Three-dimensional traffic system based on vertical take-off and landing aircraft and operation and scheduling mode thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a three-dimensional traffic system based on a vertical take-off and landing aircraft and an operation and dispatching mode thereof, the system comprises the vertical take-off and landing aircraft, a gripper mechanism and a rigid connecting rod assembly, the aircraft is purely electrically driven and has dual power redundancy, a gripper can be adjusted to adapt to multiple vehicle types, and the connecting rod assembly is high in strength. The operation scheduling comprises early-stage deployment, request initiation, intelligent scheduling, vehicle grabbing and transportation standby, and the gripper can be replaced and expanded to first aid and material transportation scenes. The system can realize air transfer of fault vehicles, the response time within 15 kilometers is less than or equal to 10 minutes, the total transportation time is less than or equal to 30 minutes, the efficiency is improved by 3-5 times compared with that of a traditional trailer, the system is adaptive to more than 95% of household vehicles, the cost is controllable, and low-altitude economic development is promoted.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of road traffic equipment and low-altitude transportation intersection, in particular to a three-dimensional traffic system for quickly handling a broken-down vehicle, relieving road congestion, and expanding to emergency rescue and material transportation scenarios, and an efficient operation and intelligent scheduling method adapted to the system. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous growth of the number of cars, the pressure of road traffic and the disposal problem of broken-down vehicles are becoming increasingly prominent. On the one hand, the situation that a car cannot move autonomously due to mechanical failure, traffic accident, etc. frequently occurs during driving: in remote areas, the passengers of a broken-down vehicle often face the difficulty of calling for help, and the waiting time for rescue can be as long as several hours, which not only delays the journey, but also may face the risk of safety in the wild; in areas with dense traffic flow such as highways and urban trunk roads, the road congestion caused by a single breakdown or accident often spreads like a "butterfly effect", causing several kilometers of traffic backlog in the short term, and even regional traffic paralysis in the long term. According to statistics from the transportation department, the proportion of such congestion caused by broken-down vehicles occupying the road is more than 40%, and the average time for removing the obstacles is more than 90 minutes.

[0003] The current mainstream disposal method for broken-down vehicles is mainly ground towing vehicles, which has three major drawbacks: first, the service coverage has blind spots, and in remote areas such as mountains and villages, the response rate of towing services is less than 60%, and in some areas there is no professional towing resource; second, the traffic efficiency is limited by road conditions, and in congested areas, towing vehicles often need to spend 1-2 hours to reach the scene, further exacerbating the congestion; third, the adaptability is limited, and the traditional towing vehicles have selection limitations on vehicle models and fault types, and some low-chassis sports cars and new energy vehicles are difficult to transport with conventional towing vehicles due to their special structure.

[0004] Although there are some researches on "flying cars" in the current industry, such technologies are still in the laboratory stage, and there are problems such as high manufacturing cost (the cost of a single vehicle is more than one million), short endurance (generally less than 100 kilometers), and strict requirements for take-off and landing sites (requiring a special runway or a large parking lot), which cannot be popularized on a large scale in the short term. In the "transition period" before the popularization of flying cars, how to use existing low-altitude resources to build a low-cost, high-adaptability, and fast-response traffic supplement system has become a key direction to solve the disposal problem of broken-down vehicles on the road. SUMMARY

[0005] I. Invention purposes: Addressing the industry pain points of insufficient coverage and low efficiency of existing ground towing services, as well as the difficulty in popularizing flying cars in the short term, this invention provides a three-dimensional transportation system based on vertical take-off and landing aircraft and its operation and scheduling methods. It aims to realize the "air transfer" of disabled vehicles, significantly shorten rescue response time, alleviate road congestion, and expand the application of low-altitude resources in scenarios such as traffic emergency and material transportation, thereby promoting the development of subdivided fields of the low-altitude economy.

[0006] II. Technical Solution: (I) Structure of a three-dimensional transportation system: The three-dimensional transportation system of this invention comprises two core modules: a vertical take-off and landing aircraft and a gripper mechanism. The two are connected by a rotatable rigid linkage assembly, as shown in the following structure: 1. Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft: Power and Control: It adopts a pure electric drive mode and is equipped with multiple rotors (the number can be adjusted according to the load, such as 4-6-8-12-16) to achieve vertical take-off and landing and hovering; it is fully unmanned and has a built-in high-precision satellite navigation system (positioning accuracy ≤1 meter) and inertial navigation module to ensure precise and controllable flight path; it is equipped with a dual power redundancy system, so that when a single motor fails, the remaining motors can maintain basic flight and landing functions to ensure transportation safety.

[0007] Detection and Adaptation: The aircraft is equipped with a high-definition binocular camera (4K resolution) and a lidar (detection distance 0-50 meters, accuracy ±2cm) at the bottom, which can calculate the relative position of the aircraft with the ground and vehicles in real time, and identify vehicle models and chassis support point positions; the payload is designed to be 1.5-2.5 tons, covering more than 95% of the family cars on the market (the driving weight is generally ≤1.8 tons), meeting the transportation needs of different vehicle models.

[0008] Connection structure: Four cylindrical steel columns (8-10cm in diameter and 30-40cm in length) are symmetrically arranged at the bottom of the aircraft. The bottom of the steel columns is equipped with a rotary joint, which can be detachably connected to the rigid connecting rod assembly for easy maintenance and replacement.

[0009] 2. Grab mechanism: Core components include 4 independent grippers, a hydraulic telescopic mechanism, a connecting rod shaft, and a control module. Each gripper adopts an "L-shaped" structure, with a 5-8mm thick silicone pad (Shore hardness 50-60 degrees) attached to its upper surface. This increases the friction with the vehicle chassis, preventing the vehicle from sliding relative to it during transportation and avoiding scratches on the chassis paint.

[0010] Adjustment function: The gripper can slide laterally along the connecting rod shaft (adjustment range 0.5-1.2 meters) to adapt to vehicles with different wheelbases; the connecting rod shaft is connected to the hydraulic telescopic mechanism, which can realize longitudinal lifting (lifting range 0-30cm) to facilitate alignment with the car chassis support point; the connecting rod shaft is driven to rotate by the hydraulic mechanism (rotation angle 0-15°) to adapt to slightly inclined road surfaces and ensure that the gripper fits tightly with the chassis support point.

[0011] Adaptability: Through the coordinated detection of cameras and lidar, the gripper mechanism can automatically identify the chassis support point positions of different car models (such as the front and rear suspension support points of family cars and the chassis reinforcement beams of SUVs). It can achieve "stop and grab" without changing the original structure and shape of the car, and its adaptability covers mainstream models such as sedans, SUVs and MPVs.

[0012] 3. Rigid Linkage Assembly: Structural components: including an upper connecting rod, a long steel column, and a rotary joint. One end of the upper connecting rod is rotatably connected to the steel column at the bottom of the aircraft, and the other end is fixed to the long steel column. The middle of the long steel column is connected to the hydraulic telescopic mechanism, and the bottom is connected to the gripper control module. The rotary joint is made of high-strength alloy material and can achieve 360° rotation, ensuring that the gripper mechanism can flexibly adjust the angle when aligned with the support point.

[0013] Strength Guarantee: The entire linkage assembly is made of aerospace-grade aluminum alloy with a tensile strength of ≥500MPa and a compressive strength of ≥400MPa. It can withstand a load of 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle, preventing structural deformation caused by vibration and airflow during transportation.

[0014] (II) Operation and Scheduling Methods: Based on the aforementioned three-dimensional transportation system, this invention provides a fully automated operation and scheduling method, the specific steps of which are as follows: 1. Initial Deployment (S1): The dispatch platform assesses demand using big data algorithms based on data such as the number of vehicles in the region, the frequency of road congestion, and road sections with high failure rates. Parking points are set up in locations such as highway service areas, urban outer ring parking lots, and parking lots of township governments in remote areas. Each parking point is equipped with 3-5 sets of three-dimensional transportation systems to ensure a service radius of ≤15 kilometers (with a response time of ≤10 minutes within the coverage area). The unified dispatch platform establishes a cloud database to store the real-time location, power consumption, task status (idle / running / maintenance) of all three-dimensional transportation systems, as well as data such as vehicle models and chassis support point parameters within the region, providing data support for subsequent dispatching and data retrieval.

[0015] 2. Request Initiation (S2): Passengers in a disabled vehicle can send a request to the dispatch platform through three methods: the in-vehicle navigation system, a mobile APP (supporting iOS / Android systems), or an emergency call. The request signal must include the vehicle's location (automatically obtained GPS coordinates, with an error of ≤5 meters), the vehicle model (manually entered or automatically recognized by the system), the destination (such as a 4S store, repair shop, or nearby parking lot), and the type of malfunction (optional, such as tire blowout or engine failure). For new energy vehicles equipped with autonomous driving functions, the vehicle network system can monitor the vehicle's fault status (such as battery failure or motor abnormality) in real time. When a fault that prevents the vehicle from driving is detected, a request signal is automatically sent to the dispatch platform, realizing the fully unmanned process of "fault prediction - automatic assistance call".

[0016] 3. Intelligent Scheduling (S3): After receiving the request signal, the dispatch platform selects the optimal three-dimensional transportation system based on the principle of "nearest priority + best efficiency": First, it selects the three available systems closest to the disabled vehicle and calculates the flight time of each system (based on real-time traffic conditions and flight path); if the nearest system is in operation, but its estimated completion time (remaining time of the current task + return time) is shorter than the flight time of the next nearest available system, then the system in operation is assigned to take the order first (e.g., if the nearest system has 10 minutes left to complete the task, and the next nearest system requires 15 minutes to fly, then the former is assigned). The dispatch platform sends a mission instruction to the selected three-dimensional transportation system, including the location, model, and destination coordinates of the disabled vehicle. After receiving the instruction, the system automatically plans the flight path (avoiding no-fly zones, high-voltage lines, and other obstacles) and reports the estimated arrival time back to the dispatch platform.

[0017] 4. Vehicle capture (S4-S7): S4: The three-dimensional transportation system flies to a height of 50 meters above the disabled vehicle and hovers there. After scanning the vehicle and the surrounding environment with the bottom camera and lidar to confirm that there are no obstacles, it slowly descends to a height of 10 meters.

[0018] S5: The system calls the chassis support point parameters in the cloud database according to the vehicle model, and combines them with real-time detection data to adjust the flight attitude so that the gripper mechanism is aligned with the four support points of the car chassis (two at the front and two at the rear, with the spacing matching the vehicle wheelbase).

[0019] S6: The hydraulic telescopic mechanism drives the connecting rod shaft to descend longitudinally, so that the gripper fits against the chassis support point; the gripper control module starts the clamping program, and the silicone pad is in close contact with the chassis to ensure no risk of slippage.

[0020] S7: The three-dimensional transportation system lifts vertically upwards by 5-10 meters (to avoid scraping the ground during flight), and after confirming that the grab handle is secure, it begins to fly towards the destination.

[0021] 5. Transportation and Standby (S8-S9): S8: The system flies along the planned path, with the flight altitude controlled at 50-100 meters (low-altitude flight to avoid civil aviation routes) and the flight speed controlled at 60-80 km / h (balancing efficiency and safety). During flight, the system monitors the gripper clamping force, vehicle status, and battery level in real time. If any abnormality occurs (such as insufficient battery or loose gripper), the system will automatically land at the nearest emergency landing point (such as the emergency lane of a highway or an open area).

[0022] S9: After the system flies to the destination, it slowly descends to the ground. The hydraulic telescopic mechanism drives the grab to release. After confirming that the vehicle has landed smoothly, it flies to the nearest parking spot to wait. If there is a maintenance need at the parking spot (such as when the battery level is below 20%), the system automatically drives into the charging position to charge and sends a maintenance request to the dispatch platform at the same time.

[0023] 6. Task Extension (S10) In addition to transporting vehicles that have broken down, this system can be used for emergency rescue scenarios (transporting emergency medicines and medical equipment with a response time of ≤15 minutes) and material transportation scenarios (transporting fresh food and emergency supplies with a load capacity of ≤2 tons) by changing the gripper mechanism (such as replacing the "L-shaped gripper" with a "cargo box gripper"). The dispatch platform can flexibly switch task modes according to different scenario requirements.

[0024] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: Efficiency Improvement: Response time within a service radius of 15 kilometers is ≤10 minutes, and the total time from picking up a disabled vehicle to transporting it to its destination is ≤30 minutes, which is 3-5 times more efficient than traditional towing; it can quickly clear disabled vehicles from the road and reduce highway congestion time by more than 60%.

[0025] Wide compatibility: It can grab different models of cars without changing the car structure, and its compatibility covers more than 95% of the family car models on the market; the pure electric drive mode has low noise (flight noise ≤65 decibels, lower than traditional fuel trailers) and zero emissions, meeting environmental protection requirements.

[0026] Cost controllable: The manufacturing cost of a single three-dimensional transportation system is about 500,000 to 1 million yuan (only 1 / 3 to 1 / 2 of that of a flying car). Parking sites can be modified from existing sites, without the need to build new special facilities, thus reducing upfront investment costs. Platform-based operation can improve system utilization, with a single system capable of performing 8 to 10 tasks per day, and operating costs lower than traditional trailers.

[0027] Application scenarios: In addition to transporting disabled vehicles, the system can be expanded to scenarios such as emergency medical care and material transportation, promoting the application of the low-altitude economy in the field of traffic emergency. At the same time, the vehicle malfunction data and low-altitude traffic data generated by the system can provide data support for the subsequent construction of autonomous driving and smart transportation. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional transportation system based on vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. In the diagram, 1-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, 2-rotor, 3-upper connecting rod of the gripper mechanism, 4-upper steel column of the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, 5-long steel column fixed to the connecting rod 3, 6-hydraulic telescopic mechanism, 7-lower steel column of the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, 8-connection head between hydraulic mechanism 6 and long steel column 5, 9-grip arm, 10-grip control mechanism, 11-grip, 12-silicone pad, 13-LiDAR, 14-camera.

[0029] Figure 1 In the middle, the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft 1 is connected to the upper connecting rod 3 via the upper steel column 4, the lower steel column 7, and the upper connecting rod 3 is fixed to the long steel column 5; one end of the hydraulic telescopic mechanism 6 is connected to the lower steel column 7, and the other end is connected to the long steel column 5 via the connecting head 8, which can drive the long steel column 5 to rotate; the bottom of the long steel column 5 is connected to the gripper control mechanism 10, the gripper control mechanism 10 is fixed to the gripper arm 9, the gripper arm 9 is equipped with a gripper 11 at the bottom, and the upper surface of the gripper 11 is attached with a silicone soft pad 12; the bottom of the aircraft 1 is equipped with a lidar 13 and a camera 14 for detecting the vehicle's position and status. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments: Example 1: Transporting a disabled car: On the outer ring expressway of a certain city, a Toyota Corolla sedan (with a driving weight of 1.3 tons) was unable to move due to a tire blowout. The driver and passengers made a request to the dispatch platform through a mobile app, with the destination being the nearest Toyota 4S store (12 kilometers away).

[0031] 1. After receiving the request, the dispatch platform selects the nearest available automated transportation system (a highway service area parking spot located 10 kilometers away with 80% battery power) and calculates the flight time to be approximately 8 minutes. Then, it sends a mission instruction to the system.

[0032] 2. The three-dimensional transportation system flies along the planned path and arrives above the disabled vehicle 8 minutes later. It hovers at a height of 10 meters and identifies the vehicle model as a Toyota Corolla through cameras and lidar. It then retrieves the chassis support point parameters (2.7 meters between the front and rear support points) of the model from the database.

[0033] 3. The system adjusts the lateral spacing of the grippers to 2.7 meters, and the hydraulic telescopic mechanism drives the grippers to descend to the chassis support point. After the grippers clamp, they are lifted vertically 8 meters and fly towards the 4S store.

[0034] 4. The system flies at a speed of 70 km / h and arrives at the 4S store parking lot 12 minutes later. It slowly descends to the ground, releases the grip, and after confirming that the vehicle has landed smoothly, it flies to a nearby parking spot to wait (remaining battery level 65%).

[0035] 5. The entire process, from request initiation to vehicle landing, takes 28 minutes, which is more than 3 times more efficient than traditional towing (estimated 1.5 hours).

[0036] Example 2: Autonomous vehicle automatically calls for help: When a certain brand of autonomous new energy vehicle was driving on a rural road, the vehicle network system detected a battery malfunction and could not continue driving. It automatically sent a request signal (including vehicle location, model, and malfunction type) to the dispatch platform, with the destination being the nearest new energy vehicle repair station (8 kilometers away).

[0037] 1. The dispatch platform selects an available three-dimensional transportation system 5 kilometers away and assigns it to accept the order; the system flies over the disabled vehicle, automatically identifies the vehicle's chassis support point, and completes the capture.

[0038] 2. After the system flies to the maintenance station and drops off the vehicle, it automatically flies to the nearest parking spot to charge because the battery still has 15% charge left, and sends a maintenance request to the dispatch platform.

[0039] 3. The entire process requires no human intervention, achieving fully automated operation of "fault detection - automatic emergency call - unmanned transportation", with a total duration of 15 minutes.

[0040] Example 3: Emergency Supplies Transportation A rural township health center received a patient who had suffered a sudden myocardial infarction and needed to use thrombolytic drugs urgently, but the health center did not have enough in stock, so it requested assistance from the county hospital (20 kilometers away, a 40-minute ground transportation time).

[0041] 1. The county hospital initiates a material transportation request through the dispatch platform, places the thrombolytic drugs into a special cargo box, and replaces the gripper mechanism (cargo box type gripper) of the three-dimensional transportation system.

[0042] 2. The system takes off from the county hospital parking point, flies at a speed of 80 km / h, and arrives at the township health center 25 minutes later to complete the delivery of supplies.

[0043] 3. It shortens the journey by 15 minutes compared to ground transportation, saving valuable time for patient treatment.

[0044] The above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, several improvements can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, such as adding a solar charging module to extend the battery life, optimizing the scheduling algorithm to improve efficiency, etc., and these improvements should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional transportation system based on a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, characterized in that, The system includes a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, a gripper mechanism, and a rigid linkage assembly. The VTOL aircraft and the gripper mechanism are connected via a rotatable rigid linkage assembly. The VTOL aircraft is electrically driven, equipped with multiple rotors, and features a built-in high-precision satellite navigation system, an inertial navigation module, and a dual power redundancy system. The bottom is equipped with a high-definition binocular camera, a lidar, and four cylindrical steel columns. The gripper mechanism includes four independent "L-shaped" grippers, a hydraulic telescopic mechanism, a linkage shaft, and a control module. Silicone pads are adhered to the surface of the grippers.

2. The three-dimensional transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vertical takeoff and landing aircraft has a positioning accuracy of ≤1 meter, a lidar detection range of 0-50 meters with an accuracy of ±2 cm, and a payload capacity of 1.5-2.5 tons.

3. The three-dimensional transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The gripper of the gripper mechanism can slide laterally for 0.5-1.2 meters along the connecting rod shaft, and the connecting rod shaft can be raised and lowered longitudinally by 0-30cm through a hydraulic telescopic mechanism, and can also be rotated by 0-15° through a hydraulic mechanism.

4. The three-dimensional transportation system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rigid connecting rod assembly has a tensile strength ≥500MPa and a compressive strength ≥400MPa, and can withstand a load 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle.

5. A mode for operation and scheduling of a three-dimensional transportation system based on any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1, the dispatch platform sets parking points based on regional data, deploys 3-5 sets of systems, and builds a cloud database; S2 can initiate a request via in-vehicle navigation, mobile app, emergency phone, or vehicle networking system; S3, the platform schedules the system according to the principle of "nearest priority + optimal efficiency"; S4-S7, the system flies to the target, hovers, identifies the vehicle, adjusts the gripper, and grabs it; S8-S9, the system transports according to the planned route, and after completion, flies to the parking point to wait for or maintain.

6. The operation and scheduling method according to claim 5, characterized in that, In step S1, the service radius of the parking point is ≤15 kilometers, and the response time within the coverage area is ≤10 minutes; the cloud database stores the real-time status and vehicle parameter data of the system.

7. The operation and scheduling method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The request signal in step S2 includes the vehicle location, model, destination, and optional fault type; autonomous new energy vehicles can automatically detect faults and send requests.

8. The operation and scheduling method according to claim 5, characterized in that, In step S3, the scheduling platform selects the three most recent idle systems. If the most recent system is in operation and its expected end time is shorter than the flight time of the next most recent idle system, the former will be assigned first. After receiving the instruction, the system plans the route and reports the expected arrival time.

9. The operation and scheduling method according to claim 5, characterized in that, In step S8, the system flies at an altitude of 50-100 meters and a speed of 60-80 km / h, and monitors the gripping force, vehicle status and battery level in real time. In case of abnormality, it automatically lands at the emergency take-off and landing point.

10. The operation and scheduling method according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes step S10, which replaces the gripper mechanism with a cargo box gripper, which can be used to transport emergency supplies and fresh food, and is suitable for emergency rescue and material transportation scenarios.

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