Application method of unmanned aerial vehicle system route splicing in substation inspection

Abstract

The invention provides an application method of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system route splicing in substation inspection. The application sets waypoint classification and preprocessing and route dynamic splicing strategies; according to the waypoint classification and preprocessing, a basic route is manually set in a transformer substation, a three-dimensional model is adopted to automatically plan the route, and when the route is manually planned, a safety point and a dangerous point of each waypoint in the route are manually set according to the actual environment condition of each waypoint; when the three-dimensional model automatically plans the route, safety points and dangerous points are set by calculating whether equipment, wires or other obstacles exist in the flight direction of the position where the unmanned aerial vehicle is located; the route of the unmanned aerial vehicle is planned through combination of the two; according to the route dynamic splicing strategy, after a task is issued by operation maintenance personnel, according to the number of inspection points, points to be cruised are automatically grouped according to a basic route, a route is generated by adopting a Dijkstra algorithm according to a route path, unmanned aerial vehicle inspection is achieved under the condition that safety is guaranteed, and efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control systems, and in particular to an application method of UAV system route splicing in substation inspection. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of drone technology, the field of substation operation and maintenance has gradually realized the use of drones for refined inspections instead of traditional manual methods, which has greatly reduced inspection time and improved inspection efficiency. However, due to certain shortcomings in drone battery life, the current drone battery life is generally around 30 minutes. How to use limited battery life for more effective inspections has also become an urgent problem that needs to be solved in drone inspections in the substation field.

[0003] Currently, the drone inspection systems of various substations are mainly based on fixed-route inspections. Fixed-route inspections can meet the inspection objectives while ensuring the safety of drone inspections. However, the fixed-route inspection mode lacks flexibility and can only perform fixed inspections based on the existing basic routes. It cannot flexibly change inspections for specific equipment or changes in inspection priorities, such as re-inspections of faulty equipment. At the same time, multiple take-offs and landings and frequent interruptions of tasks also affect the integrity of data collection throughout the station. Frequent charging and discharging of batteries will also reduce battery durability, and battery replacement increases operation and maintenance costs.

[0004] Existing patents, such as patent CN115542942A, "A Substation UAV Route Safety Verification Method and Apparatus," primarily detect whether the distance between each waypoint in the flight route and a hazardous device is less than a first preset hazardous distance, and simultaneously determine whether the distance between the route segment and the hazardous device is less than a second preset hazardous distance. If the distance between the waypoint and the hazardous device is less than the first preset hazardous distance, or if the distance between the route segment and the hazardous device is less than the second preset hazardous distance, the UAV route is considered a hazardous route. The method mainly relies on high-precision models or point clouds and high-performance hardware to calculate the distance to judge the safety of the route, and focuses on the calculation of route safety; for example, CN112650218B "A method and device for substation inspection route planning based on collision detection" uses the method of binding the power equipment ledger with the point cloud model to set aerial points, and sets aerial points according to the spatial distance between the aerial points and the target points of substations with different voltage levels. The octree nearest neighbor search algorithm is then used to search for the point cloud of the obstacle closest to the aerial point, and calculate whether the distance between the aerial point and its nearest obstacle is greater than the minimum safety distance. The aerial points that are less than the minimum safety distance are reminded and adjusted to plan an absolutely safe substation inspection route; this patent mainly focuses on route planning based on point cloud models; they all have certain limitations.

[0005] The current drone system already has the concept of dangerous points and safety points. By setting safety points and dangerous points on the basic routes, the drone route operation safety can be achieved while ensuring safety, thereby improving the inspection efficiency. In the drone inspection of substations, since different inspection tasks have different paths, in order to optimize the inspection path, the applicant proposed an application method of drone system route splicing in substation inspection. By adopting the route splicing function, the substation inspection efficiency can be effectively improved, and the number of drone take-offs and landings can be further reduced, thereby improving the equipment usability and reducing the equipment operation and maintenance costs. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention proposes an application method of drone system route splicing in substation inspection, by setting waypoint classification and preprocessing and route dynamic splicing strategy; after the dynamic route splicing strategy is issued by the inspection personnel, the patrol points are automatically grouped according to the basic route based on the number of inspection points, and the Dijkstra algorithm is used to generate the route according to the route path, so as to realize drone inspection while ensuring safety and improve efficiency.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0008] A method for applying route splicing of an unmanned aerial vehicle system to a substation inspection is characterized in that: the method for applying route splicing of an unmanned aerial vehicle system to a substation inspection is provided with waypoint classification and preprocessing and a route dynamic splicing strategy; the waypoint classification and preprocessing are performed by manually setting a basic route in the substation and automatically planning the route using a three-dimensional model, and when manually planning the route, the safety points and danger points of each waypoint in the route are manually set according to the actual environmental conditions of each waypoint; when automatically planning the route using the three-dimensional model, the safety points and danger points are set by calculating whether there are equipment, wires or other obstacles in the flight direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the route of the unmanned aerial vehicle is jointly planned by combining the two; after the inspection personnel issue a task, the route dynamic splicing strategy automatically groups the points to be inspected according to the basic route according to the number of inspection points, and generates the route according to the route path using the Dijkstra algorithm, thereby realizing unmanned aerial vehicle inspection while ensuring safety.

[0009] Furthermore, the application method of the UAV system route splicing in substation inspection adopts the Dijkstra algorithm, and its formula is:

[0010] d[v] = min(d[v], d[u] + w(u, v))

[0011] Where: d[v] is the current shortest distance from the starting point to the node v;

[0012] U is the node currently being processed;

[0013] w(u,v) is the weight of edge (u,v).

[0014] Furthermore, the dynamic route splicing strategy in the application method of the drone system route splicing in the substation inspection is that after the inspection personnel issue the task, the system will automatically group the patrol points according to the basic route, specifically:

[0015] 1) If the points to be patrolled are on the same basic route, the system will determine how many safe points there are among the points to be patrolled. If both the current point and the next waypoint are safe points, the system will generate a route strategy based on the Dijkstra algorithm in path planning. The system will sort the points to be patrolled according to their basic waypoint numbers. If the point to be patrolled with the smallest number is a safe point, the system will use the Dijkstra algorithm to compare the number of waypoints passed by the drone from the takeoff point to a safe altitude, then fly directly to the top of the point to be patrolled, and then descend vertically to the altitude. This will select the shortest path.

[0016] 2) If there is a safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan the route according to the same algorithm. If there is no safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan according to the original route.

[0017] 3) The system stipulates that there must be a safe point among the waiting patrol points. If the first waiting patrol point is a safe point and there are no safe points at the subsequent waiting patrol points, the system will plan the drone to fly according to the basic route;

[0018] 4) If the pending cruise points belong to different basic routes, the system will complete the flight of a single route according to the above algorithm. After completing the first route, the system will use the last waypoint as the starting point, calculate the nearest safe point according to the Dijkstra algorithm, and plan the route to reach the safe point. At the same time, the safety point of the next spliced ​​route must also be considered. If there is only one safe point on the next route among the pending cruise points, the system will plan the route so that the drone rises to a safe altitude at the safe point, then flies directly above the safe point on the next route, and then descends vertically to reach the safe point.

[0019] 5) If there are multiple safe points for the next route within the waiting cruise point, the Dijkstra algorithm is recursively called to calculate the shortest safe point. The drone directly flies to the shortest safe point and plans the execution trajectory of the next basic route using the above method. This process is repeated until the route planning for the entire waiting cruise point is completed.

[0020] 6) If there is only one safe point for each basic route in a multi-route scenario, subsequent points will be flown along the basic route path to ensure safety.

[0021] The benefits of this application are:

[0022] 1. Application of UAV system route splicing in substation inspection: By adopting the route splicing function, the efficiency of substation inspection can be effectively improved, and the number of drone takeoffs and landings can be further reduced, thereby improving equipment availability and reducing equipment operation and maintenance costs;

[0023] 2. The application method of UAV system route splicing in substation inspection is to combine the manual setting of basic routes in the substation and the automatic planning of routes using three-dimensional models to ensure route safety;

[0024] 3. The application method of drone system route splicing in substation inspection supports displaying parameters such as whether each waypoint is a safe point, so that users can understand the complexity and safety of the entire route;

[0025] 4. The application method of drone system route splicing in substation inspection combines structured data display with interactive operation, which not only ensures the precise control of route parameters, but also greatly improves the efficiency of complex route splicing. It is typically used in scenarios where precise control of each tower shooting point is required during power inspection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the algorithm flow of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 To simplify the algorithm intention of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional display diagram of the basic route of the UAV intelligent patrol system of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the binding of waypoints and patrol points of the UAV intelligent patrol system of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 5 Create a display diagram for the patrol mission of the UAV intelligent patrol system of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 6 This is a diagram showing the waypoint list of the UAV intelligent patrol system of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 7 This is a diagram showing the waypoint details of the UAV intelligent patrol system of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 8 This is a diagram of the inspection results of the UAV intelligent inspection system of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0035] like Figure 1-2 As shown, a method for applying route splicing of a drone system in substation inspection is shown. The method for applying route splicing of a drone system in substation inspection is provided with waypoint classification and preprocessing and route dynamic splicing strategy; the waypoint classification and preprocessing are performed by manually setting a basic route in the substation and automatically planning the route using a three-dimensional model. When manually planning the route, the safety points and danger points of each waypoint in the route are manually set according to the actual environmental conditions of each waypoint; when the three-dimensional model automatically plans the route, the safety points and danger points are set by calculating whether there are equipment, wires or other obstacles in the flight direction of the drone's location; the drone's route is planned together by combining the two; the route dynamic splicing strategy is performed after the inspection personnel issue the task, and according to the number of inspection points, the points to be patrolled are automatically grouped according to the basic route, and the Dijkstra algorithm is used to generate the route according to the route path, so as to realize drone inspection while ensuring safety.

[0036] The application method of UAV system route splicing in substation inspection adopts Dijkstra algorithm, whose formula is:

[0037] d[v] = min(d[v], d[u] + w(u, v))

[0038] Where: d[v] is the current shortest distance from the starting point to the node v;

[0039] U is the node currently being processed;

[0040] w(u,v) is the weight of edge (u,v).

[0041] The dynamic route splicing strategy in the application method of drone system route splicing in substation inspection is shown. After the inspection personnel issue the task, the system will automatically group the patrol points according to the basic route, specifically:

[0042] 1) If the points to be patrolled are on the same basic route, the system will determine how many safe points there are among the points to be patrolled. If both the current point and the next waypoint are safe points, the system will generate a route strategy based on the Dijkstra algorithm in path planning. The system will sort the points to be patrolled according to their basic waypoint numbers. If the point to be patrolled with the smallest number is a safe point, the system will use the Dijkstra algorithm to compare the number of waypoints passed by the drone from the takeoff point to a safe altitude, then fly directly to the top of the point to be patrolled, and then descend vertically to the altitude. This will select the shortest path.

[0043] 2) If there is a safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan the route according to the same algorithm. If there is no safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan according to the original route.

[0044] 3) The system stipulates that there must be a safe point among the waiting patrol points. If the first waiting patrol point is a safe point and there are no safe points at the subsequent waiting patrol points, the system will plan the drone to fly according to the basic route;

[0045] 4) If the pending cruise points belong to different basic routes, the system will complete the flight of a single route according to the above algorithm. After completing the first route, the system will use the last waypoint as the starting point, calculate the nearest safe point according to the Dijkstra algorithm, and plan the route to reach the safe point. At the same time, the safety point of the next spliced ​​route must also be considered. If there is only one safe point on the next route among the pending cruise points, the system will plan the route so that the drone rises to a safe altitude at the safe point, then flies directly above the safe point on the next route, and then descends vertically to reach the safe point.

[0046] 5) If there are multiple safe points for the next route within the waiting cruise point, the Dijkstra algorithm is recursively called to calculate the shortest safe point. The drone directly flies to the shortest safe point and plans the execution trajectory of the next basic route using the above method. This process is repeated until the route planning for the entire waiting cruise point is completed.

[0047] 6) If there is only one safe point for each basic route in a multi-route scenario, subsequent points will be flown along the basic route path to ensure safety.

[0048] When the application method of the drone system route splicing in the substation inspection is running, the pilot first manually collects the basic route and plans the basic route in detail in 3D. The application supports the basic route to be displayed in 3D. The basic route is displayed in 3D as shown in the schematic diagram. Figure 3 As shown, the application supports the binding of waypoints and patrol points in the route. A single waypoint can be bound to multiple patrol points. The binding relationship between waypoints and patrol points is as follows: Figure 4 As shown; the application maintains a basic route library, which contains information such as the total number of waypoints, route length, estimated flight time, safe takeoff altitude, patrol points, etc. The route library also supports displaying the latitude, longitude and altitude of each waypoint, as well as the original map of the waypoint, and supports route preview function.

[0049] As needed, users can select task areas and patrol targets independently, and support task priority settings. The task creation diagram is as follows: Figure 5As shown; Based on the patrol target selected by the user, the application automatically plans the route according to the intelligent splicing algorithm. After the spliced ​​route is generated, the system supports the waypoint sequence display and waypoint details display of the spliced ​​route. In the waypoint sequence display, the basic route number to which each waypoint belongs is clearly displayed, which is convenient for tracing and managing multiple spliced ​​routes; and the longitude, latitude, and altitude three-dimensional coordinates of each waypoint are accurately displayed, as well as the preset waypoint actions, precise re-shooting, aircraft deviation, etc. The waypoint sequence display and waypoint details display are shown in the figure below. Figure 6 、 Figure 7 As shown; at the same time, the application also supports displaying parameters such as whether each waypoint is a safe point, so that users can understand the complexity and safety of the entire route; the application combines structured data display with interactive operations to ensure the precise control of route parameters and greatly improve the efficiency of complex route splicing. It is typically used in power inspections where precise control of each tower shooting point is required; after the application generates a route based on the intelligent splicing algorithm, it can issue tasks to the machine nest for execution. The machine nest patrols the target points according to the spliced ​​route and completes the corresponding waypoint action transmission results to the UAV intelligent patrol system. The system patrol results are shown in the figure Figure 8 shown.

[0050] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not constitute any other form of limitation to the present invention. Any modification or equivalent variation based on the technical essence of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for applying drone system route splicing in substation inspection, characterized by: The application method of the UAV system route splicing in the substation inspection is provided with a waypoint classification and preprocessing and a route dynamic splicing strategy; the waypoint classification and preprocessing is carried out by manually setting a basic route in the substation and automatically planning the route using a three-dimensional model. When manually planning the route, the safety points and danger points of each waypoint in the route are manually set according to the actual environmental conditions of each waypoint; when the three-dimensional model automatically plans the route, the safety points and danger points are set by calculating whether there are equipment, wires or other obstacles in the flight direction of the UAV; the UAV route is planned together by combining the two; after the inspection personnel issue the task, the route dynamic splicing strategy automatically groups the patrol points according to the basic route according to the number of inspection points, and generates the route according to the route path using the Dijkstra algorithm, so as to realize the UAV inspection while ensuring safety.

2. The method for applying drone system route splicing in substation inspection according to claim 1 is characterized by: The application method of the UAV system route splicing in substation inspection adopts the Dijkstra algorithm, and its formula is: d[v] = min(d[v], d[u] + w(u, v)) Where: d[v] is the current shortest distance from the starting point to the node v; U is the node currently being processed; w(u,v) is the weight of edge (u,v).

3. The method for applying drone system route splicing in substation inspection according to claim 1 is characterized by: In the application method of the UAV system route splicing in substation inspection, the dynamic route splicing strategy is as follows: after the inspection personnel issue the task, the system will automatically group the patrol points according to the basic route, specifically: 1) If the points to be patrolled are on the same basic route, the system will determine how many safe points there are among the points to be patrolled. If both the current point and the next waypoint are safe points, the system will generate a route strategy based on the Dijkstra algorithm in path planning; The system sorts the waypoints based on their sequence numbers. If the lowest-numbered point is a safe point, the system uses the Dijkstra algorithm to compare the number of waypoints passed by the drone from the takeoff point to a safe altitude, then directly fly to the top of the point, and then descend vertically. This compares the number of waypoints the drone passes by when it flies to the point along the original basic route, thereby selecting the shortest path. 2) If there is a safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan the route according to the same algorithm. If there is no safe point at the subsequent cruise point, the system will plan according to the original route. 3) The system stipulates that there must be a safe point among the waiting patrol points. If the first waiting patrol point is a safe point and there are no safe points at the subsequent waiting patrol points, the system will plan the drone to fly according to the basic route; 4) If the pending cruise points belong to different basic routes, the system will complete the flight of a single route according to the above algorithm. After completing the first route, the system will use the last waypoint as the starting point, calculate the nearest safe point according to the Dijkstra algorithm, and plan the route to reach the safe point. At the same time, the safety point of the next spliced ​​route must also be considered. If there is only one safe point on the next route among the pending cruise points, the system will plan the route so that the drone rises to a safe altitude at the safe point, then flies directly above the safe point on the next route, and then descends vertically to reach the safe point. 5) If there are multiple safe points for the next route within the waiting cruise point, the Dijkstra algorithm is recursively called to calculate the shortest safe point. The drone directly flies to the shortest safe point and plans the execution trajectory of the next basic route using the above method. This process is repeated until the route planning for the entire waiting cruise point is completed. 6) If there is only one safe point for each basic route in a multi-route scenario, subsequent points will be flown along the basic route path to ensure safety.

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