AU2018101527A4 - An extensible multifunctional quadcopter aiming for simplifying trip - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract A quadcopter with an umbrella attached for convenience of the users is disclosed. The umbrella UAV for covering the user during rain, snow or sunshine by wireless control is composed of: visual transmitter with Wi-Fi transmitter, attached to the main flight control processor, for sending captured images or videos from the built-in camera to the operating device of the user; GPS, connected to the processor, for locating the drone in a relatively liable range; receiver, cooperating with Wi-Fi transmitter and flight control, for receiving commands from the user through the controlling device; vocal recognition unit, attached to the flight control, for recognizing vocal commands from the administrator and operate corresponding maneuver; and a power distribution board, attached to the flight control panel, for distributing different electrical power into different rotors of the multirotor UAV and achieve different maneuvers.

Description

TITLE

An extensible multifunctional quadcopter aiming for simplifying trip

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a four-rotor drone, and more particularly, to a four-rotor drone with extensible functions capable of improving a user’s convenience, when experiencing various weather conditions and other situations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, high rate of malfunction appears to be common among the current quadcopters; the instability is not able to guarantee required liability and flexibility. The lack of major breakthroughs in such field requires us to promote innovations. Furthermore, there are issues within the quadcopters in commercial field, such as uncontrolled drifting after losing GPS signal; in addition, endurance, stability, limited load, water resistance, maintenance, network connection etc. are the obstacles we face in future developments.

Quadcopters are capable of performing vertical take-off and landing, and midair hovering; moreover, they are light in mass and can be manipulated readily. These assets give the quadcopters the opportunity to operate in different speeds and flight routes, which make quadcopters suitable for both military and civil purposes. With great assets, comes tremendous prospects. For instance, utilization of quadcopters includes - but does not limit to - security, scaling and modeling of landscapes, environmental protection, scientific research, and precaution (also arrangement) of natural disasters. Commercially, they can be deployed for cinematics, agriculture, delivery services etc. Completely excavating all the requirements of quadcopters from all aspects will demonstrate unquantifiable potential in this industry.

Some of the existing four-rotor drones lack the ability to identify different voices or make further responses. Some of the existing drones can be controlled by using a remote control, but apparently, it does not work or does not appear to be convenient when the user’s hands are not available for controlling the device.

There has not been a strong focus on people’s quotidian lives. Most of the four-rotor drones in the current commercial field are for entertainment or photography; moreover, the drones are not flexible for other functions, in other words, their functions are simplex.

In our four-rotor drone, a slot is carved out at the bottom of the drone, which makes the drone extensible for other functions. For instance, various components can be attached to the slot such as a camera or a hook (for holding items for the user). Also, a specially made umbrella can be attached to the drone which enables the drone to cover its user in rain without the user’s hands occupied. In order to make the controls of our four-rotor drone more convenient in more situations, we added voice control to the drone, making it possible to identify the user’s voice and make corresponding responses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The function of present invention does not focus on quotidian life. In this new invention, a slot is carved out at the bottom of the machine; by switching components attached to the slot, the drone can be used in various situations. For instance, while it is raining, an umbrella specially made for the drone can be attached and cover its user with cell phone or voice control. Other components such as a hook or a camera can be attached for different uses.

In our invention, a motor is added on the handle of the umbrella, the opening and closing of the umbrella can be controlled by adjusting the upper and lower parts of the motor. The drone has the ability to control the size of the umbrella. There are two modes when it is facing different level of rain. The first one is opening in half travel at the handle stick. The other one is opening in full size. The sensors which tell the FC the situation of the rain is the one attached on the umbrella, humidity sensor, and acceleration sensor. After the FC has analyzed which mode should be used, it would direct the motor on the umbrella handle, and start moving it to where it needs to be.

In the umbrella part of the invention, we select a longer umbrella handle to overcome the fluid dynamic issue, which makes the gas circulation condition of the UAV in flight unaffected, lightens the burden of the power system, and makes the flight time longer. This would make the drone smoother for people to shade, shelter from rain or transport.

Power package is covered by propellers, rotors, ESC (electronic speed controller), distribution plate and battery. Each propeller is attached to each rotor. There are two kinds of propellers for the rotors that rotate in either clockwise or counterclockwise. Four motors are powered by ESC and distribution plate which receives signals from Flight Control and makes decision of how much electric current should be supplied to each motor. Battery is connected to the distribution plate. An additional motor controls opening and closing of the umbrella is added at the handle of which. In this way, the UAV can perform various actions sensitively and deal with the complex environment.

The signal from cellphones of a remote controller is sent to the receiver in Wi-Fi or in 2.4 GHz mode. The receiver transforms wireless signal into wire signal and sends the signal to the FC (Flight Control). FC is powered by the current from distribution plate. This allows people to control the UAV more quickly and effectively.

The invention is equipped with acceleration sensor, gyroscope, humidity sensor and ultrasonic detector. These devices will give feedback to the physical factors of the UAV, so that the UAV power device can better maintain its attitude and control the UAV umbrella function according to the different external circumstances.

The invention is equipped with two transmitters, which include an image transmitter and a data transmitter. Both devices are mounted on the upper right panel inside the UAV, which together collect images and digital information recorded by the UAV and send them to the client. These two devices enable the client to be aware of the information of the UAV in real time, and enable the user to be informed of the status of the UAV itself and the information monitored by the UAV, thus improving the user's experience.

Most of the materials used in the manufacture of the invention are easy to obtain, such as the humidity sensor on the top of the drone, which can be found readily in the market. The parts used in the production of drone are low in cost, and all the parts can be easily replaced, thus making the invention a multifunctional drone. According to the user’s needs, various accessories can be added on the machine to achieve the best user experience.

This invention has the advantages of working in various weather conditions, having multiple and extensible functions, requiring less cost of assembly and maintenance, serving the user in rain, and having multiple control modes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig.l shows a bottom view and a front view of the present invention (drone), illustrating the location of the extension platform and the connecting plate of the extension platform. The extension plate is also exhibited on the bottom of the figure;

Fig. 2 is a specific description of the extension platform, presenting the overall outlook of the extension platform, indicating the position of the slot and the connection point for the umbrella.

Fig. 3 shows a front view of camera component and a section view from its bottom, indicating the relative position between the camera and extension platform.

Fig. 4 shows a front view and a bottom view of the umbrella with the extension platform, indicating the relative position between the umbrella and the extension accessory.

Fig. 5 is a cutaway view of the UAV’s lower shell, shows the location of the flight control module, the section board, the battery, the GPS module, and the image transfer module.

Fig. 6 shows a front view of hook component and a section view from its bottom, indicating the relative position between the hook and extension platform.

Fig. 7 is an illustration showing the scenario described in EXAMPFE 1. It shows how the sensor of the present invention detects increased humidity and controls the motor to open the umbrella.

Fig. 8 is an illustration showing the scenario described in EXAMPFE 2. It shows how the present invention helps to carry heavy objects and the connection between heavy objects and the UAV structures.

Fig.9 is a block diagram showing the major components and their relations, according to the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a flow chart showing the general algorithm of the four-rotor drone, according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The quadcopter and the client can be divided into several parts: the client, the power assembly, various units, the distribution board and mechanical structure. The client usually is an application on the user's cellphone and it interacts with the Flight Control through the receiver on the drone. The power supply provides sufficient amount of power for different rotors on the aircraft and enables the aircraft to fly continuously. Each unit on the drone serves a different purpose such as GPS, data transmitter and gyroscope. The distribution board serves different amount of electrical energy to each part of the aircraft, which ensures the function of different internal components. Furthermore, the mechanical structure we designed serves as an extension platform which includes two slots, one on the top and one at the bottom, to attach different accessories such as an umbrella, a camera or a hook.

Among the presented figures, 1 is the upper shell; 2 is the lower shell; 3 is one of the connection plate for the extension platform; 4 is the extension platform; 5 is the propeller; 6 is the propeller protection; 7 is the connection plate screws; 8 is the connection plate; 9 is the umbrella; 10 is the camera; 11 is the image and data transfer module; 12 is the GPS module; 13 is the battery; 14 is the distribution board; 15 is the flight control module; 16 is the hook; 17 is the load.

Client with speech module

In order to have a more convenient way to control the drone, ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) is added in the application on the cellphone. It is based on the feature extraction technology, pattern matching and model training. It converts the user’s voice into text or commands. The voice recorder would first record your voice then compare the voice it records to the voice stored in the data base. It would analyze the vocal command and transfer them into special text which could be analyzed by the Flight Control. ASR can be generally separated into three types: isolated word recognition, keyword spotting and successive recognition. The invention utilizes the isolated word recognition that recognizes the words like “Power off’. Pronunciation can be different because of different mediums. For example, the ASR in PC would have a alter from the ASR in mobile phone. The invention has the ASR for the phones which could be easier and more convenient for the users.

As shown in Fig. 5, the receiver is placed inside the drone that captures the information transmitted from the user’s cellphone wirelessly; in this case, the information includes the user’s vocal commands. The receiver is connected to the Flight Control directly through wires, once it attains the information sent from the cellphone, it passes the information to the Flight Control, where the information will be further analyzed. The program planted in the FC will identify the exact command that the user gives out and make corresponding responses based on the command. In this way, the drone achieves voice control.

Driving part

The driving module of UAV consists of motor and electric modulation. Brushless DC electric motor are synchronous motors, that are powered by DC electricity via an inverter or switching power supply which produces AC electric current, and it drives each motor via a closed loop controller. The controller provides pulses of current to the motor windings that control the speed and torque of the motors. Since the BLDCM operates automatically, it will not add a starting winding to the rotor like the synchronous motor under heavy load or because of alternation in the rotation speed, nor will it cause oscillation and loss of synchronism when the load changes suddenly.

The field oriented control (FOC) algorithm is used to generate enough lift force to meet the demand of UAV with its battery input. The closed loop control mode is adopted in FOC control, which is faster, more efficient and more precise than the traditional BFDC control mode. Besides keeping the drone sensitive, the FOC control system can operate smoothly and delicately. Servo system is used in electric regulation, which can control high-power load with low-power command signal. According to the requirement of control command, power can be amplified, altered and regulated. It makes the torque, speed and position control of driving device flexible and convenient.

The combination of motors and electric regulation controls propeller rotation, uses the servo system to control UAV speed, acceleration, etc. In the course of UAV operation, the servo system is used to adjust the motor speed in real time according to the control command, so that the UAV can make corresponding adjustments according to the demand.

In the scenario described in EXAMPLE 1. When it rains, the sensor detects an increase in humidity, the Flight Control will open the umbrella by operating the motor placed at the handle of the umbrella.

Various units in the drone

The acceleration sensor is shown in Fig. 5. It monitors the status of the UAV and sends the data to the Flight Control. The device is used to measure the acceleration force of the UAV in the xyz triaxle direction. It can also determine the tilt angle of the UAV at rest. When the UAV presents a horizontal stationary state, the x axis and y axis are 0 g output, while the z axis is 1 g output since objects on Earth bear a gravity of 1 g. If the x axis of the UAV is rotated 90 degrees, the x axis and z axis are applied 0 g output and 1 g output respectively. When tilted, the xyz axis has an output between 0 and 1 g. The relevant values can then be applied to the triangle formula, which allows the UAV to reach a specific angle of inclination. It is also used to provide horizontal and vertical linear acceleration. Relevant data can be used as the rate of calculation, direction, and even UAV altitude change rate. It can also be used to monitor the vibration of drones.

The gyro is presented in Fig. 5. The gyroscope is connected directly to the controller. The device and the acceleration sensor together constitutes the monitoring system of the UAV. The gyroscope sensor can monitor the angular velocity of three axes, so it can be used to detect the angle change rate of pitching (pitch), rollover (roll) and deflection (yaw). Changes in angle information can be used to maintain stability and prevent waggling. The information provided by the gyroscope will be imported into the controller and then the driver will be controlled, the motor speed will be dynamically controlled, and the motor stability will be achieved. The gyroscope also ensures that the UAV will rotate at the angle set by the user. It connects directly with the controller to transmit information. By receiving and demodulating satellite signals, the module calculates the longitude, latitude, altitude and time correction of the receiver by using the distance intersection method. Then it outputs the location information and auxiliary information to the UAV controller through the communication port, and the controller transmits the information to the user through the data transmission module. In this way, client users can know the UAV and their own positioning in real time.

Ultrasonic detector is mounted at the bottom of the drone. The device is directly connected to the controller and it transmits the flight altitude information of the UAV to the controller by electric signal. It is mainly used for monitoring UAV flight height, accomplishing hovering, and following targets in the air. Ultrasound sensor uses the known sound wave transmission speed in the air is 340m/s, so the transmitter sends out sound wave and starts the internal timer. When the sound waves touch the object, it will be reflected and received by the receiver. From s = V * t, the height off the ground can be calculated and the height information can be transmitted to the controller in real time.

Humidity sensor is mounted over the umbrella. The humidity sensor is connected to the controller. The sensor transmits the humidity signal to the FC (Flight Control), which controls the opening and closing of the umbrella on the top of the UAV. The humidity sensor is composed of a number of humidity sensitive resistors. The characteristic of humidity-sensitive resistors is that the substrate is covered with a film made of humidity-sensitive material. When water vapor in the air is adsorbed on the humidity-sensitive film, the resistivity of the element change. Using this characteristic, the humidity can be measured and the humidity information can be transmitted to the controller to open or close the umbrella.

The data transmission module is mounted on the upper right panel of the UAV and is directly connected to the controller. When the client requires the UAV to send back data to the client, the receiver of the UAV will receive the signal and transmit it to the module through the controller, and the module will operate as commanded. With the help of DSP technology and radio technology, the module can transmit the data of UAV back to the client, such as flight speed, altitude, flight time, electric quantity and load. Through this module, the user can know the data of the four-rotor aircraft, such as the remaining power in the battery, and prevent excessive load on the drone. In this way, users will have a better experience.

The image transmission module is mounted on the upper right board of the UAV, which is connected to the FC. When the client sends the corresponding instruction to the controller, the controller sends the instruction to the image transmission module. Then, after receiving the instruction, the module begins to compress the images captured by the camera to adapt to the bandwidth and speed of the channel. After analog or digital processing, the image can be transmitted back to the client. This allows users to monitor and record images captured by UAV cameras in real time, take selfies, and record life.

Battery

Battery is connected to the distribution plate. It sits on the plate tower in the quadcopter. There are some specific aspects of the battery.

The first one is its voltage. In order to hold the weight of the drone and stay in the wind especially when it is connected with an umbrella, the output voltage should be around 13 V, thus 4s battery is chosen.

The second one is its capacity. Larger capacity will provide more energy to the motors. However, larger capacity also means more weight, for a quadcopter, weight can be seen as a major focus. In some point, the energy that is consumed for maintaining the aircraft in midair could be more than that of the other parts of the machine. Thus in this case, a battery of 3000 mAh appears to be suitable.

The third one is the C rate, C rate = I (electric current)/C(capacity). The greater C rate comes with greater current that battery provides. According to the peak discharge current on the ESC, 40c is the perfect point.

Example 1: on rainy / sunny days, the UAV's rain / sunscreen function can be turned on. At the top of the UAV, a humidity sensor is connected to the controller. The sensor transmits the signal to the controller according to the humidity. The controller controls a 4v motor at the handle of the umbrella to open and close the umbrella according to the size of the user. When it rains, the controller receives instructions to control the motor to open the umbrella and to control the size of the umbrella according to the user's size. When the rain stops, it controls the motor to close the umbrella. The UAV then uses a wi-fi signal or Bluetooth signal to track the user's signal and follow (directly above the user's head) to protect the user from rain. If the drone fails to receive the signal from the user, it will start hovering in the midair and continue searching for signal; at this time, the user may use voice recognition to help the drone track and follow.

Example 2:

When the user is shopping, the UAV can help the user carry items and relax their hands. By turning off the UAV power supply and adjusting the bottom of the UAV’s bottom slot to achieve. The user can attach a plastic plate with stainless steel hook to the slot and hang the items on the hook. At this point, the UAV’s rotors will change its rotational speed to maintain its original altitude and attitude according to the hanging objects. The UAV then uses a wi-fi signal or Bluetooth signal to track and follow the user's signal (directly above the user's head) to cover the user from rain. Then the drone will operate the program described in example 1 to keep tracking and following the user.

Claims (2)

1. An extensible multifunctional quadcopter aiming for simplifying trip , which is a four-rotor drone with extensible functions aiming for sheltering its user in rain, means that it can detect the rain and open or close the umbrella on its own; the function is achieved through a humidity sensor on top of the drone; when the sensor detects the rain, it will send the data to the processor which will control the rotor on the handle of the umbrella and open or close the umbrella; the umbrella is installed on the extension platform that is connected to the drone at the bottom of the machine through a connecting plate.

2. A multifunctional quadcopter mentioned as claim 1,which is the extension platform connects to the drone at its bottom part, and it goes around the drone vertically like a loop; on the top of the extension platform, there is a slot to attach the umbrella; on the bottom, there is a slot built for extensive components such as a camera or a hook, they can replace each other at the same location; both of the slots support quick removal and assembly, which further makes the drone flexible to multiple functions.