Double-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system and snow removal method

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle snow removal, in particular to a dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system and a snow removal method.The dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle, a snow removal module, an unmanned aerial vehicle control module and a ground terminal and further comprises a supply platform, and the snow removal module comprises a high-pressure snow removal unit and a rotor wing snow removal unit; the high-pressure snow removal unit is used for spraying airflow to break accumulated snow, and the rotor wing snow removal unit is used for sweeping residual snow; the supply platform is used for supply of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the high-pressure snow removal unit. The double-airflow cooperative snow removal mode is utilized, manual snow removal can be effectively replaced, the snow removal efficiency and the snow removal effect are improved, the device does not make contact with the photovoltaic panel, damage to the photovoltaic panel is avoided, and continuous operation of a large-scale photovoltaic power station is effectively guaranteed.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle snow removal, in particular to a dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system and method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The problem of winter snow accumulation has always been a key difficulty affecting the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic power stations. The existing photovoltaic panel snow removal technology has exposed many defects in practical application. At present, the snow removal method mainly relies on manual work, which not only has low work efficiency, but also requires a large amount of human resources, resulting in high snow removal cost. In the snow removal process, the workers face great safety hazards, and the photovoltaic panels are also easily damaged by trampling. On the other hand, although the mechanical snow removal device seems efficient, it needs to be modified for the photovoltaic support, which has high installation cost, and the mechanical structure is easy to scratch the coating layer of the photovoltaic panel during operation, which seriously affects the service life. More importantly, this device cannot adapt to the photovoltaic panel array under complex terrain conditions, and the application range is greatly limited.

[0003] In addition, the method of using snow melting agent for snow removal can clear the snow to a certain extent, but the chemical composition will corrode the metal parts of the photovoltaic assembly, and long-term use will also pollute the soil environment, which obviously does not meet the basic requirements of green operation. As for the single-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle snow removal technology, although it has a certain degree of innovation, it only relies on the airflow generated by the rotor, and its clearing ability is insufficient for thick snow and ice layer. Even if the snow is removed by suspending a blower, it is limited by the energy consumption and load capacity of the unmanned aerial vehicle, resulting in a serious lack of endurance time, which is difficult to meet the demand of large-area photovoltaic power station snow removal.

[0004] Based on the above reasons, the existing snow removal method cannot meet the continuous snow removal demand, and an efficient snow removal scheme is urgently needed. SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system and method, which improves the snow removal efficiency and effect through the high-speed snow breaking and low-speed snow sweeping dual-airflow cooperative mode, and overcomes the energy consumption and load capacity limitations of the unmanned aerial vehicle through intelligent return supply.

[0006] The technical scheme adopted by the present application to solve its technical problems is: The application discloses a dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removing system, which comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle control module and a ground terminal.

[0007] Compared with the prior art, the application has the following prominent features: The system utilizes the high-pressure snow removing unit and the rotor snow removing unit to form a dual-airflow mode of high-speed snow breaking and low-speed snow removing, improves the snow removing efficiency and effect, has no mechanical contact with the photovoltaic panel, effectively avoids damage to the photovoltaic panel, and does not need to spray snow melting agent, thereby avoiding environmental pollution.

[0008] As a preferred further technical scheme of the application, the application has the following features: Preferably, the unmanned aerial vehicle control module comprises a power monitoring unit, a positioning and navigation unit, a communication unit and a data processing unit, the battery monitoring unit, the positioning and navigation unit, the communication unit and the electromagnetic control valve are connected with the data processing unit, the power monitoring unit is used for monitoring the power of the unmanned aerial vehicle battery, and the positioning and navigation unit is used for guiding the unmanned aerial vehicle to accurately land on the supply platform.

[0009] Preferably, the nozzle is provided with a plurality of nozzles, and the nozzles are arranged below the unmanned aerial vehicle body and / or below each group of unmanned aerial vehicle rotors.

[0010] Preferably, the high-pressure gas tank is provided with a pressure monitoring unit, and the pressure monitoring unit is connected with the data processing unit.

[0011] Preferably, the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with an image acquisition unit, and the image acquisition unit is connected with the data processing unit.

[0012] The application further discloses a photovoltaic panel snow removing method based on a rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, which is suitable for the dual-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removing system and is performed according to the following steps. S1, snow accumulation surveying and mapping S2, parameter setting S3, snow removing operation Assemble the full-pressure high-pressure gas tank with the unmanned aerial vehicle, install the full-electricity battery, start the unmanned aerial vehicle and the ground terminal communication, make the unmanned aerial vehicle take off according to the flight route, and remove the snow by means of the high-pressure airflow sprayed by the high-pressure gas tank and the low-speed airflow swept by the rotor in the double-airflow mode; During the operation, the image acquisition unit acquires the image after snow removal in real time, the ground terminal compares the snow cover before and after snow removal, and adjusts the snow removal parameter according to the snow cover to re-operate. S4, replenishment During the snow removal, the pressure monitoring unit and the electricity monitoring unit monitor the pressure condition in the high-pressure gas tank and the battery electricity condition in real time, when the pressure value of the high-pressure gas tank is lower than the set pressure threshold or the battery electricity is lower than the set electricity threshold, the unmanned aerial vehicle controller issues a homeward flight instruction, the unmanned aerial vehicle stops the current operation, returns to the replenishment platform, and performs the replenishment operation; after the replenishment is completed, the unmanned aerial vehicle automatically takes off, returns to the uncompleted operation area to continue snow removal until all the photovoltaic panel operation areas are completed.

[0013] The application adopting the above technical scheme has the following outstanding features compared with the prior art: The method can realize continuous operation by the homeward replenishment mechanism, and meet the snow removal demand of large-scale photovoltaic power station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is the state diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle of the application; Figure 2 is the structural schematic diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the embodiment of the application; Figure 3 is the internal structural schematic diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the application; Figure 4 is the composition diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle control module in the application; The reference signs are as follows: 1, unmanned aerial vehicle; 2, high-pressure gas tank; 3, jet pipe; 4, nozzle; 5, image acquisition unit; 6, battery; 7, unmanned aerial vehicle control module; 8, electromagnetic control valve; 9, rotor; 10, photovoltaic panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The application will be further described below in combination with specific embodiments, and the purpose is only to better understand the content of the application, therefore, the examples do not limit the protection scope of the application.

[0016] A double-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system is composed of an unmanned aerial vehicle 1, an unmanned aerial vehicle control module, a ground terminal and a replenishment platform.

[0017] The unmanned aerial vehicle 1 is used as a flight carrier. When the unmanned aerial vehicle is selected, a six-rotor or eight-rotor structure is selected, and the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with functions of fixed-point hovering, automatic obstacle avoidance, and route planning. When the unmanned aerial vehicle hovers, low-speed airflow generated by rotor flight is used for snow removal.

[0018] The unmanned aerial vehicle is internally provided with a battery and an unmanned aerial vehicle control module. The battery provides power for snow removal operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle control module mainly comprises an electric quantity monitoring unit, a positioning and navigation unit, a communication unit, and a data processing unit. The electric quantity monitoring unit, the positioning and navigation unit, and the communication unit are respectively connected with the data processing unit.

[0019] The electric quantity monitoring unit is used for monitoring the electric quantity of the battery of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The positioning and navigation unit is used for guiding the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 to plan a snow removal route in combination with a photovoltaic panel electronic map and to accurately land on a supply platform. The communication unit is used for establishing two-way data transmission between the unmanned aerial vehicle control module and a ground terminal, so as to ensure real-time information interaction. The data processing unit (the data processing unit in the embodiment is a commercially available product, and an ARM Cortex-A9 processor can be selected) is used for analyzing data such as air pressure, electric quantity, position, and image, and generating an action instruction.

[0020] The unmanned aerial vehicle 1 is further provided with a high-pressure gas storage tank 2. The high-pressure gas storage tank 2 can be arranged above or below the unmanned aerial vehicle 1. In the embodiment, the high-pressure gas storage tank 2 is arranged at the top of the unmanned aerial vehicle 1, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 and the high-pressure gas storage tank 2 are connected through a quick-mount buckle.

[0021] The high-pressure gas storage tank 2 is provided with a gas injection pipeline 3, and a nozzle 4 is arranged below the high-pressure gas storage tank 2. The nozzle 4 is connected with the high-pressure gas storage tank 3 through the gas injection pipeline 3. A battery control valve is further arranged on the gas injection pipeline 3. The electromagnetic control valve is arranged in the unmanned aerial vehicle and is connected with the data processing unit. The electromagnetic control valve is used for controlling the on-off of the gas injection pipeline 3 and the flow rate of the gas in the gas injection pipeline 3.

[0022] The electromagnetic control valve is arranged on the gas injection pipeline 3 close to the nozzle 4 and is connected with the data processing unit. The electromagnetic control valve is used for controlling the on-off of the gas injection pipeline 3 and the flow rate of the gas.

[0023] The nozzle in the embodiment can be provided with a plurality of nozzles. The nozzles can be arranged below the unmanned aerial vehicle body and / or below each group of unmanned aerial vehicle rotors. The positions of the nozzles can be determined according to the actual situation of the snow removal site. When a plurality of nozzles are arranged, each nozzle can be connected with the gas injection pipeline through a branch pipeline, and each branch pipeline is respectively provided with an electromagnetic control valve. Each electromagnetic control valve is connected with the data processing unit, so as to control the working conditions of each nozzle.

[0024] The gas outlet of the nozzle 4 is a flat outlet, which can increase the speed of the airflow out of the gas outlet and improve the snow removal effect. The gas outlet of the nozzle in the embodiment is not limited to the flat outlet.

[0025] The high-pressure gas tank 2 is provided with a pressure monitoring unit (i.e. a pressure sensor), which is connected with the data processing unit and used to monitor the gas pressure inside the high-pressure gas tank 2 in real time and feed back to the data processing unit in real time.

[0026] The bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 is provided with an image acquisition unit 5, which in the embodiment includes a high-definition industrial camera and an infrared thermal imager, and is used to shoot the surface image of the photovoltaic panel in real time and transmit the image to the ground terminal to generate a three-dimensional distribution map of the snow on the photovoltaic panel, so as to ensure full coverage of the snow image on the photovoltaic panel.

[0027] The replenishment platform is provided with double positioning marks, and the replenishment platform can be a fixed platform or a mobile platform. The fixed platform is a platform installed on the infrastructure such as the power station building, and the mobile platform is a platform installed on a vehicle and can be moved in real time.

[0028] Based on the above-mentioned double-airflow unmanned aerial vehicle photovoltaic panel snow removal system, the specific snow removal method comprises the following steps: S1, snow mapping The electronic map of the photovoltaic panel array is imported into the ground terminal, and the mapping flight path parameters are set, for example, the flight height is 5-10 m, the flight speed is 5-8 m / s, the image interval is 1-2 s / picture, the adjacent image repetition rate is greater than or equal to 30%, the surface image of the photovoltaic panel shot by the image acquisition unit 5 in real time is transmitted to the ground terminal to generate a three-dimensional distribution map of the snow on the photovoltaic panel, and the snow thickness is divided into thin snow area, medium-thick snow area, thick snow area or icing area, and the coordinates of each area are marked; the operator confirms the mapping result through the ground terminal and manually marks the missed areas (such as the corner of the photovoltaic panel and the shadow area of the support), and completes the mapping.

[0029] S2, parameter setting According to the mapping result, the airflow pressure and the jet time are set according to the thickness of different snow areas. The thicker the snow layer is, the greater the airflow pressure is, and the longer the jet time is. Moreover, the flight height of the unmanned aerial vehicle is as low as possible without affecting the normal flight.

[0030] S3, snow removal operation The high-pressure gas tank 2 under full pressure is quickly assembled with the unmanned aerial vehicle 1, and the full-electricity battery is replaced. The unmanned aerial vehicle 1 and the ground terminal are started to communicate and debug, so as to ensure that the electromagnetic control valve switch responds in time and the image transmission has no delay. The unmanned aerial vehicle 1 hovers above the area to be snow-removed, and then the data processing unit issues a command to open the electromagnetic control valve, high-pressure gas is delivered to the nozzle 4 through the jet pipe 3, and a high-speed airflow is sprayed out of the nozzle 4 to break up the snow, while the low-speed airflow of the rotor sweeps the residual snow; During the operation, the image acquisition unit 5 acquires images in real time after the snow is removed, and the ground terminal compares the snow coverage before and after the snow removal. If the snow coverage rate is greater than or equal to 5% of the area of the swept area, the airflow pressure and jet time are appropriately adjusted, for example, the airflow pressure is increased by 10%-20%, the jet time is extended by 3-5s, the area is re-operated, and for the area with thick snow, the operation can be repeated 2-3 times to ensure that the snow is completely removed. After completing the current area, the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 automatically flies to the next area until the snow removal is completed.

[0031] S4, replenishment During the snow removal process, the pressure monitoring unit monitors the pressure in the high-pressure gas tank 2 in real time, and the power monitoring unit monitors the battery power in real time. When the pressure value of the high-pressure gas tank 2 is lower than the set pressure threshold or the battery power is lower than the set power threshold, the data processing unit issues a return command, the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 stops the current cleaning operation, the electromagnetic control valve is closed, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 1 returns to the replenishment platform. The operator quickly replaces the gas tank or the battery, and after the replenishment is completed, the unmanned aerial vehicle takes off and returns to the unfinished area to continue the operation until all the photovoltaic panel operation areas are completed.

[0032] The system utilizes the high-pressure snow-removal unit and the rotor snow-removal unit to form a high-speed snow-breaking and low-speed snow-removal mode, and through the return and replenishment mechanism, continuous operation is realized, the snow-removal demand of large-scale photovoltaic power stations is met, the snow-removal efficiency and effect are improved, there is no mechanical contact with the photovoltaic panel, damage to the photovoltaic panel is effectively avoided, and there is no need to spray snow-melting agent, and environmental pollution is avoided.

[0033] The above only describes the preferred embodiments of the present application, and is not limited to the scope of the present application. Any equivalent changes made according to the content of the specification and the drawings of the present application are included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A dual-airflow drone-based photovoltaic panel snow removal system, comprising a drone, a drone control module, and a ground terminal, characterized in that: The drone is equipped with several sets of rotors, which generate low-speed airflow to clear snow. It can also be detachably connected to a high-pressure gas tank, which is connected to a nozzle located below the drone via a jet pipe. The jet pipe is equipped with an electromagnetic control valve, and the high-pressure gas in the high-pressure gas tank is ejected through the nozzle as a high-speed airflow to break up the snow. It also includes a resupply platform for resupplying the drone's battery and the high-pressure gas tank.

2. The dual-airflow UAV photovoltaic panel snow removal system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The UAV control module includes a battery monitoring unit, a positioning and navigation unit, a communication unit, and a data processing unit. The battery monitoring unit, positioning and navigation unit, communication unit, and electromagnetic control valve are connected to the data processing unit. The battery monitoring unit is used to monitor the UAV battery level. The positioning and navigation unit is used to guide the UAV to land accurately on the resupply platform. The communication unit establishes remote communication between the UAV control module and the ground terminal. The electromagnetic control valve is used to control the opening and closing of the jet pipe and the amount of gas flow.

3. The snow removal system based on a dual-airflow UAV photovoltaic panel according to claim 1, characterized in that: There are several nozzles, which are located below the drone body and / or below each group of drone rotors. Each nozzle is connected to a high-pressure gas tank through a jet pipe.

4. The dual-airflow UAV photovoltaic panel snow removal system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The high-pressure gas storage tank is equipped with a pressure monitoring unit, which is connected to the data processing unit.

5. The dual-airflow UAV photovoltaic panel snow removal system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The drone is equipped with an image acquisition unit, which is connected to the data processing unit.

6. A method for snow removal from photovoltaic panels based on a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), characterized in that, The following steps are applicable to the dual-airflow UAV photovoltaic panel snow removal system as described in any one of claims 1 to 5: S1, Snow Cover Surveying S2, Parameter Settings S3, Snow removal operations Assemble the fully pressurized high-pressure gas tank with the drone, install a fully charged battery, start the drone to communicate with the ground terminal, and enable the drone to take off according to the flight path. The drone will use a dual airflow mode of breaking snow with the high-pressure airflow ejected from the high-pressure gas tank and sweeping snow at low speed with the rotor. During the operation, the image acquisition unit collects images of the snow removal in real time, and the ground terminal compares the snow cover before and after the snow removal, and adjusts the snow removal parameters according to the snow cover, and then restarts the operation. S4, Supply During snow removal, the pressure monitoring unit and power monitoring unit monitor the pressure in the high-pressure gas tank and the battery power of the drone in real time. When the pressure in the high-pressure gas tank is lower than the set pressure threshold or the battery power is lower than the set power threshold, the drone controller issues a return-to-home command, and the drone stops its current operation and returns to the resupply platform for resupply. After resupply, the drone returns to the unfinished work area to continue snow removal until all photovoltaic panel work areas are completed.

Images