A method and device for air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection

Abstract

This invention discloses a method and device for air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection, comprising: a drone initial inspection, identifying and rectangularizing densely vegetated areas, and selecting areas in order from near to far; the drone using a controllable magnetic suction device to attract and transport a mowing robot to the center of the area for deployment; after the robot is calibrated to the center of the area, it plans a U-shaped path for full-coverage mowing; after the operation is completed, the drone retrieves the robot and transfers it to the next area; the drone conducts a second inspection, and if it visually identifies fallen grass covering the slope, it descends and hovers, using the downward airflow of its rotors to disperse the grass. This invention, through a collaborative logic of first removing grass and then inspecting, utilizes the drone to first identify obstructed areas, and then dispatches the mowing robot to precisely remove vegetation, effectively solving the pain point of traditional drone inspections where vegetation cover prevents the observation of slope surface diseases. This allows subsequent disease identification to be directly based on the exposed slope morphology, significantly improving detection accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a slope inspection method and apparatus, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for air-ground coordinated highway slope inspection. Background Technology

[0002] Highway slopes are a crucial component of transportation infrastructure, and their stability directly impacts road safety and smooth operation. Affected by natural factors such as rainfall, earthquakes, weathering, and geological structures, highway slopes are prone to geological disasters such as cracks, landslides, collapses, and rockfalls. Therefore, regular and comprehensive inspections of highway slopes to identify and address potential hazards early are paramount in daily highway maintenance. Traditional highway slope inspections primarily rely on manual foot patrols. However, highway slopes are typically characterized by rugged terrain, steep gradients, and dense vegetation. Manual inspections are not only inefficient and labor-intensive, but also expose inspectors to serious safety risks such as falls from heights and landslides. Furthermore, visual inspections often have blind spots, making it difficult to fully cover steep slopes, leading to the oversight of minor hazards.

[0003] With the popularization of drone technology, aerial inspection using drones equipped with high-definition cameras or infrared devices has become a mainstream alternative. Drone inspection overcomes the dangers of manual climbing and can quickly acquire large-scale image data of slopes. However, in practical applications, drone inspection faces a prominent technical bottleneck: vegetation obstruction. In most parts of my country, especially in the south, highway slopes are often covered with dense weeds or shrubs. The visual sensors of drones cannot penetrate the vegetation cover, causing early signs of slope damage such as cracks, settlement, and shallow slippage to be completely obscured. Images captured by drones often only show patches of grass and cannot reflect the true slope morphology, rendering drone inspections ineffective in densely vegetated areas.

[0004] To address the issue of vegetation obstruction, current technologies typically require manual or mechanical weeding of slopes before drone inspections. However, this approach has significant drawbacks: first, manual or conventional lawnmower operations are difficult and dangerous on steep slopes; second, weeding and drone inspections are usually separate stages, resulting in long processing times and low coordination efficiency; and third, grass clippings left after mowing are often scattered haphazardly on the slope, still covering parts of the slope and creating blind spots during subsequent drone inspections. Furthermore, while there has been some research on air-ground collaborative inspections in recent years, most remain at a superficial level, focusing on drones providing navigation or macroscopic views for ground robots. These studies have not yet addressed the core challenge of efficiently removing obstructions while simultaneously acquiring clear slope morphology, and lack a secondary cleaning mechanism for residual grass clippings after mowing. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Purpose of the invention: The purpose of this invention is to provide a method and device for air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection, which can efficiently remove vegetation that obstructs the slope, overcome the impact of grass clippings, and realize integrated air-ground closed-loop inspection.

[0006] Technical solution: This invention includes the following steps:

[0007] S1. Initial Inspection and Area Identification: The UAV plans its flight path based on the slope range and conducts the initial inspection, identifies densely vegetated areas, rectangularizes the area, determines the center coordinates and length and width of the area, and stores all area information.

[0008] S2. Task scheduling and information dissemination: The drone selects an area from the stored areas and sends the information of that area to the slope mowing robot;

[0009] S3. Air Deployment: The drone transports the slope mowing robot to the center coordinates of the currently selected area and deploys the slope mowing robot on the ground;

[0010] S4. Positioning and Mowing Operation: The slope mowing robot autonomously plans a U-shaped mowing path based on the length and width of the received area and its own mowing range to perform full-coverage mowing operations on the rectangular area.

[0011] S5. Work Completion and Cyclic Transfer: After the grass mowing operation is completed, the slope mowing robot sends a completion signal to the drone. After receiving the completion signal, the drone selects the next area and repeats steps S2-S4 until all stored areas have been processed.

[0012] S6. Secondary Inspection and Airflow Clearing: The drone conducts a secondary inspection of the slope along the route of the first inspection to identify slope defects. If it is found that the cut grass still covers the slope, the drone descends and uses the downward airflow of the rotor to blow away the grass clippings.

[0013] The specific method for rectangularizing the region is as follows: the UAV is equipped with a visual sensor to collect slope images, and the connected regions with vegetation coverage exceeding a preset threshold are identified by the image segmentation algorithm; the smallest bounding rectangle of the connected region is taken as the area to be cleared, and the geometric center coordinates and length and width dimensions of the rectangle are calculated.

[0014] The deployment method of the slope mowing robot is as follows: the drone uses a controllable magnetic suction device at the bottom to attach the slope mowing robot for aerial transport; after flying to the center coordinates of the target area, the drone controls the controllable magnetic suction device to de-energize and release the slope mowing robot to the ground.

[0015] Specifically, S4 involves generating a spiral-shaped trajectory from the center outwards to the edge of the rectangular area, starting from the center point of the rectangular area and based on the cutting width of the slope mowing robot, ensuring that the distance between adjacent trajectories is equal to the cutting width and that there is no omission in the coverage.

[0016] Specifically, S6 is as follows: when the drone identifies an area covered by grass, it hovers 1-2 meters above the area, increases the motor speed to enhance the downward airflow of the rotor, and continues for a set time to blow the fallen grass away from the slope surface; after the grass is dispersed, it returns to the original inspection height and continues to fly.

[0017] This invention also provides an air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection device, comprising a drone and a slope mowing robot. The drone includes a first controller, a first communication module, a vision sensor, an altimeter, a speed adjustment module, and a controllable magnetic suction device. The slope mowing robot includes a magnetic suction plate, a second controller, a second communication module, a positioning module, a mowing execution mechanism, and a tracked chassis. The controllable magnetic suction device is located at the bottom of the drone, and the magnetic suction plate is located at the top of the robot, with the controllable magnetic suction device cooperating with the magnetic suction plate. The first communication module, altimeter, and speed adjustment module are all connected to the first controller. The first communication module is connected to the second communication module, and the second controller is connected to the mowing execution mechanism.

[0018] The first controller is used to control the drone to perform the first inspection, identify the rectangular area, attach and transport the slope mowing robot to the target location through the controllable magnetic suction device and then release it, as well as the second inspection and airflow blowing grass; the first controller sends the center coordinates of the currently selected area to the slope mowing robot through the first communication module.

[0019] The visual sensor is used for slope image acquisition and grass cover recognition; the altimeter is used to detect the descent altitude of the drone and hover during secondary inspections; the speed adjustment module is used to increase the motor speed to enhance the downward airflow of the rotor to disperse the fallen grass.

[0020] The controllable magnetic attraction device includes a shell installed on the bottom of the drone, an electromagnet disposed inside the shell, and a drive circuit connected to a first controller; the drive circuit is used to control the electromagnet to switch on and off according to the instructions of the first controller.

[0021] The positioning module is used to obtain the robot's real-time position; the second controller guides the robot to move autonomously to the center coordinate point as the starting reference point by comparing the real-time position with the received area center coordinates, and controls the mowing actuator to perform mowing operations in a zigzag mowing path in combination with the real-time position.

[0022] Beneficial effects: This invention has the following advantages:

[0023] (1) Breaking through the bottleneck of vegetation obstruction and realizing the detection of the true morphology of slope: This invention uses the collaborative logic of "weeding first and then detection" to first identify the obstructed area by using drones, and then dispatching grass-cutting robots to accurately remove vegetation. This effectively solves the pain point that vegetation cover cannot be used to observe the surface diseases of slopes in traditional drone inspections, so that subsequent disease identification can be directly based on the exposed slope morphology, which greatly improves the detection accuracy.

[0024] (2) Unique airflow dispersion function to eliminate secondary obstruction blind spots: In response to the problem that fallen grass may still cover the slope after mowing, this invention innovatively introduces an airflow dispersion mechanism in the secondary inspection of drones. When the visual sensor detects residual grass, the drone actively descends to a low altitude and uses the powerful downward airflow generated by the rotor to blow the grass away. This quickly exposes a clean slope surface without the need for additional cleaning equipment, achieving a thorough purification of the inspection field of view.

[0025] (3) Deep air-ground collaborative closed loop, achieving a double leap in operational efficiency and safety: This invention is not a simple information exchange, but rather a deep collaborative closed loop at the physical level. The drone serves as both a "reconnaissance aircraft" and a "transport aircraft," using a magnetic suction device to achieve rapid air transport and precise deployment of the lawnmower robot, eliminating the need for the robot to autonomously crawl long distances on complex slopes, greatly improving operational efficiency and reducing energy consumption; after the lawnmower robot finishes its work, it sends a completion signal, and the drone can retrieve it and transfer it to the next area, without requiring personnel to trespass on steep slopes, completely eliminating the safety risks of manual climbing operations.

[0026] (4) Logically rigorous path planning ensures full coverage without omissions: The method adopts a regional scheduling strategy from near to far, which optimizes the flight path of the drone and reduces the unnecessary endurance consumption; The lawn mowing robot takes the delivery point (region center) as the starting point and adopts a spiral "U" shaped path planning from the center to the edge outward, which perfectly matches the drone delivery logic, ensuring complete coverage of the lawn mowing operation without repeated trajectories, and optimizing the operation efficiency.

[0027] (5) Fast and reliable magnetic connection and positioning calibration mechanism: The device uses an electromagnet-controlled magnetic device to realize the connection and release of the drone and the lawn mower in seconds. The structure is simple and reliable. At the same time, after the lawn mower lands, it combines the positioning module with the center coordinates sent by the drone to perform autonomous movement calibration, which ensures the accuracy of the path planning starting point and overcomes the slight position deviation that may be caused by aerial deployment. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the slope inspection device of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the magnetic adsorption state of the slope inspection device of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the bow-shaped inspection route and area identification of the UAV in this invention;

[0032] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the circular mowing path planning for the slope mowing robot in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Example 1

[0035] In this embodiment of the air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method, the drone serves a dual role as both a "reconnaissance aircraft" and a "transport aircraft." It first identifies obstructed areas and airlifts a slope mowing robot to the target center. After the slope mowing robot performs full-coverage mowing, the drone conducts a secondary inspection, using the downward airflow from its rotors to disperse fallen grass, thereby effectively exposing the true morphology of the slope for disease identification. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the specific steps include:

[0036] Step S1: Initial Inspection and Area Identification. The drone surveys the roadside slope from the air, collects images using onboard visual sensors, identifies and determines the slope boundaries, plans a bow-shaped flight path based on the slope area, and conducts the initial inspection.

[0037] like Figure 4 As shown, the drone flies along a bow-shaped flight path, carrying a visual sensor to collect slope images. An image segmentation algorithm identifies connected regions where vegetation coverage exceeds a preset threshold, i.e., densely vegetated areas. The smallest bounding rectangle of this irregular connected region is selected as the area to be cleared, and the geometric center coordinates and length and width dimensions of this rectangle are calculated. All identified rectangular area information is stored.

[0038] Step S2: Task Scheduling and Information Distribution. The drone selects a region from the stored regions, prioritizing those closest to the drone's current location. This scheduling strategy optimizes the flight path and reduces unnecessary flight time consumption between multiple work points. After selection, the drone wirelessly transmits the region's length, width, and center coordinates to the slope mowing robot.

[0039] Step S3: Air Deployment. The drone uses a controllable magnetic attachment device on its bottom to attach to the slope mowing robot and transports it by air to the center coordinates of the currently selected area. Once it reaches the top, the drone de-energizes the controllable magnetic attachment device, releasing the slope mowing robot precisely onto the ground.

[0040] Step S4: Positioning calibration and mowing operation. After the slope mowing robot lands, the on-board positioning module obtains the real-time position. The second controller guides the robot to autonomously move and calibrate to the center coordinate point as the starting reference point by comparing the real-time position with the received regional center coordinates. Subsequently, based on the received length and width of the area and its own mowing range, the robot generates a "return" - shaped mowing path that spirals outward from the center (starting from the center of the rectangular ring and expanding outward circle by circle until the entire rectangular area is covered) with the center point as the starting point, as shown in Figure 5 the figure. This path planning perfectly fits the logic of the dropping point, ensuring that the spacing between adjacent trajectories is equal to the mowing width and there is no missed coverage, enabling efficient mowing operation for the rectangular area.

[0041] Step S5: Completion of operation and cyclic transportation. After the mowing operation is completed, the slope mowing robot sends a completion signal to the drone and remains stationary waiting. After receiving the completion signal, the drone flies above the slope mowing robot, re - adsorbs it through the controllable magnetic attraction device, and transports it to the center coordinate of the next selected area, repeating steps S3 - S4 until all stored areas are processed.

[0042] Step S6: Secondary inspection and air - flow clearing of the field. After mowing all areas, the drone conducts a secondary inspection of the slope according to the bow - shaped flight path of the first inspection to identify diseases of the exposed slope. If it is recognized through the on - board vision sensor to collect images and use image recognition algorithms (such as semantic segmentation models) that the fallen grass still covers the slope after being mowed down, the drone descends to a height of 1 - 2 meters above this area, increases the motor speed to enhance the downward airflow of the rotor, and lasts for a set time (such as 5 - 10 seconds) to blow the fallen grass off the slope surface. After the blowing is completed, it resumes the original inspection height and continues to fly to ensure that subsequent image acquisition can capture the clean real shape of the slope.

[0043] Embodiment 2

[0044] As shown in Figure 2As shown in the figure, the aerial and ground collaborative highway slope inspection device of this embodiment includes a drone and a slope mowing robot. The drone includes a first controller 1, a first communication module 2, a vision sensor 3, an altimeter 4, a rotation speed adjustment module 5, and a controllable magnetic adsorption device 6. The first controller 1 serves as the center, and is used to control the drone to perform the first inspection, identify the rectangularized area, adsorb and transport the slope mowing robot to the target position through the controllable magnetic adsorption device 6 and then release it, and perform the second inspection and air blowing of the grass. The first controller 1 can also send the central coordinates of the currently selected area stored in step S1 to the slope mowing robot through the first communication module 2. The vision sensor 3 is used for slope image acquisition and grass coverage recognition. The altimeter 4 is connected to the first controller 1 and is used to detect the descent height of the drone and hover during the second inspection. The rotation speed adjustment module 5 is connected to the first controller 1 and is used to increase the motor speed to enhance the downward pressure airflow of the rotor to blow away the lodged grass.

[0045] The controllable magnetic adsorption device 6 is arranged at the bottom of the drone, as Figure 3 shown. The controllable magnetic adsorption device 6 includes a housing 13 installed at the bottom of the drone, an electromagnet 14 arranged in the housing 13, and a drive circuit 15 connected to the first controller 1. The electromagnet 14 generates a magnetic force to adsorb the magnetic adsorption plate 7 on the top of the slope mowing robot when powered on, and loses the magnetic force to release the robot when powered off. The drive circuit 15 is used to control the on and off of the electromagnet 14 according to the instructions of the first controller 1.

[0046] The slope mowing robot includes a magnetic adsorption plate 7 arranged on the top, a second controller 8, a second communication module 9, a positioning module 10, a mowing execution mechanism 11 arranged in front of the chassis, and a crawler chassis 12 suitable for the slope terrain (for example, a chassis with deep-patterned crawlers and a low center of gravity design is adopted to enhance the adhesion and anti-overturning ability on the slope). The crawler chassis 12 ensures the stable walking and operation of the robot on the steep slope. The magnetic adsorption plate 7 cooperates with the controllable magnetic adsorption device 6. The second communication module 9 is wirelessly connected to the first communication module 2. The positioning module 10 is arranged on the chassis and is used to obtain the real-time position of the robot. The second controller 8 compares the real-time position with the received area center coordinates, guides the robot to autonomously move and calibrate to the center coordinate point as the starting reference point (this process can adopt conventional path tracking algorithms, such as the pure pursuit algorithm), and controls the mowing execution mechanism 11 to perform mowing operations according to the Figure 5 shown "return" - shaped mowing path.

Claims

1. A method for air-ground coordinated highway slope inspection, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. Initial Inspection and Area Identification: The UAV plans its flight path based on the slope range and conducts the initial inspection, identifies densely vegetated areas, rectangularizes the area, determines the center coordinates and length and width of the area, and stores all area information. S2. Task scheduling and information dissemination: The drone selects an area from the stored areas and sends the information of that area to the slope mowing robot; S3. Air Deployment: The drone transports the slope mowing robot to the center coordinates of the currently selected area and deploys the slope mowing robot on the ground; S4. Positioning and Mowing Operation: The slope mowing robot autonomously plans a U-shaped mowing path based on the length and width of the received area and its own mowing range to perform full-coverage mowing operations on the rectangular area. S5. Work Completion and Cyclic Transfer: After the grass mowing operation is completed, the slope mowing robot sends a completion signal to the drone. After receiving the completion signal, the drone selects the next area and repeats steps S2-S4 until all stored areas have been processed. S6. Secondary Inspection and Airflow Clearing: The drone conducts a secondary inspection of the slope along the route of the first inspection to identify slope defects. If it is found that the cut grass still covers the slope, the drone descends and uses the downward airflow of the rotor to blow away the grass clippings.

2. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The specific method for rectangularizing the region is as follows: the UAV is equipped with a visual sensor to collect slope images, and the connected regions with vegetation coverage exceeding a preset threshold are identified by the image segmentation algorithm; the smallest bounding rectangle of the connected region is taken as the area to be cleared, and the geometric center coordinates and length and width dimensions of the rectangle are calculated.

3. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The deployment method of the slope mowing robot is as follows: the drone uses a controllable magnetic suction device at the bottom to attach the slope mowing robot for aerial transport; after flying to the center coordinates of the target area, the drone controls the controllable magnetic suction device to de-energize and release the slope mowing robot to the ground.

4. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Specifically, S4 involves generating a spiral-shaped trajectory from the center outwards to the edge of the rectangular area, starting from the center point of the rectangular area and based on the cutting width of the slope mowing robot, ensuring that the distance between adjacent trajectories is equal to the cutting width and that there is no omission in the coverage.

5. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Specifically, S6 is as follows: when the drone identifies an area covered by grass, it hovers 1-2 meters above the area, increases the motor speed to enhance the downward airflow of the rotor, and continues for a set time to blow the fallen grass away from the slope surface; after the grass is dispersed, it returns to the original inspection height and continues to fly.

6. An inspection device applicable to the air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The system includes a drone and a slope mowing robot. The drone includes a first controller, a first communication module, a vision sensor, an altimeter, a speed adjustment module, and a controllable magnetic suction device. The slope mowing robot includes a magnetic suction plate, a second controller, a second communication module, a positioning module, a mowing actuator, and a tracked chassis. The controllable magnetic suction device is located at the bottom of the drone, and the magnetic suction plate is located at the top of the robot, with the controllable magnetic suction device cooperating with the magnetic suction plate. The first communication module, altimeter, and speed adjustment module are all connected to the first controller. The first communication module is connected to the second communication module, and the second controller is connected to the mowing actuator.

7. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first controller is used to control the drone to perform the first inspection, identify the rectangular area, attach and transport the slope mowing robot to the target location through the controllable magnetic suction device and then release it, as well as the second inspection and airflow blowing grass; the first controller sends the center coordinates of the currently selected area to the slope mowing robot through the first communication module.

8. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The visual sensor is used for slope image acquisition and grass cover recognition; the altimeter is used to detect the descent altitude of the drone and hover during secondary inspections; the speed adjustment module is used to increase the motor speed to enhance the downward airflow of the rotor to disperse the fallen grass.

9. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The controllable magnetic attraction device includes a shell installed on the bottom of the drone, an electromagnet disposed inside the shell, and a drive circuit connected to a first controller; the drive circuit is used to control the electromagnet to switch on and off according to the instructions of the first controller.

10. The air-ground collaborative highway slope inspection device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The positioning module is used to obtain the robot's real-time position; the second controller guides the robot to move autonomously to the center coordinate point as the starting reference point by comparing the real-time position with the received area center coordinates, and controls the mowing actuator to perform mowing operations in a zigzag mowing path in combination with the real-time position.

Images