Unmanned aerial vehicle docking system and method

Abstract

The invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle parking system and method, and the system comprises a base station and an unmanned aerial vehicle, and the base station is configured to start a takeover program for the landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and comparing the reference image shot by the unmanned aerial vehicle with the image shot by the base station to form a control parameter for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle, and controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to land on the base station. The system and method provided by the invention have the beneficial effects that controlled landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle during power shortage can be realized, so that landing failure caused by power shortage during autonomous landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and particularly to a drone landing guidance system and method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as UAVs, are increasingly widely used, and generally, rechargeable batteries are used to power the UAVs. In this process, the automatic charging platform plays a very important role.

[0003] The automatic charging platform is used in conjunction with industry application UAVs to facilitate the industry application UAVs to automatically execute route tasks at fixed times and locations according to the instructions of the dispatching system. After the UAV operation is completed, it returns to the charging base to replenish power, thereby reducing the manual maintenance cost.

[0004] In specific emergency UAV application fields, in addition to performing battery replacement operations on the UAVs, the base station also needs to configure the emergency equipment loaded on the UAVs, such as loading new emergency equipment, recycling unused emergency equipment, or replacing failed emergency equipment. For UAVs carrying such emergency equipment, due to the emergency equipment loaded below, the operation of the visual positioning system on the UAV is restricted, and the docking positioning performed by the UAV during docking faces the challenge of low accuracy. In some application scenarios, such as in fire emergency applications, due to the fire equipment carried by the UAV, such as fire bombs, which may not be dropped for various reasons and need to be carried back to the base station by the UAV for processing, at this time, the UAV may face a situation of insufficient power and cannot perform high-power image processing and other operations.

[0005] In addition, in the operation scenarios where it is necessary to recycle or replace emergency equipment, the presence of the emergency equipment increases the total weight of the UAV and the friction force with the upper surface of the apron unit. In this way, when using the centering device to laterally push and center the UAV, sometimes the UAV will overturn. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this application is to solve one or more of the above technical problems and propose an improved UAV docking method and system.

[0007] To this end, some embodiments of the present application provide a drone docking system, including a base station and a drone. The base station is configured to: Step S100, if it is detected that the drone enters its network range, establish a communication network with the drone and initiate a takeover procedure for the drone to land; Step S200, obtain the drone camera images captured by the drone camera and the shooting parameters associated with these drone camera images, identify the drone camera image with the base station image therein as the reference image, and use the reference image and the parameter set associated with the reference image as the reference parameter set; Step S300, select a base station camera image that matches the time parameter in the reference parameter set of the drone camera images from the images captured by the base station camera as the first comparison image, and compare the recognition result of the first comparison image with the recognition result of the reference image to determine the first relative position between the drone and the base station, and form a landing instruction for the drone based on the first relative position as a control parameter, and update the reference image to the first comparison image to obtain an updated reference image; Step S400, after a predetermined time interval, perform the step of updating the control parameter, including selecting a second comparison image different from the first comparison image from the base station camera images, and comparing the recognition result of the second comparison image with the recognition result of the updated reference image to determine the second relative position between the drone and the camera of the base station, and update the control parameter according to the second relative position; Step S500, repeat the step of updating the control parameter until it is determined that the drone is located within the upward projection area of the apron unit of the base station.

[0008] In some embodiments, during the process of establishing a network connection between the drone and the base station, the base station obtains the model of the drone from the drone, thereby obtaining the drone size and the drone contour feature information, and derives the control parameter based on the drone size and the drone contour feature.

[0009] In some embodiments, the base station receives multiple drone camera images captured by the drone camera and the parameter set of the drone camera images from the drone. The parameter set at least includes the zoom ratio, focal length, shooting time, and drone attitude of the drone image, and derives the control parameter based on the zoom ratio, focal length, shooting time, and drone attitude.

[0010] In some embodiments, taking the structure of the base station as a reference object, the fixed contour features of the reference object are identified from the base station camera image with the contour features of the reference object; the features of the reference object contour in the UAV camera image are identified, and the identified features such as size, inclination angle, deformation, etc. are used as the dynamic contour features of the reference object; after comparing them with the fixed contour features of the reference object, the first relative position is obtained separately, or it is used as an aid for judging the first relative position according to the contour features of the UAV.

[0011] In some embodiments, it further includes: step S610, using the above-mentioned UAV landing procedure taken over by the base station to control the UAV to enter the landing mode; step S620, after landing on the apron unit, the base station judges the position of the UAV on the apron unit based on the pressure signals provided by the pressure sensor group of the apron unit; step S630, then the base station controls the UAV to unload the item, and then controls the UAV to vertically take off and leave the apron for a first time period; step S640, within this first time period, each push rod assembly of the centering unit drives the push rod to center the item to the position of the tray of the lifting mechanism at the opening according to the centering drive signal derived by the base station based on the pressure signals provided by the pressure sensor group, and then the base station controls the lifting mechanism to drive the tray to descend, and then the item replacement mechanism moves the item from the tray to the item storage bin in the base station. During this process, the UAV hovers and waits until the tray resets to be flush with the upper surface of the apron unit; step S650, the base station sends a signal for vertical landing to the UAV until it lands on the apron unit; step S660, then the base station controls the centering unit to center the UAV on the tray, and then the lifting mechanism lowers it into the base station to perform operations such as battery replacement.

[0012] In some embodiments, an article is coupled below the drone; the base station includes a base station housing, an apron unit is provided on the upper part of the housing, a drone centering mechanism is provided around the upper surface of the apron unit, and a lifting mechanism is provided inside the base station housing for lowering the drone into the interior of the base station housing to configure the battery of the drone, and the configuration includes loading, replacing, and / or loading and replacing the article attached below the drone; the apron unit includes a flat apron body, which internally includes a uniformly distributed first pressure sensor array to monitor the force condition on its upper surface as a basis for whether there is a drone or whether an object has fallen on the apron unit; an opening is provided in the middle of the apron body for the pallet of the lifting mechanism to lift the drone out from this opening; a centering mechanism is provided around the apron unit, and the centering mechanism includes a first push rod assembly pair and a second push rod assembly pair arranged orthogonally; the lifting mechanism includes a pallet, a lifting rod for driving the pallet to rise and fall, and a driving part for driving the lifting rod to act; the driving part is communicatively connected to the base station and obtains a lifting drive signal for driving the lifting rod to act from the base station; the generation of the lifting drive signal is derived by the base station from the monitoring results of a second pressure sensor array provided on the pallet.

[0013] To this end, some embodiments of the present application provide a method for a drone to dock, which is used for the drone to dock on a base station. The method includes step S100: if the base station monitors that the drone enters its network range, establish a communication network with the drone and start the takeover procedure for the drone to land; step S200: the base station obtains the drone camera images captured by the drone camera of the drone and the shooting parameters associated with these drone camera images, identifies the drone camera image with the base station image therein as the reference image, and uses the reference image and the parameter set associated with the reference image as the reference parameter set; step S300: the base station selects a base station camera image that matches the time parameter in the reference parameter set of the reference image from the base station camera images captured by the base station camera as the first comparison image, and compares the recognition result of the first comparison image with the recognition result of the reference image to determine the first relative position between the drone and the base station, and forms a landing instruction for the drone based on the first relative position as a control parameter, and updates the reference image to the first comparison image to obtain an updated reference image; step S400: after a predetermined time interval, the base station executes the step of updating the control parameter, including selecting a second comparison image different from the first comparison image from the base station camera images, and comparing the recognition result of the second comparison image with the recognition result of the updated reference image to determine the second relative position between the drone and the camera of the base station, and updating the control parameter according to the second relative position; step S500: the base station repeatedly executes the step of updating the control parameter until it is determined that the drone is located within the upward projection area of the apron unit of the base station.

[0014] In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: during the process of establishing a network connection between the drone and the base station, the base station obtains the model of the drone from the drone, so as to obtain the drone size and the drone contour feature information, and derives the control parameter based on the drone size and the drone contour feature; or the base station receives multiple drone camera images captured by the drone camera of the drone and the parameter set of the drone camera images from the drone, the parameter set at least includes the zoom ratio, focal length and shooting time of the drone image, and the drone attitude, and derives the control parameter based on the zoom ratio, focal length and shooting time, and the drone attitude.

[0015] In some embodiments, the structure of the base station is used as a reference object, and the fixed contour features of the reference object are identified from the base station camera image with the contour features of the reference object; the features of the reference object contour in the UAV camera image are identified, and the identified features such as size, inclination angle, and deformation are used as the dynamic contour features of the reference object; after comparing them with the fixed contour features of the reference object, the first relative position is obtained separately, or it is used as an aid for judging the first relative position according to the contour features of the UAV.

[0016] In some embodiments, it further includes: Step S610, adopting the above-mentioned UAV landing procedure taken over by the base station to control the UAV to enter the landing mode; Step S620, after landing on the apron unit, the base station judges the position of the UAV on the apron unit based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group 23 of the apron unit; Step S630, then the base station controls the UAV to unload the item, and then controls the UAV to vertically take off and leave the apron for the first time period; Step S640, within this first time period, each push rod assembly of the centering unit drives the push rod to center the item to the position of the tray of the lifting mechanism at the opening according to the centering drive signal derived by the base station based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group, and then the base station controls the lifting mechanism to drive the tray to descend, and then the item replacement mechanism moves the item from the tray to the item storage position in the base station. During this process, the UAV hovers and waits until the tray resets to be flush with the upper surface of the apron unit; Step S650, the base station sends a signal for the UAV to vertically land until it lands on the apron unit; Step S660, then the base station controls the centering unit to center the UAV onto the tray, and then the lifting mechanism lowers it into the base station to perform the battery replacement operation.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the system and method proposed in this application include: It can realize the controlled landing of the UAV when it runs out of power, thus avoiding the landing failure caused by power shortage when the UAV lands autonomously. In some embodiments, the parameter set of the UAV camera image is used to identify the relative position between the UAV and the base station to control the UAV landing; in some embodiments, after taking over, the base station separately identifies the relative position between the UAV and the base station in combination with the contour features of the reference object on the base station, or assists the above-mentioned identification based on the UAV parameter set; in addition, for the UAV loaded with items, staged landing of the UAV can be realized, so that on the one hand, the item can be recovered, and on the other hand, the UAV can successfully achieve safe landing and perform subsequent operations such as battery replacement. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the structure of the UAV docking system according to the present application.

[0019] Figure 2It is a schematic top view of the structure of the drone docking system according to the present application.

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic top view of the structure of the position of the base station camera in the drone docking system according to the present application.

[0021] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the apron unit in the drone docking system according to the present application.

[0022] Figure 5 It is a schematic flowchart of the drone docking method according to the present application.

[0023] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the component interaction of the drone docking method according to the present application.

[0024] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the comparison image of the drone docking method according to the present application.

[0025] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the reference image and the comparison image including the reference object of the drone docking method according to the present application.

[0026] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of the staged docking of the drone docking method according to the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0027] The following will elaborate on the specific embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] As Figure 1 shown, in some embodiments of the present application, the drone docking method and system involve a base station 100 and a drone 200, and an object 300, such as an emergency appliance, such as a fire extinguishing bomb, is coupled, for example, suspended below the drone 200.

[0029] The base station 100 is as Figure 1 shown, and includes a base station housing 10. An apron unit 20 is provided on the upper part of the housing. A drone centering mechanism 30 is provided around the upper surface of the apron unit. A lifting mechanism 40 is provided inside the base station housing 10 for lowering the drone 200 into the interior of the base station housing 10 to perform, for example, the configuration of the drone's battery, which includes loading, replacement, etc., and also perform, for example, the loading, replacement, etc. of the object 300 attached below the drone 200.

[0030] As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 4As shown, the apron unit 20 may be a flat apron body 21, which may include a uniformly distributed first pressure sensor array 22 inside to monitor the force condition on its upper surface as a basis for whether there is a drone or an object falling on the apron unit 20. An opening 23 is provided in the middle of the apron body 21 for the pallet 41 of the lifting mechanism to lift the drone out from this opening.

[0031] As described above, a centering mechanism 30 is provided around the apron unit 20. The centering mechanism 30 includes a first push rod assembly pair 31 and a second push rod assembly pair 32 arranged orthogonally. The first push rod assembly pair 31, for example, as Figure 2 shown, includes a front push rod 31A assembly and a rear push rod 31B assembly. The second push rod assembly pair 32 includes a left push rod assembly 32A and a right push rod assembly 32B. Each push rod assembly includes a push rod and a push rod driving part. Taking the left push rod assembly 32A as an example, as Figure 3 shown, it includes a left push rod 321A, a lead screw driving mechanism 322A coupled to the left push rod 321A. The lead screw driving mechanism 322A serves as a driving part to drive the left push rod to move horizontally. Optionally, notches are provided on the apron body 21 of the apron unit 20 to allow the push rods of each push rod assembly pair to displace relative to the apron body 21 of the apron unit 20. For example, as Figure 2 shown, the apron body 21 is provided with a notch 24A to allow the left push rod 321A of the left push rod assembly 32A to translate relative to the apron body 21.

[0032] The push rod driving part of each push rod assembly of the centering mechanism 30 may be electrically connected to the controller 50, so as to receive a centering driving signal from the controller 50, and thus center the object on the surface of the apron body 21 to the pallet 41 of the lifting mechanism in the area where the opening 23 is located, so as to perform subsequent lifting actions.

[0033] The lifting mechanism 40 includes a pallet 41, a lifting rod 42 for driving the pallet to rise and fall, and a driving part 43 for driving the lifting rod to act. The driving part 43 is communicatively connected to the controller 50 and obtains a lifting driving signal for driving the lifting rod 42 to act from the controller 50. The generation of the lifting driving signal can be derived by the controller 50, for example, based on the monitoring result of the second pressure sensor array 22 provided on the pallet 41. For example, if the pressure signal monitored by the second pressure sensor array 411 on the pallet 41 exceeds a set threshold, a driving signal for driving the pallet 41 to descend is derived, and the driving part 43 drives the lifting rod to drive the pallet 41 to descend, so that the pallet 41 enters the base station to complete subsequent drone battery replacement, loading and unloading of items, and other drone configurations.

[0034] If the UAV makes an autonomous landing, the processor often needs to identify the image of the landing area captured by the UAV camera, which will impose an additional burden on the UAV's processor. In some embodiments of the present application, it is proposed that the base station takes over the control task of the UAV's landing. In this configuration, the base station is provided with a base station camera 60, and the base station camera can be arranged on the left push rod assembly 32 as shown, for example, as Figure 3 shown.

[0035] The main process of this process is as shown in Figure 5 and includes the following steps:

[0036] Step S100, if the base station monitors that the UAV enters its network range, the base station establishes a communication network with the UAV and starts the takeover procedure for the UAV's landing by the base station;

[0037] Step S200, obtain the UAV camera images captured by the UAV camera and the shooting parameters associated with these UAV camera images, identify the image with the base station image from them as the reference image, and use the reference image and the parameter set related to the reference image as the reference parameter set;

[0038] Step S300, select the image captured by the base station camera 60 that matches the parameters of the UAV from the images captured by the base station camera 60 as the first comparison image, and compare the recognition result of the first comparison image with the recognition result of the reference image to determine the first relative position between the UAV and the base station camera, and form a landing instruction for the UAV based on this first relative position as a control parameter. Thereafter, update the reference image to the first comparison image to obtain the updated reference image;

[0039] Step S400, after a predetermined time interval, perform the step of updating the control parameter, including selecting a second comparison image different from the first comparison image from the images captured by the base station camera 60, and comparing the recognition result of the second comparison image with the recognition result of the updated reference image to determine the second relative position between the UAV and the base station camera, and update the control parameter according to this second relative position;

[0040] Step S500, repeatedly execute the step of updating the control parameter until it is determined that the UAV is within the upward projection area of the apron unit.

[0041] The specific implementation process of the above steps can be as shown in Figure 6As shown, after the drone 200 enters the network area of the base station 100, it establishes a network connection with the base station. During the connection establishment process, the base station can obtain the model of the drone, and thus can know information such as the size and contour features of the drone. Then the base station 100 receives multiple drone camera images captured by the drone camera of the drone 200 and a parameter set of the drone camera images. The parameter set at least includes the zoom ratio, focal length, and shooting time of the image, and the drone attitude. The base station 100 identifies the drone camera images. When a drone camera image including an image of the base station 200 is identified, the drone camera image is used as a reference image, and the parameter set accompanying the reference image is used as a reference parameter set. After establishing a network connection with the drone, the base station camera 60 is started to capture pictures above the base station at the same time. When the base station 100 determines that the reference image is obtained, an image with the same time parameter as that of the base station camera 60 is extracted from the reference parameter set of the reference image as a comparison image according to the shooting time, and according to the position and contour features of the identified drone 200 in the comparison image, such as Figure 7 As shown, in combination with the zoom ratio and / or focal length parameter and / or drone attitude in the reference image, the first relative position between the drone 200 and the center of the base station 200 is deduced. The center of the base station 200 can be, for example, the geometric center of the opening 23 of the apron unit 20. Thus, a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate position of the drone can be constructed with this center as the origin, or a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate position with the geometric center of the base station camera 60 as the center of the base station and this center as the origin. Then, according to the first relative position, a control parameter for the drone is generated, and the control parameter is sent to the drone to take over the landing of the drone. At the same time, the reference image is updated to the first comparison image to obtain an updated reference image.

[0042] In the process of comparing the reference image with the first comparison image to obtain the first relative position, and comparing the updated reference image with the second comparison image to obtain the second relative position, it can be judged according to the zoom ratio and / or focal length parameter and / or drone attitude in the reference image in the parameter set.

[0043] In the time period until the drone lands thereafter, the base station 200 will execute the control parameter update step at a predetermined time interval, such as 1 second, in a loop until the drone reaches the projection area above the apron unit. The control parameter update step includes comparing the position difference of the drone in the base station camera image at the current time point with the updated reference image, and deducing the second relative position between the drone 200 and the upper surface of the apron unit 20. And according to the second relative position, the control parameter is updated, and then the updated control parameter is sent to the drone.

[0044] In some embodiments, the structure of the base station can be used as a reference object to simplify the image comparison step. For example, the attachments 80 on the upper covers 70A and 70B of the base station can be used as reference objects. In this embodiment, as Figure 1 shown, the attachment 80 on the left upper cover 70A can be used as a reference object. In this way, on the one hand, the base station camera 60 can capture a base station camera image with fixed contour features of the reference object, so that the fixed contour features of the reference object can be identified and used as the object for comparison. On the other hand, the recognition of the features of the base station in the UAV camera image can be more targeted, that is, it can only focus on recognizing the features of the reference object contour, and use the recognized features such as size, inclination angle, and deformation as the dynamic contour features of the reference object. After comparing them with the fixed contour features of the reference object, the relative position can be obtained separately, or as an auxiliary for judging the relative position based on the contour features of the UAV. Exemplary features are as Figure 8 shown, Figure 8 The left side in it is the base station camera image, in which the fixed contour features of the reference object are identified; Figure 8 The right side of is the UAV camera image, in which the dynamic contour features of the reference object are identified, such as ratio, inclination angle, and deformation mode, etc., so that the relative position between the UAV and the base station can be deduced accordingly.

[0045] In some embodiments, the products loaded on the UAV may not be unloaded remotely. For example, in the embodiment of fire emergency, the fire extinguishing bombs carried by the UAV are not dropped, and the UAV returns with the fire extinguishing bombs, then the fire extinguishing bombs need to be recovered at the base station. The presence of the fire extinguishing bombs increases the friction between the feet of the UAV and the upper surface of the apron unit 20. When the push rod of the centering mechanism laterally pushes the feet of the UAV, problems such as the inability to push the UAV or the overturning of the UAV may occur.

[0046] Therefore, the present application proposes a two-stage landing process for this scenario, step S600. As Figure 9As shown, in the first stage, first adopt the above-mentioned UAV landing procedure taken over by the base station to control the UAV to enter the landing mode, step S610; after landing on the apron unit 20, the controller 50 determines the position of the UAV on the apron unit 20 based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group 23 of the apron unit, step S620; then the controller 50 controls the UAV to unload the item, such as a fire bomb, and then controls the UAV to take off vertically and leave the apron for a first time period, such as hovering for a first time period, step S630; within this first time period, each push rod assembly 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B of the centering unit 30 drives the push rod to center the item, such as a fire bomb, to the position of the pallet 41 of the lifting mechanism at the opening 23 according to the centering drive signal derived by the controller 50 based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group 22, and then the controller 50 controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to descend, and then the item replacement mechanism moves the item from the pallet to the item storage bin in the base station. During this process, the UAV hovers and waits until the pallet 41 resets to be flush with the upper surface of the apron unit, step S640; in the second stage, the controller 50 sends a signal for the UAV 200 to vertically land until it lands on the apron unit 20, step S650; then the controller 50 controls the centering unit 30 to center the UAV onto the pallet 41, and then the lifting mechanism lowers it into the base station to perform operations such as battery replacement, step S660.

[0047] In the above descriptions of various processes, the processes performed by the base station can be carried out by the controller 50 or by other separate processors.

[0048] It should be understood that both the base station and the UAV in the present invention include controllers, such as a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, etc., which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to the programs stored in the read-only memory (ROM) or the programs loaded from the storage device into the random access memory (RAM). In the RAM, various programs and data required for the operation of the device are also stored. The processing device, ROM, and RAM are connected to each other through a bus. The input / output (I / O) interface is also connected to the bus.

[0049] Generally, the following devices can be connected to the I / O interface: input devices including, for example, a touch screen, a touchpad, a keyboard, a mouse, a camera, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, etc.; output devices including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a speaker, a vibrator, etc.; storage devices including, for example, magnetic tape, a hard disk, etc.; and communication devices. The communication device can allow the device to communicate with other devices wirelessly or wiredly to exchange data.

[0050] In particular, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the process described in the provided flowchart can be implemented as a computer software program. For example, an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a computer program product that includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, and the computer program includes program code for performing the method shown in the flowchart. In such an embodiment, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network through a communication device, or installed from a storage device, or installed from a ROM. When the computer program is executed by a processing device, the above functions defined in the method of the embodiment of the present disclosure are performed.

[0051] It should be noted that the above computer-readable medium in the present disclosure can be a computer-readable signal medium, a computer-readable storage medium, or any combination of the two. The computer-readable storage medium can, for example, include but is not limited to an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium can include but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program, and the program can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the computer-readable signal medium can include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, which carries computer-readable program code. Such a propagated data signal can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. The computer-readable signal medium can also be any computer-readable medium other than the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer-readable signal medium can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the computer-readable medium can be transmitted by any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wires, optical cables, radio frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

[0053] The above computer-readable medium can be included in the above base station; or it can exist separately and not be assembled into the base station.

[0054] The above computer-readable medium carries one or more programs, and when the one or more programs are executed by the base station, the base station is caused to execute the processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] Computer program code for performing the operations of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages or combinations thereof. The programming languages include object-oriented programming languages such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, and also include conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" language or similar programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, executed as a stand-alone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computer (e.g., by connecting through the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0056] The units and / or modules involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in software or in hardware.

[0057] For the hardware implementation, the units and / or modules of the apparatus implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), DSPs, programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other electronic components for performing the methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0058] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described above, but the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to the specific content disclosed herein. Those skilled in the art can make more embodiments and applications within the spirit and scope of the present invention by arbitrarily combining and expanding the above embodiments according to the teachings of the present invention. The spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited by the specific embodiments, but by the claims.

Claims

1. A drone docking system, comprising a base station and a drone, characterized in that: The base station is configured to perform: Step S100, if a drone is detected to enter its network range, a communication network is established with the drone, and a takeover procedure for the landing of the drone is initiated; Step S200, obtaining drone camera images taken by the drone camera and shooting parameters associated with the drone camera images, identifying the drone camera image with the base station image as a reference image, and using the reference image and a parameter set associated with the reference image as a reference parameter set; Step S300, selecting a base station camera image that matches a time parameter in a reference parameter set of a drone camera image from images captured by the base station camera as a first comparison image, and comparing a recognition result of the first comparison image with a recognition result of the reference image to determine a first relative position between the drone and the base station, and forming a landing instruction for the drone based on the first relative position as a control parameter, and updating the reference image to the first comparison image to obtain an updated reference image; Step S400, after a predetermined time interval, executing a step of updating the control parameters, including selecting a second comparison image different from the first comparison image from the base station camera image, and comparing the recognition result of the second comparison image with the recognition result of the updated reference image to determine a second relative position between the drone and the camera of the base station, and updating the control parameters according to the second relative position; Step S500, repeatedly executing the step of updating the control parameters until it is determined that the UAV is located within the upward projection area of ​​the apron unit of the base station.

2. The drone docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the process of establishing a network connection between the drone and the base station, the base station obtains the model of the drone from the drone, thereby obtaining the size of the drone and the contour feature information of the drone, and derives the control parameters based on the size of the drone and the contour features of the drone.

3. The drone docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base station receives from the drone a plurality of drone camera images taken by the drone camera and a parameter set of the drone camera images, wherein the parameter set includes at least a zoom factor, a focal length, a shooting time, and a drone attitude of the drone images, and derives the control parameters based on the zoom factor, the focal length, the shooting time, and the drone attitude.

4. The drone docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that: Taking the structure of the base station as a reference object, identifying fixed contour features of the reference object from a base station camera image having contour features of the reference object; The features of the reference object contour in the drone camera image are identified, and the identified size, inclination, deformation and other features are used as dynamic contour features of the reference object; the first relative position is obtained separately after comparing it with the fixed contour features of the reference object, or as an aid to determine the first relative position based on the contour features of the drone.

5. The drone docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The system is configured to perform: Step S610, using the above-mentioned drone landing program taken over by the base station to control the drone to enter the landing mode; Step S620, after landing on the apron unit, the base station determines the position of the UAV on the apron unit based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group of the apron unit; Step S630, the base station controls the drone to unload the items, and then controls the drone to take off vertically and leave the apron for the first time period; Step S640, within the first time period, each push rod assembly of the centering unit drives the push rod to center the article to the position of the pallet of the lifting mechanism at the opening according to the centering drive signal derived by the base station based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group, and then the base station controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to descend, and then the article replacement mechanism moves the article from the pallet to the article storage position in the base station. During this process, the drone hovers and waits until the pallet is reset to be flush with the upper surface of the apron unit; Step S650, the base station sends a vertical landing signal to the drone until it lands on the apron unit; In step S660, the base station controls the centering unit to center the drone on the pallet, and then the lifting mechanism lowers the drone into the base station to perform battery replacement and other operations.

6. The drone docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that: An item coupled to the bottom of the drone; The base station comprises a base station housing, the apron unit is arranged on the upper part of the housing, a drone centering mechanism is arranged around the upper surface of the apron unit, and a lifting mechanism is provided inside the base station housing for lowering the drone into the base station housing to configure the drone battery, the configuration includes loading and replacing, and / or loading and replacing the items attached below the drone; The apron unit includes a flat apron body, which includes a uniformly distributed first pressure sensor array inside to monitor the force condition of its upper surface as a basis for whether there is a drone or an object falling on the apron unit; an opening is provided in the middle of the apron body, and a support plate of the lifting mechanism is used to lift the drone out from the opening; A centering mechanism is arranged around the apron unit, and the centering mechanism includes a first push rod assembly pair and a second push rod assembly pair arranged orthogonally; The lifting mechanism includes a support plate, a lifting rod driving the support plate to be lifted and lowered, and a driving unit driving the lifting rod to move; the driving unit is connected to a base station for communication, and obtains a lifting driving signal driving the lifting rod to move from the base station; The generation of the lifting drive signal is derived by the base station through the monitoring result of the second pressure sensor array arranged on the support plate.

7. A method for docking a drone, used for docking a drone on a base station, characterized by: include Step S100: If the base station detects that the drone has entered its network range, it establishes a communication network with the drone and starts a takeover procedure for the drone’s landing; Step S200, the base station obtains drone camera images taken by the drone camera and shooting parameters associated with the drone camera images, identifies the drone camera image with the base station image as a reference image, and uses the reference image and a parameter set associated with the reference image as a reference parameter set; Step S300: the base station selects a base station camera image that matches the time parameter in the reference parameter set of the reference image from the base station camera image taken by the base station camera as the first comparison image, and compares the recognition result of the first comparison image with the recognition result of the reference image to determine the first relative position of the drone and the base station, and forms a landing instruction for the drone based on the first relative position as a control parameter, and updates the reference image to the first comparison image to obtain an updated reference image; Step S400, the base station executes a step of updating the control parameters after a predetermined time interval, including selecting a second comparison image different from the first comparison image from the base station camera image, and comparing the recognition result of the second comparison image with the recognition result of the updated reference image to determine a second relative position between the drone and the camera of the base station, and updating the control parameters according to the second relative position; Step S500: The base station repeatedly executes the step of updating the control parameters until it determines that the UAV is located within the upward projection area of ​​the apron unit of the base station.

8. The method for docking a drone according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes the steps: In the process of establishing a network connection between the drone and the base station, the base station obtains the model of the drone from the drone, thereby obtaining the size of the drone and the contour feature information of the drone, and derives the control parameters based on the size of the drone and the contour feature of the drone; Alternatively, the base station receives multiple drone camera images taken by the drone camera and a parameter set of the drone camera images from the drone, wherein the parameter set includes at least the zoom factor, focal length and shooting time of the drone images, and the drone attitude, and derives the control parameters based on the zoom factor, focal length and shooting time, and the drone attitude.

9. The method for docking a drone according to claim 7, characterized in that: Taking the structure of the base station as a reference object, identifying fixed contour features of the reference object from a base station camera image having contour features of the reference object; The features of the reference object contour in the drone camera image are identified, and the identified size, inclination, deformation and other features are used as dynamic contour features of the reference object; the first relative position is obtained separately after comparing it with the fixed contour features of the reference object, or as an aid to determine the first relative position based on the contour features of the drone.

10. The drone docking system according to claim 7, characterized in that: Further including: Step S610, using the above-mentioned drone landing program taken over by the base station to control the drone to enter the landing mode; Step S620, after landing on the apron unit, the base station determines the position of the UAV on the apron unit based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group 23 of the apron unit; Step S630, the base station controls the drone to unload the items, and then controls the drone to take off vertically and leave the apron for the first time period; Step S640, within the first time period, each push rod assembly of the centering unit drives the push rod to center the article to the pallet position of the lifting mechanism at the opening according to the centering drive signal derived by the base station based on the pressure signal provided by the pressure sensor group, and then the base station controls the lifting mechanism to drive the pallet to descend, and then the article replacement mechanism moves the article from the pallet to the article storage position in the base station. During this process, the drone hovers and waits until the pallet is reset to be flush with the upper surface of the apron unit; Step S650, the base station sends a vertical landing signal to the drone until it lands on the apron unit; In step S660, the base station controls the centering unit to center the drone on the pallet, and then the lifting mechanism lowers it into the base station to perform the battery replacement operation.

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