Wingless aircraft

Abstract

Wingless aircraft (1) with several electric motor-driven lifting rotors (3) rotating about different rotor axes (2), wherein the aircraft (1) has at least one energy storage device (21) for providing the electrical energy required to operate the lifting rotors (3), at least one control device (22) for controlling the lifting rotors (3) and for communication with a ground station, and at least two camera devices (4) for capturing a panoramic image, wherein fields of view of the camera devices (4) intersect at a distance from the aircraft (1) and form a visual space surrounding the entire aircraft (1) in all spatial directions, in which an environment of the aircraft (1) is completely imaged, characterized in that a smallest, spherical rotor envelope (5) enclosing all lifting rotors (3) has a larger volume than a smallest spherical camera envelope (6) enclosing camera lenses (7) of all camera devices (4).

Description

The invention relates to a wingless aircraft having a plurality of lift rotors driven by electric motor and rotating about different rotor axes, wherein the aircraft has at least one energy store for providing the electrical energy required for operating the lift rotors, at least one control device for controlling the lift rotors and for communication with a ground station, and at least two camera devices for capturing a panoramic image.Unmanned aircraft of this kind, which are remote-controlled from the ground station, such as, for example, quadropters, are used to generate aerial panoramas. For this purpose, in the known aircraft, a plurality of camera devices are usually arranged on a frame of the aircraft, wherein the camera devices are arranged as far as possible such that fields of view of the camera devices overlap one another at a distance from the aircraft, in order to be able to image the entire environment of the aircraft. In addition, care must be taken that no components of the aircraft lie within the fields of view of the camera devices in order not to impair panoramic imaging of the environment of the aircraft. In order to achieve this, the camera devices are usually arranged as far out as possible on the aircraft, so that the remaining components of the aircraft are each arranged as far behind the respective camera device as possible.The aircraft known from the prior art with camera devices for capturing the complete environment of the aircraft are best suited to generate panoramic images of the environment from greater distances to the aircraft. The closer the objects to be imaged in the environment are to the aircraft, the more difficult the imaging becomes in the aircraft known from the prior art, since the different fields of view of the camera devices only intersect with one another at a considerable distance from the aircraft due to the spaced arrangement of the camera devices from one another and form a field of view surrounding the entire aircraft, in which space all objects can be completely imaged. The recording and creation of panoramics of the environment can, however, take place exclusively at the distance from the aircraft, in which the environment is completely imaged and in that the fields of view of the various camera devices therefore respectively overlap with one another.For this reason, the aircraft known from the prior art are not suitable for capturing and generating panoramic images, for example during close passes by buildings, during flights by buildings or, for example, also by forests or the like, since in such images the objects to be captured are regularly located outside the fields of view of the cameras, so that these objects can only be partially imaged in each case and the creation of a complete panoramic image of the environment of the aircraft is possible only to a limited extent, if at all, at any time of the pass.The field of view of a camera device refers to the area or the volume of the object space or the environment of the aircraft that can be captured by the camera device. When using a camera device with a rectangular photosensor, the field of view of the camera device is truncated pyramid-shaped, wherein a pyramid tip lies at the objective-side focal point of the camera device.From GB 2385840 A an aerial surveillance vehicle is known comprising a disc shaped body with a series of ducted fans (ducted fans) mounted around the body and an image capturing device for capturing omnidirectional information. The image capturing device may include two imaging units attached to opposite sides of the body, respectively. The apparatus can be remotely controlled by means of a radio transmitter, wherein either the power or the direction of the power of the propulsion system controls the flight direction. The image acquisition device comprises two imaging units, each providing a hemispherical, i.e. 180°×360 ° field of view. Each unit may consist of first and second reflecting means, which may be Mangin mirrors, the first mirror being convex to reflect an image from a panoramic scene onto the second Mangin mirror, and the second mirror being arranged to reflect the image onto image sensing means.It is considered an object of the invention to further develop the aircraft known from the prior art such that as complete as possible environmental recordings or panoramic images are possible even when the objects are being traveled as close as possible.This object is achieved according to the invention in that a smallest spherical rotor envelope enclosing all lifting rotors has a larger volume than a smallest spherical camera envelope enclosing camera lenses of all camera devices, and in that fields of view of the camera devices intersect one another at a distance from the aircraft and form a viewing space surrounding the entire aircraft in all spatial directions, in which a surrounding area of the aircraft is completely imaged. By using such a specially designed aircraft, in which the lifting rotors are arranged farther outward on a frame of the aircraft, for example, the camera devices can be arranged closer to one another, as a result of which the fields of view of the various camera devices of the aircraft intersect one another at a smaller distance from the aircraft. With this particular construction, it is necessary to adapt the array of the lifting rotors to the required array of camera devices. Therefore, a design of the aircraft adapted to the camera devices used is required.In order to be able to generate panoramic images of the complete environment of the aircraft as well, it is provided according to the invention that the viewing space surrounds the entire aircraft.The efficiency of the lifting rotors increases with increasing rotor surface. In order to be able to configure the rotor surface of the lifting rotors as large as possible and at the same time to be able to arrange it outside the fields of view of the camera devices, it is provided in preferred embodiments to determine the field of view detectable by the camera devices or the fields of view of the camera devices. The viewing space results from the intersection of the fields of view with one another. With the aid of or instead of the viewing space, it is also possible to determine simply the blind space which cannot be detected by any of the camera devices. In the case of truncated pyramid-shaped fields of view, the blind space forms a non-convex body with a plurality of curved side surfaces which taper towards one another to a point in corner regions of the body. The lifting rotors are advantageously arranged in the areas that are as far outward as possible, which are usually the sharply tapering corner regions of the blind space that cannot be detected by the camera devices.Advantageously, in preferred embodiments, it is provided that the camera devices have cameras for recording monoscopic images and / or cameras for recording stereoscopic images. For example, the camera devices can have camera arrays consisting of in each case at least two cameras arranged at a distance from one another, with which stereoscopic images of the environment of the aircraft can be generated. The use of such camera devices for recording stereoscopic images allows depth space information to be determined. The stereoscopic images can be used to generate virtual reality representations of the environment. In addition, in preferred embodiments, when using camera devices, stereoscopic recordings make it possible with the aircraft to use the aircraft for 3-D surveying of the environment with the aid of photogrametric methods.In a particularly advantageous embodiment, it is provided that at least one lens distance of two camera devices from one another is less than at least one rotor distance of two rotors from one another. Due to the arrangement of the camera devices as close as possible to one another, complete panoramics can be generated even when the items are being traveled closer together.In order to further enlarge the still completely detectable range and to be able to completely detect still closer objects to the aircraft, it is provided in preferred embodiments that a smallest spherical center envelope enclosing all the hub rotor center has a larger volume than the smallest spherical camera envelope. The lifting rotor centers are the respective centers or centers of gravity of the lifting rotors.In order not to impair panoramic imaging of the environment, it is provided in preferred embodiments that all components of the aircraft are located outside the field of view. Due to the arrangement of the components such as the required energy storage and the control device within the blind space, these components are not captured by the camera devices.In a particularly advantageous construction of the wingless aircraft, it is provided that the aircraft has at least four camera devices, wherein the camera devices are arranged and aligned with one another in such a way that objective planes parallel to image planes of the camera devices enclose a convex objective polyhedron, so that each boundary surface of the objective polyhedron lies in an objective plane and objectives of the camera devices are arranged completely within the objective polyhedron. An image plane through the camera device is referred to as an image plane in which the image sensor of the camera device is arranged.Advantageously, in preferred embodiments it is provided that the lifting rotors are arranged in a region between the viewing space and the convex objective polyhedron. In order to enable sufficient lift by the lift rotors, it is provided in preferred embodiments to arrange the lift rotors at the greatest possible distance from one another, so that the largest possible large-area or the greatest possible number of lift rotors can be arranged on the wingless aircraft.In order to be able to utilize the blind space as well as possible for the arrangement of lifting rotors, it is provided in preferred embodiments that the lifting rotors are arranged partially protruding into the region of the convex objective polyhedron. However, it is also possible and provided in preferred embodiments that the lifting rotors are arranged completely outside the convex objective polyhedron. In this way, the part of the blind space surrounded by the convex polyhedron can be used particularly easily for arranging the further components such as the energy storage device.In preferred embodiments, it is provided that the energy store, the control device and the camera devices are arranged completely within the convex lens polyhedron. Because as many components as possible are arranged close to one another and in particular close to the camera devices in a center of the wingless aircraft, the weight of the components can advantageously be used for vibration damping in order to stabilize an image recording by the camera devices and to enable recording as far as possible without disturbing vibration influences generated by the lifting rotors.For a further optimized arrangement of the lifting rotors in the blind space and in particular in the sharply tapering regions of the blind space, it is provided in preferred embodiments that at least two lifting rotors are arranged such that rotor axes of the lifting rotors are not aligned parallel to one another. By virtue of such an orientation of the lifting rotors that is not parallel to a vertical axis of the wingless aircraft, the lifting rotors can be fitted particularly well into the tapered regions of the blind space. In addition, such an oblique arrangement of the lifting rotors allows lateral acceleration and deceleration of the aircraft when at least six lifting rotors are used. As a result, the aircraft can be controlled in any desired directions without tilting about a yaw axis of the aircraft. In this way, an angle of attack of the camera devices with respect to the yaw axis of the aircraft can be kept constant in each case. In aircraft known from the prior art, expensive gimbals with electric servo motors are usually used for this purpose, on which the camera devices are mounted.For the arrangement of the various components of the wingless aircraft relative to one another, it is provided that the lifting rotors are arranged on an aircraft frame of the aircraft. The aircraft frame advantageously consists of profiles and, depending on the design, can be designed to be substantially planar or can also form different complex bodies.In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the wingless aircraft, it is provided that the aircraft frame encloses a receiving space within which the energy store, the control device and the camera devices are completely arranged. In this construction, the aircraft frame is advantageously designed and arranged in such a way that the aircraft frame is arranged within the blind space. The receiving space can be, for example, an essentially cuboidal or arbitrary polyhedron-shaped space. In preferred embodiments, it is provided that the lifting rotors of the wingless aircraft form two lifting rotor groups arranged in mirror-image fashion, wherein central lifting rotor points of the lifting rotors of a lifting rotor group each lie substantially in a lifting rotor plane, and wherein the lifting rotor planes of the two lifting rotor groups are aligned substantially parallel to one another and orthogonally to the vertical axis of the wingless aircraft. The lift rotors of the two lift rotor groups are advantageously arranged on the aircraft frame at a distance from one another on mutually opposite sides of the aircraft frame.In preferred embodiments, it is advantageously provided that the drive devices of the lift rotors and the lift rotors are rigidly connected to the aircraft frame. In this way, the thrust force generated by the lift rotors can be efficiently transmitted to the aircraft frame.In order to achieve the best possible damping of the oscillations generated by the lifting rotors and transmitted to the aircraft frame in the region of the camera devices, it is provided in preferred embodiments that the energy store, the control device and the camera devices are fixed to the aircraft frame via damping devices. The damping devices can be, for example, suitable rubber-elastic elements.Advantageously, in preferred embodiments, it is provided that the energy storage device, the control device and the camera devices are rigidly connected to one another. In this way, these components of the wingless aircraft form a comparatively large, coherent mass, by means of which particularly good vibration damping can be achieved.Further advantageous embodiments are explained in more detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing.It shows: FIG. 1a is a schematic side view of a quadropter with two camera devices, FIG. 1 bshows a schematically illustrated perspective view of the quadrocopter illustrated in FIG. 1 a, FIG. 2 ashows a schematically illustrated side view of a tricopter, wherein four camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron is embodied in a pyramid shape, FIG. 2 bshows a schematically illustrated perspective view of the tricoter illustrated in FIG. 2 a, FIG. 3 ashows a schematically illustrated side view of an octacopter, wherein six camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron is configured in a cuboid shape, FIG. 3 bshows a schematically illustrated perspective view of the octacopter illustrated in FIG. 3 a, FIG. 4 ashows a schematically illustrated side view of a wingless aircraft with twelve hub rotors, wherein eight camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron forms a prism with a hexagonal base surface, FIG. 4 bshows a schematically illustrated perspective view of the aircraft illustrated in FIG. 4 a, FIG. 5 shows a schematically illustrated side view of a wingless aircraft having twelve lift rotors, wherein twelve camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron has a prismatic body with a hexagonal base surface, wherein pyramid structures of mirror-image configuration are arranged on base surfaces opposite one another, FIG. 6 shows a schematically illustrated side view of a wingless aircraft having six lift rotors, wherein five camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron forms a prism with a triangular base surface, FIG. 7 shows a schematically illustrated view of an octacopter, wherein six camera devices are arranged such that an objective polyhedron is of cuboidal configuration, FIG. 8 shows a schematically illustrated side view of a wingless aircraft with an aircraft frame, FIGS. 9a to 9d show different and schematically illustrated views of a wingless aircraft with eight lifting rotors arranged on an aircraft frame enclosing a cuboidal receiving space, said lifting rotors forming two lifting rotor groups, and FIGS. 10a to 10e are different views of the blind space formed by the arrangement of the camera devices shown in FIGS. 9a to 9d.FIGS. 1 aand 1 bschematically illustrate a wingless aircraft 1 having four lift rotors 3 driven by electric motors and rotating about different rotor axes 2. The aircraft 1 has two camera devices 4 for capturing a panoramic image.The camera devices 4 and the lifting rotors 3 are arranged and aligned with one another in such a way that a smallest spherical rotor envelope 5 enclosing all the lifting rotors 3 has a larger volume than a smallest spherical camera envelope 6 enclosing camera lenses 7 of all the camera devices 4. The camera devices 4 span a viewing space, wherein the viewing space surrounds the entire aircraft 1 in order to be able to capture the entire environment of the aircraft 1. The lifting rotors 3 are located outside the viewing space. In addition, a lens distance 8 of the two camera devices 4 from one another is less than a rotor distance 9 of two lifting rotors 3 arranged opposite one another. In the aircraft, a smallest spherical center envelope 11 enclosing all the hub rotor centers 10 also has a larger volume than the smallest spherical camera envelope 6.FIGS. 2 aand 2 b show schematically illustrated views of a wingless aircraft 1, wherein four camera devices 4 are arranged such that an objective polyhedron 12 has four boundary surfaces 13 and is embodied in a pyramid shape. The lifting rotors 3 of the wingless aircraft 1 are arranged completely outside the convex objective polyhedron 12. In addition, the lifting rotors 4 are arranged such that rotor axes 2 of the lifting rotors 4 are not aligned parallel to one another.FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 4 a, 4 b, 5 and 6 each show alternatively configured wingless aircraft 1, wherein the aircraft 1 shown in FIGS. 3 aand 3 bhas a cuboid objective polyhedron 14, the aircraft 1 shown in FIGS. 4 aand 4 bhas a prismatic objective polyhedron 15' with a hexagonal base surface, the aircraft 1 shown in FIG. 5 has a prismatic objective polyhedron 16 with a hexagonal base surface and with pyramids configured mirror-symmetrically on base surfaces opposite each other, and the aircraft 1 shown in FIG. 6 has a prismatic objective polyhedron 15'' with a triangular base surface. The aircraft 1 shown in FIGS. 3 aand 3 bhas six camera devices 4, the aircraft 1 shown in FIGS. 4 aand 4 bhas eight camera devices 4, the aircraft 1 shown in FIG. 5 has twelve camera devices 4 and the aircraft 1 shown in FIG. 6 has five camera devices 4. FIG. 7 shows an aircraft 1 with a cuboid lens polyhedron 14 and twenty-four camera devices 4.The aircraft 1 shown in FIGS. 3 ato 7 each have a plurality of lift rotors 3, wherein the lift rotors 3 can each be assigned to two lift rotor groups 17. The lift rotors 3 of the individual lift rotor groups 17 are each arranged such that planes per aircraft 1 running through the lift rotor centers 10 are aligned parallel to one another.FIG. 8 shows a schematically illustrated view of a wingless flying object 1, wherein lifting rotors 3 are arranged on an aircraft frame 18 of the aircraft 1. The aircraft frame 18 encloses a receiving space 19, within which an energy store, not shown, a control device, likewise not shown, and the camera devices 4 are completely arranged. The lift rotors 3 are rigidly connected to the aircraft frame 18. The energy store, the control device and the camera devices 4 are arranged on the aircraft frame 18 via damping devices 20.FIGS. 9a to 9d show different views of a wingless aircraft 1 with an aircraft frame 18 which encloses an approximately cuboidal receiving space 19. Six camera devices 4, an energy store 21 and a control device 22 are arranged within the receiving space 19. The energy store 21, the control device 22 and the camera devices 4 are rigidly connected to one another. The aircraft frame 18 has support elements 24 which are aligned in the direction of the ground and project beyond the lifting rotors 3 of the lifting rotor group 23 facing the ground and by means of which the aircraft 1 can be placed on the ground.FIGS. 10a to 10e schematically show different views of the blind space 25 formed by the arrangement of the camera devices 4 shown in FIGS. 9a to 9d. The blind space 25 is obtained on the basis of truncated pyramid-shaped fields of view of the camera devices 4 shown in FIGS. 9 ato 9 d, and has a plurality of curved side surfaces 26 which taper towards one another to a point in corner regions 27 of the blind space 25.In the figures, individual components of a plurality of components of the same type are partially identified by a reference sign by way of example.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedGB 2385840 A

[0006]

Claims

Wingless aircraft (1) having a plurality of lifting rotors (3) driven by electric motor and rotating about different rotor axes (2), wherein the aircraft (1) has at least one energy store (21) for providing the electrical energy required for operating the lifting rotors (3), at least one control device (22) for controlling the lifting rotors (3) and for communication with a ground station, and at least two camera devices (4) for capturing a panoramic image, wherein fields of view of the camera devices (4) intersect one another at a distance from the aircraft (1) and form a vision space surrounding the entire aircraft (1) in all spatial directions, in which vision space an environment of the aircraft (1) is completely imaged, characterized in that a smallest spherical rotor envelope (5) surrounding all the lifting rotors (3) has a larger volume than a smallest spherical camera envelope (6), the camera lenses (7) of all camera devices (4) are enclosed.Wingless aircraft (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the camera devices (4) have cameras for recording monoscopic images and / or cameras for recording stereoscopic images.Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one lens spacing (8) between two camera devices (4) is less than at least one rotor spacing (9) between two rotors (3).Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a smallest spherical centre envelope (11) enclosing all the hub rotor centres (10) has a larger volume than the smallest spherical camera envelope (6).Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that all components of the aircraft (1) are located outside the field of vision.Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the aircraft (1) has at least four camera devices (4), wherein the camera devices (4) are arranged and aligned with one another in such a way that objective planes parallel to image planes of the camera devices (4) enclose a convex objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16), so that each boundary surface (13) of the objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16) lies in an objective plane and objectives of the camera devices (4) are arranged completely within the objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16).Wingless aircraft according to Claim 6, characterized in that the lifting rotors (3) are arranged in a region between the viewing space and the convex objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16).Wingless aircraft (1) according to Claim 7, characterized in that the lifting rotors (3) are arranged partially projecting into the region of the convex objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16).Wingless aircraft (1) according to Claim 7, characterized in that the lifting rotors (3) are arranged completely outside the convex objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16).Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of Claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the energy store (21), the control device (22) and the camera devices (4) are arranged completely within the convex objective polyhedron (12, 14, 15', 15", 16).Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two lifting rotors (3) are arranged in such a way that rotor axes (2) of the lifting rotors (3) are not aligned parallel to one another.Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lifting rotors (3) are arranged on an aircraft frame (18) of the aircraft (1); preferably characterized in that the aircraft frame (18) encloses a receiving space (19), within which the energy store (21), the control device (22) and the camera devices (4) are arranged completely.Wingless aircraft (1) according to claim 12, characterised in that drive devices of the lifting rotors (3) and the lifting rotors (3) are rigidly connected to the aircraft frame (18).Wingless aircraft (1) according to either of Claims 12 and 13, characterized in that the energy store (21), the control device (22) and the camera devices (4) are fixed to the aircraft frame (18) via damping devices (20).Wingless aircraft (1) according to one of Claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the energy store (21), the control device (22) and the camera devices (4) are rigidly connected to one another.

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