Flight body control device and flight body control method

Abstract

To solve such a problem that, when a designated flight body switches from autonomous flight to remote control, there is a concern that the performance of the wireless communication required for remote control may not be obtained, potentially leading to a serious accident depending on a situation of surrounding flight bodies.SOLUTION: A flight body control device that manages the operation and wireless communication of a flight body, when allocating an amount of wireless resources required by the designated flight body among the flight bodies from the wireless resources of a wireless area used by the flight body, issues an instruction to reduce the use amounts of wireless resources of other flight bodies to the other flight bodies excluding the designated flight body among the flight bodies that use the wireless resources.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a flight control device and a flight control method.

Background Art

[0002] Flying objects such as drones operated by autonomous flight or remote control are expected to be applied not only to logistics but also to a wide range of fields such as people flow and structure monitoring. In particular, in urban areas with a large population and chronic traffic congestion, many solutions using flying objects have been studied, and it is expected that a large number of flying objects for various purposes will fly around simultaneously in a narrow area.

[0003] Among these flying objects, those that perform remote control or structure monitoring using a camera need to transmit video data from the flying object to the ground, so a connection via wireless communication with high communication performance is essential. On the other hand, since the size of data transmitted and received by an autonomously flying object is usually small, the performance required for wireless communication is not high.

[0004] In order to cover a wide flight area of a flying object, it is appropriate to use a public network such as 5G or LTE. However, these wireless communication systems have the characteristic that as the communication volume of all users increases, the communication performance obtained by each terminal decreases. For this reason, even for the same communication content, the required communication performance may not be obtained depending on the communication status of surrounding terminals.

[0005] In order to avoid such communication failures, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for maintaining the communication performance in a specific airspace by limiting the number of flying objects assigned to fly in the airspace to prevent the communication performance from deteriorating below a threshold value.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] In a method of prohibiting further entry of aircraft when communication performance deteriorates, as in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, if an aircraft already present in a specific airspace starts communication with a larger capacity than before, there is a risk of communication failure occurring throughout the area. For example, when an autonomously flying aircraft makes an emergency landing due to a malfunction or the like, it is assumed that the operation will be switched from autonomous flight to remote control in order to confirm the safety of the landing location. However, at that time, depending on the situation of the surrounding aircraft, there is a concern that the communication performance required for remote control cannot be obtained, leading to a serious accident.

[0008] Therefore, in the present invention, a control device that controls aircraft in the airspace to be managed estimates the amount of radio resources required to remotely control an aircraft designated as requiring an emergency landing or the like, determines whether the radio communication system in the corresponding area can provide that amount of radio resources, and if it cannot, instructs other aircraft in that radio area to reduce the amount of radio resources they use, thereby securing the amount of radio resources required for the corresponding aircraft. The purpose is to provide a technology.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, one of the typical flight control devices according to the present invention is a flight control device that manages the operation and radio communication of aircraft. When allocating the amount of radio resources required by a designated aircraft from among the aircraft from the radio resources of the radio area used by the aircraft, an instruction is given to reduce the radio resource usage amount of other aircraft excluding the designated aircraft from among the aircraft using the radio resources.

Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, even if a specified aircraft switches from autonomous flight to remote control due to a failure or the need for an emergency landing, the surrounding aircraft can reduce the amount of radio resource usage according to an instruction from the control device, so that the corresponding aircraft can secure sufficient radio resources. Therefore, measures such as a safe emergency landing can be taken by smooth remote control. Thus, when an aircraft within a radio area changes its operation to perform high-capacity communication, the control device can instruct the surrounding aircraft as necessary to perform communication with sufficient performance. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description in the following embodiments for implementation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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[0012] Hereinafter, as embodiments for carrying out the present invention, Examples 1 to 4 will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by these examples. Also, in the description of the drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. EXAMPLES

[0013] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system using the flight control device according to the present invention. The system using the flight control device according to the present invention includes a plurality of flying objects 2 (2a to 2e), a control device 1 for controlling the plurality of flying objects 2, a base station 3 for communicating with the plurality of flying objects 2, and a remote control device 4 for remotely controlling the flying objects 2.

[0014] The control device 1, which is a flight control device according to the present invention, controls a plurality of flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) in a designated airspace. Specifically, it manages, with respect to the plurality of flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) in the airspace, position, destination, remaining battery level, flight purpose, presence or absence of a remote control function, communication method to be used, presence or absence of a video transmission function, and the like. Further, it instructs each of the flying objects 2a to 2e of a flight route to the destination and manages the state during flight. Also, communication with the plurality of flying objects 2 is performed by wireless communication through the base station 3.

[0015] A plurality of flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) fly autonomously or under remote control for determined purposes such as logistics, passenger flow, and inspections. Also, during flight, the plurality of flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) follow the instructions of the control device 1 responsible for airspace control in that airspace.

[0016] The base station 3 is a ground device for performing wireless communication such as LTE or 5G, and communicates wirelessly with the flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) in flight. Here, the airspace where one radio resource of this base station 3 is used is defined as one radio area. For example, in LTE communication, one base station may have three radio cells, and in this case, one radio cell becomes one radio area. Flying objects 2 in the same radio area share one radio resource. Here, the radio resource indicates the allowable communication capacity in one radio area. Specifically, it indicates the utilization rate of radio resource blocks in LTE or 5G. For example, for high-capacity communication such as image transmission, a large amount of radio resources are required. Also, when multiple flying objects 2 (2a to 2e) communicate simultaneously, the amount of radio resources available per aircraft decreases.

[0017] The remote control device 4 is a device for remotely controlling the flying objects 2 (2a to 2e), enabling a remote operator waiting in advance to operate and control the flying objects 2 in real time. The trigger for starting remote control can be an application from a remote operator, or in other cases, when the control device 1 determines it is necessary, it may instruct an appropriate remote operator to perform remote control. For example, when an emergency landing needs to be carried out in a place such as an urban area where careful safety confirmation is required, remote control is instructed for safety reasons.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks constituting the control device 1, which is a flight control device according to the present invention. The control device 1 is composed of the following functional elements and a DB (database). (1) Judgment function 10: Judges the necessity of allocating radio resources to the flying objects 2 in the airspace to be managed.

[0019] (2) Radio resource requirement calculation function 11: Calculates the amount of radio resources (radio resource requirement) required for the aircraft 2 within the managed airspace to operate without problems. (3) Radio resource usage calculation function 12: Calculates the amount of radio resources currently being used by each aircraft 2 (radio resource usage).

[0020] (4) Radio resource-using aircraft selection function 13: Extracts the aircraft 2 using specific radio resources from among the aircraft 2 in the managed airspace. (5) Communication function 14: Communicates with each aircraft 2 and the like.

[0021] (6) Radio resource reduction priority setting function 15: Determines the priority for instructing radio resource reduction. (7) Radio resource reduction method selection function 16: Determines the radio resource reduction method.

[0022] (8) Route selection function 17: Instructs each aircraft 2 on its route. (9) Instruction function 18: Gives instructions on remote control and the start time of control to the remote operator.

[0023] (10) Aircraft information DB 19: Stores and manages the information of the aircraft 2 in the managed airspace. (11) Communication environment information DB 20: Stores and manages the state of the radio area in the managed airspace.

[0024] As described above, the control device 1 can manage the usage status of the radio resources in the radio area of the managed airspace and allocate the necessary radio resources to the aircraft 2 that the control device 1 itself determines to be necessary.

[0025] Figure 3 is a diagram showing, in a flowchart, an example of the procedure for instructing remote control to cause the aircraft 2 that has detected an abnormality to make an emergency landing. This procedure is a procedure for allocating the radio resources required for the aircraft 2 that has detected an abnormality. · Step S001: Detect an abnormality in the aircraft 2 that requires an emergency landing.

[0026] · Step S002: The control device 1 is notified of an abnormality of the aircraft 2. This abnormality notification may occur when the aircraft 2 itself detects an abnormality (e.g., by the abnormality detection function 22 shown in FIG. 9) and contacts the control device 1, or when a monitoring device (not shown) that monitors the aircraft 2 on the ground detects an abnormality and contacts the control device 1. In the present invention, either case can be handled.

[0027] · Step S003: The control device 1 that has received the notification calculates the amount of radio resources required for remote control for the corresponding aircraft 2 to make an emergency landing.

[0028] · Step S004: The control device 1 checks the amount of radio resources available in the radio area where the corresponding aircraft 2 is flying at that time.

[0029] · Step S005: The control device 1 compares the required amount of radio resources with the available amount of radio resources, and determines whether the amount of radio resources required by the aircraft 2 is insufficient. If it is not insufficient (No), the process directly proceeds to Step S010. If it is insufficient (Yes), the process proceeds to the decision step of Step S006.

[0030] · Step S006: The control device 1 determines whether to allocate the necessary radio resources to the aircraft 2. As this determination criterion, for example, if the failure occurrence location is in an urban area where safety confirmation is essential, a determination is made to allocate (Yes), and if the failure occurrence location is in the suburbs where safety confirmation is not required, a determination is made not to allocate (No), and the aircraft lands autonomously without allocation. Alternatively, even if other aircraft 2 are instructed to reduce the radio resource usage amount, if it is difficult to secure the radio resources to be allocated, the resource allocation at that location is rejected.

[0031] When the control device 1 determines not to allocate resources (No), the process proceeds to Step S007. · Step S007: The control device 1 notifies the aircraft 2 of the rejection of resource allocation.

[0032] On the other hand, when the control device 1 determines to perform resource allocation (Yes), it proceeds to step S008. · Step S008: The control device 1 selects the aircraft 2 that instructs the reduction of wireless resource usage from among the aircraft 2 in the same wireless area.

[0033] · Step S009: The control device 1 instructs the aircraft 2 selected in step S008 to reduce the wireless resource usage. The specific method of this usage reduction will be described later. If the required wireless resources for allocation can be secured due to the instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage or if the amount of wireless resources is not insufficient (in the case of "No" in the previous step S005), step S010 is executed.

[0034] · Step S010: The control device 1 notifies the remote operator of the completion of securing wireless resources and the completion time. Here, the correspondence relationship between the aircraft 2 and its remote operator is extracted from the aircraft information DB19.

[0035] · Step S011: The remote operator who received the notification in step S010 starts remote control of the corresponding aircraft 2.

[0036] Next, the operation mode when the control device 1 allocates wireless resources due to an emergency landing will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation procedure when the control device 1 allocates wireless resources due to an emergency landing in a flowchart. Although the main body of the processing of each step of the flowchart described below is the control device 1, the description of the main body is omitted in the description of each step.

[0037] · Step S101: Receive an abnormality notification informing that an abnormality has occurred in the aircraft 2. · Step S102: Using the radio resource requirement calculation function 11, calculate the amount of radio resources required for the corresponding aircraft 2 during remote control. The calculation procedure will be described later with reference to FIG. 5.

[0038] · Step S103: Using the radio resource usage calculation function 12, calculate the amount of radio resources currently used in the radio area where the corresponding aircraft 2 is flying, and confirm the amount of radio resources available for the corresponding aircraft 2. The calculation procedure will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.

[0039] · Step S104: Determine whether the required amount of radio resources is insufficient. If it is not insufficient (No), directly proceed to step S111. If it is insufficient (Yes), proceed to step S105.

[0040] · Step S105: Issue an instruction to the aircraft 2 within the radio area to secure the necessary radio resources, and use the determination function 10 to determine whether to allocate radio resources. If allocation is not performed (No), proceed to step S112. In step S112, notify the corresponding aircraft 2 of the rejection of radio resource allocation. If allocation is performed (Yes), proceed to step S106.

[0041] · Step S106: Using the radio resource utilization aircraft selection function 13, list up the aircraft 2 that fly in the same radio area as the aircraft 2 and use the same radio resources.

[0042] · Step S107: Rearrange the listed aircraft 2 in the order of priority of radio resource reduction using the radio resource reduction priority setting function 15. The specific priority setting method will be described later.

[0043] · Step S108: Select the aircraft 2 with the highest reduction priority among the aircraft 2 for which reduction instructions have not been issued.

[0044] · Step S109: For the aircraft 2 with the highest reduction priority, determine a radio resource reduction method using the radio resource reduction method selection function 16, and instruct the reduction according to the determined reduction method.

[0045] · Step S110: Use the radio resource usage amount calculation function 12 to check whether the required radio resource amount can be ensured by this reduction. If it cannot be ensured (No), for the aircraft 2 with the next highest reduction priority among the aircraft 2 for which the reduction instruction has not been given yet, repeat the reduction instruction in the same manner until it can be ensured. If the required radio resource amount can be ensured including this repetition (Yes), proceed to step S111.

[0046] · Step S111: Notify the remote operator that the radio resource allocation is completed. At this time, also notify the remote operator of the information on the time when the allocation is actually completed and the radio resources become available.

[0047] Next, a procedure for calculating the radio resource amount required during remote control of the aircraft shown in step S102 above will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the procedure for calculating the required radio resource amount in a flowchart. The processing according to this procedure is executed by the radio resource required amount calculation function 11 provided in the control device 1. Although the main body of the processing of each step in the flowchart described below is the control device 1, the description of the main body is omitted in the description of each step.

[0048] · Step S201: Obtain the current position of the corresponding aircraft 2 from the aircraft information DB 19 and the position information of the base station 3 in the radio area where the corresponding aircraft 2 flies from the communication environment information DB 20, and calculate the distance between this aircraft 2 and the base station 3.

[0049] · Step S202: Refer to the comparison diagram of the distance and the maximum communication speed in the radio area from the communication environment information DB 20, and obtain the maximum communication speed obtained by the distance calculated in step S201.

[0050] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a graph indicating the relationship between distance and maximum communication speed. In LTE and 5G, since the maximum communication speed available varies depending on the received signal strength, a graph showing the relationship between the distance obtained by converting this received signal strength into the distance from base station 3 and the maximum communication speed is obtained. From this graph, the maximum communication speed obtained at that distance can be determined.

[0051] · Step S203: Obtain the communication speed required when the aircraft 2 performs remote control from the aircraft information DB 19.

[0052] · Step S204: Based on the previously obtained maximum communication speed and the required communication speed, calculate the required radio resource amount (required radio resource amount) using the following formula. Required radio resource amount = Required communication speed / Maximum communication speed

[0053] Next, a procedure for calculating the radio resource amount used in the radio area shown in step S103 of FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a procedure for calculating the radio resource amount used in the radio area. The processing according to this procedure is executed by the radio resource usage amount calculation function 12 provided in the control device 1. Although the main body of each step of the flowchart shown below is the control device 1, the description of the main body is omitted in the description of each step.

[0054] Prior to the description of the flowchart, the control device 1 first lists up the aircraft 2 using the target radio area and classifies them into aircraft 2 in continuous communication and aircraft 2 in non - continuous communication. Here, continuous communication means continuously transmitting data such as streaming transmission of video data, and non - continuous communication means communicating a small amount of data such as command transmission in a short time.

[0055] Since the usage time of radio resources in discontinuous communication is short, radio resources are not used exclusively compared to continuous communication. Therefore, regarding the amount of radio resources used by the aircraft 2 performing discontinuous communication, it is roughly estimated from the number of corresponding aircraft 2 and the data size. For example, if there are 10 aircraft 2 performing command transmission / reception and periodic communication of status data, the usage amount is 10%, and thus a rough usage framework is determined. Next, for the aircraft 2 performing continuous communication, the radio resource usage amount is calculated according to the following procedure.

[0056] · Step S301: Select an aircraft 2 for which the radio resource usage amount is to be calculated from among the aircraft 2 performing continuous communication.

[0057] · Step S302: Calculate the distance between the selected aircraft 2 and the base station 3. This calculation procedure is the same as step S201 when calculating the required amount of radio resources shown in FIG. 5.

[0058] · Step S303: Obtain the maximum communication speed obtained from the calculated distance. The procedure for obtaining this is the same as step S202 when calculating the required amount of radio resources shown in FIG. 5.

[0059] · Step S304: Obtain the communication speed that the aircraft 2 is using at that time. · Step S305: Calculate the radio resource usage amount using the following formula. Radio resource usage amount = Used communication speed / Maximum communication speed In steps S306 and S307, the processes from step S301 to step S305 are performed for all aircraft 2 performing continuous communication to calculate the usage amount of radio resources used by continuous communication.

[0060] · Step S306: Add the newly calculated radio resource usage amount to the total radio resource usage amount calculated so far.

[0061] · Step S307: Determine whether the wireless resource usage of all the aircraft 2 performing continuous communication has been calculated. If the calculation has not been completed yet (No), return to step S301. If the calculation has been completed (Yes), proceed to step S308.

[0062] · Step S308: Add the wireless resource usage assigned to the aircraft 2 performing non - continuous communication calculated initially to the wireless resource usage of all the aircraft 2 performing continuous communication. · Step S309: Calculate the total amount of wireless resource usage in the entire wireless area.

[0063] Next, the priority - setting procedure for reducing the wireless resources shown in step S107 of FIG. 4 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the priority - setting procedure when prioritizing aircraft with a large wireless resource usage. The processing according to this procedure is executed by the wireless resource reduction priority - setting function 15 provided in the control device 1. Although the main body of the processing for each step of the flowchart described below is the control device 1, the description of the main body is omitted in the description of each step.

[0064] · Step S401: Using the wireless resource - using aircraft selection function 13, list up the aircraft 2 using the same wireless resources. As a method for this listing, list up the aircraft 2 belonging to the same wireless area and using the same wireless method based on the information in the aircraft information DB19 and the communication environment information DB20.

[0065] · Step S402: Using the wireless resource usage calculation function 12, calculate the wireless resource usage of each of the listed - up aircraft 2.

[0066] · Step S403: Arrange each of the listed - up aircraft 2 in descending order of wireless resource usage.

[0067] · Step S404: Exclude the flight vehicle 2 that cannot be stopped from communicating, for which instructing radio resource reduction may cause a serious obstacle, from among the arranged flight vehicles 2. As criteria for this exclusion, for example, a flight vehicle 2 that has already entered a landing posture or a flight vehicle 2 that has already been remotely controlled and has a high possibility of causing an accident if the operation is stopped, etc. may be excluded.

[0068] The following describes the functional configurations of the flight vehicle 2 and the remote control device 4 according to the present invention. These are common among the first to fourth embodiments.

[0069] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the flight vehicle 2 according to the present invention. The flight vehicle 2 includes an autonomous flight function 21 that autonomously flies without a pilot, an abnormality detection function 22 that detects abnormalities in its own airframe, a remote control function 23 that flies by remote control, and a communication function 24 that communicates with the control device 1, a remote operator, etc.

[0070] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the remote control device 4 according to the present invention. The remote control device 4 includes a video reception function 41 that receives video information from the flight vehicle 2, a sensor information reception function 42 that receives sensor information from the flight vehicle 2, a control instruction function 43 that controls the flight vehicle 2 based on that information, and a communication function 44 that communicates with the flight vehicle 2, the control device 1, etc.

Embodiment

[0071] As a second embodiment according to the present invention, an embodiment in which the content of instructing radio resource reduction is movement to an adjacent radio area will be described. In the second embodiment, in order to reduce radio resources, priority is given to reducing radio resources from flight vehicles close to an adjacent radio area.

[0072] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure when prioritization for wireless resource reduction is performed as Example 2. This procedure is one of the prioritization procedures of the wireless resource reduction priority setting function 15 provided in the control device 1. Although the main body of the processing of each step of the flowchart described below is the control device 1, the description of the main body is omitted in the description of each step.

[0073] · Step S501: Using the aircraft selection function 13 for wireless resource utilization, list up the aircraft 2 that are using the same wireless resource (the same base station 3).

[0074] · Step S502: Based on the position information of the listed-up aircraft 2 and the information from the communication environment information DB 20, calculate the distance for the aircraft 2 to move to the adjacent wireless area.

[0075] · Step S503: Based on the calculated distance, arrange the listed-up aircraft 2 in ascending order of the moving distance.

[0076] · Step S504: Exclude the aircraft 2 that cannot move to the adjacent wireless area from the arranged aircraft 2. Examples of the exclusion criteria include excluding aircraft whose operation purpose cannot be achieved when moving, such as infrastructure monitoring, and aircraft whose distance to the destination increases significantly when moving.

[0077] Next, the route reconfiguration after the aircraft 2 moves to the adjacent wireless area will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure for route reconfiguration after the movement.

[0078] · Step S601: The aircraft 2 commanded by the control device 1 to move to the adjacent wireless area moves to the designated adjacent wireless area at the shortest distance in order to quickly secure wireless resources.

[0079] · Step S602: Starting from the arrival point of the corresponding aircraft 2 in the adjacent wireless area, the control device 1 creates a route for the corresponding aircraft 2 to reach the destination without entering the wireless area of the evacuation origin using the route selection function 17, and notifies the corresponding aircraft 2.

[0080] · Step S603: When it is impossible for the corresponding aircraft 2 to reach the destination without entering the wireless area of the evacuation origin (the original wireless area), the control device 1 instructs the corresponding aircraft 2 to move to a point before the wireless area of the evacuation origin and wait there.

[0081] · Step S604: When the emergency communication in the wireless area of the evacuation origin is completed and the use of wireless resources becomes possible, the control device 1 permits the corresponding aircraft 2 to enter the wireless area of the evacuation origin.

Embodiment

[0082] As Embodiment 3 of the present invention, an embodiment in which the control device 1 selects and instructs an effective wireless resource reduction method for each aircraft 2 will be described. When the control device 1 instructs the aircraft 2 in the wireless area to reduce the amount of wireless resource usage using the wireless resource reduction method selection function 16, it selects a method for efficiently reducing the amount of wireless resource usage and sends the reduction instruction.

[0083] For example, when the distance between the aircraft 2 to which the reduction instruction is sent and the adjacent wireless area is short, the control device 1 instructs the aircraft 2 to move to the adjacent wireless area. Alternatively, when the corresponding aircraft 2 is transmitting video data and reducing the image quality of the video data has little impact, the control device 1 instructs to reduce the amount of transmitted data by reducing the image quality.

[0084] As described above, according to the situation of the aircraft 2, the control device 1 instructs the movement of the aircraft 2, the change of the data content to be transmitted, the reduction of the transmission frequency, etc. If necessary, the control device 1 also instructs the communication stop for a certain period and the waiting in the air during the stop period.

Embodiment

[0085] As Example 4 according to the present invention, when a malfunction occurs in the aircraft 2, for an appropriate aircraft 2 flying around the aircraft 2, in order to confirm the cause of the malfunction, an embodiment for instructing the confirmation of the malfunctioning aircraft 2 will be described. Example 4 allocates the necessary radio resources to an inspection aircraft that inspects the malfunctioning aircraft 2 from the outside and remotely controls the inspection aircraft. Further, Example 4 may be used in combination with any one of Examples 1 to 3, or may be carried out alone.

[0086] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing, as Example 4, an example of a procedure for allocating radio resources to an inspection aircraft that inspects a malfunctioning aircraft 2 from the outside, in the form of a flowchart. · Step S701: An abnormality occurrence in the aircraft 2 is detected.

[0087] · Step S702: The occurrence of the abnormality in the aircraft 2 is notified to the control device 1. Here, this notification of the abnormality occurrence may be a case where the aircraft 2 itself detects its own abnormality and notifies the control device 1, or a case where a monitoring device (not shown) that monitors the aircraft 2 on the ground detects the abnormality of the aircraft 2 and notifies the control device 1. In the present invention, either case can be handled. In Example 4, the control device 1 that has received the notification directs an inspection aircraft for externally confirming the cause of the abnormality occurrence of the aircraft 2 toward the corresponding aircraft 2.

[0088] · Step S703: The control device 1 selects one aircraft 2 that flies around the aircraft 2 in which the abnormality has been detected and is equipped with a device such as a camera that can be inspected from the outside, and sets it as the inspection aircraft. Here, as criteria for selection as the inspection aircraft, for example, selecting the aircraft 2 that has the necessary functions and is at the closest position to the malfunctioning aircraft 2 can be mentioned.

[0089] · Step S704: The control device 1 calculates the amount of radio resources required when remotely controlling the set inspection aircraft to perform an inspection from the outside.

[0090] · Step S705: The control device 1 checks the amount of available radio resources of the set inspection device.

[0091] · Step S706: The control device 1 compares the required amount of radio resources with the available amount of radio resources, and determines whether the required amount of radio resources for the inspection device is insufficient. If it is insufficient (Yes), it proceeds to the next step S707. If it is not insufficient (No), it directly proceeds to step S710.

[0092] · Step S707: The control device 1 determines whether to allocate the required amount of radio resources to the inspection device. As this criterion, for example, if it is difficult to secure the amount of radio resources to be allocated even when instructing the reduction of radio resource usage to another aircraft 2, the allocation of radio resources at that time is rejected. In this determination, if the allocation of radio resources is not performed (No), it proceeds to step S712. If the allocation of radio resources is performed (Yes), it proceeds to the next step S708.

[0093] · Step S712: The control device 1 notifies that the inspection device is not used for the aircraft 2 in which an abnormality has occurred.

[0094] · Step S708: The control device 1 selects the aircraft 2 for which the reduction of radio resource usage is instructed from among the aircraft 2 flying in the same radio area.

[0095] · Step S709: The control device 1 instructs the selected aircraft 2 to reduce the radio resource usage.

[0096] · Step S710: When the control device 1 can secure the radio resources required for allocation by the instruction to reduce the radio resource usage, it notifies the remote operator of the inspection device of the completion of the securing of the radio resources and the completion time. Here, the correspondence relationship between the aircraft 2 and its remote operator is extracted from the aircraft information DB19.

[0097] · Step S711: The remote operator who has received the notification starts the remote control of the inspection aircraft. Then, the inspection aircraft inspects the state of the aircraft 2 where an abnormality has occurred from the outside.

[0098] According to the above-described Examples 1 to 4, the present invention includes at least the following aspects. <Aspect 1> An aircraft control device that manages the operation and wireless communication of an aircraft, and when allocating the amount of wireless resources required by a specified aircraft among the wireless resources of the wireless area used by the aircraft, an instruction is given to reduce the wireless resource usage amount of other aircraft excluding the specified aircraft among the aircraft using the wireless resources.

[0099] <Aspect 2> The aircraft control device described in the above Aspect 1, wherein the required amount of wireless resources is calculated based on the maximum communication speed obtained from the distance between the specified aircraft and the wireless base station and the communication speed required by the specified aircraft.

[0100] <Aspect 3> The aircraft control device described in the above Aspect 1 or the above Aspect 2, wherein the amount of available wireless resources in the wireless area used by the aircraft is calculated, and when the calculated available wireless resource amount is less than the amount of wireless resources required by the specified aircraft, an instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount is given.

[0101] <Aspect 4> The aircraft control device described in any one of the above Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount is preferentially given in the order of other aircraft with a large wireless resource usage amount among the wireless areas used by the specified aircraft and other aircraft.

[0102] <Aspect 5> The flight control device according to any one of the above-described Aspect 1 to Aspect 3, wherein an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount is prioritized in the order of other aircraft with a short distance for moving from the radio area used by the specified aircraft and other aircraft to an adjacent radio area.

[0103] <Aspect 6> The flight control device according to the above-described Aspect 1, wherein a method of reducing the radio resource usage amount is changed according to the situation of other aircraft that receive an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount.

[0104] <Aspect 7> The flight control device according to any one of the above-described Aspect 1 to Aspect 6, wherein the specified aircraft is an aircraft that needs to allocate the amount of radio resources required to cause an abnormality in the aircraft itself and remotely control the aircraft.

[0105] <Aspect 8> The flight control device according to any one of the above-described Aspect 1 to Aspect 6, wherein the specified aircraft is an inspection aircraft selected from other aircraft to inspect an aircraft that has detected an abnormality in the aircraft from outside the aircraft among the aircraft, and the other aircraft are aircraft excluding the aircraft that has detected an abnormality in addition to the specified aircraft selected from among the aircraft.

[0106] <Aspect 9> A flight control method for managing the operation and wireless communication of an aircraft, calculating the amount of radio resources required by a specified aircraft, and when the amount of radio resources available in the radio area used by the aircraft does not satisfy the required amount of radio resources, giving an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount of other aircraft using the radio area, and allocating the required amount of radio resources to the specified aircraft based on the reduced radio resource usage amount.

[0107] <Aspect 10> The flight control method described in the above Aspect 9, wherein an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount is preferentially given in the order of other aircraft with a large radio resource usage amount among the radio areas used by the designated aircraft and other aircraft.

[0108] <Aspect 11> The flight control method described in the above Aspect 9, wherein an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount is preferentially given in the order of other aircraft with a short distance for moving from the radio area used by the designated aircraft and other aircraft to an adjacent radio area.

[0109] <Aspect 12> The flight control method described in the above Aspect 9, wherein the method of reducing the radio resource usage amount is changed according to the situation of other aircraft that receive an instruction to reduce the radio resource usage amount.

[0110] <Aspect 13> The flight control method described in any one of the above Aspects 9 to 12, wherein the designated aircraft is an aircraft that needs to allocate the amount of radio resources required to cause an abnormality in the aircraft itself and remotely control the aircraft.

[0111] <Aspect 14> The flight control method described in any one of the above Aspects 9 to 12, wherein the designated aircraft is an inspection aircraft selected from other aircraft than the aircraft that detected the abnormality in order to externally inspect the aircraft that detected the abnormality among the aircraft, and other aircraft are aircraft excluding the aircraft that detected the abnormality in addition to the designated aircraft selected from among the aircraft.

[0112] As described above, Examples 1 to 4 according to the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described respective examples, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0113] 1... Control device, 2(2a to 2e)... Aircraft, 3... Base station, 4... Remote control device 10…Judgment function, 11…Calculation function of required amount of radio resources, 12…Calculation function of radio resource usage amount, 13…Function of selecting a flying object using radio resources, 14, 24, 44…Communication function, 15…Function of setting radio resource reduction priority, 16…Function of selecting radio resource reduction method, 17…Route selection function, 18…Indication function, 19…Flying object information DB, 20…Communication environment information DB, 21…Autonomous flight function, 22…Abnormality detection function, 23…Remote control function, 41…Video reception function, 42…Sensor information reception function, 43…Flight instruction function

Claims

1. A flight control device for managing the operation and wireless communication of an aircraft, when allocating the amount of wireless resources required by a specified aircraft among the wireless resources of the wireless area used by the aircraft, an instruction is given to reduce the amount of wireless resources used by other aircraft excluding the specified aircraft among the aircraft using the wireless resources. A flight control device characterized by this.

2. The flight control device according to claim 1, wherein the required amount of wireless resources is calculated based on the maximum communication speed obtained from the distance between the specified aircraft and the wireless base station and the communication speed required by the specified aircraft. A flight control device characterized by this.

3. The flight control device according to claim 1, calculates the amount of wireless resources available for use in the wireless area used by the aircraft, and when the calculated available amount of wireless resources is less than the amount of wireless resources required by the specified aircraft, the instruction to reduce the amount of wireless resources used is given. A flight control device characterized by this.

4. The flight control device according to claim 1, the instruction to reduce the amount of wireless resources used is preferentially given in the order of the other aircraft with a large amount of wireless resources used among the wireless areas used by the specified aircraft and the other aircraft. A flight control device characterized by this.

5. The flight control device according to claim 1, the instruction to reduce the amount of wireless resources used is preferentially given in the order of the other aircraft with a short distance for moving to an adjacent wireless area from the wireless areas used by the specified aircraft and the other aircraft. A flight control device characterized by this.

6. The flight control device according to claim 1, changing the method of reducing the amount of wireless resources used according to the situation of the other aircraft that receives the instruction to reduce the amount of wireless resources used. A flight control device characterized by this.

7. The flight control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the specified aircraft is an aircraft that needs to allocate the amount of wireless resources required to cause an abnormality in the aircraft itself and remotely control the aircraft. A flight control device characterized by this.

8. The flight control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The specified aircraft is an inspection aircraft selected from the other aircraft to inspect from the outside an aircraft that has detected an abnormality in the aircraft among the aircraft, The other aircraft are aircraft excluding the aircraft that have detected the abnormality in addition to the specified aircraft among the aircraft A flight control device characterized by the above.

9. A flight control method for managing the operation and wireless communication of an aircraft, Calculating the amount of wireless resources required by a specified aircraft among the aircraft, and when the amount of wireless resources available in the wireless area used by the aircraft does not satisfy the required amount of wireless resources, giving an instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount of other aircraft excluding the specified aircraft among the aircraft using the wireless area, and allocating the required amount of wireless resources to the specified aircraft based on the reduced wireless resource usage amount A flight control method characterized by the above.

10. The flight control method according to Claim 9, The instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount is preferentially given in the order of the other aircraft having a large wireless resource usage amount among the wireless areas used by the specified aircraft and the other aircraft. A flight control method characterized by the above.

11. The flight control method according to Claim 9, The instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount is preferentially given in the order of the other aircraft having a short distance for moving to an adjacent wireless area from the wireless areas used by the specified aircraft and the other aircraft. A flight control method characterized by the above.

12. The flight control method according to Claim 9, Changing the method of reducing the wireless resource usage amount according to the situation of the other aircraft receiving the instruction to reduce the wireless resource usage amount A flight control method characterized by the above.

13. The flight control method according to any one of Claims 9 to 12, The specified aircraft is an aircraft that needs to allocate the amount of wireless resources required to cause an abnormality in the aircraft itself and remotely control the aircraft. A flight control method characterized by the above.

14. The flight control method according to any one of Claims 9 to 12, The specified aircraft is an inspection aircraft selected from the aircraft other than the aircraft that detected the abnormality in order to externally inspect the aircraft that detected the abnormality in the aircraft among the aircraft. The other aircraft is an aircraft excluding the aircraft that detected the abnormality in addition to the specified aircraft from among the aircraft. A flight control method characterized by the above.

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