Unmanned aerial vehicle flight control system and method with integrated battery management

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of unmanned aerial vehicle flight control system and method of integrated battery management, system includes: main control unit, sensor fusion unit, power output unit, communication unit, electric quantity meter, data acquisition unit and active safety protection unit;Data acquisition unit is used to collect the battery data of power battery cell group;Electric quantity meter is used to calculate battery state of charge and battery health state based on battery data;Main control unit is configured to: run flight control task and battery management task;Receive the attitude and position data of sensor fusion unit and execute flight control;Receive battery state and battery data, output battery control decision instruction to active safety protection unit, and output power regulation instruction to power output unit according to battery state;Communication unit is used to transmit flight control data and unmanned aerial vehicle state information;Active safety protection unit is used to receive battery control decision instruction, execute charge-discharge current limiting, cell equalization, power loop on-off control.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, and more specifically to a UAV flight control system and method with integrated battery management. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, most drones used in low-altitude airspace use power batteries, which are mainly divided into two categories: ordinary batteries and smart batteries. The main differences lie in power management, monitoring, protection, and communication. Ordinary batteries have a simple structure and low cost, but lack complex management circuitry. They can only detect the total battery voltage and require external equipment such as balancers and user experience for maintenance. Therefore, their power estimation has large errors and they are prone to false charging or over-discharging. Smart batteries, on the other hand, generally have a BMS (Battery Management System), supporting independent monitoring of each cell string. They have built-in overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, short circuit, and overtemperature protection, actively identifying and intervening in abnormalities to fundamentally avoid safety risks. They also have active / passive cell balancing capabilities, extending battery life, and can communicate digitally with the drone's flight control system to report detailed status such as SOC (State of Charge) and cycle count in real time, providing accurate power estimation.

[0003] For existing drones that are already equipped with ordinary power batteries, there are two conventional modification schemes to upgrade the ordinary power batteries to realize the functions of intelligent batteries. One is to design and develop an intelligent battery with the same structure and specifications. The other is to design and develop a BMS control board based on the drone's existing ordinary battery, integrating data acquisition, main controller, power execution, communication interface and power supply module, etc.

[0004] However, Option 1 requires the selection of battery cells, development of BMS control board, adaptation and debugging of the whole machine, and reliability testing and certification. The development cycle is long and the investment cost is high. It often requires modification of the drone battery compartment, poor reusability of existing equipment, and the BMS control board needs to occupy the space of the battery cell pack when changing to a smart power battery with the same structural size, which will lead to a reduction in battery capacity and affect the drone's flight time performance.

[0005] In Option 2, the existing battery compartment of the drone has limited space, making it difficult to arrange the additional BMS control board. Forced assembly would create assembly gaps, which could lead to poor overall balance and poor contact of connectors under flight vibration conditions, posing safety hazards. Furthermore, the independent BMS has its own independent main control MCU and independent communication transceiver unit, while the drone flight controller also has a main control unit and communication unit. The two sets of hardware functions are redundant, increasing material costs and overall weight, which will affect the drone's flight balance and weight. In addition, the BMS and flight controller use cross-board bus communication, and there is a transmission delay in data packet packaging, parsing, and response. When the battery fails, the fault command cannot be quickly transmitted to the flight controller power control module. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention provides a flight control system and method for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with integrated battery management, aiming to improve the problems of high cost, hardware redundancy, large communication latency, and poor vibration reliability when upgrading ordinary power batteries for UAVs to intelligent power batteries in related technologies.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an integrated battery management drone flight control system, the drone flight control system including a main control unit, a sensor fusion unit, a power output unit and a communication unit, and also including a fuel meter, a data acquisition unit and an active safety protection unit; The data acquisition unit is electrically connected to an external power battery cell pack and is used to collect battery data from the external power battery cell pack. The fuel gauge is electrically connected to the data acquisition unit and the main control unit, and is used to calculate the battery state of charge (SOC) and battery state of health (SOH) based on the acquired battery data. The main control unit is electrically connected to the sensor fusion unit, power output unit, communication unit, fuel gauge, data acquisition unit, and active safety protection unit. The main control unit is configured to: run flight control tasks and battery management tasks in parallel; receive attitude and position data output by the sensor fusion unit and execute flight control; receive battery status output by the fuel gauge and battery data output by the data acquisition unit, output battery control decision commands to the active safety protection unit, and output power adjustment commands to the power output unit according to the battery status. The communication unit is connected to the main control unit, the active safety protection unit, the power output unit, and the external power system. The communication unit is used to transmit flight control data and UAV status information. The active safety protection unit is electrically connected to the power battery cell pack and is used to receive battery control decision commands issued by the main control unit, and to perform charging and discharging current limiting, cell balancing, and power circuit on / off control of the power battery cell pack.

[0008] In some embodiments, the data acquisition unit includes an analog front-end sampling chip and a temperature acquisition module disposed on the power battery cell group. The temperature acquisition module is connected to the analog front-end sampling chip, and the analog front-end sampling chip communicates with the main control unit via an SPI bus. The analog front-end sampling chip is used to acquire the individual cell voltage and current of each cell in the power battery cell group, and to acquire the cell temperature through the temperature acquisition module.

[0009] In some embodiments, the fuel gauge is connected to the main control unit via an I2C bus; a sampling resistor is provided on the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack, and the sampling resistor is electrically connected to the fuel gauge to collect the charging and discharging circuit current of the power battery cell pack.

[0010] In some embodiments, the mainboard of the UAV flight control system is divided into a sensor area, an analog sampling area, a digital main control area, and a power output area, with the areas isolated from each other; the power output area houses the power output unit; the analog sampling area houses the data acquisition unit and the fuel gauge; the sensor area houses the sensor fusion unit; and the digital main control area houses the main control unit. The flight control system is configured with multiple independent LDO voltage regulator circuits, which independently power the main control unit, the data acquisition unit, the fuel gauge, and the sensor fusion unit, respectively.

[0011] In some embodiments, the communication unit is a single-channel CAN bus or UART bus; the same bus is used for multiplexing flight control attitude messages, motor ESC messages, battery status messages, and parameter configuration messages; flight control attitude messages and motor ESC messages are configured with high-priority message IDs, battery status messages are configured with periodically reported low-priority message IDs, the priority of motor ESC messages is higher than that of flight control attitude messages, the priority of flight control attitude messages is higher than that of battery status messages, and the priority of battery status messages is higher than that of parameter configuration messages; among all messages, safety fault messages have the highest priority and have the right to preemptively send them on the bus.

[0012] In some embodiments, the main control unit is equipped with a real-time operating system (RTOS); the RTOS tasks are prioritized from high to low as follows: motor ESC tasks, flight control attitude tasks, and battery management and control tasks; the RTOS is equipped with semaphore mutexes to protect access to bus read and write resources.

[0013] In some embodiments, the main control unit is configured with hierarchical fault linkage handling logic: Level 1 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 1 trigger condition, the main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the first threshold and triggers an early warning. Level 2 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the level 2 trigger condition, the main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the second threshold. Level 3 fault: The battery status is detected to meet the Level 3 trigger conditions. The main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the third threshold and triggers automatic return. The first threshold is greater than the second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than the third threshold. Level 4 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 4 trigger conditions, the main control unit gradually reduces the motor output power to idle speed, and after a preset delay, outputs a control command to the active safety protection unit to cut off the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and triggers a forced landing.

[0014] In some embodiments, the sensor fusion unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a magnetometer, a barometer, and a GPS positioning module, used to acquire UAV attitude, position, and speed information.

[0015] In some embodiments, the active safety protection unit includes a main power circuit switching device, an equalization execution circuit, and a drive circuit; the drive circuit is electrically connected to the main control unit and is used to receive battery control decision commands output by the main control unit to drive and control the main power circuit switching device and the equalization execution circuit; the main power circuit switching device is connected in series in the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and is used to control the on / off state of the charging and discharging circuit and the charging and discharging current limiting; the equalization execution circuit includes an equalization MOSFET and an equalization power resistor and is used to perform cell equalization control.

[0016] Secondly, the present invention provides a method for managing and controlling a drone battery, applied to the drone flight control system described in any embodiment of the first aspect, the method comprising the following steps: S1. The flight control system performs a power-on self-test and collects battery data from the external power battery cell pack through the data acquisition unit. The battery data includes individual cell voltage, current, and cell temperature. S2. The battery status is calculated and output based on the collected battery data by the fuel gauge. The battery status includes SOC and SOH parameters. S3. Based on the RTOS system, flight control tasks and battery management tasks are executed in a time-sharing parallel manner. S4. Determine the battery status for faults, and output the corresponding power adjustment command to the power output unit and / or output the battery control decision command to the active safety protection unit according to the fault level.

[0017] The UAV flight control system with integrated battery management provided by the present invention integrates a Battery Management System (BMS) into the UAV flight control system. The BMS and the UAV flight control system share the same main control unit and communication unit. Without modifying the structure of the power battery body or the UAV battery compartment shell structure, it can realize intelligent battery functions such as single cell status acquisition, power estimation, and active protection. It eliminates the independent main control hardware and independent communication hardware of the independent BMS, reduces hardware redundancy, lowers the overall material cost, and reduces the balance and vibration risks caused by additional BMS main control hardware and independent communication hardware under flight vibration conditions, thereby improving the overall reliability of existing UAVs after modification. The main control unit runs flight control tasks and BMS battery management tasks in parallel. Battery-related data is processed within the flight control system without being forwarded through an external cross-board bus, reducing the intermediate links of external message packaging and parsing. This not only achieves accurate instruction transmission and status feedback, but also reduces the data transmission latency of battery status and fault instructions. The interaction and timeliness are greatly improved, and battery abnormal events can reach the flight control link more quickly, improving the real-time performance of fault handling. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight control system with integrated battery management, provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing and controlling a drone battery, as provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0022] This invention provides a drone flight control system with integrated battery management. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of an integrated battery management drone flight control system provided in an embodiment of the present invention, as shown below. Figure 1 As shown, the UAV flight control system includes a main control unit 101, a sensor fusion unit 102, a power output unit 103, and a communication unit 104, as well as a fuel meter 105, a data acquisition unit 106, and an active safety protection unit 107.

[0023] The data acquisition unit 106 is electrically connected to an external power battery cell pack and is used to collect battery data from the external power battery cell pack. The fuel gauge 105 is electrically connected to the data acquisition unit 106 and the main control unit 101, and is used to calculate the battery state of charge (SOC) and battery state of health (SOH) based on the acquired battery data. The main control unit 101 is electrically connected to the sensor fusion unit 102, the power output unit 103, the communication unit 104, the fuel gauge 105, the data acquisition unit 106, and the active safety protection unit 107. The main control unit 101 is configured to: run flight control tasks and battery management tasks in parallel; receive attitude and position data output by the sensor fusion unit 102 and execute flight control; receive battery status output by the fuel gauge 105 and battery data output by the data acquisition unit 106, output battery control decision commands to the active safety protection unit 107, and output power adjustment commands to the power output unit 103 according to the battery status. The communication unit 104 is connected to the main control unit 101, the active safety protection unit 107, the power output unit 103, and the external power system. The communication unit 104 is used to transmit flight control data and UAV status information. The active safety protection unit 107 is electrically connected to the power battery cell pack and is used to receive battery control decision commands issued by the main control unit 101, and to perform charge and discharge current limiting, cell balancing, and power circuit on / off control of the power battery cell pack.

[0024] According to embodiments of the present invention, the integrated battery management UAV flight control system integrates a Battery Management System (BMS) into the UAV flight control system. The BMS and the UAV flight control system share the same main control unit and communication unit. This eliminates the need to modify the power battery structure or the UAV battery compartment shell structure, enabling intelligent battery functions such as single-cell status acquisition, power estimation, and active protection. It eliminates the need for separate BMS main control hardware and independent communication hardware, reducing hardware redundancy and overall material costs. It also reduces the balance and vibration risks associated with additional BMS main control hardware and independent communication hardware under flight vibration conditions, improving the overall reliability of modified existing UAVs. The main control unit runs flight control tasks and BMS battery management tasks in parallel. Battery-related data is processed internally within the flight control system, eliminating the need for external cross-board bus forwarding and reducing intermediate links in external message packaging and parsing. This achieves accurate command transmission and status feedback, reduces data transmission latency for battery status and fault commands, and significantly improves interaction and timeliness. Battery anomalies can reach the flight control link more quickly, improving the real-time nature of fault handling.

[0025] In this embodiment of the invention, the main control unit 101, as the core control unit, can be implemented using a microcontroller (MCU). It is responsible for running flight control algorithms, processing sensor data and battery data, coordinating the work of various modules to perform data processing, flight control decisions and battery fault decision control, and generating control commands.

[0026] In some embodiments, the main control unit 101 is equipped with a real-time operating system (RTOS); the RTOS tasks are prioritized from high to low as follows: motor ESC task, flight control attitude task, battery management and control task; the RTOS sets up semaphore mutexes to protect access to bus read and write resources.

[0027] In some embodiments, the main control unit 101 is configured with hierarchical fault linkage handling logic: Level 1 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 1 trigger condition, the main control unit 101 controls the power output unit 103 to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the first threshold and triggers an early warning. Level 2 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the level 2 trigger condition, the main control unit 101 controls the power output unit 103 to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the second threshold. Level 3 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 3 triggering conditions, the main control unit 101 controls the power output unit 103 to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the third threshold and triggers automatic return; the first threshold is greater than the second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than the third threshold; Level 4 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 4 trigger conditions, the main control unit 101 reduces the motor output power to idle speed in stages. After a preset delay, it outputs a control command to the active safety protection unit 107, cuts off the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack, and triggers a forced landing.

[0028] In some embodiments, the battery status includes, but is not limited to, the lowest single-cell voltage, the highest single-cell voltage, the inter-cell voltage difference, the total SOC of the entire pack, or the lowest single-cell SOC. Fault levels and corresponding triggering conditions are pre-defined. When the battery status is detected to meet the triggering conditions of the corresponding fault level, the corresponding handling logic is executed.

[0029] For example, fault levels are divided into Level 0 fault (corresponding to level threshold L0), Level 1 fault (corresponding to level threshold L1), Level 2 fault (corresponding to level threshold L2), Level 3 fault (corresponding to level threshold L3), and Level 4 fault (corresponding to level threshold L4). When the lowest single-cell battery voltage is less than or equal to level threshold L0, it is determined to be a Level 0 fault, which is a normal state, and normal flight control and battery management are executed. When the lowest single-cell battery voltage is less than or equal to level threshold L1, it is determined to be a Level 1 fault, and fault warning handling logic is executed. When the lowest single-cell battery voltage is less than or equal to threshold L2, it is determined to be a Level 2 fault, and power limiting handling logic is executed. When the lowest single-cell battery voltage is less than or equal to threshold L3, it is determined to be a Level 3 fault, and automatic return-to-home handling logic is executed. When the lowest single-cell battery voltage is less than or equal to threshold L4, it is determined to be a Level 4 fault, and forced landing handling logic is executed.

[0030] In some embodiments, before cutting off the battery power circuit, the drone can be controlled to enter a powerless state, that is, a non-landing attitude similar to hovering at a fixed altitude, and a window period is left for the motor to be supported by the energy storage capacitor, allowing the flight controller to complete the attitude stabilization initialization in a very short time, possibly tens of milliseconds.

[0031] In some embodiments, the data acquisition unit 106 is responsible for the comprehensive perception of the cell status and is equipped with voltage, current and temperature acquisition modules to capture key physical quantities of individual cells and circuits in real time, providing a precise data source for the core control of the main control unit 101.

[0032] Specifically, the data acquisition unit 106 includes an analog front-end sampling chip (AFE) and a temperature acquisition module installed on the power battery cell pack. The analog front-end sampling chip is connected to the sampling points of each string of cells in the power battery cell pack through external wiring. The analog front-end sampling chip communicates with the main control unit 101 through the SPI bus.

[0033] The analog front-end sampling chip is used to collect the individual voltage and current of each cell in the power battery cell pack and output them to the main control unit 101. The main control unit 101 can identify overcharging, undercharging, and inter-cell voltage difference in a single string, providing raw voltage data for cell equalization control and fault diagnosis.

[0034] The temperature acquisition module is connected to the analog front-end sampling chip, which can acquire the cell temperature in real time through the temperature acquisition module, providing the main control unit 101 with the raw data source for over-temperature and under-temperature fault judgment. The temperature acquisition module can be a temperature sensor.

[0035] In some embodiments, the fuel gauge 105 is connected to the main control unit 101 via an I2C bus; a sampling resistor is provided on the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack, and the sampling resistor is electrically connected to the fuel gauge 105 to collect the charging and discharging circuit current of the power battery cell pack.

[0036] In the SOC estimation of the 105 fuel gauge, dynamic tracking and drift elimination are performed based on ampere-hour integration and OCV calibration methods. Then, algorithm refinement is achieved using a fusion filter based on EKF and UKF. Finally, dynamic corrections are used to compensate for factors such as temperature, aging, equalization, and current rate. The dynamic SOC correction and compensation logic involves independent SOC tracking for each cell string, with each cell string maintaining an equalization ampere-hour counter. For discharging cells, the SOC is reduced; for charging cells, the SOC is increased.

[0037] In some embodiments, the sensor fusion unit 102 includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a magnetometer, a barometer, and a GPS positioning module, which is responsible for integrating sensor data such as IMU, GPS, and barometer to provide high-precision UAV attitude, position, and speed information.

[0038] In some embodiments, the active safety protection unit 107 includes a main power circuit switching device, an equalization execution circuit, and a drive circuit; the drive circuit is electrically connected to the main control unit 101 and is used to receive battery control decision commands output by the main control unit 101 to drive and control the main power circuit switching device and the equalization execution circuit; the main power circuit switching device is connected in series in the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and is used to control the on / off state of the charging and discharging circuit and the charging and discharging current limiting; the equalization execution circuit includes an equalization MOSFET and an equalization power resistor and is used to perform cell equalization control.

[0039] In some embodiments, the communication unit 104 is a single-channel CAN bus or UART bus; the same bus is used for multiplexing flight control attitude messages, motor ESC messages, battery status messages, and parameter configuration messages; the flight control attitude messages and motor ESC messages are configured with high-priority message IDs, the battery status messages are configured with periodically reported low-priority message IDs, the motor ESC messages have a higher priority than the flight control attitude messages, the flight control attitude messages have a higher priority than the battery status messages, and the battery status messages have a higher priority than the parameter configuration messages; among all messages, safety fault messages have the highest priority and have the right to preemptively send them on the bus.

[0040] The maximum payload per bus frame reaches 64 bytes, with a frame efficiency of over 80%, making it suitable for high-frequency attitude and batch battery data processing. Following the CAN judgment mechanism that prioritizes messages with smaller message ID values, safety-related and real-time messages are placed in the lower message ID segment, while non-real-time and non-safety-related messages are placed in the higher message ID segment.

[0041] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 As shown, the communication unit 104 can also connect to the load and external sensors, and the power system includes blades, motors and ESCs.

[0042] In some embodiments, the mainboard of the UAV flight control system is divided into a sensor area, an analog sampling area, a digital main control area, and a power output area, with the areas isolated from each other; the power output area is equipped with a power output unit 103; the analog sampling area is equipped with the data acquisition unit 106 and the fuel gauge 105; the sensor area is equipped with a sensor fusion unit 102; and the digital main control area is equipped with the main control unit 101. The flight control system is configured with multiple independent LDO voltage regulator circuits, which independently supply power to the main control unit 101, the data acquisition unit 106, the fuel gauge 105, and the sensor fusion unit 102.

[0043] In this embodiment of the invention, after the UAV flight control system with integrated battery management is powered on, the flight control system completes a hardware power-on self-test; the data acquisition unit 106 acquires the voltage and temperature of each cell in the power battery series; the fuel gauge 105 acquires the charging and discharging current of the main power circuit and calculates and outputs SOC and SOH parameters; the sensor fusion unit 102 acquires IMU, GPS, and barometer sensor data, calculates and outputs the UAV's attitude, position, speed, altitude, etc.; all the above data are transmitted to the main control unit 101. Under the scheduling of the RTOS operating system, the main control unit 101 runs flight control tasks and BMS battery management tasks in parallel; on the one hand, the main control unit 101 runs a closed-loop flight control algorithm based on the flight status, outputs motor drive commands to the power output unit 103 to maintain the UAV's flight; on the other hand, it analyzes battery data and battery status, executes fault classification judgment and corresponding fault handling logic. The communication unit 104 uses a single bus to complete the transmission of flight messages and battery messages, and reports the overall status of the aircraft to the ground station.

[0044] This invention also provides a method for managing and controlling a drone battery, applied to the drone flight control system provided in the above embodiments. Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing and controlling a drone battery according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown below. Figure 2 As shown, the UAV battery management control method includes: S1. The flight control system performs a power-on self-test and collects battery data from the external power battery cell pack through the data acquisition unit. The battery data includes individual cell voltage, current, and cell temperature. S2. The battery status is calculated and output based on the collected battery data by the fuel gauge. The battery status includes SOC and SOH parameters. S3. Based on the RTOS system, flight control tasks and battery management tasks are executed in a time-sharing parallel manner. S4. Determine the battery status for faults, and output the corresponding power adjustment command to the power output unit and / or output the battery control decision command to the active safety protection unit according to the fault level.

[0045] In some embodiments, when the fault level is determined to be a Level 1 fault, a corresponding power adjustment command is output to the power output unit to control the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to a first threshold and trigger an early warning; when the fault level is determined to be a Level 2 fault, a corresponding power adjustment command is output to the power output unit to control the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to a second threshold; when the fault level is determined to be a Level 3 fault, a corresponding power adjustment command is output to the power output unit to control the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to a third threshold and trigger automatic return to home; the first threshold is greater than the second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than the third threshold; when the fault level is determined to be a Level 4 fault, a corresponding power adjustment command is output to the power output unit to reduce the motor output power to idle speed in stages, and after a preset delay, a control command is output to the active safety protection unit to cut off the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and trigger an emergency landing.

[0046] The UAV battery management and control method of this invention is applied to the aforementioned UAV flight control system with integrated battery management. It can achieve the corresponding technical effects of the flight control system, complete the intelligent upgrade of existing ordinary power batteries without changing the fuselage and battery structure, take into account both real-time communication and battery safety protection, and realize the coordinated processing of battery failure and flight control.

[0047] Although embodiments of the invention have been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and such modifications and variations all fall within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A drone flight control system with integrated battery management, characterized in that, The UAV flight control system includes a main control unit, a sensor fusion unit, a power output unit, and a communication unit, as well as a fuel meter, a data acquisition unit, and an active safety protection unit. The data acquisition unit is electrically connected to an external power battery cell pack and is used to collect battery data from the external power battery cell pack. The fuel gauge is electrically connected to the data acquisition unit and the main control unit, and is used to calculate the battery state of charge (SOC) and battery state of health (SOH) based on the acquired battery data. The main control unit is electrically connected to the sensor fusion unit, power output unit, communication unit, fuel gauge, data acquisition unit, and active safety protection unit, respectively; the main control unit is configured to run flight control tasks and battery management tasks in parallel. The system receives attitude and position data output by the sensor fusion unit and performs flight control; it receives battery status output by the fuel gauge and battery data output by the data acquisition unit, outputs battery control decision commands to the active safety protection unit, and outputs power adjustment commands to the power output unit according to the battery status. The communication unit is connected to the main control unit, the active safety protection unit, the power output unit, and the external power system. The communication unit is used to transmit flight control data and UAV status information. The active safety protection unit is electrically connected to the power battery cell pack and is used to receive battery control decision commands issued by the main control unit, and to perform charging and discharging current limiting, cell balancing, and power circuit on / off control of the power battery cell pack.

2. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The data acquisition unit includes an analog front-end sampling chip and a temperature acquisition module disposed on the power battery cell group. The temperature acquisition module is connected to the analog front-end sampling chip, and the analog front-end sampling chip communicates with the main control unit through the SPI bus. The analog front-end sampling chip is used to acquire the individual voltage and current of each cell in the power battery cell group, and to acquire the cell temperature through the temperature acquisition module.

3. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fuel gauge is connected to the main control unit via an I2C bus; a sampling resistor is provided on the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack, and the sampling resistor is electrically connected to the fuel gauge to collect the charging and discharging circuit current of the power battery cell pack.

4. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mainboard of the UAV flight control system is divided into a sensor area, an analog sampling area, a digital main control area, and a power output area, with each area isolated from the others. The power output area houses the power output unit; the analog sampling area houses the data acquisition unit and the fuel gauge; the sensor area houses the sensor fusion unit; and the digital main control area houses the main control unit. The flight control system is equipped with multiple independent LDO voltage regulator circuits, which independently power the main control unit, the data acquisition unit, the fuel gauge, and the sensor fusion unit.

5. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The communication unit is a single-channel CAN bus or UART bus; the same bus is used for multiplexing flight control attitude messages, motor ESC messages, battery status messages, and parameter configuration messages; flight control attitude messages and motor ESC messages are configured with high-priority message IDs, battery status messages are configured with periodically reported low-priority message IDs, motor ESC messages have a higher priority than flight control attitude messages, flight control attitude messages have a higher priority than battery status messages, and battery status messages have a higher priority than parameter configuration messages; among all messages, safety fault messages have the highest priority and have the right to preemptively send them on the bus.

6. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control unit is equipped with a real-time operating system (RTOS); the RTOS tasks are prioritized from high to low as follows: motor ESC tasks, flight control attitude tasks, and battery management and control tasks; the RTOS is equipped with semaphore mutexes to protect access to bus read and write resources.

7. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control unit is configured with hierarchical fault linkage handling logic: Level 1 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 1 trigger condition, the main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the first threshold and triggers an early warning. Level 2 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the level 2 trigger condition, the main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the second threshold. Level 3 fault: The battery status is detected to meet the Level 3 trigger conditions. The main control unit controls the power output unit to limit the maximum output power of the motor to the third threshold and triggers automatic return. The first threshold is greater than the second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than the third threshold. Level 4 fault: When the battery status is detected to meet the Level 4 trigger conditions, the main control unit gradually reduces the motor output power to idle speed, and after a preset delay, outputs a control command to the active safety protection unit to cut off the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and triggers a forced landing.

8. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensor fusion unit includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a magnetometer, a barometer, and a GPS positioning module, used to acquire the attitude, position, and speed information of the UAV.

9. The UAV flight control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The active safety protection unit includes a main power circuit switching device, an equalization execution circuit, and a drive circuit. The drive circuit is electrically connected to the main control unit and is used to receive battery control decision commands output by the main control unit to drive and control the main power circuit switching device and the equalization execution circuit. The main power circuit switching device is connected in series in the main power circuit of the power battery cell pack and is used to control the on / off state of the charging and discharging circuit and the current limiting of charging and discharging. The equalization execution circuit includes an equalization MOSFET and an equalization power resistor and is used to perform cell equalization control.

10. A method for battery management and control of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), characterized in that, The method, applied to the UAV flight control system according to any one of claims 1-9, comprises the following steps: S1. The flight control system performs a power-on self-test and collects battery data from the external power battery cell pack through the data acquisition unit. The battery data includes individual cell voltage, current, and cell temperature. S2. The battery status is calculated and output based on the collected battery data by the fuel gauge. The battery status includes SOC and SOH parameters. S3. Based on the RTOS system, flight control tasks and battery management tasks are executed in a time-sharing parallel manner. S4. Determine the battery status for faults, and output the corresponding power adjustment command to the power output unit and / or output the battery control decision command to the active safety protection unit according to the fault level.

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