Airspace management method and device based on control points

Abstract

This invention proposes a control point-based airspace management method and apparatus. The control point-based airspace management method introduces the concept of airspace control points, decomposes the actual airspace space, and simplifies the mathematical description of the airspace space. Then, by introducing relevant mature algorithms and corresponding airspace rules, iterative calculation and optimization screening are used to finally generate the optimal route. Compared with traditional route planning, this invention realizes the digitization of airspace space, has higher computational efficiency, and has the advantages of multiple parameters being exposed and adjustable, which can be adjusted as needed in practical applications.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of large-scale UAV airspace application technology, and specifically relates to an airspace management method and device based on control points. Background Technology

[0002] The large-scale use of drones is a foreseeable trend, and in the future, we will face a complex and dynamic airspace environment under the large-scale use of drones.

[0003] Traditional airspace management methods are no longer effective in addressing the challenges. Therefore, adopting effective and simple methods to manage the airspace use of large-scale unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is of great practical significance. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention proposes a control point-based airspace management method and apparatus. By introducing airspace control points, formulating relevant strategies, and combining existing mature route planning algorithms, it enables rapid route planning in large-scale UAV usage scenarios.

[0005] The first aspect of this invention provides a control point-based airspace management method, comprising:

[0006] Based on the start and end points of the drone swarm, the airspace is determined, and the airspace is divided into grids. Each grid vertex is used as a control point to obtain a set of control points. The vertical axis of the grid is consistent with the flight direction of the drones, and the horizontal axis is perpendicular to the flight direction of the drones. Control points with consistent vertical coordinates are divided into a level.

[0007] When a restricted area exists within the airspace, a rectangular envelope of the restricted area is generated, the vertices of the rectangular envelope are added to the control point set and their respective levels are configured, and the control points located within the restricted area are deleted from the control point set.

[0008] For the p-th drone Wp in the drone swarm, starting from the starting point of Wp, connect the control points in the control point set in hierarchical order until the endpoint is reached, obtaining all possible selected routes; determine the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of drone Wp, and remove all control points in the final route of drone Wp from the control point set to obtain the latest control point set; determine the final route for drone Wp+1 in the latest control point set, and so on, until the final routes of all drones are obtained.

[0009] p takes the value of a positive integer from 1 to P, where P is the number of drones in the drone swarm.

[0010] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0011] Add a preset control point to the control point set and configure the level of the preset control point.

[0012] Optionally, before determining the shortest path from all possible selected routes as the final route for the UAV Wp, the method further includes:

[0013] Delete selected routes that cross restricted areas.

[0014] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0015] The width of the grid is determined based on the distance between the start and end points of the drone swarm.

[0016] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0017] When the number P of the drone swarm is greater than the preset value, the drones are divided into at least two sub-swarms according to the starting point and ending point of each drone in the swarm, and the airspace range of each sub-swarm is determined; the final flight path is determined for the drones in each sub-swarm.

[0018] A second aspect of the present invention provides a control point-based airspace management device, comprising:

[0019] The grid division module is used to determine the airspace range based on the start and end points of the UAV swarm, divide the airspace range into grids, and use each grid vertex as a control point to obtain a set of control points; the vertical direction of the grid is consistent with the flight direction of the UAV, and the horizontal direction is perpendicular to the flight direction of the UAV; control points with consistent vertical coordinates are divided into a level.

[0020] The control point set correction module is used to generate a rectangular envelope of the restricted area when there is a restricted area in the airspace, add the vertices of the rectangular envelope to the control point set, configure the level, and delete the control points located in the restricted area from the control point set.

[0021] The route generation module is used to, for the p-th UAV Wp in the UAV swarm, start from the starting point of Wp and connect the control points in the control point set in hierarchical order until the endpoint is reached, to obtain all possible selected routes; determine the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of UAV Wp, and delete all control points in the final route of UAV Wp from the control point set to obtain the latest control point set; determine the final route for UAV Wp+1 in the latest control point set, and so on, until the final routes of all UAVs are obtained;

[0022] p takes the value of a positive integer from 1 to P, where P is the number of drones in the drone swarm.

[0023] Optionally, a control point set correction module is used to add preset control points to the control point set and configure the level of the preset control points.

[0024] Optionally, a route generation module is used to remove selected routes that cross restricted areas before determining the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of the UAV Wp.

[0025] This invention proposes a control point-based airspace management method and apparatus. The control point-based airspace management method introduces the concept of airspace control points, decomposes the actual airspace space, and simplifies the mathematical description of the airspace space. Then, by introducing relevant mature algorithms and corresponding airspace rules, iterative calculation and optimization screening are used to finally generate the optimal route. Compared with traditional route planning, this invention realizes the digitization of airspace space, has higher computational efficiency, and has the advantages of multiple parameters being exposed and adjustable, which can be adjusted as needed in practical applications. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the airspace control point generation process;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the route plan generation process;

[0028] Figure 3 Generate a schematic diagram for the control points;

[0029] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the flight route is generated. Detailed Implementation

[0030] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] The features and illustrative embodiments of various aspects of the present invention will now be described in detail. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following detailed description to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without requiring some of these specific details. The following description of embodiments is merely intended to provide a better understanding of the invention by illustrating examples of the invention. The invention is by no means limited to any specific setups and methods set forth below, but covers any improvements, substitutions, and modifications to structures, methods, and devices without departing from the spirit of the invention. Well-known structures and techniques are not shown in the drawings and the following description to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention.

[0032] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments of the present invention and the features thereof can be combined with each other, and the various embodiments can be referenced and cited in each other. The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0033] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and accompanying drawings, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0034] This invention provides an airspace management method based on airspace control points. This method enables rapid route planning for UAVs in a designated airspace by adding airspace control points to the designated airspace.

[0035] The specific steps are as follows:

[0036] (1) Generation of airspace control points

[0037] 1-1) Grid Control Point Generation. The airspace is divided using a spatial gridding method, where the side length of the grid can be adjusted according to the actual application. The vertices of the grid are used as the initial control points. The orientation of the grid is determined according to the UAV's direction of travel.

[0038] 1-2) Manually adding control points. In practical applications, there may be situations where airspace control points are manually added, and then these manually added control points are added to the control point set.

[0039] 1-3) Generation of airspace envelope control points. When there are restricted areas such as no-fly zones in the planned airspace, the restricted areas are geometrically enveloped, and the boundary points of the area's envelope are added to the control point set as new control points.

[0040] 1-4) Control point exclusion and screening. First, analyze the existing control points and remove those contained within the restricted area to form a set of feasible domain control points, which will serve as the basis for subsequent route generation.

[0041] The steps for generating airspace control points are as follows: Figure 1 As shown.

[0042] (2) Route plan generation

[0043] Using the generated airspace control points as waypoints, and constructing a step direction hierarchy based on the grid control points, the control points are connected sequentially according to the hierarchy after all control points are layered to form a flight path. By traversing the control points, the optimal flight path for the current platform is found. By removing occupied control points, the control points of other platforms are randomly traversed. Finally, the optimal flight paths of all platforms are compared, and the optimal flight path scheme for all platforms is selected.

[0044] 2-1) Step-by-step hierarchical classification. Using grid control points as a reference, all control points in the planning area are hierarchically classified to serve as the step direction for subsequent connection of control points, and to determine the set of control points that can be selected for each step.

[0045] 2-2) Connecting Control Points. Starting from the current platform's origin, connect control points sequentially in ascending order of hierarchy until the index traversal is complete, thus generating a route. Generate all possible routes sequentially based on the index, and select the shortest route by calculating the connection length, which is then used as the optimal route for the platform.

[0046] 2-3) Iterate through all cases and select the optimal route planning scheme. Change the platform and iterate again. While clearing the control points occupied by the previous platform, add random selection to cover as many cases as possible and reduce the local optima caused by the order of events.

[0047] The steps in generating the route plan are as follows: Figure 2 As shown.

[0048] In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides an airspace management method based on airspace control points. The specific steps of the present invention are illustrated below:

[0049] (1) Generate control points

[0050] Based on the conditions within the planning area, control points are established sequentially, including grid control points, manually added control points, and control points generated from the airspace envelope. Then, based on the constraints within the planning area, control points within those constraints are excluded, ultimately generating a feasible set of control points. Figure 3 As shown.

[0051] (2) Control points are classified into different levels.

[0052] Based on the generated feasible control points, the control points in the control point set are classified according to the grid control points.

[0053] (2) Connect control points

[0054] Following a hierarchical classification, control points are connected layer by layer from the starting point until the endpoint is reached. After completing one route connection, the process iterates according to the number of layers and the number of control points in each layer to complete the traversal. The shortest path is then selected from all routes as the optimal route for this platform. Figure 4 As shown.

[0055] (3) Analyze and generate the optimal route

[0056] Randomly select the next platform and process the current set of control points, removing the control points occupied by the optimal route of the previous platform. Then, perform route generation operation for the next platform on the processed set of control points. Iterate through all platforms and finally obtain the route scheme with the shortest route distance as the output.

[0057] The above description is merely a further embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitutions or modifications made by those skilled in the art within the scope disclosed in the present invention, based on the technical solution and concept of the present invention, shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control point-based airspace management method, characterized in that, include: Based on the start and end points of the drone swarm, the airspace is determined, and the airspace is divided into grids. Each grid vertex is used as a control point to obtain a set of control points. The vertical axis of the grid is consistent with the flight direction of the drones, and the horizontal axis is perpendicular to the flight direction of the drones. Control points with consistent vertical coordinates are divided into a level. When a restricted area exists within the airspace, a rectangular envelope of the restricted area is generated, the vertices of the rectangular envelope are added to the control point set and their respective levels are configured, and the control points located within the restricted area are deleted from the control point set. For the p-th drone Wp in the drone swarm, starting from the starting point of Wp, connect the control points in the control point set in hierarchical order until the endpoint is reached, obtaining all possible selected routes; determine the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of drone Wp, and remove all control points in the final route of drone Wp from the control point set to obtain the latest control point set; determine the final route for drone Wp+1 in the latest control point set, and so on, until the final routes of all drones are obtained. p takes the value of a positive integer from 1 to P, where P is the number of drones in the drone swarm.

2. The airspace management method based on control points according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Add a preset control point to the control point set and configure the level of the preset control point.

3. The airspace management method based on control points according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before determining the shortest path from all possible selected routes as the final route for the UAV Wp, the method further includes: Delete selected routes that cross restricted areas.

4. The airspace management method based on control points according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The width of the grid is determined based on the distance between the start and end points of the drone swarm.

5. The airspace management method based on control points according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the number P of the drone swarm is greater than the preset value, the drones are divided into at least two sub-swarms according to the starting point and ending point of each drone in the swarm, and the airspace range of each sub-swarm is determined; the final flight path is determined for the drones in each sub-swarm.

6. A control point-based airspace management device, characterized in that, include: The grid division module is used to determine the airspace range based on the start and end points of the UAV swarm, divide the airspace range into grids, and use each grid vertex as a control point to obtain a set of control points; the vertical direction of the grid is consistent with the flight direction of the UAV, and the horizontal direction is perpendicular to the flight direction of the UAV; control points with consistent vertical coordinates are divided into a level. The control point set correction module is used to generate a rectangular envelope of the restricted area when there is a restricted area in the airspace, add the vertices of the rectangular envelope to the control point set, configure the level, and delete the control points located in the restricted area from the control point set. The route generation module is used to, for the p-th UAV Wp in the UAV swarm, start from the starting point of Wp and connect the control points in the control point set in hierarchical order until the endpoint is reached, to obtain all possible selected routes; determine the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of UAV Wp, and delete all control points in the final route of UAV Wp from the control point set to obtain the latest control point set; determine the final route for UAV Wp+1 in the latest control point set, and so on, until the final routes of all UAVs are obtained; p takes the value of a positive integer from 1 to P, where P is the number of drones in the drone swarm.

7. The airspace management device based on control points according to claim 6, characterized in that, The control point set correction module is used to add preset control points to the control point set and configure the level of the preset control points.

8. The airspace management device based on control points according to claim 6, characterized in that, The route generation module is used to remove selected routes that cross restricted areas before determining the shortest route from all possible selected routes as the final route of the UAV Wp.

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