JP6618564B2 - Flying object - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an aircraft, and relates to an aircraft having a cylindrical main body.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, attempts have been made to deliver packages using a flying body (hereinafter collectively referred to as a “flying body”) such as a drone or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Patent Document 1 discloses a delivery system using a flying object (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The delivery system forms a shipping inventory for delivering packages to be delivered by a flying body (drone) autonomously to a delivery destination.

US Patent Publication No. 2015-0120094 A1

  On the other hand, in recent years, the need for indoor flying bodies has increased. However, the flying body of Patent Document 1 is not suitable for indoor use. In addition, when operating such a flying object, a controller (proportional, etc.) is often used, but it is not practical when used indoors and requires experience and familiarity with the operation. Intuitive operation is difficult.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a flying object that can be easily operated and fly indoors.

According to the present invention,
A cylindrical body having an outer periphery and an inner periphery;
A lift generating unit provided inside the main body, and at least for generating an air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the main body;
A flap portion movably provided at a lower portion of the main body portion;
A flying body including a control unit that controls a moving direction by displacing the flap and changing the direction of the airflow is obtained.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a flying object that can be easily operated and fly indoors.

It is the perspective view which looked at the flying body by embodiment of this invention from the upper surface. It is the perspective view which looked at the flying body by embodiment of this invention from the upper surface. 1 is a top view of a flying object according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a bottom view of a flying object according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing of the flying body by embodiment of this invention. It is other side surface sectional drawing of the flying body by embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing showing the flight state of the flying body by embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing showing the flight state of the flying body by embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing showing the flight state of the aircraft by other embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing showing the flight state of the aircraft by other embodiment of this invention.

The contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described. An aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
A cylindrical body having an outer periphery and an inner periphery;
A lift generating unit provided inside the main body, and at least for generating an air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the main body;
A flap portion movably provided at a lower portion of the main body portion;
A flying body comprising: a control unit that controls a moving direction by displacing the flap portion and changing a direction of the airflow.
[Item 2]
The aircraft according to claim 1,
An omnidirectional camera is provided on at least the upper or lower part of the main body,
Flying body.
[Item 3]
The aircraft according to claim 2,
The omnidirectional camera is provided at the center or substantially center of the upper portion of the main body and at the center or substantially center of the lower portion.
Flying body.
[Item 4]
The flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The outer peripheral part of the main body part is provided with a display part for providing information.
Flying body.
[Item 5]
The aircraft according to claim 4,
The display unit is an organic EL display provided on a substantially entire surface of the outer periphery.
Flying body.
[Item 6]
The flying object according to claim 4 or 5,
An image acquisition unit;
The control unit manages a specific gesture and a specific action in association with each other, displays information on one gesture on the display unit, and the action of the user acquired by the image acquisition unit is the one gesture Control the flying object to perform the specific action,
Flying body.
[Item 7]
The flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The outer peripheral portion is provided with one or more depth sensors,
Flying body.
[Item 8]
The aircraft according to claim 7,
The depth sensor is provided at 120 degree intervals when the outer periphery is viewed from information.
Flying body.
[Item 9]
A flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The upper surface and the lower surface of the main body are formed in a mesh shape,
Flying body.

<Details of the embodiment>
Hereinafter, an aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Aircraft structure>
FIG. 1 is a top view of an aircraft 10 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated, the flying object 10 includes a main body 100, a flap 110, and an omnidirectional camera 150T (150B).

  In addition, the above-mentioned flying body is a drone (Drone), a multicopter (Multicopter), an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a RRAS (remote piloted air systems), or a UAS (UnmannedAntrenstAns). Sometimes.

  The main body portion 100 has a cylindrical shape having an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral portion. As illustrated, the flying object 10 is configured to open in the vertical direction (Z direction) in the initial state (initial position: landing state).

  The outer peripheral portion in the present embodiment is a side surface portion 102 that can display a predetermined upper portion as a display. For example, an organic EL display or the like can be used as the side surface portion 102, but is not limited thereto.

  For example, the state of the flying object 10, display of content such as a moving image, and real-time display of a still image or a moving image captured by the omnidirectional cameras 150T and 150B can be performed on the side surface 102. In particular, the traveling direction of the flying object 10 such as up / down, left / right, and front / back, which is difficult to grasp due to the cylindrical shape, may be displayed. In this case, for example, a display indicating the traveling direction (color, blinking display, etc.) and a display indicating the left and right may be performed.

  As well shown in FIG. 5, the flying object 10 according to the present embodiment is provided inside the main body 100, and at least a propeller (lift generating part) for generating an airflow from the upper side to the lower side of the main body 100. 120. In the present embodiment, the propeller 120 is an inverted propeller.

  In the flying object 10 according to the present embodiment, the rotation speed is lowered by increasing the diameter of the propeller 120, and as a result, the sound due to the rotation of the propeller 120 can be reduced.

  Moreover, by making the main body part 100 into a cylindrical shape, the airflow generated from the tip of the propeller can also be rectified downward (backward in the traveling direction), so that energy efficiency can be increased and noise can be suppressed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the upper part 101 and the lower part 103 of the main body part 100 have a mesh structure and efficiently discharge the airflow generated by the propeller 120.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a flap 110 is provided at the lower end of the side surface portion 102. The flaps 110 are provided at 120 degree intervals. The flap 110 is provided so as to be displaceable in the inner and outer directions (that is, in the normal direction of the side surface 102). A control unit (not shown) of the flying object 10 controls the moving direction by displacing the flap unit 110 and changing the direction of the airflow. The direction of movement will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, omnidirectional cameras 150 </ b> T and 150 </ b> B are provided at the centers of the upper part 101 and the lower part 103 of the main body 100.

  The side surface portion 102 is provided with a depth sensor 130. The depth sensors 130 are provided at 120 degree intervals with respect to the side surface 102.

  In the present embodiment, the omnidirectional camera 150T, 150B acquires a user's gesture and performs an operation associated with the gesture. At this time, whether or not the gesture has been correctly recognized and information regarding the operation performed when the gesture has been correctly recognized are displayed on the display of the side surface 102.

  Next, the flight state will be described with reference to FIGS. As illustrated, when the flap portion 110 is tilted, the flying object 10 rotates about the center of gravity G in the XZ plane. At this time, when the flying object 10 is tilted to the state shown in FIG. 7, the force having a component in the horizontal direction from the resultant force of gravity g and lift (thrust) P is obtained by returning the flap part 110 to the original direction. F works on the flying object 10.

  6 and 7, the force in the yaw direction (rotation direction with the Z axis as the axis of rotation) cannot be generated only by the flap portion 120. In this case, it is possible to rotate in the desired yaw direction by changing the upper and lower rotational speeds of the contra-rotating propeller 120 (by making them different).

  By providing three flap portions 110, it becomes possible to move in all directions by the resultant force.

Subsequently, a modification of the flap portion 110 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in the drawing, one of the three flap portions 110 according to the present embodiment (of which two flap portions 110 are not shown) is provided at the center of the lower portion of the flying object 10. Also in this case, when the flap part 110 is tilted, the flying object 10 rotates about the center of gravity G in the XZ plane. At this time, by returning the flap portion 110 to the original direction when the flying object 10 is tilted to the state shown in FIG. 9, the horizontal force is obtained from the resultant force of gravity g and lift (thrust) P as in FIG. A force F having a component in the direction acts on the flying object 10.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, two of the three flap portions 110 (of which one flap portion 110 is not shown) according to the present embodiment, two in the y direction below the flying object 10. Are arranged adjacent to each other. By alternately tilting the front flap portion 110f and the rear flap portion 110b in the y direction, the flying object 10 rotates (in the yaw direction) in the XY plane. In this case, the number of the propeller 120 may be one (that is, the propeller 120 may not be a contra-rotating propeller).

  In any case described above, if the number of the flap portions 110 is at least three, the flying object 10 can move in all directions.

  Although the rotary wing machine mentioned above mainly refers to the thing which moves in the air, for example, the rotary wing machine which has the function which combined the use for land use, underwater use, etc. is also included.

  The rotorcraft described above may be configured by hardware such as a flight controller, a memory, a transmission / reception unit, a motor, an ESC, a propeller, a battery, and various sensors.

  The flight controller can have one or more processors, such as a programmable processor (eg, a central processing unit (CPU)).

  The flight controller has a memory (not shown) and can access the memory. The memory stores logic, code, and / or program instructions that can be executed by the flight controller to perform one or more steps.

  The memory may include, for example, a separable medium such as an SD card or random access memory (RAM) or an external storage device. Data obtained from cameras and sensors may be transmitted directly to the memory and stored. For example, still image / moving image data shot by a camera or the like is recorded in a built-in memory or an external memory.

The flight controller includes a control module configured to control the state of the rotorcraft. For example, the control module may adjust the spatial arrangement, speed, and / or acceleration of a rotorcraft having six degrees of freedom (translational motions x, y, and z and rotational motions θ _x , θ _y, and θ _z ). The propulsion mechanism (motor, etc.) of the rotorcraft is controlled. The control module can control one or more of the states of the mounting unit and sensors.

  The flight controller can communicate with a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive data from one or more external devices (eg, a terminal, display device, or other remote controller). The transceiver can use any suitable communication means such as wired or wireless communication.

  For example, the transmission / reception unit uses one or more of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), infrared, wireless, WiFi, point-to-point (P2P) network, telecommunication network, cloud communication, and the like. be able to.

  The transmission / reception unit can transmit and / or receive one or more of data acquired by sensors, a processing result generated by the flight controller, predetermined control data, a user command from a terminal or a remote controller, and the like. .

  The sensors according to the present embodiment include an inertial sensor (acceleration sensor, gyro sensor), a GPS sensor, a proximity sensor (for example, a rider), a vision / image sensor (for example, a camera), and other physical sensors depending on the application. May be included. Furthermore, chemical sensors such as ion sensors, bioaffinity sensors, gas sensors, other electrochemical sensors, and optical sensors may be included.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and it is needless to say that the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

10, 10 ′, 10 ″ flying body 100 main body 101 upper part 102 side part 103 lower part 110 flap 120 propeller 150T, 150B omnidirectional camera

Claims (9)

A cylindrical body having an outer periphery and an inner periphery;
A lift generating unit provided inside the main body, and at least for generating an air flow from the upper side to the lower side of the main body;
A flap portion provided at the lower end portion of the side surface of the main body portion so as to be displaceable in the normal direction of the side surface;
A controller that controls the moving direction by displacing the flap and changing the direction of the airflow; and
In the landing state, the main body is supported by the flap.
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 1,
An omnidirectional camera is provided on at least the upper or lower part of the main body,
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 2,
The omnidirectional camera is provided at the center or substantially center of the upper portion of the main body and at the center or substantially center of the lower portion.
Flying body. A cylindrical body having an outer periphery and an inner periphery;
A plurality of inversion propellers provided inside the main body,
A flap portion movably provided at a lower portion of the main body portion;
A control unit that controls the movement direction by displacing the flap portion and changing the direction of airflow generated by the plurality of reversing propellers, and controls the rotation in the yaw direction by changing the number of rotations of the reversing propellers. ,
An annular display part for providing information is provided on substantially the entire surface of the outer peripheral part of the main body part, and the display part displays the traveling direction of the flying object.
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 4,
The display unit is an organic EL display provided on a substantially entire surface of the outer periphery.
Flying body. The flying object according to claim 4 or 5,
An image acquisition unit;
The control unit manages a specific gesture and a specific action in association with each other, displays information on one gesture on the display unit, and the action of the user acquired by the image acquisition unit is the one gesture Control the flying object to perform the specific action,
Flying body. The flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The outer peripheral portion is provided with one or more depth sensors,
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 7,
The depth sensor is provided at intervals of 120 degrees when the outer peripheral portion is viewed from above .
Flying body. A flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The upper surface and the lower surface of the main body are formed in a mesh shape,
Flying body.