Fuel cell drone

Abstract

To provide a fuel cell drone that allows a gas tank to avoid directly impacting on the ground surface at a weak point at the time of falling.SOLUTION: A fuel cell drone 10 travels with a fuel cell 12, the fuel cell drone 10 including a body 11, a cylindrical high-pressure gas tank 13 mounted to the body 11 and filled with a fuel gas for the fuel cell 12, and a leg 16 installed so as to be rotatable about an axis orthogonal to an axial direction of the high-pressure gas tank 13 relative to the body 11 and a vertical axial direction. The leg 16 rotates such that the center of gravity of the leg 16 moves on a side of an end 13B of the high-pressure gas tank 13 at the time of falling.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a fuel cell drone that flies by a fuel cell.

Background Art

[0002] A drone is known as an unmanned aircraft. A fuel cell drone is a drone that flies by a fuel cell. The fuel cell drone flies, for example, by driving a motor with electric power supplied by a fuel cell and rotating a propeller by the motor (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The above-described fuel cell drone includes a high-pressure gas tank filled with fuel. When the fuel cell drone becomes unable to fly due to a failure or the like in the air and falls, the vulnerable part (for example, the body part) of the high-pressure gas tank may directly hit the ground, causing the high-pressure gas tank to be damaged and high-pressure gas to leak.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell drone capable of avoiding the vulnerable part of the gas tank from directly hitting the ground when falling.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The fuel cell drone according to the present invention is a fuel cell drone that is propelled by a fuel cell, comprising a main body, a cylindrical high-pressure gas tank mounted on the main body and filled with fuel gas for the fuel cell, and legs provided so as to be rotatable around axes perpendicular to the axial and vertical axes of the high-pressure gas tank relative to the main body, wherein in the event of a fall, the legs are rotated so that the center of gravity of the legs moves toward the end of the gas tank. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the fuel cell drone of the present invention, it is possible to avoid the weak points of the gas tank directly hitting the ground when it falls. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view showing a fuel cell drone, which is an example of an embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram showing the normal and freezing attitudes of a fuel cell drone. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the attitude control controller. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. In the following description, specific shapes, materials, directions, numerical values, etc., are examples to facilitate understanding of the present invention and can be appropriately modified according to the application, purpose, specifications, etc.

[0010] [Fuel cell drone] An example of an embodiment, a fuel cell drone 10, will be described using Figures 1 and 2.

[0011] The fuel cell drone 10 is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is propelled by a fuel cell 12. The fuel cell drone 10 is equipped with, for example, sensors, cameras, etc. The fuel cell drone 10 is used in fields such as agriculture, surveying, police, logistics, disaster investigation, inspection or maintenance of structures, security, search and rescue, and news reporting. The fuel cell drone 10 may also be equipped with a transmitter that transmits control signals from the operator and a receiver that receives control signals. The fuel cell drone 10 may also have an automatic control function.

[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the fuel cell drone 10 comprises a main body 11, a fuel cell 12 mounted on the main body 11, a high-pressure gas tank 13 filled with fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell 12, a plurality of motors 14 driven by electricity generated by the fuel cell 12, a plurality of rotors 15 rotated by each of the motors 14, legs 16 rotatably mounted on the main body 11, and a controller (not shown) for controlling each of the components of the fuel cell drone 10.

[0013] The fuel cell drone 10 is propelled by fuel supplied from a high-pressure gas tank 13 to a fuel cell 12, which generates electricity to drive a motor 14, and the motor 14 rotates a rotor 15. By coordinating each rotor 15 with the other rotors 15, the fuel cell drone 10 can ascend, descend, move horizontally forward, backward, left, and right, or a combination of these, or hover in a fixed position in the air.

[0014] The fuel cell 12 is an electrochemical battery that converts the chemical energy of a fuel such as hydrogen and an oxidizing agent such as oxygen into electricity through a pair of oxidation-reduction reactions. In this embodiment, for example, a solid molecular fuel cell is used for the fuel cell 12. The electricity generated by the fuel cell 12 is supplied to the motor 14 or to electrical equipment, sensors, etc. (not shown). In the fuel cell 12, hydrogen (negative electrode active material) is supplied from the high-pressure gas tank 13 to the hydrogen electrode (negative electrode), and oxygen is supplied to the air electrode (positive electrode), generating electricity and supplying a predetermined (rated output) power to each motor 14. The oxygen is taken in from the outside air.

[0015] The high-pressure gas tank 13 is a cylindrical high-pressure container filled with hydrogen as fuel. In this embodiment, the high-pressure gas tank 13 is located at the bottom of the main body 11. However, the high-pressure gas tank of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and may be located, for example, at the top of the main body 11. Hydrogen is supplied from the high-pressure gas tank 13 to the fuel cell 12 through the hydrogen supply piping.

[0016] As shown in Figure 2, the high-pressure gas tank 13 has a body section 13A and an end section 13B. One end section 13B is equipped with a valve, etc. The body section 13A is weaker in strength than the end section 13B. For example, if the fuel cell drone 10 becomes unable to fly due to a malfunction or the like in the air and falls, the weak point of the high-pressure gas tank 13 (body section 13A) will hit the ground directly, potentially damaging the high-pressure gas tank 13 and causing high-pressure gas to leak.

[0017] Therefore, in the fuel cell drone 10 of this embodiment, when the fuel cell drone 10 falls due to the "falling posture" described later, the body portion 13A of the high-pressure gas tank 13 is prevented from directly hitting the ground.

[0018] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the leg 16 is a member that safely lands the fuel cell drone 10 without causing the main body 11 or the like to collide with the ground. Further, the leg 16 prevents the collision of the high-pressure gas tank 13 as a protective fence for the high-pressure gas tank 13 provided at the lower part of the main body 11. The leg 16 of the present embodiment is provided so as to straddle the high-pressure gas tank 13 at the lower part of the main body 11. However, the leg of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and may have a configuration that does not straddle the high-pressure gas tank 13.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, the leg 16 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body 11 as described above. More specifically, the leg 16 is rotatable around an axis orthogonal to the axial direction and the vertical axis direction of the high-pressure gas tank 13 by the motor 21. In the fuel cell drone 10, by rotating the leg 16, as shown in FIG. 2(A), from the "normal posture" in which the center of gravity of the leg 16 is located below the body portion 13A of the high-pressure gas tank 13, as shown in FIG. 2(B), the center of gravity of the leg 16 can be changed to the "falling posture" in which it moves to the end portion 13B of the high-pressure gas tank 13.

[0020] The "normal posture" is the posture maintained by the fuel cell drone 10 during normal flight. The "falling posture" is the posture when the fuel cell drone 10 becomes unable to fly due to a failure or the like in the air and falls. According to the "falling posture", when the center of gravity of the leg 16 moves to the end portion 13B of the high-pressure gas tank 13, it will fall from the end portion 13B of the high-pressure gas tank 13.

[0021] Thereby, for example, when the fuel cell drone 10 falls, the end portion 13B having higher strength compared to the body portion 13A of the high-pressure gas tank 13 is brought into contact with the ground, reducing the possibility of damage to the high-pressure gas tank 13. In other words, it is possible to avoid the body portion 13A, which is the weak point of the high-pressure gas tank 13, from directly hitting the ground when the fuel cell drone 10 falls.

[0022] The controller is a device that controls each device of the fuel cell drone 10 as described above. The controller includes a speed controller that controls the rotational speed of the motor 14, a flight controller that automatically controls the stabilization and autonomous flight of the main body 11 of the fuel cell drone 10, a fuel cell controller that controls the power supply amount by the fuel cell 12, and an attitude change controller 20 (see FIG. 3) that changes the attitude of the fuel cell drone 10 from the "normal attitude" to the "falling attitude".

[0023] [Attitude Change Control] The configuration of the attitude change controller 20 will be described using FIG. 3.

[0024] The attitude change controller 20 is a controller that executes "attitude change control" to change the attitude of the fuel cell drone 10 from the "normal attitude" to the "falling attitude" as described above. The attitude change controller 20 is connected to a motor 21 that rotates the leg 16 and an acceleration sensor 22 of the fuel cell drone 10.

[0025] The attitude change controller 20 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as an arithmetic processing unit and a storage unit such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and performs signal processing according to a program stored in advance in the ROM while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM.

[0026] The attitude change controller 20 has a fall determination unit 25 and an attitude change unit 26, the details of which will be described later. The fall determination unit 25 and the attitude change unit 26 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the ROM or the RAM.

[0027] The fall determination unit 25 determines whether the fuel cell drone 10 is falling. More specifically, for example, the fall determination unit 25 determines that the fuel cell drone 10 is falling when the acceleration in the vertical direction detected by the acceleration sensor 22 is greater than or equal to a predetermined acceleration.

[0028] The attitude change unit 26 changes the attitude of the fuel cell drone 10 from "normal attitude" to "falling attitude" when the fall detection unit 25 determines that the fuel cell drone 10 is falling. According to the attitude change unit 26, by changing the attitude of the fuel cell drone 10 to "falling attitude," the end portion 13B of the high-pressure gas tank 13, which is stronger than the body portion 13A, is brought into contact with the ground, thereby reducing the possibility of damage to the high-pressure gas tank 13. In other words, when the fuel cell drone 10 falls, it is possible to avoid the body portion 13A, which is a weak point of the high-pressure gas tank 13, directly hitting the ground.

[0029] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and their modifications described above, and various changes and improvements are possible within the scope of the claims of this application. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 10 Fuel cell drone, 11 Main body, 12 Fuel cell, 13 High-pressure gas tank, 13A Body section, 13B End section, 14 Motor, 15 Rotor, 16 Legs, 20 Attitude change controller, 21 Motor, 22 Accelerometer, 25 Fall detection unit, 26 Attitude change unit

Claims

[Claim 1] A fuel cell drone that is propelled by a fuel cell, The main unit and A cylindrical high-pressure gas tank mounted on the main body and filled with fuel gas for the fuel cell, Legs are provided on the main body so as to be rotatable around axes perpendicular to the axial and vertical axes of the high-pressure gas tank, Equipped with, When falling, the legs are rotated so that the center of gravity of the legs moves toward the end of the high-pressure gas tank. Fuel cell drone.

Images