Information processing device

Abstract

To improve a charging technique of a battery-powered flying object.SOLUTION: An information processing device 10 comprises a control unit which acquires position information of a plurality of mobile-type charging devices and flight path information of a battery-powered flying object, executes the matching between the plurality of mobile-type charging devices and the flying object on the basis of the acquired position information and flight path information, and determines the arrangement locations of the plurality of mobile-type charging devices according to the matching results.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been disclosed in which an aircraft is provided with a power receiving device that receives power through a magnetic resonance type contactless power supply, and a thrust generating mechanism that obtains thrust for flight using the power received by the power receiving device (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2017 / 203590 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Until now, technology for long-distance land transport of battery-powered aircraft has not been considered, meaning there is room for improvement in charging technology for battery-powered aircraft.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the purpose of the present disclosure is to improve charging technology for battery-powered flying objects. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: Acquire location information of a plurality of mobile charging devices and flight path information of a battery-powered flying object; Based on the acquired location information and flight path information, a matching is performed between the plurality of mobile charging devices and the flying object; a control unit that determines locations of the plurality of mobile charging devices according to the matching result; Equipped with. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, charging techniques for battery-powered air vehicles are improved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the information processing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0010] (Outline of the embodiment) An overview of a system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The system 1 includes an information processing device 10, a plurality of mobile charging devices 20, and an air vehicle 30. The information processing device 10, the plurality of mobile charging devices 20, and the air vehicle 30 are communicably connected to a network 40 including, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0011] The information processing device 10 is, for example, a server device installed in a data center or the like. For example, the information processing device 10 is a server belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system. The information processing device 10 is capable of communicating with a plurality of mobile charging devices 20 and flying objects 30 via a network 40. Note that while FIG. 1 shows an example in which the system 1 includes one information processing device 10, this is not limiting. The system 1 may include two or more information processing devices 10.

[0012] The mobile charging device 20 is a device such as a mobile vehicle equipped with a charging device capable of charging the air vehicle 30 via at least one of wired and wireless charging. Any method, such as magnetic resonance, electromagnetic induction, electric field coupling, or radio wave reception, may be adopted as the wireless charging method. The mobile charging device 20 is equipped with a positioning unit and is capable of acquiring its own position information. The positioning unit includes a sensor or receiver for acquiring the position of the mobile charging device 20 using autonomous navigation, electronic navigation, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), or the like. Sensors for autonomous navigation include, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a compass, and an altimeter. Receivers for electronic navigation include, for example, a receiver for receiving radio waves from terrestrial radio facilities such as VOR (VHF omnidirectional radio range) and ILS (Instrument Landing System). Furthermore, the GNSS receiver includes, for example, at least one of GPS (Global Positioning System), QZSS (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System), BeiDou, GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and Galileo. While Fig. 1 shows an example in which the system 1 includes three mobile charging devices 20, the number of mobile charging devices 20 is not limited to three. The system 1 may include fewer than three mobile charging devices 20, or may include four or more mobile charging devices 20.

[0013] The air vehicle 30 has electric rotors and flies on battery power. For example, the air vehicle 30 is an eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing). The eVTOL has a cabin approximately the same size as a passenger car that can accommodate one or more occupants, and a mechanism including one or more electric rotors for generating lift and thrust. The eVTOL is operated at least in part under visual flight rules (VFR). Note that the air vehicle 30 is not limited to eVTOLs and includes helicopters, drones, etc. The air vehicle 30 has a drive mechanism including a motor for driving the electric rotors, a control unit for the drive mechanism, and a battery for supplying power to the drive mechanism. The battery is, for example, a lithium-ion battery. The air vehicle 30 may also be operated under instrument flight rules (IFR), for example.

[0014] First, an overview of this embodiment will be described, and details will be provided later. An information processing device 10 acquires position information of multiple mobile charging devices 20 and flight path information of an air vehicle 30. Based on the acquired position information and flight path information, the information processing device 10 performs matching between the multiple mobile charging devices 20 and the air vehicle 30. Then, the information processing device 10 determines locations for placing the multiple mobile charging devices according to the matching results.

[0015] As described above, according to this embodiment, the location information of the multiple mobile charging devices 20 and the flight path information of the flying object 30 are acquired, and based on this, the multiple mobile charging devices 20 are matched with the flying object 30, and the placement locations of the multiple mobile charging devices 20 are determined according to the matched results. Therefore, the charging technology for the battery-powered flying object 30 is improved in that the multiple mobile charging devices 20 can be placed and charged according to the flight path information of the battery-powered flying object 30.

[0016] Next, the configuration of the information processing device 10 in the system 1 will be described in detail.

[0017] (Configuration of information processing device) As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an input unit 13, an output unit 14, and a communication unit 15.

[0018] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The control unit 11 executes processes related to the operation of the information processing device 10 while controlling each unit of the information processing device 10.

[0019] The storage unit 12 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The RAM is, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM) or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The ROM is, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The storage unit 12 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores data used in the operation of the information processing device 10 and data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10.

[0020] The input unit 13 includes at least one input interface. The input interface is, for example, a physical key, a capacitance key, a pointing device, or a touch screen integrated with a display. The input interface may also be, for example, a sound sensor that accepts voice input, or a camera that accepts gesture input. The input unit 13 accepts an operation to input data used for the operation of the information processing device 10. The input unit 13 may be connected to the information processing device 10 as an external input device instead of being provided in the information processing device 10. Any connection method may be used, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) (registered trademark), or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0021] The output unit 14 includes at least one output interface. The output interface is, for example, a display that outputs information as a video, or a speaker that outputs information as a sound. The display is, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an organic EL (electro luminescence) display. The output unit 14 displays and outputs data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10. The output unit 14 may be connected to the information processing device 10 as an external output device instead of being provided in the information processing device 10. Any connection method can be used, for example, USB, HDMI (registered trademark), or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0022] The communication unit 15 includes at least one external communication interface. The communication interface may be either a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface. In the case of wired communication, the communication interface is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface or a USB (Universal Serial Bus). In the case of wireless communication, the communication interface is, for example, an interface compatible with mobile communication standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th generation), or 5G (5th generation), or an interface compatible with short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The communication unit 15 receives data used in the operation of the information processing device 10 and transmits data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10.

[0023] The functions of the information processing device 10 are realized by executing a program according to this embodiment on a processor corresponding to the information processing device 10. That is, the functions of the information processing device 10 are realized by software. The program causes a computer to execute the operations of the information processing device 10, thereby causing the computer to function as the information processing device 10. That is, the computer functions as the information processing device 10 by executing the operations of the information processing device 10 in accordance with the program.

[0024] In this embodiment, the program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes non-transitory computer-readable media, such as a magnetic recording device, an optical disc, a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. The program can be distributed, for example, by selling, transferring, or lending a portable recording medium, such as a DVD (digital versatile disc) or a CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory), on which the program is recorded. The program can also be distributed by storing the program in the storage of an external server and transmitting the program from the external server to another computer. The program can also be provided as a program product.

[0025] Some or all of the functions of the information processing device 10 may be implemented by a dedicated circuit equivalent to the control unit 11. In other words, some or all of the functions of the information processing device 10 may be implemented by hardware.

[0026] (Operation of information processing device) The operation of the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0027] Step S1: The control unit 11 of the information processing device 10 acquires the position information of the plurality of mobile charging devices 20 and the flight path information of the battery-powered flying object 30.

[0028] Any method can be used to acquire the location information. For example, the control unit 11 may acquire location information of each mobile charging device 20 from multiple mobile charging devices 20 via the communication unit 15 and the network 40. Similarly, any method can be used to acquire flight path information. For example, the control unit 11 may acquire flight path information of the flying object 30 via the communication unit 15 and the network 40.

[0029] Step S2: The control unit 11 matches the multiple mobile charging devices 20 with the flying object 30 based on the acquired location information and flight path information. In this specification, matching refers to the process of determining the optimal placement location of each mobile charging device 20 based on the location information of the multiple mobile charging devices 20 and the flight path information of the flying object 30. For example, the multiple mobile charging devices 20 are placed at equal intervals on the flight path of the flying object 30. Alternatively, the multiple mobile charging devices 20 are placed at intervals on the flight path of the flying object 30 such that the remaining battery charge is always equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The predetermined value may be, for example, 20%.

[0030] Step S3: Based on the matching results, the control unit 11 determines the locations of the multiple mobile charging devices 20. In this way, the flying object 30 is positioned so that it is charged by each mobile charging device 20 at the optimal timing.

[0031] As described above, the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment acquires location information of multiple mobile charging devices 20 and flight path information of the flying object 30. Based on the acquired location information and flight path information, the information processing device 10 matches the multiple mobile charging devices 20 with the flying object 30. Then, the information processing device 10 determines the locations of the multiple mobile charging devices 20 according to the matching results.

[0032] This configuration improves the charging technology for battery-powered aircraft 30 in that multiple mobile charging devices 20 can be positioned and charged according to the flight path information of the battery-powered aircraft 30.

[0033] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0034] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration and operation of the information processing device 10 may be distributed among multiple computers that can communicate with each other. Also, for example, an embodiment in which some or all of the components of the information processing device 10 are provided in multiple mobile charging devices 20 or flying vehicles 30 is possible. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 System 10. Information processing equipment 11 Control section 12 Storage section 13 Input section 14 Output section 15 Communications Department 20 Mobile charging equipment 30 Flying Objects 40 Network

Claims

[Claim 1] Acquire location information of a plurality of mobile charging devices and flight path information of a battery-powered flying object; Based on the acquired location information and flight path information, a matching is performed between the plurality of mobile charging devices and the flying object; a control unit that determines locations of the plurality of mobile charging devices according to the matching result; Equipped with Information processing device.

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