JP2023095033A - Voice amplification system using unmanned flight body, unmanned flight body system having plural unmanned flight bodies, and method for amplifying voice - Google Patents

Abstract

To maintain the continuity of voice amplified by an unmanned flight body.SOLUTION: A management device 10 includes: a communication unit for communicating with an unmanned flight body 501 and an unmanned flight body 502 each having a voice amplification device; and a control unit for causing the unmanned flight body 501 and the unmanned flight body 502 to preform a voice amplification operation of amplifying a voice content to a target area and a flying operation. The control unit acquires charge information showing the remaining battery life of the unmanned flight body 501 when flying, acquires voice amplification information of the voice amplification device of the unmanned flight body 501, starts a flying operation of the unmanned flight body 502 according to the charge information, and starts the voice amplification operation of the unmanned flight body 502 on the voice amplification information in the target area instead of the voice amplification operation of the unmanned flight body 501 when flying.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5A

Description

The present disclosure relates to a public address system using unmanned air vehicles, an air vehicle system comprising a plurality of unmanned air vehicles, and a public address method.

Since an unmanned flying object such as a drone flies on the electric power of a battery, there are known methods for coping with the shortage of remaining battery power. Patent Literature 1 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle that is used as an aerial sprayer. The unmanned aerial vehicle is equipped with a charge level detection device that detects the battery charge level. The charge amount detection device calculates a return distance to a predetermined charging position and a possible flight distance based on the charge amount. The unmanned flying object is controlled so that it stops the spraying operation and returns to the charging position within the range of the possible flight distance (see, for example, Patent Document 1 (paragraphs 0010, 0034 to 0035)).

JP 2018-127076 A

It is known to use unmanned aerial vehicles with speakers to amplify audio content. The use of an unmanned aerial vehicle has the advantage of being able to broadcast to areas where speakers cannot be installed or where sound is difficult to hear. However, when the unmanned flying object runs out of battery, it has no choice but to return to a standby location for charging. In that case, since the broadcast is interrupted, the audio content is cut off in the middle. In particular, when the audio content contains important information such as evacuation information, interruption of the broadcast should be avoided.

In view of the above points of view, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a sound amplification system using an unmanned air vehicle, an air vehicle system comprising a plurality of unmanned air vehicles, and an air vehicle system effective in maintaining continuity of sound amplified by the unmanned air vehicle. Provide a method of public address.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a public address system includes a communication unit communicating with a first unmanned flying object and a second unmanned flying object each having a public address device; A control unit that causes the flying object and the second unmanned flying object to perform a loudspeaking operation for amplifying audio content in a target area and a flying operation. The control unit acquires charging information indicating the remaining battery level of a first unmanned air vehicle in flight, acquires loudspeaker information of a loudspeaker device of the first unmanned air vehicle, and controls a second unmanned air vehicle according to the charging information. The flying operation of the flying object is started, and the loudspeaking operation of the second unmanned flying object in flight is started based on the loudspeaking information instead of the loudspeaking operation of the first unmanned flying object in flight in the target area.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, an air vehicle system includes a first unmanned air vehicle and a second unmanned air vehicle. The first unmanned flying object and the second unmanned flying object each include a battery, a loudspeaker device that performs a loudspeaking operation for amplifying audio content, a communication device that can communicate with the other unmanned flying object, a flight operation and a loudspeaking operation. and a control device for controlling the The second unmanned flying object starts flying in the target area according to the charge information indicating the remaining battery level of the first unmanned flying object during flight, receive information; In the target area, the second unmanned aerial vehicle starts a loudspeaking operation based on the loudspeaker information instead of the loudspeaking operation of the first unmanned aerial vehicle during flight.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of public addressing is a method of controlling a first unmanned air vehicle and a second unmanned air vehicle, each having a public address device, to amplify audio content in a target area. The public address method acquires charging information indicating the remaining battery level of a first unmanned air vehicle in flight, acquires public address information of a public address device of the first unmanned air vehicle, and performs a second unmanned aircraft according to the charging information. Starting the flight operation of the flying object, and starting the loudspeaking operation of the second unmanned flying object based on the loudspeaking information instead of the loudspeaking operation of the first unmanned flying object in flight in the target area.

A public address system using an unmanned air vehicle, an air vehicle system comprising a plurality of unmanned air vehicles, and a public address method according to the present disclosure are effective in maintaining continuity of sound amplified by the unmanned air vehicles.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an entire system including an unmanned air vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a management device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 shows an example of the appearance of an unmanned air vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of an unmanned air vehicle according to the present disclosure. 5A is a flowchart showing the operation of the public address system implemented by the management device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5B is a flow chart illustrating a portion of the operation of FIG. 5A. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the flight operation of the unmanned air vehicle according to the operation shown in FIG. 5A. FIG. 7A shows an example of audio content according to this disclosure. FIG. 7B illustrates an example of audio content broadcast by an unmanned air vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7C illustrates another example of broadcasting audio content by an unmanned air vehicle according to this disclosure. 8A is a diagram showing the operation of the aircraft system according to Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 8B is a flow chart showing part of the operation of FIG. 8A.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed description than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known matters and redundant descriptions of substantially the same configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid unnecessary verbosity in the following description and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter thereby.

In the following description, the Z-axis direction indicates the vertical direction of the unmanned air vehicle or the height direction of flight. A plane (XY plane) formed by the X-axis perpendicular to the Z-axis and the Y-axis perpendicular to the Z-axis and the X-axis is a plane parallel to the ground. The “target area” is an area targeted for amplification of audio content by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Each embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

1. Embodiment 1
A loudspeaker system including a management device according to this embodiment is a system that controls flight operations and loudspeaker operations of a plurality of unmanned air vehicles. In the public address system, before the battery of the first unmanned air vehicle in flight that is amplifying the audio content runs out, the second unmanned air vehicle seamlessly repeats the flight and sound amplification operations of the first unmanned air vehicle. take over to

1-1. Configuration 1-1-1. Overall System Configuration FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall system configuration. A management device 10 (an example of a public address system) communicates with a plurality of unmanned air vehicles 50 via a network N. FIG. The network N includes a wired LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless LAN, a WAN (Wide Area Network), and/or the Internet. The network N also includes radio base stations established for each predetermined area. The management device 10 and the plurality of unmanned air vehicles 50 have synchronized time information.

1-1-2. Configuration of Management Apparatus The management apparatus 10 shown in FIG. The control unit 11 is an electronic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 11 (an example of a control unit) operates as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the management device 10 according to various programs in order to execute functions described later. The storage unit 12 (an example of the storage unit) is ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), FeRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), or the like. The ROM, HDD, SSD, FeRAM, and the like store programs used by the control unit 11, calculation parameters, calculation results, and the like. The RAM temporarily stores programs used in executing the functions of the control unit 11, parameters that change as appropriate during the execution, and the like. The communication unit 19 (an example of the communication unit) is, for example, a network interface card for connecting to a wired LAN or the Internet. The communication unit 19 may be a wireless communication interface for connecting to a wireless base station or a communication interface compatible with a wireless LAN.

By executing a predetermined program read from the storage unit 12, the control unit 11 functions as the remaining battery capacity determination unit 111, the flight information acquisition unit 112, the loudspeaker information acquisition unit 113, the flight instruction unit 114, and the loudspeaker instruction unit 115. to run. Each function will be described below using an unmanned flying object 501 in flight and an unmanned flying object 502 that takes over the sound amplification operation of the unmanned flying object 501 as examples.

The remaining battery level determination unit 111 acquires information indicating the remaining battery level (%) transmitted from the unmanned aircraft 501 in flight at predetermined intervals, and determines whether the remaining battery level is less than a predetermined value. The predetermined value is a sufficient remaining amount for the unmanned flying object 501 to return to a standby location equipped with a charging port, etc., and is set in advance. Battery drain is increased by factors such as flying in headwinds, low temperatures, low pressure, and frequency of climb maneuvers. Therefore, it is desirable that the predetermined value used as the determination criterion is a remaining battery level sufficient to return to the standby location even if these factors occur, such as about 30%.

The flight information acquisition unit 112 acquires flight information of the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 . The flight information acquisition section 112 stores the flight information in the flight information storage section 121 of the storage section 12 .

The flight information includes flight information transmitted from the unmanned flying object 501 at predetermined intervals, such as current position information on the flight route of the unmanned flying object 501, flight altitude, flight angle and/or flight speed. The flight information also includes the flight route of the unmanned air vehicle 501 (including the flight altitude on the flight route and the flight altitude; hereinafter referred to as the loudspeaker flight route). The loudspeaker flight route is set in advance and stored in the flight information storage unit 121 . The flight information also includes information indicating handover locations. The handover position is a position where the unmanned flying object 502 runs substantially parallel to the unmanned flying object 501 in flight, and is calculated from the flight information of the unmanned flying object 501 . For example, the handover position is a position selected from positions near the current position of the unmanned flying object 501 within a range where the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 do not collide with each other. For example, the takeover position is a position shifted by a predetermined amount in the lateral direction of the airframe (the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 3) from the current position of the unmanned air vehicle 501 as a reference. This predetermined amount is determined, for example, based on the size of each of the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 in the lateral direction (the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 3). Set to not collide with direction. In order that the altitudes of the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 may substantially match when traveling side by side, the position in the longitudinal direction (the Z-axis direction shown in FIG. is preferably substantially the same as Note that the takeover position is calculated so as not to overlap the loudspeaking direction of the speaker 62 of the unmanned flying object 501 .

The loudspeaker information acquisition unit 113 acquires loudspeaker information from the speaker 62 (an example of a loudspeaker device) of the unmanned flying object 501 or the unmanned flying object 502 . The loudspeaker information acquisition unit 113 stores the loudspeaker information in the loudspeaker information storage unit 122 of the storage unit 12 .

The loudspeaker information includes, for example, the angle of the speaker 62 (hereinafter referred to as the speaker angle), the volume level, and/or the set value of the equalizer. The volume level of the speaker 62 is set based on characteristic information such as the output sound pressure level of the speaker 62 and frequency characteristics. The characteristic information may be stored in the storage unit 12 in advance according to the type of speaker. The speaker angle indicates the speaker angle θ between the Z-axis along the vertical direction of the unmanned flying object 50 and the traveling direction of the unmanned flying object 50, as shown in FIG.

The loudspeaker information also includes audio content information indicating the audio content being loudspeaked by the unmanned air vehicle 501 . The audio content information is information for identifying the audio content being reproduced by the unmanned flying object 501 and being loudly broadcast when the unmanned flying object 501 takes over the broadcast from the unmanned flying object 501, and is the file of the audio file related to the audio content. It is identification information and metadata such as a name and a unique ID.

The loudspeaker information also includes the end position of the voice content loudspeaker by the unmanned air vehicle 501 . The loudspeaker end position is temporal position information related to the audio content at which the unmanned flying object 501 ends sounding so that the unmanned flying object 502 takes over the loudspeaking broadcast. FIG. 7A shows an example of audio content C to be amplified. Audio content C has a predetermined length. The audio content C is divided into content blocks CB, and partition positions P1, P2 . . . have The delimiter position is, for example, the position of a period in a sentence corresponding to the audio of the audio content. An example of the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating one of one or more break positions present in the audio content. The time information indicating the delimiter position is time information indicating the elapsed time from the start (0 minute 00 second) of the audio content to the delimiter position. Another example of the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating the position of the end point of audio content (for example, information indicating 5 minutes and 00 seconds in audio content having a length of 5 minutes and 00 seconds). The loudspeaking time of each content block CB is stored in the storage unit 12 in advance. A sufficient period of time (for example, several seconds) is set for the loudspeaker blank time at the delimiter position so that the sounding operation to be described later can be taken over.

The storage unit 12 has an audio content storage unit 123 that stores audio content. At least one audio content to be loud-broadcast by the unmanned flying object 501 is pre-stored in the audio content storage unit 123 .

The flight instruction unit 114 issues flight instructions to the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 . In particular, the flight instruction unit 114 issues flight instructions to the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 based on the flight information as described later.

The loudspeaker instruction unit 115 issues loudspeaker instructions to the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 . In particular, the loudspeaker instruction unit 115 issues loudspeaker instructions to the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 based on the loudspeaking information, as will be described later.

1-1-3. Configuration of Unmanned Air Vehicle FIG. 3 shows a part of the appearance of the unmanned air vehicle 50 (501, 502), and FIG. An unmanned flying object 50 (an example of an unmanned flying object) is an unmanned aircraft that can be remotely controlled or automatically piloted. and so on. The unmanned air vehicle 50 includes a main body 50a, a plurality of arms 50b extending horizontally and radially from the main body 50a, a plurality of legs 50c extending downward, and a rotor 55 attached to the upper end of each leg 50c. Prepare. The unmanned flying object 50 flies by the lift generated by rotating the rotor blades 55 by the rotation of the motor 56, and by changing the rotation direction of some of the rotor blades 55, reaction is generated, and the main body 50a itself rotates. to prevent A speaker 62 is mounted on the main body 50 a of the unmanned flying object 50 . The speaker 62 has a direction of sound amplification directed downward, and the speaker direction control mechanism 61 can change the speaker angle θ as indicated by an arrow. Thereby, the loudspeaking direction of the speaker 62 can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the unmanned flying object 50 includes a control device 51, a storage device 52, a sensor group 53, a GPS receiver 54, a battery 58, and a wireless communication device for executing flight operations. a device 59; The control device 51 (an example of a control device) is an electronic circuit such as a CPU, functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and controls the unmanned flying object 50 according to various programs in order to execute functions described later. The storage device 52 (an example of a storage device) is a memory such as a ROM, a RAM, or a flash memory. The ROM and flash memory store programs used by the control device 51, calculation parameters, calculation results, and the like. The RAM temporarily stores programs used in executing the functions of the control device 51, parameters that change as appropriate during execution, and the like.

The sensor group 53 includes an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor for detecting acceleration and angular velocity for attitude control of the unmanned flying object 50, an air pressure sensor for detecting the flight altitude of the unmanned flying object 50, and an ultrasonic sensor for maintaining altitude. sensors, a geomagnetic sensor for detecting the orientation of the unmanned air vehicle 50, and the like. GPS receiver 54 includes an antenna and a signal processing unit to receive signals from GPS satellites for detecting position information of unmanned air vehicle 50 .

The battery 58 stores and supplies electric power necessary for operating the unmanned air vehicle 50 . Battery 58 is, for example, a lithium ion polymer secondary battery. When the unmanned flying object 50 returns to the standby location, the battery 58 is connected to a charging port connected to an external power supply and charged under the control of the charging control IC.

The wireless communication device 59 includes a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with the management device 10 and other unmanned flying objects. For example, the wireless communication device 59 uses 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), etc. to communicate with the management device 10 and other unmanned flying objects from a long distance. includes a communication module for cellular communication. For example, the wireless communication device 59 includes a communication module conforming to short-range wireless communication standards such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc., in order to wirelessly communicate with other unmanned air vehicles at short distances. The position information of the unmanned flying object 50 is transmitted to the management device 10 via the wireless communication device 59 at predetermined intervals.

Unmanned air vehicle 50 further includes microphone orientation control mechanism 63 , microphone 64 , camera orientation control mechanism 65 and camera 66 . The microphone 64 can change the sound collection direction by changing the angle in the vertical direction by the microphone direction control mechanism 63 in the same way as the speaker 62 . The camera 66 can change the photographing direction by changing the angle in the vertical direction by the camera direction control mechanism 65 in the same manner as the speaker 62 .

The control device 51 executes the functions of a flight control unit 511, a loudspeaker control unit 512, a sound collection control unit 513, an image control unit 514, and a battery remaining amount measurement unit 515 by executing a program read from the storage device 52. .

The flight control unit 511 controls the rotation speed and rotation speed of the motor 56 according to the flight instructions received from the management device 10 via the wireless communication device 59 and executes the flight operation of the unmanned flying object 50 . Based on the output data from the sensor group 53 and the GPS receiver 54, the flight control unit 511 controls the tilt and rotation of the main body 50a shown in FIG. Get information. The storage device 52 stores programs implementing algorithms for controlling the attitude and basic flight motions of the unmanned air vehicle 50 during flight. The program causes the unmanned air vehicle 50 to fly while correcting the attitude and position of the main body 50a in accordance with the flight instructions received by the wireless communication device 59 . The flight control unit 511 also transmits the flight information (current position information on the loudspeaker flight route, flight altitude, flight angle and/or flight speed, etc.) to the management device 10 at predetermined intervals.

The loudspeaker control unit 512 executes a loudspeaker operation for loudspeaking the audio content according to the loudspeaker instruction from the management device 10 received via the wireless communication device 59 . As an example, the audio content may be pre-stored in the storage device 52 . In this case, the storage device 52 of the unmanned flying object 501 and the storage device 52 of the unmanned flying object 502 may store the same one audio content to be broadcasted, or the same audio content to be broadcasted to each storage device 52 may be stored. A plurality of audio contents may be stored and a selected audio content may be reproduced. As another example, the loudspeaker control unit 512 acquires any one of the one or more audio contents stored in the audio content storage unit 123 of the management device 10, stores the audio content in the storage device 52, and stores the audio content. Audio content stored on device 52 may be played.

In the case of the unmanned flying object 501 returning from the unmanned flying object 50, the sound reinforcement control unit 512 acquires the sound reinforcement end instruction received from the management device 10, specifies the sound reinforcement end position at which the sound reinforcement should end, and A response signal including the identified loudspeaker end position is transmitted to the management device 10 . The loudspeaker control unit 512 ends the audio content being loudspeaked at the same loudspeaker end position. As an example, the loudspeaker control unit 512 specifies an arbitrary delimiter position as the end position of the loudspeaker among the delimiter positions existing temporally after the reproduction position of the audio content being reproduced when the loudspeaker end instruction is acquired. For example, taking the audio content C shown in FIG. 7A as an example, when the loudspeaking end instruction is acquired, if it is being reproduced at a position within the first content block CB, One of the delimiter positions is specified as the loudspeaker end position. For example, the division position P1, which is the closest in time, may be specified as the division position as the loudspeaker end position. Also, for example, considering the time margin before the start of handover, it is preferable to specify the nearest delimiter position existing after a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) from the reproduction position as the loudspeaker end position. As another example, the loudspeaker control unit 512 identifies the end point of the audio content being reproduced at the time when the loudspeaker end instruction is acquired as the loudspeaker end position. In this case, after the audio content has been played to the end, the amplification is taken over.

If the unmanned flying object 50 is the unmanned flying object 502 that takes over the public address operation, the public address control unit 512 executes the public address operation according to the instruction to start public address received from the management device 10 . The loudspeaking start instruction includes the speaker angle θ based on the loudspeaking information from the unmanned flying object 501, the volume level, and/or the set value of the equalizer, and sets the speaker 62 to these parameters. The loudspeaker control unit 512 also refers to the audio content information included in the loudspeaker start instruction to specify the audio content to be handover broadcasted, reads it from the storage device 52, and reproduces it. At this time, the audio content is reproduced from a predetermined temporal position based on the loudspeaking end position included in the loudspeaking start instruction.
The sound collection control unit 513 transmits sounds collected by the microphone 64 to external devices such as the management device 10 and the operation terminal of the unmanned flying object 50 . The image control unit 514 temporarily stores videos and images captured by the camera 66 in the storage device 52 and transmits them to external devices.

The battery remaining amount measurement unit 515 is, for example, a battery remaining amount gauge IC, and measures the battery remaining amount (%) based on the voltage and current of the battery cell. The remaining battery level measurement unit 515 transmits the measured remaining battery level to the management device 10 at predetermined intervals.

1-2. Operation The operation of the management device 10 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. The management device 10 executes control of flight operations and sound reinforcement operations of a plurality of unmanned air vehicles 501 and 502 (FIG. 1).

It is assumed that the unmanned flying object 501 is flying over the target area 100 as shown in FIG. 6(a) and is amplifying the audio content C (FIG. 7A) from the speaker 62 (FIG. 4) (S101). On the other hand, it is assumed that the unmanned flying object 502 is on standby at a standby location and its battery is fully charged. The unmanned flying object 501 flies within the target area 100 according to a predetermined flight route, and reproduces and broadcasts audio content stored in the storage device 52 .

The management device 10 receives flight information and charging information at predetermined intervals from the unmanned flying object 501 (S102, S103). The remaining battery level determination unit 111 of the management device 10 determines whether the remaining battery level is less than a predetermined value based on the charging information (S104). If the remaining battery level is less than the predetermined value, the loudspeaker information acquisition unit 113 requests the unmanned flying object 501 to send loudspeaking information, and the flight instruction unit 114 instructs the unmanned flying object 501 to hover (S105). The unmanned air vehicle 501 hovers (S106). As a result, the battery consumption of the unmanned flying object 501 can be suppressed, and the handover to the unmanned flying object 502, which is about to start flying, can be performed more smoothly.

The flight instruction unit 114 of the management device 10 transmits a flight instruction to the unmanned flying object 502 (S107). Flight instructions include flight information. The flight information includes current position information of the unmanned air vehicle 501 on the flight route, flight altitude, flight angle and/or flight speed, voiced flight route, handover position, and the like. At the same time, the public address information acquisition unit 113 of the management device 10 receives the public address information from the unmanned flying object 501 and transmits it to the unmanned flying object 502 (S108). The loudspeaker information includes the speaker angle θ of the speaker 62, the volume level, and/or the set value of the equalizer. The loudspeaker information also includes audio content information indicating the audio content being broadcast by the unmanned air vehicle 501 .

Upon receiving the flight instruction, the unmanned flying object 502 starts flying in accordance with the flight instruction (S109), and transmits flight information including its own positional information to the management device 10 at predetermined intervals (S110).
In addition, the sound reinforcement control unit 512 of the unmanned air vehicle 502 that has received the sound reinforcement information sets the angle of the speaker 62 of its own aircraft, the sound level, the setting values of the equalizer, etc. according to the sound reinforcement information (S109). The loudspeaker control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 determines whether or not the audio content indicated by the audio content information is stored in the storage device 52, and if it is not stored, communicates with the management device 10 to obtain the audio content information. acquires (downloads) the audio content indicated by from the audio content storage unit 123 and stores it in the storage device 52 . More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5B, the unmanned flying object 502 transmits an audio content request including audio content information to the management device 10 (S109a). In response to the audio content request, the management device 10 identifies the audio content indicated by the audio content information, reads the identified audio content from the audio content storage unit 123, and transmits it to the unmanned air vehicle 502 (S109b, S109c). The unmanned air vehicle 502 stores the received audio content in the storage device 52 (S109d).

The flight instruction unit 114 of the management device 10 determines that the unmanned flying object 502 has reached the takeover position based on the position information transmitted from the unmanned flying object 502 (S111). In accordance with this determination, the unmanned air vehicle 502 is instructed to hover (S112). In response to the hovering instruction, the unmanned air vehicle 502 performs hovering (S113). As a result, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 run substantially side by side in the target area.

When the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 are in a state of running substantially side by side, the preparation for taking over the broadcast is completed. The loudspeaker instruction unit 115 of the management device 10 transmits a loudspeaker termination instruction to the unmanned flying object 501 (S114). Upon receiving the loudspeaking end instruction, the loudspeaking control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 501 identifies the end position of the sound reinforcement of the audio content currently being reproduced (for example, the delimiter positions P1 and P2 or the end position), and The audio content is reproduced and broadcast, and then the broadcast ends (S115). The loudspeaker control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 501 transmits the specified loudspeaker end position to the management device 10 (S116). Upon receiving the sound reinforcement end position, the sound reinforcement instruction unit 115 of the management device 10 transmits a sound reinforcement start instruction including the sound reinforcement end position to the unmanned flying object 502 (S117).
Upon receiving the loudspeaking start instruction, the loudspeaking control unit 512 of the unmanned air vehicle 502 reads out the audio content from the storage device 52 and starts amplifying the audio content based on the loudspeaking end position included in the loudspeaking start instruction (S118). . In step S<b>118 , when a plurality of audio contents are stored in the storage device 52 , the loudspeaker control unit 512 refers to the audio content information, specifies the audio content indicated by the audio content information, and reads it from the storage device 52 . Also, in step S118, the loudspeaker control unit 512 preferably starts playing the audio content from a time position adjacent to the time position indicated by the loudspeaker end position. That is, as an example, if the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the reproduction of the audio content may be started from the time point of 2 minutes and 31 seconds. As another example, if the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating the end point (5 minutes and 00 seconds) of the audio content with a length of 5 minutes, the audio content is played back from the beginning of the audio content at 0 minutes and 00 seconds. should be started. The unmanned air vehicle 502 starts sound reinforcement and normal flight along the sound reinforcement flight route (S119). As a result, for example, when the loudspeaking end position is the delimiting position P1 shown in FIG. 7A, as shown in FIG. Body 502 takes over the loudspeaker saying, "Today is the election day for the □□ city mayoral election. Voting time is until 8:00 pm." When the loudspeaking end position is P2, as shown in FIG. 7C, the unmanned flying object 501 loudly announces, "Notice from XX. Today is the election day for the XX city mayoral election." The unmanned flying object 502 takes over the loudspeaker saying, "Voting time is until 8:00 pm...".

The flight instruction unit 114 of the management device 10 transmits a return instruction to the unmanned air vehicle 501 (S120). In response to this, the unmanned flying object 501 flies to the standby location along a predetermined return route (S121). As a result, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the unmanned flying object 502 takes the place of the unmanned flying object 501 and performs flight and loudspeaking operations in the target area. The return route may be instructed from the management device 10 to the unmanned flying object 501 in advance, or may be a route calculated according to a flight route previously stored by the unmanned flying object 501 .

As in steps S102 and S103, the management device 10 receives flight information and charging information at predetermined intervals from the unmanned air vehicle 502 during flight and loudspeaking operation (S122, S123). When the remaining battery level of unmanned flying object 502 becomes less than a predetermined value, management device 10 performs a handover operation to another unmanned flying object (including fully charged unmanned flying object 501).

1-3. Features The management device 10 or the loudspeaking method according to the above-described embodiment acquires charging information indicating the remaining battery level of the unmanned flying object 501 in flight in the target area, and according to the remaining battery level, to initiate flight motion. The management device 10 further acquires the loudspeaker information of the speaker 62 of the unmanned flying object 501, and in the target area, replaces the loudspeaking operation of the unmanned flying object 501 in flight with the sound amplification operation of the unmanned flying object 502 based on the loudspeaking information. let it start. Therefore, it is possible to avoid not only the flight operation but also the loudspeaking operation from being interrupted due to the unmanned flying object 501 running out of battery. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the continuity of the sound amplified by the unmanned flying object in the target area.

In addition, the unmanned flying object 502 takes over the flight information (including the flight altitude and flight route) of the unmanned flying object 501, and also the loudspeaker information of the speaker 62 (volume level, speaker angle, characteristic information, and loudspeaking end position of the audio content). ) are also inherited, the flight operation and the sound amplification operation can be executed seamlessly between the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 .

Furthermore, since the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 take over the sound amplification operation in a state where the positions including the flight altitude are aligned, unnatural interruption or duplication of the sound amplification of the audio content in the target area can be prevented. can be suppressed.

1-4. Modified Example The management device 10 may configure a system (an example of a loudspeaker system) that can be connected to an operation terminal (not shown) of each unmanned air vehicle. The operation terminal is a computer terminal that can communicate with the management device 10 via the network N. FIG. Each operation terminal mediates communication between the management device 10 and the unmanned air vehicle 50 . The user can also directly operate the unmanned flying object 50 to fly or amplify voices using input means such as buttons, joysticks, and touch panels provided on the operation terminal.

2. Embodiment 2
This embodiment relates to an aircraft system comprising a plurality of unmanned flying objects, and is an autonomous system in which the first and second unmanned flying objects communicate with each other and take over the flight operation and sound reinforcement operation between the unmanned flying objects. It differs from the first embodiment in one point.

2-1. Configuration The appearance and configuration of each unmanned air vehicle according to the present embodiment are the same as those of the unmanned air vehicle 50 shown in FIGS.
2-2. Operation The operation of the aircraft system 500 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. The air vehicle system 500 includes an unmanned air vehicle 501 and an unmanned air vehicle 502 shown in FIG. It is assumed that the unmanned flying object 501 is flying over the target area 100 as shown in FIG. 6A and is amplifying the audio content C from the speaker 62 (S201). Also, it is assumed that the unmanned flying object 502 is on standby at a standby location and the battery is fully charged. It is also assumed that the management device 10 has acquired position information of the unmanned air vehicle in flight. The unmanned flying object 501 flies within the target area 100 according to a predetermined flight route, and reproduces and broadcasts audio content stored in the storage device 52 .

The remaining battery level measuring unit 515 of the control device 51 of the unmanned flying object 501 determines whether the remaining battery level is less than a predetermined value (S202), and if it is less than the predetermined value, notifies the management device 10 (S203). . In response to the notification (S203), the management device 10 transmits a flight instruction to the unmanned flying object 502 on standby (S204). The flight instructions include a handover position based on current position information of unmanned air vehicle 501 .

The unmanned flying object 501 whose remaining battery level is less than a predetermined level hovers (S205). On the other hand, the unmanned air vehicle 502 that has received the flight instruction starts flying according to the flight instruction (S206). When the unmanned flying object 502 arrives at or near the takeover position (S207), it hovers (S208) and starts communicating with the unmanned flying object 501 (S209). Specifically, when the unmanned flying object 501 starts hovering in step S205, it enters a state of waiting for communication with another unmanned flying object by short-range wireless communication using the wireless communication device 59, and the unmanned flying object 502 When hovering is started in step S208, the wireless communication device 59 is used to search for another unmanned air vehicle. As a result, in step S209, the unmanned flying object 502 discovers the unmanned flying object 501 through short-range wireless communication, and the unmanned flying object 501 and the unmanned flying object 502 are interconnected to enable mutual communication. For example, after starting hovering (S205), unmanned flying object 501 periodically transmits a signal defined by the short-range wireless communication standard, and unmanned flying object 502 periodically transmits after starting hovering (S208). Then, the unmanned flying object 502 receives the signal sent from the unmanned flying object 501 and establishes a connection (S209). For the periodically transmitted signal, for example, according to the wireless LAN standard, the unmanned flying object 501 may serve as an access point to periodically transmit a beacon signal, and the unmanned flying object 502 may scan for the beacon signal. For example, according to the Bluetooth standard, unmanned flying object 501 may periodically transmit advertising signals, and unmanned flying object 502 may scan for advertising signals.

When wireless communication with the unmanned flying object 502 is established (S209), the unmanned flying object 501 transmits its own flight information and loudspeaker information to the unmanned flying object 502 (S210). The flight information includes the current flight altitude, flight speed, flight angle, and voiced flight route (including flight speed and flight altitude on the voiced flight route) of the unmanned air vehicle 501, and the like. The loudspeaker information includes audio content information indicating the audio content being broadcast by the unmanned air vehicle 501, speaker angles, volume levels, and/or equalizer setting values. The unmanned flying object 502 takes over from the unmanned flying object 501 according to the received flight information and loudspeaker information and performs preparatory operations for performing loudspeaker broadcasting (S211). In step S211, the flight control unit 511 of the unmanned flying object 502 adjusts its own flight altitude and flight angle to those of the unmanned flying object 501 according to the flight information. In step S211, the loudspeaker control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 adjusts the angle of its own speaker 62, volume level, equalizer settings, etc. according to the loudspeaker information. In step S211, the sound amplification control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 determines whether or not the audio content indicated by the audio content information is stored in the storage device 52. The audio content is acquired from the flying object 501 . More specifically, when acquiring audio content from the management device 10, as shown in FIG. (S109a to S109d). When acquiring audio content from the unmanned flying object 501, as shown in FIG. 8B, the unmanned flying object 502 transmits an audio content request including audio content information to the unmanned flying object 501 by short-range wireless communication (S211a). . In response to the voice content request, the unmanned flying object 501 specifies the voice content indicated by the voice content information, reads out the specified voice content from the voice content storage unit 123 of its own device, 502 (S211b, S211c). The unmanned air vehicle 502 stores the received audio content in its own storage device 52 (S211d).
When the unmanned flying object 502 completes preparations for sound reinforcement according to the flight information and the sound reinforcement information (S211), the unmanned flying object 502 notifies the unmanned flying object 501 by short-range wireless communication (S212).

Upon receiving a notification from the unmanned flying object 502 that the sound reinforcement preparation is completed, the sound reinforcement control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 501 sets the sound reinforcement end position (for example, the delimiter positions P1 and P2 or the end position) of the audio content currently being reproduced. The audio contents are reproduced and broadcast up to this loudspeaker end position, and the broadcast ends there (S213). The loudspeaker control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 501 transmits a loudspeaking start instruction including the identified sound amplification end position to the unmanned flying object 502 by short-range wireless communication (S214). The sound amplification control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 receives the sound amplification start instruction, reads the audio content from the storage device 52, and starts sound amplification of the sound content based on the sound amplification end position included in the sound amplification start instruction (S215). In step S215, when a plurality of audio contents are stored in the storage device 52, the sound amplification control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 refers to the audio content information, identifies the audio content indicated by the audio content information, and stores the audio content in the storage device. 52. Also, in step S215, the sound reinforcement control unit 512 of the unmanned flying object 502 may start playing the audio content from a time position adjacent to the time position indicated by the sound reinforcement end position. That is, as an example, if the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the reproduction of the audio content may be started from the time point of 2 minutes and 31 seconds. As another example, if the loudspeaker end position is time information indicating the end point (5 minutes and 00 seconds) of the audio content with a length of 5 minutes, the audio content is played back from the beginning of the audio content at 0 minutes and 00 seconds. should be started. The unmanned air vehicle 502 starts sound reinforcement and normal flight along the sound reinforcement flight route (S216). As a result, for example, when the loudspeaking end position is P1 shown in FIG. 7A, as shown in FIG. "Today is the election day for the □□ city mayoral election. Voting time is until 8:00 pm."

The unmanned air vehicle 501, which has finished sounding, returns to the standby location along a predetermined return route (S217).
When the battery of the unmanned flying object 502 during flight and loudspeaking operation falls below a predetermined value, the management device 10 transmits flight instructions to other unmanned flying objects (including the unmanned flying object 501 that has finished charging), and similar handover is performed. Action is performed.

2-3. Features The flying object system 500 or the sound reinforcement method according to the present embodiment includes an unmanned flying object 501 and an unmanned flying object 502 that can communicate with each other. The unmanned flying object 502 starts a flight operation in the target area according to the charging information indicating the remaining amount of the battery of the unmanned flying object 501 during flight, receives the loudspeaker information of the speaker 62 of the unmanned flying object 501, and In the area, instead of the sound reinforcement operation of the unmanned air vehicle 501 in flight, the sound reinforcement operation is started based on the sound reinforcement information. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the flying vehicle system 500 can maintain the continuity of the voice amplified by the unmanned flying vehicle in the target area. Further, the flying vehicle system 500 can be realized by an unmanned flying object 501 and an unmanned flying object 502 that fly autonomously without the management device 10 .

3. Other Embodiments As described above, each embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. are made as appropriate. Further, it is also possible to combine the constituent elements described in the above embodiments to form a new embodiment. For example, the following embodiments are conceivable.

(1) In the above embodiment, three or more unmanned air vehicles may perform the takeover operation of the flight operation and the sound amplification operation.

(2) In the above embodiment, the charge information is the remaining battery charge, but the present invention is not limited to this. The charge information may be replaced with the flight time of the unmanned air vehicle 50 that correlates with the remaining battery level. In this case, a flight time during which safe flight is sustainable (hereinafter referred to as a flight time limit) is set in advance based on past flight record data of the unmanned air vehicle 50 and the like. In Embodiment 1, in place of steps S103 and S104 in FIG. 5A, management device 10 that manages the flight of unmanned flying object 501 monitors the flight time of unmanned flying object 501, and when the flight time limit is reached, , a loudspeaker information request and a hovering instruction are transmitted to the unmanned flying object 501 (S105). In Embodiment 2, instead of steps S202 to S203 in FIG. 8A, unmanned flying object 501 monitors its own flight time, and when the flight time limit is reached, notifies management device 10, and management device 10 A flight instruction is transmitted to the unmanned air vehicle 502 (S204).

It should be noted that the predetermined value of remaining battery capacity or the flight limit time, which is the criterion for determining whether the unmanned flying object 501 should return, may be changed according to the return distance to the standby location. In this case, the management device 10 in the first embodiment and the unmanned flying object 501 in the second embodiment calculate a predetermined value of the remaining battery capacity and the flight limit time based on the current position information, and to update and store.

(3) In the above embodiment, the unmanned flying objects 501 and 502 hover when taking over the sound amplification operation, but the present invention is not limited to this. The unmanned aerial vehicle 501 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 502 may take over the loudspeaking operation while running side by side at the same low flight speed (eg, 5 km/h).
(4) In the above embodiments, the audio content to be amplified may be Japanese audio content or audio content in a language other than Japanese. Also, the audio content may include audio content in Japanese and audio content in a language other than Japanese. In this case, audio contents in other languages may be amplified along with the audio contents in Japanese.

(5) In the above embodiments, each device or system can have a cloud computing configuration in which one function is shared by a plurality of devices via a network and processed jointly.

In the above embodiments, the device or system includes a set of multiple components (devices, modules (parts), etc.), and it does not matter whether all the components are in the same housing. . A plurality of devices housed in separate housings and connected via a network, and a single device housing a plurality of modules in one housing are both referred to as a system. In some cases.

Each step described in the flowchart above can be executed by a single device, or can be shared by a plurality of devices and executed. Furthermore, when one step includes a plurality of processes, the plurality of processes included in the one step can be executed by one device or shared by a plurality of devices.

5A and B or FIGS. 8A and B. The execution order of operations by the management device 10, the flying vehicle system 500, or the loudspeaker method is not necessarily limited to the description of the above embodiments, and departs from the gist of the invention. It is possible to change the execution order and execute multiple actions at the same time as long as it is not necessary.

(6) In the above embodiments, the control unit or control device of each device or device is a dedicated electronic circuit designed to achieve a predetermined function according to the function required for each device or device. may include a processor composed of Also, the control unit or control device can be realized by various processors such as MPU, GPU, DSP, FPGA, and ASIC. A controller or controller may be comprised of one or more processors.

Depending on the functions required for each device or device, any computer-readable recording medium, such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a magneto-optical disk , magnetic tape, HDD, SD card, SSD, or the like.

The communication unit or communication device of each device or device can use any communication interface, such as wireless LAN, wired LAN, 3G, LTE, 4G, 5G, millimeter wave wireless, depending on the function required for each device or device. It may be a communication interface for communication. Preferably, the unmanned flying object 50 and the management device 10 communicate with each other by cellular communication such as 3G, LTE, 4G, 5G, etc., which can perform long-distance communication, and the unmanned flying objects 50 communicate with each other over short distances. is sufficient, it is preferable to perform communication according to short-range wireless communication standards such as wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and Zigbee.

(7) The computer program is not limited to being recorded on a recording medium, and may be acquired via the communication unit or communication device.

Each process of the above embodiment may be realized by hardware, or by software (including cases where it is realized together with an OS (operating system), middleware, or a predetermined library). Furthermore, each process may be realized by mixed processing of software and hardware.

The present disclosure is applicable as a public address system using unmanned air vehicles, an air vehicle system comprising multiple unmanned air vehicles, or a public address method using unmanned air vehicles.

10: Management device 11: Control unit 12: Storage unit 19: Communication units 50, 501, 502: Unmanned flying object 50a: Main body 50b: Arm 50c: Leg 51: Control device 52: Storage device 53: Sensor group 54: GPS Receiver 55 : Rotor 56 : Motor 58 : Battery 59 : Wireless communication device 61 : Speaker direction control mechanism 62 : Speaker 63 : Microphone direction control mechanism 64 : Microphone 65 : Camera direction control mechanism 66 : Camera 100 : Target area 111 : Battery level determination unit 112 : flight information acquisition unit 113 : loudspeaker information acquisition unit 114 : flight instruction unit 115 : loudspeaker instruction unit 121 : flight information storage unit 122 : loudspeaker information storage unit 500 : aircraft system 511 : flight control unit 512 : Loudspeaker control unit 513 : Sound collection control unit 514 : Image control unit 515 : Battery level measurement unit C : Audio content CB : Content block N : Network

Claims (9)

a communication unit that communicates with a first unmanned air vehicle and a second unmanned air vehicle, each having a loudspeaker;
a control unit that causes the first unmanned flying object and the second unmanned flying object to perform a loudspeaking operation for amplifying audio content in a target area and a flying operation;
A public address system comprising:
The control unit
obtaining charging information indicating the remaining battery level of the first unmanned air vehicle in flight;
Acquiring loudspeaker information from a loudspeaker device of the first unmanned air vehicle;
starting a flight operation of the second unmanned air vehicle according to the charging information;
In the target area, instead of the sound amplification operation of the first unmanned air vehicle during flight, the sound amplification operation of the second unmanned air vehicle is started based on the sound reinforcement information.
loudspeaker system. The control unit
obtaining flight information including at least one of flight altitude and flight speed of the first unmanned air vehicle;
executing a flight operation of the second unmanned air vehicle based on the flight information;
A public address system according to claim 1. the flight information includes a flight altitude of the first unmanned air vehicle;
The control unit causes the second unmanned air vehicle to fly at the flight altitude when starting the sound amplification operation of the second unmanned air vehicle.
3. A public address system according to claim 2. The public address information includes at least one of the angle of the public address device, the volume level, and the setting value of the equalizer.
A public address system according to claim 1. the amplification information includes an end position of the amplification of the audio content by the first unmanned air vehicle;
When starting the sound amplification operation of the second unmanned air vehicle, the control unit starts sound amplification of the audio content from the sound amplification end position.
A public address system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The control unit causes the first unmanned flying object to return from the target area to a standby location after starting the sound amplification operation of the second unmanned flying object.
A public address system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The charging information is the remaining battery capacity or a flight time limit of the first unmanned air vehicle correlated with the remaining battery capacity,
A public address system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. An air vehicle system comprising a first unmanned air vehicle and a second unmanned air vehicle,
Each of the first unmanned air vehicle and the second unmanned air vehicle,
a battery;
a loudspeaker device that performs a loudspeaking operation for loudspeaking audio content;
a communication device capable of communicating with the other unmanned air vehicle;
a control device that controls the flight operation and the loudspeaking operation;
with
The second unmanned air vehicle,
starting a flight operation in a target area in accordance with charging information indicating the remaining amount of the battery of the first unmanned air vehicle during flight;
receiving loudspeaker information from a loudspeaker device of the first unmanned air vehicle;
In the target area, instead of the loudspeaking operation of the first unmanned air vehicle in flight, a loudspeaking operation is started based on the loudspeaking information.
aircraft system. A public address method for controlling a first unmanned flying object and a second unmanned flying object, each having a public address device, to amplify audio content in a target area, comprising:
obtaining charging information indicating the remaining battery level of the first unmanned air vehicle in flight;
Acquiring loudspeaker information from a loudspeaker device of the first unmanned air vehicle;
starting a flight operation of the second unmanned air vehicle according to the charging information;
In the target area, instead of the sound amplification operation of the first unmanned air vehicle during flight, the sound amplification operation of the second unmanned air vehicle is started based on the sound reinforcement information.
method of public address, including

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