Pipeline environment monitoring unmanned aerial vehicle with gas sensor array

Abstract

The pipeline environment monitoring unmanned aerial vehicle with the gas sensor array comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle body and a main camera, a first monitoring shell is arranged at the upper end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body, a rotating cylinder is arranged at the lower end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body, and two mounting rods are fixedly connected to the top in the rotating cylinder; sleeves are arranged on the side walls of the two mounting rods, the side walls of the two sleeves are jointly provided with a mounting frame through a rotating shaft, a second monitoring shell is arranged at the lower end of the mounting frame, and circuit boards are arranged in the first monitoring shell and the second monitoring shell. According to the utility model, the first driving mechanism is arranged, and through the first monitoring shell fixed on the upper side and the lower side of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second monitoring shell capable of rotating vertically, not only can gas composition and concentration in a pipeline environment be detected through the gas sensor array, but also the position of a leakage point on a pipe wall can be accurately found; and the monitoring effect of the pipeline environment is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of pipeline environmental monitoring technology, and in particular to a pipeline environmental monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array. Background Technology

[0002] Pipeline environmental monitoring drones are drones specifically designed for inspecting and monitoring pipeline systems (such as oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, chemical pipelines, etc.). These drones are generally equipped with high-precision navigation systems to ensure stable flight inside narrow pipelines, and can transmit the collected data to the ground control station in real time via wireless communication technology, facilitating analysis and processing by operators.

[0003] Traditional pipeline environmental monitoring drones mainly rely on cameras to observe the internal conditions of pipelines. Cameras can clearly capture the surface condition of the pipeline wall to find physical damage such as cracks, corrosion, and deformation. However, this method can only obtain information about the appearance of the pipeline and cannot directly perceive the gas composition and concentration inside the pipeline. Only when a large crack is found through the camera can a gas leak be determined. However, this method has significant limitations. Some drones equipped with gas sensors have fixed positions for the gas sensors, which cannot accurately pinpoint the location of the leak on the pipe wall. To solve the above problems, we propose a pipeline environmental monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array. Utility Model Content

[0004] The main purpose of this invention is to provide a pipeline environment monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array, which can effectively solve the problems in the background art.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0006] A pipeline environment monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array includes a drone body and a main camera. The drone body has a first monitoring housing at its upper end and a rotating cylinder at its lower end. Two mounting rods are fixedly connected to the top of the rotating cylinder. Each mounting rod has a sleeve on its sidewall. The two sleeves share a mounting bracket via a rotating shaft. A second monitoring housing is located at the lower end of the mounting bracket. Both the first and second monitoring housings contain circuit boards. Each circuit board has a microcontroller and multiple gas sensors. One of the sleeves has a first drive mechanism for rotating the second monitoring housing. The first drive mechanism includes a first motor fixedly connected to the sleeve sidewall, with its output shaft fixedly connected to the rotating shaft sidewall. A second drive mechanism for rotating the rotating cylinder is located at the lower end of the drone body.

[0007] Preferably, the second drive mechanism includes a second motor fixedly connected to the lower end of the drone body, a second gear fixedly connected to the output shaft of the second motor, a first gear meshing with the second gear fixedly connected to the side wall of the rotating cylinder, and the rotating cylinder being rotatably connected to the drone body.

[0008] Preferably, a horizontal plate is fixedly connected to the side walls of the two mounting rods, an electric push rod is installed at the lower end of the horizontal plate, a mounting plate is fixedly connected to the output end of the electric push rod, the two ends of the mounting plate are fixedly connected to the side walls of the two sleeves, and the sleeves are slidably connected to the mounting rods.

[0009] Preferably, both the first monitoring housing and the second monitoring housing are provided with secondary cameras on their side walls, and multiple side walls of both the first monitoring housing and the second monitoring housing are provided with lighting lamps.

[0010] Preferably, a connecting plate is fixedly connected to the side wall of the mounting bracket, and a plurality of bolts are provided on the upper end of the connecting plate.

[0011] Preferably, the lower end of the second monitoring housing is provided with multiple buffer pillars, and both the first and second monitoring housings are made of metal materials.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0013] 1. This device is equipped with a first drive mechanism. Through the fixed first monitoring shell on the upper and lower sides of the UAV and the second monitoring shell that can rotate vertically, it can not only detect the gas composition and concentration in the pipeline environment through the gas sensor array, but also accurately locate the leak point on the pipe wall, which greatly improves the monitoring effect of the pipeline environment.

[0014] 2. This device is equipped with a second drive mechanism. When scanning the pipe walls on both sides of the pipe, the second motor can be started to complete the turning, eliminating the need for the drone to turn. This avoids the drone from hitting the pipe wall when turning in place, thereby improving the practicality of the device. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the pipeline environment monitoring drone with a gas sensor array proposed in this utility model.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a side view of the pipeline environment monitoring drone with a gas sensor array proposed in this utility model.

[0017] Figure 3 This is another side view of the pipeline environment monitoring drone with a gas sensor array proposed in this utility model.

[0018] In the diagram: 1. UAV body, 2. First monitoring shell, 3. Circuit board, 4. Microcontroller, 5. Gas sensor, 6. Rotating cylinder, 7. Mounting rod, 8. Sleeve, 9. Mounting bracket, 10. First motor, 11. Lighting lamp, 12. Second monitoring shell, 13. Main camera, 14. Horizontal plate, 15. Electric push rod, 16. Buffer column, 17. Secondary camera, 18. First gear, 19. Second gear, 20. Second motor, 21. Connecting plate. Detailed Implementation

[0019] To make the technical means, creative features, objectives and effects of this utility model easier to understand, the present utility model will be further described below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0020] like Figure 1-3 As shown, a pipeline environment monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array includes a drone body 1 and a main camera 13. The remote controller for the drone body 1 is not shown in the figure. The position sensors around the drone body 1 are not shown in the figure. The drone body 1 is also equipped with a searchlight for the main camera 13. The upper part of the drone body 1 is provided with a first monitoring shell 2, and the lower part of the drone body 1 is provided with a rotating cylinder 6. Two mounting rods 7 are fixedly connected to the top of the rotating cylinder 6. The side walls of the two mounting rods 7 are provided with sleeves 8. The side walls of the two sleeves 8 are connected to a mounting bracket 9 through a rotating shaft. The lower part of the mounting bracket 9 is provided with a second monitoring shell 12. The upper part of the first monitoring shell 2 and the lower part of the second monitoring shell 12 are both provided with air inlets, which are not shown in the figure.

[0021] Both the first monitoring housing 2 and the second monitoring housing 12 have circuit boards 3 inside. Circuit boards 3 also include signal conditioning circuits, analog-to-digital conversion units, communication interfaces, and wireless modules. Circuit boards 3 are wirelessly connected to the controller of the UAV main body 1. Circuit boards 3 also have a microcontroller 4 and multiple gas sensors 5. The gas sensors 5 include: an electrochemical sensor (when the target gas diffuses into the sensor, an oxidation or reduction reaction occurs on the electrode surface, generating a current signal. This current signal is proportional to the gas concentration); a semiconductor gas sensor (detecting gas by utilizing the change in electrical properties (such as resistance) of semiconductor materials (such as tin dioxide, zinc oxide, etc.) after adsorbing gas); an infrared sensor (based on the absorption characteristics of different gases to specific wavelengths of infrared light. When infrared light passes through an area containing the target gas, light of a specific wavelength is absorbed by the gas, and the gas concentration is determined by detecting the degree of light absorption); and a photoionization gas sensor (irradiating the target gas with high-energy ultraviolet light, causing gas molecules to ionize and generate ion pairs, and determining the gas concentration by detecting the ion current).

[0022] One of the sleeves 8 has a first drive mechanism on its side wall for driving the second monitoring housing 12 to rotate. The first drive mechanism includes a first motor 10 fixedly connected to the side wall of the sleeve 8. The output shaft of the first motor 10 is fixedly connected to the side wall of the rotating shaft. The output shafts of the first motor 10 and the second motor 20 can rotate in both directions, and their rotation range will not exceed 360 degrees to avoid the cable from getting tangled.

[0023] The lower end of the drone body 1 is provided with a second drive mechanism for driving the rotating cylinder 6 to rotate. The second drive mechanism includes a second motor 20 fixedly connected to the lower end of the drone body 1. The output shaft of the second motor 20 is fixedly connected to a second gear 19. The side wall of the rotating cylinder 6 is fixedly connected to a first gear 18 that meshes with the second gear 19. The rotating cylinder 6 is rotatably connected to the drone body 1.

[0024] In this utility model, a horizontal plate 14 is fixedly connected to the side walls of the two mounting rods 7. An electric push rod 15 is installed at the lower end of the horizontal plate 14. An mounting plate is fixedly connected to the output end of the electric push rod 15. The two ends of the mounting plate are fixedly connected to the side walls of the two sleeves 8. The sleeves 8 are slidably connected to the mounting rods 7, so that the distance between the second monitoring housing 12 and the drone body 1 can be larger, and the second monitoring housing 12 can be rotated to a place further in front of the drone body 1.

[0025] In this utility model, the side walls of the first monitoring housing 2 and the second monitoring housing 12 are provided with secondary cameras 17, and multiple side walls of the first monitoring housing 2 and the second monitoring housing 12 are provided with lighting lamps 11, so as to facilitate the monitoring of the detected leakage points through the secondary cameras 17.

[0026] In this utility model, a connecting plate 21 is fixedly connected to the side wall of the mounting bracket 9. Multiple bolts are provided on the upper end of the connecting plate 21, so that the second monitoring housing 12 can be disassembled separately for easy maintenance.

[0027] In this invention, the lower end of the second monitoring housing 12 is provided with multiple buffer pillars 16, so that when the main body of the drone 1 crashes, the secondary camera 17 can be protected and will not directly touch the ground. Both the first monitoring housing 2 and the second monitoring housing 12 are made of metal materials, which makes their structure strong.

[0028] It should be noted that this utility model is a pipeline environmental monitoring drone equipped with a gas sensor array. After the user remotely controls the main body 1 of the drone to enter the pipeline, the gas sensors 5 inside the first monitoring shell 2 and the second monitoring shell 12 can monitor various gases in the pipeline. In addition to obtaining data such as the drone's own position and flight status, the main body 1 of the drone can also collect environmental data such as gas concentration and composition at different locations in the pipeline. These data can be used to construct a three-dimensional model of the gas distribution in the pipeline, which helps to analyze the flow and changing trend of gas in the pipeline. When the gas concentration near the inner wall of the pipeline is detected to be relatively high during the flight of the main body 1 of the drone, if the leak point is at the top of the pipeline, the gas sensor 5 inside the first monitoring shell 2 will detect the gas concentration. The remotely controlled main body 1 of the drone can be moved closer to the suspected leak area to more accurately detect the change in gas concentration, thereby helping to locate the leak point.

[0029] If the leak point is on the pipe wall, the main body of the drone can be remotely adjusted to be perpendicular to the pipe direction, and the first motor 10 can be started. The output shaft of the first motor 10 drives the rotating shaft and the second monitoring housing 12 to rotate, and start scanning the pipe wall slowly from the bottom to the top. When the gas concentration at a certain point reaches the highest, the drone can be used to mark the specific leak point. If the scan on one side of the pipe is unsuccessful, the main body of the drone can be remotely rotated 180 degrees to scan the other side of the pipe wall.

[0030] For scanning the pipe walls on both sides, the second motor 20 can be started to drive the rotating cylinder 6 to rotate. The rotating cylinder 6 drives the second monitoring housing 12 to complete the turning, without the need for the UAV to turn.

[0031] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, main features, and advantages of this utility model. Those skilled in the art should understand that this utility model is not limited to the above embodiments. The embodiments and descriptions in the specification are merely illustrative of the principles of this utility model. Various changes and modifications can be made to this utility model without departing from its spirit and scope, and all such changes and modifications fall within the scope of the claims. The scope of protection of this utility model is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array, comprising a drone main body (1) and a main camera (13), characterized in that, The upper end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body (1) is provided with a first monitoring shell (2), and the lower end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body (1) is provided with a rotating cylinder (6), the inner top of the rotating cylinder (6) is fixedly connected with two mounting rods (7), the side walls of the two mounting rods (7) are provided with sleeves (8), the side walls of the two sleeves (8) are provided with a mounting frame (9) through a rotating shaft, the lower end of the mounting frame (9) is provided with a second monitoring shell (12), the interiors of the first monitoring shell (2) and the second monitoring shell (12) are provided with circuit boards (3), the circuit boards (3) are provided with a microcontroller (4) and a plurality of gas sensors (5), the side wall of one of the sleeves (8) is provided with a first driving mechanism for driving the rotation of the second monitoring shell (12), the first driving mechanism comprises a first motor (10) fixedly connected to the side wall of the sleeve (8), the output shaft of the first motor (10) is fixedly connected with the side wall of the rotating shaft, and the lower end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body (1) is provided with a second driving mechanism for driving the rotation of the rotating cylinder (6).

2. The pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array of claim 1, wherein, The second driving mechanism comprises a second motor (20) fixedly connected to the lower end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body (1), the output shaft of the second motor (20) is fixedly connected with a second gear (19), the side wall of the rotating cylinder (6) is fixedly connected with a first gear (18) engaged with the second gear (19), and the rotating cylinder (6) is rotatably connected with the unmanned aerial vehicle body (1).

3. The pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array of claim 2, wherein, The side walls of the two mounting rods (7) are fixedly connected with a horizontal plate (14), the lower end of the horizontal plate (14) is provided with an electric push rod (15), the output end of the electric push rod (15) is fixedly connected with a mounting plate, and the both ends of the mounting plate are fixedly connected with the side walls of the two sleeves (8), the sleeves (8) are slidably connected with the mounting rods (7).

4. The pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array of claim 3, wherein, The side walls of the first monitoring shell (2) and the second monitoring shell (12) are provided with auxiliary cameras (17), and the plurality of side walls of the first monitoring shell (2) and the second monitoring shell (12) are provided with illuminating lamps (11).

5. The pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array of claim 4, wherein, The side wall of the mounting frame (9) is fixedly connected with a connecting plate (21), and the upper end of the connecting plate (21) is provided with a plurality of bolts.

6. The pipeline environment monitoring drone with gas sensor array of claim 5, wherein, The lower end of the second monitoring shell (12) is provided with a plurality of buffer columns (16), and the first monitoring shell (2) and the second monitoring shell (12) are made of metal material.

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