Cage for drone and cage protection method

Abstract

This cage for a drone houses a drone body 50 therein. A lightning protection cage 10 includes: a conductor frame 11 constituting a Faraday cage of a mesh structure; and a wire 13 arranged at a position separated from the conductor frame 11 to the outside of the lightning protection cage 10 along the conductor frame 11.

Description

Drone cages and cage protection methods

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cage for a drone and a cage protection method.

[0002] Non-Patent Document 1 introduces a technology that uses drones to control lightning strikes, with the aim of reducing damage to buildings and people caused by lightning strikes while also reusing the large amount of energy that lightning possesses. In Non-Patent Document 1, a drone is flown toward a thundercloud to induce lightning, and then lightning strikes the drone, preventing lightning strikes on a city. Furthermore, the induced lightning energy is guided to the ground and reused as energy.

[0003] To enable drones to withstand lightning, the drone body is enclosed in a metal shield called a Faraday cage (hereinafter referred to as a lightning cage). The lightning cage not only protects the drone body from the large current generated by lightning strikes, but also cancels the magnetic field generated by the large current, reducing the impact on the drone's internal circuits.

[0004] "Lightning Control and Charging Technology -Lightning Strike Induction Experiment Using a Lightning-Resistant Drone-", NTT official channel, Internet <URL: https: / / youtu.be / e9yD5cqfMMc?si=oeL9pAPoQ2OKsooY>

[0005] From a flight perspective, it is better for the lightning cage to be light. To make the cage lighter, lighter materials can be selected for its construction, or the mesh of the cage can be made coarser to reduce the total amount of material. For example, the cage can be made from thin metal rods or hollow pipes.

[0006] In addition, a lightning rod is attached to the top of the lightning-resistant cage to induce lightning to strike the rod, and the large current generated by the lightning strike is dispersed throughout the entire lightning-resistant cage.

[0007] However, if lightning strikes not the lightning rod but the material that makes up the lightning-resistant cage, for example the central part of the metal rod, there is a problem in that the lightning-resistant cage can be damaged by a spark.

[0008] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and aims to prevent damage to a lightning-resistant cage.

[0009] A drone cage according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a drone cage for housing a drone inside, and includes a conductor frame that forms a mesh-structured Faraday cage, and wires that are arranged along and above the conductor frame.

[0010] A cage protection method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a cage protection method for protecting a mesh-structured Faraday cage attached to a drone, in which a wire is arranged along a conductor frame that constitutes the Faraday cage, at a position spaced apart from the conductor frame to the outside of the cage, so that even if lightning heads toward the center of the conductor frame, the lightning is guided to the wire, preventing damage to the conductor frame.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, damage to the lightning-resistant cage can be prevented.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a drone cage according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing how lightning is triggered by a drone. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a drone cage with a connecting wire. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a drone cage with insulating struts. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing how a wire is held by insulating struts. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing how a wire is held by insulating struts. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the spacing between insulating struts and the height of the insulating struts.

[0013] The drone cage of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a lightning-resistant cage 10 for a drone according to this embodiment.

[0015] The lightning-resistant cage 10 is a mesh-structured Faraday cage made of an electrically conductive conductor frame 11, and houses the drone body 50 inside. The lightning-resistant cage 10 has a Faraday cage effect, blocking external electric fields in the space enclosed by the conductor frame 11. To reduce weight, it is recommended to use thin metal rods or hollow pipes for the conductor frame 11, or to use a coarser mesh for the mesh structure.

[0016] The conductor frame 11 and the drone body 50 are connected by an insulating material. In other words, the conductor frame 11 is fixed to the drone body 50 by the insulating material.

[0017] The lightning protection cage 10 shown in Fig. 1 is diamond-shaped or abacus-bead-shaped, but is not limited thereto. The lightning protection cage 10 may have any shape that matches the drone body 50. For example, the lightning protection cage 10 may be spherical.

[0018] The conductor frame 11 on the top of the lightning protection cage 10 has conductor struts 12 that stand upright toward the outside of the lightning protection cage 10. Wires 13 are strung between the conductor struts 12 along the conductor frame 11. The conductor struts 12 can be made of the same material as the conductor frame 11. Both ends of the conductor frame 11 may be bent to form the conductor struts 12. The conductor struts 12 may also be located in the center of the conductor frame 11, rather than at both ends.

[0019] A conductive wire such as a copper wire can be used as the wire 13. The wire 13 may be disposed only on the conductor frame 11 at the top of the lightning protection cage 10, or the wire 13 may be disposed on all of the conductor frames 11.

[0020] By providing the wire 13, even if lightning does not strike the lightning rod 21 but heads toward the center of the conductor frame 11, the lightning can be guided to the wire 13, preventing damage to the conductor frame 11.

[0021] Lightning strikes can vaporize or melt the wires 13, but the large current generated is then discharged to the conductor supports 12 on both sides via the wires 13. Vaporizing or melting the wires 13 has almost no effect on the drone's flight performance or lightning protection capabilities. Maintenance of the lightning-resistant cage 10 can be performed simply by reattaching the wires 13, provided the conductor frame 11 is not damaged.

[0022] It is advisable to provide a lightning rod 21 at the top of the lightning-resistant cage 10. Lightning strikes can be guided to the lightning rod 21, and large currents generated by the lightning strike can be dispersed throughout the lightning-resistant cage 10.

[0023] A guide wire 22 with a weight 23 attached to the tip is arranged under the lightning protection cage 10.

[0024] Next, we will explain how to trigger lightning using a drone.

[0025] The drone equipped with the lightning-resistant cage 10 is flown near a thundercloud. At this time, the guide wire 22 is stored in a container below the lightning-resistant cage 10.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, when a guide wire 22 with a weight 23 attached is dropped from the sky and the electric field strength at the tip is suddenly increased, a discharge is generated toward the thundercloud.

[0027] This allows lightning to be induced and strike the lightning-resistant cage 10. The large current generated by lightning striking the lightning-resistant cage 10 is guided to the ground through the guide wire 22. By storing the large current induced on the ground, it becomes possible to reuse lightning energy.

[0028] Lightning may be induced by flying the drone near a thundercloud with the induction wire 22 grounded to the ground or connected to a capacitor.

[0029] [Modifications] Modifications of the drone cage of this embodiment will be described below. Duplicate descriptions of the same configurations as the lightning-protection cage 10 of Fig. 1 will be omitted.

[0030] The lightning protection cage 10 in Fig. 3 includes connecting wires 14 that connect the wires 13. The same conductive wire is used for the wires 13 and the connecting wires 14. In the example in Fig. 3, the connecting wires 14 connect the midpoints of adjacent wires 13. Two or more connecting wires 14 may connect the wires 13.

[0031] By connecting the wires 13 with the connecting wires 14, it is possible to disperse a large current generated when lightning strikes the wires 13.

[0032] The lightning protection cage 10 in Figure 4 has insulating struts 15 provided between the conductor struts 12, and the insulating struts 15 hold the wire 13. If a lightning strike causes the wire 13 to melt and break, the broken wire 13 may become entangled in the drone's propeller or cause electrical continuity between the lightning protection cage 10 and the drone body 50. If the wire 13 breaks, the insulating struts 15 hold the wire 13, which shortens the length of the broken wire 13 that hangs down, preventing the wire 13 from interfering with the drone.

[0033] 5 and 6 are diagrams showing how the wire 13 is held by the insulating struts 15 arranged on the conductor frame 11. FIG.

[0034] 5, the insulating strut 15 may have a slit 15A, and the wire 13 may be sandwiched in the slit 15A to grip the wire 13. The slit 15A may be an upward slit.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 6, the insulating strut 15 may have a hole 15B through which the wire 13 is passed and which holds the wire 13.

[0036] If the insulating strut 15 is made of a material that melts when heated, the insulating strut 15 and the wire 13 can be welded together when a large current caused by lightning flows through the wire 13.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 7, it is desirable that the interval L between the insulating posts 15 be shorter than the height H of the insulating posts 15 .

[0038] As described above, the lightning-resistant cage 10 of this embodiment is a drone cage that houses the drone main body 50 inside, and includes the conductor frame 11 that forms a mesh-structured Faraday cage, and the wire 13 that runs along the conductor frame 11 and is spaced apart from the conductor frame 11 to the outside of the lightning-resistant cage 10. As a result, even if lightning heads toward the center of the conductor frame 11, the lightning can be guided to the wire 13, preventing damage to the conductor frame 11.

[0039] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Lightning protection cage 11 Conductor frame 12 Conductor support 13 Wire 14 Connecting wire 15 Insulating support 21 Lightning rod 22 Guide wire 23 Weight

Claims

1. A drone cage for housing a drone therein, comprising: a conductor frame that forms a mesh-structured Faraday cage; and wires that run along the conductor frame and are positioned at a distance from the conductor frame to the outside of the cage.

2. A drone cage according to claim 1, comprising a connecting wire that connects adjacent wires.

3. A drone cage according to claim 1, wherein the central portion of the conductor frame is provided with a support for holding the wire.

4. A cage protection method for protecting a mesh-structured Faraday cage attached to a drone, comprising: a conductor frame that constitutes the Faraday cage; a wire that is arranged along the conductor frame at a position spaced from the conductor frame to the outside of the cage; and even if lightning strikes the center of the conductor frame, the lightning is guided to the wire, preventing damage to the conductor frame.

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