A quick take-off planning method and system for a rotor unmanned aerial vehicle cluster

Abstract

This invention discloses a rapid takeoff planning method and system for rotorcraft drone swarms. It addresses the current problem that rotorcraft drone swarms lack the ability to dynamically adjust their autonomous position and sequence during takeoff, which not only increases the workload of humans but also leads to insufficient flexibility in responding to emergencies. This invention determines whether there is a takeoff safety conflict between any two drones in the swarm based on each drone's serial number, current latitude and longitude, safe takeoff radius, safe windward time, and current wind direction and speed. Takeoff groups are formed based on the absence of takeoff safety conflicts between drones, and the takeoff plan with the fewest takeoff groups is selected as the optimal takeoff plan. During takeoff, a fixed formation is not required; each takeoff group takes off sequentially. This allows the rotorcraft drone swarm to autonomously choose its position and sequence, achieving rapid, safe, and automatic takeoff, improving flexibility in responding to emergencies, and reducing the workload of humans.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) takeoff, and more specifically to a rapid takeoff planning method and system for rotorcraft UAV swarms. Background Technology

[0002] Rotary-wing drone swarm technology has developed rapidly in recent years across multiple fields, including military, civilian, and scientific research. Its application is primarily driven by the urgent need for high efficiency, high flexibility, and strong collaborative capabilities. In current rotary-wing drone swarm operations, pre-takeoff preparation is particularly important and complex. Due to the influence of key factors such as inter-drone distance and wind direction during takeoff, the operations team must meticulously plan the starting position and takeoff sequence of each drone to ensure safe and efficient mission completion. Current technology requires drones to be positioned in a fixed formation during takeoff. This means that drones cannot automatically adjust their relative positions or takeoff order based on the surrounding environment or swarm status. This limitation requires operators to accurately calculate the position of each drone during the preparation phase, increasing workload and reducing flexibility in responding to emergencies. For example, in the face of unpredictable weather changes or when performing emergency missions, the inability to flexibly adjust takeoff configurations may delay optimal operation time. Therefore, in scenarios requiring high adaptability and rapid response, the demand for technology that can automatically arrange takeoff sequences under arbitrary placement conditions is growing. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the problem that current rotorcraft drone swarms lack the ability to dynamically adjust their autonomous position and sequence during takeoff, which not only increases the workload for humans but also leads to insufficient flexibility in responding to emergencies, this invention proposes a rapid takeoff planning method and system for rotorcraft drone swarms.

[0004] The technical solution adopted in this invention is:

[0005] It includes the following steps:

[0006] S1. Randomly place the rotorcraft drone cluster on the ground, number each drone, obtain the current latitude and longitude information of each drone, determine the safe take-off radius and safe time to take off into the wind for each drone, and at the same time measure the current wind direction and wind speed.

[0007] S2. Iterate through all pairs of drones in the rotorcraft drone cluster. Based on S1, determine whether any two drones have a takeoff safety conflict relationship. Combine all the existing takeoff safety conflicts to obtain the conflict relationship set. At the same time, obtain the non-conflict relationship set.

[0008] S3. Set the number of iterations;

[0009] For the kth iteration, select any drone in the rotorcraft drone cluster, and select other drones that form a takeoff group with the selected drone according to the set of no-conflict relationships. Set that there is no takeoff safety conflict between all drones in each takeoff group, and then divide the remaining drones into takeoff groups to obtain multiple takeoff groups.

[0010] Let k = k + 1, repeat the above iterative process to obtain multiple take-off groups in each iteration, and take the iteration with the fewest take-off groups as the optimal take-off scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm.

[0011] S4. Based on the optimal takeoff plan, all takeoff groups will perform takeoff operations in sequence.

[0012] A rapid takeoff planning system for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, the system being used to execute any step of a rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft UAV swarm.

[0013] A storage medium storing at least one instruction, which is loaded and executed by a processor to implement any step of a rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle swarm.

[0014] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0015] This invention determines whether any two drones in a rotorcraft drone swarm have a takeoff safety conflict based on each drone's serial number, current latitude and longitude, safe takeoff radius, safe windward time, and current wind direction and speed. It divides drones into takeoff groups based on the absence of takeoff safety conflicts and uses the group with the fewest takeoff groups as the optimal takeoff plan. During takeoff, wind direction and drone spacing are considered comprehensively, and a fixed formation is not required. Each takeoff group is taken off sequentially, with all drones within the same group taking off simultaneously. This allows the rotorcraft drone swarm to autonomously choose its position and order during takeoff, achieving rapid, safe, and automatic takeoff. This also improves flexibility in dealing with emergencies and reduces manual workload. In this invention, the takeoff time of the drone swarm is only related to the number of takeoff groups. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating safety conflicts for drones in a windless environment.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating safety conflicts for drones in windy conditions.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of condition 1 for determining a takeoff safety conflict;

[0020] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of condition 2 in the takeoff safety conflict determination;

[0021] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of condition 3 when determining a takeoff safety conflict;

[0022] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating the conflict between drones;

[0023] Figure 8 This is a graph showing the differences in results within a single iteration under the same scenario; Detailed Implementation

[0024] Specific implementation method one: Combining Figures 1-8 This embodiment describes a rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, which includes the following steps:

[0025] S1. Randomly place all the drones in the rotorcraft drone cluster on the ground, number each drone, obtain the current latitude and longitude information of each drone from the flight control of each drone, determine the safe take-off radius and safe time to take off into the wind for each drone, and at the same time measure the current wind direction and wind speed.

[0026] During the simultaneous takeoff of multiple rotary-wing drones, for safety reasons, the distance between the drones must be greater than a safety threshold. If the distance between the drones is less than or equal to the safety threshold, a takeoff conflict will occur. The conflict determination area is a circular area with a particular drone as the center and the minimum safe takeoff distance as the radius. However, this only applies to takeoff conflicts under windless conditions. Figure 2 As shown, UAV 1 and UAV 2 are located below the minimum safe radius on the ground, preventing them from taking off simultaneously. However, UAV 1 and UAV 3 meet the safe radius constraint and can take off simultaneously. In windy conditions, due to the different wind resistance capabilities of different UAVs, the conflict determination area needs to be shifted according to the wind direction. The area scanned during the shifting process is the conflict area (ultimately forming a capsule shape), as shown. Figure 3 As shown, the distance between UAV 1 and UAV 2 on the ground is greater than the minimum safe radius. However, considering the safety redundancy in the windward direction, UAV 2 is located in the conflict zone of UAV 1. This prevents UAVs 1 and 2 from taking off simultaneously, while UAVs 1 and 3 meet the safe radius constraint and can take off simultaneously. Therefore, the influence of environmental wind direction needs to be further considered when taking off in windy conditions. Thus, this step plans the takeoff queue of the rotorcraft UAV swarm based on the safe takeoff radius, the safe windward time, and the wind direction and speed at takeoff.

[0027] In this embodiment, we take any two drones, A and B, in a rotorcraft drone swarm as an example: From the perspective of drone A, we determine whether drone B can take off simultaneously with drone A. First, we obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of drone A from the drone flight control system. and the latitude and longitude coordinates of UAV B Then set the safe takeoff radius of drone A to be... and the safe time to face the wind is The safe takeoff radius is customized based on the actual size of the drone. The safe headwind time is usually set to 1 second or obtained from the drone's user manual. The safe headwind time may vary for each drone and can be adjusted according to the level of conservatism; a larger value indicates greater conservatism and higher safety redundancy. The measured current wind direction is expressed as a vector (normalized two-dimensional vector). The current wind speed is Enter the above parameters into the takeoff planning software.

[0028] S2. Iterate through all pairwise combinations of drones in the rotorcraft drone swarm. Based on S1, determine whether any two drones have a takeoff safety conflict relationship. Takeoff safety conflict relationships include both conflicting and non-conflicting cases. Combine all existing takeoff safety conflicts to obtain a set of conflicting relationships. At the same time, obtain a set of non-conflicting relationships. The specific process is as follows:

[0029] In this embodiment, a drone combination (drone A, drone B) is selected from the rotorcraft drone swarm, and the projections of drone A and drone B in the windward direction are calculated. and projection perpendicular to the wind direction :

[0030] (1)

[0031] (2)

[0032] (3)

[0033] (4)

[0034] in, The difference in longitude between UAV B and UAV A. This represents the difference in latitudinal distance between UAV B and UAV A.

[0035] If any of the following three conditions are met, then drone A and drone B are considered to have a takeoff safety conflict; otherwise, drone A is considered the subject, and there is no takeoff safety conflict between drone A and drone B.

[0036] Condition 1: If Then there is a takeoff safety conflict between drone A and drone B, such as Figure 4 As shown, it is manifested as It is located within the semicircle on the left side of the judgment area.

[0037] Condition 2: If Then there is a takeoff safety conflict between drone A and drone B, such as Figure 5 As shown, it is manifested as The matrix located at the center of the decision region.

[0038] Condition 3: If Then there is a takeoff safety conflict between drone A and drone B, such as Figure 6 As shown, it is manifested as It is located within the right semicircle of the judgment area.

[0039] The above method can determine whether another drone has a takeoff safety conflict with it from the perspective of any drone. After calculating the takeoff safety conflict relationship between all drones in the rotor drone cluster, the drones with takeoff safety conflict relationship are saved to the conflict relationship set, and at the same time, the conflict-free relationship set is obtained.

[0040] like Figure 7 As shown, the actual drone conflict relationships are marked. The conflicts between drone 2 and drone 3, and between drone 2 and drone 4, originate from the influence of wind direction; that is, from the perspective of drone 2 alone, drone 2 conflicts with both drone 3 and drone 4. However, from the perspective of drone 3 and drone 4, they do not conflict with drone 2, thus the conflict relationship set does not include (3, 2) and (4, 2).

[0041] S3. Set the number of iterations;

[0042] For the kth iteration, select any drone in the rotorcraft drone cluster, and select other drones that form a takeoff group with the selected drone according to the set of no-conflict relationships. Set that there is no takeoff safety conflict between all drones in each takeoff group, and then divide the remaining drones into takeoff groups to obtain multiple takeoff groups.

[0043] Let k = k + 1, and repeat the above iterative process to obtain multiple take-off groups in each iteration. The iteration with the fewest take-off groups is taken as the optimal take-off scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm.

[0044] In this embodiment, for the k-th iteration, a UAV E is randomly selected from the rotorcraft UAV swarm. Based on the set of conflict-free relationships, other UAVs that do not have takeoff safety conflicts with UAV E are selected (regardless of which perspective is used in conflict determination, any conflict is considered a conflict). Then, other UAVs without takeoff safety conflicts are selected, and so on. Under the condition that there are no takeoff safety conflicts among all selected UAVs, all selected UAVs and UAV E are grouped together, and this group is called takeoff group 1. The above selection process is repeated for the rotorcraft UAV swarm other than takeoff group 1, resulting in takeoff group 2, takeoff group 3, etc., until the rotorcraft UAV swarm completes all grouping. Let k = k + 1, and repeat the above iterative process to obtain multiple takeoff groups for k + 1 iterations. Thus, the takeoff group division result for each iteration is obtained according to the set number of iterations, and the iteration with the fewest takeoff groups is taken as the optimal takeoff scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm. If there are multiple iterations with the fewest takeoff groups, one of these iterations is selected as the optimal takeoff scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm.

[0045] like Figure 8 As shown, (a) and (b) illustrate the differences in results caused by random factors during a single iteration in the same scenario. When the scenario becomes more complex, the results of random sampling may lead to differences in the number of takeoff groups, laying the foundation for selecting the optimal solution through multiple random iterations.

[0046] S4. Based on the optimal takeoff plan, all takeoff groups will perform takeoff operations in sequence.

[0047] In this embodiment, based on the number of takeoff groups corresponding to the optimal takeoff scheme, and without any order requirement, each takeoff group executes the takeoff command sequentially. That is, after the drones in a certain takeoff group have taken off completely, the takeoff command is sent to all drones in the next takeoff group until all drones have taken off, thereby realizing the automatic and rapid takeoff of the rotorcraft drone swarm.

[0048] Specific Implementation Method Two: Based on the rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft drone swarm proposed in Specific Implementation Method One, this implementation method differs from Specific Implementation Method One in that the rapid takeoff planning system for a rotorcraft drone swarm is used to execute any step in the rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft drone swarm.

[0049] The other steps and parameters are the same as in Specific Implementation Method 1.

[0050] Specific Implementation Method Three: Based on the rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft UAV swarm proposed in Specific Implementation Method One, this implementation method differs from Specific Implementation Method One or Two in that the storage medium mentioned herein can be understood to include any method described herein that can be provided as a computer program product, software, or computerized method. It may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium on which instructions are stored, which can be used to program a computer system or other electronic device. The storage medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage media and optical storage media; magneto-optical storage media include: read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM), and flash memory layers; or other types of media suitable for storing electronic instructions.

[0051] Other steps and parameters are the same as in specific implementation method one or two.

[0052] This invention may have other embodiments. Without departing from the spirit and essence of this invention, those skilled in the art can make various corresponding changes and modifications according to this invention, but these corresponding changes and modifications should all fall within the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, characterized in that: It includes the following steps: S1. Randomly place the rotorcraft drone cluster on the ground, number each drone, obtain the current latitude and longitude information of each drone, determine the safe take-off radius and safe time to take off into the wind for each drone, and at the same time measure the current wind direction and wind speed. S2. Iterate through all pairs of drones in the rotorcraft drone cluster. Based on S1, determine whether any two drones have a takeoff safety conflict relationship. Combine all the takeoff safety conflicts to obtain the conflict relationship set. At the same time, obtain the non-conflict relationship set. S3. Set the number of iterations; For the kth iteration, select any drone in the rotorcraft drone cluster, and select other drones that form a takeoff group with the selected drone according to the set of no-conflict relationships. Set that there is no takeoff safety conflict between all drones in each takeoff group, and then divide the remaining drones into takeoff groups to obtain multiple takeoff groups. Let k = k + 1, repeat the above iterative process to obtain multiple take-off groups in each iteration, and take the iteration with the fewest take-off groups as the optimal take-off scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm. S4. Based on the optimal takeoff plan, all takeoff groups will perform takeoff operations in sequence.

2. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The windward safety time in S1 is 1 second.

3. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 2, characterized in that: The safe takeoff radius of all UAVs in S1 is different.

4. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 3, characterized in that: The specific process of S2 is as follows: Select UAV A and UAV B from the rotorcraft UAV swarm, and calculate the projections of UAV A and UAV B in the windward direction. and projection perpendicular to the wind direction : （1） （2） in, The difference in longitude between UAV B and UAV A. Let be the difference in latitudinal distance between UAV B and UAV A. Current wind direction; If any of the following three conditions are met, then drone A and drone B are considered to have a takeoff safety conflict; otherwise, drone A is considered the subject of the conflict, and there is no takeoff safety conflict between drone A and drone B: Condition 1: （3） Condition 2: （4） Condition 3: （5） in, The safe takeoff radius of drone A, The current wind speed, For safe time when facing the wind; By iterating through all pairs of UAVs in the rotorcraft UAV cluster according to formulas (1) to (5), the takeoff safety conflict relationship between any two UAVs is obtained. All takeoff safety conflicts are combined to obtain the conflict relationship set, and at the same time, the non-conflict relationship set is obtained.

5. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 4, characterized in that: （6） （7） in, Here are the latitude and longitude coordinates of UAV A. Here are the latitude and longitude coordinates of UAV B.

6. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 5, characterized in that: The specific process of S3 is as follows: Set the number of iterations; For the k-th iteration, select any UAV E in the rotorcraft UAV cluster. Based on the set of conflict-free relationships, select other UAVs that do not have a takeoff safety conflict with UAV E. Then select other UAVs that do not have a takeoff safety conflict. Continue in this manner. Under the condition that there is no takeoff safety conflict among all selected UAVs, group all selected UAVs and UAV E into one group, called takeoff group 1. Then repeat the above selection process for rotorcraft UAV clusters other than takeoff group 1 until the rotorcraft UAV cluster completes all grouping and obtains multiple takeoff groups. Let k = k + 1, and repeat the above iterative process to obtain multiple take-off groups after k + 1 iterations; Based on the set number of iterations, multiple takeoff groups are obtained for each iteration. The iteration with the fewest takeoff groups is taken as the optimal takeoff scheme for the rotorcraft drone swarm.

7. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 6, characterized in that: If there are multiple iterations with the fewest takeoff groups, one of these iterations is selected as the optimal takeoff scheme for the rotorcraft UAV swarm.

8. The rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm according to claim 7, characterized in that: The specific process of S4 is as follows: For the optimal takeoff scheme of the rotorcraft drone swarm, the number of takeoff groups is determined by order, with each takeoff group executing the takeoff operation sequentially.

9. A rapid takeoff planning system for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm, characterized in that: The system is used to execute a rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores at least one instruction, which is loaded and executed by a processor to implement a rapid takeoff planning method for a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle swarm as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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