Drones and tracking system

Abstract

To prevent suspicious subjects from escaping.SOLUTION: A drone according to an embodiment includes an airframe capable of autonomous flight, a suspicious subject detection unit that detects suspicious subjects, and a flight control unit that, when a suspicious subject is detected, causes the airframe to fly autonomously so as to track the suspicious subject and fly along a flight path that blocks the escape direction of the suspicious subject.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The disclosed embodiments relate to drones and tracking systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a system in which, when a vehicle is harmed, a drone takes off from the vehicle and photographs the vehicle and its surroundings with a camera mounted on the drone (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-93618 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] With conventional technology, even if a suspicious object can be detected and photographed, there is a problem in that the suspicious object may escape.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to prevent suspicious subjects from escaping. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A drone according to one embodiment includes an aircraft capable of autonomous flight, a suspicious target detection unit that detects a suspicious target, and a flight control unit that, when the suspicious target is detected, causes the aircraft to fly autonomously such that the aircraft tracks the suspicious target and flies a flight path that blocks the target's escape route. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the embodiment, it is possible to prevent a suspicious subject from escaping. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a tracking system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a tracked robot according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of a control device of a tracked robot according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an overview of a management device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a control device for a short drone according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control process for a short-range drone according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control process for a long-range drone according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by a microcomputer of the short-range drone according to the embodiment. [Figure 9A] FIG. 9A is a diagram showing an example of a flight of a long-range drone before a tracking mark is emitted. [Figure 9B] FIG. 9B is a diagram showing an example of the flight of a long-range drone after a tracking mark has been attached to a suspicious target. [Figure 9C] FIG. 9C is a diagram showing an example of flight of a long-range drone after a tracking mark has been attached to a suspicious target. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer hardware configuration that functions as a mobile object control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The present invention will be described below through embodiments, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0010] A tracking system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the tracking system 1 according to an embodiment.

[0011] The tracking system 1 includes a tracking robot 2, a long-range drone 3, and a management device 4. The tracking robot 2, the long-range drone 3, and the management device 4 are connected via a network N. For example, a plurality of tracking robots 2 and a plurality of long-range drones 3 are provided.

[0012] The network N is, for example, a mobile communication network such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 5G, etc. The tracked robot 2 and the long-range drone 3 may be connected via the network N.

[0013] Next, the tracked robot 2 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the tracked robot 2 according to the embodiment.

[0014] The tracking robot 2 includes a robot body 10, a short-range drone 11, a detection unit 12, and a control device 13. The tracking robot 2 is capable of autonomous driving, and when a suspicious object is detected, it tracks the suspicious object. Suspicious objects include, for example, a person who is behaving suspiciously and the perpetrator of a crime. In addition, the suspicious object is not limited to a person, and may be a vehicle carrying a person who is behaving suspiciously.

[0015] The robot body 10 is, for example, a humanoid robot. The robot body 10 includes a torso 10a, legs 10b, arms 10c, and a head 10d. The legs 10b, arms 10c, and head 10d are movably attached to the torso 10a. The robot body 10 is not limited to a humanoid robot. The robot body 10 is provided with a driving mechanism such as a motor that moves each part, such as the legs 10b, arms 10c, and head 10d.

[0016] A base unit 15 from which the short-range drone 11 can take off and land is provided on the back of the body unit 10a. The base unit 15 includes a charging device that charges the battery of the short-range drone 11. The base unit 15 may also include a replacement battery for the short-range drone 11.

[0017] The short-range drone 11 is an example of a moving object. The short-range drone 11 is a multicopter equipped with an autonomously flying body 20 and multiple (for example, four) rotor propellers 21, and performs unmanned autonomous flight. The short-range drone 11 is powered by a battery.

[0018] The short-range drone 11 includes a camera 22, a tracking mark 23, a warning light 24, an alarm 25, and a control device 26. The warning light 24 is, for example, a flashing red light. The alarm 25 is, for example, a speaker that emits a siren sound. The alarm 25 can, for example, emit a voice message to warn people. The warning light 24 and the alarm 25 are controlled by the control device 26. The tracking mark 23 is emitted from the short-range drone 11. The short-range drone 11 includes a launching device that launches the tracking mark 23.

[0019] For example, when the tracking mark 23 is projected toward a suspicious target, the tracking mark 23 adheres to the suspicious target. For example, the tracking mark 23 is provided with a magnet. For example, when the suspicious target is a vehicle, the tracking mark 23 adheres to the suspicious target by magnetic force. The tracking mark 23 may have adhesive properties.

[0020] The tracking mark 23 has, for example, a positioning device. The positioning device is, for example, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and can receive radio waves from navigation satellites orbiting in the sky to perform positioning and timing. The positioning device also includes a communication module that transmits its own detected position information. The position information of the tracking mark 23 detected by the positioning device is transmitted to the management device 4 via the network N. The position information of the tracking mark 23 detected by the positioning device is transmitted to the control device 13 via the network N. When the tracking mark 23 is attached to a suspicious object, the position of the suspicious object is detected based on the position information transmitted from the positioning device.

[0021] The tracking mark 23 may be a ball containing fluorescent paint. The ball containing fluorescent paint explodes when it hits a suspicious object, and the fluorescent paint adheres to the suspicious object. The short-range drone 11 may be provided with multiple types of tracking marks 23.

[0022] The short-range drone 11 includes a communication module for performing wireless communication via the network N. The short-range drone 11 also includes various sensors such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and an optical sensor.

[0023] The short-range drone 11 also has a positioning device 27 for measuring its own position. The positioning device 27 is, for example, a GNSS. The position information of the short-range drone 11 detected by the positioning device 27 may be transmitted to the management device 4 via the network N. The position information of the short-range drone 11 detected by the positioning device 27 may be transmitted to the control device 13 via the network N.

[0024] The short-range drone 11 also has a computer (e.g., a microcomputer) that executes a flight control function and an attitude control function for controlling the attitude. The microcomputer in the short-range drone 11 also has a function of recognizing surrounding obstacles and suspicious subjects by image recognition processing based on images captured by the camera 22. The microcomputer in the short-range drone 11 also controls the illumination of the warning light 24 and the sound output of the alarm 25.

[0025] The short-range drone 11 acquires information about the first flight route from the control device 13 via the communication module. The information about the first flight route includes position information (e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the first flight route. The first flight route is a flight route for tracking a suspicious target.

[0026] The short-range drone 11 transmits images captured by the camera 22 to the management device 4 via the communication module. The short-range drone 11 transmits images captured by the camera 22 to the control device 13 via the communication module. The short-range drone 11 acquires information regarding the emission signal of the tracking mark 23 from the control device 13 via the communication module.

[0027] When a suspicious target is detected, the short-range drone 11 launches from the base unit 15 of the robot body 10. The short-range drone 11 acquires information about the first flight path, and flies along the first flight path to track the suspicious target. The short-range drone 11 executes image processing based on an image captured by the camera 22, and flies along the first flight path while avoiding obstacles. When a signal to launch the tracking mark 23 is acquired, the short-range drone 11 launches the tracking mark 23. The short-range drone 11 launches the tracking mark 23 toward the suspicious target.

[0028] The detection unit 12 is provided, for example, in the head 10d of the robot body 10. The detection unit 12 may be provided in the torso 10a of the robot body 10, etc. The detection unit 12 detects the surrounding situation of the robot body 10. The detection unit 12 includes, for example, a high-sensitivity camera capable of 360-degree sensing, a LiDAR (light detection and ranging), a thermo camera, and a radar. The detection unit 12 may include sensors for vision recognition, fine sound, ultrasonic waves, vibration, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, electromagnetic waves, etc. A plurality of detection units 12 may be provided. The detection unit 12 may be a plurality of types of sensors, etc.

[0029] The detection unit 12 also includes a positioning device. The positioning device is, for example, a GNSS. The positioning device detects the position of the robot main body 10. Information on the detected position of the robot main body 10 is transmitted to the management device 4 via the network N.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 3, the control device 13 includes a communication unit 30, a storage unit 31, and a control unit 32. Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of the control device 13 of the tracked robot 2 according to the embodiment.

[0031] The communication unit 30 is wirelessly connected to the network N. The communication unit 30 transmits and receives information to and from the management device 4 via the network N. The communication unit 30 transmits various information detected by the detection unit 12 to the management device 4. The communication unit 30 receives images captured by the camera 22 of the short-range drone 11. The communication unit 30 receives position information of the tracking mark 23 from the positioning device of the tracking mark 23.

[0032] The storage unit 31 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), an optical disk, etc. The storage unit 31 stores various programs and various data.

[0033] The control unit 32 is a controller and includes, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM, an input / output port, and various other circuits. The control unit 32 may also be configured with hardware such as an integrated circuit, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control unit 32 includes a suspicious object detection unit 35, a drone control unit 36, and a robot control unit 37.

[0034] The suspicious target detection unit 35 detects a suspicious target. The suspicious target detection unit 35 detects a suspicious target based on various information detected by the detection unit 12. For example, the suspicious target detection unit 35 performs a predetermined image processing on an image captured by a high-sensitivity camera provided on the tracking robot 2 to detect a suspicious target. For example, the suspicious target detection unit 35 may detect a suspicious target according to a detection result by an infrared sensor. The suspicious target detection unit 35 may detect a suspicious target using a suspicious target detection model in AI (Artificial Intelligence).

[0035] The drone control unit 36 ​​controls the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3. The drone control unit 36 ​​sets a first flight path for the short-range drone 11. The drone control unit 36 ​​sets a first flight path for tracking a detected suspicious target. The drone control unit 36 ​​sets the first flight path based on the current position information of the tracking robot 2 and the position information in which the suspicious target was detected. For example, the drone control unit 36 ​​sets the first flight path based on the current position information of the tracking robot 2, the direction in which the suspicious target was detected relative to the tracking robot 2, and the distance from the tracking robot 2 to the suspicious target.

[0036] The drone control unit 36 ​​sets a second flight path for the long-range drone 3. The drone control unit 36 ​​sets a second flight path for tracking the detected suspicious target. The drone control unit 36 ​​sets the second flight path based on the position information of the station where the long-range drone 3 is waiting and the position information of the tracking mark 23. The drone control unit 36 ​​may set the second flight path based on the position information of the long-range drone 3 and the position information of the tracking mark 23.

[0037] The drone control unit 36 ​​may set the first flight path and the second flight path based on the predicted escape route of the suspicious target. The predicted escape route is generated, for example, by an escape route prediction model. The escape route prediction model predicts the escape route of the suspicious target from the position information of the tracking robot 2, the position information of the tracking mark 23, map information, traffic information, and the like when the suspicious target is detected. The position information of the tracking mark 23 includes, for example, historical information on the position of the tracking mark 23.

[0038] For example, the escape route prediction model can use MapGPT. For example, the escape route prediction model is a text generation model (so-called AI chat engine), and may be interpreted as an algorithm and calculation for automatic dialogue processing by text. The text generation model is, for example, described in JP 2018-081444 A and chatGPT (Internet search engine).<URL: https: / / openai.com / blog / chatgpt> ) and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted. Such a sentence generation model is configured using a large language model (LLM).

[0039] For example, the drone control unit 36 ​​generates a sentence such as "The suspicious subject is fleeing from east to west at the intersection of ABC town DD. What escape route is possible?" using a language generation model based on the position information of the tracking mark 23. Then, the generated sentence is input to an escape route prediction model, whereby a sentence such as "The suspicious subject is likely to head toward EF in ABC town" is generated. In this case, the drone control unit 36 ​​sets a first flight route and a second flight route that head toward "EF in ABC town", tracks the suspicious subject, and blocks the escape direction of the suspicious subject.

[0040] By setting the first flight path and the second flight path based on the predicted escape route of the suspicious subject, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 can get ahead of the suspicious subject's destination and block the suspicious subject's escape direction.

[0041] In addition, the drone control unit 36 ​​may be configured to set a first flight route and a second flight route that fly a flight path that chases the suspicious target toward the flight position of the other drone when a suspicious target is detected while another drone is flying.

[0042] In this case, the other drones are either the short-range drone 11 or the long-range drone 3. This allows the drone control unit 36 ​​to prevent the suspicious subject from escaping by using multiple short-range drones 11 and long-range drones 3 to corner the suspicious subject.

[0043] Furthermore, the drone control unit 36 ​​may be configured to set a first flight path and a second flight path that fly along a flight path that drives the suspicious target into a dead end when a suspicious target is detected. In this way, the drone control unit 36 ​​can prevent the suspicious target from escaping by driving the suspicious target into a dead end using the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3.

[0044] The drone control unit 36 ​​may also be configured to obtain the driving position of a police vehicle from the police. In this case, the drone control unit 36 ​​obtains the position information of the nearest police station, police box, and police box (for example, the nearest to a fleeing suspicious subject) from the stored map information.

[0045] Then, the drone control unit 36 ​​sets a first flight route and a second flight route that fly along a flight path that will chase the suspicious subject toward the nearest police station, police box, or police station, and the position of a police vehicle traveling nearby.

[0046] As a result, the drone control unit 36 ​​can prevent the escape of suspicious subjects by using the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to chase the suspicious subject to the nearest police station, police box, or police station, or to the position of a police vehicle traveling nearby.

[0047] The set first flight path is transmitted to the short-range drone 11. The short-range drone 11 that receives the first flight path takes off from the base unit 15, flies along the first flight path, and tracks the suspicious target.

[0048] The set second flight path is transmitted to the long-range drone 3. The long-range drone 3 that receives the second flight path departs from the waiting station, flies along the second flight path, and tracks the suspicious target.

[0049] The drone control unit 36 ​​generates a launch signal for the tracking mark 23 of the short-range drone 11. For example, the drone control unit 36 ​​calculates the distance to the suspicious target from an image captured by the camera 22 of the short-range drone 11. Then, when the distance to the suspicious target is equal to or less than a predetermined distance set in advance, the drone control unit 36 ​​generates a launch signal for launching the tracking mark 23 toward the suspicious target. The generated launch signal is transmitted to the short-range drone 11. As a result, the tracking mark 23 is launched toward the suspicious target.

[0050] The robot control unit 37 sets a travel route for the robot body 10. The travel route includes a preset security route. The robot control unit 37 makes the robot body 10 travel autonomously along the travel route. The robot control unit 37 makes the robot body 10 travel autonomously in accordance with the situation detected by the detection unit 12. The robot control unit 37 makes the robot body 10 travel autonomously by controlling the drive of the legs 10b and the arms 10c of the robot body 10. The robot control unit 37 controls the drive of the legs 10b and the arms 10c of the robot body 10 based on various information detected by the detection unit 12, for example, so that the robot body 10 travels while avoiding obstacles.

[0051] Also, for example, when a suspicious object is detected, the robot control unit 37 sets a travel route to track the suspicious object. The robot control unit 37 sets a travel route to track the suspicious object, for example, based on the position information of the robot main body 10 and the position information where the suspicious object was detected. For example, the robot control unit 37 sets a travel route to track the suspicious object, based on the current position information of the robot main body 10, the direction in which the suspicious object was detected relative to the robot main body 10, and the distance from the robot main body 10 to the suspicious object.

[0052] In addition, after the short-range drone 11 takes off, the robot control unit 37 sets a travel route to track the suspicious target based on the position information of the robot body 10 and the position information of the tracking mark 23.

[0053] When a suspicious target is detected, the robot control unit 37 may set a travel route to track the suspicious target based on the predicted escape route of the suspicious target. By setting the travel route of the robot body 10 based on the predicted escape route of the suspicious target, the robot body 10 can get to the destination of the suspicious target in advance.

[0054] Returning to FIG. 1, the long-range drone 3 is an example of a moving object. The long-range drone 3 is, for example, a multicopter equipped with multiple rotor propellers, similar to the short-range drone 11, and performs unmanned autonomous flight. The short-range drone 11 is powered by a battery.

[0055] The long-range drone 3 has a longer flight distance than the short-range drone 11. The flight distance is the distance that the drone can fly on a single charge. The long-range drone 3 waits at a preset station. For example, the long-range drone 3 has a large battery to have a longer flight distance than the short-range drone 11. For example, the long-range drone 3 is larger than the short-range drone 11. The long-range drone 3 may be, for example, an airplane type.

[0056] The long-range drone 3 includes an airframe, multiple (e.g., four) rotary wing propellers, a camera, warning lights, an alarm, and a control device, similar to the short-range drone 11. The camera, warning lights, alarm, and control device of the long-range drone 3 are the same as the camera 22, warning lights 24, alarm 25, and control device 26 of the short-range drone 11, respectively.

[0057] The long-range drone 3 does not have a tracking mark, unlike the short-range drone 11. Note that the long-range drone 3 may have a tracking mark, similar to the short-range drone 11.

[0058] The long-range drone 3 includes a communication module for performing wireless communication via the network N. The long-range drone 3 also includes various sensors such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and an optical sensor.

[0059] The long-range drone 3 also has a positioning device 39 (see FIG. 1) for measuring its own position. The positioning device 39 is, for example, a GNSS. Position information of the long-range drone 3 detected by the positioning device 39 may be transmitted to the management device 4 via the network N. Position information of the long-range drone 3 detected by the positioning device 39 may be transmitted to the control device 13 via the network N. The long-range drone 3 also has a computer (for example, a microcomputer) that executes a flight control function, an attitude control function for controlling the attitude, and the like.

[0060] The long-range drone 3 acquires information about the second flight route from the control device 13 via the communication module. The information about the second flight route includes position information (for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the second flight route.

[0061] The long-range drone 3 may fly so as to take over the tracking of the suspicious target by the short-range drone 11. The long-range drone 3 may track the suspicious target simultaneously with the short-range drone 11.

[0062] The long-range drone 3 transmits images captured by the camera to the management device 4 via the communication module. The long-range drone 3 transmits images captured by the camera to the control device 13 via the communication module.

[0063] When a suspicious object is detected, the long-range drone 3 takes off from the waiting station. The long-range drone 3 acquires information about the second flight path, and flies along the second flight path to track the suspicious object. The long-range drone 3 performs image processing based on the image captured by the camera, and flies along the second flight path while avoiding obstacles.

[0064] The ability to track a suspicious target can be improved by tracking the suspicious target using the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3. For example, indoors, tracking can be performed using the short-range drone 11, which is smaller than the long-range drone 3, and if the suspicious target escapes outdoors, tracking can be performed using the long-range drone 3.

[0065] Furthermore, when the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 detect a suspicious target during tracking, they turn on (blink) the warning lights 24 so that the suspicious target moves in the opposite direction to the aircraft 20. Furthermore, when the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 detect a suspicious target during tracking, they cause the alarm 25 to sound an alarm (for example, a siren sound) so that the suspicious target moves in the opposite direction to the aircraft 20.

[0066] As a result, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 can guide the suspicious subject to a location where it cannot escape after blocking the path of the suspicious subject in advance. For example, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 can guide the suspicious subject to a flight position of another drone, a dead end, the nearest police station, police box, or police box, or the driving position of a police vehicle driving nearby, and corner the suspicious subject.

[0067] Furthermore, when the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 detect a suspicious target during tracking, for example, while tracking the suspicious target, they alert nearby residents to the suspicious target using the alarm 25. For example, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 can output a voice message such as "The suspicious target is fleeing. Do not leave your home" using the alarm 25. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to protect the safety of nearby residents.

[0068] The management device 4 is, for example, a server device. The management device 4 may be a cloud server. As shown in Fig. 4, the management device 4 includes a communication unit 40, a storage unit 41, and a control unit 42. Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of the management device 4 according to the embodiment.

[0069] The management device 4 collects various information detected by the detection unit 12 of the tracking robot 2 from the tracking robot 2 that detected the suspicious target. The management device 4 also collects various information detected by the detection unit 12 from a tracking robot 2 different from the tracking robot 2 that detected the suspicious target. The management device 4 also collects position information of each long-range drone 3 from multiple long-range drones 3.

[0070] The management device 4 may generate information regarding the travel path of the tracked robot 2. The management device 4 may also generate information regarding the first flight path of the short-range drone 11. The management device 4 may also generate information regarding the second flight path of the long-range drone 3.

[0071] The communication unit 40 is connected to the network N by wire or wirelessly. The communication unit 40 transmits and receives information between the control device 13 of the tracked robot 2, the short-range drone 11, and the long-range drone 3 via the network N.

[0072] The communication unit 40 receives various information detected by the detection unit 12 from the control device 13 of the tracked robot 2. The communication unit 40 receives images captured by the camera 22 from the short-range drone 11. The communication unit 40 receives position information from the short-range drone 11, the tracking mark 23, and the long-range drone 3. The communication unit 40 receives images captured by the camera from the long-range drone 3.

[0073] The storage unit 41 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a HDD, an SSD, an optical disk, etc. The storage unit 41 stores various programs and various data, etc. For example, the storage unit 41 stores various information detected by the detection unit 12 of each tracked robot 2, etc.

[0074] The control unit 42 is a controller and includes, for example, a microcomputer and various circuits having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output port, etc. The control unit 42 may also be configured with hardware such as an integrated circuit, for example, an ASIC or an FPGA.

[0075] The control unit 42 may generate information regarding the travel route of the robot body 10. For example, the control unit 42 generates information regarding the travel route of the robot body 10 by a sentence generation model (a so-called AI chat engine). The sentence generation model may be interpreted as an algorithm and calculation for automatic dialogue processing by text, as described above.

[0076] The control unit 42 generates a question about the suspicious target from various pieces of information detected by the detection unit 12 of the tracked robot 2. First, the control unit 42 generates a question by, for example, a language generation model.

[0077] For example, if movement is detected by the infrared sensor of the tracked robot 2, the following question is generated: "The infrared sensor has detected this movement. Is this a suspicious person? From a criminal's perspective, what action would they take next?"

[0078] By inputting such a question into the sentence generation model, the control unit 42 generates a sentence such as, for example, "This person is likely to be a suspicious person. If he senses the presence of a person, he will take action to run away." The generated sentence is transmitted to the tracking robot 2 as information regarding the travel route, and the tracking robot 2 sets a travel route so as to approach the person presumed to be a suspicious person at a low speed.

[0079] Also, for example, when sound is detected by a sensor for detecting minute sounds in the tracked robot 2, a question such as "I can hear a beep from 2 meters away. What sound is this?" is generated.

[0080] When such a question is input to the sentence generation model, the control unit 42 generates a sentence such as, for example, "An alarm is sounding." The generated sentence is transmitted to the tracking robot 2 as information regarding the travel route, and the tracking robot 2 recognizes the target as a suspicious object and sets a travel route to approach the suspicious object via, for example, the shortest route.

[0081] The control unit 42 may similarly generate information regarding the travel route of the tracked robot 2 based on other information detected by the detection unit 12 of the tracked robot 2. The control unit 42 may generate information regarding the travel route of the tracked robot 2 based on information obtained by a high-sensitivity camera capable of 360-degree sensing, a LiDAR, a thermal camera, a radar, and the like. The control unit 42 may generate information regarding the travel route of the tracked robot 2 based on information obtained by sensors such as vision recognition, ultrasonic waves, vibrations, ultraviolet rays, and electromagnetic waves.

[0082] Similarly, information regarding the travel route of the tracking robot 2 may be generated based on a plurality of pieces of information detected by the detection unit 12 of the tracking robot 2. The control unit 42 may set the travel route of the tracking robot 2.

[0083] By generating information on the travel route of the tracking robot 2 by the document generation model, the tracking robot 2 can, for example, accurately determine a suspicious object and can move the tracking robot 2 closer to the suspicious object without being noticed by the suspicious object. Therefore, for example, the tracking robot 2 can improve the hit rate of the tracking mark 23 emitted from the short-range drone 11. In this way, by generating information on the travel route of the tracking robot 2 by the document generation model, the tracking ability of the tracking robot 2 and the like to track the suspicious object can be improved.

[0084] The control unit 42 may also generate information about at least one of the first flight path of the short-range drone 11 and the second flight path of the long-range drone 3. For example, the control unit 42 generates information about the first flight path by a sentence generation model.

[0085] For example, if a suspicious object is detected by the tracking robot 2, the suspicious object is a car, and "AA-BB" is detected as the license plate number of the suspicious object, the control unit 42 creates a sentence such as "Take a picture of the car with the license plate number AA-BB" using a language generation model. Then, the control unit 42 generates information about the first flight path by inputting the generated sentence into a sentence generation model. For example, the control unit 42 generates a flight program for the short-range drone 11 that takes a picture of the car with the license plate number "AA-BB" using the camera of the short-range drone 11 and tracks the car with the license plate number "AA-BB". Then, the control unit 42 generates the generated flight program as information about the first flight path. The generated information about the first flight path is transmitted to the short-range drone 11, so that the short-range drone 11 flies to track the car with the license plate number "AA-BB". The image captured by the camera of the short-range drone 11 is transmitted to the management device 4.

[0086] For example, by using a document generation model to generate information regarding the first flight path of the short-range drone 11, the short-range drone 11 can improve its ability to track suspicious objects.

[0087] The generation of information regarding the travel path of the tracked robot 2 using the sentence generation model may be executed by the tracked robot 2.

[0088] Next, the control device 26 of the short-range drone 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an outline of the control device 26 of the short-range drone 11. The control device of the long-range drone 3 has the same configuration as the control device 26 of the short-range drone 11, except that it does not control the launch of the tracking mark 23. For this reason, a duplicated description of the configuration of the control device of the long-range drone 3 will be omitted here.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 5, the control device 26 includes a communication unit 50, a storage unit 51, and a microcomputer 52.

[0090] The communication unit 50 is wirelessly connected to the network N. The communication unit 50 transmits and receives information between the tracked robot 2 and the management device 4 via the network N. The communication unit 50 receives a launch signal for the tracking mark 23 and a first flight path from the tracked robot 2 or the management device 4. In the case of the long-range drone 3, the communication unit receives a second flight path from the tracked robot 2 or the management device 4.

[0091] In addition, the communication unit 50 transmits images captured by the camera 22 and position information of the short-range drone 11 to the tracked robot 2 and the management device 4. In the case of the long-range drone 3, the communication unit transmits position information of the long-range drone 3 to the tracked robot 2 and the management device 4.

[0092] The storage unit 51 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM or a flash memory, or a storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, or an optical disk. The storage unit 51 stores various programs and various data. For example, the storage unit 51 stores information on a first flight route, etc. In the case of the long-range drone 3, the storage unit stores information on a second flight route, etc.

[0093] The microcomputer 52 is a controller and includes, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output port, and various circuits. The microcomputer 52 may also be configured with hardware such as an integrated circuit, for example, an ASIC or an FPGA. The microcomputer 52 includes a suspicious object detection unit 53 and a flight control unit 54.

[0094] The suspicious target detection unit 53 detects a suspicious target. For example, the suspicious target detection unit 53 performs a predetermined image processing on an image captured by the camera 22 to detect a suspicious target. In addition, when the short-range drone 11 is equipped with an infrared sensor, the suspicious target detection unit 53 may detect a suspicious target according to the detection result by the infrared sensor. The suspicious target detection unit 53 may detect a suspicious target using a suspicious target detection model in AI.

[0095] The flight control unit 54 controls the short-range drone 11 to autonomously fly along the first flight path received from the tracking robot 2 and track the suspicious target. When the suspicious target detection unit 53 detects a suspicious target, the flight control unit 54 causes the warning light 24 to flash, and further causes the alarm 25 to sound an alarm and alert nearby residents. When the flight control unit 54 detects a suspicious target ahead of the suspicious target's destination, it may start sounding an alarm from the alarm 25 and alerting nearby residents.

[0096] Also, the flight control unit 54 may be configured to set the first flight path by itself by performing the same processing as the drone control unit 36 ​​of the tracking robot 2. In this case, the flight control unit 54 sets the first flight path for tracking the detected suspicious target. The flight control unit 54 sets the first flight path based on the current position information of the short-range drone 11 and the position information in which the suspicious target was detected. For example, the flight control unit 54 sets the first flight path based on the position information of the short-range drone 11, the direction in which the suspicious target was detected relative to the short-range drone 11, and the distance from the short-range drone 11 to the suspicious target.

[0097] The flight control unit 54 may set the first flight route based on the predicted escape route of the suspicious subject. The predicted escape route is generated, for example, by an escape route prediction model. The escape route prediction model predicts the escape route of the suspicious subject from the position information of the short-range drone 11 when the suspicious subject is detected, the position information of the tracking mark 23, map information, traffic information, and the like. The position information of the tracking mark 23 includes, for example, historical information on the position of the tracking mark 23. In addition, in the case of a microcomputer of the long-range drone 3, the flight control unit provided in the microcomputer may be configured to set the second flight route by itself using a procedure similar to that of the flight control unit 54 of the short-range drone 11.

[0098] Next, the control process of the short-range drone 11 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the control process of the short-range drone 11 according to the embodiment. The control process of the short-range drone 11 is executed by the control device 13 of the tracking robot 2.

[0099] The control unit 32 acquires various information detected by the detection unit 12 (S100). The control unit 32 determines whether or not a suspicious object has been detected based on the acquired various information (S101). For example, the control unit 32 detects a suspicious object by performing a predetermined image processing on an image captured by a high-sensitivity camera.

[0100] If no suspicious object is detected (S101: No), the control unit 32 ends this process. If a suspicious object is detected (S101: Yes), the control unit 32 sets a first flight path for the short-range drone 11 (S102).

[0101] The control unit 32 transmits the first flight path to the short-range drone 11 (S103). As a result, the short-range drone 11 takes off from the base unit 15 of the tracking robot 2.

[0102] The control unit 32 acquires an image captured by the camera 22 of the short-range drone 11 (S104).

[0103] The control unit 32 determines whether the distance to the suspicious object is equal to or less than a predetermined distance (S105). If the distance to the suspicious object is greater than the predetermined distance (S105: No), the control unit 32 continues tracking the suspicious object and acquires an image captured by the camera 22 of the short-range drone 11 (S104).

[0104] If the distance to the suspicious target is equal to or shorter than the predetermined distance (S105: Yes), the control unit 32 generates a launch signal for the tracking mark 23 (S106). The control unit 32 transmits the generated launch signal to the short-range drone 11 (S107). This causes the short-range drone 11 to launch the tracking mark 23 toward the suspicious target.

[0105] Next, the control process of the long-range drone 3 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the control process of the long-range drone 3 according to the embodiment. The control process of the long-range drone 3 is executed by the control device 13 of the tracking robot 2.

[0106] The control unit 32 acquires various pieces of information detected by the detection unit 12 (S200). The control unit 32 determines whether or not a suspicious object has been detected based on the acquired various pieces of information (S201).

[0107] If no suspicious object is detected (S201: No), the control unit 32 ends this process. If a suspicious object is detected (S201: Yes), the control unit 32 sets a second flight route for the long-range drone 3 (S202).

[0108] The control unit 32 transmits the second flight path to the short-range drone 11 (S203). This causes the long-range drone 3 to take off from the station.

[0109] Next, the process executed by the microcomputer 52 of the short-range drone 11 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the process executed by the microcomputer 52 of the short-range drone 11 according to the embodiment.

[0110] The microcomputer 52 determines whether or not the first flight path has been received from the tracked robot 2 (step S301). When the microcomputer 52 determines that the first flight path has not been received (step S301: No), the microcomputer 52 ends this processing.

[0111] When the microcomputer 52 determines that the first flight path has been received (step S301: Yes), the microcomputer 52 performs flight control along the first flight path (step S302). After that, the microcomputer 52 determines whether or not the microcomputer 52 has received a launch signal for the tracking mark 23 from the tracking robot 2 (step S303).

[0112] When the microcomputer 52 determines that the launch signal has not been received (step S303: No), it repeats the determination of step S303 while performing flight control along the first flight path until the launch signal is received.

[0113] If the microcomputer 52 determines that it has received the emission signal (step S303: Yes), it emits the tracking mark 23 (step S304). After that, the microcomputer 52 determines whether or not a suspicious object has been detected (step S305).

[0114] When the microcomputer 52 determines that a suspicious target has not been detected (step S305: No), it repeats the determination of step S305 while performing flight control along the first flight path until a suspicious target is detected.

[0115] If the microcontroller 52 determines that a suspicious object has been detected (step S305: Yes), it causes the warning lights 24 to flash and the alarm 25 to emit an alarm sound and a warning message to local residents (step S306), and then ends the processing.

[0116] In addition, in the case where the microcomputer 52 itself is configured to set the first flight path, the microcomputer 52 first determines whether or not a suspicious object has been detected, and ends the current process if it determines that a suspicious object has not been detected. Then, if the microcomputer 52 determines that a suspicious object has been detected, it determines and sets the first flight path. After that, the microcomputer 52 executes the process of steps S302 to S306 shown in FIG. 8.

[0117] In the case of the microcomputer of the long-range drone 3, the microcomputer replaces the first flight path in the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 with the second flight path, and executes the process by omitting the processes of steps S303 to S304.

[0118] In addition, in the case where the microcomputer of the long-range drone 3 itself is configured to set the second flight path, the microcomputer first determines whether or not a suspicious object has been detected, and ends this processing if it determines that a suspicious object has not been detected. Then, if the microcomputer determines that a suspicious object has been detected, it determines and sets the second flight path. After that, the microcomputer 52 performs flight control along the second flight path, and executes the processing of steps S305 to S306 shown in FIG. 8.

[0119] The long-range drone 3 flies based on the position information of the tracking mark 23. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the short-range drone 11 does not emit the tracking mark 23 to the suspicious target C, the long-range drone 3 tracks the short-range drone 11 and flies so as to approach the suspicious target C. Then, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the tracking mark 23 is emitted from the short-range drone 11 and attached to the suspicious target C, the long-range drone 3 flies so as to track the suspicious target C. FIG. 9A is a diagram showing an example of flight of the long-range drone 3 before the tracking mark 23 is emitted. FIG. 9B is a diagram showing an example of flight of the long-range drone 3 after the tracking mark 23 is attached to the suspicious target C.

[0120] After that, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 track the suspicious target C and, as shown in Fig. 9C, get ahead of the suspicious target's destination and block the direction of travel of the suspicious target C. Then, when the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 detect the suspicious target C, they turn on the flashing warning light 24 and cause the alarm 25 to sound an alarm and a message to alert local residents.

[0121] In this way, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 chase the suspicious target C in the opposite direction to the direction toward the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3.

[0122] After that, the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 fly a flight path that drives the suspicious target C to, for example, the flight position of another drone, a dead end, the nearest police station, police box, or police box, or the driving position of a police vehicle driving nearby. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to prevent the suspicious target from escaping. However, if the flight distance from the position where the suspicious target C was first detected to the destination of the suspicious target C is longer than the flight distance of the short-range drone 11, only the long-range drone 3 will get to the destination of the suspicious target C ahead of the suspicious target C.

[0123] The camera that captures images for detecting and tracking a suspicious object is not limited to a camera provided on the tracking robot 2, etc. The camera that captures images for detecting and tracking a suspicious object may be, for example, a camera of another robot in the room or a surveillance camera provided in the room when the suspicious object is indoors. Also, the camera that captures images for detecting and tracking a suspicious object may be, for example, an outdoor surveillance camera when the suspicious object is outdoors. That is, for example, the tracking robot 2 may detect a suspicious object based on images captured by a camera of another robot in the room, the indoor surveillance camera, and the outdoor surveillance camera.

[0124] The short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 each include an autonomously flying aircraft 20, a suspicious target detection unit 53, and a flight control unit 54. The suspicious target detection unit 53 detects a suspicious target. When a suspicious target is detected, the flight control unit 54 autonomously flies the aircraft 20 so that the aircraft 20 tracks the suspicious target and flies a flight path that blocks the suspicious target's escape direction. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to get to the suspicious target's destination ahead of time and block the suspicious target's escape direction.

[0125] The short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 further include warning lights 24. When a suspicious object is detected, the flight control unit 54 turns on the warning lights 24 so that the suspicious object moves in the opposite direction to the aircraft 20. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to chase the suspicious object in the opposite direction to the direction toward the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3.

[0126] The short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 further include an alarm 25. When a suspicious object is detected, the flight control unit 54 causes the alarm 25 to sound an alarm so that the suspicious object moves in the opposite direction to the direction toward the aircraft. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to chase the suspicious object in the opposite direction to the direction toward the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3.

[0127] When a suspicious object is detected, the flight control unit 54 alerts nearby residents to the suspicious object using an alarm. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to protect the safety of nearby residents along the escape route of the suspicious object.

[0128] When a suspicious target is detected, the flight control unit 54 autonomously flies the aircraft 20 along a flight path that chases the suspicious target into the flight position of another drone. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to prevent the suspicious target from escaping by chasing the suspicious target with multiple short-range drones 11 and long-range drones 3.

[0129] When a suspicious target is detected, the flight control unit 54 autonomously flies the aircraft 20 along a flight path that drives the suspicious target into a dead end. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to prevent the suspicious target from escaping by driving the suspicious target into a dead end.

[0130] The flight control unit 54 autonomously flies the aircraft 20 along a flight path that chases the suspicious target to at least one of the nearest police station, police box, or police box, or the driving position of a police vehicle traveling nearby. This allows the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to suppress the escape of the suspicious target by driving the suspicious target to the nearest police station, police box, or police box, or the driving position of a police vehicle traveling nearby.

[0131] The tracking system 1 includes a short-range drone 11, a long-range drone 3, and a tracking robot 2. The tracking robot 2 includes a robot body 10, a suspicious object detection unit 35, a drone control unit 36, and a robot control unit 37. The robot body 10 is capable of launching and landing the short-range drone 11, and is capable of autonomous travel. The suspicious object detection unit 35 detects suspicious objects around the robot body. The drone control unit 36 ​​controls the short-range drone 11 and the long-range drone 3 to track the suspicious object detected by the suspicious object detection unit 35. The robot control unit 37 causes the robot body 10 to autonomously travel so as to track the suspicious object detected by the suspicious object detection unit 35. This allows the tracking system 1 to prevent the suspicious object from escaping.

[0132] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a computer hardware configuration that functions as the tracked robot 2 or the management device 4. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of the device according to the present embodiment, or to execute operations or one or more "parts" associated with the device according to the present embodiment, and / or to execute a process or steps of the process according to the present embodiment. Such a program can be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0133] The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a RAM 1214, and a graphic controller 1216, which are connected to each other by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input / output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, etc. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, etc. The computer 1200 also includes input / output units such as a ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to the input / output controller 1220 via an input / output chip 1240.

[0134] The CPU 1212 operates according to a program stored in the ROM 1230 and the RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphic controller 1216 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1212 into a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 1214 or into itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 1218.

[0135] The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive reads programs or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card and / or writes programs and data to an IC card.

[0136] The ROM 1230 stores therein a boot program or the like that is executed by the computer 1200 upon activation, and / or a program that depends on the hardware of the computer 1200. The input / output chip 1240 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 1220 via a USB port, a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and the like.

[0137] The programs are provided by a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or an IC card. The programs are read from the computer-readable storage medium, installed in the storage device 1224, the RAM 1214, or the ROM 1230, which are also examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by the CPU 1212. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 1200, and brings about cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be constructed by implementing operations or processing of information according to the use of the computer 1200.

[0138] For example, when communication is performed between the computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded in the RAM 1214 and instruct the communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 1212, the communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in the RAM 1214, the storage device 1224, a DVD-ROM, or a recording medium such as an IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes reception data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0139] Furthermore, the CPU 1212 may cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as the storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), an IC card, etc. to be read into the RAM 1214, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

[0140] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium and undergo information processing. The CPU 1212 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, and write back the results to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. in the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 1212 may search for an entry whose attribute value of the first attribute matches a specified condition from among the plurality of entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0141] The above-mentioned programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on the computer 1200 or in the vicinity of the computer 1200. In addition, a recording medium such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the programs to the computer 1200 via the network.

[0142] The blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams in the present embodiment may represent stages of a process in which an operation is performed or "parts" of an apparatus responsible for performing the operation. Particular stages and "parts" may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium, and / or a processor provided with computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium. The dedicated circuitry may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuits, such as, for example, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like, including AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

[0143] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by a suitable device, such that a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or flash memories), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), Blu-ray disks, memory sticks, integrated circuit cards, and the like.

[0144] The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

[0145] Computer readable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or to a programmable circuit, either locally or over a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, etc., to cause the processor of the general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, or to a programmable circuit, to execute the computer readable instructions to generate means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0146] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the claims that such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0147] It should be noted that the order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before" or "prior to," and that the process may be performed in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that the process must be performed in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0148] 1. Tracking System 2 Tracking Robot 3. Long-range drone 4 Management device 10 Robot body 11 Short-range drones 12 Detection section 13 Control device 20 Aircraft 21 Rotary Propeller 22 Camera 23 Tracking Mark 24 Warning light 25 Alarm 26 Control device 27 Positioning Device 32 Control section 35 Suspicious object detection unit 36 Drone control unit 37 Robot control unit 52 Microcomputer 53 Suspicious object detection unit 54 Flight Control Unit

Claims

1. An aircraft capable of autonomous flight; A suspicious object detection unit that detects a suspicious object; a flight control unit that autonomously flies the aircraft so that, when the suspicious object is detected, the aircraft tracks the suspicious object and flies a flight path that blocks the flight direction of the suspicious object; A drone equipped with

2. Equipped with warning lights, The flight control unit: The drone of claim 1 , wherein when the suspicious object is detected, a warning light is turned on so that the suspicious object moves in the opposite direction to the direction toward the aircraft.

3. Further equipped with an alarm, The flight control unit: The drone of claim 1 , wherein when the suspicious object is detected, the alarm sounds an alarm so that the suspicious object moves in the opposite direction to the direction toward the aircraft.

4. The flight control unit: The drone of claim 3 , wherein when the suspicious object is detected, the alarm alerts nearby residents to the suspicious object.

5. The flight control unit: The drone described in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein, when the suspicious object is detected, the drone is autonomously flown so as to fly a flight path that chases the suspicious object toward the flight position of another drone.

6. The flight control unit: The drone of claim 2 or 3, wherein, when the suspicious object is detected, the drone is autonomously flown along a flight path that drives the suspicious object into a dead end.

7. The flight control unit: The drone described in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein, when the suspicious object is detected, the drone is autonomously flown along a flight path that will drive the suspicious object to at least one of the nearest police station, police box, or police substation, or the location of a police vehicle traveling nearby.

8. A drone according to any one of claims 1 to 4; A tracking robot is provided. The tracked robot is The drone is capable of taking off and landing, and a robot body capable of autonomous travel; A suspicious object detection unit that detects a suspicious object around the robot body; a drone control unit that controls the drone so as to track the suspicious object detected by the suspicious object detection unit; A tracking system comprising:

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