JP2016215958A - Multicopter and multicopter system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate flight control in a forward movement direction for a multicopter using three axis gyros.SOLUTION: A gyro sensor 25 comprises a roll axis gyro 25a, a pitch axis gyro 25b and a yaw axis gyro 25c. In a three-axis lock mode, influence of external disturbance is prevented by reducing a drift angle to zero on the basis of outputs from these gyros, and an airframe is restored to the original attitude. In a damping mode, control is exerted to reduce a turning angle velocity to zero in the yaw axis direction so that influence of external disturbance is attenuated. Thus, when moving the airframe forward in the damping mode, together with the wind indicator effect of a vertical tail, the airframe is advanced directed in the nose direction, facilitating flight control.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a multicopter and a multicopter system using a three-axis gyro, and more particularly to a multicopter and a multicopter system characterized by a plurality of control modes.

  In recent years, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a multicopter that includes a plurality of rotors and can be stationary in the air is rapidly spreading for aerial photography. In the multicopter, a plurality of rotors are arranged around the center of gravity, and the aircraft is raised, lowered, moved and stopped by controlling the output. The multi-copter uses a three-axis gyro to stabilize the operation of the aircraft. As these gyros, there are used a roll axis gyro for detecting the rotation of the airframe around the roll axis, a pitch axis gyro for detecting the rotation of the airframe in the pitch direction, and a yaw axis gyro for detecting the rotation of the airframe around the yaw axis. In the 3-axis lock mode, control is performed based on the outputs from these gyros to stop the rotation of the rotor shaft, yaw shaft and pitch shaft of the airframe and hover the airframe in the air.

JP 2014-240242 A

  In the 3-axis lock mode, the motor is controlled so as to cancel the influence of disturbance on each axis, so that it can be easily stopped in the air if there is no operation from the transmitter. Therefore, when performing aerial photography with a multicopter, the 3-axis lock control is suitable.

  However, when flying in the three-axis lock mode, the advancing direction and the nose direction will not match if the ladder is not operated properly even if the flight is to be performed horizontally. Therefore, there is a problem in that the traveling direction and the nose direction are difficult to understand even if the multicopter is slightly away from the pilot, and it is very difficult to control the aircraft.

  An object of the present invention is to facilitate the operation of a rudder shaft even when advancing by switching the control mode of the aircraft, and to make it possible to control the aircraft.

  In order to solve this problem, the multicopter of the present invention is provided with a plurality of rotor units arranged at a predetermined distance from the center passing through the center of gravity of the aircraft, and at a position separated from the center of gravity of the aircraft. Controlling each output of a plurality of rotor units, a tail wing that provides an aerodynamic windcock effect in the axial direction, a roll axis gyro, a pitch axis gyro, and a yaw axis gyro that detect rotational angular velocities in the three axis directions of the aircraft, respectively. And a controller for controlling the power in three directions of the aircraft and power control, and the controller restores the angle change due to disturbance of the yaw axis, roll axis, and pitch axis by a signal from the rate gyro. In this way, the lock mode for controlling each rotor unit and the angle change due to disturbance by the roll axis and the pitch axis To return the those having a damping mode said controlling each rotor unit to damp angular change due to disturbance yaw axis.

  Here, the tail may be any one of a vertical tail, a V-shaped tail, a cross-shaped tail, a box-shaped tail, and an X-shaped tail.

  In order to solve this problem, the multicopter of the present invention is provided with a plurality of rotor units arranged at a predetermined distance from the center passing through the center of gravity of the aircraft, and at a position separated from the center of gravity of the aircraft. Control each output of a plurality of rotor units, a resistor that aerodynamically provides a weathercock effect in the axial direction, a roll axis gyro, a pitch axis gyro, and a yaw axis gyro that detect the rotational angular velocities in the three axial directions of the aircraft. And a controller for controlling the power in three axes of the airframe and power control, and the controller recovers the angle change due to disturbance of the yaw axis, roll axis, and pitch axis by a signal from the rate gyro. A lock mode for controlling each rotor unit so as to cause an angle caused by disturbance by the roll axis and the pitch axis Reduction to return the those having a damping mode said controlling each rotor unit to damp angular change due to disturbance yaw axis.

  Here, the resistor may be either a tail or a resistor plate.

  In order to solve this problem, the multicopter system of the present invention is a multicopter system including a multicopter and a transmitter that controls the multicopter, and the transmitter switches between the lock mode and the damping mode. It has a mode switch, and the multicopter may be the multicopter described above.

  According to the present invention having such characteristics, the multicopter can be switched between the three-axis lock mode and the damping mode. In the three-axis lock mode, as in the conventional control, it is easy to operate the aircraft without disturbing the influence of the disturbance, and to stand still in the air. Also, when the aircraft flies on the basis of forward movement like a normal airplane, the stability of the yaw axis can be maintained by the vertical tail. By controlling the yaw axis as a damping mode, it is possible to eliminate the deviation between the advancing direction and the nose direction of the aircraft, and to obtain an effect of being able to fly easily.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a multicopter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an elevation view showing a main part of the multicopter according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the multicopter according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a control mode of the multicopter according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing a multicopter according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a multicopter according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an elevation view showing a main part thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the multicopter 10 has a pair of arms 12 and 13 attached to the front of the frame 11 and a pair of arms 14 and 15 attached to the rear. Motors 16 to 19 are provided at the tips of the arms 12 to 15, respectively. Rotors 20 to 23 are attached to the motors 16 to 19 respectively upward.

  A receiver 24, a gyro sensor 25, a controller 26, and a battery 27 are provided at the upper part of the frame 11. A cover 28 is attached to the upper part of the machine body as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the cover 28 is provided with a vertical tail 29 parallel to the traveling direction at the rear of the body. The gyro sensor 25 is provided in the vicinity of the center of gravity at the center of the aircraft. A motor and a rotor are provided symmetrically at a position away from the vicinity of the center of gravity by a predetermined distance. The motor and the rotor constitute a rotor unit.

  Next, the functional configuration of the multicopter according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in the figure, the multicopter 10 is equipped with a receiver 24, a gyro sensor 25, and a controller 26. The receiver 24 receives a signal from the transmitter 30. The transmitter 30 is a transmitter of four channels of pitching control, ladder control, roll control and power control and one channel used for switching the head lock mode as described later, and switches between the lock mode and the damping mode. Has a mode switch. The receiver 24 receives this signal and outputs signals for five channels to the controller 26 as shown in the figure. These signals may be output in parallel or may be output as serial signals.

  The gyro sensor 25 is a sensor for detecting a triaxial rotational angular velocity. The gyro sensor 25 includes a roll axis gyro 25a that detects the rotation angular velocity of the roll axis, a pitch axis gyro 25b that detects the rotation angular velocity of the pitch axis, and a yaw axis gyro 25c that detects the rotation angular velocity of the yaw axis. 3 axis signals are output to the controller 26.

  Inside the controller 26, a power control unit 26a that performs output control based on each output from the receiver 24, a roll axis control unit 26b that controls the roll axis, a pitch axis control unit 26c that controls the pitch axis, and a yaw axis A yaw axis control unit 26d for performing the above control. Each output is output to mixers (MIX) 26e, 26f, 26g, and 26h. The mixers 26e to 26h synthesize output levels for the motors 16, 17, 18, and 19 of the respective axes, and outputs thereof are given to the speed controllers 31, 32, 33, and 34. The speed controllers 31-34 control the outputs of the motors 16-19 attached to the tips of the arms 12-15, respectively.

  The gyro sensor 25 may be equipped with a triaxial acceleration sensor or a geomagnetic sensor in addition to the above-described gyroscopes 25a to 25c for detecting the rotational angular velocities in the triaxial direction, but is directly related to the present embodiment. The explanation is omitted because there is no.

  Next, the control of the multicopter according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The multicopter according to this embodiment has two control modes, that is, a three-axis lock mode and a damping mode. When the operation is started, first, the roll axis, pitch axis, yaw axis and output control are performed as usual on the receiver side based on the signal from the transmitter 30 (step S1). In steps S2, S3, and S4, it is checked whether there is a signal from any of the gyro sensors 25a, 25b, and 25c. If there is a signal from the gyro 25c, it is determined in step S5 whether or not it is in the damping mode. If the mode set by the transmitter 30 is not the damping mode, it is determined that the three-axis lock mode is set. The first three-axis lock mode is a control method conventionally used for a normal multicopter. This applies the gyro to the normal yaw axis, roll axis and pitch axis in the lock mode (steps S6 to S8). Here, the lock mode is a mode in which the change amount of the angle, that is, the shifted angle is set to zero. In this mode, when the angle of deviation is set to 0, even if the attitude of the aircraft changes due to the influence of disturbance, it can be returned to the original attitude. In this control method, the disturbance to the aircraft is prevented and the flight is stabilized. Therefore, if there is an operation from the transmitter, the aircraft can be operated by controlling the rotation of each rotor. If there is no operation from the transmitter, the rotation of each rotor can be automatically controlled to prevent the influence of disturbance.

  Next, the second damping mode will be described. When the damping mode is set by a command from the transmitter 30, the signal from the yaw axis gyro 25c is controlled by the damping mode (step S9). The damping mode is a mode for controlling the rotational angular velocity to be zero. For this reason, control is performed so as to attenuate the influence of disturbance in the yaw axis direction. However, once the attitude of the aircraft changes, the original attitude is not restored and the influence of disturbance is only attenuated. The roll axis and pitch axis gyro operate in the same manner as in the lock mode (steps S6 and S7).

  As a result, when the aircraft is moved forward, the nose turns in the traveling direction due to the control in the damping mode of the yaw axis and the weathercock effect of the vertical tail. Therefore, the direction of the nose can be easily determined when the aircraft is advanced in the nose direction. Therefore, even if the distance from the pilot to the aircraft is large, the ladder operation is easy and the pilot can be easily operated, and the aircraft can be operated like a normal airplane. When the aircraft is to be stopped for aerial photography or the like, the 3-axis lock mode is set again, and the velocity of the aircraft is stopped. As a result, it is possible to perform processing such as stopping the aircraft in the air.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the wind vane effect is obtained by using the vertical tail, but in the following embodiments, other shapes are adopted instead of the vertical tail. First, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, V-shaped tails 41a and 41b are provided symmetrically on the rear side of the center of gravity of the airframe instead of the vertical tail. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  Next, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrical tubular tail 42 is provided behind the center of gravity of the airframe, and this is used as an alternative to the vertical and horizontal tails. By attaching this cylindrical tail wing 42 so that the axis of the cylinder coincides with the traveling direction of the aircraft, the aircraft can be advanced to obtain the weathercock effect.

  Next, in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a cruciform tail 43 is attached behind the center of gravity of the airframe. By attaching the cross-shaped tail wing 43 so that the central axis thereof coincides with the traveling direction of the aircraft, the aircraft can be advanced to obtain the weathercock effect. As this modification, an X-shaped tail may be used.

  Further, in the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a box-shaped tail 44 is formed behind the center of gravity of the airframe. Also in this case, by attaching the central axis of the box-shaped tail 44 so as to coincide with the traveling direction of the aircraft, the aircraft can be advanced to obtain the weathercock effect.

  Next, in the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the fuselage is formed into a tailless wing shape. In the case of an airfoil body with a tailless wing shape 45, if the right wing descends forward and the left wing descends backward from the center of the fuselage, for example, the right wing has greater air resistance and the left wing has an acute angle. Resistance decreases. The same applies to the case where the left and right are reversed, so that the left and right wings move so as to be balanced from the center line so as to be balanced. Therefore, even if it is a tailless shape, the shape of the fuselage 45 corresponds to a vertical tail, and the weathercock effect can be obtained by advancing the fuselage.

  Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described. In each of the embodiments described above, tails of various shapes are used in order to obtain the weathercock effect, but in the following embodiments, resistors are used instead of the tails. In the seventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a plate-like flexible member is provided at the rear of the machine body, and this is used as a tail 51. Thus, when the aircraft advances, a force that minimizes the resistance of the tail 51 works. That is, since the resistance of the tail 51 is minimized when the aircraft advances on the extension line of the tail 51, a weathercock effect can be given to the aircraft.

  Next, in the eighth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, V-shaped resistance plates 52a and 52b are arranged symmetrically on the rear arms 14 and 15 as resistors so that the front faces in the traveling direction. . In this way, when the aircraft is advanced forward, resistance is evenly applied to the left and right resistance plates 52a, 52b, and the aircraft can move forward normally. And if the aircraft tilts to the left or right, the resistance value of the resistance plate on the tilted side increases and the resistance value of the other resistor plate decreases, so the attitude of the aircraft can be returned to its original position and the weathercock effect is obtained. Can do.

  In the second to eighth embodiments described above, the configurations and operations of the block diagrams shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are the same as those of the first embodiment. Also in each of these embodiments, when the aircraft is advanced forward, the nose turns in the traveling direction by the control in the damping mode of the yaw axis and the weathercock effect such as the tail. Therefore, the direction of the nose can be easily determined when the aircraft is advanced in the nose direction. Therefore, even if the distance from the pilot to the aircraft is large, the ladder operation is easy and the pilot can be easily operated, and the aircraft can be operated like a normal airplane. When the aircraft is to be stopped for aerial photography or the like, the 3-axis lock mode is set again, and the velocity of the aircraft is stopped. As a result, it is possible to perform processing such as stopping the aircraft in the air.

  The present invention makes normal flight easier by switching between a three-axis lock mode suitable for normal aerial photography and the like and a damping mode that attenuates the influence of disturbance only on the ladder axis, and allows the aircraft to fly easily and enjoy maneuvering. Can be widely used in multicopters.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Multicopter 11 Frame 12-15 Arm 16-19 Motor 20-23 Rotor 24 Receiver 25 Gyro sensor 25a Roll axis gyro 25b Pitch axis gyro 25c Yaw axis gyro 26 Controller 26a Power control part 26b Roll axis control part 26c Pitch axis control Unit 26d yaw axis control unit 26e, 26f, 26g, 26h mixer 30 transmitter 31-34 speed controller 41a, 41b V-shaped tail blade 42 cylindrical tail blade 43 cross-shaped tail blade 44 box-shaped tail blade 45 fuselage 51 tail 52a, 52b resistance plate

Claims (5)

A plurality of rotor units arranged at a predetermined distance from the center passing through the center of gravity of the aircraft,
A tail wing provided at a position separated from the center of gravity of the aircraft, and aerodynamically providing a weathercock effect in the yaw axis direction;
A roll axis gyro, a pitch axis gyro, and a yaw axis gyro that respectively detect rotational angular velocities in the three axis directions of the aircraft,
A controller for controlling the power in the three axial directions of the airframe and controlling the power by controlling the outputs of the plurality of rotor units,
The controller is
A lock mode for controlling each rotor unit so as to restore an angular change due to disturbance of the yaw axis, roll axis, and pitch axis by a signal from the rate gyro;
And a damping mode for controlling each of the rotor units so as to restore an angle change caused by disturbance caused by the roll axis and the pitch axis and to attenuate the angle change caused by the yaw axis disturbance.   The multicopter according to claim 1, wherein the tail is any one of a vertical tail, a V-shaped tail, a cross-shaped tail, a box-shaped tail, and an X-shaped tail. A plurality of rotor units arranged at a predetermined distance from the center passing through the center of gravity of the aircraft,
A resistor provided at a position separated from the center of gravity of the aircraft, and aerodynamically providing a weathercock effect in the yaw axis direction;
A roll axis gyro, a pitch axis gyro, and a yaw axis gyro that respectively detect rotational angular velocities in the three axis directions of the aircraft,
A controller for controlling the power in the three axial directions of the airframe and controlling the power by controlling the outputs of the plurality of rotor units,
The controller is
A lock mode for controlling each rotor unit so as to restore an angular change due to disturbance of the yaw axis, roll axis, and pitch axis by a signal from the rate gyro;
And a damping mode for controlling each of the rotor units so as to restore an angle change caused by disturbance caused by the roll axis and the pitch axis and to attenuate the angle change caused by the yaw axis disturbance.   The multicopter according to claim 3, wherein the resistor is one of a tail and a resistor plate. A multicopter system comprising a multicopter and a transmitter for controlling the multicopter,
The transmitter has a mode switch for switching between the lock mode and the damping mode,
The multicopter system according to claim 1, wherein the multicopter is a multicopter according to claim 1.

Images