KR102117111B1 - Terrestrial station that supporting the tethered-drone and tethered-drone system that containing it - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same which conveniently control take-off and landing of a tethered drone. According to embodiments of the present invention, the ground station supporting a tethered drone comprises: a power supply unit to supply power to a tethered drone through a cable; a tension control unit to wind or unwind the cable to adjust the tension of the cable; a cable guide to guide the cable to a prescribed point; a ground communication unit to communicate with the tethered drone through the cable; and a control unit to control the power supply unit to control power supply to the tethered drone through the cable, and control the tension of the cable via the tension control unit. The cable guide includes a guide shaft to guide the cable unwound from the tension control unit to a prescribed height.

Description

TERRESTRIAL STATION THAT SUPPORTING THE TETHERED-DRONE AND TETHERED-DRONE SYSTEM THAT CONTAINING IT

The present invention relates to a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a ground station supporting a tether drone by controlling a cable connecting the tether drone and a ground station, and a tether drone system including the same.

Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles, ie drones, have been developed and commercialized. The drone is equipped with a camera and various sensors, so it can fly unmanned and is being used for various necessary tasks. For example, drones are used in a wide range of applications, such as environmental monitoring, forest fire monitoring, broadcast broadcasting, sports broadcasting, pesticide spraying, road surveillance, security, military, leisure, and sports.

However, the traditional drone has a problem in that the flight time is limited because it performs a mission by flying through a battery inside. In particular, in order to fly a drone equipped with a heavy equipment such as a camera, a high-capacity battery must be mounted on the drone, which in turn becomes a problem of increasing the weight of the drone.

Accordingly, in modern times, technologies such as photovoltaic cells and fuel cells are combined to provide a drone for charging while flying, or to improve the battery capacity of the drone. However, separate charging elements, such as solar energy, have a disadvantage in that power generation is different depending on the weather environment, so it is difficult to predict the flight time, and even if the performance of the battery is improved, the mission can be performed only within the corresponding capacity.

In order to improve this problem, a tethered drone has been proposed that separates a flying drone from a ground control equipment and connects a wire between the ground control equipment and the drone to receive power from the ground.

In detail, the tethered drone is connected to a cable pulled from the ground control equipment separated from the drone and is supplied with power, and can fly through the control of the drone pilot. At this time, in general, the cable connecting the tether drone and the ground control equipment is kept stretched to the ground.

However, in the conventional tether drone control method in which the cable is held on the ground as described above, the tether drone must be controlled so that ground structures (eg, buildings, power poles, trees, etc.) and cables are not tangled depending on the intuition of the drone pilot. There is a difficulty, and there is a problem in that horizontal movement is restricted when there is ground water at a predetermined altitude.

In addition, there is a difficulty in taking off and landing the tether drone by remote control over a predetermined distance, and it is required to introduce a technique for solving these problems.

10-1933402 B

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and a tethered drone system including a tethered drone system and a tethered drone system supporting tethered drones to prevent tangle drones from being tangled by a cable connecting a tethered drone and a ground station. The purpose is to provide.

In addition, the present invention is to provide a tethered drone system including the ground station and the same to control the cable connecting the tether drone and the ground station to assist the smooth horizontal movement of the tether drone.

In addition, the present invention is to provide a tethered drone system including a ground station and the same for conveniently controlling the take-off and landing of the tethered drone by controlling the cable connecting the tethered drone and the ground station.

However, the technical problems to be achieved by the present invention and embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the technical problems as described above, and other technical problems may exist.

A ground station supporting a tethered drone according to an embodiment of the present invention and a tethered drone system including the same include: a power supply unit supplying power to the tethered drone through a cable; A tension control unit to adjust the tension of the cable by winding or unwinding the cable; A cable guide guiding the cable to a predetermined point; A ground communication unit communicating with the tether drone through the cable; And a control unit controlling the power supply unit to control power supply to the tether drone through the cable, and controlling the tension of the cable through the tension control unit, wherein the cable guide is unwound from the tension control unit. And a guide shaft that guides the cable to a predetermined height.

At this time, the guide shaft is composed of a multi-stage shaft having a tubular structure, and accommodates the cable in an internal passage to guide the cable to the predetermined height.

In addition, the cable guide accommodates the cable and forms an outer shape of the inner plastic pipe of the conductive material, the outer shape of the cable guide, and is disposed between the outer plastic pipe of the conductive material and the inner plastic pipe and the outer plastic pipe to provide electric current. It includes an insulating shrinkable tube that blocks, an elastic member for supporting the guide shaft by connecting a guide header to one end of the guide shaft, and a support member that performs a buffering action when the guide header is bent.

In addition, the cable guide further includes a guide header connected to the guide shaft through a hinge and coupled to the guide shaft so as to be rotatable, and the guide header includes the cable moved through the guide shaft at the predetermined point. Guide to unwind in a predetermined direction.

Further, the control unit controls the winding direction of the cable by rotating the guide header in the vertical and horizontal directions.

In addition, the cable guide is further disposed on the guide shaft and the guide header, and further includes a roller for supporting the cable, and a tension sensor for sensing the tension of the cable, and the control unit comprises: The tension control unit controls the tension of the cable based on the tension value of the cable.

In addition, a ground station supporting a tethered drone according to an embodiment of the present invention and a tethered drone system including the same include a power supply unit supplying power to the tethered drone through a cable, and tensioning the cable by winding or unwinding the cable The tension control unit for adjusting the cable guide for guiding the cable to a predetermined point, the ground communication unit communicating with the tether drone through the cable, and controlling the power supply unit to the tether drone through the cable. A ground station including a control unit controlling a power supply and controlling tension of the cable through the tension control unit; And a driving unit including an interface unit communicating with the ground communication unit, a power unit receiving the power from the power supply unit through the interface unit, and a propeller and a driving motor securing a driving force based on the supplied power. And, a sensor unit for sensing the surrounding environment data, a camera for acquiring a captured image, and controlling the interface unit to transmit data obtained through the sensor unit and the camera to the ground station, and the power unit and the driving unit It includes; a tether drone including a processor to perform a flight operation by controlling the.

The ground station supporting the tethered drone and the tethered drone system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention prevents the cable connecting the tethered drone and the ground station from being tangled by contact with the ground structure, so that the tethered drone performs stable flight It is possible to prevent damage to the tether drone due to cable tangle.

In addition, the ground station supporting the tethered drone and the tethered drone system including the same can control the cable connecting the tethered drone and the ground station to assist the smooth horizontal movement of the tethered drone, thereby maximizing the utilization of the tethered drone. It works.

In addition, the ground station supporting the tethered drone and the tethered drone system including the same can improve the usability of the tethered drone by controlling the cable connecting the tethered drone and the ground station to conveniently take off and land the tethered drone, It has the effect of increasing the convenience of the pilot.

In addition, the ground station supporting the tether drone and the tether drone system including the tether drone system are implemented by measuring the wind strength (strength) of the tether drone by implementing a cable guide to control the cable connecting the tether drone and the ground station. By controlling the flight, it is possible to perform a safer flight of the tether drone considering the weather environment affecting the flight of the tether drone.

However, the effects obtainable in the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an internal block diagram of a tethered drone and a ground station according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an example of a cross-sectional view of a ground station according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an example of a tubular cable according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view for explaining a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view for explaining a method for controlling the moving radius of the tether drone by the ground station according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram for explaining a method for controlling a minimum winding amount of a cable connected to a tether drone by a ground station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to various transformations and may have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. Effects and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be clarified with reference to embodiments described below in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various forms. In the following examples, terms such as first and second are not used in a limiting sense, but for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components. In addition, a singular expression includes a plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, terms such as include or have means that a feature or component described in the specification exists, and does not preclude the possibility of adding one or more other features or components in advance. In addition, in the drawings, the size of components may be exaggerated or reduced for convenience of description. For example, since the size and thickness of each component shown in the drawings are arbitrarily shown for convenience of description, the present invention is not necessarily limited to what is illustrated.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same or corresponding components will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. .

1 is a conceptual diagram of a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a ground station supporting a tethered drone and a tethered drone system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention are implemented as a movable box and are placed on the ground (100: station) ) And a tethered drone (200) connected to the ground station 100 through a cable.

-Ground station

First, in the embodiment of the present invention, the ground station 100 may control the tether drone 200 according to an input of a pilot who controls the tether drone 200 or a preset drone control process.

In detail, the ground station 100 may control flight and / or shooting of the tethered drone 200 connected to the ground station 100 by a cable based on an input of a pilot or a preset drone control process.

In addition, the ground station 100 may support unlimited flight by supplying power through a cable connected to the tether drone 200. In addition, the ground station 100 may perform wired communication through a cable connected to the tether drone 200 to transmit / receive steering-related signals or receive information sensed by the tether drone 200 and photographed images.

The ground station 100 may be formed in an outer shape in an easy-to-move box shape, and may include various components necessary for driving the ground station 100 inside and outside.

In addition, the ground station 100 may be implemented by including a cap (cap) that can open and close such a box.

At this time, each component included in the ground station 100 is implemented in a form that can be accommodated in a box and can be stored inside the ground station 100, and when the ground station 100 is used, the ground station 100 is based The tethered drone 200 may be rearranged and operated in a form suitable for providing a service.

2 is an internal block diagram of a tethered drone 200 and a ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an example of a sectional view of the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Meanwhile, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the ground station 100 includes a power supply unit 110, a tension control unit 120, a cable guide 130, a monitoring unit 140, a ground communication unit 150, and a control unit 160. ).

First, the power supply unit 110 may receive external power and / or internal power under the control of the controller 160 to supply power required for operation to each component.

In detail, in the embodiment, the power supply unit 110 may be implemented including a battery and a power unit.

Here, the battery of the power supply unit 110 may store and manage power, and includes, for example, at least one of a power storage unit, a connection port, a power supply control unit 160, and a charge monitoring unit 140. can do.

In addition, the power supply unit of the power supply unit 110 may include an AC-DC converter and a power module.

Here, the AC-DC converter, when the power supplied from the battery or the outside is AC (AC) power, is configured to convert the AC (AC) power to DC (DC) power to supply to the tether drone 200 through the cable Can be. This is because it is more efficient to transmit power with direct current (DC) power having a higher voltage than alternating current (AC) power.

At this time, the power unit of the tether drone 200 that has obtained the converted DC (DC) power may further include a DC / DC converter to convert the supplied DC (DC) to a voltage level that can be used by the on-board body. .

In addition, the power module may include a power meter such as a voltmeter or an ammeter, and the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 including such a power module receives the voltage, current or power measured by the power meter every predetermined time. Can receive

Here, on the control unit 160 of the ground station 100, reference data for adjusting the supply amount of power may be pre-set, and the control unit 160 on which the reference data is pre-set, after passing through the DC / DC converter The power supply amount from the power supply unit 110 through the cable may be adjusted based on the voltage measured at.

In an embodiment, the control unit 160, when the voltage is higher or lower than the voltage in the range based on the preset reference data and / or the current and power supplied from the cable are out of the range, damage the internal device, disconnection of the cable In addition, it is possible to determine a short circuit, a malfunction of the tethered drone 200 system, etc., and generate a power supply control signal to cut off power supply through a connected cable. A detailed description thereof will be described later.

Next, the tension control unit 120 may adjust the length of the cable so that the tension applied to the cable connecting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100 is maintained, through which the tether drone 200 It can enable stable flight.

In addition, the tension control unit 120 may wind or unwind the cable to support horizontal or / and vertical movement of the tether drone 200.

At this time, the cable, one end is connected to the power unit of the tether drone 200, the other end is connected to the ground communication unit 150 of the ground station 100, the power output from the ground station 100 to the tether drone 200 Can supply. In addition, the length of the cable may be shortened or extended while being wound or unwound on the tension control unit 120.

In detail, in the embodiment, the tension control unit 120 may include a cable winding unit 121, a cable trim reel 122, and a motor 123.

Here, first, the cable winding part 121 may be implemented in a cylindrical rod shape, and may be wound or unwound by winding and receiving a cable connecting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100. At this time, the cable accommodated in the cable winding unit 121, one end is connected to the wired communication unit of the power unit of the tether drone 200, the other end is connected to the wired communication unit of the ground communication unit 150 of the ground station 100 , Power output from the power supply of the ground station 100 may be supplied to the power unit of the tether drone 200.

In addition, the cable winding unit 121, one end is connected to the motor 123 may perform a rotational movement according to the forward or reverse rotation of the motor 123. In addition, the cable winding part 121 may operate such that the cable accommodated in the cable winding part 121 is wound or unwound on the cable winding part 121 through a rotational movement by the motor 123. Through this, the cable winding part 121 can control the length of the cable by adjusting the accommodation degree of the cable.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the cable reel 122 (reel) may assist the cable to be wound or unwound to the tension control unit 120 to be uniformly wound or unwound on the cable winding part 121.

That is, the cable reel 122 may assist the cable not to be superimposed or tangled on the cable winding part 121, so that the cable winding and unwinding operation from the tension control part 120 can be performed smoothly.

In addition, the motor 123 may perform forward or reverse rotation according to the control of the control unit 160, so that the cable wound on the cable winding unit 121 can be loosened or wound to adjust the cable length. can do.

In detail, the control unit 160 may control the tension control unit 120 to wind or unwind the cable so that the cable maintains a predetermined tension, wherein the tension of the cable may use a value measured by the cable tension measurement sensor. have.

In addition, the control unit 160, the cable guided from the ground station 100 through the tension control unit 120, the predetermined length (for example, the height of the guide shaft, etc.) to maintain the minimum winding amount limit to the cable guide state Therefore, it can be set.

For example, when the height of the guide shaft is about 10 meters (m), the control unit 160 sets the maximum winding amount limit so that the length of the cable unwound from the ground station 100 is 10 meters or more, and the tether The collision between the drone 200 and the cable guide 130 can be prevented.

Next, the cable guide 130 may guide at least a part of the cable disposed between the tension control unit 120 and the tether drone 200 to a predetermined height or more.

In detail, the cable guide 130 can accommodate at least a portion of the cable and fix it at a predetermined height or higher, and guide the cable to be unwound in various directions at a specific point higher than the predetermined height.

In detail, the cable guide 130 in the embodiment may include a guide shaft (131), a guide header (132), a roller, and a tension sensor.

Here, first, the guide shaft 131 can guide the cable from the ground to a predetermined height. The guide shaft 131 may be implemented as a multi-stage shaft in the form of a rod that transmits power in a rotational motion or a linear reciprocating motion, and may be arranged to make a longitudinal direction perpendicular to a lower surface of the ground station 100. have.

The guide shaft 131, one end of the ground station 100 side is formed in a tube shape that can accommodate the cable connected to the tension control unit 120 therein, by entering and exiting the cable drawn from one end at the other end The cable can be guided up to a height.

In addition, the guide shaft 131 is implemented as a multi-stage shaft, the second shaft disposed inside the first shaft linearly moves in the longitudinal direction to increase or decrease the length, thereby adjusting the overall height of the cable guide 130 and Fixing can be performed.

The guide shaft 131, by adjusting and fixing the height of the cable guide 130 so that the cable accommodated in the cable guide 130 is unwound from a predetermined height or more, contact between the ground structure and the cable disposed below a predetermined height Can be prevented.

In addition, a roller capable of minimizing friction with the cable accommodated in the guide shaft 131 may be disposed inside the guide shaft 131. Such a roller can be rotated according to the movement of the cable inside the guide shaft 131 to minimize the frictional force applied to the cable.

Next, the guide header 132 may guide the cable to discharge the cable unwound from the other end of the cable guide 131 to the outside. In addition, the cable guide can be rotated horizontally and / or vertically to control the direction in which the cable is discharged.

The guide header 132 may be coupled to the other end of the guide shaft 131 through a hinge to rotate horizontally and / or vertically.

In detail, the guide header 132 is implemented in the form of a rod, and one end can be connected to the guide shaft 131 through a hinge, through which the guide header 131 is disposed on an extension line of the guide shaft 131 to route the cable from the guide shaft 131. I can support.

In addition, the guide header 132 may be connected to the guide shaft 131 based on the hinge to perform rotational movement in various directions according to the control of the controller 160 with the guide shaft 131 as a reference axis. That is, the guide header 132, by performing a rotation operation by the control unit 160 can adjust the vertical / horizontal center angle by the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132, through which the tether connected to the cable end accommodated The drone 200 may support movement radius control and / or horizontal movement.

Here, the center angle according to the embodiment, can be obtained on the connection area of the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132, the variation of the center angle through the rotation operation of the guide header 132 based on the guide shaft 131 This can be done.

For example, when the guide header 132 extends in a straight line with respect to the guide shaft 131, the center angle may be 0 degrees with respect to the vertical direction, that is, the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft 131, and the guide shaft 131 ), The guide header 132 may be 90 degrees with respect to the vertical direction.

At this time, in the embodiment, the guide header 132 may perform rotation to adjust the center angle up to 90 degrees (°) in the vertical direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft 131. This is, when a center angle of 90 degrees or more occurs in the vertical direction, the tethered drone 200 is forcibly required to face the ground surface by the guide header 132, so vertically up to 90 degrees for stable flight of the tethered drone 200 Direction center angle adjustment can be performed. However, this is only an example and is not limited thereto.

In addition, the guide header 132 may perform rotation to adjust the center angle up to 360 degrees (°) in a horizontal direction, that is, a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft 131.

That is, the guide header 132 may perform a rotational movement about the guide shaft 131 as an axis, thereby allowing control of the cable accommodated in the cable guide 130.

Here, the cable guide 130 including the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132, by allowing the cable to be unwound at a predetermined height or more fixed through the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132, It is possible to prevent tangle drones 200 and tangles between ground structures, thereby preventing damage to the tether drones 200. In addition, the cable guide 130, the tether drone 200 is smoothly moved horizontally and vertically by allowing the cable to be unwound while guiding the cable in various directions above a predetermined height fixed through the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132 It can help to do.

In addition, in the embodiment, the guide header 132 may also serve as a buffer platform when the tethered drone 200 makes an emergency landing.

In detail, the guide header 132 may further include a funnel-shaped pedestal disposed on the guide shaft 131. Such a pedestal is coupled to the cable guide shaft 131 through an elastic member to form a predetermined angle, and may be formed to be larger than a size of the tether drone 200 by a predetermined size. The pedestal, to urgently pull the cable to land the tether drone 200, buffer the tether drone 200 moved toward the cable guide 130 through the elastic member to help land, and the emergency of the tether drone 200 Damage caused by landing can be minimized.

Next, the roller, as a rotating cylindrical object, may convert a sliding friction into rotational friction to reduce the resistance of motion.

These rollers are disposed inside or outside the cable guide 130 in the embodiment of the present invention to reduce friction between the cable accommodated in the cable guide 130 and the guide shaft 131 and / or the guide header 132. It is possible to perform a more smooth cable control through this. In detail, the first roller is disposed in the guide shaft 131 and rotates according to the movement of the cable accommodated inside the shaft 131, thereby minimizing friction. In addition, the second roller is disposed on the guide header 132 and rotated according to the movement of the cable guided on the guide header 132, thereby minimizing friction.

Further, in the embodiment, the tension sensor may sense the tension of the cable connecting the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200.

The tension sensor is disposed on the outermost side of the cable guide 130 (eg, the ground station 100 side end of the guide shaft 131 and / or the tether drone 200 side end of the guide header 132). It may be desirable. This is because, in general, the tension change due to the tether drone 200 and the external environment can be detected at the outermost portion of the cable guide 130.

That is, the tension sensor may detect the tension of the cable unwound to the outside of the ground station 100, and may assist the control unit 160 to perform cable control based on a change in cable tension due to the external environment.

Therefore, the control unit 160, based on the tension obtained through the tension sensor, whether the tether drone 200 is tangled by contact with a specific obstacle, the length of the cable is appropriate to support the flight of the tether drone 200 You can judge, etc. A detailed description thereof will be described later.

On the other hand, Figure 4 is an example of a tubular cable according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in another embodiment, the cable guide 130 may be embodied in a tubular form forming a triple-structured tube.

In general, a drone's flight is affected by the meteorological environment in the area where the drone flies. In particular, the intensity (strength) of the wind in the drone's flight environment can be a threat to the stable flight of the drone. Therefore, the cable guide 130 according to another embodiment of the present invention measures the strength of the wind in the environment in which the tethered drone 200 is flying, and the flight of the tethered drone 200 according to the measured wind strength. It is intended to provide a cable guide 130 that can be controlled.

In detail, referring to (1) of FIG. 4, the cable guide 130 according to another embodiment, the elastic member 10, the inner plastic tube 20, the insulating shrink tube 30, the outer plastic tube 40 ) And the support member 50.

First, the elastic member 10 may be an object having elasticity, which is a property of returning to the original shape when the force is removed after deformation is caused by an external force, and in the embodiment of the present invention, the cable guide 130 It is disposed in the inner plastic tube 20 to connect the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132.

Here, when the elastic member 10 is partially separated from the guide shaft 131 by bending the guide header 132 to one side by an external force (eg, wind resistance), the guide shaft 131 and the guide header The 132 may be supported by the elastic member 10 so as not to be completely separated.

Next, the inner plastic pipe 20 can accommodate a cable introduced into the cable guide 130, and may be implemented with a material that has conductivity and minimizes friction with the cable.

Next, the insulating shrinkable tube 30 may be disposed between the inner plastic tube 20 and the outer plastic tube 40, and is made of a material having elasticity without conductivity to improve the safety of the cable guide 130. I can do it.

Next, the outer plastic tube 40 may be formed of a material that is not conductive, thereby forming the outer shape of the cable guide 130, and protect internal components.

Next, the support member 50 may be implemented with a material (eg, styrofoam, etc.) suitable for performing a cushioning function, and the cable guide 130 in this embodiment includes at least four or more support members 50 ).

At this time, the plurality of support members 50, at least two on the guide shaft 131, at least two may be disposed on the guide header 132, it may be implemented in a mutually engaging form. For example, the plurality of support members 50, the first support member 50 of the guide shaft 131 and the first support member 50 of the guide header 132 are arranged in a mutually engaged form, the guide The second support member 50 of the shaft 131 and the second support member 50 of the guide header 132 may be arranged in a mutually engaging form.

And, the support member 50, when the guide header 132 is bent to one side by an external force (eg, wind resistance) and is partially separated from the guide shaft 131, the guide shaft 131 and the guide header ( The guide header 132 may be supported by a support member 50 arranged and matched to each other so as not to be bent over a predetermined angle.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 including the cable guide 130 is not controlled by the control unit 160 as shown in FIG. , In an embodiment, when the guide header 132 of the cable guide 130 is bent to one side by wind, it can be detected.

In detail, first, the control unit 160 may continuously supply current to the inner plastic tube 20 of the tubular cable guide 130.

That is, the control unit 160 may supply a continuous current through the inner plastic tube 20 having conductivity, wherein the current is first supplied to the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide shaft 131 and then the guide shaft ( The current can be supplied to the entire cable guide 130 by being transferred to the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide header 132 connected to the 131).

Here, the control unit 160, when the supply of current that was continuously transmitted to the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide header 132 is cut off, the external header, that is, the guide header 132 by the wind in this embodiment Can detect that the situation is broken.

In detail, the control unit 160, if the supply of current that was continuously transmitted to the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide header 132 is blocked, the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132 ) It can be judged that some are separated. In addition, the control unit 160 is a situation in which the guide header 132 is bent by the wind through a part of the inner plastic pipe 20 spaced apart only from the connecting portion of the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132. Can be confirmed.

At this time, the control unit 160, by the wind, when the guide header 132 is bent so that the current is not supplied to the inner plastic tube 20 of the guide header 132, the strength of the wind tethered drone 200 It can be judged as the wind strength that threatens the stable flight.

Subsequently, when the guide header 132 detects a bending due to the wind strength that threatens the stable flight of the tether drone 200, the control unit 160 stops the flight of the tether drone 200. By generating the can control the flight of the tether drone 200. Alternatively, when the guide header 132 detects the bend, the control unit 160 generates and transmits a weather hazard signal indicating that the weather environment is inappropriate for the flight of the tether drone 200, so that the tether drone 200 is preset. You can also guide them to auto-land along the process.

As described above, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 including the tubular cable guide 130 measures the wind strength (strength) through the tubular cable guide 130 to fly the tethered drone 200 By controlling the, it is possible to perform a safer flight of the tethered drone 200 in consideration of the weather environment affecting the flight of the tethered drone 200.

Returning again, next, the monitoring unit 140 may include a display unit and a controller.

Here, the display unit may output various information related to the ground station 100 supporting the tether drone 200 and the tether drone 200 service including the same as a graphic image.

In an embodiment, the display unit may output and provide an image screen captured by the tether drone 200, a cable guide 130 control image screen, and the like.

Such a display unit includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), and a flexible display. , At least one of a 3D display and an e-ink display.

In addition, the controller may sense a user input related to a tethered drone 200 service including the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and the same.

In an embodiment, the controller may detect an input for controlling the flight direction and / or speed of the tethered drone 200, an input for controlling the shooting of the tethered drone 200, and the like.

Further, the display unit and the controller may be combined and implemented as a touch screen.

In addition, the display unit and the controller may be included in the ground station 100 or implemented as separate devices according to embodiments.

Next, the ground communication unit 150 may transmit and receive various data and / or information for providing a tether drone 200 service including the ground station 100 supporting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100.

In detail, the ground communication unit 150 may include a wired communication unit 151 and a wireless communication unit 152. At this time, the wired communication unit 151 may be implemented based on a cable connecting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100, and may transmit and receive data, information, and / or power based on the cable. .

In an embodiment, the wired communication unit 151 transmits the power output from the power supply unit 110 of the ground station 100 to the power unit of the tether drone 200 by communicating with the wired communication unit of the tether drone 200 interface unit. can do.

In addition, the wireless communication unit 152, technical standards or communication method for mobile communication (for example, GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), CDMA (Code Division Multi Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), Tethered drone 200, base station, external terminal, arbitrary server on a mobile communication network built according to High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), etc. A wireless signal can be transmitted and received with at least one of them.

In an embodiment, the wireless communication unit 152 communicates with the wireless communication unit of the tethered drone 200 interface unit to control the flight of the tethered drone 200, a flight control signal to control shooting of the tethered drone 200 Signals, etc. can be transmitted.

Finally, the control unit 160 may control the overall operation of each of the above-described components in order to provide a tethered drone 200 service including the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and the same.

In an embodiment, the control unit 160 controls the motor 123 of the cable winding unit 121 according to the current cable tension and / or the flight altitude of the tethered drone 200, so that the ground station 100 and the tethered drone 200 ) To adjust the tension of the cable connecting. In addition, the control unit 160 may adjust the amount of power supplied to the tether drone 200 from the ground station 100. In addition, the control unit 160, based on the ground structure and flight altitude detected through the tethered drone 200, the guide shaft 131 of the cable guide 130, and the rotation operation based on the guide shaft 131 The moving radius of the tether drone 200 can be controlled by controlling the center angle by the guide header 132 to be performed. In addition, the control unit 160 may control the minimum winding amount of the cable according to the length of the guide shaft 131, that is, the height. This will be described later in detail.

In addition, the control unit 160, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers ), Micro-controllers, microprocessors, and other electrical units for performing other functions.

-Tether drone

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the tether drone 200 is connected to a cable unloaded from the ground station 100 and supplied with power, and an input or preset drone control process of a drone pilot obtained from the ground station 100 It can be controlled by the flight and / or shooting.

In detail, referring to FIG. 2 further, the tether drone 200 includes an interface unit 210, a power unit 220, a driving unit 230, a sensor unit 240, a camera 250, and a processor 260. It can contain.

First, the interface unit 210 connects the processor 260 of the tethered drone 200 and the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and peripheral devices for implementing the tethered drone 200 service including the same. Can be.

In detail, in the embodiment, the interface unit 210 may include a wired communication unit 211 and a wireless communication unit 212.

Here, the wired communication unit 211 may be implemented based on a cable connecting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100, and can transmit and receive data, information, and / or power, etc. based on the cable. have.

In an embodiment, the wired communication unit 211 communicates with the wired communication unit 151 of the ground station 100, the ground communication unit 150, and the power output from the power supply unit 110 of the ground station 100 is a power unit ( 220).

In addition, the wireless communication unit 212, technical standards or communication method for mobile communication (for example, GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), CDMA (Code Division Multi Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) , High-speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), etc. A wireless signal can be transmitted and received with at least one of the servers. Also, the wireless communication unit 212 may include a short-range wireless communication module such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

In an embodiment, the wireless communication unit 212 communicates with the wireless communication unit 152 of the ground station 100, the ground communication unit 150, a flight control signal to control the flight of the tether drone 200, the tether drone 200 It is possible to receive a shooting control signal and the like to control the shooting.

In addition, the interface unit 210 includes an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device equipped with an identification module, and audio I It may further include at least one of / O (Input / Output) port, video I / O (Input / Output) port, and earphone port.

Next, the power unit 220 may receive external power and / or internal power by the control of the processor 260 and supply power necessary for operation to each component.

For example, the power unit 220 may include at least one or more of a power storage unit, a connection port, a power supply control unit 160, and a charge monitoring unit 140.

In addition, the power unit 220 may further include a DC / DC converter capable of converting the power supplied from the ground station 100 to a voltage level that can be used by payloads on the fuselage.

Next, the driving unit 230 may be implemented as a driving motor 123 that drives a propeller that secures the driving force of the tether drone 200. At this time, the driving unit 230 may include a plurality of driving motors 123 driving a plurality of propellers, and may operate under the control of the processor 260.

Here, the driving unit 230 generally uses a DC (DC) power supply of 25V to 33V, and may correspond to an energy sink that consumes the most power of the tether drone 200.

Next, the sensor unit 240 may acquire various data and / or information related to the tether drone 200 service including the ground station 100 supporting the tether drone 200 and the tether drone 200 through the sensor. .

In detail, as an embodiment, the sensor unit 240 may include at least one of a distance sensor (eg, a proximity sensor, an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, etc.), a position sensor, a gyro sensor, and / or an acceleration sensor that detects the surrounding environment. Can be.

In addition, the sensor unit 240, based on at least one sensor, various data on the surrounding environment of the tether drone 200 (eg, distance data between the tether drone 200 and the ground structure, the location of the tether drone 200) Data, speed data of the tether drone 200, and the like).

Next, the camera 250 may acquire a captured image related to the ground station 100 supporting the tether drone 200 and the tether drone 200 service including the same.

In detail, the camera 250 may be disposed on one side of the tether drone 200 and photograph the surrounding environment based on the direction side. In addition, the camera 250 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in conjunction with the flight of the tether drone 200 may acquire an image of the target point.

Further, such a camera 250 may include an image sensor and an image processing module.

In detail, the camera 250 may acquire a still image and / or a captured image including a moving image through an image sensor (eg, CMOS or CCD), and process the acquired captured image based on an image processing module can do.

For example, the camera 250 may process a still image or video acquired through an image sensor using an image processing module to extract necessary information, and transmit the extracted information to the processor 260.

At this time, the processor 260 of the tether drone 200 may provide the captured image acquired through the camera 250 to the ground station 100 through the interface unit 210.

Finally, the processor 260 may control and drive the overall operation of each unit described above.

In detail, in the embodiment, the processor 260 enables interworking between the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100 by controlling and driving the overall operation of each unit, thereby providing a smooth tether drone 200 service. Can be provided.

Such processors 260 include application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, It may be implemented using at least one of micro-controllers, microprocessors, and electrical units for performing other functions.

-How the ground station controls the cable to support the tether drone

Hereinafter, a method of supporting the tether drone 200 by controlling the cable by the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5 is a diagram for explaining a ground station 100 supporting a tethered drone 200 and a tethered drone 200 system including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a ground station 100 that may include a power supply unit 110, a tension control unit 120, a cable guide 130, a monitoring unit 140, a ground communication unit 150, and a control unit 160 The control unit 160 of the ground station 100 by adjusting the tension of the cable connecting the tether drone 200 may implement a stable flight of the tether drone 200.

In detail, the control unit 160 controls the cable tension by controlling the motor 123 of the tension control unit 120 according to 1) the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor and / or 2) the flight altitude of the tether drone 200. Can be adjusted.

In more detail, the controller 160 may first obtain the tension generated in the current cable based on the tension sensor in order to adjust the cable tension according to the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor disposed on the cable guide 130. have.

In addition, the controller 160, the length of the cable so that the tension applied to the cable is controlled according to a preset criterion (eg, a predetermined tension value to be maintained continuously) based on the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor. Can be adjusted.

In an embodiment, the control unit 160 may adjust the cable length in inverse proportion to the increase or decrease of the tension adjusted to control the tension applied to the cable according to a preset criterion.

For example, the larger the tension value, the control unit 160 may pre-set the tension value to be maintained continuously as the tension is greater than 10. In addition, when the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor is 20, the controller 160 unwinds the cable from the tension control unit 120 by a predetermined length to reduce the current cable tension to a preset tension value of 10. Can be extended.

That is, the controller 160 can adjust the length of the cable based on the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor and a preset criterion, and through this, is applied to the cable connecting the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 You can adjust the tension.

At this time, the control unit 160, based on the obtained tension, whether the tether drone 200 connected to one end of the cable touches a specific obstacle such as a ground structure (eg, a building, a power pole, a tree, etc.) and entanglement has occurred. Can judge.

For example, when the obtained tension has a strength greater than a predetermined reference, the control unit 160 considers that the cable is in contact with the ground structure and entangles, causing excessive tension to occur, thereby tangling the cable based on the cable tension. It can be determined whether it has occurred.

In addition, when it is determined that cable entanglement has occurred, the controller 160 generates a flight control signal to stop the flight of the tether drone 200 and / or a tangle drone to generate a tangle danger signal informing the situation of tangled cables and ground structures ( 200), the tether drone 200 may be controlled to land.

In addition, the control unit 160 may determine whether the length of the cable unwound from the tension control unit 120 is appropriate to support the flight of the tether drone 200 based on the obtained tension.

For example, when the obtained tension has a strength greater than a predetermined reference, the control unit 160 considers that the length of the cable connecting the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 is insufficient, and the tension control unit 120 ), It may be determined that the length of the cable unwound from the tethered drone 200 is unsuitable for flight.

In addition, when it is determined that the cable length is insufficient through the obtained tension, the control unit 160 may control the tension control unit 120 to unwind the cable more than a predetermined length.

On the other hand, in order to adjust the cable tension based on the flight altitude of the tether drone 200, the controller 160 first obtains the flight altitude of the tether drone 200 connected through the cable with the ground station 100. Can be.

In detail, the control unit 160 receives or acquires the flight altitude of the tethered drone 200 from the tethered drone 200 through the ground communication unit 150 or measures it based on the length of the cable unwound from the tension control unit 120. Can be obtained.

At this time, the controller 160 may update the flight altitude of the acquired tether drone 200 in real time based on the drone flight control signal input by the controller of the monitoring unit 140.

In addition, the control unit 160 controls the cable length to be longer by a predetermined length than the acquired flight altitude, so that the cable tension between the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 is minimized. The motor 123 can be controlled.

At this time, the controller 160 may preset the predetermined length, for example, the predetermined length is 3 to 6 meters when the flight altitude is about 30 meters and 5 to 10 meters when the flight altitude is about 50 meters. When the flight altitude is about 100 meters, it may be preset as 10 to 20 meters.

For example, when the flight altitude of the tether drone 200 is about 30 meters, the control unit 160 may control the motor of the tension controller 120 so that the cable has a longer cable length by 3 to 6 meters than the corresponding flight altitude. 123), through which the cable tension between the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 can be adjusted to a minimum.

On the other hand, in the embodiment, the flight altitude is preferably within a distance allowed by LoRa communication, and can be freely adjusted within 1 to 3 km.

In detail, the allowable distance of LoRa communication is 1 ~ 3Km in the city center and may be up to 15Km in the area where the field of view is secured. Therefore, it is possible to increase the flight altitude of the tether drone 200 to a limit that allows the weight of the cable.

Here, the embodiment of the present invention is preferred when the flight of the tethered drone 200 is within 1 to 3 km and the tethered drone 200 can take into account the weight of the cable, but is not limited thereto, and Wi-Fi (WI-FI) ) And / or Long-Term Evolution (LTE) communication allows communication between the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 until the altitude is 2 ~ 3Km, allowing cable weight. It will be apparent that the flight altitude of the tether drone 200 can be increased as much as possible.

In this way, the control unit 160 controls the cable tension by controlling the motor 123 of the tension control unit 120 according to the current cable tension obtained from the tension sensor and / or the flight altitude of the tether drone 200, Tether drone 200 can improve the stability of the flight.

Meanwhile, the control unit 160 may control the amount of power supplied from the ground station 100 to the tether drone 200.

In detail, the control unit 160 may obtain a voltage, current, or power measured from the power meter every predetermined time through the power module of the power supply unit 110.

Here, on the control unit 160 of the ground station 100, reference data for adjusting the supply amount of power may be preset, and the control unit 160 in which the reference data is preset is DC / from the tether drone 200. The voltage, current, or power measured after passing through the DC converter can be obtained based on the power module.

Thereafter, the controller 160 may adjust the amount of power supplied to the tether drone 200 through the cable from the power supply 110 based on the obtained voltage, current, or power.

In an embodiment, the control unit 160, when the voltage is higher or lower than the voltage in the range based on the preset reference data and / or the current and power supplied from the cable are out of the range, damage to the internal device or disconnection of the cable In addition, it is possible to determine a short circuit, a malfunction of the tethered drone 200 system, etc., and generate a power supply control signal to cut off power supply through a connected cable.

At this time, the blocking of the power supply may be implemented in various forms, such as a means for physically removing the cable or stopping the power supply to the cable through electrical control such as switch off.

At this time, when the signal is generated so that the cable is disconnected in the control unit 160 according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the power supply to the tether drone 200 is stopped, the tether drone 200 is a power storage unit disposed in the fuselage. The propeller of the driving unit 230 may be operated based on the back and land on the ground according to a preset emergency landing process.

Here, the processor 260 of the tether drone 200 may control power supplied from the power storage unit to each component of the tether drone 200 in consideration of the capacity of the power storage unit.

At this time, the processor 260, the image measured by the camera 250, the information measured by the sensor unit 240 and / or the real-time location information of the corresponding tether drone 200 through the interface unit 210 It may be configured to transmit preferentially to (100), when using the power storage unit stops the operation of the camera 250 and only the real-time location of the tethered drone 200 generated by the sensor unit 240 is a ground station It may be configured to deliver to (100). In addition, the processor 260 transmits data about the currently landed point to the ground station 100 through the sensor unit 240 and the communication module until a separate control signal is input even after landing of the corresponding tether drone 200. Can be.

In this way, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100, based on the voltage, power or power obtained from the tether drone 200, the amount of power supplied from the power supply unit 110 to the tether drone 200 through a cable By adjusting the, it is possible to minimize unnecessary power loss and improve safety of the tethered drone 200 in flight.

On the other hand, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the tethered drone 200 based on the ground structure detected from the tethered drone 200 and the flight altitude of the tethered drone 200 Can control the moving radius of.

6 is a view for explaining a method for controlling the movement radius of the tether drone 200 by the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In detail, referring to FIG. 6, the control unit 160 guides the shaft of the cable guide 130 based on the position of the ground structure detected through the tether drone 200 and the flight altitude (d) of the tether drone 200. The center angle θ by the 131 and the guide header 132 may be controlled, and through this, a movement radius of the corresponding tether drone 200 may be controlled.

In more detail, first, the controller 160 may acquire the position of the ground structure sensed by the tether drone 200 and the flight altitude d of the tether drone 200.

At this time, the processor 260 of the tethered drone 200 may acquire the position and flight altitude (d) of the ground structure through the sensor unit 240 and / or the camera 250, and interface the acquired data with the interface unit. It can be provided to the ground station 100 through (210).

Here, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 may receive the position and flight altitude (d) of the ground structure from the tether drone 200 through the ground communication unit 150, and the control unit 160 according to the embodiment ) May be obtained by measuring the flight altitude (d) of the tethered drone 200 based on the length of the cable unwound from the tension control unit 120.

In addition, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100, which has obtained the position of the ground structure and the flight altitude (d) of the tethered drone 200, the tethered drone is based on the acquired position of the ground structure and the flight altitude (d). The allowable moving radius (r) for (200) can be determined.

Here, the allowable moving radius (r) is a range that allows the tethered drone 200 to fly without contact between the ground structure and the cable connecting the ground station 100 and the tethered drone 200 with respect to a specific altitude. It can mean, it can represent how much distance the tethered drone 200 can be safely flying without tangle with the ground structure using the cable guide 130 of the ground station 100 as a reference axis.

That is, the controller 160 determines an area capable of preventing a situation in which the ground structure and the cable are tangled by contact with each other based on the acquired position of the ground structure and the flight altitude (d), and thus the tether drone 200 The allowable moving radius (r) can be derived.

In addition, the control unit 160 may control the center angle θ by the guide shaft 131 and the guide header 132 of the cable guide 130 based on the determined allowable movement radius r.

In detail, first, the control unit 160 sets the allowable center angle θ for the cable guide 130 to allow the tether drone 200 to fly within a safe moving radius that can prevent the cable from being tangled by contact with the ground structure. , It can be calculated based on the obtained allowable movement radius (r).

In addition, the control unit 160 controls the guide header 132 of the cable guide 130 so that the center angle θ of the cable guide 130 is calculated, thereby forming the allowable center angle θ, so that the movement radius of the tether drone 200 is controlled. Can be limited to within the allowable moving radius (r).

That is, the control unit 160 controls the center angle θ of the cable guide 130 so that the tether drone 200 moves within the allowable movement radius r, and the tether connected to the cable extending from the cable guide 130 The movable area of the drone 200 may be limited to a safe area where contact with the ground structure is prevented.

At this time, the control unit 160 may control the center angle θ through rotation of the guide header 132 of the cable guide 130.

In detail, the control unit 160 may adjust the center angle θ up to 90 degrees (°) in the vertical direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft 131, and in the horizontal direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the guide shaft 131. The tethered drone 200 within the allowable moving radius r in which the center angle θ of the cable guide 130 is determined through the guide header 132 capable of adjusting the center angle θ up to 360 degrees (°) in the vertical direction. ), The guide header 132 may be rotated so as to achieve an allowable center angle θ to enable flight.

For example, the controller 160, when the flight altitude (d) is 100 meters, when the allowable movement radius (r) is 50 m, the tether drone (200) ranges from 50 m, which is the allowable movement radius (r) at an altitude of 100 meters. The permissible center angle θ (e.g., 45 degrees) that allows the flight to be performed can be calculated. In addition, the control unit 160 may rotate the guide header 132 to perform the center angle θ control by rotating the guide header 132 such that the center angle θ of the cable guide 130 is calculated. have.

That is, the control unit 160, based on the position of the ground structure detected by the tethered drone 200 and the flight altitude (d) of the tethered drone 200, the allowable movement radius (r) that the ground structure and the cable do not contact And the center angle θ of the cable guide 130 so as to fly within the derived allowable movement radius r, through which the tether drone 200 can fly without tangle with the ground structure. So that the movement radius of the tether drone 200 can be controlled.

In addition, the control unit 160 can control the movement radius of the tether drone 200 so that the tether drone 200 can fly without tangle with the ground structure, thereby allowing the tether drone 200 to perform stable flight, It can assist in smooth horizontal movement.

Meanwhile, the control unit 160 of the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention connects the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 based on the height of the guide shaft 131 of the cable guide 130. The maximum winding limit of the cable can be controlled.

7 is a view for explaining a method for controlling the maximum winding limit of the cable connected to the tether drone 200, the ground station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In detail, referring to FIG. 7, the control unit 160 is a tension control unit 120 based on the height (h, that is, the length) of the guide shaft 131 which is implemented as a multi-stage shaft and can perform a linear reciprocating motion in the longitudinal direction. The maximum winding limit of the cable accommodated in can be controlled.

Here, the maximum winding limit may be preset by the control unit 160 and may mean a cable length unwound from the winding unit to a minimum required for smooth flight of the tether drone 200.

That is, when determining the minimum cable length (maximum winding limit) required for smooth flight of the tethered drone 200, the control unit 160, the height (h) of the guide shaft 131 is adjusted in accordance with the situation Considering can determine the maximum winding limit.

In an embodiment, the control unit 160 may perform control to increase or decrease the maximum winding limit in proportion to the height h of the guide shaft 131.

For example, when the height h of the guide shaft 131 is increased by 10 meters, the control unit 160 may control the maximum winding limit of the predetermined cable to be increased by 10 meters. In another example, when the height h of the guide shaft 131 is decreased by 10 meters, the control unit 160 may control the maximum winding limit of the predetermined cable to be reduced by 10 meters.

In addition, in another embodiment, the control unit 160 may control the maximum winding limit of the cable accommodated in the tension control unit 120 based on the overall height of the cable guide 130.

In detail, the control unit 160 is a cable guide 130 incorporating the length of the guide header 132 preset through the control unit 160 and the height h of the guide shaft 131 which varies depending on the situation. Based on the overall height of, it is also possible to perform control to increase or decrease the maximum winding limit of the cable.

For example, when the preset guide header 132 has a length of 5 meters and the height h of the guide shaft 131 is increased by 5 meters from 10 meters to 15 meters, the control unit 160 may take the maximum winding of the cable. The limit can be controlled to 20 meters or more. In another example, when the length of the guide header 132 is 5 meters and the height h of the guide shaft 131 is reduced by 5 meters from 10 meters to 5 meters in another example, the control unit 160 sets the maximum winding limit of the cable. It can be controlled over 10 meters.

As described above, the control unit 160 may properly maintain the tension of the cable by controlling the maximum winding limit of the cable connecting the ground station 100 and the tether drone 200 according to the height of the cable guide 130. In addition, it is possible to minimize the effect of the height variation of the cable guide 130 on the movement radius of the tether drone 200, and as a result, the flight of the tether drone 200 can be performed smoothly.

As described above, the ground station 100 supporting the tether drone 200 and the tether drone 200 system including the tether drone 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention include a cable connecting the tether drone 200 and the ground station 100 By preventing the tangle drone from coming into contact with the ground structure, the tether drone 200 can perform a stable flight and the tether drone 200 can be prevented from being damaged by cable tangle.

In addition, the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and the tethered drone 200 system including the same, the tethered drone 200 by controlling the cable connecting the tethered drone 200 and the ground station 100 By assisting the smooth horizontal movement of, there is an effect that can maximize the utilization of the tether drone 200.

In addition, the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and the tethered drone 200 system including the same, the tethered drone 200 by controlling the cable connecting the tethered drone 200 and the ground station 100 By taking off and landing conveniently, there is an effect of improving usability of the tether drone 200 and increasing the convenience of the pilot.

In addition, the ground station 100 supporting the tethered drone 200 and the tethered drone 200 system including the same, the cable guide 130 for controlling the cable connecting the tethered drone 200 and the ground station 100 By implementing the tube-like, by measuring the wind strength (strength) to control the flight of the tether drone 200, considering the weather environment affecting the flight of the tether drone 200, the safer tether drone 200 You can have them fly.

In addition, the embodiments according to the present invention described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer components and can be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, or the like alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the computer-readable recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention or may be known and usable by those skilled in the computer software field. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floptical disks. medium), and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes produced by a compiler, but also high-level language codes executable by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device can be changed to one or more software modules to perform the processing according to the present invention, and vice versa.

The specific implementations described in the present invention are examples, and do not limit the scope of the present invention in any way. For brevity of the specification, descriptions of conventional electronic configurations, control systems, software, and other functional aspects of the systems may be omitted. In addition, the connection or connection members of the lines between the components shown in the drawings are illustrative examples of functional connections and / or physical or circuit connections. It can be represented as a connection, or circuit connections. In addition, unless specifically mentioned, such as “essential”, “importantly”, etc., it may not be a necessary component for application of the present invention.

In addition, the detailed description of the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, but those skilled in the art or those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the spirit of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. And it will be understood that various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention without departing from the technical scope. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification, but should be determined by the claims.

Claims (7)

A power supply unit that supplies power to the tether drone through a cable;
A tension control unit to adjust the tension of the cable by winding or unwinding the cable;
A cable guide guiding the cable to a predetermined point;
A ground communication unit communicating with the tether drone through the cable; And
It includes a control unit for controlling the power supply to control the power supply to the tethered drone through the cable, and to control the tension of the cable through the tension control unit,
The cable guide,
It includes a guide shaft extending in the vertical direction to guide the cable unwound from the tension control unit to a predetermined height,
The cable guide,
It extends in a second direction having a predetermined inclination from the vertical direction, and further includes a guide header coupled to be rotatable at one end of the guide shaft,
The control unit controls the unwinding direction of the cable by changing the center angle between the guide header and the guide shaft within a vertical direction,
The control unit controls a center angle between the guide header and the guide shaft within a horizontal direction to control the unwinding direction of the cable.
Ground station with tethered drone support. According to claim 1,
The guide shaft,
Consists of a multi-stage shaft having a tubular structure, and accommodates a cable in an internal passage to guide the cable to the predetermined height
Ground station with tethered drone support. delete delete According to claim 1,
The control unit,
Rotating the guide header in the vertical and horizontal direction to control the unwinding direction of the cable
Ground station with tethered drone support. According to claim 1,
The cable guide,
Further comprising a roller disposed on the guide shaft and the guide header to support the cable, and a tension sensor for sensing the tension of the cable,
The control unit,
Adjusting the tension of the cable by controlling the tension control unit based on the tension value of the cable obtained from the tension sensor
Ground station with tethered drone support. A power supply unit for supplying power to the tether drone through a cable, a tension control unit for adjusting the tension of the cable by winding or unwinding the cable, a cable guide guiding the cable to a predetermined point, and through the cable A ground station including a ground communication unit communicating with the tether drone, a control unit controlling the power supply to control power supply to the tether drone through the cable, and controlling the tension of the cable through the tension control unit; And
An interface unit communicating with the ground communication unit, a power unit receiving the power from the power supply unit through the interface unit, a driving unit including a propeller and a driving motor to secure propulsion based on the supplied power , A sensor unit for sensing surrounding environment data, a camera for acquiring a captured image, and controlling the interface unit to transmit data acquired through the sensor unit and the camera to the ground station, and the power unit and the driver Includes a tethered drone including a processor to control and perform flight operations.
The cable guide includes a guide shaft that extends in the vertical direction and guides the cable unwound from the tension control unit to a predetermined height,
The cable guide extends in a second direction having a predetermined inclination from the vertical direction, and further includes a guide header coupled to be rotatable at one end of the guide shaft,
The control unit controls the unwinding direction of the cable by changing the center angle between the guide header and the guide shaft within a vertical direction,
The control unit controls a center angle between the guide header and the guide shaft within a horizontal direction to control the unwinding direction of the cable.
Tether drone system.

Images