JP2020100181A - Communication device, method, program, and operation device having the communication device, and control system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a communication device capable of transmitting remote control data from an operation device to a flight device by switching a plurality of kinds of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system without making a configuration change for adding a communication module to an operation device of a flight device.SOLUTION: A communication device 22 for transmitting flight control information to a flight device through wireless communication is provided as a device separate from an operation device body having a control signal generation unit of the operation device of the flight device. The communication device 22 includes a remote control data processing unit 222 for converting a remote control signal of a predetermined form output from a signal output unit of the control signal generation unit to remote control data, and a plurality of remote control data transmission units 221 for transmitting the remote control data output from the remote control data processing unit 222 to the flight device through each of a plurality of kinds of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device, a method and a program for transmitting flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication, and a control device and a control system having the communication device.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, there is known an unmanned flight device that is flight-controlled by flight control information wirelessly transmitted from a flight control device via a plurality of types of wireless communication systems (WiFi and LTE) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this flying device, it is said that the control information for controlling the flying device can be more reliably delivered to the flying device.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2018-0888583

However, in the conventional flight device control device, it is necessary to add a plurality of communication modules corresponding to a plurality of types of wireless communication systems to change the device configuration.

A communication device according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication device on a control device side that transmits flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication. This communication device is provided as a device separate from the control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the control device of the flying device, and has a predetermined type of remote control signal output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit. A remote control data processing unit for converting the remote control data into remote control data, and the remote control data output from the remote control data processing unit to the flying device via each of a plurality of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system. A plurality of remote control data transmitters for transmitting.
In the communication device, a switching determination unit that determines whether to switch the remote control data transmission unit based on a communication abnormality detection of an external input or communication with the flight device control device,
A switching unit that switches the remote control data transmission unit that transmits the transmission signal of the remote control data based on the switching determination result of the switching determination unit may be further included.
The communication device may further include a storage unit that stores autonomous flight data used in the flight device, and an autonomous flight data transmission unit that transmits the autonomous flight data to the flight device.
The communication device may further include a control mode switching unit that switches between a remote control mode for remotely controlling the flight device from the control device and an autonomous control mode using the autonomous flight data.
In the communication device, the remote control signal may be a control signal having a signal format common to a plurality of types of flight devices.

A flight device according to another aspect of the present invention includes any one of the communication devices and the control device body.
A flight device control system according to still another aspect of the present invention includes any one of the communication devices, the control device, and a flight control unit of the flight device.

A method according to yet another aspect of the present invention is a method of transmitting flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication. In this method, a communication device provided as a device separate from the control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the control device of the flying device has a predetermined format output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit. Converting the remote control signal into remote control data; and transmitting the remote control data to the flight device via the communication device via each of a plurality of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system.

A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program executed by a computer or a processor included in a communication device that transmits flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication. In this program, a communication device provided as a device separate from the control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the control device of the flying device has a predetermined format output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit. A program code for converting a remote control signal into remote control data, and the communication device for transmitting the remote control data to the flight device via each of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system. And a program code.

According to the present invention, remote control data is transmitted from a flight control device to a flight device by switching a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system without changing the configuration of adding a communication module to the flight device control device. can do.

Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a schematic structure of the whole flight control system of the flight device which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the flow of signals and data in the flight control system according to the embodiment. The functional block diagram which shows an example of the communication device (drone controller) by the side of the flight device which concerns on embodiment. The functional block diagram which shows an example of the communication apparatus (propo controller) by the side of the control device which concerns on embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of manual flight control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the autonomous flight control in the flight control system which concerns on embodiment. The flowchart which shows the other example of the autonomous flight control in the flight control system which concerns on embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of flight control mode switching control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of wireless communication system switching control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of feedback control of a reception state of flight control information in the flight control system according to the embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the entire flight device flight control system according to the present embodiment. The flight control system includes a control device (hereinafter referred to as “propo”) 20 for controlling the drone 10 as a flight device, a communication device (hereinafter referred to as “propo controller”) 22 on the control device 20 side, and a flight device. It includes a communication device (hereinafter referred to as “drone controller”) 12 on the 10 side and a flight control device (hereinafter also referred to as “flight control device (FC)”) 110 provided in the main body 11 of the drone 10.

The drone 10, which is a flight device to be operated, is a moving body such as an aircraft whose flight is controlled by remote control or autonomous control from the outside without the operator boarding. Drone 10 is a multicopter (multirotor) type drone such as tricopter (3 rotors), quadcopter (4 rotors), hexacopter (6 rotors), octocopter (8 rotors), etc. A general helicopter or fixed-wing drone may be used. The drone 10 may be one that moves by flying in the sky (including outer space outside the atmosphere), or one that moves on the ground, in the ground, on the water, in the water, or the like. Although the drone 10 is generally unmanned, it may be manned.

In addition to the FC 110, the main body 11 of the drone 10 may include various measuring devices and sensors such as a positioning GNSS receiving device, a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor, and an atmospheric pressure sensor. Further, the drone 10 may include a camera as an imaging unit that captures a peripheral image of visible light, a peripheral image of a specific wavelength region such as infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the flow of signals and data in the flight control system according to the embodiment. The drone controller 12 is attached to the main body 11 as a device (external device) separate from the main body 11 having the FC 110 of the drone 10. The drone controller 12 is attachable to and detachable from the main body 11 so that it can be easily removed for maintenance or replacement.

The connection part for transmitting and receiving signals and data between the drone controller 12 and the FC 110 of the drone body 11 may be directly connected to each other with a connector or the like, or may be connected via a cable. You may.
The connection between the drone controller 12 and the drone body 11 (FC110) may be configured by wireless connection.

The drone controller 12 is a remote control including a packet of a predetermined format transmitted from the propo controller 22 of the propo 20 via any of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system (referred to as “cellular system”). A transmission signal of data can be received.

Further, the drone controller 12 converts the remote control data received from the radio controller 22 into a remote control signal of a predetermined format, and transmits the remote control signal to the FC 110 of the drone main body 11 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms).

Further, the drone controller 12 transmits the transmission signal of the autonomous flight data (for example, the time series data of the position information of the flight route) transmitted from the radio controller 22 of the radio controller 20 via any of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems. Can be received.

The drone controller 12 transmits the autonomous flight data received from the radio controller 22 to the autonomous flight control module 112 of the drone body 11. When the autonomous flight control mode is executed, the autonomous flight control module 112 converts the autonomous flight data into an autonomous control signal of a predetermined format, and transmits the autonomous control signal to the FC 110 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms).

The transmitter controller 22 is attached to the transmitter 20 as a device (external device) separate from the main body 21 having the control signal generator 210 of the transmitter 20. The R/C system controller 22 is attachable to and detachable from the R/C system 20 so that it can be easily removed for maintenance or replacement.

The connection part for transmitting and receiving signals and data between the transmitter controller 22 and the control signal generator 210 of the transmitter body 21 may be directly connected to each other by a connector or the like, or may be connected via a cable. It may be configured to do so.
The connection between the transmitter controller 22 and the transmitter main body 21 may be wireless.

The radio controller 22 receives the remote control signal of a predetermined format generated by the control signal generator 210 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms). The transmitter controller 22 converts the remote control signal received from the control signal generator 210 of the transmitter 20 into remote control data composed of packets of a predetermined format, and transmits the remote control data via any one of a plurality of wireless communication systems including a cellular system. It can be sent to the drone controller 12.

Further, the propo controller 22 receives the autonomous flight data (for example, time-series data of position information of flight route) read from the autonomous flight data storage unit 212 of the propo main body 21 and transmitted from the propo controller 22. The propo controller 22 can convert the autonomous flight data received from the propo main body 21 into a packet of a predetermined format and transmit it to the drone controller 12 via any of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular system.

When the remote controller data and the autonomous flight data packet are transmitted from the radio controller 22 to the drone controller 12, the drone controller 12 receives information indicating the reception state of the packet of the data (for example, "ACK" indicating that the packet is normally received). , Or “NACK” indicating that the reception has failed, is transmitted to the radio controller 22. The information indicating the reception state (for example, ACK or NACK) may be transmitted for each packet or may be transmitted for each of a plurality of packets. The sequence number of the packet may be used to detect the reception failure.

Transmission and reception of remote control data and autonomous flight data between the drone controller 12 and the radio controller 22 may be performed by simultaneously using a plurality of types of wireless communication systems, or any one wireless communication system may be selected. You may go.

In the flight control system having the above configuration, the remote control signal and the autonomous control signal have a predetermined signal format set for each combination of the drone 10 and the propo 20 of each manufacturer, for example. The remote control signal and the autonomous control signal may be control signals in a signal format common to a plurality of types of drones. Further, the remote control signal and the autonomous control signal may be digital control signals such as S-BUS, S-BUS2, and X-BUS, or analog control signals such as PWM and PPM.

The remote control signal and the autonomous control signal are, for example, signals of speed commands of a plurality of motors (for example, servomotors) that configure the drive unit of the drone 10, and the operation direction and operation amount of the operation sticks 21a and 21b of the radio 20. Is generated and transmitted at predetermined time intervals (eg, every 15 ms). A control signal corresponding to the operation direction and operation amount of the operation sticks 21a and 21b of the propo 20 causes the drone 10 to move up and down in altitude (throttle), move forward and backward (pitch), move left and right (roll), and change direction ( Yaw) can be performed.

A cellular system, which is a part of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems, uses a user device (via a communication path A with a base station (e.g., eNodeB, g-NodeB, etc.) 31 connected to a mobile communication network 30. It is a method of communicating between mobile stations which are UEs. The cellular system is a 3GPP standard third generation, fourth generation (for example, LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced-Pro), or fifth generation (5G) or a later generation wireless communication system. May be The cellular system may be a WiMax (trademark) or WiMax2+ wireless communication system.

The frequency bands used in the cellular system are, for example, 450 to 470 MHz band, 698 to 862 MHz band, 790 to 862 MHz band, 900 to 960 MHz band, 1.4 to 1.5 GHz band, 1.7 to 1.8 GHz band, 1. The bands are 9 to 2.1 GHz band, 2.3 to 2.4 GHz band, and 3.4 to 3.6 GHz band.

Various multiple access technologies can be used for cellular wireless communication. The multiple access technique is a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) method that allocates different frequencies or times or spread codes to a plurality of mobile stations (in this embodiment, the drone controller 12 and the propo controller 22). It may be a division multiple access system (TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access) or a code division multiple access system (CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access). The multiple access technique may be a space division multiple access scheme (SDMA) that assigns different base station antenna directivities to each of a plurality of mobile stations. The multiple access technology is a multiple access technology based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which is classified as one of the FDMA technologies, that is, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) method. It may be a method called.

The cellular wireless communication may use a single orthogonal multiple access (OMA) technology, or a hybrid in which two or three of the OMA technologies such as FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, and SDMA are used together. Multiple OMA technologies may be used together, such as a type of scheme, eg, a combination of FDMA and TDMA, a combination of FDMA, TDMA and SDMA. The cellular radio communication is a super high density using the MU-MIMO transmission system that multiplexes the communication of a plurality of mobile stations at the same frequency and the same timing based on the principle of SDMA classified as orthogonal multiple access (OMA technology). It may be a multiple access type wireless communication system. A non-orthogonal multiple access (NoMA) technique that allows mutual interference in part or all of the radio resources allocated to each mobile station may be applied to the ultra-high-density multiple-access wireless communication system.

In addition, the cellular wireless communication may use different multiple access methods for downlink communication and uplink communication. For example, OFDMA may be used for downlink communication and FDMA (Single Carrier-FDMA) may be used for uplink communication.

In addition, the plurality of types of wireless communication methods include a short-range wireless communication method via a line-of-sight communication path B by a direct wave (also referred to as “short-range line-of-sight communication method”). The frequency band used in the short-distance line-of-sight communication method is, for example, a license-free ISM (Industry-Science-Medical) band in the 2.4 GHz band (2.400 GHz to 2.497 GHz). The frequency band of the short-distance line-of-sight communication method may be a license-free ISM band such as 5.0 GHz band, 920 MHz band, 429 MHz band, and 150 MHz band. The short-range line-of-sight communication method may be a spread spectrum communication method such as DSSS, FHSS, DMSS, FASTST, ACCST. The short-range line-of-sight communication method is a wireless communication method used in a wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) of the IEEE 802.11 standard (hereinafter, also referred to as “wireless LAN method”), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like. The short-range wireless communication system may be used.

Note that the example of FIG. 2 is an example in which the drone controller 12 and the radio controller 22 are capable of wireless communication of two types of cellular systems (LTE and 5G) and one type of short-range line-of-sight communication system (Wi-Fi), respectively. is there. The drone controller 12 includes communication modules 1211 and 1213 that support the LTE and 5G cellular systems, respectively, and a communication module 1212 that supports the Wi-Fi short-range line-of-sight communication system. Similarly, the radio controller 22 includes communication modules 2211 and 2213 that support the LTE and 5G cellular systems, respectively, and a communication module 2212 that supports the Wi-Fi short-range line-of-sight communication system.

The communication modules 1211, 1213, 2211, 2213 that perform cellular wireless communication are, for example, communication modules having a function as a mobile station to which subscriber identification information and terminal identification information for mobile communication are assigned. The communication modules 1211, 1213, 2211 and 2213 may be user devices such as a smartphone having a function as the mobile station.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the drone controller 12, which is a communication device on the flight device side according to the embodiment. The drone controller 12 includes a plurality of sets of remote control data receiving units 121 and remote control data processing units 122 corresponding to a plurality of types of wireless communication systems, and a wireless communication system switching control unit 123.
Each of the plurality of remote control data receiving units 121 receives a transmission signal of the remote control data transmitted from the radio controller 22 via a corresponding wireless communication system, performs demodulation processing and decoding processing, and transmits the remote control data. Output a packet.

Each of the plurality of remote control data processing units 122 rearranges the plurality of packets received from the corresponding remote control data receiving unit 121 in a predetermined order to generate original remote control data, and the remote control data is transmitted in a predetermined format. Convert to control signal.

The wireless communication system switching control unit 123 controls switching between the remote control data receiving unit 121 and the remote control data processing unit 122 based on external input, communication quality measurement information, or the like.

Further, the drone controller 12 includes an autonomous flight data reception unit 124 and an autonomous flight data processing unit 125.
The autonomous flight data receiving unit 124 receives a transmission signal of autonomous flight data transmitted from the radio controller 22 via a predetermined wireless communication system, performs demodulation processing and decoding processing, and outputs a packet of autonomous flight data. To do.

The autonomous flight data processing unit 125 processes so that the plurality of packets received from the autonomous flight data receiving unit 124 are rearranged in a predetermined order to generate original autonomous flight data. In addition, the autonomous flight data processing unit 125 rearranges a plurality of packets received from the autonomous flight data receiving unit 124 in a predetermined order to generate original autonomous flight data, and then temporarily stores the autonomous flight data, The data set of each flight target position may be sequentially read from the autonomous flight data and processed so as to be converted into an autonomous control signal of a predetermined format.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the cellular system is selected as the wireless communication system of the autonomous flight data in the drone controller 12, not only the autonomous flight data can be received from the radio controller 22, but also another mobile station (UE) or Autonomous flight data can be received from a PC or server via the Internet.

Further, the drone controller 12 includes a control mode switching determination unit 126, a control mode switching (switch) unit 127, a transmission unit 128, and a data storage unit 129.
The control mode switching determination unit 126 determines switching between the manual flight control mode (remote flight control mode) and the autonomous flight control mode based on the presence/absence of external input from the transmitter 20, communication quality measurement information, or the like, and based on the determination result. The control mode switching unit 127 is controlled so as to switch the route from the remote control data processing unit 122 and the autonomous flight data processing unit 125 to the transmission unit 128. By this control, for example, the remote control signal from the remote control data processing unit 122 is transmitted to the transmitting unit 128 when the manual flight control mode is selected, and the autonomous flight data from the autonomous flight data processing unit 125 is selected when the autonomous flight control mode is selected. Is transmitted to the transmission unit 128.

The transmission unit 128 transmits the remote control signal, the autonomous control signal, or the autonomous flight data that has passed through the control mode switching unit 127 to the FC 110 of the drone body 11 or the autonomous flight control module 112 according to the control mode.

The drone controller 12 also includes a reception state determination unit 130 and a reception state transmission unit 131.
The reception state determination unit 130 determines the reception state of the packet of the remote control data as the flight control information, and the reception state transmission unit 131 determines the reception state information of the packet of the remote control data (for example, ACK). Or NACK) as a response signal to the packet, is transmitted to the radio controller 22 via wireless communication.
Further, the reception state determination unit 130 determines the reception state of the packet of the autonomous flight data as the flight control information, and the reception state transmission unit 131 determines the reception state information of the packet of the autonomous flight data (for example, the result of the determination). , ACK or NACK) as a response signal to the packet to the radio controller 22 via wireless communication.

The log data of the remote control data processing unit 122, the autonomous flight data processing unit 125, the transmission unit 128, and the reception state determination unit 130 are recorded in the data storage unit 129.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the radio controller 22 which is the communication device on the control device side according to the embodiment. The radio controller 22 includes a plurality of sets of remote control data transmission units 221 and remote control data processing units 222 corresponding to a plurality of types of wireless communication systems, and a wireless communication system switching control unit 223.
Each of the plurality of remote control data transmission units 221 performs a predetermined encoding process and a modulation process on a packet of remote control data to generate a transmission signal, and transmits the transmission signal to the drone controller 12 via a corresponding wireless communication system. ..

Each of the plurality of remote control signal processing units 222 converts a remote control signal of a predetermined format received from the transmitter 20 into remote control data, and transfers the remote control data to a packet of the predetermined format to the remote control data transmission unit 221.

The wireless communication system switching control unit 223 controls the switching between the remote control data transmission unit 221 and the remote control signal processing unit 222 based on external input or communication quality measurement information.

The radio controller 22 also includes an autonomous flight data transmission unit 224 and an autonomous flight data processing unit 225. The autonomous flight data transmission unit 224 performs predetermined encoding processing and modulation processing on the packet of autonomous flight data to generate a transmission signal, and transmits the transmission signal to the drone controller 12 via a corresponding wireless communication system.

The autonomous flight data processing unit 225 passes the autonomous flight data received from the transmitter 20 to the autonomous flight data transmission unit 224 as a packet in a predetermined format.

The radio controller 22 also includes a control mode switching determination unit 126, a control mode switching (switch) unit 227, a receiving unit 228, and a data storage unit 229.
The control mode switching determination unit 226 determines switching between the manual flight control mode (remote flight control mode) and the autonomous flight control mode based on the presence or absence of external input from the transmitter 20, communication quality measurement information, or the like, and based on the determination result. The control mode switching unit 227 is controlled so as to switch the route from the receiving unit 228 to the remote control signal processing unit 222 and the autonomous flight data processing unit 225. By this control, for example, when the manual flight control mode is selected, the remote control signal from the reception unit 228 is transmitted to the remote control signal processing unit 222, and when the autonomous flight control mode is selected, the autonomous flight data from the reception unit 228 is autonomously flown. The data is transmitted to the data processing unit 125.

The receiving unit 228 receives a remote control signal or autonomous flight data from the transmitter 20, and passes it to the control mode switching unit 127.

The log data of the remote control signal processing unit 222, the autonomous flight data processing unit 225, the receiving unit 228, and the information output unit 230 is recorded in the data storage unit 229.

Further, the radio controller 22 includes a reception state reception unit 231 and an information output unit 230. The reception status receiving unit 231 receives from the drone controller 12 information on the reception status of the packet of the remote control data (eg, ACK or NACK) as a response signal. In addition, the reception state receiving unit 231 receives information (for example, ACK or NACK) on the reception state of the packet of the autonomous flight data from the drone controller 12 as a response signal.

The information output unit 230 outputs the reception state information (for example, ACK or NACK) of the packets of the remote control data and the autonomous flight data received by the reception state reception unit 231, thereby providing the reception state information to the operator. You can be notified. The information to be output is message information generated based on the reception state information received from the drone controller 12 (for example, a message indicating that data transmission to the drone 10 has failed continuously, a message indicating that a communication error has occurred). Message). Further, the output of this information may be, for example, image display on a display, audio output, or transmission to a predetermined notification destination (for example, a user device such as a smartphone as a mobile station owned by the operator). Good. The information output section 230 may be provided on the main body 21 side.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of manual flight control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. In the manual flight control of FIG. 5, the pilot controls the flight of the drone by operating the transmitter 20, and includes a control block S100 of the transmitter controller 22 and a control block S110 of the drone controller 12.

In the control block S100 of FIG. 5, a remote control signal of a unique format is transmitted to the main body 21 of the main body 21 at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 15 ms) based on the operation direction and the operation amount of the operation sticks 21a and 21b of the radio transmitter 20 by the operator. When generated by the control signal generation unit 210, the radio controller 22 receives the remote control signal output from the control signal generation unit 210 at each generation timing of the remote control signal (S101), and outputs the remote control signal. The remote control data of a predetermined format is converted into one or more packets (S102). The radio controller 22 transmits the packet of the converted remote control data to the drone controller 12 by a predetermined wireless communication method that is selected and set in advance from a plurality of types of wireless communication methods (S103).

In the control block S110 of FIG. 5, the drone controller 12 transmits one or more packets of remote control data by the same predetermined wireless communication method as that of the transmitter side, which is preselected and set from a plurality of kinds of wireless communication methods. It is received from the radio controller 22 (S111). At the time of this reception, the drone controller 12 feedback-transmits, to each of the remote control data packets, information on the reception state of the remote control data packets as a response signal to the radio controller 22. For example, when the remote control data packet is successfully received, an affirmative response “ACK” is sent back by feedback, and when the remote control data packet is unsuccessfully received, a negative response “NACK” is sent back by feedback. .. When there is a missing sequence number, "NACK" is sent back as feedback.

When the drone controller 12 succeeds in receiving the plurality of packets of the remote control data, the drone controller 12 rearranges the plurality of packets received from the radio controller 22 in a predetermined order and performs packet order control to generate the original remote control data (S112). ), and converts the remote control data into a remote control signal of a unique format corresponding to the combination of the propo 20 and the drone 10 (S113). The drone controller 12 transmits the converted remote control signal to the FC 110 of the drone main body 11 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms) (S114). The FC 110 controls the rotation of the motor of the drive unit based on the received remote control signal.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of autonomous flight control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. In the autonomous flight control of FIG. 6, the drone 10 autonomously controls the flight based on the autonomous flight data stored in advance without the operator operating the transmitter 20, and the control of the propo controller 22 is performed. It includes a block S200, a control block S210 of the drone controller 12, and a control block 220 of the drone body 11.

In control block S200 of FIG. 6, when the autonomous flight data is read from the autonomous flight data storage unit 212 at an arbitrary timing based on the operation of the pilot 20 by the operator, the propo controller 22 outputs the autonomous flight data to the propo main body. 21 (S101), and temporarily stores it in the data storage unit 229 (S202). The radio controller 22 transmits the packet of the autonomous flight data of the data storage unit 229 to the drone controller 12 by a predetermined wireless communication method selected and set in advance from a plurality of kinds of wireless communication methods (S203).

In the control block S210 of FIG. 6, the drone controller 12 transmits one or more packets of autonomous flight data by the same predetermined wireless communication system as that of the radio system, which is preselected and set from a plurality of types of wireless communication systems. It is received from the radio controller 22 (S211). At the time of this reception, the drone controller 12 feedback-transmits, as a response signal, information on the reception state of the autonomous flight data packet to each of the autonomous flight data packets. For example, when the autonomous flight data packet is successfully received, an affirmative response “ACK” is feedback-transmitted, and when the autonomous flight data packet is unsuccessfully received, a negative response “NACK” is feedback-transmitted. .. Also, when there is a missing sequence number in the received packet, "NACK" is feedback-transmitted.

When the drone controller 12 succeeds in receiving the plurality of packets of the autonomous flight data, the drone controller 12 rearranges the plurality of packets received from the propo controller 22 in a predetermined order and performs packet order control for generating the original autonomous flight data (S212). ), and stores the autonomous flight control data in the data storage unit and transmits it to the drone body 11 (S213). The drone body 11 stores the autonomous flight data received from the drone controller 12 in a data storage unit such as a memory in the autonomous flight control module 112.

Next, in the control block S220 of FIG. 6, when the flight control mode is switched to the autonomous flight control mode, the autonomous flight control module 112 of the drone body 11 sequentially reads the data set of the autonomous flight data (S221), and the data thereof is read. An autonomous control signal of a unique format corresponding to the combination of the propo 20 and the drone 10 is generated from the set (S222). For example, the data set is target position information (for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude information) of the drone 10 set over time. The autonomous flight control module 112 generates an autonomous control signal in a unique format based on the result of comparison between the target position information and the current position information acquired by the output of the GNSS receiver described above. The autonomous flight control module 112 transmits the generated autonomous control signal to the FC 110 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms) (S223). The FC 110 controls the rotation of the motor of the drive unit based on the received autonomous control signal.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of autonomous flight control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. The example of FIG. 7 is an example in which an autonomous control signal is generated in the drone controller 12 and transmitted to the FC 110 of the drone body 11. Note that, in FIG. 7, the description of the portions (S200, S231, S232) common to FIG. 6 will be omitted.

In the control block S230 of FIG. 7, the drone controller 12 performs packet sequence control for generating autonomous flight data, and then stores the autonomous flight control data in the data storage unit (S233). Next, the drone controller 12 sequentially reads the data set of the autonomous flight data (S234), and generates an autonomous control signal of a unique format corresponding to the combination of the propo 20 and the drone 10 from the data set (S235). The drone controller 12 transmits the generated autonomous control signal to the FC 110 of the drone body 11 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 ms) (S226). The FC 110 controls the rotation of the motor of the drive unit based on the received autonomous control signal.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of flight control mode switching control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is an example in which the flight control mode of the flight control system is initially set to the manual flight control mode (remote flight control mode) (S301).

In FIG. 8, communication is performed between the radio controller 22 and the drone controller 12, and data is transmitted from the radio controller 22 to the drone controller 12 (S302). This transmission data is, for example, the aforementioned remote control data or autonomous flight data. The transmission data may include data of a flight control mode switching instruction, which is externally input by operating the transmitter 20.

The data of the flight control mode switching instruction can be generated, for example, based on the external input by the operation of the radio controller 20 or the radio controller 22. Control mode switching operation for performing an operation of switching the flight control mode between a manual flight control mode (remote flight control mode) for remotely controlling the drone 10 from the propo 20 and an autonomous flight control mode using autonomous flight data The unit may be provided on at least one of the radio system 20 and the radio system controller 22.

The drone controller 12 determines whether or not the data received from the radio controller 22 includes the data of the flight control mode switching instruction external input (S303), and if there is the flight control mode switching instruction external input (S303). YES), the flight control mode is switched to the autonomous flight control mode (S305), and the autonomous flight control shown in FIG. 6 or 7 is executed.

Further, when there is no external input of the flight control mode switching instruction (NO in S303), the drone controller 12 further determines whether or not there is a communication abnormality in communication with the radio controller 22 (S304), and detects a communication abnormality. If so (YES in S304), the flight control mode is switched to the autonomous flight control mode (S305), and the autonomous flight control in FIG. 6 or 7 is executed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of wireless communication system switching control in the flight control system according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an example in which the wireless communication system of the flight control system is initially set to the short-range line-of-sight communication system (S401).

In FIG. 9, communication is performed between the radio controller 22 and the drone controller 12, and data is transmitted from the radio controller 22 to the drone controller 12 (S402). This transmission data is, for example, the aforementioned remote control data or autonomous flight data. The transmission data may include wireless communication system switching instruction data.

The data of the wireless communication system switching instruction can be generated, for example, based on an external input by the operation of the transmitter 20 or the transmitter controller 22. A wireless communication system switching operation section for performing an operation of switching the wireless communication system used for transmitting and receiving remote control data or autonomous flight data may be provided in at least one of the transmitter 20 and the transmitter controller 22.

The drone controller 12 determines whether or not the data received from the radio controller 22 includes the external input data of the wireless communication system switching instruction (S403), and when the external input of the wireless communication system switching instruction is received (S403). YES), the wireless communication system with the radio controller 22 is switched to the cellular system (LTE or 5G) (S405).

Further, when there is no external input of the wireless communication system switching instruction (NO in S403), the drone controller 12 further determines whether or not there is a communication abnormality in communication with the radio controller 22 (S404), and detects the communication abnormality. If yes (YES in S404), the wireless communication system is switched to the cellular system (LTE or 5G) (405).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of feedback control of the reception state of flight control information in the flight control system according to the embodiment.
In FIG. 10, first, the radio controller 22 resets the counter used for this control (S501). Then, the data is transmitted from the propo controller 22 to the drone controller 12 (S502), and the information ("ACK" or "NACK") indicating the reception state is fed back from the drone controller 12 to the propo controller 22 (S503). When the reception status information fed back to the radio controller 22 is a negative response (NACK) indicating that the reception has failed (YES in S504), the radio controller 22 increments the value of the counter by one (up). S505). On the other hand, when the reception status information fed back to the radio controller 22 is not a negative response (NACK) indicating that reception has failed, that is, when the reception status information is an acknowledgment (ACK) indicating that reception is successful ( If NO in S504, the counter is reset (S506) and the process returns to step 502.

When the value of the counter (hereinafter, also referred to as “NACK reception counter”) indicating the number of times the negative acknowledgment (NACK) is continuously received becomes larger than a predetermined threshold value (S507), the radio controller 22 displays an image. Alternatively, the operator is notified that the data transmission to the drone 10 has continuously failed by outputting information such as voice (S508). An information output unit 230 such as a display or a speaker that outputs a message indicating that data transmission to the drone 10 has continuously failed can be provided in at least one of the main body 21 and the main controller 22. It should be noted that the fact that the data transmission to the drone 10 has continuously failed may be notified to an application running on a user device such as a smartphone as a mobile station owned by the radio controller.

The operator who receives the notification switches the wireless communication system with the drone 10 (for example, switching from manual flight control to cellular system) or the flight control mode of the drone 10 (for example, from manual flight control to autonomous flight control). The R/C system 20 can be operated so as to instruct switching.

When the value of the NACK reception counter exceeds the threshold value, the operator is notified, and after a lapse of a predetermined time, the communication abnormality processing process is automatically performed (S509).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a communication module is added to the drone main body 11 by providing the drone controller 12 capable of wirelessly communicating with the radio 20 with a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular system as an external device. Remote control data and autonomous flight data can be received from the propo 20 by switching a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular system without changing the configuration.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, a communication module is added to the propo main body 21 by providing the propo controller 22 that is capable of wirelessly communicating with the drone 10 by a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including the cellular system, as an external device. Remote control data and autonomous flight data can be transmitted to the drone 10 by switching a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular system without changing the configuration.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the propo controller 22 transmits flight control information such as remote control data and autonomous flight data to the drone controller 12, the propo controller 22 receives the flight control information and indicates a reception state of the flight control information. Information can be received and output from the drone controller 12. Therefore, it is possible to confirm on the propo 20 side whether or not flight control information such as remote control data and autonomous flight data transmitted from the propo 20 has normally reached the drone 10. Further, when the flight control information does not normally reach the drone 10, the operator can perform control mode switching or communication system switching processing by operating the transmitter 20. If the operator does not respond, the communication abnormality processing process may be automatically executed.

The flight control system of this embodiment includes both the drone controller 12 and the radio controller 22, but may include only one of the drone controller 12 and the radio controller 22. For example, in the flight control system of the present embodiment, the drone controller 12 is not provided on the drone 10 side, the propo controller 22 is provided on the propo 20 side, the propo 20 having the propo controller 22 is operated, and the drone controller 12 is operated. You may make it control the drone 10 which is not provided.

Further, the propo controller 22 of the present embodiment is configured so as to correspond to a combination of a plurality of types of drones 10 and the propo 20, so that flight control of a plurality of types of drones 10 can be performed via the propo controller 22. May be.

It should be noted that the processing steps and the components of the flight control system and communication device of the flying device described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these steps and components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

Regarding hardware implementation, means such as a processing unit used to implement the above steps and components in an entity (for example, various wireless communication devices, eNode Bs, terminals, hard disk drive devices, or optical disk drive devices) One or more application specific ICs (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processors (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors , Controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, electronic device, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, a computer, or a combination thereof.

Also, for firmware and/or software implementation, means such as processing units used to implement the components described above may be programs (eg, procedures, functions, modules, instructions) that perform the functions described herein. , Etc.) may be implemented. In general, any computer/processor readable medium embodying firmware and/or software code, means, such as a processing unit, used to implement the steps and components described herein. May be used to implement. For example, firmware and/or software code may be stored in memory and executed by a computer or processor, eg, at the controller. The memory may be mounted inside the computer or the processor, or may be mounted outside the processor. The firmware and/or software code may be, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM). ), FLASH memory, floppy disk, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), magnetic or optical data storage device, etc. Good. The code may be executed by one or more computers or processors and may cause the computers or processors to perform the functional aspects described herein.

Further, the medium may be a non-transitory recording medium. Further, the code of the program may be readable and executable by a computer, a processor, or another device or machine, and its format is not limited to a particular format. For example, the code of the program may be any of source code, object code, and binary code, or may be a mixture of two or more of these codes.

Also, the description of the embodiments disclosed herein is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure should not be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be admitted to the widest extent consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

10: Drone (flying device)
11: Drone main body 12: Drone controller 20: Propo (control device)
21: Propo main body 22: Propo controller 21a, 21b: Operation stick 30: Mobile communication network 31: Base station 110: Drone flight controller (FC)
112: Autonomous flight control module 121: Remote control data receiving unit 122: Remote control data processing unit 123: Wireless communication system switching control unit 124: Autonomous flight data receiving unit 125: Autonomous flight data processing unit 126: Control mode switching determination unit 127 : Control mode switching unit 128: transmission unit 129: data storage unit 130: reception state determination unit 131: reception state transmission unit 210: control signal generation unit 212: autonomous flight data storage unit 221: remote control data transmission unit 222: remote control Data processing unit 223: Wireless communication system switching control unit 224: Autonomous flight data transmission unit 225: Autonomous flight data processing unit 226: Control mode switching determination unit 227: Control mode switching unit 228: Reception unit 229: Data storage unit 230: Information Output unit 231: Reception status receiving units 1211 to 1213: Communication modules 2211 to 2213: Communication module

Further, the propo controller 22 receives the autonomous flight data (for example, time-series data of flight route position information) read from the autonomous flight data storage unit 212 of the propo main body 21 and transmitted to the propo controller 22. The propo controller 22 can convert the autonomous flight data received from the propo main body 21 into a packet of a predetermined format and transmit it to the drone controller 12 via any of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular system.

Claims (9)

A communication device for transmitting flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication,
The flight control device is provided as a separate device from the flight control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the flight control device,
A remote control data processing unit for converting a remote control signal of a predetermined format output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit into remote control data;
A plurality of remote control data transmission units for transmitting the remote control data output from the remote control data processing unit to the flying device via each of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system;
A communication device comprising: The communication device according to claim 1,
A switching determination unit that determines whether to switch the remote control data transmission unit based on an external input or a communication abnormality detection of communication with the flight device control device,
A communication device, further comprising: a switching unit that switches the remote control data transmitting unit that transmits a transmission signal of the remote control data based on a switching determination result of the switching determination unit. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2,
A storage unit that stores autonomous flight data used for the flight device,
An autonomous flight data transmission unit that transmits the autonomous flight data to the flight device,
A communication device, further comprising: The communication device according to claim 3,
The communication device further comprising a control mode switching unit that switches between a remote control mode for remotely controlling the flight device from the control device and an autonomous control mode using the autonomous flight data. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The communication device, wherein the remote control signal is a control signal having a signal format common to a plurality of types of flight devices. A control device comprising the communication device according to claim 1 and the control device main body. A control system for a flight device, comprising the communication device according to claim 1, the control device, and a flight control unit of the flight device. A method of transmitting flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication, comprising:
A communication device provided as a device separate from the control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the control device of the flying device transmits a remote control signal of a predetermined format output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit. Converting to remote control data,
The communication device transmits the remote control data to the flight device via each of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system;
A method comprising: A program executed by a computer or a processor provided in a communication device that transmits flight control information to a flight device via wireless communication,
The communication device, which is provided as a device separate from the control device main body having the control signal generation unit of the control device of the flying device, is a remote control signal of a predetermined format output from the signal output unit of the control signal generation unit. And a program code for converting the remote control data,
A program code for the communication device to transmit the remote control data to the flight device via each of a plurality of types of wireless communication systems including a cellular mobile communication system,
A program characterized by having.

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