JP2021034960A - Unmanned aircraft, base station, and base station system - Google Patents

Abstract

To quickly provide a base station function when an unmanned aircraft having the base station function of a wireless communication network provides a power outage area with the base station function.SOLUTION: A drone 3 includes a base station device 29 of a wireless communication network and the drone 3 includes a control unit 25. The control unit 25 causes the drone 3 to fly to a power outage area based on information on the power outage area received by the base station device 29, and performs provision processing (area determination processing and flight and provision processing) to provide the power outage area with a base station function.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Regarding unmanned aerial vehicles, base stations and base station systems.

In the event of a disaster such as an earthquake, the wireless communication network becomes a lifeline. However, when a disaster occurs, the power supply to the base station of the wireless communication network may be cut off due to a power outage. For this reason, a base station is generally provided with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-080905

Generally, the power supply from UPS is stopped in about 3 hours. Even after the power supply from the UPS is stopped, the base station may be supplied with power by the power generation by the diesel engine, but the base station equipped with the diesel engine for power generation is often limited to the urban area. Not all base stations are equipped with diesel engines, even in urban areas, and there is a possibility that the number of operating base stations will decrease and communication failures will occur.

If the operator instructs the unmanned aerial vehicle that has the base station function of the wireless communication network the power outage area and the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the instructed power outage area, the base station function can be provided to the power outage area even if the base station cannot operate. .. However, it takes some time for the operator to instruct the unmanned aerial vehicle of the power outage area. If there are multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, it will take more time, which may delay the provision of base station functions.

This specification discloses a technique capable of promptly providing a base station function when a base station function is provided to a power outage area by an unmanned aerial vehicle having a base station function of a wireless communication network.

An unmanned aerial vehicle having a base station function of a wireless communication network, the control unit includes a control unit, and the control unit causes the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station function. An unmanned aerial vehicle that performs a provision process that provides the base station function to the power outage area.

When the base station function is provided to the power outage area by an unmanned aerial vehicle having the base station function of the wireless communication network, the base station function can be provided quickly.

Schematic diagram of the base station system according to the first embodiment Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the base station system Schematic diagram of drone base station Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the drone Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the drone base Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the battery Schematic diagram showing how the drone provides the base station function Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the drone base according to the second embodiment Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the drone base according to the third embodiment

(Outline of this embodiment)
(1) An unmanned aerial vehicle having a base station function of a wireless communication network, which is provided with a control unit, and the control unit sets the unmanned aerial vehicle to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station function. An unmanned aerial vehicle that flies to and performs a provision process that provides the base station function to the blackout area.

According to the above-mentioned unmanned aerial vehicle, the operator does not have to instruct the unmanned aerial vehicle to the power outage area because it flies to the power outage area based on the information about the power outage area received by its own base station function. Therefore, when the base station function is provided to the power failure area by an unmanned aerial vehicle having the base station function of the wireless communication network, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area.

(2) The control unit may determine the power failure area based on the information received by the base station function in the provision process, and may fly the unmanned aerial vehicle to the determined power failure area.

As an alternative to the operator instructing the unmanned aerial vehicle to the power outage area, an external server computer determines the power outage area based on the information about the power outage area received by the base station function of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the determined power outage area. Is also conceivable to instruct the unmanned aerial vehicle. However, if the reason for the power outage is a disaster such as an earthquake, the server computer determines the power outage area because the server computer has been damaged or the communication network has failed and information about the power outage area cannot be received. It is possible that it will not be possible.

According to the above-mentioned unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle determines the power failure area by itself based on the information received by the base station function of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Therefore, the base station function can be provided more reliably than when the server computer indicates the power failure area.

(3) The information may be at least one of voice data of a voice call made via the base station function, character data transmitted / received via the base station function, and an increase / decrease in communication traffic. ..

In the event of a power outage, it is assumed that voice calls related to the power outage area will be made via the wireless communication network. Similarly, when a power outage occurs, it is assumed that character data related to the power outage area is transmitted and received via the wireless communication network. In the event of a power outage, it is expected that communication traffic will be lower than usual due to the inability of base stations in the power outage area to operate. Therefore, based on at least one of the voice data of the voice call made via the base station function, the character data transmitted / received via the base station function, and the increase / decrease of the communication traffic, the power failure area can be accurately determined to some extent. I can judge.

(4) The information may include location information.

Location information may be added to voice data and character data. According to the above-mentioned unmanned aerial vehicle, the power outage area is determined based on the position information added to the data in addition to the voice data and the character data. It is more likely that you will be able to accurately determine the area. If the power outage area can be accurately determined, the base station function can be reliably provided to the power outage area. In the case of an unmanned aerial vehicle that flies by the power supplied by the power storage element, if the judgment of the power outage area is inaccurate, it is necessary to fly further to correct the position after flying once, which wastes power. It may be consumed. If the power failure area can be accurately determined, such waste can be reduced, so that the power of the power storage element can be used efficiently. This also has the effect of providing the base station function for a long time.

(5) It has a propeller, an electric motor for rotating the propeller, and a power storage element for supplying power to the electric motor, and the control unit performs an estimation process for estimating the remaining power of the power storage element and the unmanned operation. A power determination process for determining the amount of power required to fly an aircraft from the power failure area to a place where the power storage element can be charged, and a power storage element when the base station function is provided to the power failure area. When the remaining electric power decreases to the amount of electric power determined by the electric power determination process or the electric power amount higher than the electric power amount by a predetermined value, the flight process of flying the unmanned aircraft to the place may be executed.

According to the above-mentioned unmanned aerial vehicle, if the remaining power of the power storage element drops while providing the base station function in the power outage area, the aircraft will fly to a rechargeable place. You can fly to the area. As a result, the base station function can be provided even if the power failure is prolonged.

(6) A base station of a wireless communication network, comprising the unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of (1) to (5) described above, and a base facility having a landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle lands. The unmanned aerial vehicle has a propeller, an electric motor for rotating the propeller, and a power storage element for supplying electric power to the electric motor, and the base facility has a charging unit for charging the power storage element. Is a base station that float-charges the power storage element.

Float charging refers to a charging method in which a power storage element is maintained in a fully charged state or a state close to a fully charged state by continuously applying a constant voltage to the power storage element.
Since it is not known when a power outage will occur, it is desirable that the power storage element is always maintained at or near full charge so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can fly no matter when the power outage occurs. According to the above base station, since the power storage element of the unmanned aerial vehicle is float-charged by the charging unit of the base equipment, the unmanned aerial vehicle can be flown to the power outage area at any time when a power outage occurs.

(7) The charging unit may charge the power storage element in a non-contact manner.

For example, in a configuration in which a power connector or the like is connected to an unmanned aerial vehicle for charging, if the remaining power of the power storage element drops while providing the base station function in a power outage area, it returns to the base equipment for charging. However, it cannot be charged without an operator, and it will not be possible to fly to the power outage area again and provide the base station function.
According to the above-mentioned unmanned aerial vehicle, since the unmanned aerial vehicle is charged in a non-contact manner, the power storage element can be charged without an operator. Therefore, the base station function can be provided for a long period of time without an operator.

(8) An unmanned aerial vehicle that is a base station of a wireless communication network and has a first base station function of the wireless communication network, a landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, and a second base station of the wireless communication network. The base equipment having a function and a control unit provided in the base equipment are provided, and the control unit is based on the information about the power failure area received by the second base station function of the base equipment. A base station that instructs an unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the power failure area, and the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the power failure area designated by the control unit to provide the first base station function.

According to the above-mentioned base station, when the base station function is provided to the power failure area by an unmanned aerial vehicle having the base station function of the wireless communication network, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area. ..

(9) An unmanned aerial vehicle that is a base station of a wireless communication network and has a base station function of the wireless communication network, a base facility having a landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, and a control unit provided in the base facility. And, the control unit instructs the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station function of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle is the control unit. A base station that flies to the blackout area as directed by and provides the base station function.

According to the above-mentioned base station, when the base station function is provided to the power failure area by an unmanned aerial vehicle having the base station function of the wireless communication network, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area. ..

(10) A base station system in which a plurality of base stations according to any one of (6) to (9) described above are dispersedly arranged.

Unmanned aerial vehicles cannot provide base station functions when the remaining power of the power storage element is low. When the remaining power of the power storage element is low, it is possible to fly to an uninterruptible power supply area and charge the battery. However, if there is only one unmanned aerial vehicle, the base station function cannot be provided if the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to an uninterruptible area.
On the other hand, when there are a plurality of base stations equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles, the base station functions can be provided more reliably by having the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles fly in place of the power outage area and provide the base station function.

The invention disclosed herein can be realized in various aspects such as devices, methods, computer programs for realizing the functions of these devices or methods, recording media on which the computer programs are recorded, and the like.

<Embodiment 1>
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. In the following description, the reference numerals of the drawings may be omitted for the same constituent members except for some parts.

(1) Base Station System The base station system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The base station system 1 is a base station system of a mobile phone network and a radio access network (LTE: Long Term Evolution, etc.), and includes a plurality of base stations 2 distributed over a wide area. The mobile phone network and the wireless access network are examples of wireless communication networks, respectively.
A drone 3 (an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle) is deployed in some of the base stations 2 among the plurality of base stations 2. The drone 3 may be deployed at all base stations 2. In the following description, the base station 2 to which the drone 3 is deployed is referred to as the drone base station 2.

(2) Drone base station As shown in FIG. 2, the drone base station 2 has a base station function of a mobile phone network and is wirelessly connected to an exchange station 11. The drone base station 2 also has a base station function of a radio access network, is connected to the packet switch 13 via the exchange station 11, and is connected to the Internet via the exchange station 11 and the server 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the drone base station 2 includes a drone 3 and a drone base 4 (an example of a place where base equipment and an unmanned aerial vehicle can be charged) having a landing platform 20 on which the drone 3 lands. The landing platform 20 is a flat platform for the drone 3 to land.
The drone 3 according to the first embodiment is a multicopter, more specifically a quadcopter having four propellers 24. The drone 3 includes a drone main body 21 that constitutes an airframe, four arms 22 that extend radially from the drone main body 21 in four directions, an electric motor 23 (see FIG. 4) provided at the tip of each arm 22, and each electric power. It is equipped with a propeller 24 or the like that is driven by a motor 23 and rotates.

(2-1) Electrical Configuration of Drone The electrical configuration of the drone 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The drone 3 includes a control unit 25, an electric motor 23, various sensors 26, a GPS receiver 27, a flight controller 28, a base station device 29 (an example of a base station function), a wireless communication unit 34, a battery 30, a power receiving device 31, and the like. ing.

The various sensors 26 are for controlling the drone 3, specifically, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, and the like.
The GPS receiver 27 receives radio waves transmitted from GPS (Global Positioning System) and detects the current position (latitude, longitude) of the drone 3. The current position may be detected based on radio waves transmitted from a positioning satellite other than GPS.
The flight controller 28 is composed of an ASIC, a microprocessor, or the like. The flight controller 28 controls the autonomous flight of the drone 3 based on the detection results of the various sensors 26.

The base station device 29 is a device having the above-mentioned base station function of the mobile phone network and the base station function of the radio access network. The base station device 29 includes an amplification device (AMP) that amplifies transmitted / received signals, a modulation / demodulation device (MDE) that converts a baseband signal into a high frequency signal, a voice processing device (SPE) that converts a voice signal into a digital code string, and a radio channel. It is equipped with a base station control device (BCE) for allocating and switching channels with adjacent base stations, a base station antenna (ANT), and the like.

The wireless communication unit 34 is a device for the base station device 29 to wirelessly communicate with the exchange station 11. Generally, the base station 2 is connected to the exchange station 11 by wire with an optical fiber cable or the like, but the drone base station 2 is provided with a wireless communication unit 34 for communicating with the exchange station 11 from the flight destination.

The battery 30 supplies electric power to each part of the drone 3. The specific configuration of the battery 30 will be described later.
The power receiving device 31 is for non-contact charging of the battery 30. The power receiving device 31 includes a power receiving coil 31A, a rectifier 31B that converts AC power received by the power receiving coil 31A into DC power, and the like. The power receiving device 31 and the power transmitting device 33 provided at the drone base 4 described later form a non-contact charging device.

The control unit 25 includes a microcomputer 25A, a ROM 25B, and the like in which the CPU and RAM are integrated into a single chip. The control unit 25 controls each unit of the drone 3 by executing a control program stored in the ROM 25B. The control unit 25 and the management unit 44 of the battery 30, which will be described later, constitute a control unit.

(2-2) Electrical Configuration of Drone Base With reference to FIG. 5, the electrical configuration of the drone base 4 will be described. The drone base 4 includes a drone detection unit 32 and a power transmission device 33 (an example of a charging unit) in addition to the landing platform 20 described above. The base station 4 may be provided with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

The drone detection unit 32 is provided on the upper surface of the landing platform 20. The drone detection unit 32 detects the presence or absence of the drone 3 on the landing platform 20 and outputs the detection result to the charge controller 33C of the power transmission device 33. Specifically, for example, the drone detection unit 32 is configured as a push button switch. When the drone 3 is on the landing platform 20, the push button switch is pressed by the weight of the drone 3, and when the drone 3 is not on the landing platform 20, the push button switch is not pressed to detect the presence or absence of the drone 3. To. The drone detection unit 32 may have an arbitrary configuration as long as it can detect the presence or absence of the drone 3.

The power transmission device 33 includes a power transmission coil 33A, a transformer 33B, a charge controller 33C, and the like. The transformer 33B is connected to a commercial power source (not shown), transforms the voltage of AC power supplied from the commercial power source into a predetermined voltage, and supplies the transformer 33B to the power transmission coil 33A. When AC power is supplied from the transformer 33B to the power transmission coil 33A, power is induced in the power receiving coil 31A of the drone 3 by electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic coupling. The charge controller 33C is composed of an ASIC, a microprocessor, or the like, and controls the power transmission device 33 based on the detection result of the drone detection unit 32. A description of charge control by the charge controller 33C will be described later.

(3) Electrical Configuration of Battery As shown in FIG. 6, the battery 30 is an assembled battery 41 composed of a plurality of secondary batteries 40 (an example of a power storage element) and a BMS 42 (Battery Management) that manages the secondary batteries 40. It is equipped with a system).

The secondary battery 40 is a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, specifically, for example, a lithium ion secondary battery.
The BMS 42 includes a current sensor 43, a voltage sensor 47, and a management unit 44. The current sensor 43 is connected in series with the assembled battery 41, measures the current value [A] of the charge / discharge current of the assembled battery 41, and outputs the current value [A] to the management unit 44. The voltage sensor 47 measures the terminal voltage [V] of each secondary battery 40 and outputs it to the management unit 44.

The management unit 44 includes a microcomputer 45 in which a CPU 45A, a RAM 45B, and the like are integrated into a single chip, a ROM 46, and the like. The ROM 46 stores a management program for managing the battery 30 and various data. By executing the management program stored in the ROM 46, the management unit 44 executes various processes such as the estimation process described below.

The estimation process is a process of estimating the charge state (SOC: State Of Charge) of the battery 30. As a method for estimating SOC, a current integration method, an OCV method, and the like are known. The current integration method is a method in which the charge / discharge current of the assembled battery 41 is measured by the current sensor 43 at predetermined time intervals, and the SOC is estimated by adding or subtracting the measured current value to the initial value. The OCV method is a method of estimating SOC from the open circuit voltage (OCV: Open Circuit Voltage) of the battery 30. There is a relatively accurate correlation between SOC and OCV. Therefore, the SOC can be estimated by measuring the OCV with the voltage sensor 47 and specifying the SOC corresponding to the measured OCV from the SOC-OCV curve. The management unit 44 may estimate the SOC by the current integration method or may estimate the SOC by the OCV method.

(4) Float Charging of Battery The battery 30 of the drone 3 is float-charged by a non-contact charging device (transmission device 33 and power receiving device 31). Float charging is a charging method that keeps the battery 30 fully charged or nearly fully charged by continuously applying a constant voltage to the battery 30. In float charging, when the SOC of the battery 30 drops, the battery 30 is immediately charged.

The charge controller 33C of the drone base 4 controls the power transmission device 33 and constantly supplies power to the power receiving device 31 while the drone 3 is detected by the drone detection unit 32. The power receiving device 31 converts the supplied AC power into DC power by the rectifier 31B and applies it to the battery 30. As a result, the battery 30 is float-charged.

(5) Process for Providing Base Station Function to Power Outage Area A process for providing a base station function to a power failure area executed by the control unit 25 of the drone 3 will be described. In the process of providing the base station function to the power failure area, the drone 3 determines the power failure area by itself based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station device 29, and autonomously flies to the determined area to fly to the base station. This is a process for providing a base station function by the device 29.
The processing includes the area judgment processing, the flight / providing processing, and the return processing described below. The area judgment process and the flight / offer process are examples of the offer process.

(5-1) Area Judgment Process The area judgment process is a process of determining a power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station apparatus 29. The information received by the base station device 29 is specifically voice data of a voice call made through the base station device 29 and character data transmitted / received via the base station device 29.

Specifically, the character data is, for example, character data sent / received as an e-mail, character data posted on a social networking service (SNS: Social Networking Service) (or character data downloaded from SNS), and other communication purposes. Character data sent and received by the program of. The character data is not limited to these, and may be any unencrypted character data transmitted / received via the base station device 29.

Hereinafter, the regional judgment process will be specifically described. The process described below is an example. The area judgment process is not limited to the process described below.
The control unit 25 voice-recognizes voice data transmitted and received via the base station device 29. Speech recognition means analyzing speech data and converting it into character data. Statistical methods, dynamic time expansion and contraction methods, hidden Markov models, and the like are known as speech recognition methods. Speech recognition may be performed using these methods or may be performed using other methods.

The control unit 25 determines whether or not the character string "power failure" is included in the character data converted by voice recognition, and if it is included, searches for a place name from the character data. Specifically, for example, the ROM 25B of the control unit 25 stores map data in a predetermined range centered on the drone base station 2. The control unit 25 determines whether or not any of the place names included in the map data is included in the character data, and if it is included, extracts the place name. The same applies when the information received by the base station function is character data.

The control unit 25 performs the above-described processing every time it receives voice data and every time it receives character data until one of the place names is extracted a predetermined number of times. When any of the place names is extracted a predetermined number of times, the control unit 25 determines that the area represented by the place name is a power failure area. The predetermined number of times described above can be appropriately determined.

(5-2) Flight / Provision Process The flight / provision process is a process of flying the drone 3 to the power failure area determined by the above-mentioned area judgment process and providing the base station function to the power failure area. The control unit 25 acquires the position information (latitude, longitude) of the power failure area determined by the area determination process from the map data, and sets it as the destination to fly the drone 3. The control unit 25 acquires the position information of the current position of the drone 3 from the GPS receiver 27, and controls the flight controller 28 based on the current position and the destination of the drone 3 to fly the drone 3 to the power failure area. ..

As shown in FIG. 7, when the drone 3 arrives at the power failure area, the control unit 25 hoveres the drone 3 over the power failure area to provide the base station function to the power failure area. If the base station function is provided from the sky, the base station function can be provided in a wider range than the base station 2 on the ground, so that the power failure area can be covered with a small number of drones 3.

(5-3) Return processing In the feedback processing, when the remaining power of the battery 30 of the drone 3 becomes low while providing the base station function in the power failure area, the drone 3 is returned to the original landing platform 20 for charging. It is a process to make it. Specifically, when the control unit 25 arrives at the power outage area, the drone 3 is based on the distance from the current position of the drone 3 to the original landing platform 20 and the amount of electric power required to fly the drone 3 for a unit distance. The amount of electric power required to return the power to the landing platform 20 is determined (an example of the electric power determination process).

The control unit 25 calculates the remaining electric energy of the battery 30 (= total charge capacity of the battery 30 × SOC) from the estimated SOC each time the SOC is estimated by the management unit 44 of the battery 30, and lands the drone 3. When the amount of electric power required to return to the pedestal 20 or the amount of remaining electric power decreases to a predetermined value higher than the amount of electric power, the drone 3 is flown to the landing pedestal 20 (an example of flight processing). The predetermined value can be appropriately determined. For example, the predetermined value may be the amount of electric power corresponding to 10% in SOC.

When the drone 3 returns and lands on the landing platform 20, the battery 30 is non-contactly charged by the non-contact charging device (transmission device 33 and power receiving device 31). When the drone 3 is fully charged, it will fly to the blackout area again to provide the base station function.

(6) Effect of the Embodiment According to the drone 3 according to the first embodiment, the operator flies to the power failure area based on the information (voice data and text data) about the power failure area received by the base station device 29 provided by the drone. Does not have to instruct the drone 3 to the blackout area. Therefore, when the drone 3 having the base station function of the wireless communication network provides the base station function to the power failure area, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area.
If the reason for the power outage is a disaster such as an earthquake, the operator may go to the power outage area because the operator was damaged or the traffic was paralyzed and the operator could not go to the facility for instructing the drone 3 to the power outage area. It is possible that you will not be able to give instructions. According to the drone 3, since it autonomously flies to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station device 29 provided by the drone 3, the base station function is more reliable than when the operator indicates the power failure area. It also has the effect of being able to provide.
According to the drone 3, since the base station device 29 is provided, the base station device 29 can receive information about the power failure area even during the flight. If you receive information during flight, you can receive the latest information, so you can flexibly respond to changes in the power outage area.

According to the drone 3, since the drone 3 determines the power failure area by itself based on the information received by the base station device 29 included in the drone 3, the base station function is more reliable than when the server computer indicates the power failure area. Can be provided.

According to the drone 3, the power failure area can be determined with a certain degree of accuracy based on the voice data of the voice call made via the base station device 29 and the character data transmitted and received via the base station device 29.

According to the drone 3, if the remaining power of the battery 30 drops while providing the base station function in the power outage area, it returns to the drone base 4, so that the drone base 4 can charge the battery 30 and fly to the power outage area again. .. As a result, the base station function can be provided even if the power failure is prolonged.

According to the drone base station 2 according to the first embodiment, since the battery 30 of the drone 3 is float-charged by the power transmission device 33 included in the drone base 4, the drone 3 can be flown to the power failure area at any time when a power failure occurs. ..

According to the drone base station 2, since the power transmission device 33 non-contactly charges the battery 30 of the drone 3, the battery 30 can be charged without an operator. Therefore, the drone 3 can provide the base station function for a long period of time without an operator.

According to the base station system 1 according to the first embodiment, a plurality of drone base stations 2 are distributed and deployed. When there are a plurality of drone base stations 2, the plurality of drones 3 can fly in place of the power failure area to provide the base station function, so that the base station function can be provided more reliably.

<Embodiment 2>
As shown in FIG. 8, the drone base 204 according to the second embodiment includes a control unit 50, a base station device 51, and a wireless communication unit 52 in addition to the configuration of the drone base 4 according to the first embodiment. The drone 3 according to the second embodiment further includes a wireless communication unit for communicating with the wireless communication unit 52, and the control unit 50 communicates with the drone 3 via the wireless communication unit 52. The base station device 29 included in the drone 3 is an example of the first base station function, and the base station device 51 included in the drone base 204 is an example of the second base station function.

In the second embodiment, the control unit 50 of the drone base 204 determines the power failure area, and instructs the drone 3 to fly to the power failure area via the wireless communication unit 52. Specifically, the control unit 50 of the drone base 204 determines the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station device 51 included in the drone base 204, and the drone 3 is disconnected via the wireless communication unit 52. Instruct to fly to the area. When the control unit 25 of the drone 3 according to the second embodiment is instructed to fly to the power failure area by the control unit 50 of the drone base 204, the control unit 25 flies to the instructed power failure area to provide the base station function.

According to the drone base station according to the second embodiment, when the drone 3 provides the base station function to the power failure area, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area.

<Embodiment 3>
As shown in FIG. 9, the configuration of the drone base 304 according to the third embodiment is substantially the same as the drone base 204 according to the second embodiment except that the base station device 51 of the drone base 204 according to the second embodiment is not provided. Is the same as. The drone 3 according to the third embodiment also includes a wireless communication unit that communicates with the wireless communication unit 52 of the drone base 304 in addition to the configuration of the drone 3 according to the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment, the control unit 50 of the drone base 304 determines the power failure area, and instructs the drone 3 to fly to the power failure area via the wireless communication unit 52. Specifically, the control unit 50 of the drone base 304 receives information about the power failure area received by the base station device 29 included in the drone 3 from the drone 3 via the wireless communication unit 52. The control unit 50 of the drone base 304 determines the power failure area based on the information received from the drone 3, and instructs the drone 3 to fly to the power failure area via the wireless communication unit 52. When the control unit 25 of the drone 3 according to the third embodiment is instructed to fly to the power failure area by the control unit 50 of the drone base 304, the control unit 25 flies to the instructed power failure area to provide the base station function.

According to the drone base station according to the third embodiment, when the drone 3 provides the base station function to the power failure area, the base station function can be provided more quickly than when the operator indicates the power failure area.

<Other Embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment or a well-known technique. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be deleted. Further, a well-known technique can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment.

(1) In the above embodiment, voice data and character data have been described as examples of information regarding the power failure area, but the information regarding the power failure area may be any one of these data.

(2) In the above embodiment, the case where the power failure area is determined by extracting the place name from the voice data or the character data including the character string "power failure" in the area determination process has been described as an example. Alternatively or additionally, the power outage area may be determined based on the location information contained in the transmitted / received data. Specifically, if the voice data or character data contains the character string "power failure" and the data contains location information, the location information is extracted and the location within a certain range. When the position information indicating the above is extracted a predetermined number of times, the position may be determined as a power failure area. If the location information is included, it is more likely that the power outage area can be accurately determined as compared with the case where the determination is made only from the voice data or the character data.

If the power outage area can be accurately determined, the base station function can be reliably provided to the power outage area. In the case of the drone 3 which flies by the power supplied by the battery 30, if the judgment of the power failure area is inaccurate, it is necessary to fly further to correct the position after flying once, which wastes the power. It may be consumed. If the power failure area can be accurately determined, such waste can be reduced, so that the power of the battery 30 can be used efficiently. This also has the effect of providing the base station function for a long time.

(3) In the above embodiment, a case where the power failure area is determined from the number of times the place name is extracted from the voice data or the character data and the number of times the location information is extracted will be described as an example. On the other hand, the relationship between the content of voice data and character data transmitted and received at the time of a power failure and the power failure area may be machine-learned by AI (Artificial Intelligence), and the power failure area may be determined by AI.

(4) In the above embodiment, the case where the power failure area is determined based on the voice data of the voice call and the character data transmitted / received via the base station function has been described as an example, but the power failure area is determined from the increase / decrease in communication traffic. You may. The communication traffic is specifically the number of calls, the amount of voice data or character data, and the like. When a power outage occurs, it is assumed that the communication traffic will drop below a predetermined threshold value because the base station in the power outage area cannot operate. Therefore, the power failure area can be determined with some accuracy based on the communication traffic.

(5) In the above embodiment, the case where the drone 3 determines the power failure area by itself based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station apparatus 29 will be described as an example. On the other hand, the server computer communicably connected to the drone base station 2 determines the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station device 29 included in the drone 3, and the drone 3 determines the power failure area. You may instruct to fly to.

(6) In the above embodiment, a case where the drone 3 is returned to the original landing platform 20 when the remaining power amount of the battery 30 of the drone 3 is low has been described as an example. On the other hand, the drone base 4 in the uninterruptible area may be flown to the drone base 4 where any other drone 3 has not landed and charged. However, when a plurality of drones 3 are flying, there is a possibility that the drone bases 4 of the flight destinations compete with each other. Therefore, it is desirable to make adjustments so that the drone bases 4 at the flight destination do not compete with each other by performing wireless communication between the drones 3.

(7) In the above embodiment, the drone 3 has been described as an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle, but the unmanned aerial vehicle is not limited to the drone 3 as long as it can provide a base station function in an area where there is a power outage. For example, the unmanned aerial vehicle may be an unmanned helicopter.
The unmanned aerial vehicle is not limited to the one that flies by the electric motor 23 as the power, and may be the one that flies by, for example, a gasoline engine.

(8) In the above embodiment, the case where the drone 3 hovering over the power failure area to provide the base station function has been described as an example, but the drone 3 lands at a high position such as the roof of a building to perform the base station function. May be provided.

(9) In the above embodiment, the case where the battery 30 is non-contact charged has been described as an example, but the battery 30 does not necessarily have to be non-contact charged. For example, if it is equipped with a mechanism that allows the charging connector to be automatically attached and detached without human intervention, it may be charged by contact.

(10) In the above embodiment, a case where the base station function is provided to the power failure area by the drone 3 when the operation of the base station is stopped due to the power failure has been described. On the other hand, there is a possibility that communication will be difficult (in other words, it will be difficult to connect to the phone or the data transfer speed will be significantly reduced) due to a communication failure or concentration of calls for some reason. There is also. In that case, it is possible that the processing capacity of the base station is insufficient. In such a case, the base station may be complemented by flying the drone 3 to an area where communication is difficult to perform and providing the base station function. That is, the drone 3 may provide the base station function at a time other than the time of power failure.

(11) In the above embodiment, the lithium ion secondary battery has been described as an example of the power storage element, but the power storage element may be a capacitor with an electrochemical reaction.

1 Base station system 2 Drone base station (an example of a base station)
3 Drone (an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle)
4 Drone base (an example of base equipment)
23 Electric motor 24 Propeller 25 Control unit 29 Base station equipment (an example of base station function and first base station function of wireless communication network)
33 Power transmission device (example of charging unit)
40 Secondary battery (an example of power storage element)
44 Management unit (example of control unit)
51 Base station equipment (an example of the second base station function)
204 Drone base (an example of base equipment)
304 Drone base (an example of base equipment)

Claims (10)

An unmanned aerial vehicle that has a base station function for wireless communication networks.
Equipped with a control unit
The control unit flies the unmanned aerial vehicle to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station function, and executes a providing process for providing the base station function to the power failure area. .. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1.
The control unit determines the power failure area based on the information received by the base station function in the provision process, and flies the unmanned aerial vehicle to the determined power failure area. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 2.
The information is at least one of voice data of a voice call made via the base station function, character data transmitted and received via the base station function, and an increase or decrease in communication traffic. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 3.
The information is an unmanned aerial vehicle, including location information. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
It has a propeller, an electric motor that rotates the propeller, and a power storage element that supplies electric power to the electric motor.
The control unit
Estimating processing for estimating the remaining power of the power storage element and
A power determination process for determining the amount of electric power required to fly the unmanned aerial vehicle from the power failure area to a place where the power storage element can be charged.
When the remaining power of the power storage element drops to the amount of power determined by the power determination process or the amount of power higher than the amount of power by a predetermined value while the base station function is being provided to the power failure area, the unmanned aircraft is said to be affected. Flight processing to fly to the place and
To run, unmanned aerial vehicles. A base station for wireless communication networks
The unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A base facility with a landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle will land, and
With
The unmanned aerial vehicle has a propeller, an electric motor for rotating the propeller, and a power storage element for supplying electric power to the electric motor.
The base equipment has a charging unit for charging the power storage element, and has a charging unit.
The charging unit is a base station that float-charges the power storage element. The base station according to claim 6.
The charging unit is a base station that non-contactly charges the power storage element. A base station for wireless communication networks
An unmanned aerial vehicle that has the first base station function of the wireless communication network,
A landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, and base equipment having a second base station function of the wireless communication network.
The control unit provided in the base equipment and
With
The control unit instructs the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the second base station function of the base equipment.
The unmanned aerial vehicle is a base station that flies to the power outage area designated by the control unit to provide the first base station function. A base station for wireless communication networks
An unmanned aerial vehicle that has a base station function for wireless communication networks,
A base facility with a landing platform on which the unmanned aerial vehicle will land, and
The control unit provided in the base equipment and
With
The control unit instructs the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the power failure area based on the information about the power failure area received by the base station function of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
The unmanned aerial vehicle is a base station that flies to the power outage area designated by the control unit to provide the base station function. A base station system in which a plurality of base stations according to any one of claims 6 to 9 are dispersedly arranged.

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