Movable body, support system and program

Abstract

To provide: a movable body for supporting the discovery of a person in need of rescue interrupted by an obstacle; a support system; and a program.SOLUTION: A movable body includes a first distance acquisition part for acquiring a first distance corresponding to a time required for communication between the movable body and a communication terminal; a second distance acquisition part for acquiring a second distance corresponding to a radio wave strength measured by the communication terminal to a radio wave transmitted from the movable body; and an obstacle determination part for determining whether an obstacle exists between the movable body and the communication terminal on the basis of the first and second distances.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a mobile object, an assistance system, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A technology has been disclosed that uses the signal quality from an access point to determine whether a drone is located in a semi-outdoor area (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also, a technology has been disclosed that uses a camera mounted on a drone to assist in finding a search target during a disaster (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-177755 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-108823 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a disaster such as an earthquake or flood occurs, if the person in need of rescue is blocked by an obstacle (for example, a wall or rubble if they are inside a house), they may not be captured by the camera and may not be found.

[0005] Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure contribute to providing a vehicle, a support system, and a program that support finding a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A mobile body according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first distance acquisition unit that acquires a first distance corresponding to the time required for communication between the mobile body and a communication terminal, a second distance acquisition unit that acquires a second distance corresponding to the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal for radio waves transmitted from the mobile body, and an obstacle determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the mobile body and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance.

[0007] An assistance system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a mobile body and an information processing device, wherein the mobile body includes a first distance acquisition unit that acquires a first distance corresponding to the time required for communication between the mobile body and a communication terminal, a second distance acquisition unit that acquires a second distance corresponding to the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal for radio waves transmitted from the mobile body, an obstacle determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the mobile body and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance, and a transmission unit that transmits the determination result by the obstacle determination unit to the information processing device, and the information processing device includes a determination result display unit that displays the determination result transmitted by the transmission unit.

[0008] A program according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a program that causes a computer to execute processing to acquire a first distance corresponding to the time required for communication between the mobile body and a communication terminal, acquire a second distance corresponding to the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal for the radio waves transmitted from the mobile body, and determine whether or not an obstacle exists between the mobile body and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance.

[0009] These comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized as a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized as any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] A non-limiting example of the present disclosure assists in finding a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle.

[0011] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or benefits may be provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of them may be provided to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] A diagram showing an example of a support system [Figure 2] A diagram showing an example of the drone and computer configuration [Figure 3] A diagram showing an example of the relative positions of a drone and a person in need of rescue [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen by a determination result display unit. [Figure 5] A sequence diagram showing an example of support processing [Figure 6] A sequence diagram showing an example of a direction detection process [Figure 7] A flowchart showing an example of the flow of an obstacle determination process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0014] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The support system 10 includes a drone 100, a personal computer 200, and a communication terminal 300. The drone 100 is an example of a moving object. The personal computer 200 is an example of an information processing device.

[0015] The support system 10 is a system for supporting the discovery of a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle by communicating with the communication terminal 300 of the person in need of rescue who cannot be imaged by a camera due to the obstacle. Since the person in need of rescue is considered to be near the communication terminal 300, it is considered that the person in need of rescue is in the direction in which the communication terminal 300 is located. In the following description, it is assumed that the person in need of rescue is near the communication terminal 300. Therefore, if there is an obstacle between the drone 100 and the communication terminal 300, there is an obstacle between the drone 100 and the person in need of rescue.

[0016] 1 shows only one drone 100, multiple drones may be used. In this case, each drone may communicate with a single computer, or a computer may be provided for each drone, and each computer may communicate with the other drones.

[0017] 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration of the drone 100 and the personal computer 200. The drone 100 includes an AP (access point) unit 110, an antenna 120, a control unit 130, a rotor 140, a camera 150, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) 160.

[0018] The control unit 130 controls the entire drone 100. The control unit 130 includes a communication control unit 131 and a flight control unit 132. The communication control unit 131 controls the AP unit 110 and the like. The flight control unit 132 controls the rotor 140 and the like. The flight control unit 132 controls the flight of the drone 100 in response to instructions from a transmitter (not shown).

[0019] Four antennas 120 are provided on the drone 100. The antennas 120 are arranged, for example, at one end of the drone 100 in the direction of travel, one end in the direction of retreat, and one each on the left and right ends perpendicular to the direction of travel. The arrangement positions and number of antennas 120 may be any as long as they are arranged so that the direction of the communication terminal 300 can be calculated. In other words, the arrangement positions and number of antennas are not limited.

[0020] The AP unit 110 communicates with the communication terminal 300 and the personal computer 200 via the antenna 120. The AP unit 110 includes a ToA (Time of Arrival) acquisition unit 111, an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) acquisition unit 112, a transmitting / receiving unit 113, an obstacle determination unit 114, a direction detection unit 115, and a terminal power saving mode cancellation unit 116.

[0021] The ToA acquisition unit 111 has an access point-driven FTM (Fine Timing Measurement) function that utilizes the ToA measurement defined in IEEE802.11mc, and uses this function to acquire a ToA value with the communication terminal 300 and acquire a distance corresponding to the ToA value (hereinafter also referred to as "ToA distance"). The ToA acquisition unit 111 is an example of a first distance acquisition unit. The ToA distance is an example of the first distance.

[0022] As an acquisition method, for example, a function or table capable of acquiring the ToA distance from the ToA value is provided in advance, and the ToA acquisition unit 111 acquires the distance corresponding to the ToA value as the ToA distance using the function or table. The ToA acquisition unit 111 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the acquired ToA distance as the processing result.

[0023] The ToA value is an example of the "time required for communication between a mobile unit and a communication terminal." Note that the "time required for communication between a mobile unit and a communication terminal" is not limited to the ToA value, but may be any time obtained by communication between a mobile unit and a communication terminal, as long as the time allows the distance between the mobile unit and the communication terminal to be calculated.

[0024] The RSSI acquisition unit 112 has a function of acquiring the received electric field level for each element of the antenna 120, and acquires the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal 300 using this function, and the RSSI acquisition unit 112 acquires a distance according to the radio wave intensity (hereinafter also referred to as "radio wave intensity distance"). The RSSI acquisition unit 112 is an example of a second distance acquisition unit. The radio wave intensity distance is an example of the second distance.

[0025] As an acquisition method, for example, a function or table capable of acquiring the radio wave strength distance from the radio wave strength is provided in advance, and the RSSI acquisition unit 112 acquires the distance according to the radio wave strength as the radio wave strength distance using the function or table. The RSSI acquisition unit 112 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the acquired radio wave strength distance as the processing result.

[0026] The transmitting / receiving unit 113 transmits and receives information to and from other devices (such as the communication terminal 300 and the personal computer 200). The transmitting / receiving unit 113 is an example of a transmitting unit that transmits the determination result by the obstacle determining unit 114 to the personal computer 200.

[0027] The obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the drone 100 and the communication terminal 300 based on the ToA distance and the radio wave strength distance. The obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the drone 100 and the communication terminal 300 by utilizing the characteristics that the ToA value is not easily affected by obstacles and the radio wave strength is easily affected by obstacles.

[0028] Specifically, due to the properties of the ToA value and radio wave intensity, if an obstacle exists between the drone 100 and the communication terminal 300, the difference between the ToA distance and the radio wave intensity distance will be large. The obstacle determination unit 114 calculates the difference and uses this difference to determine whether or not an obstacle exists. The determination result by the obstacle determination unit 114 is transmitted to the personal computer 200. In the following description, the determination result when an obstacle exists will sometimes be expressed as "present," and the determination result when no obstacle exists will sometimes be expressed as "absent."

[0029] The direction detection unit 115 detects the direction of the communication terminal 300 based on the radio wave strength acquired by the RSSI acquisition unit 112 for each antenna 120. One detection method is to detect the direction based on the difference and ratio of the received electric field levels received from multiple antenna elements. Alternatively, the two antennas with the strongest radio wave strength among the four antennas 120 may be identified, and the direction of the sum (diagonal) of the vectors whose magnitude is the radio wave strength may be detected as the direction of the communication terminal 300.

[0030] When acquiring the time using the ToA acquisition unit 111, the terminal power saving mode cancellation unit 116 transmits to the communication terminal 300 a signal (Beacon_WakeUp) that cancels the battery saving state (power saving state) of the communication terminal 300. By canceling this state even if the communication terminal 300 is in the battery saving state, the ToA acquisition unit 111 improves the success rate of acquiring the ToA value by using the FTM function. Note that as a method of canceling the power saving state of the communication terminal 300, a signal (ping) that checks network communication may be transmitted to the communication terminal 300.

[0031] The rotor 140 includes a motor 141 and blades 142. Under the control of the flight control unit 132, the rotor 140 drives the motor 141 to rotate the blades 142. This causes the drone 100 to perform the operations of the throttle, rudder, ailerons, and elevators. The camera 150 is provided so as to be able to capture images of the forward direction of the drone 100. Still images and videos captured by the camera 150 can be transmitted to the personal computer 200. The GPS 160 acquires location information of the drone 100. The acquired location information is transmitted to the personal computer 200, etc., as necessary.

[0032] Next, the personal computer 200 will be described. The personal computer 200 includes a determination result display unit 210 and a communication unit 220. The determination result display unit 210 displays the determination result transmitted from the drone 100. The communication unit 220 transmits and receives information to and from the drone 100. For example, the communication unit 220 receives the determination result transmitted from the drone 100.

[0033] Next, a description will be given of an example of a display screen by the determination result display unit 210. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the positional relationship between the drone 100 and the rescue requester. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen by the determination result display unit 210.

[0034] 3 shows the drone 100 and the person in need of rescue. In FIG. 3, the person in need of rescue is shown for the sake of explanation, but it is assumed that the person in need of rescue is actually inside a house. Therefore, the camera 150 of the drone 100 cannot capture an image of the person in need of rescue.

[0035] A display screen example 240 shown in Fig. 4 is an example of a display screen when the obstacle determination unit 114 determines that an obstacle exists between the rescue requester and the vehicle in the state shown in Fig. 3. The display screen is displayed on the display of the personal computer 200.

[0036] The display screen example 240 is composed of an image display area 241, direction display areas 242 and 243, and a determination result display area 244. The image display area 241 displays an image captured by the camera 150. The direction display area 242 displays an arrow indicating the direction of the communication terminal 300 when viewed from above the drone 100. The image display area 241 also displays the radio wave intensity of the four antennas 120. In FIG. 4, ANT1, ANT2, ANT3, and ANT4 indicate the four antennas. The direction display area 243 displays an angle indicating the specific direction of the communication terminal 300, and also displays the distance to the communication terminal 300.

[0037] The determination result display area 244 displays a message indicating that the rescue requester ("target" in FIG. 4) may be beyond the obstacle. If there is no obstacle between the rescue requester and the person in need of rescue, the determination result display area 244 displays nothing or a message indicating that there is no obstacle. Note that if there is no obstacle but the communication terminal 300 is present and the rescue requester is within the field of view of the camera 150, the presence of the obstacle will not be displayed, but the rescue requester will be displayed in the image display area 241.

[0038] The display screen is not limited to the display screen example 240 shown in Fig. 4, as long as it has at least the determination result display area 244. In addition, the display screen may display location information acquired by the GPS 160, or may display the location of the drone 100 superimposed on a map based on the location information acquired by the GPS 160.

[0039] Next, we will explain the support process in the support system 10, in which the drone 100 determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the drone 100 and the person in need of rescue, and if it determines that an obstacle exists, sends that information to the personal computer 200.

[0040] 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the support process, which includes a process A for acquiring the ToA distance (steps S103 to S113) and a process B for acquiring the radio wave strength distance (steps S114 to S118).

[0041] 5, the personal computer 200 transmits a start instruction to the drone 100 (step S101). This start instruction is an instruction to start the process to be executed by the drone 100 among the assistance processes.

[0042] When the communication control unit 131 of the drone 100 receives the activation instruction, the communication control unit 131 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the activation instruction (step S102). When the activation instruction is notified, the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the ToA acquisition unit 111 of a ToA request for acquiring a ToA (step S103). Note that before notifying the ToA request, it is assumed that automatic terminal connection has been established in advance between the communication terminal 300 and the transmission / reception unit 113 of the drone 100 (step S1).

[0043] The obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the ToA acquisition unit 111 of the ToA request, and notifies the RSSI acquisition unit 112 of an RSSI request to acquire radio wave intensity (step S114). Therefore, the process of acquiring the ToA value by the ToA acquisition unit 111 and the process of acquiring the radio wave intensity by the RSSI acquisition unit 112 are executed in parallel. For convenience, the process of acquiring the ToA value will be described first, and then the process of acquiring the radio wave intensity will be described.

[0044] In order to improve the success rate of obtaining a ToA value by utilizing the FTM function, when the ToA request is notified, the ToA acquisition unit 111 notifies the terminal power saving mode cancellation unit 116 of a battery saving cancellation instruction in order to transmit a signal to the communication terminal 300 to cancel the battery saving state of the communication terminal 300 (step S104).

[0045] When the terminal power saving mode cancellation unit 116 receives the battery saving cancellation instruction from the ToA acquisition unit 111, it sends a frame transmission instruction to the transceiver unit 113 (step S105). When the frame transmission instruction is received, the transceiver unit 113 transmits the above-mentioned Beacon_WakeUp signal to the communication terminal 300 (step S106). This causes the communication terminal 300 to cancel the battery saving state.

[0046] When terminal power saving mode cancellation unit 116 notifies transmission / reception unit 113 of the frame transmission instruction in step S105, it notifies ToA acquisition unit 111 of a battery saving cancellation response (step S107). When ToA acquisition unit 111 is notified of the battery saving cancellation response, it notifies transmission / reception unit 113 of an FTM instruction (step S108). When notified of the FTM instruction, transmission / reception unit 113 transmits an FTM Request to communication terminal 300 (step S109).

[0047] When the communication terminal 300 receives the FTM Request, it transmits an ACK in response to the FTM Request to the drone 100 (step S110). The transmission / reception unit 113 receives the ACK. Although not shown here, the transmission / reception unit 113 acquires a ToA value through exchanges according to the FTM sequence. The transmission / reception unit 113 notifies the ToA acquisition unit 111 of the acquired ToA value (step S111). The ToA acquisition unit 111 acquires a ToA distance according to the notified ToA value (step S112). The ToA acquisition unit 111 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the acquired ToA distance as a processing result (step S113).

[0048] Next, the processing from step S114 onwards will be described. When the RSSI request is notified, the RSSI acquisition unit 112 notifies the transceiver unit 113 of an RSSI measurement instruction (step S115). When the transceiver unit 113 is notified of the RSSI measurement instruction, it acquires the radio wave intensity from the uplink frame and notifies the RSSI acquisition unit 112 of the acquired radio wave intensity for each antenna (step S116). Note that the radio wave intensity can be acquired from the uplink frame transmitted from the communication terminal 300 (which may be the ACK in step S110, for example).

[0049] The RSSI acquisition unit 112 acquires the radio wave strength for each antenna notified by the transmitting / receiving unit 113, and acquires the radio wave strength distance according to the radio wave strength for each antenna (step S117). The RSSI acquisition unit 112 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the acquired radio wave strength distance as a processing result (step S118).

[0050] The notified obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the drone 100 and the communication terminal 300 based on the ToA distance and the radio wave strength distance (step S119).

[0051] The obstacle determining unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result (step S120), and the communication control unit 131 transmits the notified determination result to the personal computer 200 (step S121).

[0052] In the above-described sequence, process C (steps S103 to S119) is repeatedly executed every time a predetermined time t (for example, 1 second) has elapsed. Accordingly, process A and process B are also executed every time a predetermined time t has elapsed. Therefore, the obstacle determination unit 114 is notified of the processing result every predetermined time t, and the obstacle determination unit 114 executes the processing (steps S118, 119) every time the processing is executed. The determination result by the obstacle determination unit 114 may be transmitted to the personal computer 200 every time the processing is executed by the obstacle determination unit 114, or may be transmitted only once every certain number of times. Furthermore, the determination result may be transmitted only when the determination result is "yes," and may not be transmitted when the determination result is "no."

[0053] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of direction detection processing. The direction detection processing is executed in parallel with processing for acquiring a ToA value and processing for acquiring radio wave intensity. In FIG. 6, the personal computer 200 transmits a start-up instruction to the drone 100 (step S201). When the communication control unit 131 of the drone 100 receives the start-up instruction, the communication control unit 131 notifies the direction detection unit 115 of the start-up instruction (step S202). When the start-up instruction is notified, the direction detection unit 115 notifies the RSSI acquisition unit of an RSSI request in order to acquire radio wave intensity (step S203). Note that before notifying the ToA request, it is assumed that automatic terminal connection has been established in advance between the communication terminal 300 and the transceiver unit 113 of the drone 100 (step S203).

[0054] When the RSSI request is notified, the RSSI acquisition unit 112 notifies the transceiver unit 113 of an RSSI measurement instruction (step S204). When the transceiver unit 113 is notified of the RSSI measurement instruction, it acquires radio wave intensity from the uplink frame and notifies the RSSI acquisition unit 112 of the acquired radio wave intensity for each antenna (step S205). As described above, the radio wave intensity can be acquired from the uplink frame transmitted by the communication terminal 300.

[0055] The RSSI acquisition unit 112 acquires the radio wave strength for each antenna notified by the transmission / reception unit 113, and notifies the direction detection unit 115 of the acquired radio wave strength for each antenna as a processing result (step S206). The direction detection unit 115 detects the direction of the communication terminal 300 based on the radio wave strength acquired by the RSSI acquisition unit 112 for each notified antenna 120 (step S207).

[0056] The direction detection unit 115 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the detection result (step S208), and the communication control unit 131 transmits the notified detection result to the personal computer 200 (step S209).

[0057] In the above sequence, process D (steps S203 to S206) is repeatedly executed every time the predetermined time t elapses. Therefore, the direction detection unit 115 is notified of the processing result every predetermined time t, and the direction detection unit 115 executes the processing (step S208) every time. The detection result by the direction detection unit 115 may be transmitted to the personal computer 200 every time the obstacle determination unit 114 executes the processing, or may be transmitted only once every certain number of times. However, in either case, it is better to transmit the detection result only when the determination result by the obstacle determination unit 114 is "YES". This is because the detection result by the direction detection unit 115 is detected regardless of whether the communication terminal 300 is obstructed by an obstacle. Conversely, by utilizing this, if it is desired to also detect the direction of an unobstructed communication terminal 300, the detection result can be transmitted to the personal computer 200 regardless of the determination result.

[0058] Next, we will explain an example of the obstacle determination process executed by the obstacle determiner 114. In the above-described embodiment, the determination result was either "yes" or "no," but this obstacle determination process also shows an example of processing in which other determination results are output.

[0059] 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the obstacle determination process. This obstacle determination process shows an example of a process in which determination is made using three algorithms (simple comparison, step comparison, and ratio). It is assumed that which of these three algorithms is to be used is set in advance by the user of the assistance system 10, etc.

[0060] 7, the obstacle determination unit 114 acquires the ToA distance DT in step S113 described above, and acquires the radio wave intensity distance DR in step S118 (step S301). The obstacle determination unit 114 determines the absolute value of the difference between DT and DR as the difference d (step S302). The obstacle determination unit 114 determines the value obtained by dividing d by DT as the ratio r (step S303). Note that if r exceeds 1, r may be set to 1.

[0061] Next, the obstacle determination unit 114 branches according to the set algorithm (step S304). If the set algorithm is simple comparison, the obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether r>T is true (step S305). Here, T is a threshold for determining whether an obstacle is present, and is set by, for example, the user. If r>T is true (step S305: YES), the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result "present" (step S306) and ends the processing. If r≦T is true (step S305: NO), the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result "not present" (step S307) and ends the processing.

[0062] When the set algorithm is a stage comparison, the obstacle determination unit 114 makes a determination using the stage comparison algorithm. In the example of FIG. 7, the determination result by the stage comparison algorithm is one of three levels: "high possibility" indicating a high possibility that an obstacle is present; "medium possibility" indicating a medium possibility that an obstacle is present; and "low possibility" indicating a low possibility that an obstacle is present. Thresholds T1 and T2 (T1>T2) are provided for determination. T1 and T2 are thresholds for determining the level and are set by the user, for example. Note that the number of levels is not limited to three, and may be four or more.

[0063] The obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether r>T1 is true (step S308). If r>T1 is true (step S308: YES), the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result of "high possibility" (step S309), and ends the processing. If r≦T1 is true (step S308: NO), the obstacle determination unit 114 determines whether r>T2 is true (step S310). If r>T2 is true (step S310: YES), the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result of "medium possibility" (step S311), and ends the processing. If r≦T2 is true (step S310: NO), the obstacle determination unit 114 notifies the communication control unit 131 of the determination result of "low possibility" (step S312), and ends the processing.

[0064] If the set algorithm is a ratio, the obstacle determination unit 114 uses a ratio algorithm. In this case, the obstacle determination unit 114 simply notifies the communication control unit 131 of "r" as the determination result (step S313), and ends the process. This r is used to display on the personal computer 200, for example, "Probability is R%" (R=r×100).

[0065] According to the obstacle determination process, the user can set an appropriate algorithm as needed, thereby enabling the assistance system to be operated optimally.

[0066] <Variation 1> In the above embodiment, the drone 100 is equipped with multiple antennas, but it may also be equipped with only one antenna. In this case, it is difficult to immediately detect the direction of the communication terminal 300, but the user can at least know whether there is a person in need of rescue within the range of the radio waves. Note that, as a method of detecting the direction of the communication terminal 300 using only one antenna, there is a method in which the drone 100 moves forward, backward, left, and right, while monitoring the radio wave intensity, and the direction of movement in which the radio wave intensity becomes stronger is determined to be the direction of the communication terminal 300.

[0067] <Variation 2> In the above embodiment, the drone 100 acquires the ToA distance, the radio wave strength distance, and detects the direction, but at least one of these three may be performed by the personal computer 200. In this case, the obstacle determination process is performed by the personal computer 200. Distributing the process to the personal computer 200 reduces the processing load on the drone 100, thereby reducing the power consumption of the drone 100.

[0068] When the ToA distance is acquired by the personal computer 200, the drone 100 transmits the ToA value to the personal computer 200. The personal computer 200 that has received the ToA value can acquire the ToA distance by performing processing similar to that described in step S113 above. When the radio wave strength distance is acquired or direction is detected by the personal computer 200, the drone 100 transmits the radio wave strength of each antenna to the personal computer 200. The personal computer 200 that has received the RSSI value can acquire the radio wave strength distance and detect direction by performing processing similar to that described in step S118 and step S119 above.

[0069] <Variation 3> Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the ToA acquisition unit 111 acquires the ToA distance, but the obstacle determination unit 114 may acquire the ToA distance. In this case, the ToA acquisition unit 111 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the ToA value, and the obstacle determination unit 114 acquires the ToA distance. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the RSSI acquisition unit 112 acquires the radio wave strength distance, but the obstacle determination unit 114 may acquire the radio wave strength distance. In this case, the RSSI acquisition unit 112 notifies the obstacle determination unit 114 of the radio wave strength distance, and the obstacle determination unit 114 acquires the radio wave strength distance.

[0070] <Variation 4> In the above embodiment, the obstacle determination process is performed by comparing the ratio r with a threshold value, but the determination may be performed using a threshold value for determining the presence of an obstacle and the difference d.

[0071] <Variation 5> The drone 100 may automatically move in the direction of the person in need of rescue. For example, the drone 100 may automatically move in the detected direction, and when a certain radio wave intensity is reached, the drone 100 may hover with the camera 150 facing in the detected direction. In this case, the drone 100 can be brought closer to the person in need of rescue, making it easier to find the person in need of rescue.

[0072] <Variation 6> The drone 100 may be equipped with a microphone and a speaker to enable conversation between a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle and the user of the personal computer 200.

[0073] <Variation 7> In addition to the RSSI and ToA described in the above embodiment, the obstacle determination process may also include parameters such as the number of packet retries and the packet error rate, thereby improving the accuracy of obstacle detection and terminal position estimation.

[0074] <Summary of the embodiment> A mobile body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first distance acquisition unit (ToA acquisition unit 111) that acquires a first distance (ToA distance) corresponding to a time required for communication between the mobile body (drone 100) and the communication terminal 300, a second distance acquisition unit (RSSI acquisition unit) that acquires a second distance (radio wave intensity distance) corresponding to a radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal 300 for radio waves transmitted from the mobile body (drone 100), and an obstacle determination unit (obstacle determination unit 114) that determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the mobile body (drone 100) and the communication terminal 300 based on the first distance and the second distance. This makes it possible to assist in finding a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle.

[0075] A support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first distance acquisition unit (ToA acquisition unit 111) that acquires a first distance (ToA distance) corresponding to a time required for communication between a mobile object (drone 100) and a communication terminal 300, a second distance acquisition unit (RSSI acquisition unit) that acquires a second distance (radio wave intensity distance) corresponding to a radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal 300 for radio waves transmitted from the mobile object (drone 100), an obstacle determination unit 114 that determines whether an obstacle exists between the mobile object (drone 100) and the communication terminal 300 based on the first distance and the second distance, and a transmission unit (communication control unit 131) that transmits the determination result by the obstacle determination unit 114 to an information processing device (personal computer 200). The information processing device (personal computer 200) includes a determination result display unit that displays the determination result transmitted by the transmission unit. This enables support in finding a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle.

[0076] A program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute processing to acquire a first distance (ToA distance) corresponding to the time required for communication between a mobile body (drone 100) and a communication terminal 300, acquire a second distance (radio wave intensity distance) corresponding to the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal 300 for radio waves transmitted from the mobile body (drone 100), and determine whether or not an obstacle exists between the mobile body and the communication terminal based on the first distance (ToA distance) and the second distance (radio wave intensity distance). This can assist in finding a person in need of rescue who is blocked by an obstacle.

[0077] The present disclosure can be realized in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware.

[0078] Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data input and output. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may be called an IC, system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI.

[0079] The integrated circuit method is not limited to LSI, but may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Also, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital processing or analog processing.

[0080] Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI emerges due to advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, it is natural that such technology may be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, etc. is also a possibility.

[0081] In this embodiment, a drone is used as an example of a moving object, but the moving object is not limited to this. The moving object may be, for example, a vehicle, a ship, or an aircraft (fixed-wing aircraft or rotary-wing aircraft). The moving object may also be a moving object that moves together with the operator of the moving object.

[0082] Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the drawings, it goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications or alterations within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the components of the above-described embodiments may be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

[0083] Although specific examples of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and alterations of the specific examples exemplified above. [Industrial Applicability]

[0084] An embodiment of the present disclosure is suitable for a support system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0085] 10 Support System 100 drones 110 AP Department 111 ToA acquisition department 112 RSSI acquisition department 113 Transmitter / Receiver 114 Obstacle detection unit 115 Direction detection unit 116 Terminal power saving mode release unit 120 Antenna 130 Control Unit 131 Communication control unit 132 Flight Control Unit 140 rotor 141 Motor 142 Blade 150 cameras 200 PCs 210 Judgment result display section 220 Communications Department 241 Image display area 242, 243 direction display area 244 Judgment result display area 300 Communication terminal

Claims

1. A mobile object, a first distance acquisition unit that acquires a first distance according to a time required for communication between the mobile object and the communication terminal; a second distance acquisition unit that acquires a second distance according to radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal with respect to the radio wave transmitted from the mobile object; an obstacle determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the moving object and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance; A mobile body equipped with the above.

2. It has multiple antennas, The moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising a direction detection unit that detects a direction of the communication terminal based on the second distances acquired for each of the plurality of antennas.

3. The mobile body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a signal for canceling a power saving state of the communication terminal is transmitted to the communication terminal when the first distance acquisition unit acquires the first distance.

4. 3. The moving body according to claim 1, wherein the result of the determination by the obstacle determining unit is transmitted to an information processing device.

5. A mobile object and an information processing device are included, The moving body is a first distance acquisition unit that acquires a first distance according to a time required for communication between the mobile object and the communication terminal; a second distance acquisition unit that acquires a second distance according to radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal with respect to the radio wave transmitted from the mobile object; an obstacle determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists between the moving object and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance; a transmitting unit that transmits a determination result by the obstacle determining unit to the information processing device; Equipped with The information processing device includes: The support system includes a determination result display unit that displays the determination result transmitted by the transmission unit.

6. On the computer, acquiring a first distance according to a time required for communication between the mobile object and the communication terminal; acquiring a second distance according to the radio wave intensity measured by the communication terminal in response to the radio wave transmitted from the mobile object; determining whether or not an obstacle exists between the moving object and the communication terminal based on the first distance and the second distance; A program that executes a process.

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