Unmanned flying body control system

Abstract

To provide an unmanned flying body control system that includes two GPS receivers for receiving a radio wave from one artificial satellite.SOLUTION: An unmanned flying body control system includes: an unmanned flying body and an operation terminal 31 for remote-controlling; and a controller for controlling the unmanned flying body and the control terminal 31 with an operation instruction. The unmanned flying body includes: two GPS receivers 51, 52 for receiving a radio wave from one artificial satellite; and positional information acquisition means for acquiring positional information of a prescribed position in the middle of a flight route. The positional information acquisition means acquires positional information of the unmanned flying body on the basis of measurement values of the GPS receivers 51, 52.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle control system that takes over remote control of an unmanned aerial vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) controlled by a control terminal such as a controller are also used to transport relatively heavy cargo such as construction materials and tools. When the distance from the starting point to the destination is long, for example in mountainous or forested areas where it is difficult to ensure visibility for the entire journey, control is handed over to another person mid-way (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2017-74826 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to Patent Document 1, when a flight control signal from one control terminal is no longer received, the unmanned aerial vehicle is put into a hovering state, and then when a flight control signal is received from another control terminal, the hovering is released and the vehicle is put into a flying state, thereby performing handover. However, the operators of the one control terminal and the other control terminal need to separately communicate with each other at the time of handover. However, Patent Document 1 does not mention anything about communication regarding the time of handover. In order to perform a smooth handover, simple and quick communication between the operators is required. In addition, a GPS receiver has been used conventionally to obtain the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle, but it was necessary to receive radio waves from multiple artificial satellites.

[0005] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle control system that makes it possible to obtain position information of an unmanned aerial vehicle using radio waves from a single artificial satellite. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the unmanned aerial vehicle control system of the present invention is an unmanned aerial vehicle control system having an unmanned aerial vehicle, a control terminal for remotely controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle, and a control unit for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control terminal based on operational instructions, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle has two GPS receivers for receiving radio waves from one artificial satellite and has a position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a predetermined position along its flight path, and the position information acquisition means acquires the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the measurement values ​​of the GPS receiver.

[0007] According to this configuration, since there are two GPS receivers that receive radio waves from one artificial satellite, it is possible to use a GPS receiver with a simple structure when acquiring position information of an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0008] In the unmanned aerial vehicle control system of the present invention, the system may be configured to have another GPS receiver that receives radio waves from at least four artificial satellites, and the location information acquisition means may acquire the location information based on the measurement values ​​of the other GPS receivers.

[0009] With this configuration, location information is obtained from the measurement values ​​of other GPS receivers that receive radio waves from four artificial satellites, making it possible to use a GPS receiver with a simple structure and other GPS receivers when obtaining location information.

[0010] In the unmanned aerial vehicle control system according to the present invention, the position information acquisition means acquires the position information based on the measurement value of the other GPS receiver or the measurement value of the two GPS receivers and the measurement value of a sensor mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0011] According to this configuration, in addition to obtaining location information from the measurement values ​​of the other GPS receivers that receive radio waves from the four artificial satellites, location information can be obtained from the measurement values ​​of the radio waves received from one artificial satellite by two GPS receivers each installed at a predetermined position of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the measurement values ​​of the sensors mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle. The sensors include a pressure sensor and an ultrasonic sensor that can measure altitude, as well as an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), and a geomagnetic sensor that can measure the direction of movement, inclination, orientation, etc. of the unmanned aerial vehicle. By utilizing the various sensors mounted on the multicopter, it is possible to use a second GPS receiver with a simple structure when obtaining location information. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, since there are two GPS receivers that receive radio waves from one artificial satellite, it is possible to use a GPS receiver with a simple structure when acquiring the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Regarding the remote control of the unmanned aerial vehicle being handed over mid-flight, the handover is notified between the control terminals, so that the handover can be easily performed without providing a device configuration for the handover on the unmanned aerial vehicle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a multicopter, which is an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the multicopter shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of the control terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing the procedure for taking over remote control of a multicopter. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a takeover of remote control of the multicopter shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram of acquiring position information of the multicopter shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, a multicopter 11 (drone), which is an unmanned aerial vehicle, has a main body 12 on which power supply, control equipment, and the like are mounted, four rod-shaped arm sections 13 (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) (hereinafter referred to as "arm sections 13") protruding in all directions from the main body 12, four drive units 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d) (hereinafter referred to as "drive units 15") provided at the tips of the arm sections 13 (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d), four rotors 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) (hereinafter referred to as "rotor sections 17") provided at the upper ends of the drive units 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d), and a pair of legs 18a, 18b provided on the bottom surface of the main body 12. Another GPS receiver 28 is provided in the center of the main body 12, and GPS receivers 51, 52 are provided on both ends of the main body 12 at symmetrical positions.

[0016] The drive unit 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d) has a motor 21 (21a, 21b, 21c, 21d) (shortened as appropriate to "motor 21") that rotates and drives the rotors 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d), and a drive control unit 22 (22a, 22c, 22d) (shortened as appropriate to "drive control unit 22") that controls the rotation of the motor 21 (see FIG. 2). The rotors 17 are connected to the motor 21 via a rotating shaft (not shown). For example, a servo motor is used for the motor 21. In this embodiment, the number of rotors 17 is four, but this is not limited thereto, and six, eight, etc. may be used, but an even number is required to maintain stable flight. This is because the adjacent rotors 17 rotate in opposite directions, and thus the action and reaction due to the rotation moment are canceled out, and the attitude of the multicopter 11 can be stabilized.

[0017] Main body 12, located at the center of multicopter 11, is a cylindrical box, and legs 18a, 18b provided on the bottom surface of main body 12 are made of substantially U-shaped members and serve as attachment parts when multicopter 11 transports cargo. Synthetic resins, aluminum, etc. are used as materials for multicopter 11, and CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics) is used when particular strength and rigidity are required.

[0018] Next, the configuration of the multicopter 11 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, which is a block diagram. The main body 12 of the multicopter 11 includes a communication unit 25 that transmits and receives signals to and from a control terminal 31 (31a, 31b: see FIG. 3), a power source 26 (battery) that supplies power to the motor 21, etc., a camera 27 that captures images of the surroundings of the multicopter 11, other GPS receivers 28 that receive radio waves from artificial satellites to measure position information, GPS receivers 51, 52, a sensor unit 30 that stores various sensors such as an acceleration sensor, a control unit 33 that controls the communication unit 25, the camera 27, other GPS receivers 28, the GPS receivers 51, 52, the sensor unit 30, etc., and a storage unit 35 (e.g., a flash memory, etc.) that is a non-volatile memory that stores programs for controlling various functions of the multicopter 11, measured data, etc. The drive control unit 22 included in the drive unit 15 controls the increase / decrease in the number of rotations of the motor 21, activation, stop, etc., upon receiving instructions from the control unit 33. The control unit 33 allows each drive control unit 22 (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) to independently control the drive of each motor 21 (21a, 21b, 21c, 21d), thereby individually driving the rotors 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) to cause the multicopter 11 to ascend, descend, turn left and right, hover, etc.

[0019] The control unit 33 is a so-called flight controller, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and executes various controls according to various programs stored in the ROM or storage unit 35. The camera 27 may be an infrared camera, a stereo camera, etc., in addition to a general camera. An image captured by the camera 27 is transmitted by the control unit 33 to the control terminal 31 (see FIG. 3) via the communication unit 25, and is displayed on the display unit 55 (see FIG. 3) of the control terminal 31.

[0020] The other GPS receiver 28 provided in the center of the main body 12 of the multicopter 11 receives radio waves from at least four artificial satellites to obtain position information of the multicopter 11 (see FIG. 1). The GPS receivers 51, 52 (see FIG. 1) provided on both ends of the main body 12 at symmetrical positions receive radio waves from one artificial satellite and obtain position information of the multicopter 11 using the measurement values ​​of the air pressure sensor, altitude sensor (ultrasonic sensor), acceleration sensor, angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), and geomagnetic sensor of the sensor unit 30 described later. For example, after the position information is first obtained by the other GPS receiver 30, the use of the other GPS receiver 30 can be stopped and subsequent position information can be obtained by the reception information from the artificial satellites of the GPS receivers 51, 52 and the measurement values ​​obtained from each of the above-mentioned sensors. The control unit 33 and the other GPS receiver 28 constitute a position information obtaining means, or the control unit 33, the GPS receivers 51, 52, and the sensor unit 30 constitute a position information obtaining means. The storage unit 35 that stores the program for acquiring location information and the acquired location information corresponds to the storage means.

[0021] As described above, the sensor unit 30 includes an air pressure sensor, an altitude sensor (ultrasonic sensor), an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), a geomagnetic sensor, and the like. The air pressure sensor is a sensor that detects changes in air pressure and can determine the altitude of the drone, but since the air pressure sensor may not function properly due to weather conditions, etc., an ultrasonic sensor is also used. The ultrasonic sensor is a sensor that detects the distance from the ground by generating ultrasonic waves and measuring the time it takes for the waves to bounce back. The acceleration sensor is a sensor that detects the distance traveled by detecting acceleration, and the angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor) is a sensor that detects the number of times the aircraft has rotated within a certain period of time. The geomagnetic sensor is a sensor that detects the direction by magnetic force. The control unit 33 and various sensors of the sensor unit 30 constitute a horizontal maintenance means that ensures that the unmanned aerial vehicle is maintained horizontal.

[0022] Next, the device configuration of the control terminal 31 (31a, 31b) will be described with reference to Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the control terminal 31 has a communication unit 56 that transmits and receives with the communication unit 25 of the multicopter 11 to remotely control the multicopter 11, an operation unit 57 that controls the multicopter 11 via the communication unit 56, a display unit 55 that displays an operation touch panel for images captured by the camera 27 of the multicopter 11 and various instructions, a switch unit 58 that issues a transmission instruction to transmit a notification signal between the first control terminal 31a and the second control terminal 31b, a speaker 59 and an output circuit 60 that generate a ringtone when the notification signal is received, an indicator light 54 that turns on when the notification signal is received, a control unit 61 that controls these functions, and a storage unit 62 that stores programs for controlling and controlling each device, measurement data, and the like. The control terminal 31 also has a built-in battery (not shown) that serves as a power source.

[0023] The operation of the multicopter 11 by the operation unit 57 is performed, for example, by operating sticks (not shown) arranged on the left and right sides of the surface of the operation terminal 31. When the right stick is tilted up, it is "ascended", when it is tilted down, it is "descended", when it is tilted left, when it is tilted right, when it is tilted right, when the left stick is tilted up, it is "forward", when it is tilted down, it is "backward", when it is tilted left, when it is tilted right, it is "turn left", and when it is tilted right, it is "turn right". The multicopter 11 can be put into a hovering state by "ascending" and slowly stopping the ascent and balancing the lift and the gravity of the multicopter 11. It is also possible to automatically set the multicopter 11 into a hovering state by operating the operation touch panel displayed on the display unit 55.

[0024] The screen of the display unit 55 displays not only the image captured by the camera 27 and the touch panel for operation, but also the current position information (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the flying multicopter 11. The displayed current position information can be stored in the memory unit 62 and / or the memory unit 35 of the multicopter 11 by a predetermined operation on the touch panel for operation of the display unit 55. The switch unit 58 transmits a notification signal to the other control terminal 31 by operating it at the time of handover, and in the control terminal 31b that receives the notification signal, a receiving sound is generated by the speaker 59 and the indicator light 54 is also turned on. It is possible to set the transmitting control terminal 31a that operated the switch unit 58 so that the transmitting sound and the indicator light are also generated. The control unit 61, the switch unit 58, and the communication unit 56 constitute a notification signal transmitting and receiving means. The control unit 61, the output circuit 60, and the speaker 59 constitute a receiving sound generating means, and the control unit 61 and the indicator light 54 constitute a light display means (receiving and displaying means). The operation touch panel displayed on the display unit 55 and the control unit 61 constitute a predetermined position flying means and a position information acquisition instruction means. Operation (pressing, etc.) of the switch unit 58 gives a transmission instruction.

[0025] Next, the handover of the control of the multicopter 11 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. Remote control of the multicopter 11 is started by the first control terminal 31a (S1). For example, when flying the multicopter 11 loaded with cargo to be transported from the foot of a mountain to a site on the top of the mountain, it is difficult for the pilot of the first control terminal to visually check the landing point on the top of the mountain and the topography near the top of the mountain. Although it is possible to check the surrounding images captured by the camera 27 of the multicopter 11, stable flight and landing may be difficult if the topography is complex. In such a case, the pilot at the foot of the mountain can hand over the control to another pilot near the top of the mountain midway, allowing the pilot to land safely by visual inspection at the target point near the top of the mountain.

[0026] When the multicopter 11, which has been moved from the starting point by the first control terminal 31a, reaches a predetermined handover point, the control unit 61 transmits a notification signal to the first control terminal 31b (S2: notification signal transmission / reception means) when the switch unit 58 is operated as a transmission instruction to notify the second control terminal 31b of the handover from the first control terminal 31a. In the second control terminal 31b, which receives this notification signal, the control unit 61 generates a ringtone from the speaker 59 via the output circuit 60 (received sound generation means) and further turns on the indicator light 54 (lighting display means). When the switch unit 58 is operated as a transmission instruction, the control unit 61 transmits a notification signal for reception confirmation to the first control terminal 31a (S3: notification signal transmission / reception means).

[0027] In the first control terminal 31a that has received the above-mentioned reception confirmation notification signal, the control unit 61 generates a ringtone from the speaker 59 via the output circuit 60 (received sound generation means), turns on the indicator light 54 (lighting display means), and further stops remote control of the multicopter 11 (S4). In the second control terminal 31b that has transmitted the reception confirmation notification signal, remote control is started promptly after transmission (S5). As a result, the control of the multicopter 11 is quickly taken over, so that flight interruptions can be suppressed and the handover of remote control is completed (S6). Note that, since a ringtone is generated and an indicator light is turned on when a notification signal is received, the reliability of communication with the receiving side is improved.

[0028] Next, the handover using the position information of the midway point of the flight route will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Take the case of transporting luggage using the multicopter 11 from the starting point S at the foot of a mountain to the arrival point E at the top of the mountain as an example. The luggage is loaded onto the multicopter 11 at the starting point S, and it is flown upwards toward the top by the first control terminal 31. As for the flight route, a relay point A is set in the sky above the starting point A (higher than the top), and a relay point B is set in the sky above the arrival point E by proceeding horizontally from the relay point A.

[0029] The position information (position coordinates) of the relay points A and B are acquired by performing a preliminary flight before the actual transport of the luggage. The preliminary flight is performed during the day when the natural conditions are good, and other GPS receivers 28, GPS receivers 51, 52, various sensors, etc. are appropriately selected to acquire the position information (position coordinates) of the relay points A and B. The aircraft is caused to fly upward from the departure point S, and an arbitrary point slightly higher than the summit is set as relay point A. The control unit 33 acquires the position information (latitude, longitude, altitude) displayed on the display unit 55 by operating the operation touch panel, and stores it in the memory unit 62 (storage means) of the control terminal 31 and / or the memory unit 35 (storage means) of the multicopter 11 (position information acquisition instruction means, position information acquisition means). Similarly, the position information of relay point B, which is located above the arrival point E and has been flown horizontally from relay point A, is acquired and stored in the memory unit 62 and / or the memory unit 35. During actual remote control, the position information of relay points A and B can be input as the flight route, and the control unit 33 enables the multicopter 11 to fly via relay points A and B (predetermined position flight means).

[0030] In this way, since the position information of the relay points A and B is acquired in advance by a preliminary flight (empty), even if the actual transport of the luggage is in bad weather, poor visibility, or at night, remote control can be performed based on the position information of the relay points A and B. It is also possible to perform handover from the first control terminal 31a to the second control terminal 31b at either relay point A or B. For example, the first control terminal 31a launches the multicopter 11 from the starting point S. Since the remote control uses the position information of the relay points A and B, the multicopter 11 flies via the relay points A and B. At this time, when the multicopter 11 reaches either relay point A or B, the first control terminal 31a transmits a notification signal for handover to the second control terminal 31b, and the first control terminal 31a that receives a confirmation notification signal from the second control terminal 31b that has received the notification signal stops remote control, and the second control terminal 31 that transmitted the confirmation notification signal starts remote control to complete the handover.

[0031] By having the handover take place at either relay point A or B, the reliability of the handover operation is improved, enabling stable cargo transport flights. For example, in cases where visual flight by a single pilot is difficult, such as on mountain tops, at high altitudes, or in forested areas, remote flight using relay point position information makes handover easy even during night flights or flights in bad weather, and transport efficiency is improved in cases where round-trip transport is repeated.

[0032] Next, acquisition of position information (latitude, longitude, altitude) using the GPS receivers 51, 52 of the multicopter 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. As described above, the other GPS receivers 28 receive radio waves from at least four artificial satellites to acquire position information (position coordinates), whereas the GPS receivers 51, 52 receive radio waves from one artificial satellite 71 and acquire the position information of the multicopter 11 using the measurement values ​​of various sensors mounted on the multicopter 11.

[0033] The GPS receivers 51 and 52 that receive radio waves from the artificial satellite 71 calculate the distance between the artificial satellite 71 and the GPS receivers 51 and 52, respectively, from the position information of the artificial satellite 71 and the time difference. Since the distance between the GPS receivers 51 and 52 is known, the triangle formed by the artificial satellite 71 and the GPS receivers 51 and 52 and the altitude H of the multicopter 11 are calculated using an air pressure sensor and an altitude sensor (ultrasonic sensor), and the position information (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the multicopter 11 is calculated. In addition, for example, only the position information of the departure point A shown in FIG. 5 is calculated by the other GPS receiver 28, and thereafter, the position information of the intermediate points up to the arrival point E can be calculated using the measurement values ​​of the GPS receiver, the air pressure sensor, the altitude sensor (ultrasonic sensor), the acceleration sensor, the angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), and the geomagnetic sensor. In this way, instead of using other conventional GPS receivers 28, position information (position coordinates) of the multicopter can be obtained by using GPS receivers 51, 52 with simple device configurations and various sensors installed on them.

[0034] The multicopter 11 of this embodiment may need to transport a relatively heavy load to a place with a difference in elevation, and remote control is required that takes into consideration an environment susceptible to natural phenomena such as wind. In addition to a normal flight program, it is necessary to maintain horizontality in the event of a heavy load being shifted to one side during flight. Based on the measured values ​​of the air pressure sensor, altitude sensor (ultrasonic sensor), acceleration sensor, angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor), and geomagnetic sensor, the control unit 33 of the multicopter 11 can maintain horizontality by controlling the number of rotations of each of the rotors 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) using the drive control unit 22 (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) based on a horizontality maintenance program stored in the memory unit 35 (horizontal maintenance means).

[0035] The multicopter 11 according to the present embodiment has four rotors, but is not limited thereto and may have six, eight, or the like. In addition, the remote control is handed over between the first control terminal and the second control terminal, but the number of control terminals is not limited to two and may be three, four, or the like. In addition, the handover may be performed after the multicopter 11 is put into a low-speed flight or hovering state. In the present embodiment, the control unit 61 provided in each of the first control terminal 31a and the second control terminal 31b controls the transmission and reception of a notification signal by the notification signal transmission and reception means and the reception and display by the reception and display means, but is not limited thereto and may be controlled by, for example, a control unit of the multicopter 11 (unmanned aerial vehicle).

[0036] Although several embodiments of the present invention and modified examples of each part have been described above, these embodiments and modified examples of each part are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments described above can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims. [Industrial Applicability]

[0037] As described above, according to the unmanned aerial vehicle control system and unmanned aerial vehicle control method of the present invention, handover is notified between control terminals, which has the advantage that the handover can be easily performed without providing the unmanned aerial vehicle with a device configuration for handover, and is therefore useful as a control system and control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that has an unmanned aerial vehicle and a control terminal that remotely controls the unmanned aerial vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 11 Multicopter (unmanned aerial vehicle) 12 Main body 13(13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) Arm section 15(15a, 15b, 15c, 15d) Drive unit 17(17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) Rotor 18a, 18b Legs 21(21a, 21b, 21c, 21d) Motor 22 (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) Drive control unit 25 Communications Department 26 Power supply 27 Camera 28 Other GPS 30 Sensor section 31 Control terminal 31a First control terminal 31b Second control terminal 33 Control Unit 35 Storage section 51, 52 GPS 54 Indicator light 55 Display section 56 Communications Department 57 Operation section 58 Switch section 61 Control section 62 Storage section 71 Satellite

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle control system having an unmanned aerial vehicle, a control terminal for remotely controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle, and a control unit for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control terminal based on an operation instruction, The unmanned aerial vehicle is It has two GPS receivers that receive radio waves from one artificial satellite, A position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a predetermined position along a flight path, An unmanned aerial vehicle control system, wherein the position information acquisition means acquires position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on measurement values ​​of the GPS receiver.

2. the unmanned aerial vehicle has another GPS receiver that receives radio waves from at least four artificial satellites; The unmanned aerial vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the position information acquisition means acquires the position information based on measurement values ​​of the other GPS receivers.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle control system of claim 2, wherein the position information acquisition means acquires the position information based on measurement values ​​of the other GPS receiver or measurement values ​​of the two GPS receivers and measurement values ​​of a sensor mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

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