A route planning method and apparatus

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of route planning method and device, it is related to computer technical field.The specific embodiment of the method includes: obtaining the space range corresponding to batch reply route, with batch reply route as central axis, construct air duct based on space range;Obtain the safety interval of aircraft flight, according to space range and safety interval, determine the decomposition mode of space duct;According to decomposition mode, the space duct is decomposed and handled, obtains multiple operating routes.The embodiment can be decomposed into multiple parallel operating routes for batch reply route, support multiple aircrafts to fly simultaneously, meet flight safety interval requirements, and also realize concurrent operation, substantially improve the use efficiency of airspace resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for flight route planning. Background Technology

[0002] The operational routes for logistics drones must not only comply with airspace management restrictions but also consider the safety of ground personnel and facilities. Therefore, operational routes in urban airspace have become an extremely valuable resource. Only by making full use of the limited space near approved routes can logistics and delivery operations be fully developed to meet the ever-increasing demands for timeliness and delivery volume.

[0003] Balancing safety and efficiency has always been a prominent challenge for drone logistics operations. Current technology allows only a single drone to operate a given route for the entire duration, permitting another drone to take off only after that flight is completed. This approach results in low utilization of route resources, becoming a significant bottleneck restricting the development of drone logistics services. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a route planning method and apparatus, which can at least solve the problem in the prior art that an approved route only allows a single aircraft to use it for the entire route, and neither allows multiple aircraft to fly in the same direction, nor supports parallel flight of two-way aircraft.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, according to one aspect of the present invention, a route planning method is provided, comprising:

[0006] Obtain the spatial range corresponding to the approved air route, and construct an air pipeline based on the approved air route as the central axis.

[0007] Obtain the safe distance for aircraft flight, and determine the disassembly method of the space pipeline based on the spatial range and the safe distance; wherein, the safe distance refers to the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects;

[0008] According to the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes.

[0009] Optionally, the spatial range is determined based on the horizontal width and vertical height, and the safety interval includes a horizontal safety interval and a vertical safety interval;

[0010] The method of determining the disassembly of the spatial pipeline based on the spatial range and the safety interval includes one or more of the following:

[0011] In response to the vertical height being less than or equal to the vertical safety interval, the number of line layers that can be created is determined to be 1; in response to the vertical height being greater than the vertical safety interval, the quotient of the vertical height and the vertical safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of line layers that can be created.

[0012] In response to the horizontal height being less than or equal to the horizontal safety interval, the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer is determined to be 1; in response to the horizontal height being greater than the horizontal safety interval, the quotient of the horizontal height and the horizontal safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer.

[0013] Optionally, obtaining the safe interval for aircraft flight includes:

[0014] In cases where there are multiple aircraft models, a safety interval is pre-configured for each aircraft model, with the maximum safety interval among all models being used as the safety interval.

[0015] Optionally, after obtaining multiple operating routes, the method further includes:

[0016] The latitude and longitude coordinates of the approved routes are sequentially horizontally offset to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of each operating route;

[0017] Determine the altitude of the flight layer for each operating route, and obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of each operating route based on altitude and latitude / longitude.

[0018] Optionally, after obtaining multiple operating routes, the method further includes:

[0019] Receive a route allocation request, and determine a matching approved route based on the starting waypoint and the destination waypoint in the route allocation request;

[0020] Determine the operational route resource pool corresponding to the approved route; in response to the existence of an operational route in the operational route resource pool that is in an unallocated state, determine the target operational route from the unallocated operational routes and perform an allocation operation, and change the state of the target operational route to allocated.

[0021] In response to receiving the end-of-use information for the target operating route, the status of the target operating route is changed to unassigned.

[0022] Optionally, the process of determining the target operating route from the unassigned operating routes includes:

[0023] Determine the first route layer where the previously assigned operating route is located, and determine whether there are any operating routes in other route layers that are in an unassigned state.

[0024] In response to the determination result being that it exists, a second route layer is determined from other route layers, and any unassigned operating route in the second route layer is taken as the target operating route;

[0025] In response to the determination result being non-existent, other operating routes in the first route layer that are not adjacent to the previously assigned operating route and whose status is unassigned are identified, and any one of the other operating routes is taken as the target operating route.

[0026] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0027] During the flight of the aircraft toward the target waypoint, the actual distance from the aircraft to the target waypoint is determined based on the current latitude and longitude coordinates of the aircraft and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the target waypoint.

[0028] The safe distance is determined based on the aircraft's performance. If the actual distance is greater than the determined safe distance, the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the desired cruise speed.

[0029] If the actual distance is less than or equal to the determined safe distance, the actual speed is determined based on the desired cruise speed, the actual distance, and the determined safe distance, so that the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the actual speed.

[0030] Optionally, aircraft operating on all routes within the same route layer fly in the same direction, while aircraft on different route layers fly in different directions.

[0031] To achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of the present invention, a route planning apparatus is provided, comprising:

[0032] The acquisition module is used to acquire the spatial range corresponding to the approved route, and construct an air pipeline based on the spatial range with the approved route as the central axis.

[0033] The decomposition module is used to obtain the safe interval for aircraft flight and determine the decomposition method of the space pipe based on the spatial range and the safe interval; wherein, the safe interval refers to the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects;

[0034] According to the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes.

[0035] Optionally, the spatial range is determined based on the horizontal width and vertical height, and the safety interval includes a horizontal safety interval and a vertical safety interval;

[0036] The decomposition module is used in one or more of the following situations:

[0037] In response to the vertical height being less than or equal to the vertical safety interval, the number of line layers that can be created is determined to be 1; in response to the vertical height being greater than the vertical safety interval, the quotient of the vertical height and the vertical safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of line layers that can be created.

[0038] In response to the horizontal height being less than or equal to the horizontal safety interval, the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer is determined to be 1; in response to the horizontal height being greater than the horizontal safety interval, the quotient of the horizontal height and the horizontal safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer.

[0039] Optionally, the decomposition module is configured to: determine a pre-configured safety interval for each aircraft model when there are multiple aircraft models, using the maximum safety interval among all models as the safety interval.

[0040] Optionally, the device further includes a coordinate determination module, used for:

[0041] The latitude and longitude coordinates of the approved routes are sequentially horizontally offset to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of each operating route;

[0042] Determine the altitude of the flight layer for each operating route, and obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of each operating route based on altitude and latitude / longitude.

[0043] Optionally, the device further includes a route allocation module for:

[0044] Receive a route allocation request, and determine a matching approved route based on the starting waypoint and the destination waypoint in the route allocation request;

[0045] Determine the operational route resource pool corresponding to the approved route; in response to the existence of an operational route in the operational route resource pool that is in an unallocated state, determine the target operational route from the unallocated operational routes and perform an allocation operation, and change the state of the target operational route to allocated.

[0046] In response to receiving the end-of-use information for the target operating route, the status of the target operating route is changed to unassigned.

[0047] Optionally, the route allocation module is used for:

[0048] Determine the first route layer where the previously assigned operating route is located, and determine whether there are any operating routes in other route layers that are in an unassigned state.

[0049] In response to the determination result being that it exists, a second route layer is determined from other route layers, and any unassigned operating route in the second route layer is taken as the target operating route;

[0050] In response to the determination result being non-existent, other operating routes in the first route layer that are not adjacent to the previously assigned operating route and whose status is unassigned are identified, and any one of the other operating routes is taken as the target operating route.

[0051] Optionally, the device further includes a speed control module for:

[0052] During the flight of the aircraft toward the target waypoint, the actual distance from the aircraft to the target waypoint is determined based on the current latitude and longitude coordinates of the aircraft and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the target waypoint.

[0053] The safe distance is determined based on the aircraft's performance. If the actual distance is greater than the determined safe distance, the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the desired cruise speed.

[0054] If the actual distance is less than or equal to the determined safe distance, the actual speed is determined based on the desired cruise speed, the actual distance, and the determined safe distance, so that the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the actual speed.

[0055] Optionally, aircraft operating on all routes within the same route layer fly in the same direction, while aircraft on different route layers fly in different directions.

[0056] To achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of the present invention, an electronic route planning device is provided.

[0057] The electronic device of this invention includes: one or more processors; and a storage device for storing one or more programs, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement any of the above-described route planning methods.

[0058] To achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements any of the above-described route planning methods.

[0059] To achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of the present invention, a computing program product is provided. One computing program product of the present invention includes a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the route planning method provided in the present invention.

[0060] According to the solution provided by the present invention, one embodiment of the invention has the following advantages or beneficial effects: An air corridor is constructed based on approved flight routes and spatial range, and multiple operational flight routes are precisely divided in conjunction with the safety separation of aircraft flights. Compared with the inefficient mode in the prior art where only a single approved flight route is allowed to be exclusively used by a single aircraft for the entire journey, this solution can create multiple parallel operational flight routes within the same air corridor, supporting the flight of multiple aircraft, satisfying both safety separation requirements and enabling concurrent operation. This approach not only solves the problem of low utilization of flight route resources but also breaks through the bottleneck of aircraft business development, significantly improving the efficiency of airspace resource utilization.

[0061] The further effects of the aforementioned unconventional alternative methods will be explained below in conjunction with specific implementation methods. Attached Figure Description

[0062] The accompanying drawings are provided to better understand the invention and are not intended to unduly limit the scope of the invention. Wherein:

[0063] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the main process of a route planning method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0064] Figure 2(a) is a schematic diagram of the approved flight route;

[0065] Figure 2(b) is a schematic diagram of horizontally decomposed operational routes;

[0066] Figure 2(c) is a schematic diagram of the vertical decomposition of the two-way operating route layer;

[0067] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an optional route planning method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0068] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating how the drone's cruising speed is controlled based on the distance to the target waypoint;

[0069] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating another optional route planning method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the main modules of a route planning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0071] Figure 7 This is an exemplary system architecture diagram in which embodiments of the present invention can be applied;

[0072] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present invention, such as a mobile device or server. Detailed Implementation

[0073] The following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrates exemplary embodiments of the present invention, including various details to aid understanding. These details should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Similarly, for clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

[0074] It should be noted that the collection, gathering, updating, analysis, processing, use, transmission, and storage of user personal information involved in this disclosed technical solution all comply with relevant laws and regulations, are used for legitimate purposes, and do not violate public order and good morals. Necessary measures are taken to prevent unauthorized access to user personal information data and to safeguard user personal information security, network security, and national security.

[0075] While existing technologies can ensure that aircraft fly strictly within the air traffic control approved area, effectively meeting safety indicators and eliminating the risk of collisions between aircraft on the same route, their limitations are significant from an operational efficiency perspective: current solutions only allow flights to use routes on a time-sharing basis, resulting in delays in responding to business needs in many scenarios; furthermore, routes can only be used in one direction at a time, and reverse use requires waiting for the route to become available, which further exacerbates the low operational efficiency. Therefore, although existing technologies can support basic aircraft operations (such as logistics delivery), due to the aforementioned limitations, their operational efficiency falls short of the standards required by actual business needs, severely restricting the improvement of service capabilities and user experience.

[0076] See Figure 1 The diagram shows the main flowchart of a route planning method provided by an embodiment of the present invention, which includes the following steps:

[0077] S101: Obtain the spatial range corresponding to the approved air route, and construct an air pipeline based on the spatial range with the approved air route as the central axis;

[0078] S102: Obtain the safe interval for the aircraft's flight, and determine the method of disassembling the space pipeline based on the spatial range and the safe interval;

[0079] S103: Based on the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes.

[0080] In the above embodiments, the aircraft in this solution may include cargo drones, manned aircraft, etc., and the specific type is not limited. Drones are mainly used as an example for explanation. In congested urban airspace, only hovering aircraft can be used for cargo delivery, primarily multi-rotor drones. Multi-rotors can change speed and hover while maintaining altitude, making full use of guidance effects and enabling them to fly closer to the predetermined flight path.

[0081] In step S101, the flight path is formed by connecting multiple waypoints sequentially, and is a broken line segment in three-dimensional space, which is also the predetermined flight path of the aircraft in the air. In this invention, the adjacent airspace specifically refers to the airspace centered on the approved flight path, allowing the aircraft to move within a certain horizontal width and vertical height. This airspace near the approved flight path constitutes an aerial conduit, and as long as the aircraft's flight trajectory does not exceed the conduit boundary, it meets the requirements of airspace management.

[0082] To enable concurrent operation of multiple flights and bidirectional use of air routes, it is necessary to fully explore the spatial potential of air route resources. The air routes applied for and approved by the air traffic control department by the operating unit are actually air conduits as shown in Figure 2(a). The reported and approved air routes are lines composed of a series of latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 2(a). However, a certain spatial range is also reported and confirmed at the same time, such as the vertical height h and horizontal width w in the schematic diagram. This means that as long as the actual air route of the aircraft is located within the air conduit with the approved air route as the central axis and within the specified distance range, and ensures that it does not fly out of the boundary of the air conduit along the air route, the air traffic control requirements can be met. It should be noted that although the air route is represented by a straight line in Figure 2(a), the actual air route is generally composed of broken line segments, and the concepts of height and width of adjacent airspace still apply. Therefore, the air route can still be regarded as an air conduit.

[0083] For steps S102 and S103, this invention divides flight routes into approved flight routes and operational flight routes. An approved flight route refers to a predetermined flight path planned within airspace that complies with air traffic control requirements when an aircraft, such as a cargo drone, performs a cargo flight. An operational flight route, on the other hand, is the actual planned flight route parallel to the approved flight route and located within the permitted horizontal and vertical range of the approved flight route, similar to lanes on a road or a running track on a playground. This embodiment describes flight route decomposition, that is, based on the air traffic control approved flight route, creating a series of parallel flight routes with certain horizontal and vertical displacements between them in the adjacent space where flight is permitted, for operational flight, in order to allow more aircraft to fly concurrently and increase aircraft capacity.

[0084] There is a certain amount of available airspace near the approved flight route, which means that multiple parallel operating routes can be generated by decomposing the approved flight route. Specifically, the approved flight route allows aircraft to fly within a certain width range on the same horizontal plane of the route, thus providing the possibility for the parallel operation of multiple flights. Specifically, a set of parallel operating routes are formed along the approved flight route, as shown in Figure 2(b).

[0085] Based on the approved horizontal width w of the flight path and the safe separation d of the aircraft, determine the relationship between w and d: if w < d, only one operational flight path can be created in each horizontal plane; if w ≥ d, n = w / d parallel and equally spaced operational flight paths can be created in the same plane, where n is the result of rounding down. In Figure 2(b), it is assumed that there is an approved east-west flight path between points A and B, and the allowed width for north-south flight is w.

[0086] If w is wide enough, n parallel and equally spaced operational routes can be decomposed in a horizontal plane with the same width as the approved route, as shown in the figure as operational route 1, operational route 2, ..., operational route N. As shown in the figure, UAVs V1, V2, ..., VN can each exclusively use one operational route. As long as each UAV stays within its own guidance error band, multiple flights can operate independently in parallel, effectively avoiding collisions. The guidance error band can be understood as the allowable error range for aircraft position control; that is, the spatial area in which the aircraft may deviate from the ideal route during actual flight.

[0087] The spacing of operational flight paths, i.e., the safe separation d of aircraft, depends on the performance of the operating aircraft. If multiple models of aircraft are in operation, the largest safe separation among all models should be selected as the standard. The safe separation for each model can be preset. Safe separation refers to the minimum safe distance that aircraft (aircraft) should maintain to prevent flight conflicts, ensure flight safety, and improve the utilization of flight space and time; that is, the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects (such as other aircraft, buildings, or obstacles). Its determination is based on factors including the physical dimensions of the aircraft, the performance of sensors and control systems, the flight environment, regulatory requirements, and mission requirements. In specific calculations, it is necessary to analyze the aircraft's maximum speed, acceleration, turning radius, and the detection range and delay time of sensors, while considering the motion of the aircraft and other objects in dynamic scenarios, calculating the shortest reaction time and braking distance. Simulation software is used to simulate the aircraft's behavior in various scenarios, and theoretical values ​​are verified through actual environmental testing. Furthermore, industry standards and relevant regulatory requirements must be followed. This safety distance is mapped to lanes in the road, that is, the distance between the center lines of adjacent lanes, and is used to control the horizontal separation between two adjacent aircraft in the same plane to prevent collisions.

[0088] Based on the vertical altitude h of the approved flight path and the safe separation d of the aircraft, m = h / d can be calculated using a similar method and rounded down to obtain m parallel flight path groups and flight path layers. Each plane is further decomposed into parallel operational flight paths with the same direction. Since the adjacent airspace of the approved flight path allows for a certain elevation difference, the flight path can be decomposed by elevation difference to achieve bidirectional flight routes, as shown in Figure 2(c) within the two planes. Aircraft are allowed to fly within the longitudinal range of the vertical altitude h of the approved flight path. Within this range, two planes parallel to the approved flight path are selected as the flight path layers for the forward and reverse operational flight path groups, respectively. It should be noted that the safe separation of the aircraft can be different or the same in the horizontal and vertical directions. The above calculation process uses the same separation as an example. In different cases, d can be replaced with the safe separation in the corresponding direction, such as d1 for the horizontal direction and d2 for the vertical direction. This scheme preferably sets them to be the same because the safe separation is usually significantly larger than the aircraft size, so there is no need to distinguish between the horizontal and vertical directions.

[0089] The higher plane in the diagram represents the forward operating route group from A to B, while the lower plane represents the reverse operating route group. Each plane is further subdivided into parallel, equally spaced operating routes. In actual operation, there may be more than two route group planes. If a route is busy and has a sufficiently large vertical elevation difference, more route group planes can be created, thereby improving the utilization rate of airspace resources.

[0090] It should be noted that the above can be calculated only for n, only for m, or both, depending on the specific circumstances. Calculating only n means setting up only one route layer, which is then decomposed into n operating routes. Calculating only m means setting up m route layers, but each route layer has only one operating route. Considering both m and n means setting up m route layers, and each route layer can be decomposed into n operating routes.

[0091] As a preferred implementation method, after decomposing the approved air routes into multiple operational air routes, only one calculation is needed for operational air routes within the same plane. This is achieved by sequentially shifting the latitude and longitude coordinates of the approved air routes horizontally to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of the operational air routes, similar to expanding a single-lane road into a multi-lane road. For operational air routes on different horizontal planes but within the same longitudinal dimension, the same set of latitude and longitude coordinates can be directly reused, requiring only elevation shift calculations to complete the air route decomposition. This method effectively simplifies computational complexity while ensuring the rationality and safety of the air route distribution.

[0092] The method provided in the above embodiments constructs an air corridor based on approved flight routes and spatial range, and, in conjunction with the safety separation of aircraft flights, finely divides multiple operational flight routes. Compared to the inefficient mode in existing technologies where only a single approved flight route is exclusively used by a single aircraft for the entire journey, this solution can create multiple parallel operational flight routes within the same air corridor, supporting multiple aircraft to fly simultaneously, thus meeting both safety separation requirements and enabling concurrent operation. This approach not only solves the problem of low utilization of flight route resources but also breaks through the bottleneck of aircraft business development, significantly improving the efficiency of airspace resource utilization.

[0093] See Figure 3 The diagram illustrates an optional route planning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprising the following steps:

[0094] S301: During the flight of the aircraft toward the target waypoint, determine the actual distance from the aircraft to the target waypoint based on the current latitude and longitude coordinates of the aircraft and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the target waypoint;

[0095] S302: Determine a safe distance based on the aircraft's performance. If the actual distance is greater than the determined safe distance, set the aircraft's cruise speed to the desired cruise speed.

[0096] S303: When the actual distance is less than or equal to the safe distance, determine the actual speed based on the desired cruise speed, the actual distance, and the determined safe distance, so as to set the aircraft's cruise speed to the actual speed.

[0097] This scheme stipulates that operating routes within the same horizontal plane must fly in the same direction under normal circumstances, and mid-flight turnaround is only permitted in special circumstances (such as returning along the original route). This is the algorithm's constraint on route direction: aircraft within the same plane can generally only fly in the same direction to avoid collisions, while individual aircraft that need to return must return along the original route and cannot switch to the routes of other aircraft without authorization.

[0098] To ensure that aircraft flying parallel to each other on parallel operating routes do not collide, each aircraft must stay as close as possible to the predetermined route, even during sharp turns. This requires aircraft with high guidance and control capabilities. However, to conserve energy, most traditional aircraft use cooperative turning guidance and control, maintaining a constant speed throughout the flight. In this mode, inertia can easily cause the aircraft to deviate from the predetermined route at turns. Although they can converge back to the predetermined route, this process increases the risk of collision with aircraft on adjacent routes.

[0099] This scheme effectively avoids the aforementioned risks through an improved guidance algorithm. Its core idea is to dynamically adjust the speed between two waypoints. Waypoints: Three-dimensional geographic coordinates including latitude, longitude, and altitude, used to describe the spatial location of the aircraft's flight path.

[0100] See Figure 4 As shown, assume a drone is flying from waypoint P to waypoint Q. On the segment farther from waypoint Q, the drone maintains a stable cruising speed; however, in the range approaching Q, it begins to smoothly decelerate until reaching point Q, where the desired cruising speed is 0. The aim is to hover and turn in place, thus allowing it to fly to the next waypoint. Dynamic speed adjustment between P and Q can be achieved through various methods, the simplest being linear speed adjustment in the range approaching the target waypoint.

[0101]

[0102] Where x represents the actual distance from the UAV to the target waypoint Q. The actual distance is positive before reaching point Q, and 0 and negative when reaching and exceeding point Q, respectively. The safe distance is determined based on aircraft performance and is preferably set as the safe interval between drones. y is the desired cruise speed when far from point Q; y is the cruise speed dynamically set for the drone.

[0103] In this way, the drone can gradually decelerate a distance before reaching point Q, ensuring it stops accurately at point Q and completes the turn. Although the drone decelerates near point Q and then accelerates again after the turn, resulting in some energy loss, this method significantly reduces the risk of a collision caused by inertia when passing point Q.

[0104] Based on the above logic, the aircraft can reach the target waypoint at a low speed at the end of each route segment, and such guidance and control will almost never experience overshoot. Even if the complete route consists of multiple broken lines, each segment can still be considered a straight segment. After completing a turn at the previous waypoint, the aircraft can fly along a straight line to the next waypoint, thus making the L1 guidance and control law suitable. Under ideal conditions with no wind disturbance, the aircraft's position error can always be kept close to zero, thereby completely eliminating the risk of collision with aircraft on adjacent routes under weather conditions that meet the aircraft's performance requirements.

[0105] The guidance and control law is a position control law that automatically adjusts the aircraft's attitude to ensure it flies along the line connecting predetermined waypoints. A good guidance and control law makes the aircraft's actual flight trajectory highly predictable, which is an important prerequisite for implementing obstacle avoidance and collision avoidance algorithms. For cargo drones, for collision avoidance considerations, the guidance and control law requires the aircraft to fly as close to the predetermined flight path as possible, with the positional deviation between the actual flight trajectory and the path being as small as possible, including at turns. Therefore, the requirements for other indicators such as speed control can be appropriately reduced.

[0106] The method provided in the above embodiments dynamically adjusts the aircraft's cruise speed and intelligently switches speed control strategies based on the relationship between the actual distance and the safe distance when the aircraft approaches the target waypoint. This ensures precise stopping and turning, effectively avoiding the risk of veering off the predetermined route due to inertia, and reducing the possibility of collisions with other aircraft. This guidance algorithm not only improves flight accuracy and safety but also optimizes energy utilization efficiency, making it suitable for the refined flight control needs in complex flight environments.

[0107] See Figure 5 The diagram illustrates another optional route planning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, including the following steps:

[0108] S501: Receive route allocation request, and determine the matching approved route based on the starting waypoint and destination waypoint in the route allocation request;

[0109] S502: Determine the operational route resource pool corresponding to the matched approved route, and in response to the existence of an operational route in the operational route resource pool with an unallocated status, determine the target operational route from the unallocated operational routes and perform an allocation operation, and change the status of the target operational route to allocated.

[0110] S503: In response to receiving information about the end of use of the target operating route, change the status of the target operating route to unassigned.

[0111] This scheme describes the algorithm for allocating route resources. After decomposing the approved routes into multiple operational routes, these operational routes are stored in the resource pool of the approved routes. The stored content can be simplified to the route layer, altitude, and latitude and longitude coordinates of the operational routes.

[0112] Because flight creation is random, the allocation of operating routes also follows a random principle and employs a full-time exclusive allocation method. Specifically, whenever the scheduling system needs to create a new flight, it queries whether there is a matching approved route based on the origin and destination, and further locates the resource pool corresponding to that approved route. Subsequently, the system checks whether there are any available (i.e., unallocated) operating routes in the resource pool. If an available route exists, it is randomly selected and allocated to the new flight, which then uses it exclusively for the entire journey. After this, for flights with the same origin and destination, the system will avoid selecting operating routes that are already occupied until the corresponding flight ends and the route resource is released. Only then will the operating route return to the resource pool for subsequent flights. The advantage of this allocation method is that it can distribute two adjacent flights traveling in the same direction to different operating routes, thereby effectively increasing the distance between two aircraft.

[0113] These parallel operating routes are similar to multiple lanes on a road or multiple running tracks on a playground, running parallel to each other without interference. Each aircraft occupies a dedicated "lane" or "track" throughout the entire flight, just as vehicles use their own lanes and runners use their own tracks, ensuring no collisions occur. Furthermore, considering the impact of aircraft wake turbulence, the allocation rules differ from those for cars following each other, ensuring that each "operating route" is exclusively used by one aircraft for the entire journey.

[0114] As a preferred implementation, when randomly allocating resources through a resource pool, the system prioritizes distributing operational routes with the same origin, destination, and direction in a dispersed manner to maximize the distance between aircraft in adjacent flights traveling in the same direction. Specifically, the system avoids assigning new flights to operational routes on the same horizontal plane as the previous flight, and even within the same horizontal plane, it avoids assigning them to adjacent operational routes. The core objective of this dispersed allocation strategy is to maintain the largest possible distance between aircraft flying in parallel on the same horizontal plane, thereby significantly reducing the risk of collisions while improving airspace resource utilization efficiency and flight safety.

[0115] Assume that the resource pool for approved route X contains three horizontally distributed route layers, located at different altitudes, denoted as Route Layer 1, Route Layer 2, and Route Layer 3. Each route layer is further subdivided horizontally into multiple equally spaced parallel operating routes. Specifically, Route Layer 1 contains operating routes A, B, and C; Route Layer 2 contains operating routes D, E, and F; and Route Layer 3 contains operating routes G, H, and I. A, D, and G share the same latitude and longitude coordinates; B, E, and H share the same latitude and longitude coordinates; and C, F, and I share the same latitude and longitude coordinates.

[0116] When the first cargo flight request arrives, the scheduling system matches the corresponding approved route X based on the origin and destination, and randomly allocates an available operational route from the resource pool. For example, the system may allocate operational route A from route layer 1 to this flight. At this time, operational route A is exclusively available, and other flights cannot use it.

[0117] Subsequently, when a second cargo flight request with the same origin, destination, and direction arrives, the system will prioritize assigning the new flight to an operating route in another route layer to achieve a dispersed distribution of flights in the vertical direction. For example, the system can select operating route D in route layer 2 or operating route G in route layer 3, thereby avoiding being on the same route layer as the previous flight.

[0118] If all other flight paths in all flight paths are unavailable, or if other scheduling needs necessitate selection within the same flight path layer, the system will try to avoid flight paths adjacent to the preceding flight. For example, in flight path layer 1, if flight path A is already occupied, the system will select flight path C instead of B to increase the horizontal distance between the two aircraft.

[0119] Through the above strategy, the system can ensure that adjacent flights are distributed in different flight layers or horizontal positions as much as possible, thereby effectively increasing the distance between aircraft, reducing the risk of collision, and improving the utilization efficiency of airspace resources and flight safety. This allocation method not only considers the hierarchical management in the vertical direction, but also takes into account the principle of horizontal dispersion, realizing the scientific scheduling of the approved flight route resource pool.

[0120] The method provided in the above embodiments achieves dynamic management and efficient allocation of operational routes by decomposing approved routes into multiple operational routes and establishing a resource pool. Upon receiving a route allocation request, it can quickly match suitable approved routes and exclusively allocate unallocated operational routes from the resource pool, ensuring no interference between flights. Simultaneously, through a state management mechanism, resources are promptly released after route use, supporting the cyclical utilization of operational routes, significantly improving the utilization rate and scheduling flexibility of route resources, and effectively solving the resource waste and inefficiency problems caused by traditional single-route allocation.

[0121] To address the issue of multiple flights operating concurrently and in both directions on the same approved flight route, while simultaneously meeting collision avoidance requirements, this invention presents an intelligent solution:

[0122] 1. An algorithm for hierarchical and intra-hierarchical decomposition of parallel operating routes is proposed, which divides the airspace attached to the approved routes into multiple parallel operating routes that maintain a safe distance, supports parallel flight operations and two-way flights, breaks through the limitations of traditional time-sharing rules, and significantly improves airspace resource utilization and operational efficiency.

[0123] 2. By adopting the L1 guidance control law combined with the dynamic speed regulation algorithm, the aircraft is ensured to strictly follow the predetermined flight path and effectively avoid collisions under weather conditions that meet performance requirements, thus further ensuring flight safety.

[0124] 3. Introduce a resource pool random allocation mechanism to optimize operating routes with the same origin, destination and direction. By separating adjacent flights in the same direction, the potential collision risk is reduced.

[0125] In summary, this invention, while ensuring safety, significantly improves the operational efficiency of aircraft operations by supporting bidirectional and multi-flight concurrent operation, providing a highly efficient and reliable solution.

[0126] See Figure 6 The diagram shows the main modules of a route planning device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present invention, including:

[0127] The acquisition module 601 is used to acquire the spatial range corresponding to the approved route, and construct an air pipeline based on the spatial range with the approved route as the central axis.

[0128] The decomposition module 602 is used to obtain the safe interval for aircraft flight and determine the decomposition method of the space pipe based on the spatial range and the safe interval; wherein, the safe interval refers to the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects;

[0129] According to the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes.

[0130] In the device of this invention, the spatial range is determined based on the horizontal width and vertical height, and the safety interval includes a horizontal safety interval and a vertical safety interval;

[0131] The decomposition module 602 is used in one or more of the following situations:

[0132] In response to the vertical height being less than or equal to the vertical safety interval, the number of line layers that can be created is determined to be 1; in response to the vertical height being greater than the vertical safety interval, the quotient of the vertical height and the vertical safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of line layers that can be created.

[0133] In response to the horizontal height being less than or equal to the horizontal safety interval, the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer is determined to be 1; in response to the horizontal height being greater than the horizontal safety interval, the quotient of the horizontal height and the horizontal safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer.

[0134] In the apparatus of this invention, the decomposition module 602 is used for:

[0135] In cases where there are multiple aircraft models, a safety interval is pre-configured for each aircraft model, with the maximum safety interval among all models being used as the safety interval.

[0136] The apparatus for implementing this invention further includes a coordinate determination module, used for:

[0137] The latitude and longitude coordinates of the approved routes are sequentially horizontally offset to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of each operating route;

[0138] Determine the altitude of the flight layer for each operating route, and obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of each operating route based on altitude and latitude / longitude.

[0139] The apparatus of the present invention further includes a route allocation module, used for:

[0140] Receive a route allocation request, and determine a matching approved route based on the starting waypoint and the destination waypoint in the route allocation request;

[0141] Determine the operational route resource pool corresponding to the approved route; in response to the existence of an operational route in the operational route resource pool that is in an unallocated state, determine the target operational route from the unallocated operational routes and perform an allocation operation, and change the state of the target operational route to allocated.

[0142] In response to receiving the end-of-use information for the target operating route, the status of the target operating route is changed to unassigned.

[0143] In the apparatus of this invention, the route allocation module is used for:

[0144] Determine the first route layer where the previously assigned operating route is located, and determine whether there are any operating routes in other route layers that are in an unassigned state.

[0145] In response to the determination result being that it exists, a second route layer is determined from other route layers, and any unassigned operating route in the second route layer is taken as the target operating route;

[0146] In response to the determination result being non-existent, other operating routes in the first route layer that are not adjacent to the previously assigned operating route and whose status is unassigned are identified, and any one of the other operating routes is taken as the target operating route.

[0147] The device for implementing the present invention further includes a speed control module, used for:

[0148] During the flight of the aircraft toward the target waypoint, the actual distance from the aircraft to the target waypoint is determined based on the current latitude and longitude coordinates of the aircraft and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the target waypoint.

[0149] The safe distance is determined based on the aircraft's performance. If the actual distance is greater than the determined safe distance, the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the desired cruise speed.

[0150] If the actual distance is less than or equal to the determined safe distance, the actual speed is determined based on the desired cruise speed, the actual distance, and the determined safe distance, so that the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the actual speed.

[0151] In the device of this invention, all aircraft operating on the same route layer fly in the same direction, while the flight directions are different for different route layers.

[0152] Furthermore, the specific implementation details of the device described in the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail in the above-described method, so the details will not be repeated here.

[0153] Figure 7 An exemplary system architecture 700 to which embodiments of the present invention can be applied is shown, including terminal devices 701, 702, 703, network 704, and server 705 (only an example).

[0154] Terminal devices 701, 702, and 703 can be various electronic devices with displays and support for web browsing, and have various communication client applications installed. Users can use terminal devices 701, 702, and 703 to interact with server 705 through network 704 to receive or send messages, etc.

[0155] Network 704 is a medium used to provide a communication link between terminal devices 701, 702, 703 and server 705. Network 704 may include various connection types, such as wired or wireless communication links or fiber optic cables, etc.

[0156] Server 705 can be a server providing various services, such as a backend management server supporting shopping websites browsed by users using terminal devices 701, 702, and 703 (this is just an example). The backend management server can analyze and process received data such as product information query requests, and feed back the processing results (e.g., target push information, product information—this is just an example) to the terminal devices. It should be noted that the method provided in this embodiment of the invention is generally executed by server 705, and correspondingly, the apparatus is generally set in server 705.

[0157] It should be understood that Figure 7 The number of terminal devices, networks, and servers shown is merely illustrative. Depending on implementation needs, any number of terminal devices, networks, and servers can be included.

[0158] The following is for reference. Figure 8 It shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a computer system 800 suitable for implementing a terminal device of the present invention. Figure 8 The terminal device shown is merely an example and should not impose any limitations on the functionality and scope of use of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0159] like Figure 8As shown, the computer system 800 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 801, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes based on programs stored in read-only memory (ROM) 802 or programs loaded from storage section 808 into random access memory (RAM) 803. The RAM 803 also stores various programs and data required for the operation of the system 800. The CPU 801, ROM 802, and RAM 803 are interconnected via a bus 804. An input / output (I / O) interface 805 is also connected to the bus 804.

[0160] The following components are connected to I / O interface 805: an input section 806 including a keyboard, mouse, etc.; an output section 807 including a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and speakers, etc.; a storage section 808 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 809 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, modem, etc. The communication section 809 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 810 is also connected to I / O interface 805 as needed. A removable medium 811, such as a disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, semiconductor memory, etc., is installed on drive 810 as needed so that computer programs read from it can be installed into storage section 808 as needed.

[0161] In particular, according to the embodiments disclosed in this invention, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts can be implemented as computer software programs. For example, embodiments disclosed in this invention include a computer program product comprising a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, the computer program containing program code for performing the methods shown in the flowcharts. In such embodiments, the computer program can be downloaded and installed from a network via communication section 809, and / or installed from removable medium 811. When the computer program is executed by central processing unit (CPU) 801, it performs the functions defined above in the system of this invention.

[0162] It should be noted that the computer-readable medium shown in this invention can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium, or any combination thereof. A computer-readable storage medium can be, for example,—but not limited to—an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In this invention, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In this invention, a computer-readable signal medium can include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying computer-readable program code. Such propagated data signals can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. Computer-readable signal media can also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, which can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the computer-readable medium can be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0163] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment, or portion of code containing one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions indicated in the blocks may occur in a different order than those indicated in the drawings. For example, two consecutively indicated blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in a block diagram or flowchart, and combinations of blocks in a block diagram or flowchart, may be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or operation, or using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0164] The modules described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in software or hardware. The described modules can also be housed in a processor; for example, a processor may be described as including an acquisition module and a decomposition module. The names of these modules do not necessarily limit the module itself; for example, the acquisition module may also be described as a "pipeline construction module".

[0165] In another aspect, the present invention also provides a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device described in the above embodiments; or it may exist independently and not assembled into the device. The computer-readable medium carries one or more programs that, when executed by the device, cause the device to perform any of the above-described route planning methods.

[0166] The computer program product of the present invention includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the route planning method in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0167] The specific embodiments described above do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions can occur depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this invention should be included within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. A route planning method, characterized in that, include: Obtain the spatial range corresponding to the approved air route, and construct an air pipeline based on the approved air route as the central axis. Obtain the safe distance for aircraft flight, and determine the disassembly method of the space pipeline based on the spatial range and the safe distance; wherein, the safe distance refers to the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects; According to the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The spatial range is determined based on the horizontal width and vertical height, and the safety interval includes a horizontal safety interval and a vertical safety interval. The method of determining the disassembly of the spatial pipeline based on the spatial range and the safety interval includes one or more of the following: In response to the vertical height being less than or equal to the vertical safety interval, the number of line layers that can be created is determined to be 1; in response to the vertical height being greater than the vertical safety interval, the quotient of the vertical height and the vertical safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of line layers that can be created. In response to the horizontal height being less than or equal to the horizontal safety interval, the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer is determined to be 1; in response to the horizontal height being greater than the horizontal safety interval, the quotient of the horizontal height and the horizontal safety interval is determined, and the quotient is rounded down to obtain the number of operational routes that can be created within the route layer.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method of obtaining the safe interval for aircraft flight includes: In cases where there are multiple aircraft models, a safety interval is pre-configured for each aircraft model, with the maximum safety interval among all models being used as the safety interval.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After obtaining multiple operating routes, the method further includes: The latitude and longitude coordinates of the approved routes are sequentially horizontally offset to obtain the latitude and longitude coordinates of each operating route; Determine the altitude of the flight layer for each operating route, and obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of each operating route based on altitude and latitude / longitude.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that, After obtaining multiple operating routes, the method further includes: Receive a route allocation request, and determine a matching approved route based on the starting waypoint and the destination waypoint in the route allocation request; Determine the operational route resource pool corresponding to the approved route; in response to the existence of an operational route in the operational route resource pool that is in an unallocated state, determine the target operational route from the unallocated operational routes and perform an allocation operation, and change the state of the target operational route to allocated. In response to receiving the end-of-use information for the target operating route, the status of the target operating route is changed to unassigned.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The process of determining the target operating route from the unassigned operating routes includes: Determine the first route layer where the previously assigned operating route is located, and determine whether there are any operating routes in other route layers that are in an unassigned state. In response to the determination result being that it exists, a second route layer is determined from other route layers, and any unassigned operating route in the second route layer is taken as the target operating route; In response to the determination result being non-existent, other operating routes in the first route layer that are not adjacent to the previously assigned operating route and whose status is unassigned are identified, and any one of the other operating routes is taken as the target operating route.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: During the flight of the aircraft toward the target waypoint, the actual distance from the aircraft to the target waypoint is determined based on the current latitude and longitude coordinates of the aircraft and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the target waypoint. The safe distance is determined based on the aircraft's performance. If the actual distance is greater than the determined safe distance, the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the desired cruise speed. If the actual distance is less than or equal to the determined safe distance, the actual speed is determined based on the desired cruise speed, the actual distance, and the determined safe distance, so that the aircraft's cruise speed is set to the actual speed.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Aircraft operating on the same flight path in the same flight path layer fly in the same direction, while aircraft flying on different flight paths fly in different directions.

9. A route planning device, characterized in that, include: The acquisition module is used to acquire the spatial range corresponding to the approved route, and construct an air pipeline based on the spatial range with the approved route as the central axis. The decomposition module is used to obtain the safe interval for the aircraft's flight and determine the decomposition method of the space pipeline based on the spatial range and the safe interval. According to the decomposition method, the space pipeline is decomposed to obtain multiple operating routes; wherein, the safety interval refers to the minimum safe distance set to avoid collisions with other objects.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: One or more processors; Storage device for storing one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-8.

11. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the program is executed by the processor, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1-8.

12. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1-8.

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