Unmanned aerial vehicle flight control hardware device, system and battery management method

Abstract

The application provides a kind of unmanned aerial vehicle flight control hardware device, system and battery management method, the device includes: with the standardized edge device interface of external edge computing equipment connection;For measuring attitude data IMU unit;And a power supply circuit;The power supply circuit has at least two controlled battery input, a current integration based power measurement circuit for accurately measuring power consumption, and a DC-DC conversion circuit;The system includes the above device and edge computing equipment, and the edge computing equipment controls the automatic switching of battery based on power consumption information;The method includes obtaining power consumption, determining switching conditions and performing seamless switching of "first close and then break".The application separates high computing power tasks from basic flight control hardware, and realizes accurate power management and seamless battery switching, effectively prolongs the endurance time of unmanned aerial vehicle, and improves the intelligent level and flight safety of the system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, specifically to a UAV flight control hardware device, system, and battery management method, particularly a universal flight control system hardware device with power detection and automatic battery switching functions, especially a universal UAV flight control system suitable for edge devices, and even more particularly a universal flight control system hardware device for unmanned aerial vehicles using edge devices such as Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and Milk-VMars as controllers. Background Technology

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) possess unstructured space flight and path planning capabilities, exhibiting faster movement speeds and greater path flexibility than ground mobile vehicles and unmanned surface vessels (USVs), enabling more efficient reconnaissance and collaborative operations. For unmanned systems requiring the coordinated operation of ground mobile vehicles and USVs, UAVs are clearly an indispensable component. Furthermore, their ability to intelligently detect ground mobile vehicles and USVs from the air, quickly pinpoint their locations, and achieve rapid approach and docking is a crucial indicator and manifestation of the system's level of intelligence.

[0003] In general, early unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) typically employed open-source flight control systems. For example, MikroKopter, APM, PPZ, and PX4 are representative of open-source flight control systems and have profoundly influenced subsequent open-source systems. These open-source flight control systems generally use 8-bit MCUs such as the ATmega128 / 256 or 32-bit ARM chips such as the STM32F103 / 203 as the main control chip, combined with gyroscopes, magnetometers, and barometers to form the basic flight control system hardware. These flight control systems have a simple structure and can achieve high-precision position, attitude, altitude, and path planning control under remote control signals combined with PID control methods. However, these open-source flight control systems mostly operate in RTOS or bare code form, only achieving high-precision automatic control; because they cannot run efficient deep learning networks, they cannot recognize ground vehicles and unmanned surface vessels. Although STM32 ARM chips can access video or images captured by cameras and process them to obtain the contour data of vehicles or unmanned surface vessels, their limited computing power significantly affects the real-time performance and attitude control stability of the flight control system. Meanwhile, these flight controllers are powered by a single battery and lack battery power detection and automatic switching capabilities between multiple batteries.

[0004] Erle Robotics designed a flight control system using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and APM flight stack, achieving efficient flight control for the HobbyKing Spec FPV250 small quadcopter. Wu Zhihuang, in his dissertation "Research on Flight Control System of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based on Embedded Technology," designed an ARM-Linux architecture flight control system using the ARM Cortex-A9 chip IMX6Q high-performance, low-power embedded processor, verifying platform feasibility and software design rationality. However, it lacked AI functionality, battery power detection, and automatic multi-battery switching capabilities. He Qinqin, in her dissertation "Design of Embedded Flight Control System for Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," used an STM32 as the controller and ported the uC / OS II (MicroControl Operation System Two) RTOS to verify drone flight control. Zhou You, in his dissertation "Research on Flight Control System of Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles," used an STM32F407 and Kalman filtering to achieve efficient and stable attitude control of the drone. The Gao Fei team at Zhejiang University, in their paper "Precise aggressive aerial maneuvers with sensorimotor policies," used a PX4 flight controller and NVIDIA Jetson Orin... NX achieves high-maneuverability maneuvering through narrow spaces based on monocular camera image processing and analysis, demonstrating a high level of intelligence. While these UAV flight control systems are powerful and diverse, none have achieved efficient identification of ground vehicles and unmanned surface vessels, nor have they implemented battery level detection and automatic multi-battery switching to improve loiter time. This is the key engineering and technical problem that this invention addresses. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, the purpose of this invention is to provide a drone flight control hardware device, system, and battery management method.

[0006] According to the present invention, a flight control hardware device for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes: An edge device interface is provided for pluggable connection to an external edge computing device. The edge device interface carries a power supply for powering the edge computing device, control signals issued by the edge computing device, and a sensor data communication bus. An IMU unit integrated on the flight control hardware device is used to measure the attitude data of the aircraft and provide the attitude data to the edge computing device through the edge device interface; A power supply circuit, the power supply circuit including at least two battery input terminals, and electronic switches connected in series with the battery input terminals and independently controlled by control signals issued by the edge computing device; A current-integrated power measurement circuit is configured to measure the current flowing through the battery selected by the electronic switch, determine the power consumption of the battery based on the time integration of the current, and provide the power consumption information to the edge computing device. The power supply circuit also includes a DC-DC converter circuit for converting the battery voltage selected by the electronic switch into at least one preset operating voltage to supply the flight control hardware and the edge computing device.

[0007] Preferably, the flight control hardware device also integrates at least two different types of altimeter chips, namely a main altimeter chip and a backup altimeter chip, for providing multi-source altitude data to the edge computing device.

[0008] Preferably, the flight control hardware device also integrates a BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module, which is used to provide the edge computing device with the latitude, longitude, speed and heading information of the aircraft.

[0009] Preferably, the power supply circuit has a reverse charging protection diode connected in series between each battery input terminal and the electronic switch.

[0010] Preferably, the flight control hardware device further includes a safety circuit, which includes a discharge resistor connected between the preset operating voltage output terminal and ground.

[0011] Preferably, the electronic switch is a MOSFET transistor; And / or, the edge device interface is a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin female connector; And / or, the current integration-based power measurement circuit includes a coulomb counter chip and is connected to the edge device interface via an I2C bus.

[0012] The present invention also provides a drone flight control system, including the above-mentioned drone flight control hardware device, and further including: Edge computing devices connected to the edge device interface; The edge computing device is configured to receive the attitude data and the power consumption information from the IMU unit and the power measurement circuit via the edge device interface, and generate and send the control signal to the electronic switch based on the power consumption information to switch between the at least two battery input terminals.

[0013] Preferably, the UAV flight control hardware device also integrates at least two different types of altimeter chips and a Beidou / GPS dual-mode positioning module, and the UAV flight control system also includes an external camera; The edge computing device is also configured to: fuse data from the IMU unit, the altimeter chip, and the BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module to calculate the aircraft's attitude; and process image data from the external camera to perform target recognition tasks.

[0014] The present invention also provides a battery management method for a drone, applied to the aforementioned drone flight control system, comprising the following steps: The edge computing device obtains power consumption information of a battery connected to a battery input currently used for power supply through the current integration-based power measurement circuit. The edge computing device determines whether the power consumption information meets the preset switching conditions. When the switching conditions are met, the edge computing device sends a control signal through the edge device interface to control the electronic switch in the power supply circuit to switch the power supply from the battery connected to the battery input terminal currently used for power supply to the battery connected to another battery input terminal among the at least two battery input terminals.

[0015] Preferably, the power supply switching steps include: First, turn on the electronic switch connected in series with the input terminal of the other battery; and After a preset delay, the electronic switch connected in series with the input terminal of the battery currently used for power supply is disconnected.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. This invention separates basic flight control hardware from high-performance edge computing devices by setting up a pluggable, standardized edge device interface. This architecture not only provides sufficient computing power to run complex AI algorithms, but also makes the system have good versatility and scalability. Users can flexibly replace edge computing devices with different performance according to task requirements.

[0017] 2. This invention integrates a current integration-based power measurement circuit and a controlled multi-channel battery input circuit, enabling precise monitoring and automatic switching of battery power. Combined with a "connect first, disconnect later" switching strategy, it can seamlessly switch batteries without interrupting system power supply, significantly extending the drone's flight time and improving the safety and reliability of flight missions.

[0018] 3. This invention integrates a rich set of sensors, including an IMU unit, a multi-source altimeter, and a BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module, into the hardware device, providing comprehensive and redundant flight status data for edge computing devices. The edge computing devices can fuse and process this multi-source data to obtain more accurate and robust pose estimation than that of a single sensor, laying a solid foundation for high-precision autonomous flight and intelligent mission execution.

[0019] 4. The present invention incorporates multiple safety protection measures in its circuit design, such as anti-reverse charging diodes and discharge resistors, which effectively protect the battery, flight control hardware and edge computing devices, and improve the stability and durability of the entire system.

[0020] 5. This invention has great engineering application scalability, requires no hardware modification, and can also be applied to unmanned vehicles, unmanned boats, pipeline inspection robots, underwater ROVs and wall-climbing robots. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of the UAV flight control hardware device of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a circuit diagram of the MEMS inertia measurement circuit of the IMU unit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a current-integrated power measurement circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a circuit diagram of the accelerometer circuit of the IMU unit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 5 This is a circuit diagram of a Beidou / GPS dual-mode positioning module in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6 This is a circuit diagram of the tilt measurement circuit of the IMU unit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 7 This is a circuit diagram of the main altimeter in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a power supply circuit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 9 This is a circuit diagram of a backup altimeter in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the remote control signal interface circuit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a PWM signal interface circuit in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 12 This is a circuit schematic diagram of an edge device interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of a safety circuit in one embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments. These embodiments will help those skilled in the art to further understand the present invention, but do not limit the invention in any way. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several changes and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention. These all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0035] Example 1 like Figure 1 As shown in the diagram, this embodiment provides an overall structural block diagram of a UAV flight control system. The system mainly includes a UAV flight control hardware device and an edge computing device that is pluggably connected to it. The UAV flight control hardware device highly integrates the core sensing, power management, and communication interface functions required for flight. The edge computing device, for example, can be a commercially available microcomputer with a certain computing power. It acts as the "brain" of the UAV flight control system, responsible for running complex flight control algorithms, data fusion, mission planning, and artificial intelligence applications. The two are physically and electrically connected through a standardized edge device interface, achieving separation between the hardware platform and the computing core, greatly improving the system's flexibility and scalability.

[0036] In this embodiment, the UAV flight control hardware device serves as a basic platform, integrating multiple functional modules such as attitude perception, environmental perception, positioning, and power management. The attitude perception module acquires the UAV's real-time attitude angles and angular velocities; the environmental perception module measures environmental parameters such as flight altitude; the positioning module acquires the UAV's geographical location information; and the power management module provides stable and reliable power to the entire system (including the hardware device itself and external edge computing devices) and possesses intelligent battery management capabilities. The edge computing devices obtain raw data from these modules through standardized edge device interfaces and perform high-level processing, such as fusing multi-source sensor data to calculate precise pose or processing external camera images to perform intelligent tasks such as target recognition.

[0037] The following section will detail the various circuit modules that constitute the flight control hardware of this drone. First, the stability and reliability of the power supply are the cornerstones of safe drone flight. For example... Figure 8 and Figure 13 As shown, this embodiment provides a fully functional power supply circuit and safety circuit. The power supply circuit supports dual-battery redundancy and includes a first battery connector J1 and a second battery connector J2, respectively for connecting two independent batteries. This design lays the foundation for extending the drone's flight time and improving the fault tolerance of the power system.

[0038] To achieve intelligent management and switching between the two batteries, the power supply circuit incorporates an electronic switch independently controlled by the edge computing device on each battery's power supply path. In this embodiment, these electronic switches utilize MOSFET transistors, specifically MOSFET transistor Q2 connected in series with the first battery path and MOSFET transistor Q5 connected in series with the second battery path. The edge computing device can send high and low level control signals via its GPIO pins to precisely control the on / off state of MOSFET transistors Q2 and Q5, thereby achieving selective switching of the power supply batteries. This MOSFET transistor-based electronic switch scheme offers advantages such as fast switching speed, low power consumption, and simple control.

[0039] To prevent reverse charging of the lower-voltage battery by the higher-voltage battery during parallel connection or switching, which could damage the battery or pose a safety risk, the power supply circuit in this embodiment connects a reverse charging protection diode in series between each battery input terminal and the corresponding electronic switch. Specifically, as shown... Figure 8 As shown, a Schottky diode D1 is connected in series at the output terminal of the first battery connector J1, and a Schottky diode D2 is connected in series at the output terminal of the second battery connector J2. Schottky diodes are chosen because they have a low forward voltage drop, which effectively reduces power loss in the circuit and reliably isolates the two battery inputs, ensuring the safety of the power supply system.

[0040] The battery voltage, after being selected by an electronic switch, needs to be converted into stable operating voltages at different levels required by various chips and edge computing devices within the system. To this end, a DC-DC converter circuit is integrated into the power supply circuit. In this embodiment, the core of this converter circuit is the DC / DC chip U7. This chip receives the battery voltage output from MOSFET transistor Q2 or MOSFET transistor Q5 and can simultaneously output two preset operating voltages: a 3.3V voltage to power the system's digital circuits and sensors, and a 5V voltage to power the edge computing devices and some peripherals. Through this DC-DC converter circuit, the conversion from a single battery input to multiple stable operating voltages is achieved, ensuring the stable operation of the entire UAV flight control system.

[0041] In addition, to further enhance the security and reliability of the system, such as Figure 13 As shown, the device in this embodiment also includes a safety circuit. This safety circuit includes a discharge resistor connected between the preset operating voltage output terminal and ground. Specifically, one discharge resistor R15 is connected between the 3.3V power supply and ground, and another discharge resistor R14 is connected between the 5V power supply and ground. Their function is to provide a slow release path for the residual charge stored in the power supply filter capacitor when the system is powered off, preventing unexpected latch-up effects on the control pins of the edge computing device due to residual voltage upon the next power-on or reset, thereby significantly improving the reliability and safety of the control system.

[0042] To achieve accurate perception of the UAV's flight status, the UAV flight control hardware integrates multiple sensor units, forming a complete multi-source perception system. The core of this system is at least one IMU unit, used for real-time measurement of the aircraft's attitude data. In this embodiment, the IMU unit is composed of multiple chips working together to provide more comprehensive attitude information. Figure 2 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 As shown, the IMU unit includes a MEMS inertial measurement chip U1, an accelerometer chip U3, and a 3D magnetic sensor chip U5. Specifically, the MEMS inertial measurement chip U1 connects to the edge computing device via an SPI bus and provides angular velocity and angular acceleration data for the aircraft's three axes. The accelerometer chip U3 also communicates with the edge computing device via an SPI bus, providing three-axis angular acceleration data. The 3D magnetic sensor chip U5 connects to the edge computing device via an I2C bus and is used to measure the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, thereby providing a heading reference for the aircraft. By fusing the data from these three sources, the edge computing device can calculate the complete and accurate attitude information of the aircraft.

[0043] To achieve high-precision altitude hold and terrain-following flight, this hardware device innovatively integrates at least two different types of altimeter chips. For example... Figure 7 As shown, the main altimeter chip U6 provides key flight altitude data to the edge computing device via an I2C interface. Meanwhile, as... Figure 9 As shown, the hardware device also integrates a backup altimeter chip U8, which also provides auxiliary altitude data via an I2C interface. By setting up two different altimeter models as the primary and backup, the edge computing device can acquire multi-source altitude data, perform cross-validation and data fusion, thereby effectively suppressing the drift and noise of individual sensors. Especially in environments with complex airflow or significant external interference, it can output more stable and reliable altitude estimates, improving flight safety and docking accuracy.

[0044] To enable autonomous navigation and waypoint flight for the drone, this hardware device also integrates a BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module. For example... Figure 5 As shown, this module is a dual-mode navigation and positioning module U4, which communicates with the edge computing device via a UART asynchronous serial port. This module connects to an external high-gain antenna through antenna connector RF1, enabling it to simultaneously receive BeiDou and GPS satellite signals, providing comprehensive positioning information including latitude, longitude, altitude, ground speed, and heading. The edge computing device utilizes this information to not only achieve UAV position keeping and flight path planning, but also to fuse the module's output speed and heading data with IMU unit data, further improving the accuracy and robustness of pose calculation.

[0045] Precise power management is crucial for extending battery life and ensuring a safe return. This hardware device employs a power measurement circuit based on current integration to accurately measure battery power consumption. Figure 3 As shown, the core of this circuit is a coulomb counter chip U2. This chip is connected in series in the main battery power supply circuit through a low-resistance sampling resistor to measure the current flowing through the battery in real time. It then accurately calculates the amount of charge consumed (i.e., power consumption) by integrating the current over time. The coulomb counter chip U2 connects to the edge device interface via an I2C bus, providing the edge computing device with data such as the calculated power consumption, the current battery voltage, and the remaining usable time estimated based on the battery model. Compared to traditional voltage-based power estimation methods, this current integration-based scheme is unaffected by factors such as nonlinearity of the battery discharge curve and temperature changes, providing a more accurate and reliable battery status indication.

[0046] To ensure reliable connectivity and communication with external edge computing devices and other drone components, this hardware device provides a series of standardized interfaces. The most crucial of these is a standardized edge device interface for pluggable connection to edge computing devices. For example... Figure 12 As shown, in this embodiment, the interface is specifically implemented as a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin female header, namely connector J5. This interface can be directly matched with the GPIO headers of edge computing devices.

[0047] The standardized edge device interface J5 carries all the critical connections required for system operation. First, it provides power to the edge computing devices. Second, it carries control signals from the edge computing devices, such as control signals for switching the first and second batteries on and off. Finally, it carries various sensor data communication buses, including: an I2C bus for connecting the coulomb counter chip U2, the 3D magnetic sensor chip U5, the main altimeter chip U6, and the backup altimeter chip U8; a UART bus for connecting the BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module U4; and an SPI bus for connecting the MEMS inertial measurement chip U1 and the accelerometer chip U3. This highly integrated, standardized interface design completely decouples the underlying hardware from the upper-level computing platform, allowing users to flexibly replace edge computing devices with different computing power according to task requirements without making any modifications to the hardware.

[0048] In addition to the core interface with edge computing devices, this hardware device also provides other necessary external interfaces. For example... Figure 10 As shown, the remote control signal interface circuit connects to the remote control receiver signal via connector J3 and sends the signal to the corresponding pin of the edge computing device. Figure 11 As shown, the PWM signal interface circuit outputs the motor control signal (PWM wave) calculated by the edge computing device to the electronic speed controller via connector J4 to control the rotational speed of the UAV rotor, thereby achieving precise control of flight attitude and position. These interfaces together constitute a fully functional and conveniently connected UAV flight control hardware device.

[0049] Based on the aforementioned UAV flight control hardware, this embodiment also provides a UAV flight control system. In addition to the aforementioned hardware, this system also includes an edge computing device connected to a standardized edge device interface J5 on the hardware. In this system, the edge computing device serves as the control core and is configured to execute a series of high-level functions. It acquires raw data from the IMU unit, current integration-based power measurement circuit, altimeter, positioning module, etc., on the hardware via the interface, and performs complex calculations and control based on this data.

[0050] In a typical flight mission scenario, the drone flight control system operates as follows: After power-on, the edge computing device first initializes and periodically reads data from various sensors via the standardized edge device interface J5. It integrates attitude data from the IMU unit (including MEMS inertial measurement chip U1, accelerometer chip U3, and 3D magnetometer chip U5), altitude data from the two altimeter chips U6 and U8 (main and backup), and position and velocity data from the BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module U4. By running advanced estimation algorithms such as Kalman filtering, it calculates the aircraft's precise and robust six-degree-of-freedom pose (position and attitude) in real time. Simultaneously, when an external camera is connected, the edge computing device is also configured to process image data from that external camera. By running a lightweight deep learning network, it performs target recognition tasks, providing visual guidance for subsequent autonomous collaborative operations.

[0051] A core function of this system is its intelligent battery management. The edge computing device is configured to generate and send control signals to electronic switches in the power supply circuit based on power consumption information obtained from a current-integrated power measurement circuit, to automatically switch between at least two battery inputs. This function is achieved through a battery management method for drones provided in this embodiment, which operates on the aforementioned drone flight control system, and the specific steps are as follows: First, the edge computing device periodically obtains power consumption information of the battery connected to the currently powered battery input terminal (e.g., initially the first battery connector J1) from a current integration-based power measurement circuit (i.e., the coulomb counter chip U2) via the I2C bus. This information can be the cumulative amount of charge consumed, the precise remaining percentage of power, or the remaining flight time estimated by the chip based on a battery model.

[0052] Next, the edge computing device will determine in real time whether the acquired power consumption information meets a preset switching condition. This switching condition can be flexibly set according to safety redundancy and task requirements. For example, it can be set to "when the remaining battery power is less than 20%", or "when the estimated remaining flight time is less than the preset safe return time plus a margin", or "when the cumulative power consumption reaches 80% of the battery's nominal capacity".

[0053] When the switching conditions are met, the edge computing device automatically performs the power switching step. It sends a control signal through the standardized edge device interface J5 to control the electronic switch in the power supply circuit, seamlessly switching the power supply from the currently used battery (e.g., the battery connected to the first battery connector J1) to another backup battery (e.g., the battery connected to the second battery connector J2).

[0054] To ensure that the system does not experience a momentary power outage during the switching process, which could lead to the aircraft losing control and crashing, the power switching steps employ a "make-before-break" strategy. Specifically, this step includes: First, the edge computing device sends a control signal to turn on the electronic switch (i.e., MOSFET transistor Q5) connected in series with the other battery input terminal (second battery connector J2). At this time, the two batteries will briefly supply power to the backend through their respective anti-reverse charging diodes D1 and D2. After the backup battery path is turned on, the program waits for a preset delay, such as a few milliseconds to tens of milliseconds. This short delay is to ensure that the new power supply path has been fully established and that the output voltage of the backend DC-DC converter circuit has stabilized. Finally, after the preset delay, the edge computing device sends another control signal to disconnect the electronic switch (i.e., MOSFET transistor Q2) connected in series with the currently used battery input terminal (first battery connector J1). By switching on the backup power supply first and then disconnecting the main power supply, it is ensured that the system load always has at least one power source supplying power throughout the entire switching process. This achieves a smooth and uninterrupted power switching, greatly improving the safety and reliability of UAVs during long-duration flights.

[0055] In summary, this embodiment integrates sensors, power management, and standardized interfaces into a single hardware device, and combines this with a pluggable edge computing device to construct a flexible, powerful, and reliable UAV flight control system. This system not only possesses high-precision pose perception capabilities through multi-source sensor fusion and edge-side AI computing capabilities, but also effectively extends the UAV's flight time and fundamentally ensures flight safety during power switching through precise power monitoring based on current integration and an intelligent battery switching strategy of "on first, off later."

[0056] Example 2 Those skilled in the art can understand this embodiment as a more specific description of Embodiment 1.

[0057] This embodiment provides a general-purpose flight control system hardware device with power detection and automatic battery switching functions. Specifically, it provides a UAV attitude detection and sensing system composed of attitude sensor / gyroscope chips, accelerometer chips, barometer chips, magnetoresistive sensors, coulomb counter chips, Beidou positioning modules, and MOSFETs. While achieving positioning, altitude holding, and attitude holding, it runs a lightweight network to determine the identification and positioning of ground mobile vehicles and unmanned surface vessels, and realizes automatic switching between dual batteries to extend its loiter and cruise time, ensuring flight safety.

[0058] The device in this embodiment includes: a MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit, a power measurement circuit, an accelerometer circuit, a BeiDou positioning device circuit, an inclination measurement circuit, an altitude measurement circuit, a power supply circuit, an altitude measurement backup circuit, a remote control signal interface circuit, a PWM signal interface circuit, an edge device interface circuit, and a display and security circuit, etc.

[0059] The MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit uses a MEMS inertial measurement chip to provide edge devices with data such as angular velocity and angular acceleration; the power measurement circuit uses a coulomb counter chip to provide edge devices with data such as current battery voltage and available time; the accelerometer circuit uses an accelerometer chip to provide edge devices with three-axis angular acceleration data; and the BeiDou positioning device circuit uses a BeiDou / GPS dual-module to primarily provide edge devices with aircraft altitude data.

[0060] The altitude measurement circuit uses an altimeter chip to provide aircraft altitude data to the edge device; the power supply circuit is the core circuit of the device in this embodiment, providing working power to the system and realizing battery switching function under the control of the edge device; the altitude measurement backup circuit provides auxiliary altitude information to the edge device to achieve higher accuracy altitude data under conditions of strong winds and external interference.

[0061] The remote control signal interface circuit is relatively simple, allowing edge devices to access remote control signals. It can receive both PWM and PPM control signals. The PWM signal interface circuit is used to send the PWM control signals from the edge devices to the aircraft's electronic speed controller, enabling speed control of the rotors or other drive motors, thereby adjusting and controlling the aircraft's position, attitude, altitude, and flight path.

[0062] The display and safety circuit uses LEDs to indicate whether the operating voltage is normal, ensuring that 3.3V and 5V operate within the normal range. The edge device interface circuit provides hardware interfaces with edge devices for the MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit, power measurement circuit, accelerometer circuit, BeiDou positioning device circuit, tilt measurement circuit, altitude measurement circuit, power supply circuit, altitude measurement backup circuit, remote control signal interface circuit, and PWM signal interface circuit, thereby enabling the artificial intelligence functions of the control system. The MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit, accelerometer circuit, and tilt measurement circuit constitute the IMU unit, providing the edge devices with the aircraft's IMU attitude information.

[0063] Furthermore, for the MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit, its core is the MEMS inertial measurement chip, which communicates with edge devices through the SPI interface to provide data such as the angular velocity and angular acceleration of the three axes of the aircraft, and realizes some IMU measurement functions.

[0064] Furthermore, the core of the power measurement circuit is a coulomb counter chip. This chip directly collects the voltage of the currently used battery and converts it into the remaining usable time or remaining cruise time using an internal algorithm. If the currently used battery is the first battery, it can switch to the second battery; if the currently used battery is the second battery, it can be converted into the remaining safe flight time. This extends loiter time while improving flight safety performance.

[0065] Furthermore, the core of the accelerometer circuit is the accelerometer chip, which communicates with edge devices through the SPI interface to provide triaxial angular acceleration data of the aircraft and realize some IMU measurement functions.

[0066] Furthermore, the core of the BeiDou positioning device circuit is a BeiDou / GPS dual-mode module that communicates with edge devices via a UART interface, providing the edge devices with aircraft position data. Its interface circuit is simple, requiring only an external connection of a 50-ohm high-gain BeiDou antenna.

[0067] Furthermore, the core of the tilt measurement circuit is a 3D magnetic sensor chip, which communicates with edge devices through an I2C interface to realize some IMU measurement functions.

[0068] Furthermore, the core of the altitude measurement circuit is the altimeter chip, which communicates with edge devices via an I2C interface to provide the edge devices with aircraft altitude data.

[0069] Furthermore, the power supply circuit mainly consists of Schottky diodes, transistors, MOSFETs, and a DC / DC chip. Four transistors operating in switching mode can control the on / off state of one PMOS and one NMOS transistor, ensuring power supply to the system while one circuit is turned on upon power-up. Based on the battery level detection circuit, the main control chip controls the conduction of the other circuit to achieve automatic switching between the two batteries. The DC / DC chip can simultaneously output 5V and 3.3V DC voltages to power the system, controller, and external devices.

[0070] Furthermore, the core of the altitude measurement backup circuit is a pressure sensor chip, which communicates with edge devices via an I2C interface to provide backup aircraft altitude data to the edge devices.

[0071] Furthermore, for the remote control signal interface circuit, the main function is to connect the receiver's PWM or PPM signal to the controller, and the current-limiting resistor is used to protect the controller pins.

[0072] Furthermore, the PWM signal interface circuit consists of connectors, and its main function is to send the PWM control signal calculated by the edge device to the electronic speed controller to adjust the rotor speed and realize the control of the aircraft's attitude, position, altitude and flight path.

[0073] Furthermore, the edge device interface circuit consists of connectors. Its main function is to serve as an interface for edge devices with lower computing power, such as Raspberry Pi 3B, Raspberry Pi 3B+, Raspberry Pi 4B, Orange Pi 3, and Milk-V Mars. While processing IMU-related data and battery power data, it sends switching signals to the power supply circuit and sends control signals to the electronic speed controller via the PWM interface circuit to achieve the required aircraft control functions.

[0074] Furthermore, for the display and safety circuits, the main functions are operating voltage display, voltage regulation and load relief, to ensure stable and reliable operation of various hardware circuits and edge devices.

[0075] The information processing content and process in this embodiment are as follows: Connect the camera to the edge device. After inserting two batteries, the first power supply automatically turns on to power the system. After code pairing and attitude calibration, the aircraft rotors unlock. The aircraft ascends and hovers at a specific altitude. Based on data fed into the attitude detection module, the aircraft's current attitude and altitude information are calculated; based on data fed into the BeiDou positioning module, the aircraft's longitude and latitude are obtained, forming the aircraft's complete attitude and altitude information. Moving the remote control joystick causes the controller to read the control signals fed into the receiver interface circuit.

[0076] The calculated rotor speed data is fed into the electronic speed controller via the PWM interface circuit, thereby controlling the aircraft's attitude, heading, altitude, and flight path. Simultaneously, the controller reads the current battery level data via the power detection circuit to determine the remaining usable time or remaining cruise time. If the currently used battery is the first battery, the controller can send a switching signal to the battery switching module to switch to the second battery when a certain amount of power remains; if the currently used battery is the second battery, the remaining safe flight time can be determined.

[0077] Edge devices run a lightweight AI network. They process video frames fed in by cameras or image data collected periodically, identify and determine the location of ground mobile vehicles or unmanned surface vessels in real time, and dock with them under remote control or automatic control to achieve functional collaboration.

[0078] The above functions can be executed in a foreground / background manner, in a thread-based manner, or in a real-time operating system (RTOS) manner, offering a high degree of design freedom and ensuring stable and reliable system operation.

[0079] The device in this embodiment uses all domestically produced components, which are highly versatile, reliable, stable, inexpensive, and easy to replace and upgrade.

[0080] The edge device interface circuit of this embodiment is compatible with common edge devices such as Raspberry Pi 3B, Raspberry Pi 3B+, Raspberry Pi 4B, Orange Pi 3 and Milk-V Mars. The same hardware circuit board can directly interface with these different edge devices without hardware modification.

[0081] The edge device in this embodiment has low computing power and can run a lightweight AI network. Simply connecting a camera enables intelligent functions such as object classification, target detection, and instance segmentation based on video or images, improving the system's AI performance.

[0082] In this embodiment, in addition to longitude and latitude output, the Beidou module has heading output capability, which can be fused with magnetoresistive sensor data to obtain higher precision heading data; the Beidou module can output movement speed, which can be fused with attitude data to obtain higher precision motion speed control performance; the Beidou module can also output altitude data, which can be fused with air pressure data to obtain higher precision aircraft altitude data, so as to improve the docking accuracy with ground mobile vehicles and unmanned surface vessels; In this embodiment, the device has a dual-battery power supply circuit with one circuit that can be automatically turned on but needs to be controlled to turn off, and another circuit that must be controlled to turn on and off. This enables the automatic switching function between the two batteries and allows the use of a coulomb counter to accurately calculate the usable time, ensuring flight safety and longer flight time. The Schottky diode can prevent reverse charging of the other battery. Only by keeping the controller I / O pins idle, it can be expanded to three or more battery power detection and automatic switching functions. The device in this embodiment has an altitude measurement backup circuit and an altitude measurement backup function, which can ensure high-precision altitude measurement and calculation under complex sea conditions and large external interference conditions, and can dock with unmanned vehicles, unmanned boats and other equipment with higher precision. The display and safety circuit of this embodiment is equipped with a discharge resistor, which can feed the residual charge of the 3.3V and 5V power supply into the battery when the system is powered off, preventing accidental latch-up of the control pins when the edge device is powered on or reset, thereby improving the reliability and safety of the control system.

[0083] Example 3 Those skilled in the art can understand this embodiment as a more specific description of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

[0084] like Figure 1As shown, this embodiment provides a general-purpose flight control system hardware device with power detection and automatic battery switching functions, including: a power supply circuit to power the system and provide battery switching function; a MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) circuit, a power measurement circuit, an accelerometer circuit, a Beidou positioning device circuit, an inclination measurement circuit, an altitude measurement circuit, an altitude measurement backup circuit, a remote control signal interface circuit, and a PWM signal interface circuit, which communicate and exchange data with edge devices with computing and control functions through an edge device interface to realize intelligent control function; and a display and safety circuit to provide voltage limiting and load relief protection functions for stable system operation.

[0085] like Figure 2 As shown, the MEMS inertia measurement unit (IMU) circuit of this embodiment includes: a MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 and capacitors C1~C2. Pins 8 and 5 of the MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 are connected to a 3.3V power supply and decoupled to GND using capacitors C1 and C2; pins 2 and 3 are connected to GND.

[0086] The MEMS inertial measurement chip U1 in this embodiment uses the QMI8658C chip from Shanghai Silicon Motion Technology Co., Ltd. Its operating parameters are as follows: operating voltage and IO pin voltage range 1.71~3.6V, typical operating voltage 1.8V; maximum acceleration measurement ±16g, 2048 sensitivity, inter-axis sensitivity ±1; maximum gyroscope measurement ±1024dps, 32-bit sensitivity, frequency 22.42kHz, nonlinearity ±0.2%, inter-axis sensitivity ±2%; maximum SPI frequency 15MHz, maximum I2C frequency 400kHz.

[0087] In this embodiment, the decoupling capacitors C1 and C2 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, 100nF capacitance, ±10% accuracy, and 50V rated voltage.

[0088] like Figure 3 As shown, the power measurement circuit of this embodiment includes: a coulomb counter chip U2, capacitors C3~C4, and resistors R1~R4. Among them, pins 1, 4, and 9 of the coulomb counter chip U2 are connected to GND, pin 2 is grounded through resistor R1 and capacitor C6, pin 3 is grounded through capacitor C5 and pulled up to 3.3V through resistor R3, and pin 5 is pulled up to 3.3V through resistor R4.

[0089] The coulomb counter chip U2 in this embodiment uses the CW2015CHBD chip from Shenzhen Bestsys Technology Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: maximum operating voltage 6V, maximum measurement error 3%, 14-bit Sigma-Delta ADC, and I2C can operate at 100kHz or high speed 400kHz.

[0090] In this embodiment, resistors R1 and R2 are thick film resistors from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 200kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0091] The resistor R3 in this embodiment is a thick film resistor from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 100Ω, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0092] The resistor R4 in this embodiment is a thick film resistor from Anhui Fujie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 4.7kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0093] In this embodiment, capacitors C3~C4 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0094] like Figure 4 As shown, the accelerometer circuit in this embodiment includes an accelerometer chip U3 and capacitors C5-C6. Pins 8 and 9 of the accelerometer chip U3 are connected to GND, and pin 7 is connected to a 3.3V voltage, decoupled to GND via capacitors C5 and C6.

[0095] The accelerometer chip U3 in this embodiment uses the SC7A20H chip from Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: wide voltage range of 1.71V~3.6V, ±2G / ±4G / ±8G / ±16G dynamic full-range range, 12-bit data output, I²C / SPI digital output interface, free-fall detection function, and embedded FIFO and self-test functions.

[0096] In this embodiment, capacitors C5~C6 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0097] like Figure 5 As shown, the BeiDou positioning device circuit of this embodiment includes: a BeiDou positioning module U4, capacitors C7~C9, and an antenna connector RF1. Specifically, pins 12, 13, and 24 of the BeiDou positioning module U4 are connected to GND; pins 22 and 23 are connected to 3.3V, and then decoupled to GND via capacitors C7 and C8; pin 9 is connected to 3.3V, and then decoupled to GND via capacitor C9; pin 3 is connected to GND via resistor R5 and LED1.

[0098] The Beidou positioning module U4 in this embodiment adopts the TAU1114 dual-mode navigation and positioning module from Shenzhen Huada Beidou Technology Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: operating voltage 3.3V, supporting BDS B1I, B1C, GPS L1C / A and A-GNSS assisted positioning functions, and horizontal positioning accuracy of 1.5m (single frequency mode).

[0099] In this embodiment, capacitor C7 is a Yageo X7R surface mount capacitor with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0100] In this embodiment, capacitors C8~C9 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0101] The resistor R5 in this embodiment is a thick film resistor from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 3.3kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0102] The LED1 in this embodiment is a red LED from Foshan Guoxing Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: forward voltage drop 1.6V~2.6V, power 65mW, forward current 25mA, and luminous intensity 195mcd.

[0103] The antenna connector RF1 in this embodiment adopts the SMA058 connector from Dongguan Huangjie Communication Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: operating voltage 170VAC, withstand voltage 500V@50Hz RMS, and insulation resistance >1000MΩ.

[0104] like Figure 6 As shown, the tilt measurement circuit of this embodiment includes: a 3D magnetic sensor chip U5 and capacitors C10~C12. Among them, pin 2 of the 3D magnetic sensor chip U5 is connected to 3.3V and decoupled to GND through capacitors C10 and C11; pins 9 and 11 are connected to GND; and pin 10 is connected to GND through capacitor C12.

[0105] The 3D magnetic sensor chip U5 in this embodiment uses the QMC5883P chip from Shanghai Silicon Motion Technology Co., Ltd., with the following operating parameters: operating voltage 2.5~3.6V; full-range geomagnetic measurement range -30~+30Gauss; maximum sensitivity 15000LSB / G@±2G range; linearity 0.5% FS; resolution 2mGauss (X / Y axis direction) and 3mGauss (Z axis direction).

[0106] In this embodiment, capacitors C10 and C11 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0107] In this embodiment, capacitor C12 is a Yageo X7R surface mount capacitor with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 4.7μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0108] like Figure 7 As shown, the height measurement circuit in this embodiment includes an altimeter chip U6 and a capacitor C13. Pin 3 of the altimeter chip U6 is connected to 3.3V and decoupled to GND via capacitor C13.

[0109] The altimeter chip U6 in this embodiment uses the HP203B high-precision barometric pressure and altitude sensor from Shenzhen Huapu Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: operating voltage 1.8~3.6V, extended pressure range 300mbar~1200mbar, resolution 10cm, high-speed I²C interface, and standby power consumption <0.1μA.

[0110] In this embodiment, capacitor C13 is a Yageo X7R surface mount capacitor with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0111] like Figure 8As shown, the power supply circuit of this embodiment includes: connectors J1~J2, Schottky diodes D1~D2, resettable fuses F1~F4, resistors R6~R11, capacitors C13~C18, transistors Q1, MOSFETs Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, and DC / DC chip U7. In this configuration, pin 1 of connector J1 is connected to GND, pin 2 is connected to two parallel resettable fuses F1-F2 via Schottky diode D1, resistor R6 is connected to the base (B) of transistor Q1, the emitter (E) of transistor Q1 is connected to GND, the other end of the resettable fuses F1-F2 is connected to resistors R7 and R8 and the drain (D) of MOSFET Q2, the other end of resistor R7 is connected to the collector (C) of transistor Q1 and the base (B) of transistor Q3, the other end of resistor R8 is connected to the collector (C) of transistor Q3 and the gate (G) of MOSFET Q2, the emitter (E) of transistor Q3 is connected to GND, and the source (S) of MOSFET Q2 is connected to GND via capacitor C13 and then to pins 2 and 3 of DC / DC chip U7; pin 1 of connector J2 is connected to GND, pin 2 is connected to two parallel resettable fuses F3-F4 via Schottky diode D2, resistor R9 is connected to... The base (B) of transistor Q4 is connected to the ground (GND). The emitter (E) of transistor Q4 is connected to GND. The other ends of resettable fuses F3-F4 are connected to resistors R10 and R11 and the source (S) of MOSFET Q5. The other end of resistor R10 is connected to the collector (C) of transistor Q4 and the base (B) of transistor Q6. The other end of resistor R11 is connected to the collector (C) of transistor Q6 and the gate (G) of MOSFET Q5. The emitter (E) of transistor Q6 is connected to GND. The drain (D) of MOSFET Q5 is connected to GND via capacitor C14 and then to pins 2 and 3 of DC / DC chip U7. Pins 1, 3, and 9 of DC / DC chip U7 are connected to GND. Pins 5 and 6 are connected in parallel to output 5V, which is then bypassed to GND via capacitors C15 and C16. Pins 7 and 8 are connected in parallel to output 3.3V, which is then bypassed to GND via capacitors C17 and C18.

[0112] The Schottky diodes D1~D2 in this embodiment use SSA34 chips from Richcore Semiconductor (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: 1 independent type, forward voltage drop 490mV@3A, rectified current 3A, and SMA package.

[0113] In this embodiment, resistors R6 and R9 are thick-film resistors from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance 4.7kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0114] In this embodiment, resistors R7 and R10 are thick-film resistors from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance 6.8kΩ, accuracy ±5%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0115] In this embodiment, resistors R8 and R11 are thick-film resistors from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 10kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0116] In this embodiment, transistors Q1, Q3, Q4, and Q6 are S9013 transistors from Shenzhen Chenda Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Their main parameters are: NPN type, collector current 500mA, collector-emitter breakdown voltage 25V, and power dissipation 300mW.

[0117] The MOSFET Q2 in this embodiment uses the AO3400 chip from Shenzhen Jiesheng Micro Semiconductor Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: N-channel MOSFET, drain-source voltage 30V, gate-source voltage ±12V, minimum gate turn-on voltage 0.7V, and maximum gate turn-on voltage 1.4V.

[0118] The MOSFET Q4 in this embodiment uses the AO3401 chip from Shenzhen Jiesheng Micro Semiconductor Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: P-channel MOSFET, drain-source voltage -30V, gate-source voltage ±12V, minimum gate turn-on voltage -0.7V, and maximum gate turn-on voltage -1.3V.

[0119] In this embodiment, capacitor C13 is a Yageo X7R surface mount capacitor with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, 330nF capacitance, ±10% accuracy, and 50V rated voltage.

[0120] In this embodiment, capacitors C14 and C16 are from Dongguan Rongqiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., and their main parameters are: surface mount SMD D4×L5.4mm package, capacitance 10μF, accuracy ±20%, and rated voltage 35V.

[0121] In this embodiment, capacitors C15 and C17 are Yageo Corporation capacitors, with the following main parameters: surface mount 0805 package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0122] The capacitor C18 in this embodiment is a capacitor from Guangdong Rongshuo Semiconductor Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: surface mount SMDD4×L5.4mm package, capacitance 22μF, accuracy ±20%, and rated voltage 16V.

[0123] The DC / DC chip U7 in this embodiment uses the HG1118M-3350 / TR chip from Guangdong Huaguan Semiconductor Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: operating voltage 12V, dual positive voltage outputs of 3.3V and 5V, and output current of 1A@3.3V and 1A@5V.

[0124] In this embodiment, connectors J1~J2 use wire-to-board pin headers from Xiamen Xinyi Precision Electronics Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: 1×2P, horizontal mounting, and a spacing of 2.5mm.

[0125] like Figure 9 As shown, the height measurement backup circuit in this embodiment includes a pressure sensor chip U8 and capacitors C19 to C20. Pins 1, 5, and 7 of the pressure sensor chip U8 are connected to GND, and pins 2, 6, and 8 are connected to 3.3V. Capacitors C19 and C20 are used to decouple the U8 chip from GND.

[0126] The pressure sensor chip U8 in this embodiment uses the WF282A chip from Shenzhen Weifengheng Technology Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: operating voltage 1.7V~3.6V, SPI and I2C interface types, pressure range 30kpa~1.2bar, and height measurement accuracy ±5cm in high-precision mode.

[0127] In this embodiment, capacitors C19 and C20 are Yageo Corporation capacitors, with the following main parameters: surface mount 0805 package, capacitance 0.1μF, accuracy ±10%, and rated voltage 25V.

[0128] like Figure 10 As shown, the remote control signal interface circuit of this embodiment includes a resistor array RN1 and a connector J3. The receiver signal is input via pins 1 to 4 of connector J3, and then connected to the resistor array RN1. Pin 5 of J3 is connected to GND, and pin 6 is connected to a 5V power supply.

[0129] The resistor array RN1 in this embodiment is from Guangdong Fenghua Advanced Technology Co., Ltd., and its main parameters are: resistance value 1kΩ, accuracy ±5%, rated power 62.5mW, and 0603×4 package.

[0130] The connector J3 in this embodiment uses a wire-to-board pin header from Shenzhen Huacan Tianlu Electronics Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: 1×6P, 1.5mm pitch, and bent insertion type.

[0131] like Figure 11 As shown, the PWM signal interface circuit of this embodiment includes: connector 4. Pins 1 to 4 of connector 4 output PWM signals to the electronic speed controller, and pins 5 and 6 are connected to GND to achieve speed control of drive motors such as rotors.

[0132] In this embodiment, connector 4 uses a wire-to-board pin header from Dongguan Xunpu Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: 1×4P, 1.25mm spacing, and horizontal mounting.

[0133] like Figure 12As shown, the edge device interface circuit of this embodiment includes: connector J5, resistor R12, resistor R13, capacitor C21 and capacitor C22. Among them, pin 1 is connected to 3.3V; pins 2 and 4 are connected in parallel to 5V, decoupled to GND through capacitors C21 and C22; pin 3 is connected to pin 8 of coulomb counter chip U2, pin 16 of magnetic sensor chip U5, pin 6 of altimeter chip U6, and pin 3 of pressure sensor chip U8, and pulled up to 3.3V through resistor R12; pin 5 is pulled up to 3.3V through resistor R13, and then connected to pin 7 of coulomb counter chip U2, pin 1 of magnetic sensor chip U5, pin 5 of altimeter chip U6, and pin 4 of pressure sensor chip U8, forming an I2C communication link; pin 6 is connected to GND; pin 7 is connected to resistor array RN1, used to receive the first control signal from the remote control; pin 8 is connected to pin 21 of Beidou positioning module U4, and pin 10 is connected to pin 20 of Beidou positioning module U4, forming a UART asynchronous communication link; pin 9 is connected to GND; pin 12 is connected to resistor array RN1, used to receive the second control signal from the remote control; pin 13 is connected to resistor array R... N1 is connected to receive the third control signal from the remote control; pin 14 is connected to GND; pin 15 is connected to resistor R9 for the second battery disconnection control; pin 16 is connected to resistor array RN1 for receiving the fourth control signal from the remote control; pin 17 is connected to 3.3V; pin 18 is connected to pin 5 of coulomb counter chip U2 for interrupt signal reception; pin 19 is connected to pin 14 of MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 and pin 2 of accelerometer chip U3; pin 21 is connected to pin 1 of MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 and pin 1 of accelerometer chip U3; pin 23 is connected to pin 13 of MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 and pin 12 of accelerometer chip U3; pin 26 is connected to pin 12 of MEMS inertia measurement chip U1, forming an SPI synchronous communication link; pin 20 is connected to GND; pin 22 is connected to resistor R6 for the first battery on / off control; pin 24 is connected to pin 10 of accelerometer chip U3 for... SPI interface enable control; pin 25 is connected to GND; pin 28 is connected to pin 9 of the Beidou positioning module U4 for its reset control; pin 29 is connected to pin 5 of the accelerometer chip U3 for receiving its interrupt signal; pin 30 is connected to GND; pin 32 is connected to connector J4 for outputting the first PWM wave; pin 33 is connected to connector J4 for outputting the second PWM wave; pin 34 is connected to GND; pin 35 is connected to pin 9 of the MEMS inertia measurement chip U1 for receiving its interrupt signal; pin 36 is connected to connector J4 for outputting the third PWM wave; pin 37 is connected to connector J4 for outputting the fourth PWM wave; pin 39 is connected to GND; pin 40 is connected to pin 2 of the Beidou positioning module U4 for its guidance control.

[0134] The connector J5 in this embodiment uses a female connector from Shanghai Zhouri Electronics Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: 2×20P sockets, 2.54mm spacing, 2.54mm row spacing, and square holes.

[0135] In this embodiment, resistors R12 and R13 are thick-film resistors from Anhui Fujie Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance 3.3kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0136] In this embodiment, capacitors C21 and C22 are Yageo Corporation X7R surface mount capacitors, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, 1μF capacitance, ±10% accuracy, and 25V rated voltage.

[0137] like Figure 13 As shown, the display and safety circuit of this embodiment includes: diodes D3~D4, resistors R14~R17, and light-emitting diodes LED2~LED3. Specifically, D3 is used for 5V voltage regulation, and D4 is used for 3.3V voltage regulation; resistor R14 is used for 5V voltage discharge, and resistor R15 is used for 3.3V voltage discharge; resistor R16 is used for current limiting of LED2 and for displaying normal operation at 5V voltage, and resistor R17 is used for current limiting of LED3 and for displaying normal operation at 3.3V voltage.

[0138] In this embodiment, diode D3 is a 5.1V small-signal Zener diode from Zhuhai Hongjiacheng Technology Co., Ltd. Its main parameters are: Zener voltage 5.1V, reverse current 5μA@2V, and Zener range 4.85V~5.36V.

[0139] In this embodiment, diode D4 is a 3.3V small-signal Zener diode from Zhuhai Hongjiacheng Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: Zener voltage 3.3V, reverse current 5μA, and Zener range 3.14V~3.47V.

[0140] In this embodiment, resistors R14 and R15 are thick film resistors from Yageo Corporation, with the following main parameters: 0805 surface mount package, resistance 1MΩ, accuracy ±5%, and power 125mW.

[0141] The resistor R16 in this embodiment is a thick film resistor from Anhui Fujie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance value 5.1kΩ, accuracy ±5%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0142] The resistor R17 in this embodiment is a thick film resistor from Anhui Fujie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: resistance 4.7kΩ, accuracy ±1%, 0805 package, and power 125mW.

[0143] In this embodiment, LED2~LED3 are red LEDs from Foshan Guoxing Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., with the following main parameters: forward voltage drop 1.6V~2.6V, power 65mW, forward current 25mA, and luminous intensity 195mcd.

[0144] The specific working process of this embodiment is described below: The operation of this embodiment is relatively complex. Two batteries are connected to connectors J1 and J2 respectively. MOSFET Q5 automatically turns on, and MOSFET Q2 automatically turns off. The DC / DC chip U7 outputs 3.3V and 5V operating voltages. The display and safety circuits operate synchronously to ensure that the 3.3V and 5V voltages do not exceed the regulated range. The edge device powers on and reads inertial navigation data from the MEMS inertial measurement chip U1 and acceleration data from the accelerometer chip U3 via the SPI synchronous serial port. It also reads geomagnetic data from the 3D magnetic sensor chip U5 via the I2C interface, fusing them to obtain the aircraft attitude data. It then reads data from the altimeter chip U6 and pressure sensor chip U8 via the I2C interface. Finally, it reads the position, altitude, and velocity data from the Beidou positioning module U4 via the UART asynchronous serial port, fusing them to obtain high-precision aircraft altitude and position data, thus obtaining the aircraft's attitude information. The edge device receives and processes the remote control signal, outputting corresponding PWM control signals to adjust and control the rotor speed and the aircraft's attitude, altitude, and position. The edge device reads camera images or video data, runs an AI intelligent program, searches for the location of the device to be tracked, and automatically plans a path to approach the object after receiving intelligent control signals or when there is no remote control data. The edge device reads data such as the current battery voltage and usable time collected by the coulomb counter chip U2 via the I2C interface. When the voltage and usable time reach a safe threshold, it turns on MOSFET Q2, and after a short delay until U7 is operating stably, it turns off MOSFET Q5, thus realizing automatic battery circuit detection and battery switching functions.

[0145] This invention effectively extends the flight time of drones and improves the system's intelligence and flight safety by separating high-computing tasks from basic flight control hardware and achieving precise power management and seamless battery switching.

[0146] Specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which do not affect the essence of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be arbitrarily combined with each other.

Claims

1. A flight control hardware device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), characterized in that, include: An edge device interface is provided for pluggable connection to an external edge computing device. The edge device interface carries a power supply for powering the edge computing device, control signals issued by the edge computing device, and a sensor data communication bus. An IMU unit integrated on the flight control hardware device is used to measure the attitude data of the aircraft and provide the attitude data to the edge computing device through the edge device interface; A power supply circuit, the power supply circuit including at least two battery input terminals, and electronic switches connected in series with the battery input terminals and independently controlled by control signals issued by the edge computing device; A current integration-based power measurement circuit is configured to measure the current flowing through the battery selected by the electronic switch, determine the power consumption of the battery based on the time integration of the current, and provide the power consumption information to the edge computing device. The power supply circuit also includes a DC-DC converter circuit for converting the battery voltage selected by the electronic switch into at least one preset operating voltage to supply the flight control hardware and the edge computing device.

2. The UAV flight control hardware device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flight control hardware device also integrates at least two different types of altimeter chips, namely a main altimeter chip and a backup altimeter chip, for providing multi-source altitude data to the edge computing device.

3. The UAV flight control hardware device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flight control hardware device also integrates a BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module, which is used to provide the edge computing device with the latitude, longitude, speed and heading information of the aircraft.

4. The UAV flight control hardware device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The power supply circuit has a reverse charging protection diode connected in series between each battery input terminal and the electronic switch.

5. The UAV flight control hardware device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flight control hardware device also includes a safety circuit, which includes a discharge resistor connected between the preset operating voltage output terminal and ground.

6. The UAV flight control hardware device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electronic switch is a MOSFET transistor; And / or, the edge device interface is a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin female connector; And / or, the current integration-based power measurement circuit includes a coulomb counter chip and is connected to the edge device interface via an I2C bus.

7. A flight control system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), characterized in that, The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight control hardware device according to claim 1 further includes: Edge computing devices connected to the edge device interface; The edge computing device is configured to receive the attitude data and the power consumption information from the IMU unit and the power measurement circuit via the edge device interface, and generate and send the control signal to the electronic switch based on the power consumption information to switch between the at least two battery input terminals.

8. The UAV flight control system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The UAV flight control hardware device also integrates at least two different types of altimeter chips and a Beidou / GPS dual-mode positioning module, and the UAV flight control system also includes an external camera; The edge computing device is also configured to: fuse data from the IMU unit, the altimeter chip, and the BeiDou / GPS dual-mode positioning module to calculate the aircraft's attitude; and process image data from the external camera to perform target recognition tasks.

9. A battery management method for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), characterized in that, The application of the UAV flight control system according to claim 7 includes the following steps: The edge computing device obtains power consumption information of a battery connected to a battery input currently used for power supply through the current integration-based power measurement circuit. The edge computing device determines whether the power consumption information meets the preset switching conditions. When the switching conditions are met, the edge computing device sends a control signal through the edge device interface to control the electronic switch in the power supply circuit to switch the power supply from the battery connected to the battery input terminal currently used for power supply to the battery connected to another battery input terminal among the at least two battery input terminals.

10. The battery management method for a drone according to claim 9, characterized in that, The steps for switching power supply include: First, turn on the electronic switch connected in series with the input terminal of the other battery; and After a preset delay, the electronic switch connected in series with the input terminal of the battery currently used for power supply is disconnected.

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