JP2019073084A - Telemetry coordination system between drone and unmanned vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem that the absolute azimuth 70 of an airframe of a drone 1 sometimes cannot be detected because earth magnetism by a magnetic compass cannot be detected due to a magnetic field that increases the earth magnetism near a place and a facility having a lot of metal such as reinforcements and within a range affected by a magnetic field due to wires and an antenna.SOLUTION: A drone 1 and an unmanned vessel 2 mutually perform telemetry communication of information acquired by a drone side flight controller (hereafter referred to as "FC") and a drone side vision positioning system (hereafter referred to as "VPS") and information acquired by an unmanned vessel side FC and an unmanned vessel side VPS. In the case that the azimuth 72 of the unmanned vessel 2 recognized by the drone 1 and the azimuth 73 of the drone 1 recognized by the unmanned vessel 2 are in an opposite azimuth from each other, the drone side FC is determined to be normal, and in the case that the azimuth 72 of the unmanned vessel 2 recognized by the drone 1 and the azimuth 73 of the drone 1 recognized by the unmanned vessel 2 are not in an opposite azimuth from each other, the drone side FC is determined to be abnormal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to drone attitude stabilization and navigation techniques.

  In recent years, the expectation for the use of drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) is increasing. Many proposals have been made for use in fields such as aerial photography, surveying, agriculture, logistics, relay stations, inspection and maintenance. In the present specification, a drone refers to a multicopter which is a small unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with three or more propellers (rotor blades). The multicopter includes a propeller (rotor) with three tricopters, four quadcopters, six hexacopters and eight octocopters.

  By the way, unmanned vessels are expected to complement the disadvantages of the two by using them in combination with drone since the weight of the permitted load can be increased. Specifically, a coordination system with the drone on the surface of the water where the unmanned vessel can navigate is conceivable. In such a case, it is expected that the drone will be able to extend the flight of the drone by reducing the weight that the drone should bear as the unmanned vessel takes charge of heavy items. In addition, early arrival at the site and grasp of the site condition by the drone, rescue work by arrival of the unmanned vessel thereafter, and a cooperative system of both in rescue work are also considered (for example, Patent Document 1).

  The drone is equipped with a flight controller (hereinafter referred to as "FC"). With FC, drone attitude stability and navigation are automated. The FC has a microcomputer, sensors, and a GPS receiver. As sensors, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a magnetic compass, an ultrasonic sensor, etc. are used. A gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor detects the posture of the drone to correct the inclination of the drone's posture.

  In addition, the drone is equipped with a vision positioning system (hereinafter referred to as "VPS"). The VPS has a microcomputer and a camera. The VPS detects the direction and amount of movement of an apparent movement of an object in an image due to relative movement between the object shown in the camera and the drone by image processing technology. That is, the VPS binarizes the image of the camera mounted on the drone into black and white, and estimates the drone position change from the movement vector on the in-image plane coordinates of the feature point.

JP, 2016-88337, A

  Although the GPS included in FC can detect the absolute position of the drone, it can not detect the orientation of the drone. The orientation of the drone's airframe is detected using a magnetic compass.

However, near a place or facility where there are many metals such as reinforcing bars, or in a range affected by a magnetic field such as a wire or antenna, a magnetic field exceeding the geomagnetism can not detect the geomagnetism by the magnetic compass. In that case, the direction of the drone aircraft can not be detected.

  Then, this invention aims at constructing the telemetry cooperation system by a drone and an unmanned vessel which can respond to the abnormality of the magnetic compass mentioned above.

The telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel according to the first invention is a telemetry cooperation system between a three-dimensional movable drone and an unmanned vessel movable on the water surface, wherein the drone is a drone side flight controller And the drone-side vision positioning system (hereinafter referred to as "VPS"), the unmanned vessel comprises an unmanned vessel FC and an unmanned vessel VPS, the drone and the unmanned vessel And the unmanned vessel FC and the unmanned vessel VPS acquired information obtained by the drone side FC and the drone side VPS are mutually telemetrically communicated with each other, and the unmanned vessel recognized by the drone If the heading of the drone and the heading of the drone recognized by the unmanned vessel are opposite to each other, the drone side FC If it is determined that the direction of the unmanned vessel recognized by the drone and the direction of the drone recognized by the unmanned vessel are not opposite to each other, the drone side FC is determined to be abnormal. , It is characterized.

The telemetry cooperation system between the drone and the unmanned vessel according to the first aspect of the present invention is directed to the unmanned vessel and the direction of the unmanned vessel recognized by the drone when the drone FC magnetic compass can not detect the correct direction of the drone airframe. The drone side FC can be determined to be abnormal when the drone direction recognized by the drone does not have mutually opposite directions.

In the telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel according to the second invention, when the drone side FC is determined to be abnormal, the drone is replaced with the information acquired by the drone side FC, the unmanned vessel side FC Is characterized by adopting the information acquired by

The telemetry cooperation system between the drone and the unmanned vessel according to the second invention is an absolute orientation detected by the unmanned vessel's FC magnetic compass even if the drone FC's magnetic compass can not detect the correct orientation of the drone's airframe. Because the drone FC adopts, the drone can recognize the correct heading.

The telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel according to the third invention is a telemetry cooperation system between a three-dimensional movable drone and an unmanned vessel movable on the water surface, the drone comprising a drone magnetic compass and a drone A drone camera and a drone image recognition device, wherein the drone is a direction calculated by the drone image recognition device performing image recognition on the unmanned vessel captured by the drone camera, and the drone magnetism The direction of the unmanned vessel viewed from the drone is calculated from the absolute orientation detected by the compass, and the unmanned vessel comprises an unmanned vessel magnetic compass, an unmanned vessel camera, and an unmanned vessel image recognition device; The ship is calculated by the unmanned vessel image recognition device performing image recognition on the drone captured by the unmanned vessel camera. The direction of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel is calculated from the absolute direction detected by the unmanned vessel-side magnetic compass, and the drone and the unmanned vessel are azimuth information of the unmanned vessel viewed from the drone. The direction information of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel is mutually telemetrically communicated, and the direction of the unmanned boat viewed from the drone and the direction of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel are mutually opposite directions When it is determined that the drone magnetic compass is normal, the orientation of the unmanned vessel viewed from the drone and the orientation of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel are not opposite to each other. And the drone magnetic compass is determined to be abnormal.

The telemetry cooperation system between the drone and the unmanned vessel according to the third invention is characterized in that when the magnetic compass of the drone FC can not detect the geomagnetism and the direction of the drone can not be detected, the drone recognizes the unmanned vessel When the direction and the direction of the drone recognized by the unmanned vessel are not opposite to each other, it can be determined that the drone side FC is abnormal.

In the telemetry cooperation system of a drone and an unmanned vessel according to the fourth invention, when the drone magnetic compass is determined to be abnormal, the drone is replaced with the absolute direction detected by the drone magnetic compass. It is characterized in that the absolute direction detected by the unmanned vessel side magnetic compass is adopted.

The telemetry cooperation system between the drone and the unmanned vessel according to the fourth aspect of the invention allows the drones to adopt the absolute orientation detected by the unmanned vessel magnetic compass even if the drone magnetic compass can not detect the correct absolute orientation. , The drone can recognize the correct orientation.

The telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel according to the fifth invention, the drone includes a drone side marker attached so as to be visible from below, and the unmanned vessel is an unmanned vessel side attached so as to be visible from above The drone image recognition device is provided with a marker, the drone image recognition device recognizes the unmanned vessel marker captured by the drone camera, and the unmanned boat image recognition device recognizes the drone marker captured by the unmanned boat camera. It is characterized by

  According to the telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel of the fifth invention, the drone side VPS can reliably recognize the unmanned vessel side marker and the unmanned vessel side VPS reliably recognizes the drone side marker. be able to.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to construct a telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel, which can cope with the abnormality of the magnetic compass of the drone.

It is a general view of the telemetry cooperation system of a drone and an unmanned vessel concerning the present invention. It is an internal block diagram of a drone concerning an embodiment. It is an internal block diagram of the unmanned vessel concerning an embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of the telemetry cooperation system of a drone and an unmanned vessel at the time of normal. It is a figure explaining the function of the telemetry cooperation system of a drone and an unmanned vessel at the time of abnormality.

  FIG. 1 is an overall view of a telemetry cooperation system between a drone 1 and an unmanned vessel 2 according to the present invention. The drone 1 performs aerial photography, surveying, inspection and maintenance of the suspension bridge 3 which is a huge steel structure. The unmanned vessel 2 is traveling on the water surface 4 near the suspension bridge 3 and is in telemetry communication with the drone 1. There are pilots of the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 on the suspension bridge 3 or on the land around it. The pilot controls the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 using a radio control transmitter (hereinafter referred to as "propo"). In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 have a height difference, and have a positional deviation in the horizontal direction more than the height difference.

  FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the drone 1. The drone 1 includes a transceiver 10, an FC (flight controller) 20, a VPS (vision positioning system) 30, an electric speed controller (hereinafter referred to as "ESC") 40, a motor 41, and a battery 42.

  The transceiver 10 receives the operation radio wave from the propo. Further, the transmitter 10 transmits and receives telemetry signals to and from the transmitter-receiver of the unmanned vessel 2. Furthermore, inside the drone 1, the transceiver 10 exchanges signals with the FC 20.

  The FC 20 includes a microcomputer 21, a gyro sensor 22, an acceleration sensor 23, an air pressure sensor 24, a magnetic compass 25, an ultrasonic sensor 26, and a GPS receiver 27. The gyro sensor 22 detects the angular velocity of the drone 1. The acceleration sensor 23 detects the acceleration of the drone 1. The pressure sensor 24 detects the pressure of the height at which the drone 1 is located, thereby detecting the height of the drone 1. The magnetic compass 25 detects the orientation of the airframe of the drone 1 by detecting the absolute direction of the geomagnetic field. The ultrasonic sensor 26 emits ultrasonic waves toward the ground and detects the returned ultrasonic waves to detect the height of the drone 1 from the ground. The GPS receiver 27 detects the absolute position of the drone 1 by receiving radio waves from GPS satellites. The microcomputer 21 receives detection signals from the gyro sensor 21, the acceleration sensor 23, the barometric pressure sensor 24, the magnetic compass 25, the ultrasonic sensor 26, and the GPS receiver 27 and performs attitude stabilization and navigation calculation of the drone 1. The FC 20 exchanges signals with the VPS 30. Further, the FC 20 sends a signal to the ESC 40 to control the current from the battery 42 to the motor 41 to control the rotation of the motor 41.

  The VPS 30 includes a microcomputer 31 and a camera 32. The VPS 30 detects the direction and amount of movement of the apparent movement of the object in the image due to the relative movement between the object shown in the camera 32 and the drone 1 by image processing technology. That is, the microcomputer 31 of the VPS 30 binarizes the image of the camera 32 mounted on the drone 1 into black and white, and estimates the positional change of the drone 1 from the movement vector on the in-image plane coordinates of the feature point. In the present embodiment, the image of the unmanned vessel 2 shown in the camera 32 of the drone 1 is detected by image processing, and the direction of the unmanned vessel 2 with respect to the airframe of the drone 1 is grasped.

  As the battery 42, a lithium polymer battery is used. Lithium polymer batteries, despite their small size and light weight, are characterized by having a high electromotive force of 3.7 V per cell, large capacity and high energy density.

  The ESC 40 supplies a current value to the motor 41 according to the motor output command value from the FC 20. As the motor 41, a brushless DC motor is used. A neodymium magnet having a strong magnetic force is used for the brushless DC motor. Since the drone 1 according to the embodiment is a quadcopter having four propellers, four sets of ESCs 40 and motors 41 for rotating the propellers are arranged. If the drone 1 (multicopter) is a tricopter, three sets, a hexacopter six sets, and an octocopter eight sets of the ESC 40 and the motor 41 are disposed.

  FIG. 3 is an internal block diagram of the unmanned vessel 2. The unmanned vessel 2 includes a transceiver 10, an FC 50, a VPS 30, an ESC 40, a motor 41, and a battery 42. The internal block diagram of the unmanned vessel 2 shown in FIG. 3 is similar to the internal block diagram of the drone 1 shown in FIG. Therefore, the same components are assigned the same reference numerals and the detailed description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, with respect to the internal block diagram of the unmanned vessel 2 shown in FIG. 3, portions different from the internal block diagram of the drone 1 shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

The FC 20 of the drone 1 is equipped with the ultrasonic sensor 26, whereas the FC 50 of the unmanned vessel 2 is not equipped with the ultrasonic sensor. The ultrasonic sensor 26 is used as an altimeter for measuring the distance to the ground in the range of about 2 cm to 4 m, so it is not necessary for the unmanned vessel 2 moving on water. Further, the drone 1 is provided with four combinations of the ESC 40 and the motor 41, whereas the unmanned vessel 2 is provided with only two combinations of the ESC 40 and the motor 41. This is because the drone 1 drives four propellers, whereas the unmanned vessel 2 only needs to move one screw and a rudder.

The VPS 30 of the unmanned vessel 2 detects the image of the drone 1 captured by the camera 32 of the unmanned vessel 2 by image processing, and grasps the direction of the drone 1 with respect to the hull of the unmanned vessel 2.

The telemetry cooperation system of the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 based on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated below.

  The transceiver 10 of the drone 1 and the transceiver 10 of the unmanned vessel 2 mutually telemetrically communicate the information acquired by the FC 20 and the VPS 30 of the drone 1 and the information acquired by the FC 50 and the VPS 30 of the unmanned vessel 2. Specifically, the angular velocity of the drone 1, the acceleration of the drone 1, the altitude of the drone 1, the absolute orientation of the drone 1's airframe, the absolute position of the drone 1's airframe, the unmanned ship 2 for the drone 1's airframe obtained by the drone 1 The unmanned vessel 2 receives the information of the direction of. On the other hand, the angular velocity of the unmanned ship 2, the acceleration of the unmanned ship 2, the altitude of the unmanned ship 2, the absolute orientation of the unmanned ship 2's hull, the absolute position of the unmanned ship 2, the unmanned ship 2's hull obtained by the unmanned ship 2 The drone 1 receives information on the direction of the drone 1 against.

(Normal)
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the function of the telemetry cooperation system between the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 in the normal state. Moreover, FIG. 4 is the figure which looked at the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 from upper direction. The drone 1 grasps the absolute orientation 60 (the orientation indicated by the east, west, south and north (E, W, S, N) centering on the drone 1's aircraft) by the magnetic compass 25 of the drone 1 doing. Further, the direction of the unmanned vessel 2 seen from the camera 32 of the airframe of the drone 1 is calculated by the camera 32 and the image processing device 31. From these two pieces of information, the drone 1 calculates that the direction 62 of the unmanned vessel 2 seen from the drone 1 is SSW (south-south-west).

  On the other hand, the unmanned vessel 2 has absolute orientation 61 (with the unmanned vessel 2 as its center, east, west, south, north (E, W, S, N) with respect to the hull of the unmanned vessel 2 by the magnetic compass 25 of the unmanned vessel 2). The orientation shown) is understood. Further, the direction of the drone 1 seen from the camera 32 of the hull of the unmanned ship 2 is calculated by the camera 32 and the image processing device 31. From these two pieces of information, the unmanned vessel 2 calculates that the direction 63 of the drone 1 seen from the unmanned vessel 2 is NNE (North-North Northeast).

  The heading 62 SSW (south-south-west) of the unmanned vessel 2 as viewed from the drone 1 and the heading 63 NNE (northeast-northeast) of the drone 1 viewed from the unmanned-ship 2 are mutually oppositely oriented. Thereby, the telemetry cooperation system of the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 judges that the absolute direction 60 detected by the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 2) of the drone is correct.

(When abnormal)
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the function of the telemetry cooperation system between the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 at the time of abnormality. Moreover, FIG. 5 is the figure which looked at the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 from upper direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the drone 1 is flying in the vicinity of a suspension bridge 3 which is a huge steel structure. Therefore, the absolute direction 70 for the drone 1's airframe by the magnetic compass 25 of the drone 1 (the direction indicated by east, west, south, north (E, W, S, N) with the drone 1's airframe) By mistake. In addition, the direction of the unmanned vessel viewed from the camera 32 of the airframe of the drone 1 is calculated by the camera 32 and the image processing device 31. From these two pieces of information, the drone 1 erroneously calculates that the heading 72 of the unmanned vessel 2 viewed from the drone 1 is WSW (west-south-west).

  On the other hand, since the unmanned vessel 2 sails slightly away from the suspension bridge 3, the absolute orientation 71 (the east, west and south centering on the unmanned vessel 2's hull with respect to the unmanned vessel 2's hull) by the magnetic compass 25 of the unmanned vessel 2 , North (E, W, S, N) orientation) is correctly grasped. Further, the direction of the drone 1 seen from the camera 32 of the hull of the unmanned ship 2 is calculated by the camera 32 and the image processing device 31. From these two pieces of information, the unmanned vessel 2 calculates that the direction 73 of the drone 1 viewed from the unmanned vessel 2 is NNE (North-North Northeast).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the heading 72 WSW (west-southwest) of the unmanned vessel 2 as viewed from the drone 1 and the heading 73 NNE (northeastern-east) of the drone 1 viewed from the unmanned vessel 2 are not mutually oppositely oriented. Thereby, the telemetry cooperation system of the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 determines that the absolute orientation 70 detected by the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 2) of the drone 1 is incorrect. The fact that the absolute direction 70 detected by the magnetic compass 24 of the drone 1 detected by the telemetry cooperation system between the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 is incorrect is transmitted from the transceiver 10 to the propo to alert the propo of an abnormality. You may do so. By doing so, the pilots of the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 can know that the absolute orientation 70 detected by the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 2) of the drone 1 is incorrect.

  In this case, the drone 1 adopts the absolute orientation 71 detected by the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 3) of the unmanned ship 2 instead of the absolute orientation 70 detected by the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 2) of the drone 1 can do. This allows the drone 1 to continue attitude stability and navigation based on the correct absolute orientation 71.

Furthermore, the drone 1 may be provided with a drone side marker attached so as to be visible from below, and the unmanned vessel 2 may be provided with a drone side marker provided so as to be visible from above. In that case, the drone side image recognition device 31 of the drone 1 shown in FIG. 2 performs image recognition of the unmanned vessel side marker photographed by the drone side camera 32, and the unmanned vessel side image recognition device 31 of the unmanned ship 2 shown in FIG. Image recognition of the drone side marker captured by the ship side camera 32 is performed. As a result, even when the distance between the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 is large or the visibility is poor due to early morning, dusk, fog, etc., the drone 1 and unmanned vessel 2 by the VPS 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). Mutual image recognition can be performed more reliably.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to construct a telemetry cooperation system by the drone 1 and the unmanned vessel 2 which can cope with the abnormality of the magnetic compass 25 (see FIG. 2) of the drone 1.

1: Drone 2: Unmanned ship 20: FC (Flight controller)
25: Magnetic compass 30: VPS (vision positioning system)
32: Camera 50: FC (flight controller)
60: absolute direction of the drone 61: absolute direction of the unmanned vessel 62: direction of the unmanned vessel seen from the drone 63: direction of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel 70: absolute direction of the drone 71: absolute orientation of the unmanned vessel 72: from the drone Unmanned vessel direction seen 73: Drone direction seen from unmanned vessel

Claims (5)

A telemetry cooperation system of a three-dimensional movable drone and an unmanned ship movable on the surface, comprising:
The drone includes a drone flight controller (hereinafter referred to as "FC") and a drone vision positioning system (hereinafter referred to as "VPS").
The unmanned vessel comprises an unmanned vessel side FC and an unmanned vessel side VPS,
The drone and the unmanned vessel mutually telemetry communicate the information acquired by the drone side FC and the drone side VPS, and the information acquired by the unmanned vessel side FC and the unmanned vessel side VPS,
When the direction of the unmanned vessel recognized by the drone and the direction of the drone recognized by the unmanned vessel are opposite to each other, it is determined that the drone side FC is normal.
If the direction of the unmanned vessel recognized by the drone and the direction of the drone recognized by the unmanned vessel are not opposite to each other, it is determined that the drone side FC is abnormal. And telemetry cooperation system with unmanned vessels.   When it is determined that the drone side FC is abnormal, the drone adopts the information acquired by the unmanned vessel side FC instead of the information acquired by the drone side FC. Telemetry cooperation system between the described drone and the unmanned vessel. A telemetry cooperation system of a three-dimensional movable drone and an unmanned ship movable on the surface, comprising:
The drone includes a drone magnetic compass, a drone camera, and a drone image recognition device.
The drone is viewed from the drone from the direction calculated by image recognition of the drone-side image recognition device and the absolute direction detected by the drone-side magnetic compass from the unmanned ship captured by the drone-side camera Calculate the direction of the unmanned vessel,
The unmanned vessel comprises an unmanned vessel side magnetic compass, an unmanned vessel side camera, and an unmanned vessel side image recognition device;
The unmanned vessel is viewed from the unmanned vessel from the direction calculated by the unmanned vessel image recognition device recognizing the drone captured by the unmanned vessel camera and the absolute direction detected by the unmanned vessel magnetic compass Calculate the direction of the drone,
The drone and the unmanned vessel mutually telemetrically communicate the orientation information of the unmanned vessel viewed from the drone and the orientation information of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel,
If the direction of the unmanned vessel viewed from the drone and the direction of the drone viewed from the unmanned vessel are opposite to each other, it is determined that the drone magnetic compass is normal.
When the direction of the unmanned vessel seen from the drone and the direction of the drone seen from the unmanned vessel are not opposite to each other, it is determined that the drone magnetic compass is abnormal. Telemetry cooperation system between the drone and the unmanned vessel.   When it is determined that the drone magnetic compass is abnormal, the drone adopts the absolute azimuth detected by the unmanned vessel magnetic compass instead of the absolute azimuth detected by the drone magnetic compass. The telemetry cooperation system of the drone described in Claim 3, and an unmanned vessel. The drone comprises a drone-side marker mounted visible from below,
The unmanned vessel comprises an unmanned vessel side marker mounted visible from above,
The drone side VPS image-recognizes the unmanned vessel side marker photographed by the drone side camera,
The telemetry cooperation system between a drone and an unmanned vessel according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the unmanned vessel side VPS performs image recognition on the drone side marker captured by the unmanned vessel side camera.

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