Aerial photographing device for unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of aerial photography of unmanned aerial vehicles, in particular to an aerial photography device for an unmanned aerial vehicle, which comprises a seat plate, a plurality of aerial photography devices and a plurality of aerial photography devices, the movable frame is fixedly connected with the bottom surface of the seat plate, and the movable frame is distributed in the vertical direction; the camera shooting mechanism is in sliding fit with the moving frame in the vertical direction and used for penetrating through the inner side of the seat plate to stretch out of the upper portion of the top of the unmanned aerial vehicle or stretch out of the lower portion of the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the aerial photographing device can stretch out of the lower portion of the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle and can also stretch out of the upper portion of the top of the unmanned aerial vehicle, two pictures can be photographed at the bottom and the top of the unmanned aerial vehicle through one aerial photographing device, and therefore the photographing range of a traditional aerial photographing device can be expanded, and the wind resistance coefficient of the unmanned helicopter cannot be damaged; and the problem that picture parameters are different due to the two groups of cameras is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial photography, and in particular to an unmanned aerial photography device. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned helicopters for aerial photography have the advantages of vertical take-off and landing, hovering in the air, flying in any direction, and having a small take-off and landing area. They also have a compact body and can flexibly shuttle in low-altitude complex environments such as urban blocks and valleys, quickly adjust shooting angles and positions, and capture ideal pictures.

[0003] An unmanned helicopter generally includes a rotor, a tail rotor, a fuselage, a control system, a power unit, etc., wherein the aerial photography device is movably arranged inside the fuselage, and the bottom wall of the fuselage has a movable door. In flight, the aerial photography device can be hidden inside the fuselage to reduce wind resistance and protect the aerial photography device from damage. When shooting is required, the aerial photography device is extended from the door under the fuselage to perform the shooting task. However, the traditional aerial photography device can only be extended from the bottom of the fuselage, and the shooting angle of the aerial photography device is limited due to the shielding effect of the fuselage.

[0004] In the prior art, there is also a technical solution of installing an aerial photography device at the front end of an unmanned helicopter. Although this method can expand the shooting range, it is not convenient to hide the aerial photography device, so that the unmanned helicopter is subject to greater air resistance during flight, which is not conducive to maintaining the stability and balance of the fuselage. In addition, if two sets of aerial photography devices are respectively set at the top and bottom of the unmanned helicopter, although the shooting range can be expanded, due to the differences in parameters such as color, brightness, and contrast between the shooting images of the two sets of cameras, complex image fusion or splicing work is required during the later image processing, which adds trouble to the later production; in addition, the setting of two sets of camera mechanisms will also increase the shooting cost to a certain extent. In view of this, we propose an aerial photography device for unmanned aerial vehicles to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks well. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide an aerial photography device for a drone, so as to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0006] The present invention is realized by the following technical scheme: an aerial photography device for a drone, comprising:

[0007] A seat plate, fixedly embedded in the top wall of the drone, wherein the seat plate is in a ring shape;

[0008] A movable frame, wherein the movable frame is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the seat plate and is distributed vertically;

[0009] A camera mechanism, wherein the camera mechanism and the mobile frame are slidably matched in a vertical direction, and is used to extend through the inner side of the seat plate to extend above the top of the drone, or extend below the bottom of the drone;

[0010] Wherein, the movable frame is also provided with a linear drive component for driving the camera mechanism to slide up and down along the movable frame.

[0011] Optionally, the camera mechanism includes a camera, a pitch adjustment component and a rotation control component, the camera is mounted on the pitch adjustment component, and the pitch adjustment component is arranged at the output end of the rotation control component.

[0012] Optionally, the movable frame includes two slide rails distributed vertically, and the two slide rails are slidably connected with displacement blocks. The rotation control component is arranged between the two displacement blocks, and the rotation control component is rotationally matched with the two displacement blocks.

[0013] Optionally, one side of the rotation control component is rotationally connected to one of the displacement blocks via a rotating shaft, a servo motor is installed on the displacement block on the other side of the rotation control component, and an output end of the servo motor is connected to the rotation control component.

[0014] Optionally, an electric hatch is provided on the lower surface of the seat plate to close the inner space of the seat plate.

[0015] Optionally, a shielding mechanism is provided on the top surface of the camera, and the shielding mechanism includes a shielding cover and a shielding plate, the shielding cover is a hollow structure with an opening at one end, and the shielding plate is movably inserted into the inner side of the shielding cover; when the camera is extended to the top of the seat plate and the camera is looking horizontally, the shielding plate in a fully expanded state can block the camera from capturing the propeller.

[0016] Optionally, an electromagnet is provided inside the shielding sleeve, the shielding plate is an internal hollow structure, and a permanent magnet block is provided inside the shielding plate. When the electromagnet is energized, the facing magnetic poles of the electromagnet and the permanent magnet block are the same, and the shielding plate is in a fully extended state; when the electromagnet is de-energized, the shielding plate is in a retracted state.

[0017] Optionally, a gravity switch is provided on the outside of the rotation control component, and the gravity switch is arranged in series with the electromagnet. When the camera is located directly above the rotation control component, the gravity switch is in a closed state; in other states, the gravity switch is in an open state.

[0018] Optionally, it further includes a reinforced positioning component, which is installed on the bottom tripod of the drone, and the reinforced positioning component at least includes a positioning plate, and a positioning groove is opened on the surface of the positioning plate;

[0019] A positioning block is provided on the top surface of the shielding sleeve. When the camera is located directly below the rotation control assembly and extends out of the bottom of the drone, the positioning block can be embedded in the positioning groove.

[0020] Optionally, the reinforced positioning assembly also includes a reinforced seat, which is fixedly connected to the bottom tripod of the drone, and the positioning plate is rotatably set on the reinforced seat. When the positioning block is embedded in the positioning groove, the rotating shaft of the positioning plate is coaxially set with the output shaft of the rotation control assembly.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an aerial photography device for a drone, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0022] 1. The aerial photography device in the present invention can extend from the bottom of the drone or from the top of the drone. One aerial photography device can capture two images at the bottom and top of the drone, which helps to expand the shooting range of the traditional aerial photography device without damaging the drag coefficient of the unmanned helicopter or causing the problem of different image parameters due to the two sets of cameras.

[0023] 2. The present invention also has a shielding mechanism. When the aerial photography device is located above the top of the drone, the shielding mechanism can be deployed to block the propeller from entering the camera's shooting screen. At the same time, the shielding mechanism can also block pollutants such as rain and snow from dripping onto the camera lens, which helps to keep the lens clean.

[0024] 3. The shielding mechanism in the present invention further includes a positioning block. When the positioning block is embedded in the positioning groove at the bottom of the unmanned helicopter, it can help to improve the support strength of the camera, thereby improving the stability of the camera, and thus helping to improve the picture quality;

[0025] 4. The rotation control assembly in the present invention is provided with a gravity switch. When the camera is rotated to the upper position, the shielding mechanism is automatically deployed, and vice versa, the shielding mechanism is automatically retracted. Therefore, the automatic opening and closing of the shielding mechanism can be realized, thereby improving the smoothness of use. At the same time, when there is no need to use the shielding plate, the shielding plate is always in a retracted state, thereby helping to reduce the volume of the aerial photography device when it passes through the inside of the drone. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a state of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 It is another state schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a front cross-sectional view of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 It is a side sectional view of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the shielding mechanism of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the strengthening positioning assembly of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 7 For the present invention Figure 2 The corresponding figure at point A is enlarged.

[0033] In the figure: 100, seat plate; 101, electric door; 200, moving frame; 201, slide rail; 202, displacement block; 300, camera mechanism; 301, camera; 302, pitch adjustment assembly; 303, rotation control assembly; 400, servo motor; 500, linear drive assembly; 600, shielding mechanism; 601, shielding sleeve; 602, shielding plate; 603, electromagnet; 604, permanent magnet block; 605, positioning block; 700, gravity switch; 800, reinforced positioning assembly; 801, positioning plate; 802, positioning groove; 803, reinforced seat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] Example 1: Please refer to Figure 1 - Figure 4 , an aerial photography device for a drone, comprising a seat plate 100, a mobile frame 200 and a camera mechanism 300, wherein the seat plate 100 is fixedly embedded in the top wall of the drone, and the seat plate 100 is in a ring shape; specifically, in this embodiment, the outer contour of the seat plate 100 is square, the inner contour of the seat plate 100 is circular, and the seat plate 100 is used to be fixedly installed on the top wall of the drone. However, it should be noted that a mounting notch for the seat plate 100 to be installed needs to be preset on the top wall of the drone, and when the seat plate 100 is placed inside the mounting notch, it can be fixedly connected by bolts or rivets.

[0036] Further, the moving frame 200 is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the seat plate 100, and the moving frame 200 is vertically distributed; the camera mechanism 300 is slidably engaged with the moving frame 200 in the vertical direction and is used to extend above the top or below the bottom of the drone. It should be noted that in order to enable the camera mechanism 300 to extend below the drone, an extension opening for the camera mechanism 300 to pass through is also provided on the bottom wall of the drone. In addition, an electric hatch 101 is provided on the lower surface of the seat plate 100 for closing the inner space of the seat plate 100. When shooting is not required, the electric hatch 101 is always in the closed state to prevent foreign objects from entering the cabin and causing damage and pollution.

[0037] Specifically, in this embodiment, the camera mechanism 300 includes a camera 301, a pitch adjustment component 302, and a rotation control component 303. The pitch adjustment component 302 is in a U shape, the camera 301 is rotatably installed inside the pitch adjustment component 302, and a servo control component is provided inside the pitch adjustment component 302, which can control the camera 301 to rotate around its own rotation axis. The output end of the rotation control component 303 is a rotation shaft, and the pitch adjustment component 302 is arranged on the output end of the rotation control component 303. It should be noted that the pitch adjustment component 302 and the rotation control component 303 together form an aerial photography gimbal for adjusting the angle of the camera 301.

[0038] The moving frame 200 includes two slide rails 201 vertically distributed. Displacement blocks 202 are slidably connected to both slide rails 201. The rotation control component 303 is arranged between the two displacement blocks 202. One side of the rotation control component 303 is rotatably connected to one of the displacement blocks 202 through a rotation shaft. A servo motor 400 is installed on the displacement block 202 on the other side of the rotation control component 303. The output end of the servo motor 400 is connected to the rotation control component 303, and the output shaft of the servo motor 400 is arranged on the same central axis as the rotation shaft on one side of the rotation control component 303; therefore, the camera mechanism 300 can be directly controlled to flip by the servo motor 400, so that the camera 301 is located below the rotation control component 303 or the camera 301 is located above the rotation control component 303.

[0039] In order to control the camera mechanism 300 to move up and down along the moving frame 200, a linear drive component 500 is also provided on the moving frame 200. In this embodiment, the linear drive component 500 adopts an electric slide table. The electric slide table is fixedly installed on one of the slide rails 201, and the movable end of the electric slide table is fixedly connected to the displacement block 202, thereby controlling the up and down sliding of the camera mechanism 300.

[0040] In summary, this embodiment provides openings on the top wall and bottom wall of the drone for the camera mechanism 300 to pass through, so that the camera mechanism 300 can extend both above the top of the drone and below the bottom of the drone. One camera 301 can be used to capture images at two locations respectively. Compared with an aerial photography device that is only provided at the bottom of the drone, this embodiment can obviously increase the shooting range and expand the shooting angle.

[0041] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, when shooting in a single direction in a small space, the location of the aerial photography device has a significant impact on the shooting effect. If the aerial photography device is placed at the bottom of the drone, it is difficult to obtain images near the top area due to the obstruction of the drone's own structure; similarly, if the shooting device is installed on the top of the drone, it will also face similar obstruction problems. In this embodiment, an innovative solution is adopted in which the camera mechanism 300 is installed in an unmanned helicopter in a through-type manner. With this unique design, a single shooting device can capture two images at the same time. The advantage of this design is that it can effectively ensure the consistency of the key parameters of the captured images in terms of color, brightness, contrast, etc., greatly simplifying the post-production process of the images and significantly improving work efficiency.

[0042] Example 2: Please refer to Figure 1 - Figure 5 The present application embodiment further proposes an aerial photography device for a drone. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that:

[0043] A shielding mechanism 600 is provided on the top surface of the camera 301, and the shielding mechanism 600 includes a shielding cover 601 and a shielding plate 602. The shielding cover 601 is a hollow structure with an opening at one end. The shielding cover 601 is fixedly connected to the top surface of the camera 301 by bolts, and the open end of the shielding cover 601 and the camera end of the camera 301 are located on the same side, and the shielding plate 602 is movably inserted into the inner side of the shielding cover 601; when the camera 301 is extended to the top of the seat plate 100 and the camera 301 is looking horizontally, the shielding plate 602 in a fully unfolded state can prevent the camera 301 from photographing the propeller.

[0044] The specific structure of the shielding mechanism 600 is described below:

[0045] The shielding cover 601 is provided with an electromagnet 603 inside, and the shielding plate 602 is an internal hollow structure. The shielding plate 602 is provided with a permanent magnet block 604 inside. When the electromagnet 603 is powered on, the magnetic poles of the opposite ends of the electromagnet 603 and the permanent magnet block 604 are the same, and the shielding plate 602 is in a fully extended state; when the electromagnet 603 is powered off, the shielding plate 602 is in a retracted state. That is, when the electromagnet 603 is powered on, the shielding plate 602 can extend outward and block the upper line of sight of the camera 301, thereby preventing the propeller from entering the shooting screen.

[0046] The outside of the rotation control assembly 303 is provided with a gravity switch 700, which is connected in series with the electromagnet 603. When the camera 301 is located directly above the rotation control assembly 303, the gravity switch 700 is in a closed state; in other states, the gravity switch 700 is in an open state. Specifically, the electromagnet 603 is connected to the power supply wire inside the drone. Due to the setting of the gravity switch 700, when the camera 301 is located directly above the rotation control assembly 303, the electromagnet 603 is powered on; in other states, the electromagnet 603 is powered off, and the shielding plate 602 is in a retracted state.

[0047] In summary, in this embodiment, when the camera 301 extends above the seat plate 100 and the camera 301 is looking horizontally, Figure 1 As shown, the shielding plate 602 in the fully unfolded state can block the camera 301 from photographing the helicopter's propeller. Therefore, the shielding mechanism 600 can prevent the propeller from entering the camera's shooting picture, thereby affecting the picture quality.

[0048] At the same time, since the extending direction of the shielding plate 602 is consistent with the direction of the lens of the camera 301, the shielding plate 602 also has the function of preventing pollutants such as rain and snow from dripping onto the lens, thereby keeping the lens clean.

[0049] In addition, due to the setting of the gravity switch 700, when the camera 301 is flipped to the position directly above the rotation control component 303, the shielding plate 602 can be automatically deployed; otherwise, the shielding plate 602 can be automatically retracted. The function is to realize the automatic opening and closing of the shielding mechanism 600, thereby improving the operational fluency of this embodiment, without manual control, and can effectively avoid the adverse effects caused by manual operation errors.

[0050] It should be noted that in the initial state of this embodiment, the camera 301 is in a downward state; when the camera 301 needs to extend out of the top of the drone for shooting, the linear drive assembly 500 first drives the camera mechanism 300 to rise to the topmost position, and then the servo motor 400 controls the camera mechanism 300 to flip half a circle until the camera 301 is directly above the rotation control assembly 303. When the camera mechanism 300 needs to be retracted, the servo motor 400 first controls the camera mechanism 300 to rotate half a circle in the opposite direction, and then the linear drive assembly 500 controls the camera mechanism 300 to retract.

[0051] Example 3: Please refer to Figure 1 - Figure 7 The present application embodiment also proposes an aerial photography device for a drone. The difference between this embodiment and the second embodiment is that:

[0052] The enhanced positioning assembly 800 is also included. The enhanced positioning assembly 800 is installed on the bottom tripod of the drone. The enhanced positioning assembly 800 at least includes a positioning plate 801. The surface of the positioning plate 801 is provided with a positioning groove 802. The top surface of the shielding cover 601 is provided with a positioning block 605. When the camera 301 is directly below the rotation control assembly 303 and extends out of the bottom of the drone, the positioning block 605 can be embedded in the positioning groove 802. Specifically in this embodiment, the positioning groove 802 is square, and the shape of the positioning block 605 is consistent with the positioning groove 802.

[0053] Furthermore, the reinforced positioning assembly 800 also includes a reinforced seat 803, which is fixedly connected to the bottom tripod of the drone, and the positioning plate 801 is rotatably arranged on the reinforced seat 803, and when the positioning block 605 is embedded in the positioning groove 802, the rotation axis of the positioning plate 801 is arranged coaxially with the output axis of the rotation control assembly 303. Therefore, when the rotation control assembly 303 controls the pitch adjustment assembly 302 to rotate, the positioning block 605 on the camera 301 is always embedded in the positioning groove 802, so the positioning plate 801 can rotate synchronously with the camera 301, thereby improving the support strength of the camera 301.

[0054] It should be noted that when the camera 301 is in a downward state and extends below the bottom of the drone, the positioning block 605 does not always need to be embedded in the positioning slot 802. Specifically, when the camera 301 needs to perform a pitch rotation action to achieve pitch shooting, the positioning block 605 should be kept at a specific distance from the positioning plate 801 to provide freedom for the pitch movement of the camera 301. During the forward flight of the drone, in view of the greater air resistance at this time, in order to ensure the shooting stability, the positioning block 605 can be embedded in the positioning slot 802. This measure helps to maintain the stability of the camera 301 during the flight, thereby improving the picture quality.

[0055] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0056] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An aerial photography device for a drone, characterized in that: include: A seat plate, fixedly embedded in the top wall of the drone, wherein the seat plate is in a ring shape; A movable frame, wherein the movable frame is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the seat plate and is distributed vertically; A camera mechanism, wherein the camera mechanism and the mobile frame are slidably matched in a vertical direction, and is used to extend through the inner side of the seat plate to extend above the top of the drone, or extend below the bottom of the drone; Wherein, the movable frame is also provided with a linear drive component for driving the camera mechanism to slide up and down along the movable frame.

2. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: The camera mechanism comprises a camera, a pitch adjustment component and a rotation control component. The camera is mounted on the pitch adjustment component, and the pitch adjustment component is arranged at the output end of the rotation control component.

3. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 2, characterized in that: The mobile frame comprises two slide rails distributed in the vertical direction, and the two slide rails are both slidably connected with displacement blocks. The rotation control component is arranged between the two displacement blocks, and the rotation control component is rotationally matched with the two displacement blocks.

4. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 3, characterized in that: One side of the rotation control component is rotationally connected to one of the displacement blocks via a rotating shaft, and a servo motor is installed on the displacement block on the other side of the rotation control component, and the output end of the servo motor is connected to the rotation control component.

5. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: An electric door is provided on the lower surface of the seat plate for closing the inner space of the seat plate.

6. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 2, characterized in that: A shielding mechanism is provided on the top surface of the camera, and the shielding mechanism includes a shielding sleeve and a shielding plate. The shielding sleeve is a hollow structure with an opening at one end, and the shielding plate is movably inserted into the inner side of the shielding sleeve; when the camera is extended to the top of the seat plate and the camera is looking horizontally, the shielding plate in a fully unfolded state can prevent the camera from photographing the propeller.

7. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 6, characterized in that: An electromagnet is provided inside the shielding sleeve, and the shielding plate is an internal hollow structure. A permanent magnet block is provided inside the shielding plate. When the electromagnet is energized, the facing magnetic poles of the electromagnet and the permanent magnet block are the same, and the shielding plate is in a fully extended state; when the electromagnet is de-energized, the shielding plate is in a retracted state.

8. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 7, characterized in that: A gravity switch is provided on the outside of the rotation control component, and the gravity switch is arranged in series with the electromagnet. When the camera is located directly above the rotation control component, the gravity switch is in a closed state; In other states, the gravity switch is in an off state.

9. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a reinforced positioning component, which is installed on the bottom tripod of the drone, and the reinforced positioning component at least includes a positioning plate, and a positioning groove is opened on the surface of the positioning plate; A positioning block is provided on the top surface of the shielding sleeve. When the camera is located directly below the rotation control assembly and extends out of the bottom of the drone, the positioning block can be embedded in the positioning groove.

10. The aerial photography device for a drone according to claim 5, characterized in that: The reinforced positioning assembly also includes a reinforced seat, which is fixedly connected to the bottom tripod of the drone. The positioning plate is rotatably arranged on the reinforced seat, and when the positioning block is embedded in the positioning groove, the rotating shaft of the positioning plate is coaxially arranged with the output shaft of the rotation control assembly.

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