CN117043064A - Inspection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An inspection device (100) for inspecting an aircraft, comprising: more than one rotary wing (30); a wheel (9) for running; and an information acquisition unit (6) that acquires body-related information, which is information related to the body, from the body during flight or travel of the inspection device around the body (70) of the aircraft.

Description

Inspection apparatus

[ cited in the related application ]

The present application is based on Japanese patent application No. 2021-49344, filed on 24, 3, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an inspection apparatus.

Background

Conventionally, an inspection apparatus for inspecting an aircraft is known. For example, in patent document 1, an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with an inspection sensor is used as an inspection device. In this inspection apparatus, an unmanned aerial vehicle is flown around an aircraft, and an arm is extended from the unmanned aerial vehicle, and a sensor attached to the front end of the arm is brought into proximity with the body surface of the aircraft to inspect the body surface.

[ Prior Art literature ]

[ patent literature ]

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2020-109395

Disclosure of Invention

However, in the structure in which the arm is extended from the flying unmanned aerial vehicle and the sensor is brought close to the body surface of the aircraft as in the inspection apparatus of patent document 1, there is a problem that the airspace in which the unmanned aerial vehicle flies cannot be ensured in the vicinity of the ground portion of the aircraft, for example, in the vicinity of the surface on the lower side of the aircraft body, and the inspection of the body surface cannot be performed in this portion.

The present disclosure can be implemented in the following manner.

As one mode of the present disclosure, an inspection apparatus for inspecting an aircraft is provided. The inspection apparatus includes: more than one rotary wing; wheels for running; and an information acquisition unit that acquires body-related information, which is information related to the body, from the body during flight or travel of the inspection device around the body of the aircraft.

According to the inspection device of this aspect, since the inspection device includes one or more rotating wings, wheels for traveling, and an information acquisition unit that acquires information on the body, that is, information on the body, from the body during the flight or traveling of the inspection device around the body of the aircraft, the information acquisition unit can certainly acquire the information on the body from above while flying, and even if it is impossible to ensure an airspace in which the inspection device flies near the ground of the aircraft, for example, near the surface on the lower side of the body, the inspection device can travel at the ground to acquire the information on the body surface.

The present disclosure can also be implemented in various ways. For example, the method can be realized as an inspection method of an aircraft.

Drawings

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. The drawings are as follows.

Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the structure of an inspection apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a side view schematically showing a grounded state of the inspection apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of the inspection apparatus.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a path of an inspection device that flies or travels around an aircraft as an inspection target.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a shooting direction of the image capturing camera.

Fig. 6 is a side view schematically showing a traveling state of the inspection apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing steps of the abnormality detection process.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a path of the inspection apparatus according to another embodiment.

Detailed Description

A. First embodiment:

a-1, device structure:

as shown in fig. 1 and 2, an inspection apparatus 100 as an embodiment of the present disclosure is constituted by an electric vertical lift (hereinafter, also referred to as "eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft)", and the inspection apparatus 100 inspects an inspection object body 70 shown in fig. 4 as an inspection object.

The inspection apparatus 100 is configured as an unmanned aerial vehicle that can be lifted and lowered in the vertical direction by electric driving. As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the inspection apparatus 100 includes: a main body 20; a plurality of rotary wings 30; a plurality of electric drive systems 10 (hereinafter, also referred to as "EDS (Electric Drive System: electronic drive systems) 10"); an information acquisition unit 6; a plurality of wheels 9; a battery 40; a converter 42; a dispenser 44; a control device 50; a main body communication unit 64; and a notification unit 66. The inspection device 100 of the present embodiment includes four rotary wings 30, four EDS10, and four wheels 9, respectively. In fig. 2 and 3, for convenience of illustration, two rotary wings 30, EDS10, and wheels 9 out of four rotary wings 30, EDS10, and wheels 9 included in the inspection apparatus 100 are represented.

In fig. 1 and 2, the main body 20 corresponds to a portion of the inspection apparatus 100 other than the rotor 30, the EDS10, the wheels 9, and the information acquisition unit 6. As shown in fig. 1, the main body 20 includes a main body 21, a strut 22, four first support portions 23, and four second support portions 24.

The body portion 21 constitutes a trunk portion of the inspection apparatus 100. The body 21 has a structure that is bilaterally symmetrical about the body axis AX as a symmetry axis. In the present embodiment, the "body axis AX" means an axis passing through the body center of gravity position CM and along the front-rear direction of the inspection apparatus 100. The "main body center of gravity position CM" means the center of gravity position of the inspection device 100 when the weight of the aircraft is not loaded with a load or the like. The front of the inspection device 100 means that, in the present embodiment, the direction from the main body center of gravity position CM toward the information acquisition unit 6 described later is seen in a plan view (when seen from above) of the inspection device 100.

The pillar portion 22 has a substantially columnar external shape and is fixed to an upper portion of the body portion 21. The pillar portion 22 extends in the vertical direction in a state where the inspection apparatus 100 is stopped on the ground. In the present embodiment, the pillar portion 22 is disposed at a position overlapping with the main body center of gravity position CM of the inspection apparatus 100 when viewed in the vertical direction. One end of each of the four first support portions 23 is fixed to the upper end of the pillar portion 22.

The four first support portions 23 each have a substantially rod-like appearance, and are radially arranged at equal angular intervals from each other so as to extend along a surface perpendicular to the vertical direction. The rotation wing 30 and the EDS10 are disposed at the other end of the first support portion 23, that is, at a position distant from the pillar portion 22.

The four second support portions 24 each have a substantially rod-like external shape, and connect the other end portions (the end portions on the side not connected to the pillar portion 22) of the first support portions 23 adjacent to each other. For convenience of illustration, four second support portions 24 are shown by straight lines in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 1, four rotary wings 30 are disposed at the end portions of each of the first support portions 23 and each of the second support portions 24. The four rotary wings 30 are constituted by two rotary wings 30a and two rotary wings 30 b. The two rotary wings 30a are located on the front side of the main body center of gravity position CM. On the other hand, the two rotary wings 30b are located further rearward than the main body center of gravity position CM. The four rotor blades 30 are configured to be usable as lifting rotor blades for obtaining lift force of the main body 20 and cruise rotor blades for obtaining thrust force. Specifically, the four rotor blades 30 are used as lifting rotor blades by controlling the rotation speed of each rotor blade 30 to be equal. The four rotary wings 30 are used as cruise rotary wings by controlling the rotation speeds of the two rotary wings 30a on the front side and the rotation speeds of the two rotary wings 30b on the rear side to be different from each other. The rotation wings 30 are driven to rotate independently of each other about the rotation axes. As shown in fig. 3, each rotor wing 30 is provided with a rotation speed sensor 34 and a torque sensor 35. The rotation speed sensor 34 measures the rotation speed of the rotor blade 30. The torque sensor 35 measures the rotational torque of the rotor blade 30. The measurement results of the sensors 34 and 35 are output to the control device 50. The EDS10 is connected to each rotor blade 30.

Four EDS10 connected to each rotor blade 30 are configured as an electric drive system for driving each rotor blade 30 in rotation. Four EDS10 respectively drive the rotor wings 30 to rotate.

As shown in fig. 3, each EDS10 includes a drive unit 11, a drive motor 12, a gear box 13, a rotation speed sensor 14, a current sensor 15, a voltage sensor 16, a torque sensor 17, and an EDS-side storage unit 18.

The driving unit 11 is configured as an electronic device including an inverter circuit, not shown, and a controller, not shown, for controlling the inverter circuit. The inverter circuit is composed of power elements such as an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor: insulated gate bipolar transistor) and a MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor: metal Oxide semiconductor field effect transistor), and supplies a drive voltage to the drive motor 12 according to a duty ratio corresponding to a control signal supplied from a controller. The controller is electrically connected to the control device 50, and supplies a control signal to the inverter circuit in accordance with a command from the control device 50.

In the present embodiment, the driving motor 12 is constituted by a brushless motor, and outputs a rotational motion corresponding to a voltage and a current supplied from an inverter circuit of the driving unit 11. Instead of the brushless motor, the motor may be any motor such as an induction motor or a reluctance motor.

The gear case 13 physically connects the drive motor 12 and the rotor 30. The gear box 13 has a plurality of gears, not shown, and reduces the rotation of the drive motor 12 and transmits the reduced rotation to the rotor 30. The gear case 13 may be omitted and the rotation shaft of the rotor 30 may be directly connected to the driving motor 12.

The rotation speed sensor 14 and the torque sensor 17 are provided in the driving motor 12, respectively, and measure the rotation speed and the rotation torque of the driving motor 12. The current sensor 15 and the voltage sensor 16 are provided between the driving unit 11 and the driving motor 12, respectively, and measure the driving current and the driving voltage, respectively. The measurement results of the sensors 14 to 17 are output to the control device 50 via the driving unit 11. The EDS-side storage unit 18 stores measurement data from each sensor.

The information acquisition unit 6 shown in fig. 1 to 3 acquires information related to a body (hereinafter, referred to as "body related information") from a body of the aircraft as an inspection object (hereinafter, referred to as "inspection object body 70") shown in fig. 4. The acquisition is performed during the flight or travel of the inspection apparatus 100 around the inspection object body 70. In the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit 6 includes an imaging camera 6a. In fig. 2, the direction of the imaging camera 6a is shown so that the information acquisition unit 6 can be seen for easy understanding. The imaging camera 6a images the inspection object body 70. As shown in fig. 5, the information acquisition unit 6 is configured to be able to adjust the orientation DR of the imaging camera 6a independently of the posture of the inspection apparatus 100. For convenience of illustration, the inspection object body 70 is shown as a rectangle in fig. 5. In the present embodiment, the captured image obtained by capturing an image of the body of the aircraft, which is the inspection object, with the imaging camera 6a corresponds to "body related information". In the present embodiment, by using the captured image, an abnormality that can be seen in appearance, such as damage to the surface of the inspection object body 70 or unexpected irregularities, can be detected.

The inspection apparatus 100 flies or travels around the inspection object body 70 in order to photograph the inspection object body 70. In the present embodiment, the inspection path is set in advance around the inspection object body 70, that is, in the six areas Ar1 to Ar6 of fig. 4. Then, the inspection device 100 photographs the inspection object body 70 and obtains a photographed image while flying or traveling along the inspection path. Specifically, the inspection device 100 selectively executes flight or travel according to the areas Ar1 to Ar6 around the inspection object body 70 shown in fig. 4.

In the present embodiment, the inspection path is set to be a path in the order of the area Ar1, the area Ar2, the area Ar3, the area Ar4, the area Ar5, and the area Ar6. The area Ar1 is located below the inspection object body 70. The area Ar2 is located in front of the inspection object body 70. The region Ar3 is located above the inspection object body 70. The area Ar4 is located behind the inspection object body 70. The area Ar5 is located on the right side of the traveling direction of the inspection object body 70. The area Ar6 is located on the left side in the traveling direction of the inspection object body 70.

In the area Ar1, the inspection apparatus 100 travels on the ground below the inspection object body 70 and photographs the inspection object body 70. In the areas Ar2 and Ar4, the inspection device 100 flies in front of or behind the inspection object body 70. Specifically, in the area Ar2, the inspection apparatus 100 captures an image of the inspection object body 70 while flying in front of the inspection object body 70. In the area Ar4, the inspection apparatus 10 photographs the inspection object body 70 while flying behind the inspection object body 70. In the area Ar3, the inspection apparatus 100 flies above the inspection object body 70 and photographs the inspection object body 70. In the areas Ar5 and Ar6, the inspection apparatus 100 flies to the right or left of the inspection object body 70 and photographs the inspection object body 70.

As shown in fig. 5, the information acquisition section 6 changes the acquisition direction DR, which is the direction in which the captured image is acquired. The specific case will be described later.

The wheel 9 shown in fig. 2, 5 to 6 is attached to the main body 20, and does not receive power from a power source for running, that is, the wheel 9 is configured as a driven wheel driven by the movement of the inspection device 100. As shown in fig. 2 and 6, the wheel 9 is mounted to the body portion 21 in the main body portion 20 via the damper DP. A spring SP is disposed around the damper DP. The spring SP expands and contracts according to the magnitude of the thrust of the rotor 30, and absorbs the impact from the concave-convex surface of the ground surface or the like during the running of the inspection apparatus 100. The spring SP generates a swing upon absorbing the impact, and the swing cannot be stopped immediately. The damper DP not only connects the wheel 9 to the body 21, but also suppresses the above-described swing of the spring SP.

The battery 40 shown in fig. 3 is constituted by a lithium ion battery, and functions as one of the power supply sources in the inspection apparatus 100. The battery 40 mainly supplies power to the driving units 11 included in the EDS10 and drives the driving motors 12. Further, the lithium ion battery may be replaced by any type of secondary battery such as a nickel-metal hydride battery, any power supply source such as a fuel cell or a generator may be provided instead of the battery 40, or any power supply source such as a fuel cell or a generator may be provided in addition to the battery 40.

The converter 42 is connected to the battery 40, and steps down the voltage of the battery 40 to supply the voltage to auxiliary devices or the control device 50, not shown, included in the inspection device 100. The distributor 44 distributes the voltage of the battery 40 to the driving section 11 included in each EDS10.

The control device 50 is a microcomputer including a storage unit 51, a thrust control unit 52, a measurement control unit 53, a feature extraction unit 54, and an abnormality determination unit 55, and is configured as an ECU (Electronic Control Unit: electronic control unit). The storage unit 51 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory: random access Memory). The storage unit 51 stores therein data indicating the inspection route and standard shape data of the inspection object body 70 in advance. In addition, a control program for controlling the overall operation of the inspection apparatus 100 is stored in the storage unit 51 in advance. The entire operation of the inspection apparatus 100 is, for example, a flight operation, a traveling operation, or the like. The data indicating the inspection route stored in advance in the storage unit 51 is a predetermined movement route of the inspection apparatus 100 set around the inspection object body 70. The control device 50 controls the flight and traveling operation of the inspection device 100 along the movement path stored in the storage unit 51. The flight and travel operations may be performed by manipulation of the passengers, or may be performed in accordance with instructions from an external control unit 510 included in the external device 500 described later.

The thrust control unit 52 controls the overall operation of the inspection device 100 by executing a control program stored in advance in the storage unit 51. The thrust control unit 52 controls the rotation speed, the rotation direction, and the like of the driving motor 12 included in each EDS10 during the operation of the inspection apparatus 100. The thrust control unit 52 controls the thrust of the rotary wing 30 so that the inspection device 100 moves along the movement path stored in the storage unit 51.

When the inspection device 100 is driven to the forward side, the thrust control unit 52 controls the rotation speed of the reverse side rotor blade 30b attached to the reverse side of the rotor blade 30 attached to the body 21 to be greater than the rotation speed of the forward side rotor blade 30a attached to the forward side, as shown in fig. 6. In this way, the entire body 20 assumes a forward leaning posture due to the difference in lift force between the backward rotation wing 30b and the forward rotation wing 30a, and the lift force includes a horizontal component, which is a thrust force in the horizontal direction. As a result, the inspection device 100 travels forward. On the other hand, when the inspection device 100 is decelerating during traveling, the rotational speed of the forward-side rotor 30a is controlled to be greater than the rotational speed of the reverse-side rotor 30b, although not shown. When the inspection device 100 is located in the area Ar1 in fig. 4 and the inspection object body 70 is imaged below, a turbine, or the like, the inspection device 100 travels on the ground.

As described in fig. 5, the measurement control unit 53 controls the information acquisition unit 6, adjusts the orientation of the imaging camera 6a, and adjusts the acquisition direction in which the captured image of the inspection object body 70 is acquired, according to the relative position of the inspection device 100 with respect to the inspection object body 70.

The feature extraction section 54 performs image processing of the captured image acquired by the information acquisition section 6, and extracts features of the shape of the inspection object body 70.

The abnormality determination unit 55 performs abnormality determination of the inspection object body 70 based on the captured image after the image processing by the feature extraction unit 54.

The main body portion communication portion 64 has a function of performing wireless communication, and is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving information between the external communication portion 520 included in the external device 500 and the inspection device 100, and to be capable of communicating with the control device 50. Examples of the wireless communication include wireless communication provided by an electric communication carrier such as 4G (fourth generation mobile communication system) and 5G (fifth generation mobile communication system), wireless LAN communication conforming to the IEEE802.11 standard, and the like. Further, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus: universal Serial bus) and wired communication conforming to the IEEE 802.3 standard may be used. The external device 50 is, for example, a computer for management and control such as a server device for performing control of inspection and recording of inspection results. The management and control computer may be, for example, a server device disposed in an air-traffic control room, or a personal computer that is taken to the place where the inspection device 100 is operated by a maintenance operator who performs maintenance or inspection including inspection.

The notification unit 66 notifies the control device 50 of the instruction. In the present embodiment, the notification unit 66 includes a display device that is installed in the passenger compartment and displays characters, images, and the like, a speaker that outputs sounds, warning sounds, and the like, and reports various information to the passenger by visual information and audible information.

A-2, abnormality detection processing:

in the present embodiment, when a drive command for the inspection apparatus 100 is issued, the abnormality detection process shown in fig. 7 is executed. In the present embodiment, the driving of the inspection apparatus 100 is instructed from the external apparatus 500. The abnormality detection process is a process for detecting whether or not the inspection object body 70 is abnormal by the inspection device 100. In addition, the abnormality detection process is performed in a state where the inspection object body 70 is stopped on the ground.

Information of the inspection object body 70 is input from the external device 500 (step S10). The information of the inspection object body 70 refers to, for example, the type or name of the inspection object body 70. The thrust control unit 52 moves the inspection device 100 to the start position of the inspection path stored in the storage unit 51 in advance (step S15). The operator may transport the inspection apparatus 100 and dispose it at the inspection start position.

The measurement control unit 53 adjusts the imaging direction of the imaging camera 6a, and controls imaging of the inspection object body 70 (step S20). The measurement control unit 53 adjusts the imaging direction of the imaging camera 6a while flying or traveling around the inspection object body 70 along a predetermined path. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, when the inspection apparatus 100 is located in the area Ar3, the orientation DR of the imaging camera 6a is adjusted to be directed downward. In addition, for example, as in the example of fig. 5, when the inspection apparatus 100 is located in the area Ar4, the orientation DR of the imaging camera 6a is adjusted to be directed to the front side. In addition, for example, when the inspection apparatus 100 is located in the area Ar1, the orientation DR of the imaging camera 6a is adjusted to be oriented upward. The photographed image is stored in the storage section 51.

The feature extraction unit 54 performs image processing on the captured image captured in step S20, and extracts features of the shape of the inspection object body 70 and performs data analysis (step S25). The data obtained by the data analysis is stored in the storage unit 51.

The abnormality determination unit 55 determines whether or not the inspection object body 70 is abnormal (step S30). Specifically, the abnormality determination unit 55 compares the data obtained by the data analysis in step S25 with the standard shape data of the inspection object body 70 stored in the storage unit 51 in advance. For example, the abnormality determination unit 55 determines that an abnormality exists when the size of the depression in the body surface of the inspection object body 70 is larger than a threshold value predetermined for the standard shape data (step S30: yes). The abnormality determination unit 55 determines that there is no abnormality when the size of the depression in the body surface of the inspection object body 70 is equal to or smaller than a threshold value predetermined for the standard shape data (step S30: no).

When determining that an abnormality exists (yes in step S30), the abnormality determination unit 55 notifies the notification unit 66 of the presence of the abnormality (step S35). When it is determined that there is no abnormality (no in step S30), the abnormality determination unit 55 notifies the notification unit 66 of "no abnormality" (step S40).

The abnormality determination unit 55 records the determination result of whether or not there is an abnormality in the storage unit 51 (step S45).

According to the inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment described above, the inspection apparatus includes: a traveling wheel 9 attached to the main body 20; and an information acquisition unit 6 that acquires body-related information, which is information related to the inspection object body 70, from the inspection object body 70 during flight or travel of the inspection device 100 around the inspection object body 70, wherein the information acquisition unit 6 can acquire the body-related information from the body surface of the inspection object body 70 by the inspection device 100 traveling at the ground contact portion even if the space in which the inspection device 100 is not able to be ensured to fly near the ground contact portion of the inspection object body 70, for example, near the surface on the lower side of the body.

The thrust control unit 52 controls the rotational speeds of the plurality of rotor blades 30, thereby realizing running or deceleration of the main body 20. Specifically, the thrust control unit 52 controls the rotation speed of the reverse side rotor 30b to be greater than the rotation speed of the forward side rotor 30a when the main body 20 is driven forward, and controls the rotation speed of the forward side rotor 30a to be greater than the rotation speed of the reverse side rotor 30b when the main body 20 is decelerated during driving.

The information acquisition unit 6 includes an imaging camera 6a, and adjusts the orientation DR of the imaging camera 6a independently of the orientation of the inspection apparatus 100. Therefore, the structure is simpler than the structure in which the inspection apparatus 100 moves relative to the inspection object body 70.

The storage unit 51 stores in advance a movement path of the inspection device 100 set around the inspection object body 70, that is, a movement path for acquiring body-related information. Since the flight and travel operations of the inspection device 100 are performed along the movement path stored in the storage unit 51, the process of recognizing the shape of the inspection object body 70 in the inspection device 100 can be omitted.

B. Other embodiments:

(B1) The inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment may further include: a history unit that stores a path along which a conventional inspection device moves; and a learning function section that learns using the path stored in the history section and updates the movement path stored in the storage section. By storing the updated movement path in the storage unit, the efficiency of the flight and traveling operation of the inspection device 100 is improved.

(B2) In the inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, the abnormality determination unit 55 determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the inspection object body 70, but may be determined by a person. In this configuration, the display device may display the captured image obtained as a result of step S20. Then, the operator of the inspection can visually confirm the captured image or the captured image after the image processing and determine whether or not the inspection object body 70 is abnormal.

(B3) In the inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, four rotating blades 30 are included, but the number of rotating blades 30 may be one or more, or may not be four.

(B4) The inspection device 100 as the inspection device of the present embodiment includes four wheels 9 for traveling, but is not limited to four, and may be any number of wheels. The wheels 9 may be drive wheels connected to a power source. In addition, in the present disclosure, "wheel" means a device that connects steel plates in a band shape and is mounted around the wheel, in other words, means a broad concept including a crawler belt.

(B5) In the inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, the information acquisition section 6 has the imaging camera 6a, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. The information acquisition unit 6 may have a displacement measuring instrument for measuring reflected light of laser light or an internal structure measuring instrument using X-rays.

(B6) In the inspection apparatus 100 as the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, the abnormality determination section 55 compares the data obtained by the data analysis of step S25 with the standard shape data of the inspection object body 70 stored in the storage section 51 in advance, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. As the comparison target data, the abnormality determination unit 55 may determine whether or not the inspection target body 70 is abnormal using data obtained by data analysis at the time of the previous inspection, instead of the standard shape data. In this case, for example, the abnormality determination unit 55 determines that an abnormality exists when the size of the depression in the body surface of the inspection object body 70 is larger than the amount of change in the threshold value predetermined for the data at the time of the last inspection. The abnormality determination unit 55 determines that there is no abnormality when the size of the depression in the body surface of the inspection object body 70 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value change amount with respect to the data at the time of the previous inspection.

(B7) The inspection apparatus 100 of the present embodiment travels on the ground, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The inspection apparatus 100 may travel on any type of structure, for example, a setting table provided between the inspection object body 70 and the ground. In addition, in the case of photographing the upper side of the inspection object body 70, the inspection device 100 may travel on the upper surface of the inspection object body 70 instead of flying in the area Ar 3.

(B8) The inspection device 100 of the present embodiment selectively performs the flight or the travel according to the inspection path in the order of the area Ar1, the area Ar2, the area Ar3, the area Ar4, the area Ar5, and the area Ar6 shown in fig. 4, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a path of the inspection apparatus according to another embodiment. As shown in fig. 8, the inspection device 100 may also selectively execute the flight or the travel along the inspection path in the order of the bold arrow. In fig. 8, the inspection object body 70 is stopped on the ground. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the inspection object body 70, and the areas Ar1 to Ar6 correspond to the areas Ar1 to Ar6 in fig. 4. As shown in fig. 8, the inspection apparatus 100 flies from above the center of the inspection object body 70 in the area Ar3, in the backward direction on the rear side in the area Ar6, and in the area Ar4 behind the inspection object body 70. After that, the inspection device 100 flies toward the traveling direction on the rear side in the area Ar5, and flies along the right wing of the inspection object body 70. The inspection device 100 flies in the traveling direction on the front side in the area Ar5 after flying slightly above the right wing of the inspection object body 70. Then, the inspection device 100 flies in the area Ar2 in front of the inspection object body 70, flies in the backward direction on the front side in the area Ar6, and flies along the left wing in the area Ar6 after flying slightly above the left wing of the inspection object body 70. Then, the inspection apparatus 100 flies in the backward direction in the area Ar6 as in the path of the one-dot chain line shown in fig. 8. After that, the inspection device 100 travels on the ground along the dotted line shown in fig. 8 toward the traveling direction. The travel region is a region Ar1 shown in fig. 4. As described above, the inspection apparatus 100 may fly or travel along the inspection path shown in fig. 8. After traveling along the traveling path of the broken line shown in fig. 8, the inspection device 100 may fly toward the area Ar3 and may fly directly in the backward direction. In other words, the inspection apparatus 100 may fly in the upper air route of the inspection object body 70 corresponding to the route parallel to the dotted route after the dotted route shown in fig. 8.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be realized by various structures within a range not exceeding the above gist. For example, the technical features of the embodiments corresponding to the technical features of the embodiments described in the summary of the application may be replaced or combined as appropriate to solve part or all of the above technical problems or to achieve part or all of the above effects. The above technical features may be appropriately deleted unless they are described as essential structures in the present specification.

The inspection apparatus and the method of the inspection apparatus described in the present disclosure may also be implemented by a special purpose computer provided by constituting a processor and a memory, the processor being programmed to perform one or more functions embodied by a computer program. Alternatively, the inspection apparatus and the method thereof described in the present disclosure may be implemented by a special purpose computer provided by a processor configured by one or more special purpose hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the inspection apparatus and the method thereof described in the present disclosure are implemented by one or more special purpose computers constituted by a combination of a processor and a memory programmed to perform one or more functions and a processor constituted by one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may also be stored on a non-transitory tangible storage medium readable by a computer as instructions executed by the computer.

Claims (6)

1. An inspection apparatus (100) for inspecting an aircraft, the inspection apparatus comprising:

more than one rotary wing (30);

a wheel (9) for running; and

and an information acquisition unit (6) that acquires information related to the body, which is information related to the body, from the body while the inspection device is flying or traveling around the body (70) of the aircraft.

2. The inspection apparatus of claim 1, wherein,

the information acquisition unit has an imaging camera (6 a) and acquires a captured image of the body as the body-related information.

3. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inspection apparatus further comprises:

a plurality of the rotary wings, each of which includes a forward rotary wing (30 a) attached to the forward side and a backward rotary wing (30 b) attached to the backward side; and

a thrust control unit (52) for controlling the rotational speeds of the plurality of rotor blades,

the thrust control unit controls the rotational speed of the reverse side rotor to be greater than the rotational speed of the forward side rotor when the vehicle is traveling forward, and controls the rotational speed of the forward side rotor to be greater than the rotational speed of the reverse side rotor when the vehicle is decelerating during traveling.

4. An inspection device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein,

the information acquisition unit is configured to be able to adjust an acquisition direction which is a direction in which the body-related information is acquired, independently of an orientation of the inspection device,

the inspection device further includes a measurement control section (53) that controls the information acquisition section and adjusts the acquisition direction in accordance with a relative position of the inspection device with respect to the machine body.

5. The inspection device of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

a storage unit (51) that stores a movement path of the inspection device set around the machine body, that is, a movement path for acquiring the machine body-related information; and

and a thrust control unit that controls the rotational speed of one or more of the rotor blades so that the inspection device moves along the movement path.

6. The inspection apparatus of claim 5, wherein the inspection apparatus further comprises:

a history unit that stores a path along which the conventional inspection device moves; and

a learning function section that learns using the path stored in the history section and updates the moving path stored in the storage section.