JP3022979B2 - Unmanned helicopter control system - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for an unmanned helicopter, and in particular, in a case where automatic control is combined with manual control, a flight attitude can be stabilized and a quick turning operation can be performed. The present invention relates to an improvement in a method of mixing pilot command signals.

[Conventional technology]

In a remote-controlled unmanned helicopter, the altitude, azimuth, etc. of the helicopter are remotely controlled by a pilot command signal from a pilot. In order to facilitate the control, various sensors are mounted. In some cases, a method of automatically controlling the output to be a predetermined target value is added. This is configured to obtain an automatic control signal for reducing a deviation between a detection value from a sensor and a preset target value to zero, thereby controlling various servomotors of the helicopter.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The above-described conventional automatic control device automatically stabilizes the flight attitude, thereby facilitating maneuvering. However, although it is preferable to consider only the flight attitude stabilization, the pilot command signal is suppressed by the automatic control signal, and it is difficult to quickly change the direction required when, for example, spraying pesticides.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a helicopter control device capable of performing quick control while facilitating control.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention relates to an automatic control system mounted on a helicopter for controlling the attitude, altitude, etc. of the helicopter based on an automatic control signal including a preset target altitude control signal, and a pilot command by a stick operation of a ground driver. A manual control system that controls based on signals, in a steering device of a remote-controlled unmanned helicopter that performs manual independent control by the manual control system or combined control by both control systems, in the combined control, The altitude at the time of the transition from the manual control to the synthetic control is used as the target altitude control signal, the pilot gain of the pilot command signal is set to be larger than the target gain of the target altitude control signal, and the pilot command signal is changed. If the amount is equal to or more than a certain value, the detected altitude signal is added to the target altitude control signal, and the signal is multiplied by the target gain. Over limiter, in the manual alone control, it is characterized by issuing an alarm when the stick is manipulated more than a predetermined value from the stick position at the time the synthesis control transfer.

Here, the automatic control signal is set so as to keep altitude, azimuth, and the like at constant values, and the pilot command signal is set so as to wait for a transient direction change, emergency avoidance, and the like.
Then, as a method of increasing the pilot command signal during the synthesis control, a method of increasing the gain of the pilot command signal or decreasing the gain of the automatic control signal can be adopted. The transition to the above state is performed at the start of the combining control or at the time of shifting to the combining control and when the pilot command signal becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value.

[Action]

According to the helicopter control device of the present invention, for example, when the pilot command signal is not input or is small when using synthetic resin, the automatic control signal is supplied to the servomotor as it is, and the altitude, azimuth, etc. are maintained at constant values. Is controlled. Therefore, normal control is automatically performed, and steering is easy.

On the other hand, when the pilot command signal is supplied during the synthesis control, or when the pilot command signal is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the pilot command signal is amplified to such an extent that a response delay occurs in the automatic control signal and then supplied to the servomotor. Is not canceled out by the automatic control signal, and, for example, the altitude, the azimuth, etc. change promptly according to the intention of the driver, and the steering response is improved.

Also, in the manual single control, an alarm is issued when the above-mentioned stick is operated by a ground operator by a predetermined value or more from the stick position at the time of the transition to the synthetic control. By operating the stick to a position where no sticking occurs and then shifting to manual single control, fluctuations in altitude and the like can be prevented.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 are views for explaining a helicopter control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus, FIG. 2 is a flowchart, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view and a plan view of a helicopter provided with the device, and FIGS. 5 to 9 are views showing main parts.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a helicopter, and a body 22 of the helicopter includes a large-diameter front body portion 22a and a rear body portion 22b, and a leg portion 23 for supporting the helicopter 21 is provided on the front body portion 22a. 24
Is a main rotor, 25 is a tail rotor, 26 is a pesticide spraying device, 7d is a direction sensor, and 27 is a ground distance sensor. The ground distance sensor 27 is provided with a detachable lens filter 27a to prevent pesticides from adhering to the lens and facilitate cleaning.

The lens filter 27a is made of polycarbonate, and an optical blocking member 27d is provided at a position between the light projector 27b and the light receiver 27c. This blocking member 27d is provided to prevent light emitted from the light emitter 27b from entering the light receiver 27c through the thickness of the filter and malfunctioning even when the surface of the filter 27a is contaminated with pesticides or the like. It is.

The ground distance sensor 27 has a rubber joint 29 at the left and right portions of the upper surface of a case 28 that accommodates the sensor.
And is suspended from the bracket 30 through the bracket. Here, the rubber joint 29 is for isolating vibration to the sensor 27 and holding the sensor 27 in a vertical state by its own weight even when the body 22 is inclined.

A control device including an altitude control device 1, an engine speed control device 2, and an azimuth control device 3 is mounted in the front body portion 22a. Each of the devices 1 to 3 detects a detected altitude, an engine rotational speed, an azimuth, and the like.
An automatic control system for automatically controlling according to target automatic control signals A to C), and pilot command signals a to c from the pilot supplied from the pilot via the pilot 9 and the receiver 10.
And a manual control system for manually controlling the altitude and the like according to the vehicle speed.

Here, the airframe 22 is provided with a blinking lamp 31 for notifying a pilot of a failure in the automatic control system. The ramps 31 are provided at two locations, a right front and a left rear, so that the pilot can be located at any position from the fuselage. In addition,
When the control device becomes abnormal, the control device may detect the abnormality and automatically turn off the control, and perform only the manual control so as to prevent a malfunction even in the case of a failure.

Even when the signal from the altitude sensor is lost, the control can be continued without any trouble by storing the immediately preceding data.

1a to 1c, 2a to 2c, and 3a to 3c are changeover switches, 5a
To 5c are collective servo motors for advanced control,
An engine control motor for controlling the number of revolutions of the engine, a ladder servomotor for controlling the azimuth, 6a to 6c are collective drive systems, engine drive systems, and ladder drive systems, 7a to 7d are various sensors, and 8a to 8d are filters. G1 ~ G4, Km, K1 ~
K3 is a gain. Here, the pilot side gain Km is set to such an extent that the pilot command signals a to c are not canceled by the target automatic control signals A to C or to such an extent that a response delay occurs in the target automatic control signals A to C. The gain is set to be larger than the target gains G1 to G4.

 Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

When the control on / off switching signal is off, that is, in the case of independent control in which only manual control is performed, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 1, only the switches 1b, 2b, and 3b are on, and the other switches are off. . Therefore, in each of the control devices 1, 2, and 3,
Each of the target automatic control signals A to C becomes zero, and each of the pilot command signals a, b, and c is directly used as an operation amount for each servo motor 5a.
5c, so that each control is performed by each pilot command signal.

When the control ON / OFF switching signal is ON, that is, during the combined control in which the automatic control is combined with the manual control, the changeover switches 1a, 1c, 2a, 2c, 3a, 3c are turned ON. Then, in the altitude control device 1, the altitude sensor 7b is added to the target altitude control signal A.
Then, the feedback signal fed back through the filter 8b is added, and this is multiplied by G1. When the amount of change of the pilot collective signal a exceeds a certain value, a limiter is applied. Then, this control signal is applied to the acceleration sensor 7a.
After passing through the filter 8a, the feedback signal multiplied by G2 is added, and a signal obtained by multiplying the pilot collective signal a by Km is added to the feedback signal, and this operation amount is supplied to the collective servo motor 5a, and The altitude is controlled in accordance with the target altitude control signal A and the pilot collective signal a.

Since the pilot collective signal a is added after being multiplied by Km, the target altitude control signal A is added to the altitude sensor 7b.
Is not canceled out by the signal obtained by adding the detected altitude signal from the controller and multiplying by the gain G1, so that an operation promptly corresponding to the intention of the pilot can be obtained. Also, when the variation of the pilot command signal exceeds a certain value, the detected altitude signal is added to the target altitude control signal A, and the limiter is applied to the signal obtained by multiplying the gain G1. The operation by the signal becomes quick. Since the signal obtained by processing the acceleration signal detected by the acceleration sensor 7a is added to the target altitude control signal A, it is possible to prevent unnecessary movement of the helicopter caused by detecting minute irregularities on the ground.

When the aircraft 22 is inclined, the ground distance sensor 27
An altitude greater than the actual altitude is output by detecting the distance oblique to the ground. As a result, control is performed in a direction to lower the altitude of the body 22. Therefore, the inclination θ of the body 22
Is obtained by the attitude sensor, and the detection output of the altitude sensor 27 is 1 / cos
It is desirable to obtain the true altitude by multiplying θ. Further, in this embodiment, since the ground distance sensor 27 is mounted by the rubber joints 29, 29 at two points, when the fuselage 22 is tilted, the sensor is relatively tilted with the tilt of the fuselage due to the weight of the sensor 27. Is tilted in the opposite direction, that is, it keeps the vertical state, so that the measurement error is small.

In the engine speed control device 2, the detected speed signal is added to the target speed control signal B, and the signal obtained by multiplying the detected speed signal by G3 is added by the value obtained by multiplying the pilot encon command signal b by Km. Encon servomotor 5b controls the engine speed accordingly. Therefore, also in this case, the engine speed control corresponding to the driver's intention is performed promptly.
Further, here, a value obtained by multiplying the control signal C1 of the altitude control by K1 is added to the control signal, so that feedforward control becomes possible, and the responsiveness is further improved.

Here, the optimum engine speed is determined for each aircraft, but the engine speed at the start of automatic control is generally not the optimum engine speed. Therefore, the engine speed can be smoothly set to the optimum speed by gradually approaching the target speed to the optimum speed from the start of the control.
In this case, the altitude is maintained at a constant value by changing the engine speed and adjusting the pitch angle of the rotor.

In the azimuth control device 3, after adding the output from the azimuth sensor 7d to the target azimuth control signal C, a value obtained by multiplying the pilot ladder signal c by Km is added, and the azimuth is controlled by the operation amount. In addition, since the control amount C1 of the altitude control is multiplied by K2 and the control amount of the rotation control C2 is multiplied by K3, feedforward control is possible, and in this case also, the pilot will respond promptly to the will. The azimuth control is performed.

Here, a sensor using a flux gate is adopted as the azimuth sensor 7d, which detects terrestrial magnetism to know its azimuth. This geomagnetism usually has a dip determined by the location, and the magnetic azimuth sensor normally measures the vector quantity of a geomagnetic vector projected on a horizontal plane (sensor installation surface) to detect the azimuth. For this reason, when the surface on which the sensor is installed is inclined, the amount of projection of geomagnetism changes, and an error occurs in the detection direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, this error is detected by the following method.

When the magnetic azimuth sensor rotates on a horizontal plane (when no error occurs), the amount of geomagnetic vector projected on that surface always becomes a constant value. However, when the magnetic direction sensor deviates from the horizontal plane and tilts, the projected amount changes. For this reason, the projected geomagnetism detected by the sensor is measured, and if this is too large or too small as compared to that projected on a normal horizontal plane, it can be understood that the sensor is tilted. Accordingly, by determining the magnitude of the projected geomagnetism, the occurrence of an error due to the inclination of the sensor can be detected. At this time, the influence of this error can be reduced by reducing the control gain G4.

In addition, when it is known that the inclination of the sensor occurs in only one direction depending on the use method, for example, when it is known that only the pitch is increased only in the forward / backward direction in pesticide spraying, the direction in which the inclination changes. The projected magnitude of the vector changes, but the direction in which the inclination does not change, that is, the projected magnitude of the vector in the lateral direction of the aircraft does not change. Therefore, by using only the value that does not change, in this case, the vector projection value in the lateral direction of the aircraft, azimuth detection without error can be performed.

Also the stick position on steering unit 9 at the time of starting the automatic control (during synthesis control transition) and theta _o, subsequent operator of the automatic control device also only deviation occurs Δθ to stick position by the stick operation this The helicopter keeps the altitude and attitude at target values. If the control is shifted to the manual single control in this state, the above compensation is lost, and the altitude of the helicopter may be changed. This problem is stick position at the time of a single control migration can be prevented if in the vicinity of θ _o.

So stores the stick position theta _o in the synthesis control proceeds in advance so as to sound a beep when a predetermined amount stick is operated from this position. The buzzer sound in this case is constituted by an intermittent sound so as to be transmitted to the operator even in a noise environment such as a helicopter engine sound. The operator can operate the stick to a position where the buzzer does not sound at the time of the transition to the single control, and then the transition can be made to prevent the above problem.

At the time of transition to the single control, the command value may be gradually changed from _θo to the stick position at the time of the transition.

Each operation of the apparatus of the present embodiment can be programmed by a microcomputer, and this processing operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2 showing a flowchart.

When the program starts, the above pilot command signals a to c and the automatic control on / off signal are read (step S1), and the detection signals from the sensors 7a to 7d are read,
Filtering is performed, and it is determined whether the control is manual manual control or composite control, or whether the transition from single control to composite control is performed, based on the ON / OFF state of the control switch (step S3).
In the case of transition from single to synthetic, the altitude at that time,
The azimuth is set to the target value A (step S4), and then the control amount is calculated (step S5). When the control ON / OFF signal is ON, it is determined that the control is the synthesis control, and the target altitude signal A is determined.
From the detected altitude signal and the detected altitude signal, the altitude control amount is immediately calculated, and for example, when the negative displacement amount of the throttle stick of the pilot 9 is equal to or more than a certain value, a mode determination for determining the landing mode is made (steps S5 and S6). In the case of the landing mode, the altitude control amount is narrowed by the limiter (step S7), and in the case of the non-landing mode, the control amount of the engine speed and the control amount of the azimuth are immediately calculated, and each pilot command signal is converted to Km. The control amount is added to each pilot command signal, and the added operation amount is output to each servomotor (steps S8 to S12).

Then, in step S3, when the control on / off signal is off and the control is not the combined control, that is, when it is determined that the manual control is solely performed, all control amounts are set to zero, and each pilot command signal is added thereto, This operation amount is output to each servomotor (steps S13, S11, S12).

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the case of the combined control, the pilot command signal multiplied by each Km is added to each calculated control amount, and this is set as the operation amount. , Automatic control is performed so that the azimuth becomes the target value, so that the flying attitude can be easily stabilized. On the other hand, when a pilot command signal is given, a value multiplied by Km is added to the automatic control signal, so that the pilot command signal is not canceled by the automatic control signal and reacts sensitively to the pilot's will. This makes it possible to quickly change directions, for example, when spraying pesticides.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the helicopter control device of the present invention, at the time of the composite control, the altitude at the time of transition from the manual control to the composite control is set as the target altitude control signal, and the pilot gain of the pilot command signal is set at the target altitude. When the change amount of the pilot command signal is equal to or more than a predetermined value, a detection altitude signal is added to the target altitude control signal, and a limiter is applied to a signal multiplied by the target gain. Therefore, in the synthetic control, the flight attitude can be easily stabilized by the automatic control during the normal operation in which the pilot command signal is not input, and when the pilot command signal is input, the signal is controlled by the automatic control signal. If there is no cancellation and the amount of change in the pilot command signal is large, return to the target altitude control signal side. Jitter works there is operation becomes possible effect that is sensitive to the will of the operator so.

Also, in the manual single control, an alarm is issued when the above-mentioned stick is operated by a predetermined value or more from the stick position at the time of the transition to the synthetic control by the ground operator, so that the alarm is not first generated at the time of the manual single control transition. By operating the stick to the position and then shifting to manual independent control, there is an effect that fluctuations in altitude and the like can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a helicopter control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart thereof, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are side views and plan views of a helicopter using the embodiment apparatus. FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 are side, bottom, and front views of the ground distance sensor, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. In the figure, 1, 2 and 3 are altitude, engine speed, direction control device, 21 is a helicopter, A to C are automatic control signals, and a to c
Is a pilot command signal.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-234683 (JP, A) Renzo Yokoi, edited by "Aircraft Equipment System", Sangyo Tosho, March 25, 1983 (58) Investigated Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B64C 13/20 Z B64C 27/56 B64C 39/02 A63H 30/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An automatic control system mounted on a helicopter for controlling the attitude, altitude and the like of the helicopter based on an automatic control signal including a preset target altitude control signal, and a pilot operated by a stick operated by a ground driver. A manual control system that performs control based on a command signal, wherein the remote control type unmanned helicopter control device performs manual independent control by the manual control system or composite control by the two control systems. The altitude at the time of transition from the manual independent control to the synthetic control is set as the target altitude control signal, and the pilot gain of the pilot command signal is set to be larger than the target gain of the target altitude control signal. When the change amount is a certain value or more, a signal obtained by adding the detected altitude signal to the target altitude control signal and multiplying by the target side gain Over limiter, manual alone in the control, flight control of an unmanned helicopter, characterized by issuing an alarm when the stick is manipulated more than a predetermined value from the stick position at the time the synthesis control transfer.