CN113110525A

CN113110525A - Control method and control device for unmanned equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113110525A
Application number: CN202110657874.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 凌中华; 夏华夏
Original assignee: Beijing Sankuai Online Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Sankuai Online Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-15
Filing date: 2021-06-15
Publication date: 2021-07-13
Also published as: WO2022262264A1

Abstract

The present specification discloses a control method and a control device for an unmanned aerial vehicle, where a control center obtains a distribution state corresponding to a first unmanned aerial vehicle, and determines, from at least one distribution object transported by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, a target distribution object that needs to be transported by a second unmanned aerial vehicle in at least part of a remaining distribution route when it is determined that the distribution state satisfies a preset condition, where the first unmanned aerial vehicle carries at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle. The control center may send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device, so that the second unmanned device transports the loaded target distribution to the distribution point corresponding to the target distribution according to the distribution route determined by the control center. Because the first unmanned device carries the second unmanned device, once the first unmanned device meets the condition that the target delivered objects cannot be continuously delivered, the first unmanned device can also continuously execute the delivery tasks aiming at the target delivered objects by depending on the carried second unmanned device, and the execution efficiency of the delivery service is improved.

Description

Control method and control device for unmanned equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of unmanned driving, and more particularly, to a control method and a control device for an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background

With the continuous development of unmanned driving technology, unmanned equipment such as unmanned vehicles, unmanned planes, unmanned control robots and the like are widely applied to various fields, and great convenience is brought to daily activities in the fields.

In the unmanned distribution business, the distribution objects such as take-out goods and online purchased goods can be placed in the unmanned equipment, and the unmanned equipment transports the distribution objects to corresponding distribution points, however, some areas where the unmanned equipment cannot pass often exist in the actual environment, for example, the unmanned vehicle cannot pass through a river without a bridge in the driving process, so that a route which bypasses the areas which cannot pass needs to be planned for the unmanned equipment, and the unmanned equipment needs to consume too much time to transport the distribution objects to the specified distribution points, thereby reducing the distribution efficiency of the unmanned equipment.

Therefore, how to effectively improve the distribution efficiency of the unmanned equipment is a technical problem to be solved urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The present specification provides a control method and a control apparatus for an unmanned aerial vehicle, which partially solve the above problems in the prior art.

The technical scheme adopted by the specification is as follows:

the present specification provides a method for controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle, a first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:

the control center acquires a distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment;

if the distribution state is determined to meet the preset condition, determining at least part of the rest distribution routes to be the distribution objects required to be conveyed by the second unmanned equipment from at least one distribution object conveyed by the first unmanned equipment as target distribution objects;

sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the second unmanned aerial vehicle transports the loaded target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object according to a delivery route planned by the control center, wherein the delivery route is obtained by the control center planning a route according to the position of the second unmanned aerial vehicle and the delivery point, and the delivery route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle is aimed at the target delivery object;

and if the second unmanned equipment is determined to be driven away from the first unmanned equipment, sending a second control instruction to the first unmanned equipment to control the first unmanned equipment to continue driving.

Optionally, determining that the delivery status meets a preset condition specifically includes:

and if the first unmanned equipment cannot pass continuously is determined according to the distribution state, determining that the distribution state meets a preset condition.

Optionally, determining that the first unmanned device cannot continue to pass according to the distribution status specifically includes:

acquiring position related data corresponding to the first unmanned equipment from the distribution state;

and if at least part of the road sections which need to be traveled when the first unmanned equipment executes the current delivery task are determined based on the position related data and are not matched with the driving mode corresponding to the first unmanned equipment, determining that the first unmanned equipment cannot continuously pass.

if the first unmanned equipment continues to run according to the original distribution route, determining a distribution order with overtime risk, and determining that the distribution state meets a preset condition;

determining a distribution item to be transported by the second unmanned aerial vehicle in at least part of the remaining distribution routes from at least one distribution item transported by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, as a target distribution item, specifically including:

and determining a delivery object corresponding to a delivery order with overtime risk when the first unmanned equipment continues to run according to an original delivery route from at least one delivery object delivered by the first unmanned equipment as a target delivery object.

Optionally, the first drone includes an egress port;

sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device, specifically including:

and responding to the first unmanned device to open the hatch and determine that the target delivery object is delivered from the hatch, and sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device so as to enable the second unmanned device to load the target delivery object.

Optionally, a docking area of the second unmanned device is provided on the first unmanned device;

responding to the first unmanned device to open the hatch and determine that the target delivery object is delivered from the hatch, sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device, so that the second unmanned device located in the parking area moves to a position corresponding to the hatch, and loading the target delivery object.

Optionally, before controlling the second drone, the method further comprises:

determining a parking position to which the first unmanned equipment needs to go, and sending a parking instruction to the first unmanned equipment so that the first unmanned equipment goes to the parking position for parking according to the parking instruction;

performing route planning according to the position of the second unmanned aerial vehicle and a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object to obtain a delivery route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle for the target delivery object, specifically comprising:

and planning a route according to the stopping position and a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object to obtain a delivery route of the second unmanned equipment for the target delivery object.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

in response to the second drone having shipped the target shipment to the delivery point, determining a return device for the second drone, the return device including at least the first drone;

and planning a route of the second unmanned equipment according to the position of the return equipment to obtain a return route, so that the second unmanned equipment runs to the return equipment according to the return route and stops on the return equipment.

the first unmanned equipment responds that the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment meets a preset condition, and determines target distribution objects which are required to be conveyed by the second unmanned equipment in at least part of the carried remaining distribution routes;

receiving a second control instruction sent by the control center to continue driving according to the second control instruction, wherein the second control instruction is sent to the first unmanned aerial vehicle after the control center determines that the second unmanned aerial vehicle loads a target delivery object and drives away from the first unmanned aerial vehicle according to a planned delivery route, the delivery route is determined by the control center according to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, and the second unmanned aerial vehicle delivers the loaded target delivery object to the delivery point according to the delivery route according to the first control instruction sent by the control center.

Optionally, the first drone includes an egress port;

after determining that at least a portion of the remaining delivery routes of the delivery require the target delivery to be delivered by the second drone, the method further comprises:

opening the hatch and delivering the target contents from the hatch.

Optionally, before receiving a second control instruction sent by the control center, the method further includes:

receiving a parking instruction sent by the control center;

according to the parking instruction, the second unmanned equipment goes to the parking position determined by the control center to park, so that the second unmanned equipment loads the target delivered object at the parking position.

the method comprises the steps that a second unmanned device obtains a first control instruction, wherein the first control instruction is obtained by the second unmanned device under the condition that a control center determines that the distribution state of the first unmanned device meets a preset condition;

loading a target delivery object which needs to be continuously delivered by the second unmanned equipment in the delivery objects delivered by the first unmanned equipment according to the first control instruction;

and based on a distribution route aiming at the target distribution object, the target distribution object is conveyed to a distribution point corresponding to the target distribution object, wherein the distribution route is determined by the control center according to the distribution point.

Optionally, a docking area of the second unmanned device is provided on the first unmanned device, and the first unmanned device includes an exit;

according to the first control instruction, loading a target delivery object which needs to be continuously delivered by the second unmanned device in the delivery objects delivered by the first unmanned device, specifically comprising:

according to the first control instruction, the position corresponding to the hatch opening is moved to from the parking area, and the target delivery object is loaded.

Optionally, the delivering the target delivery object to the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object based on the delivery route for the target delivery object specifically includes:

and in response to stopping braking of the second unmanned equipment by a preset braking device, conveying the target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object based on the delivery route for the target delivery object.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

according to a return route planned by the control center, driving to a return device determined by the control center, and stopping on the return device, wherein the return route is obtained by the control center through route planning on the second unmanned device based on the determined position of the return device, the return device is determined by the control center after the second unmanned device determines that the target distribution object is conveyed to the distribution point, and the return device at least comprises the first unmanned device.

The present specification provides a control apparatus for an unmanned aerial vehicle, a first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle therein, comprising:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring a distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment;

the determining module is used for determining at least part of the remaining distribution routes to be used as target distribution objects to be conveyed by the second unmanned equipment from at least one distribution object conveyed by the first unmanned equipment if the distribution state is determined to meet the preset condition;

the first control module is used for sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned equipment so as to enable the second unmanned equipment to transport the loaded target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object according to a delivery route planned by the device, wherein the delivery route is obtained by the device through route planning according to the position of the second unmanned equipment and the delivery point, and the delivery route of the second unmanned equipment is aimed at the target delivery object;

and the second control module is used for sending a second control instruction to the first unmanned equipment to control the first unmanned equipment to continue to run if the second unmanned equipment is determined to be driven away from the first unmanned equipment.

the determining module is used for responding that the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment meets a preset condition, and determining target distribution objects which are required to be conveyed by the second unmanned equipment in at least part of the carried residual distribution routes;

the receiving module is used for receiving a second control instruction sent by a control center so as to continue driving according to the second control instruction, the second control instruction is sent to the first unmanned equipment after the control center determines that the second unmanned equipment loads a target delivery object and drives away from the first unmanned equipment according to a planned delivery route, the delivery route is determined by the control center according to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, and the second unmanned equipment delivers the loaded target delivery object to the delivery point according to the delivery route according to a first control instruction sent by the control center.

the acquisition module is used for acquiring a first control instruction, wherein the first control instruction is acquired by the second unmanned equipment under the condition that a control center determines that the distribution state of the first unmanned equipment meets a preset condition;

a loading module, configured to load, according to the first control instruction, a target delivery object that needs to be continuously delivered by the second unmanned device among the delivery objects delivered by the first unmanned device;

and the delivery module is used for delivering the target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object based on a delivery route aiming at the target delivery object, and the delivery route is determined by the control center according to the delivery point.

The present specification provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described control method of an unmanned aerial device.

The present specification provides an electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the above-mentioned method of controlling an unmanned device when executing the program.

The present specification provides an unmanned aerial device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements a control method of the unmanned aerial device when executing the program.

The technical scheme adopted by the specification can achieve the following beneficial effects:

in this specification, the control center may obtain a distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle, and when it is determined that the distribution state satisfies a preset condition, determine, from at least one distribution object transported by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, a distribution object that needs to be transported by the second unmanned aerial vehicle in at least part of the remaining distribution routes, as a target distribution object, where the first unmanned aerial vehicle carries at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle. Then, the control center may send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device, so that the second unmanned device transports the loaded target distribution object to a distribution point corresponding to the target distribution object according to the distribution route determined by the control center.

In the method, as the first unmanned device carries the second unmanned device, once the first unmanned device encounters the situation that the target delivery object cannot be delivered continuously, the delivery task for the target delivery object can be executed continuously by depending on the carried second unmanned device, so that the execution efficiency of the delivery service is greatly improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the specification and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the specification and together with the description serve to explain the specification and not to limit the specification in a non-limiting sense. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a control method of an unmanned aerial vehicle in the present specification;

FIG. 2 provides a schematic illustration of the present specification with the top of the drone provided with a slot for receiving a dose;

3A-3E are schematic diagrams of a second drone loading a target shipment after the target shipment has been removed from an exit hatch as provided herein;

fig. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of a second unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification loading a target delivery object from a docking area to a position corresponding to an exit port;

5A-5C are schematic diagrams of a braking device for braking a second drone provided herein;

fig. 6A to 6C are schematic diagrams of the first unmanned device being an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device being an unmanned ship, where the unmanned vehicle and the unmanned ship are used to perform distribution tasks;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a control device of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control device of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a control device of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device corresponding to FIG. 1 provided herein;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an unmanned aerial device corresponding to fig. 1 provided herein.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more clear, the technical solutions of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the specific embodiments of the present disclosure and the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present specification without any creative effort belong to the protection scope of the present specification.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present description are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a control method of an unmanned aerial vehicle in this specification, including the following steps:

the first unmanned device corresponds to a different delivery environment than the second unmanned device

S101: the control center obtains a distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment.

The control center can perform service execution through the first unmanned device and the second unmanned device, wherein the first unmanned device can carry at least one second unmanned device, and the first unmanned device and the second unmanned device can correspond to different distribution environments. The delivery environment referred to herein may be used to indicate the manner in which the drone is traveling. For example, if the unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the distribution environment corresponding to the unmanned device is a land transportation distribution environment, if the unmanned device is an unmanned aerial vehicle, the distribution environment corresponding to the unmanned aerial vehicle is an air transportation distribution environment, and if the unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned ship, the distribution environment corresponding to the unmanned aerial vehicle is a water transportation distribution environment.

In this specification, since the first and second unmanned devices may correspond to different distribution environments, the combination of the first and second unmanned devices may have various forms. For example, if the first drone is an unmanned vehicle, the second drone carried may be an unmanned aerial vehicle; for another example, if the first drone is an unmanned vehicle, the second drone carried may be an unmanned ship smaller in size than the unmanned vehicle; for another example, if the first drone is an unmanned ship, the second drone carried may be smaller in size than the unmanned vehicle of the unmanned ship; for another example, if the first drone is an unmanned ship, the second drone carried may be an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Of course, the first and second drones may actually be drones corresponding to the same distribution environment, for example, if the first drone is a drone vehicle, the second drone may be a drone vehicle smaller in size than the first drone.

As can be seen from the above, the unmanned device mentioned in this specification may refer to a device capable of realizing automatic driving, such as an unmanned vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, and an unmanned ship. Based on this, the control method of the unmanned aerial vehicle provided by the specification can be applied to the field of delivery through the unmanned aerial vehicle, such as business scenes of delivery such as express delivery, logistics, takeaway and the like by using the unmanned aerial vehicle.

For convenience of description, the following description will mainly describe the method for controlling the drone provided in this specification, with the first drone being an unmanned vehicle and the second drone being an unmanned vehicle. And for the case of other combinations, the appropriate description will be made in the following.

In practice, at least one dispensing object may be transported in the first drone, so that during the course of the first drone performing the dispensing task, special situations may be encountered, which may cause the first drone itself to be unable to continue or unsuitable to continue the dispensing task for a certain dispensing object. For example, when an unmanned vehicle travels to a position where a river is present ahead while a delivery task is being executed, the unmanned vehicle cannot travel in the river, and therefore cannot continue to execute the delivery task currently being executed. If the unmanned vehicle chooses to bypass the river to continue to execute the delivery task currently being executed, the recognition consumes a great deal of time cost, thereby reducing the execution efficiency of the delivery task.

Therefore, when the first unmanned device meets a distribution task which cannot be continuously executed or is not suitable for being continuously executed, the second unmanned device carried by the first unmanned device can continuously execute the distribution task. Continuing to use the example, when there is the river in front of unmanned vehicle, then can load the distribution thing that the delivery task that is currently being executed corresponds through the unmanned aerial vehicle that self carries, reach corresponding delivery department with this distribution thing by unmanned aerial vehicle to the execution efficiency of delivery task has greatly been improved.

In this specification, the control center may obtain a delivery status corresponding to the first unmanned device, where this delivery status is mainly used to indicate whether the first unmanned device is suitable for continuing to perform the delivery task currently being performed. The distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device can be determined and acquired by the control center, or determined by the first unmanned device itself, and carried in the information to be sent to the control center.

Specifically, in the process of executing the distribution task, the control center may monitor data such as a location where the first unmanned device is located, distribution information of the delivered objects (the distribution information of the delivered objects may be stored in the control center), and the like, and based on this, the control center may acquire the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device based on the monitored data.

The first unmanned device may be loaded with a plurality of sensor devices (e.g., a camera, a laser radar, a doppler radar, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), etc.), and the first unmanned device may also be provided with a software module or a software Unit (which may be hardware of course) for information management, so that the first unmanned device may upload the data to the control center in real time during the process of executing the distribution task, so that the control center may obtain the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device according to the data.

Of course, the first unmanned device may also determine the delivery status corresponding to the first unmanned device based on the data, and send the determined delivery status to the control center by carrying the determined delivery status in the information.

In addition, the first unmanned device can carry the determined delivery state in the information and send the information to the control center when determining that the first unmanned device cannot continue to execute or is not suitable for continuing to execute the current delivery task. For example, if the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the unmanned vehicle can acquire an image of a road ahead through a camera during driving, and if it is recognized from the acquired image that the road ahead has a river and no bridge capable of passing through the river exists nearby, it can be determined that the current distribution state is not suitable for continuously executing the current distribution task, and the determined distribution state is carried in information and sent to the control center.

S102: and if the distribution state is determined to meet the preset condition, determining at least part of the rest distribution routes to be the distribution objects required to be conveyed by the second unmanned equipment from at least one distribution object conveyed by the first unmanned equipment as the target distribution object.

After the control center obtains the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle, whether the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle meets a preset condition or not can be judged, if the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle meets the preset condition, the subsequent distribution objects needing to continuously execute the distribution task through the second unmanned aerial vehicle can be determined from all the distribution objects currently conveyed by the first unmanned aerial vehicle and serve as target distribution objects.

In the present specification, there may be a plurality of cases of the delivery state satisfying the preset condition. Specifically, the delivery state satisfying the preset condition may be a delivery state in which the first unmanned device is determined to be unable to pass continuously. The control center can acquire position related data corresponding to the first unmanned device from the acquired distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device, and if at least part of road sections to which the first unmanned device needs to go when executing the current distribution task are determined based on the position related data and are not matched with the driving mode corresponding to the first unmanned device, the control center can determine that the first unmanned device cannot continuously pass. The position-related data mentioned here may be position information of a position where the first unmanned device is located, or may be sensing data used for positioning the first unmanned device, such as point cloud data and image data acquired by the first unmanned device.

For example, assuming that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the control center may determine the current position of the unmanned vehicle in a preset electronic map according to the position-related data corresponding to the unmanned vehicle acquired from the distribution state. Then, if the control center determines that a river is in front of the unmanned vehicle through the electronic map and no bridge is erected on the river within a preset range with the current position of the unmanned vehicle as the center, a road section in front of the unmanned vehicle can be determined and is not matched with a driving mode (land driving mode) corresponding to the unmanned vehicle, and the unmanned vehicle cannot continuously pass in the process of executing the current delivery task.

For another example, the control center may acquire image data (i.e., position-related data) acquired by the unmanned vehicle from the delivery state, and determine that a road section in front of the unmanned vehicle has a river by identifying the image data, and may determine that the road section in front of the unmanned vehicle does not match with a driving mode corresponding to the unmanned vehicle, and further determine that the unmanned vehicle cannot continue to pass.

The distribution state meeting the preset condition may also be other conditions, and specifically, if the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned equipment is acquired by the control center, and the distribution order with the overtime risk is determined when the first unmanned equipment continues to travel according to the original distribution route, it may be determined that the distribution state meets the preset condition. The delivery order with the timeout risk mentioned herein may refer to a delivery order of a delivery task currently being executed by the first unmanned device, or may refer to a delivery order of another delivery task that needs to be executed after the current delivery task is completed.

Of course, after acquiring the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device, the control center may acquire the position-related data corresponding to the first unmanned device from the distribution state to determine the current position of the first unmanned device. Then, the control center can acquire the road condition information around the first unmanned device and determine whether the distribution state meets the preset condition or not through the road condition information. If the control center determines that the road section in front of the first unmanned device has the conditions such as congestion and road repair through the road condition information, it can be determined that the delivery state meets the preset condition.

It should be noted that, after determining the current position of the first unmanned device, the control center queries the road condition information around the first unmanned device, and of course, the road condition information may also be determined by the control center through the sensing data uploaded by the first unmanned device, for example, if the point cloud data uploaded by the first unmanned device is used, it is determined that the road section ahead of the first unmanned device is congested, and it can be determined that the distribution state meets the preset condition.

The above details are examples of several delivery statuses satisfying the preset condition, and of course, there may be other delivery statuses satisfying the preset condition besides the above cases, and thus, they are not illustrated in detail here.

After determining that the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle meets the preset condition, the control center may determine, from at least one distribution object currently transported by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, a distribution object that at least part of the remaining distribution routes need to be transported by a second unmanned aerial vehicle carried by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, as a target distribution object.

The target distribution object may be a distribution object corresponding to a distribution task currently executed by the first unmanned device, or may be another distribution object carried by the first unmanned device. Further, the second unmanned device may transport the target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, where the delivery point may refer to a final destination of the target delivery object, and may also be a transfer station of the target delivery object, that is, the second unmanned device transports the target delivery object to the transfer station first, and then the second unmanned device or other unmanned devices may transport the target delivery object from the transfer station to a next transfer station, or directly to the final destination of the target delivery object. Therefore, if the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object is the final delivery address of the target delivery object, the second unmanned device will carry the target delivery object to travel the remaining total delivery distance of the target delivery object, and if the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object is the transfer station, the second unmanned device will only carry the target delivery object to travel the remaining part of the delivery distance of the target delivery object.

S103: and sending a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial vehicle so as to enable the second unmanned aerial vehicle to transport the loaded target delivery object to the delivery point according to the delivery route, wherein the delivery route is obtained by the control center planning the route according to the position of the second unmanned aerial vehicle and the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, and the second unmanned aerial vehicle aims at the delivery route of the target delivery object.

The control center may send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned device after determining a target delivery object that needs to be delivered by the second unmanned device. The control center can send the first control instruction to the first unmanned device, the first unmanned device controls the second unmanned device according to the first control instruction, and the first unmanned device can also forward the first control instruction to the second unmanned device to realize control over the second unmanned device, or the control center directly sends the first control instruction to the second unmanned device to realize control over the second unmanned device.

In this specification, the first drone may carry a plurality of second drone, and therefore, after the target delivered object is determined, the second drone for executing the target delivered object needs to be selected from the plurality of second drone carried by the first drone. The manner of selecting the second unmanned device may be various, for example, one second unmanned device may be randomly selected from a plurality of second unmanned devices carried by the first unmanned device, and a distribution task for the target distribution object may be executed; for another example, how to select the second unmanned aerial vehicle may be determined by determining a subsequent distribution route of the target distribution object, wherein if the subsequent distribution route of the target distribution object is longer, the second unmanned aerial vehicle with sufficient energy (such as electric energy) may be selected from a plurality of second unmanned aerial vehicles carried by the first unmanned aerial vehicle, that is, the length of the subsequent distribution route of the target distribution object is in a positive correlation with the amount of energy of the selected second unmanned aerial vehicle.

For another example, since the specifications of the second drone carried by the first drone may be different, the traveling speeds during the execution of the delivery task may be different. Based on this, after the target delivered item is determined, the time length between the specified delivery time corresponding to the target delivered item and the current time can be further determined as the delivery remaining time length. Further, a second unmanned device for delivering the target delivery object may be selected from a plurality of second unmanned devices carried by the first unmanned device according to the delivery remaining time, wherein if the delivery remaining time is shorter, the higher the driving speed corresponding to the selected second unmanned device is.

For another example, after the target delivered item is determined, current weather information may be further acquired, and according to the weather information, a second unmanned device for delivering the target delivered item may be selected from a plurality of second unmanned devices carried in the first unmanned device. Because the specifications of the second unmanned equipment are different, the second unmanned equipment with different specifications is also different from the second unmanned equipment under the influence of weather conditions. Therefore, if the current weather condition is determined to be poor through the acquired weather information, the second unmanned equipment which is less affected by the weather condition and has strong capability of resisting severe weather can be selected to execute the distribution task aiming at the target distribution object. There are, of course, many ways of selecting the second drone and this will not be illustrated in detail here.

In this specification, the control center may select the second drone for executing the target dispensing object from a plurality of second drone carried by the first drone, or may select the second drone for executing the target dispensing object from the first drone. Further, for any one of the second unmanned devices carried by the first unmanned device, the second unmanned device may be initially in a dormant state in the first unmanned device, but the control center or the first unmanned device may wake up the second unmanned device when determining that the second unmanned device is required to perform the distribution task corresponding to the target distribution object, for example, the control center may send a wake-up instruction to the first unmanned device to wake up the second unmanned device through the first unmanned device. Of course, any one of the second unmanned devices carried by the first unmanned device may also be in an awake state all the time, so that the distribution task corresponding to the target distribution object may be executed immediately after the control instruction is received.

The first control instruction is used for instructing the second unmanned device to load the target distribution object, so that the second unmanned device distributes the target distribution object according to a distribution route which is planned by the control center and reaches a distribution point corresponding to the target distribution object from the current position of the second unmanned device. It should be noted that, in this specification, the control center may plan the distribution route first, and then send the first control instruction, or may send the first control instruction first, and then plan the distribution route, or of course, the control center may send the first control instruction while planning the distribution route, and the distribution route may be carried in the first control instruction.

In addition, once the first unmanned device determines that the first unmanned device cannot or is not suitable for continuously executing the distribution task for the target distribution object, the second unmanned device can be carried to execute the distribution task for the target distribution object, so that the control center can plan the distribution route of each distribution task according to the principle of optimal efficiency. That is, for any delivery task, the delivery route corresponding to the delivery task can be planned in accordance with the principle that the delivery distance is the shortest. Of course, since the first unmanned device often transports a plurality of objects simultaneously during the driving process, when performing route planning on the delivery task corresponding to each object, for example, a forward route principle, a total route shortest principle, and the like may be considered, and will not be described in detail here.

S104: and if the second unmanned equipment is determined to be driven away from the first unmanned equipment, sending a second control instruction to the first unmanned equipment to control the first unmanned equipment to continue driving.

When the control center determines that the second unmanned device already carries the target delivery object to drive away from the first unmanned device, the control center may send a second control instruction to the first unmanned device to control the first unmanned device to continue driving. The control center can control the first unmanned equipment to travel to a delivery point of a delivery object corresponding to the next delivery task according to the next delivery task to be executed by the first unmanned equipment, can also control the first unmanned equipment to travel to a delivery point of the delivery object corresponding to the delivery task to be executed, can also control the first unmanned equipment to return to the home, or control the first unmanned equipment to wait in situ and continue to travel when the second unmanned equipment returns to the first unmanned equipment. In this specification, the specific situation corresponding to the control center controlling the first unmanned aerial vehicle to continue to travel may be various, and is not illustrated in detail here.

In addition, there may be various ways for the control center to determine how the second drone has driven away from the first drone, for example, if the second drone has carried the target delivery and driven away from the first drone, the second drone may send a feedback message indicating that the second drone has driven away from the first drone to the control center, and the control center may determine that the second drone has driven away from the first drone after receiving the feedback message; for another example, if the control center monitors that the set time has elapsed after the first control instruction is sent, it may be determined that the second unmanned device has driven away from the first unmanned device; for another example, if the first drone is provided with a sensor (e.g., a pressure sensor) capable of sensing whether the target dispensing object leaves, when the first drone determines that the target dispensing object leaves the first drone through the sensor, the first drone may send a message indicating that the target dispensing object leaves the first drone to the control center, and after receiving the message, the control center may determine that the second drone drives away from the first drone with the target dispensing object. Of course, there are many ways for the control center to determine that the second drone has driven away from the first drone carrying the target conjugate, and this is not illustrated in detail here.

In this specification, for the distribution articles that may need to be transported by the second unmanned device, the distribution articles that need to be transported by the second unmanned device may be placed in advance at a designated position in the first unmanned device by an operator, for example, if the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device is an unmanned aerial vehicle, at a pick-up point of the distribution articles, the operator may place the distribution articles that need to be transported by the second unmanned device in advance on the top of the unmanned vehicle, so that when the distribution articles are transported by the unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle can conveniently load the distribution articles on the top of the unmanned vehicle and drive to the corresponding distribution articles.

For another example, if the first unmanned facility is an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned facility is an unmanned ship, the worker may put the distribution to be transported by the second unmanned facility in the storage box at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle in advance at the distribution pickup point, and the unmanned ship may be disposed below the storage box. Based on the above, when the unmanned ship is required to transport the objects, the unmanned ship can control and open the containing box, so that the objects fall into the unmanned ship, and after the objects have fallen into the unmanned ship, the unmanned ship is lowered into the river, so that the unmanned ship carries the objects to the corresponding distribution point.

In this specification, if the distribution that needs the second unmanned device to transport is placed outside the first unmanned device, the first unmanned device may be provided with a corresponding slot, for example, the accommodating box provided at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle mentioned in the above example may be regarded as a slot provided on the first unmanned device, and for example, if the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the roof of the unmanned vehicle may also be provided with a corresponding slot, as shown in fig. 2.

Figure 2 provides a schematic illustration of the present specification with the top of the drone provided with a slot for receiving a dose.

Four slots are arranged at the top of the unmanned vehicle (namely, the first unmanned equipment) shown in fig. 2, each slot can have a certain depth, the distribution object needing to be conveyed by the unmanned vehicle (namely, the second unmanned equipment) can be placed in the slots, when the distribution object placed in the slot at the top of the unmanned vehicle is required to be conveyed by the unmanned vehicle, the unmanned vehicle can fly to the top of the unmanned vehicle so as to take out and load the distribution object in the slots, and then the distribution object is carried to fly to a corresponding distribution point.

It should be noted that, the number of the slots arranged on the first unmanned aerial vehicle may be determined according to actual needs, for example, if the first unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned vehicle, the second unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle, and in order to facilitate the rapid loading of the objects to be delivered in the slots of the unmanned aerial vehicle roof by the unmanned aerial vehicle, only one slot may be arranged in the unmanned aerial vehicle roof, so that it is not necessary for the unmanned aerial vehicle to identify which slot of the unmanned aerial vehicle roof is to be loaded with the objects to be delivered.

Of course, multiple slots may be provided in the first drone, and for this case, the second drone needs to determine which slot to load the product. Specifically, in this specification, the distribution that arrives specific trench can be fixed a position through multiple mode, for example, assume that first unmanned aerial vehicle is unmanned car, second unmanned aerial vehicle is unmanned aerial vehicle, the next door of every trench that unmanned roof portion set up can be equipped with the trench sign (such as two-dimensional code, bar code etc.), after determining the target distribution, can send the trench sign of target distribution place trench to unmanned aerial vehicle, so that unmanned aerial vehicle passes through the trench sign that obtains, determine that need load and transport the distribution (be the target distribution) in which trench.

For another example, assume that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the second unmanned device is an unmanned aerial vehicle, if the slots provided on the unmanned vehicle are all arranged according to rules, such as the arrangement mode in fig. 2, after the target distribution object is determined, the specific position (such as the row of the row) of the slot where the target distribution object is located can be determined, and the position information carrying the specific position is sent to the unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with an image acquisition device (such as a camera, etc.), image recognition can be performed through the image acquisition device, so as to identify the actual position corresponding to the position information, and then the target distribution object in the slot corresponding to the actual position is loaded and transported.

For another example, assuming that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the second unmanned device is an unmanned ship, the bottom of the unmanned vehicle is provided with a plurality of accommodating boxes, and the unmanned ship is provided with a mechanical structure capable of moving the unmanned ship at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle, after the target distribution object is determined, the unmanned vehicle can move the unmanned ship to the accommodating box corresponding to the target distribution object at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle through the mechanical structure, so that the unmanned ship loads and transports the target distribution object. Of course, there are many ways to locate the work piece to a particular slot, and this is not necessarily illustrated here.

In this specification, each of the distributed items may be placed in the contents of the first unmanned device, that is, a space for accommodating each of the distributed items is provided inside the first unmanned device, and a mechanical structure for conveying the distributed items from the inside of the first unmanned device to the outside of the first unmanned device is provided in the space. Accordingly, after the first drone has transported the target shipment from the contents of the first drone to the exterior of the first drone through the mechanical structure, the second drone may load and transport the target shipment.

In particular, the first drone may be provided with an exit port through which the distribution located inside the first drone may be transported outside the first drone. Accordingly, when the target dispensing object is determined, the control center may send an instruction to the first unmanned device, so that the first unmanned device opens the exit according to the instruction of the instruction, and the target dispensing object is sent out from the exit. Of course, the control center determines the target distribution object, and also can send the distribution object information corresponding to the target distribution object to the first unmanned device, and the first unmanned device can determine the target distribution object to be sent according to the distribution object information, so as to open the outlet and send the target distribution object out of the outlet. The control center may also send the distribution information corresponding to the target distribution to the second unmanned device after determining the target distribution, and the second unmanned device sends the distribution information to the first unmanned device, so that the first unmanned device sends the target distribution from the exit according to the distribution information.

In addition, the hatch opening timing may be in many cases, for example, once it is determined that the first unmanned device cannot continue to execute or is not suitable for continuing to execute the distribution task of the target distribution object (that is, the distribution state corresponding to the first unmanned device satisfies the preset condition), the first unmanned device may open the hatch opening, and close the hatch opening after the target distribution object is sent out from the hatch opening; for another example, the hatch may be opened after the first unmanned aerial vehicle travels to a designated position, and closed after the target distribution is sent out from the hatch, and other situations are not illustrated in detail herein.

Further, the first unmanned device may send a response message to the control center after sending the target dispensing object out of the exit, and the control center may send the first control instruction after receiving the response message, where as described above, the first control instruction may be directly sent to the second unmanned device, or may be sent to the first unmanned device, and the first unmanned device controls the second unmanned device based on the first control instruction. Correspondingly, after the control center sends the first control instruction, the second unmanned device may load the target distribution object according to the instruction of the first control instruction, as shown in fig. 3A to 3E.

Fig. 3A to 3E are schematic diagrams of the second unmanned aerial vehicle loading the target distribution after the target distribution is sent out from the exit hatch provided in this specification.

As shown in fig. 3A, the top of the unmanned vehicle (first unmanned device) is provided with an exit port, the objects to be delivered are all placed in the space inside the unmanned vehicle, after the objects to be delivered are determined, the unmanned vehicle can open the door of the exit port as shown in fig. 3B, and the objects to be delivered are delivered from the exit port from the inside through the lifting device inside, as shown in fig. 3C.

Unmanned vehicle sends out the back with the target delivery object from the hatch door, and unmanned aerial vehicle (second unmanned aerial vehicle) can load the target delivery object and take off (as fig. 3D) from the objective table that bears the target delivery object, and then, unmanned vehicle can descend control elevating gear again to leave the hatch door of hatch door department back at the objective table, will go out the hatch door of hatch door and close, as shown in fig. 3E.

It should be noted how the second unmanned device loads the target distribution, which has been listed above, and is not described in detail here.

In this specification, the second unmanned aerial vehicle also can be located inside first unmanned aerial vehicle, and is corresponding, and first unmanned aerial vehicle also can be equipped with one and is used for the equipment hatch door that the second unmanned aerial vehicle sent out, for example, when first unmanned aerial vehicle is unmanned car, when the second unmanned aerial vehicle, this equipment hatch door can set up at the top of unmanned car, if first unmanned aerial vehicle is unmanned car, and the second unmanned aerial vehicle is unmanned ship, then this equipment hatch door can set up in the bottom of unmanned car. The general form of the equipment hatch is substantially the same as the hatch for dispensing the contents as shown in figures 3A to 3E and will not be described in detail here.

Further, after determining that the second unmanned aerial vehicle of target delivered object needs to be transported, the first unmanned aerial vehicle can open the device hatch opening, and correspondingly, the second unmanned aerial vehicle can be sent out from the device hatch opening and load the target delivered object.

The first unmanned aerial vehicle can be provided with a parking area for parking the second unmanned aerial vehicle, that is, after the second unmanned aerial vehicle is sent out from the equipment hatch, the second unmanned aerial vehicle can go to the parking area in advance, and after the target distribution object is sent out from the hatch, the control center can send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the second unmanned aerial vehicle located in the rest parking is enabled to go to the position corresponding to the hatch, and the target distribution object is loaded, as shown in fig. 4A and 4B.

Fig. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the second unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this specification loading a target delivery object from a docking area to a position corresponding to an exit port.

Assume that the first drone is an unmanned vehicle and the second drone is an unmanned vehicle, the unmanned vehicle having parked in the parking area shown in fig. 4A. When it is determined that the target distribution has been delivered from the egress opening of the drone, the drone may take off from the docking area and fly to the location of the egress opening to load the target distribution, as shown in fig. 4B. The docking area shown in fig. 4A and 4B may be an area where the equipment hatch is located. That is, when the equipment hatch is in a closed state, a parking area for parking the unmanned aerial vehicle is formed.

Of course, even if the second unmanned device is provided outside the first unmanned device, a parking area for parking the second unmanned device can be provided on the first unmanned device. Specifically, the second unmanned aerial vehicle can be placed in a parking area on the first unmanned aerial vehicle initially, and after the control center sends the first control instruction, the second unmanned aerial vehicle can go to a position corresponding to the exit and load the target distribution objects.

In order to ensure that the second unmanned aerial vehicle can smoothly load the target delivery objects and quickly start after the second unmanned aerial vehicle loads the target delivery objects, the control center can determine the stopping position of the first unmanned aerial vehicle and send a stopping instruction to the first unmanned aerial vehicle in the process of transferring the target delivery objects (namely, the second unmanned aerial vehicle transports the target delivery objects originally transported by the first unmanned aerial vehicle), so that the first unmanned aerial vehicle can go to the stopping position to stop according to the stopping instruction, correspondingly, when planning the delivery route for the second unmanned aerial vehicle, the control center also plans the delivery route from the stopping position to the delivery point based on the stopping position and the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery objects.

In this specification, the control center determines that the parking position of the first unmanned aerial vehicle may have a plurality of situations, for example, if the first unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned ship, the control center may determine the parking position that is located beside the river and is suitable for the parking of the unmanned vehicle, so that when the unmanned vehicle is located at the parking position, the unmanned vehicle may rapidly enter the river after loading the target distribution object to drive to the distribution point corresponding to the target distribution object.

For another example, assuming that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the control center can determine a position suitable for avoiding wind from the vicinity around the unmanned vehicle, and the position is used as a parking position and indicates the unmanned vehicle to travel to the parking position for parking, so that the unmanned vehicle can be ensured to load a target delivery object to a certain extent and cannot be greatly influenced by external wind power in the process of taking off.

For another example, assuming that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the second unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, and the pre-distribution area is provided with stop points for stopping the unmanned devices at various positions, the control center may determine a stop point closest to the current position of the unmanned vehicle, and instruct the unmanned vehicle to travel to the stop point for stopping, and accordingly, the unmanned vehicle will load the target distribution object at the stop point and take off.

Of course, the principle on which the control center determines the parking position can also be varied, and is not illustrated in detail here. The information on which the control center determines the stop positions may be predetermined, that is, if the stop positions suitable for the first unmanned device to stop are determined in advance and stored, the stop positions suitable for the first unmanned device may be directly found out after the current position of the first unmanned device is determined. The predetermined parking positions may be determined manually according to actual needs, or determined based on information reported by other devices (including unmanned devices and manned devices).

Of course, these parking positions may also be determined based on information collected by the first unmanned device. Specifically, as the first unmanned device may be provided with a sensor such as a camera or a laser radar, the first unmanned device may acquire corresponding sensing data (such as image data or point cloud data) through the sensors, and then may send the sensing data to the control center, and the control center may determine a parking position suitable for the current first unmanned device to park according to the sensing data.

For example, suppose that the first unmanned device is an unmanned vehicle, the second unmanned device is an unmanned ship, the first unmanned device sends the collected image data to the control center, and then the control center can identify an image area which is located beside a river and suitable for the unmanned vehicle to stop through a pre-trained image identification model, and then determine a stop position suitable for the unmanned vehicle to stop according to the current position of the unmanned vehicle and the image area, so as to indicate the unmanned vehicle to go to the stop position to stop.

In addition, the first unmanned aerial vehicle can also determine a parking position suitable for the current parking by itself according to the acquired sensing data, and move to the parking position to park, meanwhile, the first unmanned aerial vehicle needs to send the determined parking position to the control center, and the control center needs to plan a route according to the parking position determined by the first unmanned aerial vehicle and a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object.

After the second unmanned aerial vehicle transports the target distribution object to the distribution point corresponding to the target distribution object, the control center can determine a return device for the second unmanned aerial vehicle, and the return device is used for stopping the second unmanned aerial vehicle. Further, the control center can plan the route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle according to the position of the return equipment to obtain the return route, so that the second unmanned aerial vehicle can drive to the return equipment according to the return route and stop on the return equipment.

In this specification, a return device may include a first drone that previously carried a second drone, i.e., the second drone departs from the first drone to perform a delivery task and then returns to the same first drone to dock. Of course, the return device may also be another unmanned device, that is, the second unmanned device starts from one first unmanned device to perform the distribution task and then returns to another first unmanned device to stop.

Except that the first unmanned device originally carrying the second unmanned device is used as the return equipment, the control center can also determine the return equipment in other modes. For example, after the second unmanned device has performed the distribution task of the target distribution object, the first unmanned device that is closest to the second unmanned device and has a second unmanned device stop position left may be used as the return device; for another example, after it is determined that the second unmanned device has performed the distribution task of the target distribution object, the remaining energy amount (e.g., the electric quantity) of the second unmanned device may be further determined, and if it is determined that the remaining energy amount of the second unmanned device is lower than the set threshold, the first unmanned device with a sufficient remaining energy amount may be determined from among the first unmanned devices in the vicinity of the second unmanned device, and may be used as the return device. Other ways are not illustrated in detail here.

In the method for controlling the robot according to the present description, a braking device may be provided for braking the second robot, and when the braking device stops braking the second robot, the second robot may transport the target delivery object to the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object in accordance with the delivery route for the target delivery object planned by the control center. The braking device may be disposed on the first unmanned device or the second unmanned device, as shown in fig. 5A to 5C.

Fig. 5A to 5C are schematic views of a braking device for braking the second unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this specification.

Fig. 5A shows a situation where the braking device is disposed on an unmanned vehicle (first unmanned equipment), fig. 5A shows a plan view of the unmanned vehicle, and the parking area of the top of the unmanned vehicle is provided with the braking device, which can realize braking of the unmanned vehicle (i.e., second unmanned equipment) by the principle of an electromagnet. Specifically, when the unmanned aerial vehicle parks in the parking area of fig. 5A, the unmanned vehicle can start the braking device to adsorb the unmanned aerial vehicle in the parking area through the magnetic force generated by the braking device. When the control center sends a first control instruction, the unmanned vehicle can close the braking device, the braking device does not have magnetic force, and the unmanned vehicle can take off from the parking area and load target distribution objects.

Certainly, the arresting gear that fig. 5A shows also can set up in target delivery thing department, and promptly, unmanned aerial vehicle is loading the in-process of target delivery thing, and this arresting gear can be played to unmanned aerial vehicle to adsorb unmanned aerial vehicle in target delivery thing department, make unmanned aerial vehicle can not appear the removal by a relatively large margin at the in-process that loads target delivery thing, guarantee unmanned aerial vehicle and loading the stability of target delivery thing in-process. And when confirming that unmanned aerial vehicle has accomplished the loading of target distribution thing, then can close this arresting gear, at this moment, unmanned aerial vehicle will carry the target distribution thing to take off.

Fig. 5B and 5C show the case where the braking device is provided on the drone (i.e., the second drone). Under this condition, unmanned aerial vehicle is when berthhing, or at the in-process of loading target distribution thing, and this arresting gear can be in the closure state, and when this arresting gear was in the closure state, but the wheel of card owner unmanned aerial vehicle below realized braking effect, the condition shown in fig. 5B promptly. When the unmanned aerial vehicle is determined to have finished loading the target delivered items, the unmanned aerial vehicle can control the brake device to be in the opening and closing device, and then the target delivered items are carried to take off, namely the situation shown in fig. 5C.

It should be noted that the above description is given by way of example only, and that the form of the braking device is cited, and in fact the braking device for braking the second drone can also take many forms, any braking device capable of effecting braking of the second drone at a parking area or at a target delivery object being within the scope of protection of the present application. Of course, the second unmanned aerial vehicle can also realize the stop on the return equipment through the braking device. The specific process is basically the same as the principle described above, and will not be described in detail here.

It should be noted that, in this specification, since the original unmanned device that transports the target delivery object has changed during the process of transporting the target delivery object by the second unmanned device, the control center may update the order information corresponding to the target delivery object and update the location of the second unmanned device at any time, so that the user can know the delivery progress of the target delivery object at any time.

In addition, the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object mentioned above may also be another unmanned device, that is, the second unmanned device may also transport the target delivery object to another unmanned device, and the other unmanned device may continue to perform the delivery task corresponding to the target delivery object.

It can be seen from the above method that, since the first unmanned device carries the second unmanned device, when the first unmanned device cannot continue to execute or is not suitable for continuing to execute the distribution task of the target distribution because of the situations of overtime orders, mismatching of the road section ahead with the driving mode of the first unmanned device, and the like, the second unmanned device can continue to execute the distribution task, and since the target distribution can be transported in a manner similar to relay by a combination mode of the first unmanned device and the second unmanned device, the control center can plan a route with a short route as much as possible when planning the route of the target distribution, so that the execution efficiency of the distribution task is improved from multiple layers.

It should be noted that most of the above description is given by taking the first unmanned device as an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device as an unmanned vehicle as an example, and it is mentioned that the control method for the unmanned device provided in this specification is also applicable to a combination of other unmanned devices. The following will further describe the control method of the unmanned aerial vehicle provided in this specification by taking a combination of the unmanned vehicle and the unmanned ship as an example, and other combination modes are not described in detail herein, as shown in fig. 6A to 6C.

Fig. 6A to 6C are schematic diagrams of the first unmanned device being an unmanned vehicle and the second unmanned device being an unmanned ship, where the unmanned vehicle and the unmanned ship are used to perform a distribution task.

In fig. 6A, an exit port for sending out the target delivery object is provided at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle (i.e., the first unmanned facility), and an unmanned ship (i.e., the second unmanned facility) is also provided at the bottom of the unmanned vehicle, as shown in fig. 6B. The bottom of the unmanned vehicle is provided with a telescopic conveying device for conveying the unmanned ship to the river, so that when the unmanned vehicle runs to the river, the unmanned ship can extend out of the telescopic conveying device, the unmanned ship carrying the target distribution object enters the river along the telescopic conveying device, and then the distribution task of the target distribution object is executed, as shown in fig. 6C.

Based on the same idea, the present specification further provides a corresponding control device for the unmanned aerial vehicle, as shown in fig. 7 to 9.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a control apparatus of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification, wherein a first unmanned aerial vehicle transports at least one dispensing item, and the first unmanned aerial vehicle carries at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle, and the control apparatus includes:

an obtaining module 701, configured to obtain a distribution state corresponding to a first unmanned device;

a determining module 702, configured to determine, if it is determined that the distribution status meets a preset condition, a distribution that needs to be transported by the second unmanned device in at least part of the remaining distribution routes, from among at least one distribution that is transported by the first unmanned device, as a target distribution;

a first control module 703, configured to send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the second unmanned aerial vehicle transports the loaded target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object according to a delivery route planned by the apparatus, where the delivery route is a delivery route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle for the target delivery object, where the delivery route is obtained by the apparatus planning a route according to a location where the second unmanned aerial vehicle is located and the delivery point;

a second control module 704, configured to send a second control instruction to the first unmanned device to control the first unmanned device to continue to travel if it is determined that the second unmanned device has traveled away from the first unmanned device.

Optionally, the determining module 702 is specifically configured to determine that the delivery status meets a preset condition if it is determined that the first unmanned device cannot pass through continuously according to the delivery status.

Optionally, the determining module 702 is specifically configured to obtain, from the distribution status, location-related data corresponding to the first unmanned device; and if at least part of the road sections which need to be traveled when the first unmanned equipment executes the current delivery task are determined based on the position related data and are not matched with the driving mode corresponding to the first unmanned equipment, determining that the first unmanned equipment cannot continuously pass.

Optionally, the determining module 702 is specifically configured to determine, if the first unmanned device continues to travel according to the original delivery route according to the delivery status, a delivery order with a risk of timeout, and determine that the delivery status meets a preset condition;

the determining module 702 is specifically configured to determine, from at least one delivery object delivered by the first unmanned device, a delivery object corresponding to a delivery order with a time-out risk when the first unmanned device continues to travel according to an original delivery route, as a target delivery object.

Optionally, the first drone includes an egress port;

the first control module 703 is specifically configured to, in response to the first unmanned aerial device opening the exit hatch and determining that the target dispensing object is sent out from the exit hatch, send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial device, so that the second unmanned aerial device loads the target dispensing object.

the first control module 703 is specifically configured to, in response to the first unmanned aerial device opening the hatch opening and determining that the target dispensing object is sent out from the hatch opening, send a first control instruction to control the second unmanned aerial device, so that the second unmanned aerial device located in the parking area moves to a position corresponding to the hatch opening, and load the target dispensing object.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a parking position determining module 705, configured to determine a parking position to which the first unmanned device needs to go before controlling the second unmanned device, and send a parking instruction to the first unmanned device, so that the first unmanned device goes to the parking position to park according to the parking instruction;

the second control module 704 is specifically configured to perform route planning according to the stopping position and the delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, so as to obtain a delivery route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle for the target delivery object.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a return module 706 to determine a return device for the second drone, the return device including at least the first drone, in response to the second drone having shipped the target shipment to the delivery point; and planning a route of the second unmanned equipment according to the position of the return equipment to obtain a return route, so that the second unmanned equipment runs to the return equipment according to the return route and stops on the return equipment.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control apparatus of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification, a first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle, including:

a determining module 801, configured to determine, in response to that a delivery status corresponding to the first unmanned aerial vehicle meets a preset condition, a target delivery object that needs to be delivered by the second unmanned aerial vehicle on at least part of a remaining delivery route to be delivered;

a receiving module 802, configured to receive a second control instruction sent by a control center to continue driving according to the second control instruction, where the second control instruction is sent to the first unmanned aerial vehicle after the control center determines that the second unmanned aerial vehicle loads a target delivery object, and drives away from the first unmanned aerial vehicle according to a planned delivery route, where the delivery route is determined by the control center according to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object, and the second unmanned aerial vehicle transports the loaded target delivery object to the delivery point according to the delivery route according to the first control instruction sent by the control center.

Optionally, the first drone includes an egress port;

the determining module 801 is further configured to open the egress opening and to send out the target distribution from the egress opening after determining that at least part of the remaining distribution routes to be carried require the target distribution to be transported by the second unmanned aerial device.

Optionally, the receiving module 802 is further configured to receive a parking instruction sent by the control center before receiving the second control instruction sent by the control center; according to the parking instruction, the second unmanned equipment goes to the parking position determined by the control center to park, so that the second unmanned equipment loads the target delivered object at the parking position.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a control apparatus of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the present specification, a first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial vehicle carrying at least one second unmanned aerial vehicle, including:

an obtaining module 901, configured to obtain a first control instruction, where the first control instruction is obtained by the second unmanned device when a control center determines that a distribution state of the first unmanned device meets a preset condition;

a loading module 902, configured to load, according to the first control instruction, a target delivery object that needs to be continuously delivered by the second unmanned device in the delivery objects delivered by the first unmanned device;

a delivery module 903, configured to deliver the target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object based on a delivery route for the target delivery object, where the delivery route is determined by the control center according to the delivery point.

the loading module 902 is specifically configured to, according to the first control instruction, go from the parking area to a position corresponding to the exit port, and load the target dispensing item.

Optionally, the delivery module 903 is specifically configured to, in response to stopping braking of the second unmanned aerial vehicle by a preset braking device, deliver the target delivery object to a delivery point corresponding to the target delivery object based on the delivery route for the target delivery object.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and a return route module 904, configured to drive to a return device determined by the control center according to a return route planned by the control center, and stop on the return device, where the return route is obtained by the control center planning a route of the second unmanned aerial vehicle based on the determined position of the return device, the return device is determined by the control center after it is determined that the second unmanned aerial vehicle has transported the target delivery object to the delivery point, and the return device at least includes the first unmanned aerial vehicle.

The present specification also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which is operable to execute a control method of an unmanned aerial device provided in fig. 1 described above.

This specification also provides a schematic block diagram of an electronic device corresponding to that of figure 1, shown in figure 10. As shown in fig. 10, at the hardware level, the electronic device includes a processor, an internal bus, a network interface, a memory, and a non-volatile memory, but may also include hardware required for other services. The processor reads a corresponding computer program from the nonvolatile memory into the memory and then runs the computer program to implement the control method of the unmanned aerial vehicle described in fig. 1. Of course, besides the software implementation, the present specification does not exclude other implementations, such as logic devices or a combination of software and hardware, and the like, that is, the execution subject of the following processing flow is not limited to each logic unit, and may be hardware or logic devices.

The present description also provides a schematic block diagram of an unmanned device corresponding to that of fig. 1, as shown in fig. 11. As shown in fig. 11, at the hardware level, the drone includes a processor, an internal bus, a network interface, a memory, and a non-volatile memory, although it may also include hardware required for other services. The processor reads a corresponding computer program from the nonvolatile memory into the memory and then runs the computer program to implement the control method of the unmanned aerial vehicle described in fig. 1. Of course, besides the software implementation, the present specification does not exclude other implementations, such as logic devices or a combination of software and hardware, and the like, that is, the execution subject of the following processing flow is not limited to each logic unit, and may be hardware or logic devices.

In the 90 s of the 20 th century, improvements in a technology could clearly distinguish between improvements in hardware (e.g., improvements in circuit structures such as diodes, transistors, switches, etc.) and improvements in software (improvements in process flow). However, as technology advances, many of today's process flow improvements have been seen as direct improvements in hardware circuit architecture. Designers almost always obtain the corresponding hardware circuit structure by programming an improved method flow into the hardware circuit. Thus, it cannot be said that an improvement in the process flow cannot be realized by hardware physical modules. For example, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), is an integrated circuit whose Logic functions are determined by programming the Device by a user. A digital system is "integrated" on a PLD by the designer's own programming without requiring the chip manufacturer to design and fabricate application-specific integrated circuit chips. Furthermore, nowadays, instead of manually making an Integrated Circuit chip, such Programming is often implemented by "logic compiler" software, which is similar to a software compiler used in program development and writing, but the original code before compiling is also written by a specific Programming Language, which is called Hardware Description Language (HDL), and HDL is not only one but many, such as abel (advanced Boolean Expression Language), ahdl (alternate Hardware Description Language), traffic, pl (core universal Programming Language), HDCal (jhdware Description Language), lang, Lola, HDL, laspam, hardward Description Language (vhr Description Language), vhal (Hardware Description Language), and vhigh-Language, which are currently used in most common. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that hardware circuitry that implements the logical method flows can be readily obtained by merely slightly programming the method flows into an integrated circuit using the hardware description languages described above.

The controller may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example, the controller may take the form of, for example, a microprocessor or processor and a computer-readable medium storing computer-readable program code (e.g., software or firmware) executable by the (micro) processor, logic gates, switches, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic controller, and an embedded microcontroller, examples of which include, but are not limited to, the following microcontrollers: ARC 625D, Atmel AT91SAM, Microchip PIC18F26K20, and Silicone Labs C8051F320, the memory controller may also be implemented as part of the control logic for the memory. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, in addition to implementing the controller as pure computer readable program code, the same functionality can be implemented by logically programming method steps such that the controller is in the form of logic gates, switches, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers, embedded microcontrollers and the like. Such a controller may thus be considered a hardware component, and the means included therein for performing the various functions may also be considered as a structure within the hardware component. Or even means for performing the functions may be regarded as being both a software module for performing the method and a structure within a hardware component.

The systems, devices, modules or units illustrated in the above embodiments may be implemented by a computer chip or an entity, or by a product with certain functions. One typical implementation device is a computer. In particular, the computer may be, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular telephone, a camera phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigation device, an email device, a game console, a tablet computer, a wearable device, or a combination of any of these devices.

For convenience of description, the above devices are described as being divided into various units by function, and are described separately. Of course, the functions of the various elements may be implemented in the same one or more software and/or hardware implementations of the present description.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present description may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the description may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the description may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The description has been presented with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the description. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPUs), input/output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

The memory may include forms of volatile memory in a computer readable medium, Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory, such as Read Only Memory (ROM) or flash memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media, including both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

It should also be noted that the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

This description may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The specification may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from the other embodiments. In particular, for the system embodiment, since it is substantially similar to the method embodiment, the description is simple, and for the relevant points, reference may be made to the partial description of the method embodiment.

The above description is only an example of the present specification, and is not intended to limit the present specification. Various modifications and alterations to this description will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present specification should be included in the scope of the claims of the present specification.

Claims

1. A method for controlling an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device transports at least one delivery object, and wherein the first unmanned aerial device carries at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the delivery status satisfies a predetermined condition comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining that the first unmanned device is unable to continue to pass based on the delivery status comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the delivery status satisfies a predetermined condition comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first unmanned device comprises an egress port;

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a docking area for the second drone is provided on the first drone;

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to controlling the second drone, the method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to the second drone having shipped the target shipment to the delivery point, determining a return device for the second drone, the return device including the first drone;

9. A method for controlling an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device transports at least one delivery object, and wherein the first unmanned aerial device carries at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first unmanned device comprises an egress port;

opening the hatch and delivering the target contents from the hatch.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein prior to receiving the second control instruction sent by the control center, the method further comprises:

receiving a parking instruction sent by the control center;

12. A method for controlling an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device transports at least one delivery object, and wherein the first unmanned aerial device carries at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a docking area for the second drone is disposed on the first drone, the first drone including an egress port;

14. The method of claim 12, wherein transporting the target shipment to a delivery point corresponding to the target shipment based on a delivery route for the target shipment comprises:

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

16. A control apparatus for an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device carries at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial device carrying at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

17. A control apparatus for an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device carries at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial device carrying at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

18. A control apparatus for an unmanned aerial device, wherein a first unmanned aerial device carries at least one dispensing item, the first unmanned aerial device carrying at least one second unmanned aerial device, comprising:

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium stores a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of the preceding claims 1-8, 9-11 or 12-15.

20. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the method of any of claims 1 to 8 when executing the program.

21. An unmanned aerial device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor when executing the program implements the method of any of claims 9-11 or 12-15.