to the homeward flight triggering information, determining a tower that meets preset turning-back conditions as a target tower in multiple towers, the target power line comprising multiple towers arranged along a route; determining, according to the target tower, a tower that the unmanned plane passes in an inspection process as an intermediate tower; generating a homeward flight path according to position information of the target tower and position information of at least one intermediate tower; and controlling the unmanned plane to perform a homeward flight operation according to the homeward flight path. The homeward flight path provided by the embodiment of the application is associated with the tower, and the tower is usually a relatively safe position point. Therefore, the homeward flight path provided by the embodiment of the application is relatively safe, can reduce the probability of collision between the unmanned plane and an obstacle when the unmanned plane returns, and is beneficial to improving the safety of homeward flight of the unmanned plane.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, and more particularly to a method for returning a UAV to its home port, the UAV itself, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Drones are frequently used to inspect power lines for any abnormalities. During inspections, when a drone's battery is low, it needs to return to its home base to recharge. One common technique is to use the straight line between the drone's starting point and its takeoff point as the return path, then control the drone to follow it. However, this type of return path has lower safety; drones are prone to encountering obstacles and colliding with them, leading to return failure. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One objective of this application is to provide a method for returning a drone to its home port, the drone itself, and a computer-readable storage medium, in order to solve the technical problem of low return-to-home security in related technologies.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a method for returning a drone to its home port, comprising:

[0005] The return-to-home trigger information generated by the UAV during its inspection of the target power line is obtained, wherein the target power line includes multiple poles and towers deployed along the route;

[0006] In response to the return-to-base trigger information, the target tower is determined from among the multiple towers that meets the preset turnaround conditions;

[0007] Based on the target tower, the tower that the UAV passed during the inspection process was determined to be an intermediate tower;

[0008] A return path is generated based on the location information of the target tower and the location information of at least one intermediate tower.

[0009] The drone is controlled to perform a return-to-home operation according to the return-to-home path.

[0010] Optionally, the step of responding to the return-to-base trigger information and determining the target tower among the plurality of towers that meets the preset turnaround conditions includes:

[0011] In response to the return-to-home trigger information, obtain the initial battery level of the drone before the inspection;

[0012] The flight range is determined based on the initial battery level.

[0013] The farthest point of the UAV on the target power line is determined based on the flyable mileage.

[0014] The pole closest to the farthest location and close to the takeoff point of the UAV is identified as a candidate pole, and the preset turnaround condition is constrained by the candidate pole.

[0015] Based on the candidate towers, the towers that meet the preset turnaround conditions are determined as the target towers.

[0016] Optionally, determining the target tower based on the candidate towers that meets the preset turnaround conditions includes:

[0017] Determine the current pole, which is the pole that the UAV is currently passing through;

[0018] Determine whether the current tower location information matches the candidate tower location information;

[0019] If a match is found, the current tower is determined to be a candidate tower, the candidate tower meets the preset turnaround conditions, and the candidate tower is the target tower.

[0020] If there is no match, the real-time power change curve when the drone arrives at the current pole is obtained, and the pole that meets the preset turnaround conditions is determined as the target pole based on the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve.

[0021] Optionally, determining the target tower that meets the preset turnaround conditions based on the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve includes:

[0022] Determine the degree of deviation between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve;

[0023] If the deviation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold, then the candidate tower is determined to be a tower that meets the preset turnaround condition, and the candidate tower is the target tower.

[0024] If the deviation value is greater than the preset threshold, then the tower that meets the preset turnaround condition is determined as the target tower according to the preset screening conditions.

[0025] Optionally, determining the target towers that meet the preset turnaround conditions based on preset screening criteria includes:

[0026] Determine whether the i-th tower and the (i+1)-th tower satisfy the following formula:

[0027] Q-2(Qq i )>0

[0028] Q-2(Qk i+1 )<0

[0029] k i+1 =q i +Δk

[0030] If the conditions are met, then the i-th tower is determined to be the target tower;

[0031] The i-th tower is the current tower, and the (i+1)-th tower is the tower arranged after the current tower according to the inspection direction of the drone. Q is the initial power level, q i Let k be the remaining battery power of the drone when it reaches the i-th tower. i+1 Let Δk be the remaining battery power of the drone when it flies to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions, and let Δk be the battery power required for the drone to fly from the ith pole to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions.

[0032] Optionally, generating the return path based on the location information of the target tower and the location information of at least one intermediate tower includes:

[0033] Among all the passing towers, those in normal conditions and meeting the preset density conditions are selected as reference towers, and both the target tower and the intermediate tower are passing towers.

[0034] A target straight path is generated based on the location information of each of the reference towers. The target straight path is the shortest local straight path under the preset safety conditions. The target straight path is constrained by at least one first tower. The first tower is the tower among the reference towers. The tower obtained after removing all the first towers from all the path towers is the second tower.

[0035] A return path is generated based on the location information of the second tower and the target straight path.

[0036] Optionally, generating the target straight path based on the position information of each of the reference towers includes:

[0037] Candidate straight paths are generated by fitting the position information of each of the reference towers, and the candidate straight paths can be divided into multiple path segments by each of the reference towers.

[0038] According to the return direction, the target path segment is checked in sequence to see if it meets the preset safety conditions. The target path segment is one of the multiple path segments.

[0039] If the conditions are met, then the path segment following the target path segment is selected as the new target path segment according to the return direction.

[0040] If the conditions are not met, then the path segments arranged before the target path segment will be combined to form the target straight path in the opposite direction to the return direction.

[0041] Optionally, the target path segment is constrained by the first reference tower and the second reference tower, and the step of sequentially verifying whether the target path segment meets the preset safety conditions according to the return direction includes:

[0042] Determine the first vertical distance from the first reference tower to the candidate straight path and the second vertical distance from the second reference tower to the candidate straight path;

[0043] Determine whether the first vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold and whether the second vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold;

[0044] If all are less than, then the target path segment is determined to meet the preset security conditions;

[0045] If all values ​​are less than the specified value, then the target path segment is determined not to meet the preset security conditions.

[0046] Optionally, each of the aforementioned path towers is equipped with an environmental status indicator, and the step of searching among all path towers for path towers that are in normal conditions and meet preset density conditions as reference towers includes:

[0047] Among all the aforementioned path towers, those with an environmental status of "normal" are identified as undetermined towers.

[0048] Place at least two undetermined towers with consecutive tower numbers into the corresponding preset queue;

[0049] Determine the number of undetermined towers contained in each of the preset queues;

[0050] Preset queues with a number below a preset threshold are deleted, and preset queues with a number exceeding the preset threshold are retained as target queues. The undetermined towers of the target queues meet a preset density condition, and the undetermined towers of the target queues are reference towers.

[0051] In a second aspect, embodiments of this application provide a drone, comprising:

[0052] body;

[0053] The arm is connected to the machine body;

[0054] The wings, located on the arms, are used to provide the drone with the power to fly;

[0055] A sensor module, mounted on the body, is used to collect sensor data;

[0056] The aircraft communication module is located on the fuselage, and

[0057] The flight control module includes a memory and a processor. The processor is communicatively connected to the sensor module, the aircraft communication module, and the memory. The processor is used to execute one or more computer programs stored in the memory. When the processor executes the one or more computer programs, it enables the UAV to implement the aforementioned UAV return-to-home method.

[0058] In a third aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program including program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the aforementioned method for returning a drone to its home location.

[0059] This application embodiment achieves the following technical effects: It acquires return-to-home trigger information generated when a UAV inspects a target power line, the target power line including multiple towers deployed along the route. Responding to the return-to-home trigger information, it identifies the tower that meets preset turnaround conditions as the target tower. Next, based on the target tower, this application embodiment determines the towers passed by the UAV during the inspection process as intermediate towers, i.e., intermediate towers are the intermediate path points of the return-to-home path. Then, based on the location information of the target tower and at least one intermediate tower, this application embodiment generates a return-to-home path and controls the UAV to perform the return-to-home operation according to the return-to-home path. The return-to-home path provided by this application embodiment is associated with towers, which are typically relatively safe locations. Therefore, the return-to-home path provided by this application embodiment is relatively safe, reducing the probability of the UAV colliding with obstacles during return-to-home and improving the safety of the UAV's return flight. Attached Figure Description

[0060] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0061] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the system architecture of a drone return-to-home system provided in this application embodiment;

[0062] Figure 2a This is a schematic diagram of a first state of a task creation page provided in an embodiment of this application, wherein a user is creating a flight task on the task creation page;

[0063] Figure 2b This application provides a schematic diagram of a second state of a task creation page.

[0064] Figure 3A schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a drone provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating a method for returning a drone to its home position, provided as an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspecting a target power line, as provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0067] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the planned return route provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0068] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a return-to-home device for a drone provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a drone provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0070] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of this application. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments in this application without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0071] It should be noted that, unless there is a conflict, the various features in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other, all of which are within the protection scope of this application. Furthermore, although functional modules are divided in the device schematic diagram and a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in a different order than the module division in the device or the order in the flowchart. Moreover, the terms "first," "second," and "third" used in this application do not limit the data or execution order, but only distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and effect.

[0072] This application provides a drone return-to-home system. Please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 1 The UAV return-to-home system 100 includes a command center device 11, a nest 12, and a UAV 13.

[0073] The command center equipment 11 is communicatively connected to the nest 12 and is used to control the nest 12 and the drone 13. The communication connection includes wireless connection and wired connection. The wireless connection can be 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, WIFI, Bluetooth, etc., and the wired connection includes Ethernet connection, fiber optic connection, etc.

[0074] The command center device 11 can plan the route information of the target power line for the drone 13, and send the route information of the target power line to the drone 13 through the drone nest 12. The drone 13 saves the route information of the target power line. It can be understood that the command center device 11 can be an electronic device such as a tablet computer, desktop computer, server, or mobile phone.

[0075] Command center equipment 11 is equipped with a display screen used to display various pages related to drones. Please refer to it as well. Figure 2a and Figure 2b The display screen presents a task creation page 200, which includes a task creation bar 21 and a map display area 22. The task creation bar 21 is used to interact with the user to construct a flight task, and the map display area 22 is used to display a flight map and show the inspection path corresponding to the flight task on the flight map. Different inspection paths correspond to different power lines.

[0076] Please continue reading. Figure 2a Users can select the inspection route for a flight mission in the new mission creation section 21, where the inspection route corresponds to the power lines. After the user completes the parameter settings for the flight mission in the new mission creation section 21, the command center equipment 11 displays the inspection route 23 of the flight mission in the map display area 22 and issues the flight mission to the nest 12. The nest 12 then sends the flight mission to the drone 13. After receiving the flight mission, the drone 13 begins to inspect the target power lines according to the inspection route 23 of the flight mission. Figure 3 As shown, users can view the flight status of the drone 13 in real time on the command center device 11.

[0077] The nest 12 is communicatively connected to the drone 13 and is used to house the drone 13, meeting the drone 13's needs for takeoff, landing, battery swapping, and charging. The nest 12 typically includes a cabinet and a cover, forming a closed space that protects the drone 13 from sun and rain. The nest 12 may also include a charging module for charging the drone 13 when it is placed inside.

[0078] The drone 13 is used to receive commands sent by the nest 12 and execute corresponding actions according to the commands. For example, the drone 13 receives a mission command from the nest 12 and performs a flight mission accordingly; or the drone 13 receives a landing command from the nest 12 and lands accordingly; or the drone 13 receives a return-to-home command from the nest 12 and returns accordingly. The drone 13 is also used to photograph and inspect power lines during inspections and transmit the acquired image or video information to the nest 12, which then sends it to the command center equipment 11.

[0079] Please combine Figure 1 and Figure 3 The drone 13 includes a fuselage 131, an arm 132, a wing 133, a sensor module 134, an aircraft communication module 135, and a flight control module 136.

[0080] The fuselage 131 serves as the body of the drone 13, carrying various components. The arm 132 is connected to the fuselage 131. The wing 133 is located on the arm 132, providing power for the drone's flight.

[0081] The sensor module 134 is mounted on the body 131 and is used to collect sensor data. The sensor module 134 includes radar, camera, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc.

[0082] The aircraft communication module 135 is used to communicate with the back-end system 11 and the nest 12 respectively. The aircraft communication module 135 includes an image transmission module, a Bluetooth module, a WIFI module, a 6G module, a 5G module, a 4G module, a 3G module, or a 2G module.

[0083] The flight control module 136 is electrically connected to the sensor module 134 and the aircraft communication module 135 respectively, and is used to control the flight status of the UAV 13.

[0084] It is understood that the drone 13 is an unmanned aerial vehicle powered by any type of propulsion, including but not limited to tiltrotor drones, fixed-wing drones, paraglider drones, flapping-wing drones, and helicopter models. The drone 13 can be configured with appropriate size or power according to actual needs, thereby providing the required payload capacity, flight speed, and flight range.

[0085] As another aspect of this application, this application provides a method for a drone to return to its home location. Please refer to... Figure 4 The drone's return-to-home method includes the following steps:

[0086] S41: Obtain the return-to-home trigger information generated when the drone inspects the target power line.

[0087] In this step, the target power line is the power line that the drone needs to inspect, which includes multiple poles deployed along the route. The drone receives the flight mission from the data center, parses the route information of the target inspection path from the mission, and inspects the target power line according to the route information. The route information of the target inspection path includes the location information of each pole, and the lines connecting the poles constitute the target power line.

[0088] The return-to-home trigger information is the information that triggers the drone to perform a return-to-home operation.

[0089] In some embodiments, when the UAV inspects the target power line, it obtains the UAV's battery level and determines whether the battery level is less than or equal to a preset battery threshold. If it is less than or equal to the threshold, a return-to-home trigger message is generated; if it is greater than the threshold, a continue-flight message is generated. The continue-flight message indicates that the UAV will continue to fly.

[0090] In some embodiments, when a UAV inspects a target power line, it checks whether it has received a return-to-home command from the drone's nest. If it has, it generates a return-to-home trigger message; if it has not, it generates a continue-flight message.

[0091] S42: In response to the return-to-home trigger information, identify the target tower among multiple towers that meets the preset turnaround conditions.

[0092] In this step, the preset turnaround condition is used to select the tower from multiple towers as the return start point. Specifically, if the drone can return to the takeoff point when it starts its return from the nearest tower that it has not passed according to its current battery level, then the tower meets the preset turnaround condition. If the drone cannot return to the takeoff point when it starts its return from the nearest tower that it has not passed according to its current battery level, then the tower does not meet the preset turnaround condition.

[0093] The process of responding to a return-to-home trigger message and identifying a target tower that meets preset turnaround conditions from among multiple towers includes the following steps: Responding to the return-to-home trigger message, obtaining the initial battery level of the UAV before the inspection; determining the flight range based on the initial battery level; determining the furthest point of the UAV on the target power line based on the flight range; identifying the tower closest to the furthest point and near the UAV's takeoff point as candidate towers; the preset turnaround conditions are constrained by the candidate towers; and finally, identifying the target tower that meets the preset turnaround conditions based on the candidate towers. The candidate towers are the furthest towers from which the UAV can return normally under normal environmental conditions. This embodiment uses candidate towers as critical towers for the return-to-home path, which helps the UAV reliably locate the target tower under various uncertain environmental conditions, thereby improving the safety and reliability of the return-to-home process.

[0094] The initial battery level is the battery level of the drone before flight. Obtaining the initial battery level of the drone before inspection includes the following steps: responding to the flight mission received by the drone, controlling the drone to access the drone's battery module, obtaining the current battery level of the battery module, and the current battery level of the battery module is the initial battery level.

[0095] Flyable range is the maximum flight distance of a drone when it is performing an inspection under the condition of returning to home. Determining the flyable range based on the initial battery level includes the following steps: obtaining the drone's preset inspection speed, determining the battery level change relationship corresponding to the preset inspection speed, wherein the battery level change relationship is the relationship of the drone's battery level changing with time under the premise that the preset inspection speed remains unchanged, determining the maximum flight time based on the battery level change relationship and the initial battery level, and multiplying the maximum flight time by the preset inspection speed to obtain the flyable range.

[0096] Determining the farthest point of a UAV on a target power line based on its flyable mileage includes the following steps: determining a target distance on the target power line that is consistent with the flyable mileage. The target distance is obtained by constraints between a first endpoint and a second endpoint, where the first endpoint is the first pole of the target power line and the second endpoint is the farthest point.

[0097] In some embodiments, determining a target tower that meets a preset turnaround condition based on candidate towers includes the following steps: determining a candidate tower that meets the preset turnaround condition, and the candidate tower being the target tower.

[0098] Please see Figure 5 The target power line 50 includes multiple towers. The UAV 13 starts to perform the return operation at a position not far from the tower T7. The farthest position of the UAV is position point 51. The tower T7 is the tower closest to the take-off point (i.e., the nest 12) to the farthest position point 51. Therefore, the tower T7 is a candidate tower.

[0099] Understandably, when the drone encounters favorable flight conditions during inspection, it can directly designate a candidate pole as its target. However, when the drone encounters adverse flight conditions, the adverse environment will cause it to consume more power than planned. If the drone designates a candidate pole as its target and uses the target pole as its return-to-home starting point, it will have already consumed more power than planned by the time it reaches the candidate pole. Therefore, the drone may lack sufficient power to return to its nest for charging.

[0100] In some embodiments, the difference from the above embodiments is that determining the target pole that meets the preset turnaround conditions based on the candidate poles includes the following steps: determining the current pole, which is the pole that the drone is currently passing through; determining whether the position information of the current pole matches the position information of the candidate poles; if they match, then determining the current pole as a candidate pole; if the candidate pole meets the preset turnaround conditions, then the candidate pole is the target pole; if they do not match, then obtaining the real-time power change curve when the drone arrives at the current pole; and determining the target pole that meets the preset turnaround conditions based on the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve.

[0101] This embodiment uses candidate poles as critical poles on the return path. It can determine in real time whether the current pole in the path preceding the candidate pole is a candidate pole. If so, it means that the drone cannot continue to inspect and needs to use the candidate pole as the target pole for return. If not, it means that the drone has not yet reached the candidate pole. Since harsh external environments can affect the drone's power consumption, this embodiment tracks the drone's power information in real time before the drone reaches the candidate pole and determines the target pole based on the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve. This can resist the influence of harsh external environments and find a safe and reliable return starting point (i.e., the target pole), which is conducive to the drone's safe and reliable return.

[0102] Determining target poles based on real-time power change curves and preset power change curves, which meet preset turnaround conditions, involves the following steps: determining the deviation value between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve; if the deviation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold, a candidate pole is selected as the target pole, meeting the preset turnaround conditions; if the deviation value is greater than the preset threshold, a pole meeting the preset turnaround conditions is selected as the target pole according to preset screening criteria. Harsh external environments increase drone power consumption, causing the drone's real-time power change curve to deviate from the preset power change curve under normal conditions, thus affecting the selection of target poles. Typically, the target pole will appear before the candidate poles. By monitoring the comparison results between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve, the drone can infer whether it is in a harsh external environment, triggering a refined target pole determination process. This mitigates the impact of harsh external environments on target pole selection and reliably identifies the target pole.

[0103] The real-time power consumption curve is used to represent the power consumption change of the drone when inspecting the target power line in the current environment, while the preset power consumption curve is used to represent the power consumption change of the drone when inspecting the target power line in a normal environment.

[0104] Understandably, if the current environment is normal, the real-time battery level change curve will be consistent with the preset battery level change curve, or the deviation between the two will be small. However, if the current environment is harsh, the drone will consume more power while traversing the harsh environment, resulting in a larger deviation between the real-time battery level change curve and the preset battery level change curve.

[0105] The deviation value is used to represent the similarity between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve. In this embodiment, the deviation value between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve is obtained according to the preset curve similarity algorithm. The preset curve similarity algorithm includes Euclidean distance algorithm, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm, Fraser distance algorithm, etc.

[0106] If the deviation value is less than or equal to a preset threshold, it indicates that the current environment of the drone is normal. Therefore, in this embodiment, a predetermined candidate pole can be used as the target pole. If the deviation value is greater than the preset threshold, it indicates that the current environment of the drone is adverse. Therefore, in this embodiment, the target pole needs to be determined according to preset screening conditions.

[0107] In this embodiment of the application, when determining the target tower that meets the preset turnaround condition based on preset screening conditions, it is determined whether the i-th tower and the (i+1)-th tower satisfy the following formula:

[0108] Q-2(Qq i )>0

[0109] Q-2(Qk i+1 )<0

[0110] k i+1 =q i +Δk

[0111] If the conditions are met, then the i-th tower is determined as the target tower; otherwise, return to the step of determining the current tower.

[0112] The i-th tower is the current tower, and the (i+1)-th tower is the tower arranged after the current tower according to the inspection direction of the drone. Q is the initial power level, q i Let k be the remaining battery power of the drone when it reaches the i-th tower. i+1 Let Δk be the remaining battery power of the drone when it flies to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions, and let Δk be the battery power required for the drone to fly from the ith pole to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions.

[0113] For example, please continue reading Figure 5 The drone started its inspection of the target power line from tower T1. Table 1 shows the remaining battery power of the drone on different towers during the inspection under normal conditions.

[0114] Table 1

[0115] tower T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 Remaining battery power (%) 100 95 90 80 75 70 60 50 40 30

[0116] As shown in Table 1, when the drone inspects the target power line under normal conditions, the remaining power is 50% when the drone flies to tower T8. In order to ensure that the drone can return normally, the drone needs to use tower T8 as the return start point, that is, tower T8 is the target tower.

[0117] When the drone encounters abnormal environments during the inspection process, the remaining power of the drone on different poles is shown in Table 2:

[0118] Table 2

[0119] tower T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 Remaining battery power (%) 100 95 90 80 75 70 55 45 35 25

[0120] There is vertical airflow near tower T7, while the surrounding environment of other towers is relatively normal. When the drone flies to tower T7, it consumes a significant amount of power, resulting in a remaining battery level of 55% at tower T7. This is 5% more power than the 60% remaining battery level expected under normal conditions. If the drone were to return to base normally, it would need to fly to tower T8 with its current 55% battery level. However, upon reaching tower T8, its remaining battery level would be 45%, which is insufficient to return to the takeoff point. Therefore, to ensure a smooth and normal return, the drone cannot fly to tower T8 before performing the return operation.

[0121] Based on the preset screening criteria provided above, this embodiment of the application will detect in real time whether the remaining battery power of the drone on each pole meets the return-to-home conditions. For example:

[0122] For tower T2, q2 is 95% and k3 is 90%. Since 100-2(100-95)>0, but 100-2(100-90)>0, tower T2 does not meet the condition. And so on.

[0123] For tower T7, q7 is 55% and k8 is 45%. Since 100-2(100-55)>0 and 100-2(100-45)<0, tower T7 satisfies the conditions. Therefore, tower T7 is the target tower.

[0124] The embodiments of this application employ the above-described method, which enables real-time tracking and detection of whether the remaining power of the drone upon reaching each pole meets the return-to-home conditions. This allows for reliable and safe control of the drone to perform the return-to-home operation, avoiding the inability to return normally due to excessive flight.

[0125] S43: Based on the target tower, determine the towers that the drone passes through during the inspection process as intermediate towers.

[0126] In this step, the drone determines the target pole's serial number within the target power line, identifying poles with serial numbers preceding the target number as intermediate poles. Referring to Figure 2, pole T7 is numbered T7, and poles T1 through T6 are all intermediate poles.

[0127] S44: Generate a return path based on the location information of the target tower and at least one intermediate tower.

[0128] In this step, in some embodiments, the target tower and all intermediate towers are connected to form a return path. In some embodiments, the target tower and all intermediate towers are used as constraint factors to generate the return path.

[0129] S45: Controls the drone to perform the return-to-home operation according to the return-to-home path.

[0130] In this step, the embodiment of this application controls the drone to fly along the return-to-home path in order to return to the nest for charging. Since the return-to-home path is associated with a pole, and poles are usually relatively safe locations, the return-to-home path provided by this embodiment is relatively safe, which can reduce the probability of the drone colliding with obstacles during its return flight, thus improving the safety of the drone's return flight.

[0131] Understandably, the paths formed by the towers in the target power line are quite winding, resulting in a longer flight distance for the UAV. Therefore, in some embodiments, generating the return path based on the location information of the target tower, the location information of at least one intermediate tower, the location information of the leading tower, and the location information of the takeoff point includes the following steps:

[0132] S441: Among all the passing towers, the passing towers that are in normal conditions and meet the preset density conditions are selected as reference towers, and the target towers and intermediate towers are both passing towers.

[0133] S442: Generate the target straight path based on the position information of each reference tower.

[0134] S443: Generate the return route based on the location information of the second tower and the target straight path.

[0135] In S441, the passing towers are the towers that the drone passes through. Since both the target tower and the intermediate towers have been passed through by the drone, both the target tower and the intermediate towers are passing towers.

[0136] Each pole along the route is equipped with an environmental status indicator, which indicates whether the environment is normal between the next pole and the previous one. The environmental status indicator includes a normal status indicator and an abnormal status indicator. The normal status indicator indicates that the environment is normal between the next pole and the previous one, while the abnormal status indicator indicates that the environment is abnormal between the next pole and the previous one.

[0137] The process of identifying reference poles from all available poles that are in a normal environment and meet preset density conditions includes the following steps: First, identify poles with a normal environmental status from all available poles as undetermined poles. Then, place at least two undetermined poles with consecutive pole numbers into their respective preset queues. Determine the number of undetermined poles in each preset queue. Delete preset queues with fewer undetermined poles than a preset threshold, and retain preset queues with more undetermined poles than the preset threshold as target queues. The undetermined poles in the target queue must meet the preset density conditions, and these undetermined poles in the target queue are considered reference poles.

[0138] For example, the target power line's tower group T0 = {T1,T2,T3,...,T...} i ,...T n}, where T i Let T be the i-th tower, and N be 20. The drone encounters vertical airflow while flying from tower T3 to tower T4, and from tower T9 to tower T... 11 Encountering vertical airflow again during the journey, from tower T 15 Fly to tower T 16 Encountering heavy rain en route, towers T4 and T... 11 and tower T 16 The environmental status indicators of the towers are all abnormal, while the environmental status indicators of the other towers are all normal. Therefore, the remaining towers are all pending status indicators.

[0139] In this embodiment, towers T1 to T3 are placed in a preset queue D1, i.e., D1 = {T1, T2, T3}, and towers T5 to T3 are placed in a preset queue D1. 10 Place them into the preset queue D2, i.e., D2 = {T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T...} 10}, the tower T 12 To tower T 15 Place it into the preset queue D3, i.e., D3 = {T} 12 ,T 13 ,T 14 ,T 15}, the tower T 17 To tower T 20 Place it into the preset queue D4, i.e., D4 = {T} 17,T 18 ,T 19 ,T 20},

[0140] If the preset quantity threshold is 5, then in this embodiment of the application, preset queues D1, D3, and D4 need to be deleted, while preset queue D2 is retained. Preset queue D2 is the target queue, from tower T5 to tower T. 10 All meet the preset density conditions and are all reference towers.

[0141] In S442, the target straight path is the shortest local straight path under the preset safety conditions. The target straight path is obtained by at least one first tower constraint. The first tower is the tower among all reference towers. The tower obtained after removing all first towers from all path towers is the second tower.

[0142] In some embodiments, this application performs straight-line fitting on each reference tower based on the position information of each reference tower to obtain a target straight-line path. In some embodiments, this application verifies the path generated by straight-line fitting on each reference tower to obtain the target straight-line path.

[0143] In S443, this embodiment connects the second tower to the target straight path to obtain the return path. This embodiment can find the target straight path between the target tower and multiple intermediate towers. The target straight path is shorter than the path formed along the towers, which helps to shorten the flight distance of the UAV during return, thereby maximizing power saving and ensuring that the UAV still has sufficient power to return even when facing various emergencies, thus improving the reliability and safety of the UAV's return.

[0144] In some embodiments, generating a target straight path based on the location information of each reference tower includes the following steps:

[0145] S4421: Generate candidate straight paths by fitting the position information of each reference tower. The candidate straight paths can be divided into multiple path segments by each reference tower.

[0146] S4422: Check whether the target path segment meets the preset safety conditions in sequence according to the return direction. The target path segment is one of multiple path segments.

[0147] S4423: If satisfied, select the path segment following the target path segment in the return direction as the new target path segment, and return to the steps of sequentially verifying whether the target path segments meet the preset safety conditions in the return direction.

[0148] S4424: If not satisfied, then arrange the path segments preceding the target path segment in the opposite direction to the return direction to form the target straight path.

[0149] In S4421, this embodiment of the application uses a straight-line fitting algorithm to fit each reference tower into a candidate straight-line path. Specifically, this embodiment of the application draws perpendicular lines from the reference towers to the candidate straight-line paths to obtain perpendicular points. Every two perpendicular points can divide the candidate straight-line path into a path segment.

[0150] Please see Figure 6 Towers T1 to T6 meet the preset density conditions, while tower 7 does not. Therefore, towers T1 to T6 are all reference towers. This embodiment generates candidate straight paths D0 for towers T1 to T6, and sequentially draws perpendicular lines to D0 from towers T1 to T6, with perpendicular points C1 to C6. Perpendicular points C1 and C2 divide candidate straight paths D0 into a first path segment F1. Similarly, candidate straight paths D0 can be divided into the following path segments by each perpendicular point: a second path segment F2, a third path segment F3, a fourth path segment F4, and a fifth path segment F5.

[0151] In S4422, this embodiment of the application sequentially selects one path segment from each path segment as the target path segment, and sequentially verifies whether each target path segment meets the preset safety conditions according to the return direction.

[0152] The target path segment is constrained by both the first and second reference towers. For example, when the target path segment is the first path segment F1, the reference tower T1 corresponding to the perpendicular point C1 of the first path segment F1 is the first reference tower, and the reference tower T2 corresponding to the perpendicular point C2 is the second reference tower. When the target path segment is the second path segment F2, the reference tower T2 corresponding to the perpendicular point C2 of the second path segment F2 is the first reference tower, and the reference tower T3 corresponding to the perpendicular point C3 is the second reference tower. And so on, which will not be elaborated further here.

[0153] The steps for sequentially verifying whether the target path segment meets the preset safety conditions according to the return direction include: determining the first vertical distance from the first reference tower to the candidate straight path and the second vertical distance from the second reference tower; determining whether the first vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold and whether the second vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold; if both are less than the preset distance threshold, the target path segment is determined to meet the preset safety conditions; if not both are less than the preset distance threshold, the target path segment is determined not to meet the preset safety conditions.

[0154] In step S4423, if the target path segment meets the preset safety conditions, it means that the UAV is unlikely to encounter obstacles when returning along the target path segment, making it relatively safe. Therefore, the target path segment can at least be part of the target straight path. In this embodiment, after verifying whether the current target path segment meets the preset safety conditions, a new target path segment is selected, and the process returns to step S4422 to verify whether the new target path segment meets the preset safety conditions. This process is repeated until all path segments meet the preset safety conditions, thereby finding path segments that can be combined to form the target straight path.

[0155] In S4424, if the target path segment does not meet the preset safety conditions, it means that the UAV is likely to encounter obstacles when returning to home according to the target path segment, and the UAV cannot continue to return to home. Therefore, in this embodiment of the application, the path segments arranged before the target path segment are arranged in the opposite direction to the return direction to form the target straight path.

[0156] For example, if the preset distance threshold is 2 meters, when the target path segment is the first path segment F1, the first vertical distance h1 from the first reference tower T1 to the candidate straight path D0 is 0.5 meters, and the second vertical distance h2 from the second reference tower T2 to the candidate straight path D0 is 0.5 meters. Since both the first vertical distance h1 and the second vertical distance h2 are less than the preset distance threshold, the first path segment F1 meets the preset safety conditions.

[0157] Next, in this embodiment of the application, the second path segment F2, the third path segment F3, and the fourth path segment F4 are sequentially verified to ensure they meet the preset security conditions according to the above procedure. After verification, the second path segment F2, the third path segment F3, and the fourth path segment F4 all meet the preset security conditions.

[0158] Next, when the fifth path segment F5 was verified according to the above method in this embodiment of the application, it was found that: the first vertical distance h1 from the first reference tower T5 to the candidate straight path D0 is 0.5 meters, and the second vertical distance h2 from the second reference tower T6 to the candidate straight path D0 is 2.5 meters. Since the second vertical distance h2 is greater than the preset distance threshold, the fifth path segment F5 does not meet the preset safety conditions.

[0159] In this embodiment of the application, the first path segment F1, the second path segment F2, the third path segment F3, and the fourth path segment F4 are combined to form a target straight path in the opposite direction to the return direction.

[0160] In this embodiment, among all the towers {T1, T2, T3, T7, T5, T6, T7} along the drone's path, the position of towers T1 to T5 is fitted to obtain the target straight path D1. Towers T6 and T7 are both second towers; therefore, this embodiment connects the target straight path D1, towers T6 and T7 to obtain the return path.

[0161] This application embodiment combines multiple adjacent poles that meet preset density conditions to generate a target straight path to the greatest extent possible. This target straight path is shorter than a simple broken line path formed by connecting individual poles, thus reducing the drone's flight distance. Furthermore, the poles constraining the generation of the target straight path are not necessarily on the target straight path itself. Considering that the fitted candidate straight paths may deviate from the poles, making certain parts of the candidate straight paths unsafe, this application embodiment performs segmented safety checks on the candidate straight paths to ensure the target straight path has a high degree of safety, thereby guaranteeing the drone's flight safety. Overall, the return path provided by this application embodiment not only ensures safety but also shortens the flight distance, thereby improving the drone's return reliability, safety, and stability.

[0162] It should be noted that in the above embodiments, there is no necessarily a certain order between the steps. Those skilled in the art can understand from the description of the embodiments of this application that the above steps may have different execution orders in different embodiments, that is, they may be executed in parallel or in turn, etc.

[0163] As another aspect of the embodiments of this application, this application provides a return-to-home device for a drone. The return-to-home device can be a software module, which includes several instructions stored in a memory. A processor can access the memory, invoke the instructions, and execute them to complete the drone return-to-home method described in the various embodiments above.

[0164] In some implementations, the drone's return-to-home device can also be constructed from hardware components. For example, the drone's return-to-home device can be constructed from one or more chips, which can work in coordination to complete the drone's return-to-home method described in the various implementations above. As another example, the drone's return-to-home device can also be constructed from various logic devices, such as general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microcontrollers, ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of these components.

[0165] Please see Figure 7 The UAV's return-to-home device 700 includes a return-to-home trigger module 71, a target tower determination module 72, an intermediate tower determination module 73, a return-to-home path determination module 74, and a return-to-home operation control module 75.

[0166] The return-to-home trigger module 71 is used to acquire return-to-home trigger information generated when the UAV inspects a target power line, which includes multiple poles deployed along the route. The target pole / tower determination module 72 is used to respond to the return-to-home trigger information and determine the pole / tower that meets the preset turnaround conditions as the target pole / tower among the multiple poles / towers. The intermediate pole / tower determination module 73 is used to determine the poles / towers passed by the UAV during the inspection process as intermediate poles / towers based on the target pole / tower. The return-to-home path determination module 74 is used to generate a return-to-home path based on the location information of the target pole / tower and the location information of at least one intermediate pole / tower. The return-to-home operation control module 75 is used to control the UAV to perform a return-to-home operation based on the return-to-home path.

[0167] The return path provided in this application embodiment is associated with poles and towers, which are usually relatively safe locations. Therefore, the return path provided in this application embodiment is relatively safe and can reduce the probability of the drone colliding with obstacles when returning, which is beneficial to improving the safety of the drone's return flight.

[0168] In some embodiments, the target pole determination module 72 is specifically used to: respond to the return-to-home trigger information, obtain the initial battery level of the UAV before the inspection, determine the flyable mileage based on the initial battery level, determine the farthest position of the UAV on the target power line based on the flyable mileage, determine the pole closest to the farthest position and close to the UAV's takeoff point as a candidate pole, preset turnaround conditions are constrained by the candidate poles, and determine the pole that meets the preset turnaround conditions as the target pole based on the candidate poles.

[0169] In some embodiments, the target pole determination module 72 is further specifically used to: determine the current pole, which is the pole the UAV is currently passing through; determine whether the position information of the current pole matches the position information of the candidate pole; if they match, determine the current pole as a candidate pole; if the candidate pole meets the preset turnaround conditions, the candidate pole is the target pole; if they do not match, obtain the real-time power change curve when the UAV arrives at the current pole; and determine the pole that meets the preset turnaround conditions as the target pole based on the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve.

[0170] In some embodiments, the target tower determination module 72 is further specifically used to: determine the deviation value between the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve; if the deviation value is less than or equal to the preset threshold, then determine the candidate tower as the tower that meets the preset turnaround condition, and the candidate tower as the target tower; if the deviation value is greater than the preset threshold, then determine the tower that meets the preset turnaround condition as the target tower according to the preset screening conditions.

[0171] In some embodiments, the target tower determination module 72 is further specifically used to: determine whether the i-th tower and the (i+1)-th tower satisfy the following formula:

[0172] Q-2(Qq i )>0

[0173] Q-2(Qk i+1 )<0

[0174] k i+1 =q i +Δk

[0175] If the conditions are met, then the i-th tower is determined to be the target tower;

[0176] The i-th tower is the current tower, and the (i+1)-th tower is the tower arranged after the current tower according to the inspection direction of the drone. Q is the initial battery level, q i Let k be the remaining battery power of the drone when it reaches the i-th tower. i+1 Let Δk be the remaining battery power of the drone when it flies to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions, and let Δk be the battery power required for the drone to fly from the ith pole to the (i+1)th pole under normal environmental conditions.

[0177] In some embodiments, the return path determination module 74 is specifically used to: search for reference towers among all the reference towers that are in a normal environment and meet preset density conditions, the reference towers include target towers and intermediate towers, generate a target straight path based on the position information of each reference tower, the target straight path is the shortest local straight path under preset safety conditions, the target straight path is constrained by at least one first tower, the first tower is the tower among the reference towers, the tower obtained after removing all the first towers from all the reference towers is the second tower, and generate a return path based on the position information of the second tower and the target straight path.

[0178] In some embodiments, the return path determination module 74 is further specifically used to: fit and generate candidate straight paths based on the position information of each reference tower, the candidate straight paths can be divided into multiple path segments by each of the reference towers, and sequentially verify whether the target path segments meet the preset safety conditions according to the return direction, the target path segment is one of the multiple path segments, if it meets the conditions, then select the path segment arranged after the target path segment according to the return direction as the new target path segment, if it does not meet the conditions, then arrange the path segments arranged before the target path segment in the opposite direction to the return direction to form the target straight path.

[0179] In some embodiments, the target path segment is obtained by the constraints of the first reference tower and the second reference tower. The return path determination module 74 is further specifically used to: determine the first vertical distance from the first reference tower to the candidate straight path and the second vertical distance from the second reference tower to the candidate straight path, determine whether the first vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold and whether the second vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold. If both are less than the preset distance threshold, the target path segment is determined to meet the preset safety conditions. If not both are less than the preset safety conditions, the target path segment is determined to not meet the preset safety conditions.

[0180] In some embodiments, each path tower is configured with an environmental status identifier. The return path determination module 74 is further specifically used to: search for path towers with an environmental status identifier of normal status among all path towers as undetermined towers; place at least two undetermined towers with consecutive tower numbers into the corresponding preset queues; determine the number of undetermined towers in each preset queue; delete preset queues with a number lower than a preset number threshold; and retain preset queues with a number exceeding the preset number threshold as target queues. The undetermined towers in the target queues meet a preset density condition, and the undetermined towers in the target queues are reference towers.

[0181] It should be noted that the aforementioned drone return-to-home device can execute the drone return-to-home method provided in the embodiments of this application, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects for executing the method. Technical details not described in detail in the embodiments of the drone return-to-home device can be found in the drone return-to-home method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0182] See Figure 8 , Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a drone provided in an embodiment of this application. The drone 800 includes one or more processors 81 and a memory 82. The memory 82 is connected to one or more processors 81, for example, via a bus.

[0183] Processor 81 is configured to support the UAV in performing the corresponding functions in the methods described in the above method embodiments. Processor 81 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a hardware chip, or any combination thereof. The aforementioned hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The aforementioned PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0184] Memory 82 is used to store program code, etc. Memory 82 may include volatile memory (VM), such as random access memory (RAM); memory may also include non-volatile memory (NVM), such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD); memory may also include combinations of the above types of memory.

[0185] The memory 82 can be used to store non-volatile software programs, non-volatile computer-executable programs, and modules, such as the program instructions / modules corresponding to the UAV return-to-home method in the embodiments of this application. The processor executes the various functional applications and data processing of the UAV return-to-home method and the UAV return-to-home device by running the non-volatile software programs, instructions, and modules stored in the memory, that is, it realizes the functions of the various modules or units of the UAV return-to-home method and the UAV return-to-home device provided in the above method embodiments.

[0186] The memory 82 may include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store the operating system and applications required for at least one function. The data storage area may store data created based on the use of the drone's return-to-home device. In some embodiments, the memory may optionally include memory remotely configured relative to the processor, which can be connected to the drone's return-to-home device via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

[0187] The one or more modules are stored in the memory. When executed by the one or more processors, they perform the UAV return-to-home method in any of the above method embodiments. For example, they perform the method steps described in the above method embodiments to realize the functions of the modules described in the above device embodiments.

[0188] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program including program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0189] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the above embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above methods. The storage medium can be a magnetic disk, optical disk, read-only memory (ROM), or random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0190] The above-disclosed embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of this application and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this application. Therefore, any equivalent variations made in accordance with the claims of this application shall still fall within the scope of this application.

Claims

1. A method for returning a UAV, characterized in that, The method comprises the following steps: acquiring return triggering information generated when the unmanned aerial vehicle inspects a target power line, the target power line comprising a plurality of towers arranged along the way; in response to the return triggering information, determining a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition among the plurality of towers as a target tower; determining a tower that the unmanned aerial vehicle passes during the inspection process as an intermediate tower according to the target tower; generating a return path according to the position information of the target tower and the position information of at least one intermediate tower, the generation of the return path according to the position information of the target tower and the position information of at least one intermediate tower comprising: searching for a tower that meets a preset dense condition under a normal environment as a reference tower among all the towers along the way, the target tower and the intermediate tower both being towers along the way, each tower along the way being provided with an environment state identifier, the searching for a tower that meets a preset dense condition under a normal environment as a reference tower among all the towers along the way comprising: searching for a tower along the way whose environment state identifier is a normal state identifier as a tentative tower among all the towers along the way, putting at least two or more tentative towers whose serial numbers are consecutive into a corresponding preset queue, determining the number of tentative towers contained in each preset queue, deleting a preset queue whose number is lower than a preset number threshold, and reserving a preset queue whose number is higher than the preset number threshold as a target queue, wherein the tentative towers of the target queue meet the preset dense condition, and the tentative towers of the target queue are reference towers; controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform a return operation according to the return path.

2. The return method of claim 1, wherein, The determination of a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition as a target tower among the plurality of towers in response to the return triggering information comprises: in response to the return triggering information, acquiring an initial power of the unmanned aerial vehicle before the inspection; determining a flyable mileage according to the initial power; determining a farthest position point of the unmanned aerial vehicle on the target power line according to the flyable mileage; determining a tower that is closest to a takeoff point of the unmanned aerial vehicle and is closest to the farthest position point as a candidate tower, the preset U-turn condition being constrained by the candidate tower; determining a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition as a target tower according to the candidate tower.

3. The return method of claim 2, wherein, The determination of a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition as a target tower according to the candidate tower comprises: determining a current tower, the current tower being a tower currently passed by the unmanned aerial vehicle; judging whether the position information of the current tower matches the position information of the candidate tower; if yes, determining the current tower as the candidate tower, the candidate tower meeting the preset U-turn condition, and the candidate tower being the target tower; if no, acquiring a real-time power change curve of the unmanned aerial vehicle when the unmanned aerial vehicle arrives at the current tower, and determining a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition as a target tower according to the real-time power change curve and a preset power change curve.

4. The return method of claim 3, wherein, The determination of a tower that meets a preset U-turn condition as a target tower according to the real-time power change curve and a preset power change curve comprises: determining a deviation degree value of the real-time power change curve and the preset power change curve; If the deviation degree value is less than or equal to a preset degree threshold, the candidate tower is determined as a tower satisfying a preset U-turn condition, and the candidate tower is a target tower; If the deviation degree value is greater than the preset degree threshold, a tower satisfying the preset U-turn condition is determined as the target tower according to a preset screening condition.

5. The return method of claim 4, wherein, The method according to the preset screening condition to determine the tower satisfying the preset U-turn condition as the target tower comprises: determining whether the ith tower and the i+1th tower satisfy the following formula: If yes, the ith tower is determined as the target tower; The ith tower is a current tower, and the i+1th tower is a tower arranged behind the current tower according to an inspection direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle, is an initial electric quantity, is a remaining electric quantity of the unmanned aerial vehicle when flying to the ith tower, is a remaining electric quantity of the unmanned aerial vehicle when flying to the i+1th tower under normal circumstances of the environment, is an electric quantity required for the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly from the ith tower to the i+1th tower under normal circumstances of the environment.

6. The return method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method according to the position information of the target tower and the position information of at least one intermediate tower to generate a U-turn path further comprises: generating a target straight path according to the position information of each reference tower, the target straight path being the shortest local straight path under the condition of satisfying a preset safety condition, the target straight path being constrained by at least one first tower, the first tower being a tower in each reference tower, and a second tower being obtained by removing all the first towers from all the way-through towers; generating a U-turn path according to the position information of the second tower and the target straight path.

7. The return method of claim 6, wherein, The method according to the position information of each reference tower to generate a target straight path comprises: generating a candidate straight path according to the position information of each reference tower, the candidate straight path being divided into a plurality of path segments by each reference tower; sequentially checking whether a target path segment satisfies a preset safety condition in a U-turn direction, the target path segment being one of the plurality of path segments; If yes, selecting a path segment arranged after the target path segment in the U-turn direction as a new target path segment, and returning to the step of sequentially checking whether a target path segment satisfies a preset safety condition in a U-turn direction; If no, arranging a path segment arranged before the target path segment in a direction opposite to the U-turn direction to form a target straight path.

8. The return method of claim 7, wherein, The target path segment is jointly constrained by a first reference tower and a second reference tower, and the sequentially checking whether a target path segment satisfies a preset safety condition in a U-turn direction comprises: determining a first vertical distance from the first reference tower to the candidate straight path and a second vertical distance from the second reference tower to the candidate straight path; determining whether the first vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold and the second vertical distance is less than a preset distance threshold; If yes, it is determined that the target path segment satisfies the preset safety condition; If no, it is determined that the target path segment does not satisfy the preset safety condition.

9. A drone, characterized in that, comprises: a fuselage; an arm connected to the fuselage; a wing arranged on the arm and used to provide power for flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle; a sensor module arranged on the fuselage and used to collect sensor data; an aircraft communication module arranged on the fuselage, and The flight control module comprises a memory and a processor, the processor is in communication connection with the sensor module, the airplane communication module and the memory respectively, the processor is used for executing one or more computer programs stored in the memory, and the processor executes the one or more computer programs, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle realizes the homeward method of the unmanned aerial vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program comprises program instructions, the program instructions are executed by the processor, and the processor executes the homeward method of the unmanned aerial vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1-8.

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