Movable body

Abstract

To provide a movable body whose movement control is easy and highly convenient.SOLUTION: A movable body of the present disclosure includes: a machine body including a lift generation part; a suspension part suspended from the machine body; and a control part for controlling the lift generation part such that the machine body moves together with the suspension part in a state where the suspension part contacts an outer surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a moving body.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, moving bodies such as drones have been utilized in various fields such as facility inspections, but there is a problem that it is difficult to control the movement. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes providing a cable for guiding a flying body and moving the flying body along the cable to facilitate movement control.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the technology of Patent Document 1, since the movement range of the flying body is limited by the cable, there is room for improvement in convenience.

[0005] Therefore, the present disclosure has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a moving body that is easy to control movement and has high convenience.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] According to the present disclosure, there is provided a moving body including: a body including a lift generating unit; a suspension unit suspended from the body; and a control unit that controls the lift generating unit so that the body moves together with the suspension unit in a state where the suspension unit is in contact with an external surface.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a moving body that is easy to control movement and has high convenience.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[0010] <Overview> FIG. 1 is a front view of a moving body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The unmanned aircraft 1 (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "aircraft") as the moving body in this example is a rotary-wing aircraft that obtains lift and thrust by a plurality of rotary wings. Note that although the aircraft 1 in this example is an unmanned aircraft, it may be applied to a manned aircraft on which a person rides.

[0011] The aircraft 1 can fly in any space, regardless of whether it is outdoors or indoors. In particular, the present invention is particularly effective in an environment where it is difficult for a person to reach, such as a narrow space where it is difficult for a person to enter, a closed space, a dark place, an environment filled with special gas or high-temperature gas.

[0012] The flying object 1 is characterized by including a fuselage 10 having a lift generating part 11, a suspension part 20 suspended from the fuselage 10, and a control part that controls the lift generating part 11 so that the fuselage 10 moves together with the suspension part 20 in a state where the suspension part 20 is in contact with the external surface S.

[0013] The fuselage 10 is the main body part of the flying object 1 and moves by the thrust (including lift) generated by the lift generating part 11. The lift generating part 11 includes one or more rotary wings, for example, four rotary wings. The control part that controls the rotary wings is composed of, for example, a flight controller. The lift generating part 11 can generate thrust in the vertical direction, front-rear direction, left-right direction, and turning direction.

[0014] In this example, one end (upper end part) of the suspension part 20 is connected to the lower surface of the fuselage 10. In this example, the suspension part 20 is connected to the central part of the fuselage 10 in plan view. In this example, the suspension part 20 is connected so as to coincide with the center of gravity of the fuselage 10 or be located in the vicinity of the center of gravity in plan view. The center of gravity of the flying object 1 is preferably located at the approximate center of the fuselage 10 in plan view, but is not limited thereto. The suspension part 20 can be arranged in any direction such as in front of, behind, to the left of, to the right of the fuselage 10, and various diagonal directions.

[0015] In this example, a sliding part for sliding on the external surface is provided at the lower end part 21 of the suspension part 20. The sliding part is preferably made of a material that is difficult to chip or be damaged by friction. The sliding part may be composed of, for example, various resins (plastics), metals, woods, etc., or other materials. Wheels (including rollers, etc.) for moving the external surface may be provided at the lower end part of the suspension part 20.

[0016] The suspension part 20 may be configured to be elastically deformable according to the movement of the aircraft body 10. The suspension part 20 may be made of a material that deforms flexibly, or it may not be. For example, it may be made of any material such as a rope (including a string and a cable), a chain (a chain), a cloth, a rubber (including an elastomer), a plastic, a metal, or a wood. The shape of the suspension part 20 is not particularly limited, but it can be a long string shape, a rod shape, a multi-jointed rod shape, etc.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, in the flying object 1 of this example, the aircraft body 10 floats from the floor surface to a predetermined height by the thrust of the lift generating part 11. While the aircraft body 10 of the flying object 1 is gradually floating from the landing state, the lower end part 21 of the suspension part 20 is always in contact with the floor surface S. Then, for example, when the aircraft body 10 floats to a height corresponding to the length of the suspension part 20 (the same height as the length of the suspension part 20 in the example of FIG. 1), the flying object 1 stops rising and enters a hovering state at a position where the lower end part 21 of the suspension 20 does not leave the floor surface S.

[0018] Then, when the flying object 1 is moved horizontally by manual control based on a control signal from the control terminal or autonomous control based on a predetermined program, as shown in FIG. 2, the aircraft body 10 can move in a state where the lower end part 21 of the suspension part 20 is in contact with the floor surface or the ground (including the rooftop of a building, etc.) as the external surface S, so as to drag the suspension part 20 (the lower end part 21). On the flying object 1, a force that restricts upward movement acts due to the weight of the suspension part 20, and for movement in the horizontal direction (including the front-back, left-right, and diagonal directions), a force that restricts horizontal movement also acts due to the frictional force between the lower end part 21 and the floor surface S. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the flying object 1 from moving more rapidly than expected and colliding with an obstacle or the like, or making control difficult.

[0019] As described above, according to this embodiment, by applying appropriate restrictions to the movement in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, it is possible to provide a moving body that is easy to control in movement and has high convenience.

[0020] Also, the upward thrust (lift force) generated by the lift force generating unit 11 is preferably always smaller than the weight of the suspension unit 20, but is not limited thereto. For example, in order for the suspension unit 20 to overcome a step or an obstacle, a lift force temporarily greater than the weight of the suspension unit 20 may be generated to cause it to float, making it easier for the suspension unit 20 to leave the floor surface S and overcome the step.

[0021] Further, it is preferable that the control unit controls the lift force generating unit 11 so that the aircraft 10 continuously maintains an appropriate height at which the suspension unit 20 can maintain the state of being in contact with the external surface S. For example, when receiving an input operation for maintaining the height from the control terminal, the control unit automatically maintains the height of the aircraft 10, so that the operator can easily control the aircraft 10 by performing only the horizontal control operation from the control terminal. The control unit can control the lift force generating unit 11 based on the horizontal control signal from the control terminal and perform horizontal movement.

[0022] It is preferable that the vertical distance from the floor surface or the ground as the external surface S to the lift force generating unit 11 of the aircraft 10 is a distance at which the ground effect can be obtained. The said distance may vary depending on various parameters such as the shape, number, and rotational speed of the propeller constituting the lift force generating unit 11. The control unit may control the lift force generating unit 11 so that the vertical distance from the floor surface or the ground as the external surface S to the lift force generating unit 11 is 10 cm or more and 50 cm or less, or 20 cm or more and 30 cm or less, for example.

[0023] The suspension unit 20 may be provided with a joint portion that can be bent according to the movement of the aircraft 10. The joint portion may be provided at the connection portion between the suspension unit 20 and the aircraft 10.

[0024] Figures 3 and 4 show an example of the suspension part 20. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the joint part 22 of the suspension part 20 is preferably provided at the upper end (the connection part with the airframe 10 in this example) and the lower end (near the sliding part in this example) of the rod-shaped suspension part 20. According to this, it is possible to prevent the posture of the airframe 10 from becoming unstable due to the suspension part 20, and it becomes easier to appropriately ground the lower end part 21. The joint part may be provided in the middle of the suspension part 20. For example, only one joint part may be provided at the center of the suspension part 20, or as shown in Figure 5, the joint parts 22 may be arranged at two or more locations.

[0025] The suspension part 20 may be provided with a weight-adjustable weight. According to this, it is possible to moderately suppress the airframe 10 from rising due to lift, and it becomes easier to ground the suspension part 20 on the floor surface as an external surface. Also, by appropriately adjusting the weight of the weight, the degree of restriction of movement can be adjusted, and it is possible to effectively achieve both the ease of movement of the airframe 10 and an appropriate restriction of movement. Further, the weight is preferably provided at the lower end part 21, but it may be at other positions.

[0026] The airframe 10 is provided with electronic components such as a control unit, a memory unit, a communication unit, a sensor unit, an imaging unit (camera), etc., and has a lift generation part 11, a frame for supporting each component, a cover for covering the electronic components, etc.

[0027] The rotary wings in this example as the lift generation part 11 are arranged at four locations (front left side, front right side, rear left side, rear right side) around the airframe 10 in plan view. The number of rotary wings is not limited to four, and may be three or less or five or more. Note that the number of blades constituting the rotary wings is not particularly limited, and any shape and any number of blades can be adopted. Also, a plurality of blades may be provided in the axial direction for each rotary wing.

[0028] As schematically shown in FIG. 1, the rotor blade 11A in the lift generating unit 11 is preferably located on the central side in the vertical direction of the aircraft body 10. For example, in the vertical direction of the aircraft body 10, the center point of thrust generation by the lift generating unit 11 coincides with the center in the vertical direction of the aircraft body 10, or is within a range of a slight difference, such as 5 mm or less, and is substantially coincident. With such a configuration, the aircraft body 10 is less likely to become unstable. In the vertical direction of the aircraft body 10, it is preferable that the center point of thrust generation by the lift generating unit 11 overlaps with the position in the vertical direction of the propeller guard or the like, which is the outermost part of the aircraft body (the part that is farthest from the center of the aircraft body in plan view). According to this, for example, even when the outermost part of the aircraft body 10 contacts a wall or the like during flight, the aircraft body is less likely to become unstable.

[0029] In this example, the airframe 10 of the aircraft 1 has an upper frame 10A that supports the rotary wing 11A from above and a lower frame 10B that is positioned below the upper frame 10A. Between the upper frame 10A and the lower frame 10B, electronic components such as a control unit are provided. The rotary wing 11A is supported by a rotary wing support portion (a part of the upper frame 10A) that extends outward from the center of the airframe 10. Also, the rotary wing 11A is held below the rotary wing support portion. In this example, a motor is positioned above the propeller that constitutes the rotary wing 11A, and a rotary wing support portion is positioned above the motor. The lower frame 10B is provided with a propeller guard 11C that is positioned around the rotary wing 11A. The propeller guard 11C may be integral with the lower frame 10B or may be detachable from the lower frame 10B. Also, a cylindrical propeller duct that surrounds the periphery of each rotary wing may be provided for each rotary wing. It is preferable that the rotary wing 11A does not protrude above or below the airframe 10. That is, it is preferable that the structure is such that the propeller of the rotary wing does not contact the ground when the aircraft 1 is in a normal upright posture and an upside-down posture. Note that the rotary wing 11A may be supported from below by the airframe 10. Also, although the upper frame 10A of this example has a function of a protection frame that is positioned above the rotary wing 11A and protects the rotary wing 11A, a protection frame (protection cover) may be provided above and below the rotary wing 11A separately from the upper frame 10A.

[0030] The aircraft 1 of this example includes a base portion 30 that is detachably provided below the airframe 10. The base portion 30 is positioned at the center in the width direction (left-right direction) of the airframe, but is not limited thereto. The base portion 30 is positioned at the center portion in the front-rear direction of the airframe, but is not limited thereto. The suspension portion 20 may be connected to the base portion 30 or may be connected to any position of the airframe 10 other than the base portion 30. The suspension portion 20 may be configured to be detached from the airframe 10 together with the base portion 30.

[0031] The base unit 30 is, for example, a battery pack, which incorporates a rechargeable battery that can be repeatedly used. By preparing and charging a plurality of battery packs in advance, after flight, it is possible to immediately fly by replacing the charged battery pack. The battery supplies power to the rotary wings, the control unit, etc. At the coupling part between the base unit 30 and the airframe 10, connectors (contacts) for power supply or signal communication are provided. Inside the base unit 30, there may be components that constitute at least part of a storage unit, a control unit, etc., which will be described later.

[0032] In the flying object 1 of this example, when landing, the lower surface side of the base unit 30 touches the ground. However, for example, it may be provided with four legs or the like at the four corners (front left side, front right side, left and right rear sides) of the flying object, or may be provided with a pair of left and right legs extending in the front-rear direction.

[0033] Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram (plan view) showing an example of the hardware configuration of the flying object 1 according to the present embodiment. The airframe 10 of the flying object 1 according to the present embodiment has a rotary wing 11A, a motor 11B, and an ESC (Electric Speed Controller) 11C for generating thrust. Further, in the airframe 10 of the flying object 1, a flight controller 14 is provided as a control unit. The flight controller 14 can have one or more processors 14A, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a programmable processor such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The flight controller 14 has a memory 14b as a storage unit, and can access the memory 14b. The memory 14b stores logic, code, and / or program instructions that can be executed by the flight controller 14 to perform one or more steps. The flight controller 14 is an example of a control unit. Further, the flying object 1 of this example includes a camera 12 and a sensor 15 as information acquisition units. Further, the flying object 1 includes a transmission / reception unit 16. Note that the configuration of the flying object 1 shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and a rotary wing aircraft having a configuration different from that of the airframe 10 shown in FIG. 6 may also be included in the scope of the present invention.

[0034] The airframe 10 is formed by a frame or the like that constitutes the flying object 1. The material constituting the airframe 10 is not particularly limited, and can be, for example, carbon fiber resin, glass fiber resin, magnesium, magnesium alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, steel, titanium, or other materials.

[0035] The memory 14b may include a separable medium such as an SD card or a random access memory (RAM), or an external storage device. The data acquired from the camera / sensor may be directly transmitted to and stored in the memory 14b. For example, still image / moving image data captured by the camera is recorded in the built-in memory or the external memory. Also, the memory 14b can appropriately store various information such as information acquired from an external information processing device or information transmitted from the control terminal 17.

[0036] The flight controller 14 includes a control module configured to control the state of the flying object 1. For example, the control module controls the motor 11B, which is the propulsion mechanism of the flying object 1, via the ESC11C in order to adjust the spatial arrangement, speed, and / or acceleration of the flying object 1 having six degrees of freedom (translational motions x, y, and z, and rotational motions θx, θy, and θz). By rotating the rotary wing 11A by the motor 11B, lift of the flying object 1 and thrust for rising from the upside-down posture are generated. The flight controller 14 can control the rotation direction and rotation speed (rotation rate) of the motor 11B to adjust the force generated by the rotary wing 20. The rotation rate also means the number of rotations per predetermined time.

[0037] The flight controller 14 is communicable with a transmission / reception unit 16 configured to transmit and / or receive data from one or more external devices (for example, the control terminal 17). The transmission / reception unit 16 can use any suitable communication means such as wired communication or wireless communication. The transmission / reception unit 16 can utilize one or more of any communication methods such as, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), infrared, wireless, WiFi, a point-to-point (P2P) network, a telecommunications network, cloud communication, etc.

[0038] The transmission / reception unit 16 can transmit and / or receive one or more of the data acquired by the sensor 15, the processing results generated by the flight controller 14, predetermined control data, user commands from a terminal or a remote controller, etc., and the received information can be stored in a storage unit such as the memory 23a. Information obtained by the camera and the sensor 15 may be output to the control terminal 17, an external device, etc. via the transmission / reception unit 16.

[0039] The control terminal 17 is a device for instructing (that is, controlling the aircraft) operations such as the ascent (takeoff), hovering, horizontal movement in the front, rear, left, and right directions, turning, landing, etc. of the aircraft 1, and the activation and stop of the camera. The user can operate the control terminal 17 to move the aircraft 12 in an arbitrary direction or stop it.

[0040] Note that the control of the aircraft 1 may be controlled by the operation of an operator on the ground or the like, or may be controlled by automatic or manual control based on a flight path information or an autonomous flight program based on sensing (for example, a GCS (Ground Control Station)). The control terminal 17 may be, for example, a terminal such as a transceiver (prop), a smartphone, a tablet, etc.

[0041] The sensor 15 according to this embodiment can directly obtain various information such as the inclination of the flying object 1 in the three-axis directions (including at least the angle with respect to the horizontal plane), angular velocity, velocity, acceleration, etc., or obtain data for calculating them. The sensor 15 can include, for example, an inertial sensor (an inertial measurement device such as an IMU (Inertial Measurement Sensor)), an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a GPS sensor, a wind sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, an altitude sensor, a proximity sensor such as LiDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), or a vision / image sensor other than a camera. Also, the camera 12 can be any camera. The camera 12 can be installed not only in front of the aircraft 10 but also at any position such as behind, left, right, above, or below, and is not limited to one location and may be provided at a plurality of locations. For example, the camera can be an infrared camera, a stereo camera, etc. in addition to a general camera. The camera may be provided, for example, with a camera for self-position estimation and a camera for imaging an object to be photographed, respectively. The flying object 1 in this example can remove the battery pack from the aircraft 10 and charge it in a non-flying state. Also, the flying object 1 may be provided with a plurality of batteries or only one battery.

[0042] As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present disclosure can conceive of various modification examples or correction examples within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are also naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0043] Also, in the above-described embodiment, although such autonomous flight control has been described as being executed by the flight controller 14 of the aircraft 1, the present technology is not limited to such an example. That is, such an autonomous flight control method is not limited to an example in which it is processed at the edge in the aircraft, and the above-described correction processing is remotely performed by another autonomous flight control device, and the processing result is transmitted to the aircraft, and the drive unit may be controlled based on such a result. That is, the main body of the hardware that executes such an autonomous flight control method is not particularly limited, and the above-described functional units may be executed by a plurality of hardware.

[0044] Also, the effects described in this specification are merely illustrative or exemplary and not limiting. That is, the technology according to the present disclosure may exhibit other effects that are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of this specification, together with or instead of the above effects.

[0045] Note that the following configurations also belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure. (Item 1) An airframe including a lift generating unit, A suspension part suspended from the airframe, A control unit that controls the lift generating unit so that the airframe moves together with the suspension part in a state where the suspension part is in contact with an external surface, and a moving body including the same. (Item 2) The moving body according to Item 1, wherein a sliding part for sliding on the external surface is provided at a lower end part of the suspension part. (Item 3) The moving body according to Item 1, wherein wheels for moving the external surface are provided at a lower end part of the suspension part. (Item 4) The moving body according to Item 1 or 2, wherein the suspension part is configured to be elastically deformable according to the movement of the airframe. (Item 5) The moving body according to Item 1 or 2, wherein the suspension part includes a joint part that can be bent according to the movement of the airframe. (Item 6) The moving body according to item 1 or 2, wherein a weight is provided at the lower part of the hanging part. (Item 7) The moving body according to item 1 or 2, wherein a joint part that can be bent in any direction is provided at the connecting part between the hanging part and the airframe.

Description of Signs

[0046] 1 Unmanned aerial vehicle (moving body) 10 Airframe 11 Lift generating part 14 Control part 20 Hanging part

Claims

1. An airframe including a lift generating section, a suspension section suspended from the airframe, and a control section for controlling the lift generating section so that the airframe moves together with the suspension section with the suspension section in contact with an external surface. A moving body comprising the same.

2. The moving body according to claim 1, wherein a sliding section for sliding on the external surface is provided at a lower end of the suspension section.

3. The moving body according to claim 1, wherein wheels for moving the external surface are provided at a lower end of the suspension section.

4. The moving body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suspension section is configured to be elastically deformable according to the movement of the airframe.

5. The moving body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the suspension section includes a joint section that can be bent according to the movement of the airframe.

6. The moving body according to claim 5, wherein the joint section is provided at a connecting portion between the suspension section and the airframe.

7. The moving body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a weight is provided at a lower portion of the suspension section.

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