WO2019100821A1

WO2019100821A1 - Unmanned aerial vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2019100821A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/105660
Authority: WO
Inventors: 彭淮; 张正力
Original assignee: 深圳市道通智能航空技术有限公司
Priority date: 2017-11-22
Filing date: 2018-09-14
Publication date: 2019-05-31
Also published as: CN207826581U

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle (100) comprises a fuselage (10), an arm (20), a power device (30), a photographing assembly (40), and a landing gear (50). One end of the arm (20) is installed at the fuselage (10). The power device (30) is provided at the other end of the arm (20) away from the fuselage (10), and is used to provide flight power to the unmanned aerial vehicle (100). The landing gear (50) is provided at the end of the arm (20) away from the fuselage (10). The photographing assembly (40) is fixed to the landing gear (50), and is used to capture images. The above arrangement can prevent a camera of the photographing assembly (40) from being blocked by the landing gear (50), a propeller and the arm (20), such that the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) can perform panoramic photographing.

Description

Unmanned aerial vehicle

[Cross-Reference to Related Art]

The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application Serial No. No. No. No. No.

[Technical Field]

The invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and in particular to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

【Background technique】

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a new concept equipment that is rapidly developing, which has the advantages of flexibility, quick response, driverless operation and low operational requirements. Unmanned aerial vehicles can realize real-time image transmission and high-risk area detection by carrying many types of sensors or camera equipment. It is a powerful complement to satellite remote sensing and traditional aerial remote sensing. At present, the scope of use of unmanned aerial vehicles has been expanded to three major fields of military, scientific research and civil use, specifically in power communication, meteorology, agriculture, oceanography, exploration, photography, disaster prevention and mitigation, crop estimation, anti-drug, border patrol, law and order. The field of anti-terrorism and other fields are widely used.

At present, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are developing rapidly, and their demand for panoramic video shooting is also increasing. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles for aerial photography is to obtain panoramic images of real scenes. An important way. In order to accurately capture images at multiple angles, when using an unmanned aerial vehicle for panoramic imaging, the camera mounted on the UAV needs to avoid the occlusion of the landing gear, the propeller, and the UAV arm.

In the existing unmanned aerial vehicle, the camera is suspended under the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle through the gimbal; since the camera at this position is blocked by the landing gear, the propeller and the UAV arm, panoramic photography cannot be performed.

[Summary of the Invention]

In order to solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of realizing panoramic imaging.

To solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

body;

An arm connected to the fuselage;

a power device mounted on an end of the arm away from the fuselage for providing power for the UAV to fly;

a landing gear mounted to one end of the arm away from the fuselage;

A camera assembly is fixed to the landing gear for taking an image.

In an embodiment of the invention, the camera assembly includes a pan/tilt and an imaging device, and the pan/tilt is equipped with the camera device, and the pan/tilt is connected to the landing gear.

In an embodiment of the invention, the pan/tilt head comprises:

a bracket connected to the landing gear;

a pitch axis motor coupled to the bracket for driving the camera to rotate about a pitch axis;

A roll motor is disposed in the imaging device for driving the camera to rotate about a roll axis.

In an embodiment of the invention, the bracket includes a base and two connecting arms connected to the base, the base is coupled to the landing gear, and one end of the two connecting arms is The base is connected, and the other end of one of the two connecting arms is connected to the pitch axis motor.

In an embodiment of the invention, the camera device includes a housing and a lens module, and the housing is coupled to the pitch axis motor;

The roll motor is mounted in the housing and connected to the lens module, and the roll motor is used to drive the lens module to rotate relative to the housing about a roll axis.

In an embodiment of the invention, the UAV further includes a damper device disposed at a connection between the camera assembly and the landing gear, the damper device including a first connecting plate, a shock absorbing ball, and a first a connecting plate, the damping ball is disposed between the first connecting plate and the second connecting plate;

The first connecting plate is fixedly connected to an outer side surface of the landing gear, and the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the cloud platform.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an end of the arm away from the body is provided with a receiving slot, and at least a portion of the landing gear can be received in the receiving slot.

In an embodiment of the invention, the landing gear includes a main body portion and a support portion, the camera assembly is connected to the main body portion, one end of the support portion is connected to the main body portion, and the support portion is The body portion is substantially vertical;

The landing gear is rotatably coupled to the arm to switch the landing gear between a first position and a second position;

Wherein the first position is a position where the main body portion is perpendicular to the arm;

The second position is a position where the main body portion is parallel to the arm or on the same straight line.

In an embodiment of the invention, the UAV further includes a driving device disposed at a junction of the landing gear and the arm, the driving device for driving the landing gear relative to the arm Rotating to cause the landing gear to switch between the first position and the second position.

In an embodiment of the invention, the UAV further includes a limiting structure disposed at a junction of the landing gear and the arm, the limiting structure enabling the landing gear to remain in the first position And any of the second positions.

In an embodiment of the invention, one end of the support portion is hinged to the main body portion.

In an embodiment of the invention, there are four arms, and the camera assembly has four, and four of the camera assemblies are respectively disposed on four of the arms.

In an embodiment of the invention, the wires of the four camera assemblies form a rectangle.

The camera assembly of the UAV of the embodiment of the invention is fixed to the landing gear, so that the lens module in the camera assembly can be shielded from the landing gear, the propeller and the UAV arm, so that the Unmanned aerial vehicles can be used for panoramic shooting.

[Description of the Drawings]

The one or more embodiments are exemplified by the accompanying drawings in the accompanying drawings, and FIG. The figures in the drawings do not constitute a scale limitation unless otherwise stated.

1 is a schematic structural diagram of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural view of an image pickup apparatus in the unmanned aerial vehicle shown in FIG. 1;

3 is an exploded view of the image pickup device and the roll motor in the image pickup assembly shown in FIG. 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the unmanned aerial vehicle shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a side view of the unmanned aerial vehicle of Figure 1, wherein the landing gear is in a first position;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the UAV of Figure 1 with the landing gear in a second position.

【Detailed ways】

In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It is to be noted that when an element is described as being "fixed" to another element, it can be directly on the other element, or one or more central elements can be present. When an element is referred to as being "electrically connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element, or one or more. The orientation or positional relationship of the terms "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", "bottom" and the like as used in the specification is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for convenience of description. The invention and the simplification of the invention are not to be construed as limiting or limiting the invention. Moreover, the terms "first", "second", "third", and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the specification are the same meaning The terms used in the description of the present invention are for the purpose of describing the specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. The term "and/or" used in this specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Further, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present invention described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not constitute a conflict with each other.

As shown in FIG. 1 , an unmanned aerial vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 of the present invention may be a rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle, a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle or an unmanned aerial vehicle with a fixed wing and a rotor. . Among them, the rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle can be specifically: single-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, double-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, three-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle, six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and eight-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle. The UAV 100 includes a body 10, a boom 20, a power unit 30, a camera assembly 40, and a landing gear 50. One end of the arm 20 is mounted to the body 10.

The arm 20 can be fixedly coupled to the body 10, integrally formed, or rotatable relative to the body 10. The power unit 30 is mounted at an end of the arm 20 away from the body 10 for providing power for the UAV 100 to fly. In the present embodiment, the specific structure of the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 is described in detail by taking the UAV 100 as a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle as an example. Specifically, the number of the arms 20 is four, and one end of each of the four arms 20 is fixedly connected to the body 10. The fuselage 10 and the arm 20 are substantially in the shape of a "ten", that is, two non-adjacent arms 20 are on the same straight line, and the adjacent two arms 20 are perpendicular to each other.

The power unit 30 generally includes a motor disposed on the arm 20 and a propeller coupled to the motor shaft of the motor, the motor shaft rotating to drive the propeller to rotate at a high speed to provide flight power to the UAV 100. Correspondingly, the number of the power units 30 is also four, and the four power units 30 are respectively disposed on the four armes 20.

The landing gear 50 is mounted to an end of the arm 20 away from the body 10. The power unit 30 and the landing gear 50 are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the same end of the arm 20. In an embodiment of the invention, the landing gear 50 includes a main body portion 51 and a support portion 52, and one end of the support portion 52 is hinged with the main body portion 51 (ie, the support portion 52 can be opposite to the The main body portion 51 is rotationally folded or unfolded, and the support portion 53 is substantially perpendicular to the main body portion 52. In an embodiment of the invention, there are four landing gears 50, and four of the landing gears 50 are respectively connected to four of the arms 20. The landing gear 50 is hinged to the arm 20, and the other end of the landing gear 50 is a landing end for contacting the ground when the drone 100 is lowered.

The camera assembly 40 is fixed to the landing gear 50 for taking an image. In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the camera assembly 40 includes a pan/tilt head 41 and an imaging device 42. The pan/tilt head 41 carries the camera device 42 to implement the fixing of the camera device 42 or The posture of the image pickup device 42 is arbitrarily adjusted (for example, the height, the tilt angle, and/or the direction of the image pickup device 42) and the image pickup device 42 is stably held at the set posture. The imaging device 42 may specifically be a camera, a camera, a camera, or the like.

The pan/tilt head 41 may be a single-axis pan/tilt head, a two-axis pan/tilt head or a three-axis pan/tilt head. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the present embodiment, the pan/tilt head 41 is a two-axis pan/tilt head. The pan/tilt head 41 includes a bracket 411, a pitch axis motor 412 connected to the bracket 411, and a roll axis motor 413 provided in the image pickup device 42. The bracket 411 is generally U-shaped and includes a base 4111 and two connecting arms 4112. The base 4111 is coupled to the main body portion 51 of the landing gear 50, and one end of each of the two connecting arms 4112 is fixedly coupled to the base 4111. There is only one pitch axis motor 412 that is mounted to the other end of one of the two connecting arms 4112.

It can be understood that in other embodiments, the pan/tilt head 41 may further include two pitch axis motors 412, each of which is mounted to the other end of a corresponding one of the connecting arms 4112.

The camera device 42 includes a housing 421 and a lens module 422. The housing 421 is coupled to the pitch axis motor 412 and hinged to the other end of the other of the two connecting arms 4112. The pitch axis motor 412 It is used to drive the outer casing 421 to rotate about a pitch axis. The roll motor 413 is mounted in the outer casing 421 and connected to the lens module 422. The roll motor 413 is used to drive the lens module 422 to roll relative to the outer casing 421. The shaft rotates.

In an embodiment of the invention, a damping device (not shown) is further disposed at the junction of the camera assembly 40 and the landing gear 50. In an embodiment of the invention, the damper device includes a first connecting plate (not shown), a damper ball and a second connecting plate (not shown), and the damper ball is disposed at the first Between the connecting plate and the second connecting plate. The first connecting plate is fixedly connected to the outer side of the landing gear 50, and the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the platform 41.

In the embodiment, the camera assembly 40 has four, and the four camera assemblies 40 are respectively disposed on the main body portion 51 of the four landing gears 50. It can be understood that, in some other embodiments, the number of the camera assemblies 40 may be five or more, wherein four camera assemblies 40 are respectively disposed on the four armes 20, and the rest. The camera assembly 40 can be disposed at any position of the UAV 100 according to actual needs. As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the wiring of the four camera assemblies 40 constitutes a rectangle (one camera assembly 40 is only connected to the adjacent two camera assemblies 40). The optical axes of the two lens modules 422 located on the two non-adjacent arms 20 are always in the same plane. The optical axes of the adjacent two lens modules 422 are always located in two planes perpendicular to each other. The four lens modules 422 can cooperate and cooperate to capture a 360 degree panoramic image around the UAV 100.

The camera assembly 40 is disposed on the landing gear 50 to enable the camera assembly 40 to better avoid the occlusion of the landing gear, the propeller, the arm and the body, so that the camera assembly 40 can obtain a wider range of scenes or images. . In addition, the four camera assemblies 40 can also jointly capture the same target. Since the shooting angles of the lens modules 422 in the four camera assemblies 40 are different, the four lens modules 422 can capture images of the same target for quick targeting. Perform 3D modeling and/or draw stereoscopic maps, etc. Based on the above structural features, the UAV 100 can play an important role in engineering measurement, terrain mapping, and disaster emergency rescue.

One end of the landing gear 50 is hinged to one end of the arm 20 such that the landing gear 50 is rotatable relative to the arm 20 such that the landing gear 50 is between the first position and the second position Turn. As shown in FIG. 5, the first position is a position where the main body portion 51 of the landing gear 50 is perpendicular to the arm 20. When the landing gear 50 is in the position, the camera assembly 40 is located directly below the power unit 30, and the camera unit 42 in the camera assembly 40 can capture the omnidirectional image below the UAV 100. However, since the power unit 30 is located above the imaging unit 40, the imaging unit 42 is blocked by the power unit 30 if it is to capture a scene above or above the UAV 100, and cannot be imaged in all directions.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second position is such that the main body portion 51 of the landing gear 50 is parallel or in line with the arm 20. When the landing gear 50 is in the position, the camera assembly 40 is located farthest from the body 10 of the arm 20, and the camera assembly 40 is located at the power unit 30 away from the body. One side of 10. The camera 42 in the camera assembly 40 can capture the scene above and above the UAV 100 in all directions; however, if the camera 42 is to capture a scene located below the UAV 100, it may It is impossible to perform all-round shooting by the cover of the landing gear on the body 10. In the present embodiment, a joint structure (not shown) is provided at the junction of the landing gear 50 and the arm 20 so that the landing gear 50 can be maintained in either of two positional states. When the UAV 100 is used, the user can manually operate the landing gear 50 according to the use requirement to switch the position state of the landing gear 50, thereby changing the specific position of the camera assembly 40 on the arm 20. Thereby, the camera assembly 40 can be adjusted at a better shooting position according to the actual shooting requirements, and has a better field of view.

It can be understood that, in other embodiments, when the landing gear 50 is in the first position, the support portion 52 is rotationally folded relative to the main body portion 51 such that the support portion 52 and the main body portion 51 overlap. When the landing gear 50 is in the second position, the support portion 52 is unfolded relative to the main body portion 51 such that the support portion 52 is perpendicular to the main body portion 51.

It can be understood that, in other embodiments, the other end of the arm 20 is provided with a receiving slot (not shown), and at least a portion of the landing gear 50 can be received in the receiving slot. The landing gear 50 is rotatable relative to the arm 20 to cause the landing gear 50 to transition between two positional states.

It can be understood that, in other embodiments, the connection between the landing gear 50 and the arm 20 is provided with a driving device (not shown) for driving the landing gear 50 relative to The arm 20 rotates to cause the landing gear 50 to transition between two positional states. The driving device can be specifically a motor, a cylinder or a pneumatic motor.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not limited thereto; in the idea of the present invention, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments may also be combined. The steps may be carried out in any order, and there are many other variations of the various aspects of the invention as described above, which are not provided in the details for the sake of brevity; although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may be modified or equivalently substituted for some of the technical features; and the modifications or substitutions do not deviate from the embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the technical solution.

Claims

An unmanned aerial vehicle (100), comprising:

Body (10);

An arm (20) connected to the body (10);

a power unit (30) mounted at an end of the arm (20) away from the fuselage (10) for providing power for the UAV aircraft (100) to fly;

a landing gear (50) mounted to one end of the arm (20) away from the fuselage (10);

A camera assembly (40) is fixed to the landing gear (50) for taking an image.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to claim 1, wherein the camera assembly (40) comprises a pan/tilt (41) and an imaging device (42), and the pan/tilt (41) is equipped with the camera device (42) The pan/tilt (10) is coupled to the landing gear (50).
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to claim 2, wherein the pan/tilt (41) comprises:

a bracket (411), the bracket (411) being coupled to the landing gear (50);

a pitch axis motor (412) coupled to the bracket (411) for driving the camera (42) to rotate about a pitch axis;

A roll motor (413) is provided in the image pickup device (42) for driving the image pickup device (42) to rotate about the roll axis.
The UAV (100) according to claim 3, wherein the bracket (411) comprises a base (4111) and two connecting arms (4112) connected to the base (4111), The base (4111) is coupled to the landing gear (50), one end of the two connecting arms (4112) is coupled to the base (4111), and one of the two connecting arms (4112) The other end of the connecting arm (4112) is coupled to the pitch axis motor (412).
An unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein

The camera device (42) includes a housing (421) and a lens module (422), and the housing (421) is coupled to the pitch axis motor (412);

The roll motor (413) is mounted in the casing (421) and connected to the lens module (422), and the roll motor (413) is used to drive the lens module (422) Rotating about the roll axis with respect to the outer casing (421).
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) further comprises a camera assembly (40) and the landing gear (50) a damping device at the joint, the damping device comprising a first connecting plate, a damping ball and a second connecting plate, the damping ball being disposed between the first connecting plate and the second connecting plate ;

The first connecting plate is fixedly connected to an outer side surface of the landing gear (50), and the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the cloud platform (41).
The UAV (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein

An end of the arm (20) away from the body (10) is provided with a receiving slot, and at least a portion of the landing gear (50) can be received in the receiving slot.
The UAV aircraft (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the landing gear (51) comprises a main body portion (51) and a support portion (52), the camera assembly ( 40) connected to the main body portion (51), one end of the support portion (52) is connected to the main body portion (51), and the support portion (52) is substantially perpendicular to the main body portion (51);

The landing gear (50) is rotatably coupled to the arm (20) to cause the landing gear (50) to switch between a first position and a second position;

Wherein the first position is a position where the main body portion (51) is perpendicular to the arm (20);

The second position is a position where the main body portion (51) is parallel to the arm (20) or on the same straight line.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to claim 8, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle (100) further comprises a driving device disposed at a junction of the landing gear (50) and the arm (20) The drive device is configured to drive the landing gear (50) to rotate relative to the arm (20) to cause the landing gear (50) to switch between a first position and a second position.
The UAV (100) according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the UAV (100) further comprises a connection between the landing gear (50) and the arm (20). A limit structure that maintains the landing gear (50) in either of the first position and the second position.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that one end of the support portion (52) is hinged to the main body portion (51).
The unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the arm (20) has four, and the camera assembly (40) has four, four of the Camera assemblies (40) are respectively disposed on the four of the arms (20).
The UAV aircraft (100) according to claim 12, characterized in that the lines connecting the four camera assemblies (40) form a rectangle.