Flight control system and flight control method

Abstract

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a flight control system capable of controlling a plurality of small unmanned aerial vehicles by one controller. A flight control system according to the present disclosure comprises a controller, a first small unmanned aerial vehicle, and a second small unmanned aerial vehicle. The controller receives a first position for the first small unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to. Further, the controller stores the position of the second small unmanned aerial vehicle relative to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle in advance. Further, the controller determines a second position for the second small unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to on the basis of the first position and the relative position. Further, the controller transmits information on the first position to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle, and transmits information on the second position to the second small unmanned aerial vehicle. The first small unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the first position. The second small unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the second position.

Description

Flight control system and flight control method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to flight control technology for small unmanned aerial vehicles.

[0002] A technique for inspecting a structure using multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-176822

[0004] However, the above-mentioned method requires a controller for each of the multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles.

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first objective of the present disclosure is to provide a flight control system that can control multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles with a single controller.

[0006] A second object of the present disclosure is to provide a flight control method that can control multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles using a single controller.

[0007] A first aspect of the present disclosure is a flight control system comprising a controller, a first small unmanned aerial vehicle, and a second small unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the controller is configured to execute: a reception process for receiving a first position at which to fly the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; a storage process for pre-storing the relative position of the second small unmanned aerial vehicle from the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; a determination process for determining a second position at which to fly the second small unmanned aerial vehicle based on the first position and the relative position; and a process for transmitting information of the first position to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle and transmitting information of the second position to the second small unmanned aerial vehicle; and the first small unmanned aerial vehicle is preferably configured to execute a process to fly to the first position, and the second small unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to execute a process to fly to the second position.

[0008] A second aspect of the present disclosure is preferably a flight control method including: a controller receiving a first position at which to fly a first small unmanned aerial vehicle; storing in advance a relative position of a second small unmanned aerial vehicle from the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; determining a second position at which to fly the second small unmanned aerial vehicle based on the first position and the relative position; transmitting information of the first position to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle and transmitting information of the second position to the second small unmanned aerial vehicle; flying the first small unmanned aerial vehicle to the first position; and flying the second small unmanned aerial vehicle to the second position.

[0009] According to the first and second aspects of the present disclosure, a flight control system and a flight control method can be provided that can control multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles with a single controller.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing a flight control system in the prior art; FIG. 1 is a configuration example of a flight control system according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating inspecting a structure using a flight control system according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relative position of a second flying vehicle stored by a controller according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first longitude and latitude calculation process according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second longitude and latitude calculation process according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first signal and a second signal according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a controller according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a conventional controller according to a comparative example of the present disclosure; FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a first flying vehicle according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by a controller according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by a conventional controller according to a comparative example of the present disclosure; FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by a first flying vehicle according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a relative coordinate system according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure; FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an absolute coordinate system according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

[0011] Comparative Example First, a flight control method in the prior art will be described as a comparative example of the present disclosure. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a flight control system 200 in the prior art. This shows a case in which two small unmanned aerial vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "air vehicles") 210 are used to inspect a structure 240. As such, in the prior art, a controller 230 and a pilot 60 are required for each of the multiple air vehicles 210.

[0012] Although it is technically possible for one pilot 60 to control multiple aircraft 210 using one controller 230, the pilot 60 must control multiple aircraft 210 simultaneously, which increases the workload.

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding components will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description may be omitted.

[0014] 2 is a configuration example of a flight control system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The flight control system 100 includes a first small unmanned aerial vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the first aerial vehicle) 110, a second small unmanned aerial vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the second aerial vehicle) 120, and a controller 130. Note that the structure 140 here does not have to be a structure to be inspected, but may be a building or the like that serves as a landmark during the flight of the first aerial vehicle 110 and the second aerial vehicle 120.

[0015] The first flying vehicle 110 and the second flying vehicle 120 may have the same or different configurations.

[0016] The controller 130 receives from the pilot 60 a first position at which to fly the first flying vehicle 110 .

[0017] The controller 130 stores in advance the relative position of the first flying vehicle 110 with respect to the second flying vehicle 120. The relative position is a position defined in a relative coordinate system 30 (described below) with the structure 140 as the origin.

[0018] Furthermore, the controller 130 executes a determination process to determine a second position to fly the second flying object 120 based on the first position and the relative position. The determination process includes a first longitude and latitude calculation process and a second longitude and latitude calculation process, which will be described later.

[0019] Additionally, controller 130 transmits a first signal 10 containing information about the first position to first air vehicle 110 and a second signal 20 containing information about the second position to second air vehicle 120.

[0020] The first flying object 110 receives a first signal 10 from the controller 130. Based on the signal, the first flying object 110 flies from a position indicated by point A to a first position indicated by point B.

[0021] The second flying object 120 receives a second signal 20 from the controller 130. Based on the signal, the second flying object 120 flies from the position indicated by point C to the second position indicated by point D.

[0022] In this way, the controller 130 of the present disclosure pre-stores the relative position of the first air vehicle 110 with respect to the second air vehicle 120. The second position at which the second air vehicle 120 flies is automatically determined from the first position input by the pilot 60 and the relative position. Therefore, the pilot 60 can achieve flight control of both the first air vehicle 110 and the second air vehicle 120 by controlling only the first air vehicle 110.

[0023] The flight control system 100 of the present disclosure is particularly suitable for inspecting a structure 140 using the first aircraft 110 and the second aircraft 120. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the inspection of a structure 140 using the flight control system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the inspection can be achieved using inspection radio waves 50. The first aircraft 110 transmits the inspection radio waves 50 directed toward the structure 140. The second aircraft 120 receives the inspection radio waves 50 that have propagated through the structure 140. By analyzing the waveform of the received power of the inspection radio waves 50, damage, corrosion, etc., in the structure 140, such as a wind power generation device, can be determined.

[0024] 4 is a diagram illustrating the relative position of the second aircraft 120 stored by the controller 130 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The controller 130 stores the relative position of the second aircraft 120 as an elevation angle difference 305 from the structure 140 and an azimuth angle difference 304 from the first aircraft 110 in a relative coordinate system 30 with the structure 140 as the origin. By using the structure 140 as the origin in this manner, it is possible to fly the first aircraft 110 and the second aircraft 120 so that they arrive at predetermined positions relative to the structure 140. This is particularly effective in cases where the positional relationship between the two aircraft with respect to the structure 140 is predetermined, such as when the first aircraft 110 and the second aircraft 120 inspect the structure 140.

[0025] The elevation angle difference 305 and the azimuth angle difference 304 may be determined each time based on the first position of the first flying vehicle 110, or may be fixed. The information stored in the controller 130 does not have to be the elevation angle difference 305 or the azimuth angle difference 304, as long as it determines the relative position of the second flying vehicle 120. The directions of the coordinate axes here are set to the azimuths of east 301 and north 302 and zenith 303, but may be set to other directions.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first longitude and latitude calculation process according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In the first longitude and latitude calculation process, a first position in the relative coordinate system 30, which is represented by an azimuth, an elevation angle, and a distance, is converted into a first position in the absolute coordinate system 40, which is represented by latitude, longitude, and altitude. As shown in FIG. 5 , the origin of coordinates in the relative coordinate system 30 is the structure 140. The directions of the coordinate axes are set to the east 301 and north 302 directions and the zenith 303. By the first longitude and latitude calculation process, the origin of coordinates is converted from the structure 140 to the center of the Earth 44. The coordinate axis set in the east 301 direction is converted into the coordinate axis 401 (x-axis) indicating 0 degrees longitude. The coordinate axis set in the north 302 direction is converted into the coordinate axis 402 (y-axis) indicating 90 degrees east longitude. The coordinate axis set in the direction of the zenith 303 is converted into the coordinate axis 403 (z-axis) indicating the celestial north pole. The coordinate system converted in this manner is the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0027] It should be noted that it is more convenient for the pilot 60 to input the first position to which the first flying vehicle 110 is to be flown into the controller 130 as coordinates in the relative coordinate system 30 than as coordinates in the absolute coordinate system 40. However, it should be noted that such coordinate conversion is necessary because the first flying vehicle 110 and the second flying vehicle 120 fly based on coordinates in the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0028] 6 is a diagram illustrating the second longitude and latitude calculation process according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In the second longitude and latitude calculation process, the second position of the second aircraft 120 in the absolute coordinate system 40 is calculated using the first position of the first aircraft 110 in the absolute coordinate system 40 and the position of the second aircraft 120 relative to the first aircraft 110. This allows the second position to also be converted from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0029] 7 is a diagram illustrating a first signal 10 and a second signal 20 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The controller 130 transmits the first signal 10 including information about the first position to the first flying vehicle 110. The controller 130 also transmits the second signal 20 including information about the second position to the second flying vehicle 120. The first position and the second position here are represented by coordinates in the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0030] Below, configuration examples of the controller 130, first aircraft 110, and second aircraft 120 of the present disclosure and flowcharts executed by them will be described. Note that after each figure explaining the present disclosure, a configuration example of the controller 230 and aircraft 210 in a conventional flight control system 200 and flowcharts executed by them may be described as a comparative example. In the explanation of the comparative example, differences from the present disclosure will be explained.

[0031] 8 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the controller 130 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The operation content acquisition unit 31 acquires the operation content by the operator 60. The information processing unit 32 executes the above-described determination process based on the operation content by the operator 60. Furthermore, the operation content acquisition unit 31 notifies the acceleration calculation unit 33 of information on the first position acquired and the second position determined by the determination process. The acceleration calculation unit 33 calculates the accelerations of the first flying vehicle 110 and the second flying vehicle 120 based on the information. Furthermore, the acceleration calculation unit 33 notifies the information processing unit 32 of the calculation result.

[0032] The information processing unit 32 notifies the communication unit 38 of the acceleration information and first position information determined for the first flying object 110 as first guidance information. Similarly, the information processing unit 32 notifies the communication unit 38 of the acceleration information and second position information determined for the second flying object 120 as second guidance information. Note that the first guidance information and the second guidance information do not necessarily have to include acceleration information.

[0033] The communication unit 38 transmits the first guidance information received from the information processing unit 32 to the first flying object 110 as a first signal 10. Similarly, the communication unit 38 transmits the second guidance information to the second flying object 120 as a second signal 20.

[0034] The guidance position memory unit 36 ​​stores the first position and the second position, respectively. The position information memory unit 37 stores the position information received from the first flying body 110 and the second flying body 120. The input / output interface 35 communicates with other devices.

[0035] The relative position memory unit 34 stores the relative position of the first flying vehicle 110 with respect to the second flying vehicle 120 .

[0036] The structure information storage unit 39 stores the position information of the structure 140 .

[0037] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a conventional controller 230 according to a comparative example of the present disclosure. Components that are the same as or correspond to those in Figure 8 are assigned the same reference numerals. In the conventional controller 230, the communication unit 38 connects a line to one aircraft 210. The guidance position memory unit 36 ​​stores a guidance position for one aircraft 210. The position information memory unit 37 stores position information received from one aircraft 210. The conventional controller 230 also differs from the present disclosure in that it does not include a relative position memory unit 34.

[0038] 10 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the first flying vehicle 110 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The first communication unit 18 receives a first signal 10 from the controller 130 and notifies the information processing unit 12. The information processing unit 12 acquires first guidance information from the first signal 10. The information processing unit 12 then notifies the flight control unit 13 of the first guidance information. The flight control unit 13 drives multiple motors 14, each connected to a rotor, based on the first guidance information. The guidance position memory unit 11 stores the first position included in the first guidance information.

[0039] The information processing unit 12 also transmits the position information of the aircraft calculated by the position measuring device 15 to the controller 130 via the first communication unit 18. The position measuring device 15 calculates the position of the aircraft based on the GPS acquisition unit 16 and the gyro sensor 17. The GPS acquisition unit 16 acquires radio waves from GPS satellites. The gyro sensor 17 measures the aircraft's orientation.

[0040] The electromagnetic wave radar radio 19 inspects the structure 140 using the inspection radio waves 50 .

[0041] 10 also applies to the second flying vehicle 120. However, please read the first signal 10 as the second signal 20, the first guidance information as the second guidance information, and the first position as the second position.

[0042] 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the controller 130 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the processing is started. Next, position information of the structure 140 is acquired (step S01). Next, a first position indicated in the relative coordinate system 30 is accepted from the operator 60 (step S02). The accepted first position is stored in the guided position storage unit 36. Next, a first longitude and latitude calculation process of the determination process is executed (step S03). Next, a second longitude and latitude calculation process of the determination process is executed (step S04). The second position determined by the determination process is stored in the guided position storage unit 36.

[0043] Next, the position information is received from the first aircraft 110 and the second aircraft 120 and stored in the position information storage unit 37 (step S05). Next, based on the received position information, it is determined whether the first aircraft 110 has arrived at the first position (step S06). If it is determined that the first aircraft 110 has arrived, guidance of the first aircraft 110 is terminated (step S07).

[0044] Next, it is determined whether the second flying object 120 has arrived at the second position (step S08). If it is determined that the second flying object 120 has arrived, the guidance of the second flying object 120 is terminated (step S09). Finally, the process is terminated.

[0045] On the other hand, if arrival is not confirmed in step S06, a first signal 10 is transmitted to the first flying object 110 (step S10). Furthermore, it is determined whether the second flying object 120 has arrived at the second position (step S11). If it is confirmed that the second flying object 120 has arrived, guidance of the second flying object 120 is terminated (step S12). For the first flying object 110, the process returns to step S05 and location information is received again.

[0046] On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S08 that the second aircraft 120 has arrived, the second signal 20 is transmitted to the second aircraft 120 (step S13) and the process returns to step S05. Similarly, if it is not determined in step S11 that the second aircraft 120 has arrived, the second signal 20 is transmitted to the second aircraft 120 (step S14) and the process returns to step S05.

[0047] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing executed by a conventional controller 230 according to a comparative example of the present disclosure. First, the processing is started. Next, a guided position indicated in the relative coordinate system 30 is received from the operator 60 (step S21). Next, the guided position is converted to the absolute coordinate system 40 and stored in the guided position storage unit 36 ​​(step S22). Next, position information is received from the flying object 210 and stored in the position information storage unit 37 (step S23). Next, based on the received position information, it is determined whether the flying object 210 has arrived at the guided position (step S24). If it is determined that the flying object 210 has arrived, the processing ends. If it is not determined that the flying object 210 has arrived, a control signal is transmitted (step S25), and the processing proceeds to step S23.

[0048] 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the first aircraft 110 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the processing is started. The GPS acquisition unit 16 measures the aircraft's own position (step S31). Next, the gyro sensor 17 measures the aircraft's own orientation (step S32). Next, the position information of the aircraft calculated by the position measurement device 15 is transmitted to the controller 130 (step S33).

[0049] Next, it is determined whether or not a first signal 10 has been received from the controller 130 (step S34). If reception is confirmed, the first position information contained in the first signal 10 is stored in the guidance position storage unit 11 (step S35). Then, the drone flies to the first position (step S36). Note that if reception is not confirmed in step S34, the drone obtains the latest first position information stored in the guidance position storage unit 11 (step S37) and then proceeds to step S36.

[0050] Next, it is determined whether or not the robot has arrived at the first position (step S38). If it is determined that the robot has arrived, a notification of the arrival is sent to the controller 130 (step S39). Finally, the process ends. Note that if it is not determined that the robot has arrived at the first position in step S38, the process returns to the start.

[0051] 13 also applies to the second flying object 120. However, please read the first signal 10 as the second signal 20 and the first position as the second position.

[0052] The processes performed by the first aircraft 110, the second aircraft 120, and the controller 130 may be executed by a program using a computer equipped with a CPU and memory and storing a program in the memory. Alternatively, the processes may be executed by a program using an integrated circuit such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The program may be provided by being recorded on a storage medium or via a network.

[0053] 14 and 15, a method for converting from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40 in the first longitude and latitude calculation process will be described. Furthermore, a method for calculating the position of the second aircraft 120 in the second longitude and latitude calculation process will be described.

[0054] 14 is a diagram illustrating a relative coordinate system 30 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As described above, the relative coordinate system 30 has the structure 140 as its origin. The directions of the coordinate axes are set in the azimuths of east 301 and north 302, and the direction of zenith 303. Here, the coordinate axis set in the azimuth of east 301 is the x-axis, the coordinate axis set in the azimuth of north 302 is the y-axis, and the coordinate axis set in the direction of zenith 303 is the z-axis. Furthermore, the unit vectors in the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions are respectively defined as e Ｅ , e Ｎ , e Ｔ In the relative coordinate system 30, the coordinates are expressed by an azimuth angle λ, an elevation angle γ, and a distance L.

[0055] For example, the coordinates of the first flying object 110 in the relative coordinate system 30 are (γ, λ, L ｐ ) and the position vector is r ｐ It is assumed that this can be expressed as follows.

[0056] On the other hand, the coordinates of the second flying object 120 in the relative coordinate system 30 are expressed as an azimuth angle λ′ from the first flying object 110 and an elevation angle γ from the structure 140. ｓｉ , and the distance L from the structure 140 ｓｉ Using (γ ｓｉ , λ′, L ｓｉ ) and the position vector is r ｓｉAs described above, the controller 130 stores the relative position of the second flying object 120, but the coordinates (γ ｓｉ , λ′, L ｓｉ ) format.

[0057] 15 is a diagram illustrating an absolute coordinate system 40 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As described above, the absolute coordinate system 40 has the center of the earth 44 as its origin. The directions of the coordinate axes are set as coordinate axis 401 (x-axis) indicating 0 degrees longitude, coordinate axis 402 (y-axis) indicating 90 degrees east longitude, and coordinate axis 403 (z-axis) indicating the celestial north pole. Here, the unit vectors in the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions are respectively defined as e ｘ , e ｙ , e ｚ In the absolute coordinate system 40, coordinates are expressed as longitude φ, latitude θ, and altitude H. It is also assumed here that the earth is a perfect sphere.

[0058] <Method of Transforming from Relative Coordinate System to Absolute Coordinate System> First, a method of transforming the coordinates of the first flying object 110 from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40 will be described. The position vector D of the structure 140 existing at the coordinates (θ, φ, H) in the absolute coordinate system 40 is ０ is expressed as follows:

[0059]

[0060] where R is the radius of the Earth.

[0061] Furthermore, in the absolute coordinate system 40, the direction east 301 as seen from the structure 140 can be expressed as follows:

[0062]

[0063] Similarly, the direction of North 302 can be expressed as:

[0064]

[0065] Similarly, the direction of the zenith 303 can be expressed as:

[0066]

[0067] On the other hand, the position vector r of the first flying object 110 in the relative coordinate system 30 ｐ are the coordinates (γ, λ, L ｐ ) is expressed as follows:

[0068]

[0069] The position vector D of the first flying object 110 in the absolute coordinate system 40 ｐ is the position vector D of the structure 140 in the absolute coordinate system 40 ０ The position vector r of the first flying object 110 in the relative coordinate system 30 is ｐ That is, using the following formula, it is possible to convert the coordinates of the first flying object 110 from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40. As a result, in the first longitude and latitude calculation process, it is possible to convert the first position from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0070]

[0071] <Method of Calculating Position of Second Aircraft in Absolute Coordinate System> Next, a method of calculating the position of the second aircraft 120 in the absolute coordinate system 40 will be described. First, the position vector r of the second aircraft 120 in the relative coordinate system 30 is calculated. ｓｉ is the coordinate of the second flying object 120 (γ ｓｉ , λ′, L ｓｉ ) is expressed as follows:

[0072]

[0073] The position vector D of the second flying object 120 in the absolute coordinate system 40 ｓｉ is the position vector D of the structure 140 in the absolute coordinate system 40 ０ The position vector r of the second flying object 120 in the relative coordinate system 30 is ｓｉ As a result, in the second longitude and latitude calculation process, the second position can be converted from the relative coordinate system 30 to the absolute coordinate system 40.

[0074]

[0075] As described above, the present disclosure provides a flight control system and a flight control method that can control multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles with a single controller.

[0076] In the above description, it has been explained that the controller 130 pre-stores the relative position of the first aircraft 110 with respect to the second aircraft 120, and that the relative position is defined in the relative coordinate system 30 with the structure 140 as the origin. However, the relative position does not necessarily have to be defined in the relative coordinate system 30 with the structure 140 as the origin. For example, the relative position of the second aircraft 120 may be defined in a coordinate system with the first aircraft 110 itself as the origin, or in other ways. This makes it possible to define the relative position even when the structure 140 is not on the flight path of the first aircraft 110 and the second aircraft 120, and to determine the second position to fly the second aircraft 120.

[0077] In the above description, the controller 130 receives the first position at which the first flying vehicle 110 should fly from the pilot 60. However, the first position may be received from another device instead of the pilot 60. This allows the flying vehicle to be automatically controlled.

[0078] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made in the implementation stage without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations, and in such cases, the combined effects can be obtained.

[0079] 10 First signal, 11 Guidance position memory unit, 12 Information processing unit, 13 Flight control unit, 14 Motor, 15 Position measuring device, 16 GPS acquisition unit, 17 Gyro sensor, 18 First communication unit, 19 Electromagnetic wave radar radio, 20 Second signal, 30 Relative coordinate system, 31 Operation content acquisition unit, 32 Information processing unit, 33 Acceleration calculation unit, 34 Relative position memory unit, 35 Input / output interface, 36 Guidance position memory unit, 37 Position information memory unit, 38 Communication unit, 39 Structure information memory unit, 40 Absolute coordinate system, 44 Center of the earth, 45 Meridian, 50 Inspection radio wave, 60 Pilot, 100 Flight control system, 110 First small unmanned aerial vehicle, 120 Second small unmanned aerial vehicle, 130 Controller, 140 Structure, 200 Flight control system, 210 Air vehicle, 210 Small unmanned aerial vehicle, 230 controller, 240 structure, 301 east, 302 north, 303 zenith, 304 azimuth angle difference, 305 elevation angle difference, 401 coordinate axis indicating 0 degrees longitude, 402 coordinate axis indicating 90 degrees east longitude, 403 coordinate axis indicating the north celestial pole

Claims

1. A flight control system comprising: a controller; a first small unmanned aerial vehicle; and a second small unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the controller is configured to execute a reception process for receiving a first position at which to fly the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; a storage process for pre-storing the relative position of the second small unmanned aerial vehicle from the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; a determination process for determining a second position at which to fly the second small unmanned aerial vehicle based on the first position and the relative position; and a process for transmitting information of the first position to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle and transmitting information of the second position to the second small unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the first small unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to execute a process to fly to the first position, and the second small unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to execute a process to fly to the second position.

2. A flight control system as described in claim 1, wherein said controller stores said relative position in a relative coordinate system having a structure as its origin during said storage process.

3. The flight control system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first small unmanned aerial vehicle and the second small unmanned aerial vehicle each fly based on the first position and the second position in an absolute coordinate system expressed by latitude, longitude, and altitude, and the control device, in the acceptance process, accepts the first position in a relative coordinate system expressed as azimuth, elevation, and distance, and in the determination process, includes: a first longitude and latitude calculation process that converts the first position in the relative coordinate system into a first position in the absolute coordinate system, and a second longitude and latitude calculation process that calculates a second position in the absolute coordinate system using the first position in the absolute coordinate system and the relative position.

4. A flight control method comprising: a control device receiving a first position for flying a first small unmanned aerial vehicle; pre-storing a relative position of a second small unmanned aerial vehicle from the first small unmanned aerial vehicle; determining a second position for flying the second small unmanned aerial vehicle based on the first position and the relative position; transmitting information of the first position to the first small unmanned aerial vehicle and transmitting information of the second position to the second small unmanned aerial vehicle; flying the first small unmanned aerial vehicle to the first position; and flying the second small unmanned aerial vehicle to the second position.

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