Large unmanned aerial vehicle system based on small unmanned aerial vehicle scale amplification and control method

Abstract

The invention provides a large unmanned aerial vehicle system based on small unmanned aerial vehicle scale amplification, which comprises a small unmanned aerial vehicle module, a large unmanned aerial vehicle frame and a large unmanned aerial vehicle electric control system, and is characterized in that the small unmanned aerial vehicle module is detachably and fixedly mounted in the middle of the large unmanned aerial vehicle frame; the large-sized unmanned aerial vehicle is driven after being amplified in proportion, so that flight control of the large-sized unmanned aerial vehicle is realized, a stable flight control system, a perfect remote control scheme and rich application ecology of a small-sized unmanned aerial vehicle are fully utilized, and the development cost and the technical threshold of the large-sized unmanned aerial vehicle are greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control technology, and in particular to a large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of drone technology, demand for large drones in fields such as agricultural plant protection, logistics and transportation, and emergency rescue is growing. However, the development of large drones faces numerous challenges: first, high development costs, requiring the design of flight control systems, powertrains, and control algorithms from scratch; long development cycles, requiring extensive testing and verification; and high technical barriers to entry, requiring a team of specialized aviation engineers. Second, high production and operating costs; and third, complex maintenance.

[0003] Small drone technology is already quite mature on the market, featuring stable flight control systems, comprehensive remote control solutions, and a rich application ecosystem. Leveraging this mature technology to develop larger drones would significantly reduce development and operational costs and technical barriers to entry.

[0004] While there are some existing drone expansion solutions, most require redeveloping and manufacturing flight control systems or undergoing complex system integration and adaptation, failing to directly leverage the mature technologies of small drones. Therefore, a technical solution that can directly scale up small drones is urgently needed. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, through non-invasive detection of the motor speed signal of a small UAV, after proportional amplification to drive a large motor, thereby achieving flight control of a large UAV, making full use of the mature technology of small UAVs, reducing the cost and technical threshold of large UAVs, To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, a large-scale UAV system based on a scaled-up small UAV is provided, comprising a small UAV module, a large UAV frame, and a large UAV electronic control system. The small UAV module is detachably fixedly mounted in the middle of the large UAV frame. The small UAV module comprises a small motor and a flight control system. The flight control system receives remote control commands and generates control signals for each motor through its built-in flight control algorithm. The large UAV electronic control system comprises a large motor, a large motor electronic control battery, a voltage stabilizing module, and an electronic regulator. The large UAV motor is provided with an equal number of large motors as the small UAVs and a large UAV electronic control system that proportionally responds to the control signals of the small UAVs. The small UAV module is a mature small UAV product on the market. The center of gravity, geometric center, and lift center of the large UAV and the small UAV, as well as the distances from these three centers to the axis of their respective motors, are proportional. The signal acquisition module is installed on the small motor of the small UAV module to non-invasively obtain the speed signal. The speed signals detected from each small motor are sent to the main control module for processing. The electronic speed controller directly controls the large motor. The large motor electronic control battery is electrically connected to the large motor, the signal acquisition module, the main control module, and the electronic speed controller. The output end of the electronic speed controller is connected to the large motor, and the input end communicates with the main control module through the serial port.

[0006] Furthermore, the response curve of the large UAV electronic control system and the KV value of the large motor are both proportional to those of the small UAV, and the proportional relationship is preset in the main control module.

[0007] Furthermore, the main control module filters, removes noise and performs digital processing on the speed signal collected by the signal processing unit, and performs amplification calculation according to a preset proportional coefficient.

[0008] Furthermore, the signal acquisition module is a photoelectric sensor or a Hall sensor.

[0009] Furthermore, when more precise control is required, an auxiliary control module will be additionally provided. The auxiliary control module communicates with the main control module through a serial port. The auxiliary control module includes an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and a flight control board. Furthermore, the auxiliary control module collects the attitude and acceleration information of the large UAV in real time. After the main control module obtains the speed signal of each motor of the small UAV and amplifies and calculates it, it combines the attitude parameters (such as pitch angle, roll angle, yaw angle, etc.) input by the auxiliary control module to calculate the actual flight state of the UAV and compare it with the expected motion state. When attitude or motion deviation is detected, the main control module and the flight control algorithm dynamically adjust the output of each motor to correct the motion state, thereby achieving more precise flight control.

[0010] A method for controlling a large UAV based on scaling up a small UAV includes the following steps: S1. The operator sends a control command via the remote control of the small drone. The small drone flight control system generates the original control output for driving each small motor of the small drone according to the control command and its built-in control algorithm. S2. Use the signal acquisition module to collect the speed signal of each small motor; S3 uses the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into PWM; S4. Using the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into Dshot; S5. The main control module filters, denoises, and digitizes the transformed PWM and Dshot signals, amplifies them according to a preset scaling factor, and sends the processed PWM and Dshot signals to the electronic speed controller (ESC) to control the speed and torque output of the large motor.

[0011] Furthermore, the step S3 further includes: S3.1. Initialize the timer and general input and output ports to configure the PWM signal generation environment; S3.2. Set the frequency, period, and minimum and maximum pulse width of the PWM signal; S3.3. The acquisition speed signal is mapped to a specific pulse width value within the minimum and maximum pulse width range; the minimum and maximum pulse widths are the speed signal motor speed collected when the small UAV is from hovering to full throttle; S3.4. Generate the PWM signal according to the specific pulse width value to control the speed of the large motor; the step S3 also includes an electric adjustment calibration step: setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset maximum pulse width; then, setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset minimum pulse width to complete the electric adjustment stroke calibration.

[0012] Furthermore, the step S4 further includes: S4.1. Calculate the speed signal of each small motor to its corresponding frequency value; S4.2. Based on a preset mapping function, the frequency value is converted into a Dshot throttle value; S4.3. The Dshot throttle value is encoded as a Dshot data packet containing a telemetry request bit and a cyclic redundancy check bit; S4.4. Convert the Dshot data packet into a series of pulse signals with two different duty cycles to form the Dshot digital signal.

[0013] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: a large-scale UAV system based on the proportional enlargement of a small UAV, including a small UAV module, a large UAV frame, and a large UAV electronic control system. The small UAV module is detachably fixed in the middle of the large UAV frame. By detecting the speed signal of the small motor of the small UAV and driving the large motor after proportional amplification, the flight control of the large UAV is realized, and the stable flight control system, perfect remote control solution and rich application ecology of the small UAV are fully utilized, which greatly reduces the development cost and technical threshold of the large UAV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] For ease of explanation, the present invention is described in detail with reference to the following preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a timing diagram of a large-scale UAV control method based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to the present invention; Figure 2 This is a control flow chart of a large-scale UAV control method based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a system module for a large-scale UAV control method based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to the present invention; Figure 4 This is a wireframe diagram of a large-scale UAV system based on a scaled-up small UAV of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the large UAV frame structure of a large UAV system based on the scaled-up small UAV of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a large-scale UAV system based on the scaled-up small UAV of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of a signal acquisition module for a large-scale UAV system based on a scaled-up small UAV in the present invention.

[0016] In the figure, 1-large drone frame, 2-small drone module, 3-large motor, 4-signal acquisition module, 5-small motor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The following further describes a large-scale UAV system and control method based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings: Example: Figure 5-7 As shown, a certain brand of small 4-rotor UAV is modified: 4 propellers are removed, and 4 signal acquisition modules 4 are installed. The signal acquisition module 4 is a photoelectric sensor or a Hall sensor. A through hole is provided in the center of the signal acquisition module 4. The motor without the propeller is set in the through hole, and a signal processing unit is installed and detachably fixed on the middle of the large UAV frame 1. The small UAV module 2 includes 4 small motors 5 and a flight control system. The flight control system receives remote control instructions and generates control signals for each motor through its built-in flight control algorithm. The large UAV electronic control system includes a large motor 3, a large motor electronic control battery and a voltage stabilizing module, and 4 electric regulators; the large UAV motor is provided with 4 large motors 3 equal to the number of small UAVs and a large UAV electronic control system that proportionally responds to the control signals of the small UAV. The center of gravity, geometric center, lift center of the large UAV and the small UAV, as well as the distances from these three centers to the axis of each motor are proportional; The signal processing unit is an STM32 processor. The signal acquisition module 4 is installed on the small motor 5 of the small drone module 2 to non-invasively obtain the speed signal. There are multiple signal acquisition modules 4, and the number is equal to the number of wings of the small drone; The large UAV frame 1 is made of engineering plastics to be as lightweight as possible.

[0018] The speed signals detected from each small motor 5 are sent to the main control module for processing. The auxiliary control module communicates with the main control module through the serial port. The electronic speed controller directly controls the large motor 3. The large motor electronic control battery is electrically connected to the large motor 3, the signal acquisition module 4, the auxiliary control module, and the electronic speed controller. The output end of the electronic speed controller is connected to the large motor 3, and the input end communicates with the main control module through the serial port.

[0019] The response curve of the large UAV electronic control system and the KV value of the large motor 3 are both proportional to those of the small UAV, and the proportional relationship is preset in the main control module.

[0020] The main control module filters, removes noise and performs digital processing on the speed signal collected by the signal processing unit, and performs amplification calculation according to a preset proportional coefficient.

[0021] When more precise control is required, an auxiliary control module will be additionally provided. The auxiliary control module communicates with the main control module through a serial port. The auxiliary control module includes an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and a flight control board. The auxiliary control module collects the attitude and acceleration information of the large UAV in real time. After the main control module obtains the speed signal of each motor of the small UAV and amplifies and calculates it, it combines the attitude parameters (such as pitch angle, roll angle, yaw angle, etc.) input by the auxiliary control module to calculate the actual flight state of the UAV and compare it with the expected motion state. When attitude or motion deviation is detected, the main control module and the flight control algorithm dynamically adjust the output of each motor to correct the motion state, thereby achieving more precise flight control.

[0022] like Figure 1-4 As shown, the embodiment also includes a large-scale UAV control method based on the scale-up of a small UAV, characterized in that it includes the following steps: S1. The operator sends a control command via a small drone remote control, and the small drone flight control system generates the original control output for driving each small motor 5 of the small drone according to the control command and its built-in control algorithm; S2. Using the signal acquisition module 4 to collect the speed signal of each small motor 5; S3 uses the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into PWM; S4. Using the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into Dshot; S5. The main control module filters, de-noises, and digitizes the transformed PWM and Dshot signals. It then amplifies them according to a preset scaling factor and sends them to the electronic speed controller (ESC) to control the speed and torque output of large motor 3. In this embodiment, the DShot protocol uses a 48-2047 pulse width, and the PWM protocol uses a 1000-2000 μs pulse width.

[0023] The step S3 further comprises: S3.1. Initialize the timer and general input and output ports to configure the PWM signal generation environment; S3.2. Set the frequency, period, and minimum and maximum pulse width of the PWM signal; S3.3. The acquisition speed signal is mapped to a specific pulse width value within the minimum and maximum pulse width range; the minimum and maximum pulse widths are the speed signal motor speed collected when the small UAV is from hovering to full throttle; S3.4. Generate the PWM signal according to the specific pulse width value to control the speed of the large motor 3; the step S3 also includes an electric adjustment calibration step: setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset maximum pulse width; then, setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset minimum pulse width to complete the electric adjustment stroke calibration.

[0024] Larger batteries, motors, and other components are installed on the frame. However, this will greatly differ from the original small drone in terms of overall structure and weight distribution, and the center of gravity will also be different. Therefore, the actual attitude data obtained by the auxiliary control module is used to determine the real-time changes in the flight state and periodically adjust the pulse width of the PWM signal to achieve dynamic control of the speed of the large motor 3: The step S4 further includes: S4.1. The speed signal of each small motor 5 is calculated as its corresponding frequency value; S4.2. Based on a preset mapping function, the frequency value is converted into a Dshot throttle value; S4.3. The Dshot throttle value is encoded as a Dshot data packet containing a telemetry request bit and a cyclic redundancy check bit; S4.4. Convert the Dshot data packet into a series of pulse signals with two different duty cycles to form the Dshot digital signal.

[0025] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV, characterized by: It includes a small drone module, a large drone frame, a large drone electronic control system, a signal acquisition module, and a main control module. The small drone module is detachably fixedly installed in the middle of the large drone frame. The small drone module contains a small motor and a flight control system. The flight control system receives remote control instructions and generates control signals for each motor through its built-in flight control algorithm. The large drone electronic control system includes a large motor, a large motor electronic control battery and a voltage regulator module, and an electronic regulator. The large drone motor is equipped with a large motor equal in number to the small drones and a large drone electronic control system that proportionally responds to the control signals of the small drones. The center of gravity, geometric center, and lift center of the large drone and the small drone, as well as the distances from these three centers to the axis of their respective motors, are proportional. The signal acquisition module is installed on the small motor of the small UAV module to non-invasively obtain the speed signal. The signal acquisition module sends the speed signal detected by each small motor to the main control module for processing. The electronic speed controller directly controls the large motor. The large motor electronic control battery is electrically connected to the large motor, the signal acquisition module, the main control module, and the electronic speed controller. The output end of the electronic speed controller is connected to the large motor, and the input end communicates with the main control module through the serial port.

2. A large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The response curve of the large UAV electronic control system and the KV value of the large motor are both proportional to those of the small UAV, and the proportional relationship is preset in the main control module.

3. A large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to claim 2, characterized in that: The main control module filters, removes noise and performs digital processing on the speed signal collected by the signal processing unit, and performs amplification calculation according to a preset proportional coefficient.

4. The large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The signal acquisition module is a photoelectric sensor or a Hall sensor.

5. The large-scale UAV system based on the scale-up of a small UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: When more precise control is required, an auxiliary control module is also added. This auxiliary control module communicates with the main control module via a serial port and includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and flight control board. The auxiliary control module collects the attitude and acceleration information of the large drone in real time. The main control module obtains and amplifies the speed signals of each motor of the small drone, combines them with the attitude parameters input by the auxiliary control module, calculates the actual flight state of the drone, and compares it with the expected motion state. When attitude or motion deviation is detected, the main control module and the flight control algorithm dynamically adjust the output of each motor to correct the motion state, thereby achieving more precise flight control.

6. A large-scale UAV control method based on scaling up a small UAV, characterized by: The following steps are involved: S1. The operator sends a control command via the remote control of the small drone. The small drone flight control system generates the original control output for driving each small motor of the small drone according to the control command and its built-in control algorithm. S2. Use the signal acquisition module to collect the speed signal of each small motor; S3. Use the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into PWM; S4. Use the main control module to transform the collected speed signal into Dshot; S5. The main control module filters, denoises, and digitizes the transformed PWM and Dshot signals, amplifies them according to a preset scaling factor, and sends the processed PWM and Dshot signals to the electronic speed controller (ESC) to control the speed and torque output of the large motor.

7. The method for controlling a large-scale UAV based on scaling up a small UAV according to claim 6, characterized in that: The step S3 further comprises: S3.

1. Initialize the timer and general input and output ports to configure the PWM signal generation environment; S3.

2. Set the frequency, period, and minimum and maximum pulse width of the PWM signal; S3.

3. The acquisition speed signal is mapped to a specific pulse width value within the minimum and maximum pulse width range; the minimum and maximum pulse widths are the speed signal motor speed collected when the small UAV is from hovering to full throttle; S3.

4. Generate the PWM signal according to the specific pulse width value to control the speed of the large motor; the step S3 also includes an electric adjustment calibration step: setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset maximum pulse width; then, setting the pulse width of the PWM signal to a preset minimum pulse width to complete the electric adjustment stroke calibration.

8. The method for controlling a large-scale UAV based on scaling up a small UAV according to claim 6, characterized in that: The step S4 further includes: S4.

1. Calculate the speed signal of each small motor to its corresponding frequency value; S4.

2. Based on a preset mapping function, the frequency value is converted into a Dshot throttle value; S4.

3. The Dshot throttle value is encoded as a Dshot data packet containing a telemetry request bit and a cyclic redundancy check bit; S4.

4. Convert the Dshot data packet into a series of pulse signals with two different duty cycles to form the Dshot digital signal.

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