Method and system for controlling flight of unmanned aerial flight reflecting flight impact factors

Abstract

A flight control method and system for an unmanned aerial vehicle are disclosed. The flight control method of the above-described unmanned aerial vehicle includes the steps of: the flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle specifying a flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the flight control system specifying wind attributes corresponding to the specified flight path; and the flight control system transmitting a controlled flight path, in which the flight path is adjusted based on the specified wind attributes, to the aircraft or the control system of the aircraft.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a flight control method and system for an unmanned aerial vehicle that incorporates flight influencing factors, and more specifically, to a method and system that can efficiently control the flight by incorporating factors that may affect flight along the flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] With the activation and commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles, the demand for effectively controlling and managing them is increasing, and the utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles in urban areas is predicted to grow.

[0003] For Urban Air Mobility (UAM) services utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles in such urban areas, it is necessary to consider the impact of wind caused by buildings due to the characteristics of the city.

[0004] In particular, for unmanned aerial vehicles to be utilized in urban areas, facilities for takeoff and landing are likely to be installed on the rooftops of buildings. Accordingly, there is a need to control effective flight even in environments where the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle can be relatively significantly affected by winds around buildings, such as building wind, ground wind, and shear wind occurring between buildings.

[0005] In addition, in addition to wind around the building, it may not be advisable to fly along the originally planned flight path if weather conditions deteriorate.

[0006] Therefore, a technical concept is required that can adaptively adjust the flight path by reflecting flight influencing factors, including wind or weather conditions around the building. Prior art literature

[0007] Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0038015 "Aircraft Control Using Ducts and Wind-Resistant Aircraft" The problem to be solved

[0008] The technical problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a method and system for adaptively adjusting the flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle in response to factors that may affect flight, such as wind properties or weather conditions in urban areas, particularly around buildings. means of solving the problem

[0009] A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle reflecting flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem comprises the steps of: a flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle specifying a flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle; a flight control system specifying a flight influencing factor corresponding to the specified flight path; and the flight control system transmitting a controlled flight path, in which the flight path is adjusted based on the specified flight influencing factor, to the aircraft or to the control system of the aircraft.

[0010] The flight control method of the above-described unmanned aerial vehicle further includes the step of the flight control system specifying an influence flight path, which is a part of the flight path that may be affected by weather conditions or wind caused by a building, and the step of the flight control system specifying a flight influence element corresponding to the specified flight path may include the step of specifying the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path.

[0011] The step of the flight control system transmitting a controlled flight path, in which the flight path is adjusted based on specific flight influencing factors, to the aircraft or the control system of the aircraft may include the step of the flight control system specifying the controlled flight path, which is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition, when the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to the influencing flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition.

[0012] The step of specifying the adjustment flight path, which is a flight path not corresponding to the above path adjustment condition, may include the step of the flight control system specifying a candidate adjustment flight path by changing the influence flight path according to a predetermined rule—whereby when the rule is applied, a flight path that gradually deviates from the original flight path is specified—the flight control system determining whether the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the above path adjustment condition, and the step of the flight control system specifying the candidate adjustment flight path as the adjustment flight path if the candidate adjustment flight path does not correspond to the above path adjustment condition, and if the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the above path adjustment condition, specifying the flight path modified again according to the rule as the candidate adjustment flight path again, and determining whether the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the above path adjustment condition, repeating the process until a path not corresponding to the path adjustment condition is found.

[0013] The step of specifying the adjustment flight path, which is a flight path not corresponding to the above path adjustment conditions, may include the step of the flight control system displaying visualization information indicating wind speed and wind direction within the weather influence area or the building influence area, and the step of the flight control system specifying the adjustment flight path based on manual input information selected by the user based on the visualization information and manually entered.

[0014] The step of the flight control system determining the adjustment flight path based on manual input information selected by the user based on the visualization information and manually inputted may include the flight control system determining whether a candidate adjustment flight path corresponding to the manual input information corresponds to the path adjustment condition, and if the flight control system does not correspond to the path adjustment condition, determining the candidate adjustment flight path as the adjustment flight path, and if the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition, requesting re-input of the manual input information.

[0015] The above-mentioned influence flight path may include a path for taking off and landing at a landing facility installed on the upper part of a predetermined building, or a path included in a weather influence area where the weather satisfies standard conditions.

[0016] The building influence wind in the above building influence area may include at least one of building wind, ground wind, or shear wind.

[0017] The flight control method of the above-described unmanned aerial vehicle can be implemented by a computer program stored on a readable recording medium.

[0018] According to another aspect, a flight control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the technical concept of the present invention comprises a processor and a storage medium recording a program driven by said processor, wherein the processor drives said program to specify a flight path of said unmanned aerial vehicle, specifies a flight influencing factor corresponding to said flight path, and transmits a controlled flight path, in which said flight path is adjusted based on said flight influencing factor, to said aerial vehicle or to a control system of said aerial vehicle.

[0019] The processor can run the program to identify an influence flight path, which is a part of the flight path that may be affected by weather conditions or wind caused by a building, and identify the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path.

[0020] The processor can run the program to specify the adjusted flight path, which is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition, when the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition. Effects of the invention

[0021] According to the technical concept of the present invention, by monitoring factors that may affect flight, such as wind properties or weather conditions formed in urban environments, particularly between buildings or on rooftops of buildings, and thereby adaptively adjusting the flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle, there is an effect of enabling stable service using the unmanned aerial vehicle in urban areas despite adverse conditions in various flight environments. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0022] A brief description of each drawing is provided to help to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention. FIG. 1 shows a schematic system configuration for implementing a flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that reflects flight influencing factors according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a schematic configuration of a flight control system of an unmanned aerial vehicle reflecting flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for schematically explaining a flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that incorporates flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5 to 9 are drawings exemplarily illustrating a flight control method of an unmanned aerial vehicle reflecting flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0023] In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objectives achieved by the implementation of the present invention, reference must be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

[0024] Furthermore, in this specification, when one component 'transmits' data to another component, it means that the component may transmit the data directly to the other component or transmit the data to the other component through at least one other component. Conversely, when one component 'transmits' data directly to another component, it means that the data is transmitted from the component to the other component without passing through another component.

[0025] The present invention will be described in detail below by explaining preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the attached drawings. Identical reference numerals in each drawing indicate identical components.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a schematic system configuration for implementing a flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that reflects flight influencing factors according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 1, in order to implement a flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that reflects flight influencing factors according to the technical concept of the present invention, a flight control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (hereinafter, 'flight control system', 100) may be provided.

[0028] The above flight control system (100) can adjust the flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle (hereinafter referred to as 'aircraft') in accordance with the technical concept of the present invention. Of course, depending on the embodiment, flight characteristics (flight speed, etc.) may also be adjusted.

[0029] Alternatively, the flight control system (100) may transmit information regarding a flight path or a controlled flight path to a control system that controls the aircraft, and in response, the control system may automatically or manually control the aircraft to correspond to the transmitted flight path or the controlled flight path.

[0030] According to an example of implementation, the flight control system (100) may be a system that receives flight plan information for a predetermined aircraft, determines whether to allow or disallow the received flight plan, and comprehensively performs control, regulation, and rule setting for the flight of the aircraft within a specific area. The flight plan information may include at least information regarding a flight path. The information regarding the flight path may be coordinate values ​​for the starting point, intermediate point, and destination point of the flight path, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the flight plan information may further include the speed of the aircraft or attributes of the aircraft (size, maximum speed, etc.).

[0031] According to the technical concept of the present invention, the flight control system (100) can specify a planned flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle (10, 20). The aerial vehicle (10, 20) may be directly controlled by the flight control system (100), or it may be an aerial vehicle that flies autonomously along a predetermined flight path. Alternatively, the aerial vehicle (10, 20) may be controlled by a predetermined Ground Control System (GCS, 200) capable of communicating with the flight control system (100), and the flight control system (100) may receive information regarding such control through communication. According to an embodiment, the GCS (200) may be implemented by being included in the flight control system (100).

[0032] The flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) can be entered in advance by the flight subject, and the flight control system (100) can maintain information about the entered flight path.

[0033] In addition, the flight control system (100) can extract only a specific part of the flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) and perform a process of selectively adjusting or maintaining the flight path for a part of the extracted flight path.

[0034] According to the technical concept of the present invention, a part of such a flight path may refer to an area within the flight path where flight may be affected by a predetermined flight influencing factor. For example, it may be an area included in an urban area (e.g., the airspace above an urban area). In particular, a flight path around high-rise buildings or relatively large buildings may be a flight path that is selectively subject to adjustment.

[0035] Alternatively, if the weather conditions correspond to severe weather satisfying predetermined criteria, the flight path included in that area, i.e., the weather influence area, may be the flight path subject to adjustment. The aforementioned weather influence area may be defined as an administrative district unit or an area having a predetermined radius, and such a weather influence area may vary depending on the size of the regional unit capable of sensing weather conditions. For example, if weather conditions are monitored by administrative district, the severe weather area may be specified by administrative district, or by a certain area (e.g., 1 km² 2 In cases where it is monitored as ), the weather impact area may be specified for each area.

[0036] The above standard conditions can be defined in various ways, for example, based on whether there is more than a certain amount of rain, whether there is lightning, or whether there is more than a certain amount of snow. These standard conditions may be pre-set by the operator of the flight control system (100), and the flight control system (100) may communicate with a specific external system (e.g., a weather agency system or other service system that provides weather information) to check weather conditions in real time.

[0037] The portion selected to manage and adjust the flight path in such a selective and intensive manner may be defined in this specification as the influence flight path.

[0038] According to one example, the above-mentioned influence flight path may include a building influence flight path or a weather influence flight path.

[0039] The building-affected flight path may be a flight path that is included in the building-affected area. For example, the building-affected area may be set to a predetermined range (e.g., a radius of 1 km) near a building where the landing device (vertiport) of the aircraft (10, 20) is installed.

[0040] Alternatively, even if there is no landing gear, if there is one or more high-rise buildings with an elevation difference within a certain range in the vertical direction from the flight path, a building influence zone may be within a predetermined range based on said building(s).

[0041] When a building influence zone is established in this way, flight paths included in the building influence zone can be defined as building influence flight paths.

[0042] A building-affected flight path can be set in various ways, and in any case, a part of the original flight path of an aircraft (10, 20) that needs to monitor the characteristics of the wind caused by the building and adaptively adjust its flight path accordingly can be set as a building-affected flight path.

[0043] A weather influence path can be defined as a flight path included in a severe weather area as described above. A weather influence path may be a flight path included in a weather influence area, which is an area satisfying certain standard conditions as described above.

[0044] In such affected flight paths, the flight may be relatively significantly affected depending on the characteristics of the wind or weather conditions occurring around the building.

[0045] For example, building wind is a wind blowing over an urban area that hits a high-rise building and descends rapidly to the ground, then rises upward like a vortex or spreads out rapidly to the left and right, and this building wind can have a significant effect on the flight of an aircraft (10, 20) flying near a building.

[0046] For example, surface wind refers to wind blowing near the surface of the earth, typically measured at around 10m above the ground, and this surface wind can also significantly affect the flight of the aircraft (10, 20), and can have a greater effect, especially near buildings.

[0047] For example, wind shear is a wind with changes in wind speed / direction over a short distance, and changes in wind speed / direction can occur both horizontally and vertically, and it mainly occurs when there is a strong temperature inversion or change in density in the atmosphere. Due to such wind shear, an aircraft (10, 20) flying in an urban area or near a specific building can be relatively greatly affected.

[0048] For example, the aircraft (10, 20) may be relatively affected when it rains more than a certain level, when lightning strikes, or when it snows more than a certain level.

[0049] Ultimately, within the flight influence zone, that is, the building influence zone or the weather influence zone, the aircraft (10, 20) can be significantly affected by various winds such as the aforementioned building wind, shear wind, and ground wind, that is, the building influence wind or weather conditions, and it is necessary to actively manage this and adaptively and actively manage the flight path of the aircraft (10, 20). Otherwise, a major disaster may occur due to the characteristics of the city.

[0050] Ultimately, according to the technical concept of the present invention, in order to solve these requirements, an influence flight path is specified as a flight path included within the flight influence area among the originally planned flight paths of the aircraft (10, 20), and flight influence factors (e.g., building influence wind or weather conditions) in the flight influence area are monitored or predicted, and if it is determined that the flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) needs to be changed according to the relative degree of influence of the flight influence factors, the flight path can be actively and preemptively adjusted first.

[0051] For example, in order to monitor or predict building-influence wind within a building influence zone, various sensors may be installed in the space designated as the building influence zone, and the attributes of the building-influence wind (wind speed, wind direction, etc.) may be sensed based on these sensors. Alternatively, in environments where the attributes of the building-influence wind cannot be sensed directly by these sensors, the attributes of the building-influence wind may be predicted through various engineering algorithms. The attributes of the building-influence wind within the building influence zone can be observed or predicted in various ways, and the present specification presents a technical feature for adaptively adjusting the flight path of an aircraft (10, 20) based on the premise that the attributes of the building-influence wind within the building influence zone can be observed or predicted in this manner.

[0052] In addition, as mentioned above, building influence winds may include various types of wind such as building wind, ground wind, and shear wind, but it may not necessarily be necessary to observe or predict the properties of the wind individually for each type of wind.

[0053] For example, at least two of building wind, ground wind, and shear wind are combined at a given point and the wind properties observed or predicted at that point may be the wind properties at that point, and an average expert in the art of the present invention will be able to easily infer that the properties of the building wind influence within the building influence area can be specified by setting multiple such points.

[0054] For example, in order to monitor or predict weather conditions within a weather influence area, it is obvious that the flight control system (100) can obtain necessary information by communicating with the system of an organization (e.g., a weather agency, etc.) that announces weather conditions (information) in real time.

[0055] When an influence flight path is determined and a flight influence element corresponding to the influence flight path (e.g., attributes of the building influence wind, such as wind speed or wind direction, or weather condition information) is determined, the flight control system (100) can determine whether to adjust the influence flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) based on the attributes of the flight influence element (wind speed, wind direction, precipitation amount, whether lightning strikes, snowfall amount, etc.) and the influence flight path.

[0056] Whether the flight path of such influence is adjusted can be determined by whether it corresponds to a predetermined path adjustment condition. This path adjustment condition may be a condition using the flight plan (path and flight speed, etc.) of the aircraft (10, 20) and the attributes of the flight influence factor.

[0057] These path adjustment conditions may be conditions that define, for example, cases where it is not easy to fly according to the original flight plan of the aircraft (10, 20), and thus there is a need to adjust the flight path, and may be defined using the flight direction, flight speed, and flight influence element attributes of the aircraft (10, 20) included in the flight plan.

[0058] For example, if the flight direction and the wind direction are in the same direction or within a certain angle, the case where the wind speed is greater than a certain amount can be defined as a path adjustment condition. Depending on the angle between the flight direction and the wind direction, wind speed conditions that define the path adjustment condition in various ways can be set. Of course, in this case, the weight of the aircraft (10, 20) or the flight speed of the aircraft may also be taken into consideration, and the path adjustment condition may be adaptedly set. Alternatively, the case where the amount of precipitation is greater than a certain amount, the case where lightning is occurring, or the case where the amount of snowfall is greater than a certain amount may serve as criteria for defining the path adjustment condition.

[0059] It goes without saying that such path adjustment conditions can be defined as a combination of one or more attributes (e.g., wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, presence of lightning, and / or snowfall, etc.).

[0060] Ultimately, an average person skilled in the art of the present invention will be able to easily deduce that path adjustment conditions can be set in various embodiments using flight direction, flight speed, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation, lightning strike, and / or snowfall and the weight of the aircraft (10, 20) as variables.

[0061] Then, the flight control system (100) can check the influence flight path and the attributes of the flight influence factors of the aircraft (10, 20) currently being controlled, and determine whether it corresponds to a path adjustment condition using the result of the check.

[0062] And when it is determined that a path adjustment condition applies, that is, when it is determined that a path adjustment is necessary, the flight control system (100) can specify an adjustment flight path and transmit the specified adjustment flight path to the aircraft (10, 20) or transmit it to a control system (300, 310) capable of adjusting the aircraft (10, 20).

[0063] According to one embodiment of the present invention, to specify a controlled flight path, a method may be used in which a candidate controlled flight path is first specified by changing the flight path from the original influence flight path according to a certain rule, and then determining whether the specified candidate controlled flight path corresponds to a path control condition. Alternatively, the controlled flight path may be specified iteratively by repeatedly changing the candidate controlled flight path according to a predetermined rule until the candidate controlled flight path does not correspond to the path control condition, and then checking whether it corresponds to the path control condition.

[0064] Of course, in this case, the rule can be set in such a way that the difference from the original flight path increases each time the rule is applied. For example, the aforementioned rule could be to uniformly shift the flight path by a certain distance in a specific direction, or it could be to identify a specific section within the influence flight path (e.g., a section with strong building influence wind properties) and shift only that section by a certain distance in a specific direction.

[0065] Rules can be established in various ways, and the flight path can be modified little by little and gradually until it no longer meets the path adjustment conditions, thereby finally determining the adjusted flight path.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the flight path may be manually controlled by a user, i.e., an operator of the flight control system (100), and for this purpose, it may be necessary to visualize the attributes of the flight influencing factors. An example of this will be described later.

[0067] Ultimately, according to the technical concept of the present invention, by considering flight impact factors, there is an effect of enabling stable unmanned aerial vehicle-related services even in urban or building environments.

[0068] Meanwhile, the aircraft (10, 20) may be identified when the operator of the aircraft (10, 20) inputs a flight plan (information regarding flight path, flight speed, aircraft attributes, etc.) into the flight control system (100). That is, the flight path may be identified even before the aircraft (10, 20) actually flies.

[0069] Alternatively, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the actual flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) (the actual flight path is a change in the actual flight location (latitude, altitude, longitude, or GPS location, etc.)) may be specified in real time while the aircraft (10, 20) is actually flying. Then, the flight control system (100) can receive the specified flight path directly with the aircraft (10, 20) or through communication with a control system (300, 310) that controls the aircraft (10, 20).

[0070] The configuration of the flight control system (100) for implementing such technical ideas will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0071] FIGS. 2 and FIGS. 3 show a schematic configuration of an unmanned flight control system reflecting flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0072] First, referring to FIG. 2, the flight control system (100) can be implemented as a predetermined data processing device.

[0073] The flight control system (100) includes a processor (110) and a storage medium (120) for implementing functions defined in this specification as illustrated in FIG. 2. The processor (110) may refer to a computing device capable of executing a predetermined program (software code) and may be named by various names such as an example of a data processing device implementation, a vendor mobile processor, a microprocessor, a CPU, a single processor, a multiprocessor, a GPU, etc., and may be implemented as one or more processors.

[0074] An average expert in the technical field of the present invention will be able to easily infer that the above processor (110) can run the above program to perform data processing necessary for the technical concept of the present invention.

[0075] The above storage medium (120) may refer to a device in which a program for implementing the technical concept of the present invention is stored / installed. Depending on the embodiment, the above storage medium (120) may be divided into a plurality of different physical devices, and depending on the embodiment, a part of the above storage medium (120) may exist inside the processor (110). Depending on the embodiment, the above storage medium (120) may be implemented as a hard disk, GPU, SSD (Solid State Disk), optical disk, RAM (Random Access Memory), and / or various other types of storage media, and may be implemented as a detachable device on the flight control system (100) as needed.

[0076] The above flight control system (100) may be implemented as a server for controlling the flight path of an aircraft, but is not limited thereto, and may be implemented as any data processing device (e.g., computer, mobile terminal, etc.) capable of executing the program.

[0077] Additionally, an average person skilled in the art of the present invention will easily deduce that the flight control system (100) may be equipped with the processor (110), the storage medium (120), and various peripheral devices (e.g., input / output devices, display devices, audio devices, communication devices, etc., 140, 141) provided in the flight control system (100), and a communication interface (e.g., a communication bus, 130, etc.) for connecting these devices.

[0078] Meanwhile, the technical concept of the present invention can be implemented by organically combining the program stored in the storage medium (120) and the processor (110), and the functional configuration unit executed by the flight path visualization system (100) can be as shown in FIG. 3.

[0079] That is, the flight control system (100) may include a control module (110-1), a flight path specification module (120-1), a communication module (130-1), and / or a visualization module (140-1).

[0080] In this specification, the term "module" may refer to a functional and structural combination of hardware for carrying out the technical concept of the present invention (e.g., the processor (110) and / or storage medium (120)) and software for driving the hardware (e.g., the program for implementing the technical concept of the present invention). For instance, each of the above components may refer to a logical unit of a specific code and a hardware resource for executing the specific code, and it can be easily inferred by an average expert in the art of the present invention that this does not necessarily refer to physically connected code or to a single type or a specific number of hardware. Accordingly, each of the above components refers to a combination of hardware and software that performs the functions defined in this specification, and does not refer to a specific physical configuration.

[0081] The control module (110-1) can control the functions and / or resources of other components included in the flight control system (100) (e.g., flight path specification module (120-1), communication module (130-1), and / or visualization module (140-1), etc.).

[0082] In addition, the control module (110-1) can adjust the flight path.

[0083] The flight path specification module (120-1) can specify the flight path of the aircraft (10, 20).

[0084] The flight path of the above aircraft (10, 20) may be determined based on a flight plan even before flight. Alternatively, as described above, the actual flight path may be determined by the position coordinates during the actual flight of the above aircraft (10, 20), and the future flight path may be determined.

[0085] Then, the above control module (110-1) can identify a specified flight path, identify a building influence flight path from it, and identify the properties of the building influence wind.

[0086] As previously mentioned, the affected flight path may be a part of a flight path that is located within a preset flight influence area.

[0087] The attributes of flight influence factors may include attributes of the building influence area or attributes of the weather influence area.

[0088] The attributes of the building influence zone may be information including wind direction and / or wind speed, which are determined by observation values ​​based on multiple sensors installed within the building influence zone and / or by values ​​calculated by a predetermined algorithm based on the observation values ​​of these sensors. To this end, the control module (110-1) can verify the observation values ​​of the sensors through communication with the communication module (130-1). As previously described, the building influence wind may include building wind, ground wind, shear wind, etc. However, it is not necessary to specify attributes separately for each type of wind, and the wind direction and / or wind speed of the combined wind may be specified. In any case, the attributes of the wind observed or predicted within the building influence zone may be defined as the attributes of the building influence wind.

[0089] The attributes of the weather influence area may be information regarding weather conditions (information) within the weather influence area that can be obtained from an external system through communication.

[0090] Then, the control module (110-1) can determine whether the path adjustment condition applies, that is, whether the path needs to be adjusted, based on the affected flight path and flight influence factors. And based on the result of the determination, it can specify the adjusted flight path.

[0091] The control module (110-1) can transmit a specific adjusted flight path to the aircraft (10, 20) or the control system (300, 310) that controls the aircraft (10, 20) via the communication module (130-1). Then, the aircraft (10, 20) can fly from the original influence flight path to the adjusted flight path.

[0092] The communication module (130-1) can communicate with the aircraft (10, 20). Additionally, the communication module (130-1) can communicate with a GCS (200) for controlling the aircraft (10, 20). Additionally, the communication module (130-1) can communicate with a control system (300, 310) for controlling a specific aircraft (10, 20).

[0093] The above visualization module (140-1) can visualize the flight path of an aircraft (10, 20) and / or the attributes of flight influencing factors on a predetermined three-dimensional map and display them on a predetermined display device. Through this, the manager of the flight control system (100) can check information regarding the attributes of flight influencing factors and / or the affected flight path, and if adjustment to the path is necessary, can manually input a controlled flight path. To manually input a controlled flight path, the manager may input manual input information. The manual input information may be a series of coordinate values ​​that are specified by performing an act of specifying the controlled flight path through a predetermined display device (e.g., drawing the controlled flight path on the display device with a touch pen, etc.), or may be an act of inputting predetermined information (e.g., multiple coordinate values) for specifying the controlled flight path using a keyboard or keypad, etc. Manual input information can be received in various ways.

[0094] Then, the control module (110-1) can determine a control flight path based on manual input information. In addition, at this time, the control module (110-1) can determine whether the control flight path determined based on manual input information is a candidate control flight path and whether the candidate control flight path corresponds to a path adjustment condition.

[0095] If the candidate adjustment flight path meets the path adjustment conditions, manual input information may be re-requested from the manager, and if this is performed repeatedly and it does not meet the path adjustment conditions, the candidate adjustment flight path can be finally designated as the adjusted flight path.

[0096] As described above, the flight control system (100) may directly control the aircraft (10, 20), and in this case, the control module (110-1) may control the aircraft (10, 20) while communicating with the aircraft (10, 20) through the communication module (130-1).

[0097] Meanwhile, the control module (110-1) included in the flight control system (100) can receive path adjustment conditions in advance. As described above, the path adjustment conditions may be conditions pre-set based on parameters including the flight path, flight speed, attributes of flight influencing factors (e.g., wind direction, wind speed, rainfall amount, presence of lightning, snowfall amount, etc.), and / or the weight of the aircraft (10, 20). The manager of the flight control system (100) can use these parameters to pre-define conditions for cases where the flight of the aircraft (10, 20) along the flight path is affected by flight influencing factors and adjustment of the flight along the original flight path is required.

[0098] For example, the case where the speed of the building influence wind is simply greater than a certain value may be set as the path adjustment condition, and the speed of the building influence wind may be set differently depending on the angle formed between the flight direction and the direction of the building influence wind. In addition, the speed of the building influence wind defining the path adjustment condition may be set differently depending on the weight of the aircraft (10, 20).

[0099] Alternatively, simply exceeding a certain value for rainfall or snowfall may be set as a path adjustment condition. Or, whether lightning is occurring may be set as a path adjustment condition.

[0100] An average expert in the art of the present invention will be able to easily infer that path adjustment conditions can be defined in various ways.

[0101] The above control module (110-1) may specify an adjustment flight path based on manual input information from the manager as described above when the attributes of the influence flight path and the flight influence factor correspond to preset path adjustment conditions, that is, when it is necessary to adjust the influence flight path, but may also specify an adjustment flight path through a process of automatically searching for an adjustment flight path.

[0102] For example, a candidate adjustment flight path can be specified by modifying the above-mentioned influence flight path according to a predetermined rule—whereby, when the rule is applied, a flight path that gradually deviates from the original flight path is specified. The rule may, for example, be a rule that shifts the entire influence flight path by a certain distance in the direction where the attributes of the flight influence factor are weak. Alternatively, it may be a rule that shifts only a part of the influence flight path. The rule may be set in various ways.

[0103] And the control module (110-1) can determine whether the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition.

[0104] Then, the control module (110-1) can finally specify the candidate adjustment flight path as the adjustment flight path if the candidate adjustment flight path does not meet the path adjustment conditions.

[0105] If the above candidate adjustment flight path also corresponds to the above path adjustment condition, the above candidate adjustment flight path may be changed again. Even when changing again, the change may be made according to the above rule, but is not necessarily limited thereto. Then, the control module (110-1) may determine whether the changed flight path corresponds to the above path adjustment condition by designating the changed flight path as a candidate adjustment flight path again, and may repeat this process until a path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition is found.

[0106] According to the technical concept of the present invention, the influence flight path may include the take-off and landing path of the aircraft (10, 20). That is, the technical concept of the present invention may have a particularly advantageous effect during the take-off and landing of the aircraft (10, 20). This is because, for take-off and landing, the speed of the aircraft (10, 20) is relatively low, and since the take-off and landing facility is usually installed on the rooftop of a building, flight must be performed near the building, so it may be relatively greatly affected by the building influence wind. In addition, weather conditions around the building may have a relatively large effect on flight.

[0107] Of course, even if the aircraft (10, 20) is not flying for takeoff and landing, the technical concept of the present invention can have a great effect when it needs to fly between buildings or when it flies with a relatively small difference in altitude compared to the height of the buildings.

[0108] FIG. 4 is a flowchart for schematically explaining a flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle that incorporates flight influencing factors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0109] Referring to FIG. 4, as described above, the flight control system (100) can specify the flight path of the aircraft (10, 20) (S100). And as described above, the process of specifying such a flight path may include the process of specifying an influence flight path (S110).

[0110] In addition, the flight control system (100) can specify flight influencing factors (S200). And this process may include a process of specifying attributes of building influencing wind or weather conditions (S210).

[0111] Then, the flight control system (100) can specify a controlled flight path (S300). This process can be performed when the attributes of the affected flight path and the flight influencing factor correspond to the path adjustment conditions.

[0112] The process of specifying a control flight path (S300) may include specifying a candidate control flight path as described above (S310), determining whether the specified candidate control flight path corresponds to a path control condition (S320, S330), determining the candidate control flight path as the control flight path if it does not correspond to the path control condition (S340), and repeating the above process (S310, S320, S330) after changing the candidate control flight path again if it corresponds to the path control condition.

[0113] And finally, the flight control system (100) can transmit the determined control flight path to the aircraft (10, 20) or the control system (300, 310) of the aircraft (10, 20).

[0114] Then the aircraft (10, 20) can fly along the adjusted flight path.

[0115] FIGS. 5 to 9 are drawings exemplarily illustrating a flight control method of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0116] FIG. 5 illustrates a case where an aircraft (10, 20) flies near a building, and FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary case where the technical concept of the present invention is applied when an aircraft (10, 20) lands on a landing facility installed on the rooftop of a building.

[0117] As described above, the visualization module (140-1) of the flight control system (100) can visualize the properties of the building influence wind on a map.

[0118] In the illustrated embodiment, the flight control system (100) visualizes the wind speed of the building-affecting wind using a red color scheme as the wind speed is stronger and a blue color scheme as the wind speed is weaker, and visualizes the wind direction using an arrow, but is not necessarily limited to this and various embodiments are possible.

[0119] In addition, the visualization module (140-1) can also visualize the building impact flight path (30) and the adjustment flight path (40).

[0120] In FIGS. 5 and 9, when the influence flight path (30) is adjusted to the adjustment flight path (40) according to the technical concept of the present invention, the original influence flight path is visualized as a dotted line and the adjustment flight path (40) is visualized as a solid line, but it is not necessarily limited to this.

[0121] Figure 5 illustrates a case where the original influence flight path (30) is adjusted to pass through a place where the building influence wind speed is relatively high, and then pass through a place where it is relatively low.

[0122] In addition, FIG. 6 illustrates a case where an aircraft (10) intends to land at a landing facility, and the original flight path (30) is heavily affected by building wind and / or shear wind between buildings, so the flight path is adjusted to a path with relatively less influence, i.e., an adjusted flight path (40).

[0123] In addition, in Fig. 7, information regarding building wind influence and rain is displayed, and it goes without saying that precipitation values ​​may also be displayed depending on the embodiment.

[0124] In addition, Figure 8 illustrates an example in which information regarding building impact wind and lightning strikes is being displayed.

[0125] In Fig. 9, information regarding the building's impact wind and snowfall is displayed. Of course, specific numerical values ​​of snowfall can also be displayed at this time.

[0126] In FIGS. 7 to 9, when the influence flight path (30) is adjusted to the adjustment flight path (40), the original influence flight path is visualized as a dotted line and the adjustment flight path (40) as a solid line, but it is not necessarily limited to this. Also, FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate, for example, a case where the adjustment path (40) is specified within a weather influence area, i.e., an area where weather conditions are raining, lightning is occurring, or snow is falling, but an average expert in the technical field of the present invention will easily infer that, depending on the embodiment, the adjustment path (40) may be specified in an area outside the weather influence area.

[0127] Ultimately, according to the technical concept of the present invention, there is an effect of enabling stable service utilizing the unmanned aerial vehicle even when factors that may affect the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle occur.

[0128] A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all types of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, hard disk, floppy disk, optical data storage device, etc. Furthermore, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed across networked computer systems, allowing computer-readable code to be stored and executed in a distributed manner. Additionally, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs.

[0129] The present invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawings, but this is merely illustrative, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent alternative embodiments are possible therefrom. Accordingly, the true technical scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

Claim 1 The flight control system of an unmanned aerial vehicle comprises the steps of: specifying the flight path of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the flight control system specifying an influence flight path, which is a part of the flight path that may be affected by weather conditions or wind caused by a building; the flight control system specifying the wind speed or wind direction of a weather influence area or a building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path as a flight influence factor corresponding to the flight path; and, if the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path corresponds to a path adjustment condition, the flight control system specifying a modified flight path—whereby the modified flight path is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition—and transmitting it to the aircraft or the aircraft's control system, wherein the step of specifying the modified flight path—whereby the modified flight path is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition—and transmitting it to the aircraft or the aircraft's control system comprises the flight control system specifying the influence flight path according to a predetermined rule—whereby the rule A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising: a step of specifying a candidate adjustment flight path that is modified to a flight path that is gradually separated from the original flight path when applied; a step in which the flight control system determines whether the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition; and a step in which the flight control system, if the candidate adjustment flight path does not correspond to the path adjustment condition, specifies the candidate adjustment flight path as the adjustment flight path, and if the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition, specifies the flight path modified by the rule again as the candidate adjustment flight path, and determines whether the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition, repeating the process until a path not corresponding to the path adjustment condition is found. Claim 2 delete Claim 3 delete Claim 4 delete Claim 5 A flight control system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprises the steps of: specifying a flight path of the UAV; specifying an influence flight path, which is a part of the flight path that may be affected by weather conditions or wind caused by a building, within the flight path; specifying a wind speed or wind direction of a weather influence area or a building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path as a flight influence factor corresponding to the flight path; and, if the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path corresponds to a path adjustment condition, specifying a modified flight path—whereby the modified flight path is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition—and transmitting it to the aircraft or the aircraft's control system, wherein the step of specifying the modified flight path—whereby the modified flight path is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition—and transmitting it to the aircraft or the aircraft's control system comprises the flight control system within the weather influence area or the building influence area A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising: a step of displaying visualization information indicating wind speed and wind direction; and a step of determining the control flight path based on manual input information selected by a user based on the visualization information and manually input by the flight control system. Claim 6 In claim 5, the step of the flight control system specifying the adjustment flight path based on manual input information selected by a user based on the visualization information and manually inputted includes: a step in which the flight control system determines whether a candidate adjustment flight path corresponding to the manual input information corresponds to the path adjustment condition; and a step in which the flight control system specifies the candidate adjustment flight path as the adjustment flight path if the candidate adjustment flight path does not correspond to the path adjustment condition, and requests re-input of the manual input information if the candidate adjustment flight path corresponds to the path adjustment condition. Claim 7 A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the influence flight path comprises: a path for taking off and landing at a landing facility installed on the upper part of a predetermined building; or a path included in a weather influence area where the weather satisfies standard conditions. Claim 8 A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the building influence wind of the building influence area comprises at least one of building wind, ground wind, or shear wind. Claim 9 A computer program installed in a data processing device and stored on a computer-readable recording medium for performing a method described in any one of claims 1, 5 through 8. Claim 10 A processor; and a storage medium recording a program driven by said processor, wherein the processor drives said program to specify a flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle, and specifies an influence flight path, which is a part of said flight path that may be affected by wind caused by weather conditions or buildings, and specifies the wind speed or wind direction of a weather influence area or a building influence area corresponding to said influence flight path as a flight influence factor corresponding to said flight path, and if the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to said influence flight path corresponds to a path adjustment condition, the processor specifies a adjusted flight path—said that the flight path is a flight path not corresponding to said path adjustment condition—and transmits said flight path or said flight path to the aircraft or the aircraft's control system, wherein the processor specifies a candidate adjusted flight path in which the influence flight path is changed by a predetermined rule—when said rule is applied, a flight path that gradually deviates from the original flight path is specified—and determines whether said candidate adjusted flight path corresponds to said path adjustment condition, and says A flight control method for an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein if the path adjustment condition is not met, the candidate adjustment flight path is designated as the adjustment flight path, and if the candidate adjustment flight path is met, the flight path modified by the rule is designated again as the candidate adjustment flight path, and the process of determining whether the path adjustment condition is met is repeated until a path not meeting the path adjustment condition is found, thereby designating the adjustment flight path. Claim 11 A flight control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle that includes a processor; a storage medium recording a program driven by the processor, wherein the processor drives the program to specify a flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle, and specifies an influence flight path which is a part of the flight path that may be affected by wind caused by weather conditions or buildings, and specifies a wind speed or wind direction of a weather influence area or a building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path as a flight influence factor corresponding to the flight path, and if the wind speed or wind direction of the weather influence area or the building influence area corresponding to the influence flight path corresponds to a path adjustment condition, specifies a controlled flight path—whereby the controlled flight path is a flight path that does not correspond to the path adjustment condition—and transmits it to the aircraft or the control system of the aircraft, wherein visualization information indicating wind speed and wind direction is displayed within the weather influence area or the building influence area, and reflects a flight influence factor that specifies the controlled flight path based on manual input information selected by a user based on the visualization information and manually input. Claim 12 delete

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