Flight vehicle

Abstract

To provide a flight vehicle capable of separating a battery in a proper position.SOLUTION: A flight vehicle 1 comprises a processor. When an abnormality in any one of a plurality of high-voltage batteries is detected during the flight of the flight vehicle, the processor makes the flight vehicle move to a stable point, and separates the high-voltage battery, in which the abnormality is detected, at the stable point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to air vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that prevents the battery from running out during flight while circling all flight routes. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-55463 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In an aircraft, a first battery and a second battery are placed at separate locations to supply power, and if an abnormality occurs in one of the first or second batteries, the abnormal battery is disconnected during flight. However, because batteries are heavy and generate heat, they must be disconnected at an appropriate location while taking into consideration the impact on the surrounding area, which leaves room for improvement.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an aircraft that can disconnect a battery at an appropriate position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the aircraft of the present disclosure is an aircraft powered by a high-voltage battery unit composed of multiple high-voltage batteries, and is equipped with a processor that controls the operation of the aircraft, and if the processor detects an abnormality in any of the multiple high-voltage batteries during the flight of the aircraft, it moves to a safe point and detaches the high-voltage battery that has detected an abnormality at the safe point. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to achieve the effect of disconnecting the battery at an appropriate position. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an aircraft according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of the processing executed by the flying object according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart outlining the process executed by the flying object in the modified example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an aircraft according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the components in the following embodiments include those that are easily replaceable by those skilled in the art, or those that are substantially identical. Furthermore, the drawings referred to in the following description merely show a schematic representation of the shape, size, and positional relationship to the extent that the contents of the present disclosure can be understood. In other words, the present disclosure is not limited to only the shape, size, and positional relationship illustrated in each drawing.

[0010] [Configuration of the aircraft] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of an aircraft according to one embodiment. The aircraft 1 shown in Figure 1 can fly by controlling thrust, which is a force that propels the aircraft 1 forward, lift, which is a force that pulls the aircraft 1 upward and causes it to float, gravity, which is a force that pulls the aircraft 1 downward, and resistance, which is a force that pulls the aircraft 1 backward.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the flying vehicle 1 includes at least an airframe 2, a rotor 3, a drive unit 4, a high-voltage battery unit 5, a positioning system 6, a safety zone detection device 7, a release device 8, and a control device 9.

[0012] The rotor 3 is provided above the airframe 2. The aircraft 1 can generate lift and rise by rotating the rotor 3 and multiple rotors (not shown), such as a tail rotor. In this case, the rotation of the rotor 3 generates a counter torque, and the tail rotor (not shown) cancels out this counter torque, allowing the aircraft 1 to fly stably. Note that the aircraft 1 shown in FIG. 1 may not have a tail rotor, but may instead be a so-called contra-rotating rotor (coaxial counter-rotating rotor), in which two or four sets of rotors 3 are arranged coaxially and rotate in opposite directions.

[0013] The drive unit 4 is configured using, for example, a motor, a transmission, a drive shaft, etc. The drive unit 4 is connected to the rotor 3. The drive unit 4 transmits driving force to the rotor 3 under the control of the control device 9. The drive unit 4 generates driving force in accordance with the power supplied from the high-voltage battery unit 5.

[0014] The high-voltage battery unit 5 supplies power to the drive unit 4 under the control of the control device 9. The high-voltage battery unit 5 has multiple high-voltage batteries that can be attached and detached to a battery bay installed in the aircraft 2. That is, when a pilot or the like is on board and piloting the aircraft 1, the high-voltage batteries of the high-voltage battery unit 5 are attached to the battery bay, and when the pilot is not piloting the aircraft 1, the high-voltage batteries can be removed from the battery bay and charged.

[0015] The positioning system 6 receives radio waves from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, detects the position information of the aircraft 1, and outputs this detection result to the control device 9. The positioning system 6 is configured using a car navigation system or the like, and has output means such as a display, speaker, etc., input means such as a microphone, buttons, and touch panel, communication means such as a communication module capable of communicating with the outside, and a recording medium for recording map information.

[0016] When the detachment device 8, which will be described later, detaches the high-voltage battery unit 5 from the aircraft 1, the safety zone detection device 7 detects whether the detachment location of the high-voltage battery unit 5 is safe, and outputs this detection result to the control device 9. The safety zone detection device 7 is configured using a camera that captures an image of the ground side of the aircraft 1 and generates image data, and a detection sensor such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that analyzes and detects whether the detachment location is safe based on the image data generated by the camera.

[0017] The detachment device 8, under the control of the control device 9, detaches a predetermined high-voltage battery from the high-voltage battery unit 5 and detaches the detached high-voltage battery from the aircraft 1. The detachment device 8 is configured using a plurality of robot arms, etc.

[0018] The control device 9 corresponds to the processor according to the present disclosure. The control device 9 is realized using a processor having hardware such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), GPU, or CPU (Central Processing Unit), and a memory that serves as a temporary storage area used by the processor. If the control device 9 detects an abnormality in one of the multiple high-voltage batteries in the high-voltage battery unit 5 during the flight of the aircraft 1, the control device 9 moves to a safe location and releases the high-voltage battery in which the abnormality has been detected at the safe location. In one embodiment, the control device 9 functions as a processor.

[0019] [Handling of flying objects] Next, a description will be given of the processing executed by the aircraft 1. Figure 2 is a flowchart outlining the processing executed by the aircraft 1.

[0020] As shown in Figure 2, the control device 9 determines whether the aircraft 1 is in flight (step S101), and if it determines that the aircraft 1 is in flight (step S101: Yes), the aircraft 1 proceeds to step S102, and if it determines that the aircraft 1 is not in flight (step S101: No), the aircraft 1 terminates this processing.

[0021] In step S102, the control device 9 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5. Specifically, the control device 9 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in any of the multiple high-voltage batteries that make up the high-voltage battery unit 5. For example, the control device 9 determines whether any of the multiple batteries has a temperature or voltage higher than a predetermined value, and if any battery has a temperature or voltage higher than the predetermined value, determines that an abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5. Here, the predetermined value is a value that indicates the possibility of an abnormality occurring in the high-voltage battery, and is determined and set in advance through experiments, etc. If the control device 9 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5 (step S102: Yes), the aircraft 1 proceeds to step S103. On the other hand, if the control device 9 determines that no abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5 (step S102: No), the aircraft 1 ends this process.

[0022] In step S103, the control device 9 acquires from the positioning system 6 the current position of the aircraft 1 and the position information of a safe point for detaching a high-voltage battery in the high-voltage battery unit 5 that has developed an abnormality, which will be described later.

[0023] Next, the control device 9 calculates a route to a nearby safe point based on the current position of the aircraft 1 and the position information of the safe ground obtained from the positioning system 6 (step S104), and controls the driving unit 4 to move the aircraft 1 to the safe point (step S105). In this case, the operator may operate the aircraft 1 to move to the safe point displayed on the positioning system 6.

[0024] Thereafter, after the aircraft 1 arrives at the safety point, if the safety of the safety zone detected by the safety zone detection device 7 is confirmed, the control device 9 controls the release device 8 to remove the high-voltage battery with an abnormality from the high-voltage battery unit 5 and release the aircraft 1 to the safety point (step S106). After step S106, the aircraft 1 ends this process.

[0025] According to the embodiment described above, if the control device 9 detects an abnormality in one of the multiple high-voltage batteries in the high-voltage battery unit 5 while the aircraft 1 is in flight, it moves to a safe point and detaches the high-voltage battery in which the abnormality has been detected at the safe point, thereby enabling the high-voltage battery to be disconnected at an appropriate position and reducing the impact of the high-voltage battery on the surrounding area.

[0026] (Variation) Next, a modified example of the embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a flowchart outlining the processing executed by the aircraft 1 according to the modified example of the embodiment.

[0027] As shown in Figure 3, the control device 9 determines whether the aircraft 1 is in flight or not (step S201), and if it determines that the aircraft 1 is in flight (step S201: Yes), the aircraft 1 proceeds to step S202, and if it determines that the aircraft 1 is not in flight (step S201: No), the aircraft 1 terminates this processing.

[0028] In step S202, the control device 9 determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5. If the control device 9 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5 (step S202: Yes), the aircraft 1 proceeds to step S203. On the other hand, if the control device 9 determines that no abnormality has occurred in the high-voltage battery unit 5 (step S202: No), the aircraft 1 ends this processing.

[0029] In step S203, the control device 9 acquires from the positioning system 6 the current position of the flying object 1 and the position information of a safe point for releasing the high-voltage battery unit 5, which will be described later.

[0030] Next, the control device 9 calculates the current position of the aircraft 1 and a route to a predetermined landing point of the aircraft 1 from the positioning system 6 (step S204), and calculates a route to a nearby safe point based on the current position of the aircraft 1 and the position information of the safe ground obtained from the positioning system 6 (step S205).

[0031] The control device 9 then determines whether the route to the landing point is shorter than the route to the safety point (step S206). If it determines that the route to the landing point is shorter than the route to the safety point (step S206: Yes), the aircraft 1 moves to the landing point and terminates this processing. In this case, the operator can improve safety by moving the aircraft 1 to the landing point and removing the high-voltage battery in the high-voltage battery unit 5 that has developed an abnormality from the aircraft 1, rather than moving the aircraft 1 to the safety point and detaching the high-voltage battery unit 5 from the aircraft 1. Of course, the control device 9 may compare the route to the landing point and the route to the safety point taking into account travel time in addition to the distance of the route. If it determines that the route to the landing point is not shorter than the route to the safety point (step S206: No), the control device 9 controls the drive unit 4 to move the aircraft 1 to the safety point (step S207). In this case, the operator may operate the aircraft 1 to move to the safety point displayed on the positioning system 6.

[0032] Thereafter, after the aircraft 1 arrives at a safe point, the control device 9 controls the release device 8 to remove the high-voltage battery with the abnormality from the high-voltage battery unit 5 and release it to a safe point (step S208). After step S208, the aircraft 1 ends this process.

[0033] According to the modified example of the embodiment described above, if the control device 9 detects an abnormality in one of the multiple high-voltage batteries in the high-voltage battery unit 5 while the aircraft 1 is flying, it moves to a safe point and detaches the high-voltage battery in which an abnormality has been detected at the safe point, so that the high-voltage battery can be disconnected at an appropriate position.

[0034] (Other forms) In one embodiment, when the control device 9 detects an abnormality in the high-voltage battery unit 5, it calculates a route from the current position of the aircraft 1 to a safe point, and the aircraft 1 moves to this safe point, at which point the high-voltage battery unit 5 in which the abnormality has occurred is released. However, the abnormality in the high-voltage battery unit 5 may be notified, for example, from a management center, such as a control tower. In this case, the control device 9 receives route information to the safe point from the management center, and controls the flight of the aircraft 1 in accordance with this received route information to release the high-voltage battery unit 5 from the aircraft 1.

[0035] Further advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0036] Although some of the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented in other forms that have undergone various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the aspects described in the disclosure of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Aircraft 2 aircraft 3 rotors 4 Drive unit 5 High Voltage Battery Unit 6. Positioning Systems 7 Safe Zone Detection Device 8 Release device 9 Control Device

Claims

[Claim 1] An aircraft powered by a high-voltage battery unit composed of a plurality of high-voltage batteries, a processor for controlling the operation of the flying object; The processor: If an abnormality is detected in any of the plurality of high-voltage batteries during the flight of the aircraft, the aircraft moves to a safe location; disconnecting the high-voltage battery in which an abnormality is detected at the safe point; Flying vehicle.

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