Aircraft servicing method and flying system based on a mobile hangar

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a kind of aircraft operation method and flight system based on mobile hangar, mobile hangar is detachably connected with aircraft;The method comprises: generating operation area based on the road grade of road network in task area and the operation range of aircraft;Road network includes one or more roads of road grade;The union of all operation areas covers at least part of task area;Determine the trajectory point of mobile hangar in each operation area, and generate the planning path passing through all trajectory points;Planning path includes at least one road under road grade;Control mobile hangar to travel along the planning path, while controlling aircraft to execute operation task in each operation area.Therefore, while mobile hangar travels along the planning path, unmanned aerial vehicle executes operation task in each operation area, which realizes better collaborative operation of mobile hangar and aircraft.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of aircraft technology, in particular to an aircraft operation method and flight system based on a mobile hangar. BACKGROUND

[0002] In today's technology-driven era, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have shown great potential in many fields. In the field of farming, UAVs can perform irrigation tasks and seeding tasks, etc. In the field of modeling, UAVs can take pictures of specific topography to construct map data. The operation range of UAVs is limited by the maximum distance that the UAVs can fly. With the introduction of mobile hangars, the operation range of UAVs has been greatly expanded. How to better coordinate the operation of mobile hangars and UAVs has become a technical problem to be solved in the field. SUMMARY

[0003] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an aircraft operation method and flight system based on a mobile hangar, so as to achieve the technical effect of better coordination of the operation of mobile hangars and UAVs.

[0004] The first aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar, the mobile hangar being detachably connected with an aircraft; the method comprising:

[0005] generating one or more operation areas based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the operation range of the aircraft; wherein the road network comprises one or more roads of different road levels; and the union set of all the operation areas covers at least part of the task area;

[0006] determining the trajectory points of the mobile hangar in each operation area, and generating a planning path passing through all the trajectory points; wherein the planning path comprises at least one road of the road levels;

[0007] controlling the mobile hangar to travel along the planning path while controlling the aircraft to perform an operation task in each operation area.

[0008] In the above implementation process, the task area is divided into one or more operation areas based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the operation range of the aircraft, and then the planning path of the mobile hangar is generated based on the trajectory points in each operation area, so that the mobile hangar travels along the planning path while the UAV performs an operation task in each operation area, achieving better coordination of the operation of the mobile hangar and the aircraft.

[0009] Further, the generating one or more operation areas based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the operation range of the aircraft comprises:

[0010] determining a first target road belonging to a target level from the road network in order of the road levels from high to low;

[0011] generating one or more of the work areas along the first target road based on the work range;

[0012] if a union of all the work areas generated does not cover the task area, determining a next target level in order of the road levels from high to low, and returning to perform the step of determining the first target road until a road of all road levels or a union of all work areas covers the task area.

[0013] In the above implementation process, roads of each level are sequentially traversed in order of the road levels from high to low, work areas are generated along roads of at least one level, and whether to traverse roads of a next level is determined according to whether the work areas can cover the task area. This enables the mobile hangar to travel along a planned path while the UAV performs a work task in each work area, thereby achieving better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft.

[0014] Further, after the one or more work areas are generated based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the work range of the aircraft, the method further includes:

[0015] if the task area includes a blank area not covered by the work areas, for each blank area, obtaining one or more first work areas adjacent to the blank area from the work areas;

[0016] determining one or more target first work areas to be merged from the first work areas based on an area of the blank area;

[0017] merging the blank area and the target first work areas to obtain a merged work area.

[0018] In the above implementation process, by merging a blank area in the task area not covered by the work areas into adjacent work areas, the merged work area can cover the entire task area, thereby ensuring full-area execution of the work task.

[0019] Further, the determining one or more target first work areas to be merged from the first work areas based on the area of the blank area, and the merging the blank area and the target first work areas to obtain a merged work area include:

[0020] If the area of the blank region is less than a preset area threshold, the blank region is merged with a target first work region to obtain a merged work region;

[0021] If the area of the blank region is greater than the area threshold, the blank region is split into a plurality of sub-regions with an area less than the area threshold, and for each sub-region, the sub-region is merged with an adjacent target first work region to obtain a merged work region.

[0022] In the above implementation process, the blank region is reasonably divided by setting the area threshold, so that each target first work region will not be merged into a too large blank region. As described above, merging the target first work region with the blank region may cause the mobile hangar and the aircraft to be unable to directly communicate. However, by splitting the too large blank region into a plurality of sub-regions, the possibility of the mobile hangar and the aircraft being unable to directly communicate after merging the work region can be reduced, and the communication efficiency can be ensured.

[0023] Further, the generating a planning path passing through all the trajectory points comprises:

[0024] obtaining a candidate path; the candidate path comprises a planning sub-path between a plurality of already planned trajectory points;

[0025] determining a current trajectory point and a non-empty set of to-be-planned trajectory points from the all trajectory points; the set of to-be-planned trajectory points comprises at least one trajectory point other than the already planned trajectory points and the current trajectory point;

[0026] determining a target trajectory point with the shortest path from the current trajectory point from the set of to-be-planned trajectory points, and adding a planning sub-path between the current trajectory point and the target trajectory point to the candidate path;

[0027] determining the target trajectory point as the next current trajectory point and returning to the step of determining the set of to-be-planned trajectory points until the set of to-be-planned trajectory points is empty, and then determining the candidate path as the planning path.

[0028] In the above implementation process, the planning trajectory is generated through multiple iterations, and the planning trajectory passes through all the trajectory points and only once. Thus, the mobile hangar travels along the planning path while the unmanned aerial vehicle performs a work task in each work region, and better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft is achieved.

[0029] Further, the generating one or more work regions based on the road level of the road network in the task region and the work range of the aircraft, determining the trajectory point of the mobile hangar in each work region, and generating a planning path passing through all the trajectory points are replaced by:

[0030] determining an untraveled road to be worked on;

[0031] determining, in a surrounding road network of the untraveled road, a second target road having a road direction difference with the untraveled road less than a preset threshold;

[0032] planning a planned path of the mobile hangar in the second target road;

[0033] generating one or more work areas along a travel direction of the planned path based on the work range.

[0034] In the above implementation process, by quantifying the road direction difference between each road in the surrounding road network and the untraveled road, a second target road with a direction basically consistent with that of the untraveled road can be found, and then a planned path of the mobile hangar is planned in the second target road, and the mobile hangar is controlled to travel along the planned path, so that the aircraft does not disconnect with the mobile hangar when performing a work task above the untraveled road, and better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft is achieved.

[0035] Further, the parallelism between the second target road and the untraveled road is greater than a preset parallelism threshold, and / or

[0036] In the case where the geometric shape of the untraveled road is a curve shape, the second target road and the untraveled road have mutually parallel tangents.

[0037] In the above implementation process, the road direction difference between each road in the surrounding road network and the untraveled road is characterized by parallelism and / or parallel tangent, so that a second target road with a direction basically consistent with that of the untraveled road is found, and then a planned path of the mobile hangar is planned in the second target road, and the mobile hangar is controlled to travel along the planned path, so that the aircraft can maintain communication with the mobile hangar when performing a work task above the untraveled road, and better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft is achieved.

[0038] Further, the method further comprises:

[0039] For each work area, a corresponding target area is generated along a first direction of the work area based on the work range;

[0040] determining a track point in each target area;

[0041] generating an extended path passing through the track points in all target areas.

[0042] In the implementation process, the target area is generated in the first direction of each work area, and the extended path of the track point passing through each target area is generated, so that if there is new work demand during the work of the aircraft, the specific direction can be extended based on the existing work area, and the extension process is efficient and simple, without the need for complex path re-planning, thereby improving the work efficiency.

[0043] Further, the method further comprises:

[0044] For each work area, determining the maximum distance of the part of the path contained in the work area to the boundary of the work area, and determining the power threshold of the work area based on the power consumption of the aircraft flying the maximum distance;

[0045] During the execution of the work task of the aircraft in the work area, if the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, the work task is interrupted, and based on the current position of the aircraft and the position information of the part of the path contained in the work area, the closest return point on the part of the path from the current position is determined;

[0046] Controlling the mobile hangar to travel to the return point, and controlling the aircraft to fly from the current position to the return point and return to the mobile hangar at the return point.

[0047] In the implementation process, the mobile hangar and the aircraft are moved to the return point, so that the aircraft can return with the shortest flight distance when the power is insufficient, ensuring the flight safety of the aircraft.

[0048] The second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a flight system, the system comprising: an aircraft, a mobile hangar and a flight control platform; the mobile hangar and the aircraft are detachably connected;

[0049] The flight control platform comprises: a processor;

[0050] a memory for storing processor executable instructions;

[0051] When the processor invokes the executable instructions, the operations of the method of the first aspect are implemented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0052] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present application, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can also be obtained without creative labor.

[0053] Figure 1 A flowchart of a method for aircraft operation based on a mobile hangar according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1.

[0054] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a method for generating a path and an operation area according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 2.

[0055] Figure 3 (a)- Figure 3 (b) A schematic diagram of a method for processing a blank area according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 3.

[0056] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method for aircraft operation based on a mobile hangar according to another embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 4.

[0057] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a method for generating a path and an operation area according to another embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 5.

[0058] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a method for generating a path and an operation area according to another embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 6.

[0059] Figure 7 (a)- Figure 7 (b) A schematic diagram of a method for processing an intersection area according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 7.

[0060] Figure 8 A hardware structure diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 8. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0062] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters refer to similar items in the accompanying drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings. Meanwhile, in the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second", and the like are merely used to distinguish descriptions, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0063] The operation range of the UAV is limited by the farthest distance that the UAV can fly, which refers to the maximum communication distance between the UAV and the hangar, or the maximum flight distance supported by the power of the UAV under the premise of ensuring safe return to the hangar. With the introduction of the mobile hangar, the operation range of the aircraft is greatly widened because the mobile hangar can follow the aircraft. The mobile hangar refers to a hangar with a mobile function. The mobile function includes movement in the horizontal plane (such as land) and / or movement in height. In addition to the mobile function, the mobile hangar also has the functions that the ordinary hangar usually has, including but not limited to power exchange function, charging function, deicing function, communication function with the aircraft, communication function with other external communication devices, and storage function, etc. Compared with the ordinary fixed hangar, the mobile hangar can also be used for transportation of the aircraft, so that the aircraft can be quickly deployed to the designated location and take off and recover on site, improving the mobility and response speed of the flight system. As an example, the specific implementation of the mobile hangar can be a vehicle-mounted hangar. For the vehicle-mounted hangar, in addition to the functions of the hangar, it can also have the functions that the ordinary vehicle generally has, such as driving functions including but not limited to automatic driving, assisted driving, etc.

[0064] The aircraft refers to a device with a flight function, including but not limited to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aircraft, manned aircraft, flying cars, civil aviation aircraft, and various types of air traffic tools. The mobile hangar is detachably connected with the aircraft, which means that when the aircraft is stored in the mobile hangar, the aircraft and the mobile hangar are mechanically connected to fix the aircraft in the mobile hangar and protect the aircraft. When the aircraft needs to take off, the mobile hangar releases the mechanical connection with the aircraft, so that the aircraft can take off from the mobile hangar.

[0065] Based on this, the application provides a mobile hangar-based aircraft operation method, which can be executed by a flight control platform. The flight control platform can be equipped with a four-dimensional intelligent holographic operation system. The flight control platform can establish a communication link with the mobile hangar and the aircraft respectively, thereby communicating with the mobile hangar and the aircraft respectively. Alternatively, the flight control platform can establish a communication link with the mobile hangar, and the mobile hangar establishes a communication link with the aircraft, so that the flight control platform directly communicates with the mobile hangar and communicates with the aircraft through the mobile hangar as a communication intermediate device. Alternatively, the flight control platform can establish a communication link with the aircraft, and the mobile hangar establishes a communication link with the aircraft, so that the flight control platform directly communicates with the aircraft and communicates with the mobile hangar through the aircraft as a communication intermediate device. The application does not limit the communication mode between the flight control platform, the aircraft and the mobile hangar. As shown in Figure 1 FIG. 1, a mobile hangar-based aircraft operation method includes steps 110-130.

[0066] Step 110: generating one or more operation areas based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the operation range of the aircraft; wherein the road network includes one or more road levels of roads; and the union set of all the operation areas covers at least part of the task area.

[0067] The task area refers to the area covered by the operation task. For example, the operation task can be issued by the flight control platform to the aircraft. The task area can be input by the user. For example, the user can use an open source map tool to make a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file, import the task area in the KML file, and input the KML file into the flight control platform. For another example, the user can directly determine the task area in the flight control platform by editing and plotting.

[0068] The task area can be divided into one or more operation areas based on the road levels of its road network and the operation range of the aircraft. The road network refers to a set of interconnected paths composed of road systems. The road network can include various types of highways, streets, expressways and country lanes, etc. The road network can include one or more road levels of roads, for example, the road levels can include trunk roads, secondary trunk roads and branch roads. For another example, the road levels can include expressways, first-class roads, second-class roads, third-class roads and fourth-class roads.

[0069] If a task area consists of only one work area, then that task area is the work area, and the work area completely covers the task area. If a task area consists of multiple work areas, then the union of all work areas must cover at least a portion of the task area. This includes situations where the union of all work areas is the same as the task area, or the union of all work areas covers the task area and is larger than the task area, or the union of all work areas only covers a portion of the task area, leaving another portion of the task area uncovered by the work areas.

[0070] Step 120: Determine the trajectory points of the mobile hangar in each of the operating areas, and generate a planned path passing through all trajectory points; wherein the planned path includes at least one road of the road class.

[0071] For example, the trajectory points in each work area may include one or more. For instance, geometric feature points in each work area can be used as trajectory points for that work area. These geometric feature points include, but are not limited to, vertices, center points, and circle centers. After determining the trajectory points for each work area, a planned path passing through all trajectory points can be generated, thereby ensuring that the mobile hangar passes through each work area. Optionally, the planned path passes through each trajectory point exactly once. The generated planned path includes roads at at least one road level; that is, the planned path includes roads at one or more road levels in the road network of the task area.

[0072] like Figure 2 As shown, the task area 200 is divided into multiple work areas 220. Then, based on the trajectory points in each work area 220, a planned path 210 is generated that passes through all trajectory points. It can be seen that the planned path 210 passes through all work areas 220.

[0073] Within each operational area, mobile hangars and aircraft can communicate directly via established communication links, including but not limited to image transmission links, broadcast communication links, and wireless communication links. Direct communication means that communication between the mobile hangar and aircraft does not require data forwarding through intermediate communication devices.

[0074] Step 130: While controlling the mobile hangar to travel along the planned path, control the aircraft to perform operational tasks in each of the operational areas.

[0075] For example, before performing step 130, the operational flight path of the aircraft in each operational area can be obtained first.

[0076] The operation route refers to a route along which the aerial vehicle flies in the operation area. The operation route can be determined according to the operation task. For example, if the operation task is a watering task, a seeding task, or a mapping task, etc., the operation route can be a plowing route. For another example, if the operation task is a material dropping task, the operation route can be determined according to the material dropping points in the operation area.

[0077] After the planning route of the mobile hangar and the operation route of the aerial vehicle are determined, the flight control platform can control the mobile hangar to travel along the planning route. While the mobile hangar travels along the planning route, the flight control platform controls the aerial vehicle to perform the operation task in the operation area according to the operation route.

[0078] If the operation area includes one, the aerial vehicle can be considered to complete the entire operation task after completing the operation task in the operation area. If the operation area includes multiple, the aerial vehicle can be considered to complete a part of the operation task in each operation area, and the entire operation task can be completed after completing the operation task in all operation areas.

[0079] As an example, each operation area contains a part of the planning route, and the mobile hangar can travel on the part of the planning route contained in the operation area, while the aerial vehicle performs the operation task according to the operation route. For example, when the mobile hangar enters the operation area, the aerial vehicle starts to perform the operation task according to the operation route, and when the mobile hangar leaves the operation area along the part of the route, the aerial vehicle completes the operation route in the operation area.

[0080] As another example, after entering the operation area, the mobile hangar can be parked at an arbitrary position in the operation area. The arbitrary position can be a position on the planning route (e.g., a track point of the operation area) or a position outside the planning route. The aerial vehicle can take off from the mobile hangar and perform the operation task along the operation route before the mobile hangar is parked, or the aerial vehicle can take off from the mobile hangar and perform the operation task along the operation route after the mobile hangar is parked. After completing the operation task in the operation area, the aerial vehicle can be recovered to the mobile hangar, transported to the next operation area by the mobile hangar along the planning route, and then take off again in the next operation area; or the aerial vehicle can fly to the next operation area following the mobile hangar, and then perform the operation task according to the operation route of the next operation area when entering the next operation area.

[0081] In addition, if the mobile hangar and the aircraft are in one-to-one correspondence, the aircraft can perform the work task in each work area one by one. If the mobile hangar and the aircraft are in one-to-many correspondence, multiple aircraft can cooperatively perform the work task in each work area. For example, for each work area, the work area is divided into multiple work sub-areas. The number of work sub-areas is consistent with the number of aircraft. Each aircraft performs a work task in a work sub-area. For another example, when one aircraft performs a work task in a work area, the remaining aircraft are parked in the mobile hangar. When the aircraft to be worked outside is insufficient in power, the aircraft with power greater than a threshold value is launched from the mobile hangar to continue the work, so as to improve the work efficiency.

[0082] It can be seen that the aircraft work method based on the mobile hangar provided in the application divides the task area into one or more work areas based on the road level of the road network in the task area and the work range of the aircraft, and then generates a planned path of the mobile hangar based on the track points in each work area, so that the mobile hangar travels along the planned path while the unmanned aerial vehicle performs a work task in each work area, and better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft in work is achieved.

[0083] The following describes steps 110-130.

[0084] According to some embodiments of the application, the generation process of the work area in step 110 specifically includes steps 111-113.

[0085] Step 111: Determine a first target road belonging to a target level from the road network in the order of road level from high to low.

[0086] For example, first, the first target road of the current target level is determined in the order of road level from high to low. For example, if the roads in the road network are classified according to the levels of expressway, first-class highway, second-class highway, third-class highway and fourth-class highway, when step 111 is performed for the first time, the target level is expressway; when step 111 is performed for the second time, the target level is first-class highway, and so on.

[0087] Step 112: Generate one or more work areas along the first target road based on the work range.

[0088] After obtaining the first target road belonging to the target level, one or more work areas can be generated along part or all of the first target road. That is, the divided work area can pass through all the first target roads or part of the first target roads.

[0089] Step 113: If the union of all the generated work areas does not cover the task area, determine the next target level in the order from high to low according to the road levels, and return to execute the step of determining the first target road until all roads of all road levels are traversed or the union of all work areas covers the task area.

[0090] The union of all work areas covering the task area means that the sum of all work areas generated along the first target road in step 112 can cover the task area. Here, covering refers to the area of all work areas being greater than or equal to the task area, and also includes the position of the union of all work areas being consistent with the position of the task area. When the union of all work areas can cover the task area, it means that after the UAV performs the work tasks of each work area in all work areas, it can complete the work tasks of the entire task area.

[0091] On the contrary, the union of all work areas not covering the task area means that the sum of all work areas generated along the first target road in step 112 cannot cover the task area, which is manifested in the sum of the areas of all work areas being less than the area of the task area, or the position of the union of all work areas being inconsistent with the position of the task area. When the union of all work areas cannot cover the task area, it means that even if the UAV performs the work tasks of each work area in all work areas, it cannot complete the work tasks of the entire task area. Therefore, the next target level needs to be determined from the road network, and step 111 needs to be returned to execute until all roads of all road levels in the road network are traversed, or the union of all work areas can cover the task area.

[0092] Continuing with the example of classifying road networks into expressways, Class I highways, Class II highways, Class III highways, and Class IV highways, in the first execution of steps 111-113, the target level determined in step 111 is an expressway. Subsequently, in step 112, one or more work areas are generated along some or all of the expressways in the road network. If all work areas generated along the expressways fail to cover the task area, steps 111-113 are executed a second time. In the second execution of step 111, the determined target level is Class I highway. In the second execution of step 112, as an example, generating one or more work areas along the first target road can mean generating one or more work areas along the current first target road (i.e., Class I highway), in which case all the resulting work areas pass through Class I highways. As another example, generating one or more work areas along the first target road can mean generating one or more work areas along the current first target road (i.e., Class I highway) and the historical first target road (i.e., expressway), in which case the resulting work areas pass through both expressways and Class I highways. That is, in the Nth execution of steps 111-112 (N≥2), the current first target road belonging to the target level is first determined, and then one or more of the work areas are generated along the current first target road, or one or more of the work areas can be generated simultaneously along the current first target road and the historical first target road, and the historical first target road is determined in the historical loop.

[0093] Furthermore, the exit conditions for the iterative execution of steps 111-113 include two conditions; the iterative execution of steps 111-113 will terminate when either condition is met. One exit condition is that the union of all job areas determined in a given iteration covers the task area. The other exit condition is that all road levels in the road network have been traversed, i.e., all roads in the road network from the highest to the lowest level have been traversed. After traversing all road levels, there are two possible outcomes: the first is that all job areas generated in the last traversal cover the task area; the second is that all job areas generated in the last traversal fail to cover the task area.

[0094] In this embodiment, roads of each level are traversed sequentially from highest to lowest road grade, and work areas are generated along at least one road grade. The decision to traverse the next road grade is then based on whether the work area covers the task area. This allows the mobile hangar to move along the planned path while the drone performs its tasks in each work area, achieving better collaborative operation between the mobile hangar and the aircraft.

[0095] On the basis of any of the above embodiments, after the loop of steps 111-113 is completed when the exit condition is met, the method further comprises steps 114-116.

[0096] Step 114: If the task area comprises blank areas not covered by the job areas, for each blank area, one or more first job areas adjacent to the blank area are obtained from the job areas.

[0097] As described in the above embodiments, when generating the job areas along the first target road, it is possible that the union of all the job areas fails to cover the task area. The areas in the task area not covered by the job areas are referred to as blank areas. For each blank area, one or more first job areas are determined from all the job areas. The first job area refers to a job area adjacent to (bordering) the blank area.

[0098] For example, as shown in Fig. (a) of Figure 3 , the task area 300 comprises a blank area 310. Then one or more first job areas 320 adjacent to the blank area 310 can be determined from all the job areas, as shown in Fig. (b) of Figure 3 . The three first job areas 320 shown in Fig. (a) are determined as the target first job areas.

[0099] Step 115: Based on the area of the blank area, one or more target first job areas to be merged are determined from the first job areas.

[0100] The target first job area refers to a job area in all the first job areas determined to be merged with the blank area. The number of target first job areas is related to the area of the blank area. For example, the number of target first job areas can be positively correlated with the area of the blank area. That is, the larger the area of the blank area, the more target first job areas to be merged. As an example, if the number of first job areas is greater than the number of target first job areas, any first job area can be determined as the target first job area.

[0101] Step 116: The blank area is merged with the target first job area to obtain a merged job area.

[0102] After the target first job area is determined, the blank area can be merged with the target first job area to obtain a merged job area. Continuing to refer to Fig. (b) of Figure 3 , after the target first job areas are determined from the three first job areas 320, the blank area 310 is merged with the target first job areas to obtain a merged job area.

[0103] In addition, as described above, in each work area, the mobile hangar and the aircraft can directly communicate based on the established communication link. The direct communication means that the communication between the mobile hangar and the aircraft does not need to be forwarded by a communication intermediate device. However, for the target first work area, after merging with the blank area, the area is increased, and the distance between the mobile hangar and the aircraft is increased, which may result in that the mobile hangar and the aircraft cannot directly communicate. At this time, the mobile hangar and the aircraft can communicate through IOT (Internet of Things).

[0104] It can be known that in the embodiment, by merging the blank area in the task area which is not covered by the work area into the adjacent work area, the merged work area can cover the entire task area, and the full-area execution of the work task is ensured.

[0105] In some embodiments, the operation of determining the target first work area and merging based on the area of the blank area in steps 115-116 specifically includes step 1151 or step 1152.

[0106] Step 1151: If the area of the blank area is less than a preset area threshold, the blank area is merged with a target first work area to obtain a merged work area.

[0107] The area threshold can be set by a person skilled in the art according to actual needs, and the present application does not limit this. When the area of the blank area is less than the area threshold, the target first work area includes one. If the first work area adjacent to the blank area includes one, the first work area is the target first work area. If the first work area adjacent to the blank area includes multiple, any target first work area can be determined from the multiple first work areas and merged with the blank area.

[0108] Step 1152: If the area of the blank area is greater than the area threshold, the blank area is split into multiple sub-areas with an area less than the area threshold, for each sub-area, the sub-area is merged with a target first work area adjacent to the sub-area to obtain a merged work area.

[0109] When the area of the blank area is greater than the area threshold, the blank area is split into multiple sub-areas with an area less than the area threshold. At this time, the number of target first work areas is consistent with the number of split sub-areas. At the same time, for each sub-area, the sub-area is merged with a target first work area adjacent to the sub-area.

[0110] It can be known that in the embodiment, the blank area is reasonably divided by setting the area threshold, so that each target first work area will not be merged into a too large blank area. As described above, when the target first work area is merged with the blank area, it may cause that the mobile hangar and the aircraft cannot directly communicate. By splitting the too large blank area into multiple sub-areas, the possibility that the mobile hangar and the aircraft in the merged work area cannot directly communicate can be reduced, and the communication efficiency can be ensured.

[0111] In addition, in some embodiments, the blank area merging process described in steps 114-116 can be performed after the planning path is generated in step 120. It can be known that each work area in the generated multiple work areas includes part of the planning path. Based on this, the target first work area can also be determined by the following steps:

[0112] Determine the first distance of the blank area to the part of the path contained in each of the first work areas, to obtain the first distance corresponding to each of the first work areas; and determine the first work area with the smallest first distance as the target first work area.

[0113] When there are multiple first work areas adjacent to the blank area, and the number of target first work areas to be determined is less than the number of first work areas, it is necessary to determine part of the first work areas as the target first work area from the multiple first work areas. Specifically, since each work area contains part of the planning path, the first distance of the blank area to the part of the path contained in each first work area can be determined first. If there are N first work areas, N first distances can be obtained. The distance from the geometric feature point of the blank area to the part of the path can be determined as the first distance. The geometric feature point can be determined by those skilled in the art according to the actual situation, for example, including but not limited to the center point, the barycenter point, etc. Then, the first work area corresponding to the smallest distance is determined from all the first distances as the target first work area.

[0114] As described above, when the target first work area is merged with the blank area, it may cause that the mobile hangar and the aircraft cannot directly communicate. The mobile hangar travels along the planning path in the work area, and the communication range in which the mobile hangar and the aircraft can directly communicate is related to the position of the planning path. The first work area containing the part of the path closest to the blank area is selected as the target first work area, so that the blank area and the part of the path are as close as possible, thereby reducing the possibility that the mobile hangar and the aircraft in the merged work area cannot directly communicate, and ensuring the communication efficiency.

[0115] Similarly, in the case of splitting the blank area into multiple sub-areas, the target first work area corresponding to each sub-area can be determined in the same way. Specifically, for each sub-area, first determine the first distance of the sub-area to the part of the path contained in the plurality of first work areas, to obtain the first distance corresponding to each first work area. If there are N first work areas, N first distances can be obtained. Wherein, the distance from the geometric feature point of the sub-area to the part of the path can be determined as the first distance. The geometric feature point can be determined by a person skilled in the art according to the actual situation, for example, including but not limited to the center point, the barycenter point, etc. Then determine the first work area with the smallest first distance as the target first work area. By selecting the first work area containing the part of the path closest to the sub-area as the target first work area, the sub-area and the part of the path are as close as possible, thereby reducing the possibility that the mobile hangar and the aircraft in the merged work area cannot directly communicate, and ensuring communication efficiency.

[0116] According to some embodiments of the present application, on the basis of any of the above embodiments, the planning path passing through all the trajectory points is generated in step 120, specifically including steps 121-124.

[0117] Step 121: Obtain a candidate path; the candidate path includes a plurality of planned sub-paths between the trajectory points.

[0118] After completing the generation of the work area through any of the above embodiments, the planning of the planning path can be further performed. Before performing step 121, a work area can be determined from all work areas, and the trajectory points in the determined work area are the starting point of the planning path. For example, any one of the work areas can be determined from all work areas, or a work area can be selected from all work areas by a user. The selection process of the starting point of the planning path is not limited by the present application.

[0119] After determining the starting point of the planning path, the first trajectory point closest to the starting point can be determined from the remaining trajectory points except the starting point, and the planned sub-path between the starting point and the first trajectory point is added to the candidate path. Wherein, the planning process of the planned sub-path between the starting point and the first trajectory point can be referred to the related technology, which is not expanded here. At this time, the starting point and the first trajectory point are both planned trajectory points.

[0120] Step 122: Determine the current trajectory point and the non-empty set of trajectory points to be planned from all trajectory points; the set of trajectory points to be planned includes at least one trajectory point in addition to the planned trajectory points and the current trajectory point.

[0121] The current trajectory point is exemplarily the last planned trajectory point in the candidate path, which is the start point of the current planning sub-path and the end point of the last planning sub-path. For example, in the above example, after the planning of the planning sub-path between the start point and the first trajectory point is completed, the planning of the planning sub-path between the first trajectory point and the next trajectory point needs to be continued. Therefore, the first trajectory point is the current trajectory point in the next planning. The set of trajectory points to be planned includes the trajectory points to be planned other than the planned trajectory point and the current trajectory point. The trajectory points to be planned at least include one, so the set of trajectory points to be planned is a non-empty set.

[0122] Step 123: determining a target trajectory point with the shortest distance to the current trajectory point from the set of trajectory points to be planned, and adding a planning sub-path between the current trajectory point and the target trajectory point to the candidate path.

[0123] Exemplarily, the distance between each trajectory point in the set of trajectory points to be planned and the current trajectory point is traversed to determine the trajectory point to be planned with the shortest distance as the target trajectory point. Then, the planning sub-path between the current trajectory point and the target trajectory point is added to the candidate path, so as to update the candidate path. At this time, the target trajectory point is a planned trajectory point, and the target trajectory point can be deleted from the set of trajectory points to be planned.

[0124] Step 124: determining the target trajectory point as the next current trajectory point and returning to execute the step of determining the set of trajectory points to be planned until the set of trajectory points to be planned is empty, and then determining the candidate path as the planning path.

[0125] Exemplarily, the target trajectory point is the last planned trajectory point, so it can be determined that the target trajectory point is the current trajectory point in the next iteration, and returning to execute step 122 until the set of trajectory points to be planned is empty, at which time the last updated candidate path is the planning path. Alternatively, the planning path can be a closed loop path, that is, the start point and the end point of the planning path coincide. Alternatively, the planning path can be an open path, that is, the start point and the end point of the planning path do not coincide.

[0126] As an example, the path planning process of steps 121-124 can be shown in formula 1.

[0127] Formula 1

[0128] Wherein, V refers to a set of to-be-planned trajectory points, d(i, V) refers to a distance from the current trajectory point i to each to-be-planned trajectory point in the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V once and only once. The set of to-be-planned trajectory points V does not include the already-planned trajectory points, the current trajectory point i and the specified terminal point s. The specified terminal point s can be any point in all the planned trajectory points, or can coincide with the starting point. Since the terminal point s is a specified trajectory point in all the trajectory points, and the planned path passes through all the trajectory points and only once, the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V does not include the specified terminal point s.

[0129] The second line of formula 1 represents that when the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V is a non-empty set, first determine the target trajectory point k from the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V, then determine that d(i, V) is equal to the distance from the current trajectory point i to the target trajectory point k, and the sum of the distances from the target trajectory point k to each to-be-planned trajectory point in the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V-{k} once and only once. At this time, the target trajectory point k is the current trajectory point i in the next round of iteration, and the set of to-be-planned trajectory points in the next round of iteration is updated to V-{k}. The first line of formula 1 represents that when the set of to-be-planned trajectory points V is an empty set, d(i, V) is equal to the distance c from the current trajectory point i to the specified terminal point. is .

[0130] It can be known that in the embodiment, the planned trajectory is generated through multiple iterations, and the planned trajectory passes through all the trajectory points of the work area and only once. So that the mobile hangar drives along the planned path while the unmanned aerial vehicle performs the work task in each work area, realizing better cooperation between the mobile hangar and the aerial vehicle.

[0131] According to some embodiments of the present application, another aerial vehicle work method based on a mobile hangar is provided, which includes steps 410-450 as shown in Figure 4 .

[0132] Step 410: Determine the to-be-worked non-passable road.

[0133] The non-passable road refers to a road that has not been opened to the public, has not been opened to traffic, or has been temporarily or permanently unable to normally pass through due to some reasons. For example, a road under construction, a closed road for maintenance, an abandoned road, a road not approved to enter, and a road affected by natural disasters, etc. The to-be-worked non-passable road refers to a non-passable road but has a work task of the aerial vehicle. Taking a mapping task as an example, for a road being developed and constructed, the aerial vehicle (such as a drone) needs to perform mapping and other data collection on the surrounding environment of the road under the permission or entrustment of the relevant department, so as to perfect the map model near the road. However, since the road is not passable, the mobile hangar cannot enter the non-passable road.

[0134] Step 420: determining a second target road in the surrounding road network of the impassable road, which has a road direction difference with the impassable road less than a preset threshold.

[0135] The surrounding road network of the impassable road refers to obtaining the road network within a preset range as the surrounding road network with the impassable road as the center. The size of the preset range can be determined according to actual conditions, and no limitation is made thereto. By the preset range, the size of the surrounding road network can be limited, so that the second target road found in the surrounding road network is close to the impassable road.

[0136] The road direction difference refers to quantifying the difference in direction of two roads. The parameters that can be used to quantify the road direction difference include but are not limited to the direction angle between the two roads, the angle formed by the tangent lines of the two roads, and the vector angle formed by the two roads, etc. By quantifying the road direction difference between each road in the surrounding road network of the impassable road and the impassable road, the second target road can be determined from the surrounding road network, which has a road direction difference with the impassable road less than a preset threshold, meaning that the second target road has a direction basically consistent with that of the impassable road. The preset threshold can be determined according to actual conditions, and no limitation is made thereto. The determined second target road is a passable road.

[0137] Step 430: planning a planning path of the mobile hangar in the second target road.

[0138] Since the second target road has a direction basically consistent with that of the impassable road, if the mobile hangar travels along the planning path generated based on the second target road, the aircraft can also reach the impassable road to perform the work task. For example, as shown in Figure 5 The planning path 510 is obtained by path planning on the second target road, and the work area 520 is divided along the planning path 510. Conversely, if the second target road has a direction too different from that of the impassable road, the aircraft may be disconnected from the mobile hangar when performing the work task above the impassable road.

[0139] Step 440: generating one or more work areas along the travel direction of the planning path based on the work range.

[0140] Exemplarily, after obtaining the planning path, one or more work areas can be generated along the travel direction of the planning path based on the work range of the aircraft. As an example, the work areas can be divided by a user along the travel direction of the planning path, so that step 440 can specifically be obtaining one or more work areas along the travel direction of the planning path input by the user. As another example, one or more work areas can be automatically generated along the travel direction of the planning path by the management platform.

[0141] When one work area is determined along the planning path, the work area can contain a partial path of the planning path or contain the whole planning path; when multiple work areas are determined along the planning path, each work area contains a partial path of the planning path.

[0142] Step 450: controlling the aircraft to perform a work task in each work area while controlling the mobile hangar to travel along the planning path.

[0143] The specific implementation of step 450 can refer to the specific implementation of step 130, which will not be repeated here.

[0144] It can be known that, in the aircraft work method based on the mobile hangar provided in the application, by quantifying the road direction difference between each road in the surrounding road network and the impassable road, a second target road with a road direction basically consistent with that of the impassable road can be found, and then a planning path of the mobile hangar is planned on the second target road, and the mobile hangar is controlled to travel along the planning path, so that the aircraft does not disconnect the communication with the mobile hangar when performing a work task above the impassable road, and better collaborative work of the mobile hangar and the aircraft is achieved.

[0145] In some embodiments, the road direction difference can be represented by the parallelism between two roads. That is, the road direction difference between the second target road and the impassable road is less than a preset threshold, which means that the parallelism between the second target road and the impassable road is greater than a preset parallelism threshold. The parallelism threshold can be set to 0.8, and of course can also be set to other numerical values, which are not limited in the application. The parallelism calculation between each road in the surrounding road network and the impassable road can include the following process:

[0146] 1) Based on the lane line position information in each to-be-fitted road, a function fitting is performed on each to-be-fitted road to obtain a fitting function of each to-be-fitted road; wherein the lane line position information includes the position information of multiple points on the lane line; the to-be-fitted road includes each road in the surrounding road network and the impassable road. The fitting function of each to-be-fitted road is used to represent the geometric shape of the to-be-fitted road. Optionally, the fitting function can be a polynomial function. If the geometric shape of the to-be-fitted road is a straight line, the polynomial function can be a first-order function; if the geometric shape of the to-be-fitted road is a curve, the polynomial function can be a second-order function, a third-order function, etc.

[0147] The following will be specifically expanded based on the second-order function as an example on how to perform a second-order function fitting based on the lane line position information.

[0148] The lane line position information can be expressed in two-dimensional coordinates (x i , yi ) represents the position information of the i-th point on the lane line. The general form of the quadratic function can be expressed as y = ax 2 + bx + c. By solving the coefficients a, b and c in the quadratic function by the least square method, the following matrix equation needs to be constructed:

[0149]

[0150] where n is the number of data points, i.e. the number of points on the lane line. The coefficients a, b and c can be solved by matrix inversion or numerical optimization algorithm, so as to obtain the quadratic function of each road to be fitted.

[0151] 2) Based on the fitting function of each road in the surrounding road network and the non-passable road, the parallelism between each road in the surrounding road network and the non-passable road is calculated.

[0152] Continue to take the quadratic function as an example to expand the calculation process of the parallelism. If the quadratic function of the road in the surrounding road network is expressed as y = a1x 2 + b1x + c1, and the quadratic function of the non-passable road is expressed as y = a2x 2 + b2x + c2, then the parallelism K between the two can be expressed as:

[0153] ;

[0154] In addition, in the case where the geometric shape of the non-passable road is a curve, the road direction difference can also be characterized by whether the tangent lines are parallel. That is, the road direction difference between the second target road and the non-passable road is less than a preset threshold, which means that the second target road and the non-passable road have mutually parallel tangent lines. Wherein, the tangent line of each road to be fitted can be determined based on the slope of its fitting function.

[0155] As an example, for the roads in the surrounding road network, if there is a road that satisfies that the parallelism between the road and the non-passable road is greater than the parallelism threshold, then the road is the second target road. If the parallelism between any road in the surrounding road network and the non-passable road is less than the parallelism threshold, it is determined that there is no second target road in the surrounding road network.

[0156] As an example, for the roads in the surrounding road network, if there is a road that satisfies that the tangent lines between the road and the non-passable road are mutually parallel, then the road is the second target road. If none of the roads in the surrounding road network and the non-passable road have mutually parallel tangent lines, it is determined that there is no second target road in the surrounding road network.

[0157] As another example, a second target road can be determined from the surrounding road network by parallelism first. If the second target road cannot be determined based on parallelism, the second target road can be determined from the surrounding road network based on the way of mutually parallel tangent lines again.

[0158] Optionally, if it is determined that there is no second target road in the surrounding road network, a prompt information of path planning failure can be output to the user. At this time, the user can request the driving permission of the non-passable road to the relevant department, and if the request is passed, the planning path can be planned in the non-passable road.

[0159] It can be known that, by parallelism and / or parallel tangent lines, the heading difference between each road in the surrounding road network and the non-passable road is represented, so that the second target road with the heading basically consistent with the non-passable road is found, and then the planning path of the mobile hangar is planned on the second target road, and the mobile hangar is controlled to travel along the planning path, so that the aircraft can also maintain communication with the mobile hangar when performing the work task above the non-passable road, and better collaborative work of the mobile hangar and the aircraft is realized.

[0160] According to some embodiments of the present application, based on the embodiment shown, Figure 4 Based on the embodiment shown, in some scenarios, for the newly added work requirements (such as the expansion of the mapping area and the inspection area), the work area generated in the travel direction of the planning path can need to be dynamically expanded in a certain direction. At this time, in order to ensure that the mobile hangar is always in the optimal support position of the aircraft work, so as to reduce the round-trip endurance of the aircraft and improve the endurance efficiency, the expansion path can be planned through steps 460-480 to meet the newly added work requirements.

[0161] Step 460: For each of the work areas, a corresponding target area is generated in a first direction of the work area based on the work range.

[0162] Exemplarily, after the one or more work areas are generated in the travel direction of the planning path based on the work range in step 440, for each work area, a corresponding target area of each work area can be generated in a first direction of each work area based on the work range of the aircraft described above. The first direction refers to the extension direction of the work area, which can be determined based on the position of the newly added work requirement relative to the generated work area. The first direction of each work area can be the same or different. Each work area can correspond to a target area.

[0163] As an example, as shown in FIG. 8, the first direction of the work area 810 is the same as the first direction of the work area 820, and the first direction of the work area 830 is different from the first direction of the work area 820. Figure 6As shown, for each work area 610, an extension line 620 passing through a geometric feature point 611 of the work area and along the first direction can be determined. The geometric feature point 611 can be a track point of the work area 610. Then, a target area 630 corresponding to the work area 610 is generated on the extension line 620 based on the work range of the aerial vehicle. Optionally, the extension line 620 can pass through a geometric feature point 631 of the target area 630. It can be seen that the work area and the corresponding target area are arranged along the first direction of the work area. As shown in the figure, Figure 6 As shown, the positional relationship between the work area and the corresponding target area can be apart, intersected or tangent, as long as the target area is the extension of the work area in the first direction.

[0164] Step 470: determining a track point in each target area.

[0165] Exemplarily, the geometric feature point of each target area can be taken as the track point of the target area.

[0166] Step 480: generating an extension path passing through the track points in all the target areas.

[0167] The specific execution process of step 480 is similar to the execution process of steps 121-124, which will not be described here.

[0168] After obtaining the extension path and the target areas, the mobile hangar can be controlled to travel along the extension path while the aerial vehicle is controlled to perform the newly added work task in each target area.

[0169] It can be seen that in the embodiment, by generating the target area in the first direction of each work area and generating the extension path passing through the track points in each target area, if there is a newly added work demand during the work of the aerial vehicle, the specific direction extension can be performed based on the existing work area. The extension process is efficient and simple, and does not need to perform complex path re-planning, thereby improving the work efficiency.

[0170] On the basis of any of the above embodiments, whether the work area is based on the task area division or generated along the travel direction of the planned path, in the case where the work area includes multiple work areas, the positional relationship between the multiple work areas can be intersected or externally tangent. If the multiple work areas divided include multiple second work areas intersected, the method further includes the steps of:

[0171] For the intersected areas in the multiple second work areas, the target second work area is determined from the multiple second work areas to retain the intersected areas, and the intersected areas are deleted in the remaining second work areas, to obtain multiple externally tangent work areas after the area is updated.

[0172] The second work area refers to a work area that has an overlapping part with any one or more work areas. As shown in FIG. (a) of the first embodiment, the second work areas 710-720 are included, wherein the second work area 710 and the second work area 720 include an intersection area 730. Figure 7 For the intersection area in the plurality of second work areas, that is, the overlapping part, one of the arbitrary second work areas can be determined as the target second work area to reserve the intersection area and delete the intersection area in the remaining second work areas. Thus, the updated plurality of work areas are in a circumscribed positional relationship. For example, in FIG. (b) of the first embodiment, the second work area 720 is determined as the target second work area, and the intersection area is reserved in the target second work area. Figure 7

[0173] It can be seen that in the embodiment, by reserving the intersection area in the target second work area and deleting the intersection area in the other second work areas, the unmanned aerial vehicle only performs the work task once in each intersection area, avoiding repeated performance of the work task in the intersection area, and improving the work efficiency.

[0174] In addition, in some embodiments, the target second work area can also be determined by the following steps:

[0175] The second distance of the intersection area to the part of the path included in each second work area is determined to obtain the second distance corresponding to each second work area. The second work area with the minimum second distance is determined as the target second work area, and the intersection area is reserved in the target second work area.

[0176] As described above, since each work area includes a part of the planned path, the second distance of the intersection area to the part of the path included in each second work area can be determined first. If there are M second work areas, M second distances can be obtained. The distance from the geometric feature point of the intersection area to the part of the path can be determined as the second distance. The geometric feature point can be determined by those skilled in the art according to the actual situation, for example, including but not limited to the center point, the barycenter point, etc. Subsequently, the second work area corresponding to the minimum distance is determined from all second distances as the target second work area.

[0177] As described above, the mobile hangar travels along the planned path in the work area, and the communication range in which the mobile hangar and the aircraft can directly communicate is related to the position of the planned path. The second work area including the part of the path closest to the intersection area is selected as the target second work area, so that the intersection area and the part of the path are as close as possible, ensuring the communication efficiency.

[0178] ​According to some embodiments of the present application, on the basis of any of the above embodiments, the work task of the aircraft can carry continuation control information. The continuation control information is used to indicate whether the aircraft continues to perform the work task after the work task is interrupted. There are many reasons for interrupting the work task, for example, but not limited to, the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, the storage space of the aircraft is less than the space threshold, the aircraft needs to return to remove ice due to icing, and the like. Based on this, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0179] During the execution of the work task by the aircraft, if the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, the work task is interrupted and the mobile hangar is returned for power supply; if the continuation control information indicates continuation, the work task is continued after the aircraft completes the power supply.

[0180] Exemplarily, when the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, it needs to return for power supply. The power threshold can be a preset fixed value, or a dynamic value set according to actual conditions. The power supply of the aircraft includes charging or replacing the battery. It can be understood that the mobile hangar can be deployed with charging equipment and / or multiple backup batteries, so the aircraft can choose to charge or replace the battery for power supply.

[0181] After completing the power supply, if the continuation control information carried by the work task indicates continuation, the aircraft takes off from the mobile hangar and continues to perform the work task. If the continuation control information indicates no continuation, the aircraft can be parked in the mobile hangar to wait for the next flight task instruction.

[0182] Exemplarily, if the aircraft returns during the work process, the flight control platform can determine the worked sub-area and the unworked sub-area in the work area where the aircraft returns from. Specifically, the area area and the area position of the worked sub-area can be obtained. The area position is expressed by, for example, latitude and longitude coordinates. Then, based on the area area and the area position, the unworked sub-area in the work area where the aircraft returns from is determined, and the unworked sub-area is sent to the aircraft, so that the aircraft directly flies to the unworked sub-area from the mobile hangar to continue to perform the work task when it continues to fly.

[0183] It can be seen that, by carrying the continuation control information in the work task, the aircraft can select to continue to perform the work task or park in the mobile hangar based on the indication of the continuation control information after completing the power supply.

[0184] In addition, in some embodiments, the method further comprises the following steps:

[0185] The task data collected when the aerial vehicle performs the operation task is sent to a receiving end when the aerial vehicle is being supplied with electric energy; if the continued flight control information indicates continued flight, the sending of the task data is interrupted and the task data not sent in the aerial vehicle is marked after the aerial vehicle completes the supply of electric energy.

[0186] The aerial vehicle collects task data when performing an operation task. Taking a photographing task as an example, the aerial vehicle needs to collect image data of each operation area. When the aerial vehicle is being charged or having its battery replaced, the aerial vehicle can enter a data transmission mode (also referred to as a photograph transmission mode if the data being transmitted is image data) to send the task data to a receiving end. The receiving end refers to any device receiving the task data, including but not limited to a mobile hangar, a server, a flight control platform, and the like.

[0187] After the supply of electric energy is completed, if the continued flight control information carried by the operation task indicates continued flight, the sending of the task data is interrupted, that is, the data transmission mode is interrupted, and then the aerial vehicle takes off from the mobile hangar and continues to perform the operation task. At the same time when the sending of the task data is interrupted, the task data not sent in the aerial vehicle is marked. After the aerial vehicle completes the operation task and returns to the mobile hangar, the not-sent task data is continued to be sent to the receiving end based on the marking.

[0188] It can be known that in the embodiment, the transmission of task data is performed at the same time when the aerial vehicle is being supplied with electric energy. When the aerial vehicle needs to continue to fly, the data transmission is interrupted first, and then the aerial vehicle continues to fly. The time gap of the supply of electric energy is utilized to perform data transmission, which can shorten the subsequent data transmission time and improve the efficiency.

[0189] In some embodiments, the electric quantity threshold for determining whether the aerial vehicle needs to return to perform the supply of electric energy can be determined by the following steps:

[0190] For each operation area, the maximum distance of a part of a path included in the operation area to the boundary of the operation area is determined, and the electric quantity threshold is determined based on the consumed electric quantity of the aerial vehicle flying the maximum distance.

[0191] It can be understood that the mobile hangar travels in each work area according to the partial path contained in the work area. The farthest distance of the aircraft in the work area to the mobile hangar is the maximum distance from the boundary of the work area to the partial path. Specifically, the boundary of the work area can be regarded as composed of a plurality of boundary points, and if the partial path contained in the work area is a curve, the partial path of the curve can be regarded as composed of a plurality of straight line segments. Thus, the maximum distance from the boundary of the work area to the partial path, that is, the maximum distance from the boundary point to the straight line segment, that is, the distance from the point to the straight line. After obtaining the maximum distance, the power consumed by the aircraft when flying the maximum distance can be determined. Alternatively, the consumed power can be determined as the power threshold; alternatively, the sum of the consumed power and a preset threshold can be determined as the power threshold. The preset threshold can be determined according to actual conditions, which is not limited in the present application. It can be known that for different work areas, the size and / or shape are different, and the position of the contained partial path in the work area is different, which results in different maximum distances from the boundary of each work area to the contained partial path. Therefore, the power threshold determined in different work areas is different.

[0192] Based on this, when the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, the aircraft returns to the mobile hangar, specifically including the following steps:

[0193] If the power of the aircraft is less than the power threshold, based on the current position of the aircraft and the position information of the partial path contained in the work area where the aircraft is currently located, a return point closest to the current position is determined from the partial path; control the mobile hangar to travel to the return point, and control the aircraft to fly from the current position to the return point and return to the mobile hangar at the return point.

[0194] Exemplarily, the position information of the partial path can be latitude and longitude information. The current position of the aircraft can be regarded as a position point, and if the partial path is a curve, it can be regarded as composed of a plurality of straight line segments. The nearest distance from the current position to the partial path is the minimum distance from the point to the straight line. The intersection of the perpendicular to the partial path passing through the current position and the partial path is the return point. Subsequently, the mobile hangar can be controlled to travel to the return point, and the aircraft can be controlled to fly from the current position to the return point and return to the mobile hangar at the return point.

[0195] Thus, by moving the mobile hangar and the aircraft to the return point, the aircraft can return with the shortest flight distance when the power is insufficient, ensuring the flight safety of the aircraft.

[0196] In order to better understand the present scheme, the following takes a mapping modeling task as an example for illustration.

[0197] As important map sources of GIS (Geographic Information System) data, three-dimensional tilt models and two-dimensional orthographic images can better provide map analysis. They provide more accurate data analysis, measurement and detection functions in the fields of city planning, emergency management and disaster monitoring, smart city and digital twin, forestry protection and ecological research, power industry model analysis, military and defense, and are an indispensable part of the industry. In related technologies, three-dimensional modeling is performed by surveying personnel using a remote control to control a UAV to perform route collection pictures at the work site. After collection, the storage card in the UAV needs to be pulled out and then the pictures are copied. The copied pictures are imported into a reconstruction tool to perform map modeling. This process is inefficient and labor-intensive. Therefore, a mobile hangar-based aircraft operation method can be used to perform the picture collection modeling task, as follows.

[0198] First, use an open source map tool to make a KML file, import the range to be photographed in the KML file, and input the KML file into the flight control platform. Alternatively, the range to be photographed can be determined by editing and plotting on the operating system of the flight control platform.

[0199] The first construction method of the operation area: if the range to be photographed is a region (hereinafter referred to as the task area), a three-dimensional model or a map of the task area can be obtained first. Then, based on the road network in the task area, a plurality of operation areas of the UAV are constructed. Specifically, one or more operation areas are generated along the expressway in the road network based on the operation range of the aircraft. If all the operation areas determined can cover the task area, a planned path of the trajectory points that passes through and only passes through all the operation areas is generated. If the task area cannot be covered, a first-class road in the road network is obtained, and one or more operation areas are generated based on the first-class road and the expressway. Whether the newly generated operation areas can cover the task area is determined, and so on, until the operation areas constructed can cover the task area or traverse all levels of roads in the road network.

[0200] The second construction manner of the operation area: if the range to be surveyed is an untraveled road, a second target road with a road direction difference less than a preset threshold value from the untraveled road can be determined in the surrounding road network of the untraveled road, and a planning path of the vehicle-mounted hangar is planned in the second target road. Specifically, the lane lines of each road in the surrounding road network can be extracted from satellite images, and each road can be fitted as a polynomial curve, such as a quadratic function, based on the lane lines of each road. The parallelism between each road and the untraveled road is calculated based on the fitted polynomial curve. If there is a road with a parallelism greater than a parallelism threshold value, such as 0.8, from the untraveled road, the road is considered as the second target road. Then the planning path of the vehicle-mounted hangar is planned in the second target road, and one or more operation areas are determined along the driving direction of the planning path.

[0201] In the determination of the operation area, a circular operation area or a rectangular operation area can be drawn in sequence. The operation area includes part of the planning path. The circular operation area is drawn with the farthest communication distance between the UAV and the vehicle-mounted hangar as the radius; the rectangular operation area is drawn with twice the farthest communication distance as the diagonal. The positional relationship of the multiple operation areas drawn is intersected or externally tangent.

[0202] In addition, if the relationship between the vehicle-mounted hangar and the UAV is one-to-many, a central road in the task area can be determined, the task area is divided into multiple task sub-areas based on the shape of the central road, and one or more operation areas are divided for each task sub-area according to the above method.

[0203] In addition, when multiple operation areas exist in the intersection area, i.e., the second operation area mentioned above, one target second operation area is selected from the multiple second operation areas to retain the intersection area, and the remaining second operation areas delete the intersection area.

[0204] In addition, if the task area also has a blank area, an operation area adjacent to the blank area can be obtained as a first operation area. If the area of the blank area is less than an area threshold value, the blank area is merged with any first operation area. If the area of the blank area is greater than the area threshold value, the blank area is divided into multiple sub-areas with an area less than the area threshold value, and each sub-area is merged with a target first operation area adjacent thereto. If the UAV cannot directly communicate with the vehicle-mounted hangar in the merged operation area, the UAV and the vehicle-mounted hangar can communicate through IOT.

[0205] After the path planning and operation area division of the vehicle-mounted hangar are completed, a ploughing flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle can be generated in each operation area. The unmanned aerial vehicle performs a mapping task when flying along the ploughing flight path. If the operation area is constructed in the first mode, the user can freely select one or more of the plurality of operation areas to perform the mapping task. Based on the road in the selected operation area, the vehicle-mounted hangar can drive through the shortest driving path of the selected operation area.

[0206] Subsequently, the planned path of the vehicle-mounted hangar, the operation flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the operation area, and the mapping task of the unmanned aerial vehicle are sent to the vehicle-mounted hangar through the task module in the four-dimensional intelligent holographic operation system carried by the flight control platform. The flight control platform can interact with the vehicle-mounted hangar through the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol and the WebSocket protocol of the Internet of Things platform. When the mapping task is issued, automatic reflight can be started. The reflight control information carried by the mapping task instructs the reflight, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can return to the vehicle-mounted hangar for power supply when the power is lower than the power threshold and the task cannot be completed in one flight. After the power is sufficient, the unmanned aerial vehicle will automatically perform the reflight task, i.e., return to the operation area to continue performing the mapping task until the mapping task is completed and the unmanned aerial vehicle returns.

[0207] In addition, the flight control platform also provides a task management list to manage the task state. For example, the generation and task state of the reflight mapping task can be monitored in the task management list, and the automatic reflight can be started and stopped, and the manual reflight can be set. During the mapping process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the flight control platform can calculate whether there is a mapped area in the current operation area. Specifically, the area and position (such as latitude and longitude coordinates) of the mapped area can be obtained, and then based on the area and position, the remaining unmapped area in the operation area is determined and sent to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0208] The power threshold of each operation area can be determined as follows: for each operation area, the distance between the farthest point (i.e., the point on the boundary of the operation area) and the part of the path contained in the operation area is calculated. The power consumed by the unmanned aerial vehicle flying the distance is determined, and the sum of the consumed power and the preset threshold is the power threshold. During the mapping process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, if the power of the unmanned aerial vehicle is less than the power threshold, the nearest return point from the current position of the unmanned aerial vehicle is determined from the part of the path based on the current position of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the position information of the part of the path contained in the operation area. The unmanned aerial vehicle can send the position information of the return point to the vehicle-mounted hangar through IOT, so that the vehicle-mounted hangar drives to the return point, the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the return point, and the unmanned aerial vehicle returns to the vehicle-mounted hangar at the return point.

[0209] After returning to the vehicle-mounted hangar, the drone can unload its pod and battery, and then mount it there. The pod will then begin uploading collected images to the server, at which point the drone enters image transmission mode. Once the drone has recharged and the flight control information indicates continued flight with automatic flight resume enabled, the vehicle-mounted hangar will interrupt the image transmission mode, and any unuploaded images will be marked. The drone will then resume its image-collecting mission until it completes the mission and returns to the hangar. Afterward, all images collected by the drones from each flight will be uploaded to the server sequentially.

[0210] After the image is uploaded, the server triggers a modeling program to create a model. Some modeling parameters can be obtained from the pod currently acquiring the image. Once modeling is complete, the created model can be displayed through the 4D intelligent holographic operating system, thus completing the entire process of collaborative automatic image acquisition and modeling based on UAVs and vehicle-mounted hangars.

[0211] Based on the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes one or more computer programs or instructions. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments.

[0212] Based on the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments, this application also provides, as follows: Figure 8 The diagram shows the structure of an electronic device. Figure 8 At the hardware level, the electronic device includes a processor, an internal bus, a network interface, memory, and non-volatile storage, and may also include other hardware required for business operations. The processor reads the corresponding computer program from the non-volatile storage into memory and then runs it to implement the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments. For example, the electronic device may be equipped with a flight control platform.

[0213] Based on the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments, this application also provides a flight system, the system comprising: an aircraft, a mobile hangar, and a flight control platform; the mobile hangar and the aircraft are detachably connected; the flight control platform comprises: a processor; and a memory for storing processor-executable instructions; wherein, when the processor invokes the executable instructions, it implements the aircraft operation method based on a mobile hangar described in any of the above embodiments.

[0214] The application further provides a computer storage medium, the computer storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is executed by a processor to be used for executing the mobile hangar-based aircraft operation method in any of the embodiments.

[0215] In several embodiments provided in the application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method can also be implemented by other manners. The apparatus embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the flowcharts and block diagrams in the drawings show the possible implementation architectures, functions and operations of the apparatus, method and computer program product according to the embodiments of the application. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams can represent a module, a program segment or a part of code, which contains one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logic function. It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementation manners, the functions noted in the blocks can also occur in different orders from those noted in the drawings. For example, two consecutive blocks can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and sometimes they can also be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, and the combination of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, can be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based system for implementing the specified functions or actions, or can be implemented by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0216] In addition, the function modules in the embodiments of the application can be integrated together to form an independent part, or each module can exist independently, or two or more modules can be integrated to form an independent part.

[0217] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the application can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), a random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0218] The above merely provides an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings.

[0219] The above merely provides an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings.

[0220] It should be noted that the relational terms herein such as first and second and the like are used solely to distinguish one from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Claims

1. A mobile hangar based aircraft servicing method, characterized by, The mobile hangar is detachably connected with the aircraft; the method comprises: generating one or more work areas based on road levels of a road network in a task area and a work range of the aircraft, comprising: determining a first target road belonging to a target level from the road network in order of road levels from high to low; generating one or more work areas along the first target road based on the work range; if a union of all the work areas generated does not cover the task area, determining a next target level in order of the road levels from high to low, and returning to perform the step of determining the first target road until roads of all road levels are traversed or a union of all work areas covers the task area; wherein the road network comprises roads of one or more road levels; the union of all the work areas covers at least part of the task area; determining trajectory points of the mobile hangar in each work area, and generating a planned path passing through all the trajectory points; wherein the planned path comprises roads of at least one road level; controlling the mobile hangar to travel along the planned path while controlling the aircraft to perform a work task in each work area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, After the one or more work areas are generated based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the work range of the aircraft, the method further comprises: if the task area comprises a blank area not covered by the work areas, for each blank area, obtaining one or more first work areas adjacent to the blank area from the work areas; determining one or more target first work areas to be merged from the first work areas based on an area of the blank area; merging the blank area with the target first work areas to obtain a merged work area.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The determining one or more target first work areas to be merged from the first work areas based on the area of the blank area, and the merging the blank area with the target first work areas to obtain a merged work area, comprise: if the area of the blank area is less than a preset area threshold, merging the blank area with a target first work area to obtain a merged work area; if the area of the blank area is greater than the area threshold, splitting the blank area into a plurality of sub-areas with areas less than the area threshold, and for each sub-area, merging the sub-area with an adjacent target first work area to obtain a merged work area.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The generating a planned path passing through all the trajectory points, comprises: obtaining a candidate path; the candidate path comprises a planned sub-path between a plurality of planned trajectory points; determining a current trajectory point and a non-empty set of to-be-planned trajectory points from all the trajectory points; the set of to-be-planned trajectory points comprises at least one trajectory point other than the planned trajectory points and the current trajectory point; determining a target trajectory point with the shortest distance to the current trajectory point path from the set of trajectory points to be planned, and adding a sub-planning path between the current trajectory point and the target trajectory point to the candidate path; determining the target trajectory point as the next current trajectory point and returning to the step of determining the set of trajectory points to be planned until the set of trajectory points to be planned is empty, and then determining the candidate path as the planning path.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, generating one or more work areas based on the road levels of the road network in the task area and the work range of the aerial vehicle, determining trajectory points of the mobile hangar in each of the work areas, and generating a planning path passing through all the trajectory points, which is replaced by: determining an unpassable road to be worked on; determining a second target road in the road network around the unpassable road, which has a difference in road direction with the unpassable road less than a preset threshold; planning a planning path of the mobile hangar in the second target road; generating one or more work areas along the driving direction of the planning path based on the work range.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the parallelism between the second target road and the unpassable road is greater than a preset parallelism threshold, and / or in the case that the geometric shape of the unpassable road is a curve shape, the second target road and the unpassable road have mutually parallel tangents.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein, The method further comprises: for each of the work areas, generating a corresponding target area along a first direction of the work area based on the work range; determining trajectory points in each target area; generating an extended path passing through the trajectory points in all the target areas.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The method further comprises: for each of the work areas, determining a maximum distance from a part of the path contained in the work area to the boundary of the work area, and determining an energy threshold of the work area based on the energy consumption of the aerial vehicle flying the maximum distance; during the execution of the work task by the aerial vehicle in the work area, if the energy of the aerial vehicle is less than the energy threshold, interrupting the work task, and determining a return point closest to the current position from the part of the path based on the current position of the aerial vehicle and the position information of the part of the path; controlling the mobile hangar to drive to the return point, and controlling the aerial vehicle to fly from the current position to the return point and return to the mobile hangar at the return point.

9. A flying system characterized by, The system comprises an aerial vehicle, a mobile hangar, and a flight control platform; the mobile hangar and the aerial vehicle are detachably connected; The flight control platform comprises a processor, a memory for storing processor executable instructions; wherein the processor invokes the executable instructions to implement the operations of the method of any one of claims 1-8. The system comprises an aerial vehicle, a mobile hangar, and a flight control platform; the mobile hangar and the aerial vehicle are detachably connected; The flight control platform comprises a processor, a memory for storing processor executable instructions; wherein the processor invokes the executable instructions to implement the operations of the method of any one of claims 1-8.

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