JP3162164B2 - Remote control helicopter controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote-controlled helicopter control device, and more particularly to an improvement in altitude maintenance control for maintaining a constant height of an airframe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a remote-controlled helicopter, altitude, azimuth, and the like are controlled by an operation signal from a pilot. In recent years, an altitude sensor, an acceleration sensor, and an azimuth sensor have been provided in order to facilitate maneuvering. And a control device for controlling various servomotors of the helicopter based on the output of the sensor is added to control the altitude, azimuth and the like to be constant. When the control device is added as described above, basic operations such as ascending, descending, moving forward, moving backward, turning, stopping, starting, and the like are performed by an operation signal of a pilot, and operations for maintaining a constant altitude, direction, and the like. Is generally performed by a control device based on the outputs of various sensors. In particular, when such a remote-controlled helicopter is used for pesticide spraying, etc., the helicopter is always kept at a constant height in order to keep the spraying state of the pesticide constant, and the fixed range is determined. A helicopter with a control device of the type described above is suitable, as it must be flown along the course.

[0003]

As described above, when the helicopter is made to fly along a predetermined course within a certain range, it is necessary to perform agile operations such as stopping and deceleration, unlike when flying freely. Is done. To stop the helicopter quickly as described above, the so-called flare operation method is to incline the aircraft in a different direction from before and generate a force in the opposite direction to apply a brake to stop. General. For example, FIG.
As shown in the ideal operation diagram, when the helicopter (a) moves forward in the forward leaning position, the helicopter (a) is stopped in the backward tilting position (b) by canceling the forward force Ff with the backward force Fb. . However, the above-mentioned flare operation is not always ideal as shown in FIG. 1 and changes depending on various conditions such as a helicopter's mounting weight, aircraft speed, wind direction, and the like. However, a force not required by the operator is generated on the aircraft, and the aircraft moves in a direction contrary to the intention of the operator. For example, as described above, if the helicopter (a) advancing is suddenly changed to the backward leaning position (b) to stop it, a large lift is generated in the aircraft and the aircraft rapidly rises against the intention of the pilot. May be done. As a method of preventing the abnormal operation of the aircraft that occurs during the flare operation, the operator may predict the movement of the aircraft that occurs later when performing the flare operation and operate the aircraft. It is difficult to predict the movement of the aircraft due to various conditions
Doing so requires a lot of training and is not something anyone can do. However, even if an attempt is made to prevent the abnormal operation by a control device that keeps the aircraft in a desired state based on the various sensors described above, the control cannot be performed during the flare operation because the various sensors do not function accurately. For example,
An altitude sensor used for constant altitude control (for example, a laser sensor that launches a laser vertically from the aircraft and measures the current altitude) is a laser that moves obliquely when the aircraft is in a backward tilted posture. The acceleration sensor detects an altitude higher than the original altitude in order to start the vehicle, and the acceleration sensor mistakenly identifies the specific acceleration at the time of the flare as the acceleration due to the rise, and when trying to control the aircraft based on these detection results, the control device May output a control signal that causes the aircraft to descend suddenly. This can be subsequently corrected by feedback control,
It is not preferable that the aircraft in flight behaves against the intention of the pilot even momentarily. As a method for solving the above-described problems, a sensor capable of measuring the inclination angle of the aircraft, such as an inclination angle sensor, is mounted on the aircraft to detect the current inclination of the aircraft, and the value of the altitude sensor or the like is determined based on the current inclination. It is sufficient to correct, but since the sensor capable of measuring the above-mentioned inclination angle is expensive, not only does it lead to an increase in the cost of the entire apparatus, but also it is necessary to control based on the result after the body is tilted, so the control There is a problem that there is a possibility that is delayed.

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides an altitude sensor used for conventional control without a special operation that cannot be achieved without training by an operator. It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote-controlled helicopter control device capable of reliably controlling the altitude of an airframe to be constant by using at least one of an acceleration sensor and an acceleration sensor.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a remote-controlled helicopter control device according to the present invention uses at least one of an altitude sensor and an acceleration sensor to convert an encon signal from a transmitter. On the basis of this, the collective pitch angle of the main rotor is adjusted, and in the control device of the remote-controlled helicopter which is configured to control the flight altitude of the helicopter constant, the control device adjusts the horizontal cycle pitch angle of the main rotor, An aileron signal from a transmitter that causes the helicopter to incline in the left-right direction to fly in the left-right direction or an elevator signal from a transmitter that adjusts the vertical cycle pitch angle of the main rotor and inclines the helicopter in the front-to-back direction to fly in the front-to-back direction After the operation, the aircraft attitude in the left-right direction or the front-back direction before operation, which was measured and stored in advance, is It is configured to estimate the amount of variation contributing to the altitude of the helicopter based on the data on the altitude according to the aileron signal or the elevator signal for the flare operation, and to perform correction control to cancel this. And

[0006]

According to the control apparatus for a remote-controlled helicopter of the present invention having the above-described structure, the transmitter for adjusting the horizontal cycle pitch angle of the main rotor and inclining the helicopter in the left-right direction to fly in the left-right direction. From the elevator signal from the transmitter, which adjusts the aileron signal from the main rotor or the vertical cycle pitch angle of the main rotor and inclines the helicopter in the front-rear direction and flies in the front-rear direction Estimate the amount of variation that contributes to the altitude of the helicopter based on the altitude signal according to the aileron signal or the elevator signal for the flare operation that reverses the aircraft attitude in the direction after operation, and cancel the amount of variation. The control signal for making the altitude of the helicopter constant is corrected by performing the correction control.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control apparatus for a remote-controlled helicopter according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a helicopter showing one embodiment of a remote-controlled helicopter equipped with a control device of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a helicopter main body, and an airframe 2 includes an altitude sensor 3 and the helicopter 1. Is provided. The altitude sensor 3 is configured to detect the distance between the helicopter 1 and the ground by transmitting and receiving light from a laser 5 indicated by a broken line. The helicopter 1 has an acceleration sensor 6 inside.
(See FIG. 4) and an engine speed sensor and a direction sensor (not shown) are mounted, and outputs from these sensors are input to a control device 7 (see FIG. 3) mounted inside the body 2. . In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes a main rotor, 9 denotes a tail rotor, and two types of operating levers 10a, 10a,
It is configured so that it can be remotely operated by 10b (see FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 shows a receiver including the control device 7 described above.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a helicopter 1 driven by a signal from 11. The operation lever 10b drives the aileron servomotor 12 of the helicopter 1 with a flight command signal (hereinafter referred to as an aileron signal) s1 based on the amount of operation in the lateral direction. By adjusting the angle, the helicopter 1 has a function of inclining the helicopter 1 in the left-right direction and flying it in the left-right direction. The operation lever 10a is provided with a flight command signal (hereinafter referred to as an elevator signal) based on the operation amount in the vertical direction. In step s2, the elevator servomotor 13 of the helicopter 1 is driven, and the elevator system of the main rotor 8 is driven.
8b, that is, the function of tilting the helicopter 1 in the front-rear direction by adjusting the vertical cyclic pitch angle, and causing the helicopter 1 to fly in the front-rear direction. The helicopter 1 flies while operating the two operating levers 10a and 10b while tilting the aircraft in an arbitrary direction. When stopping the movement, the helicopter 1 is moved by the elevator signals s2 and s2 of the operating levers 10a and 10b. Operate the flare with the aileron signal s1, specifically tilt the aircraft in the direction opposite to the direction up to it,
A force is generated in the direction opposite to the force in the direction of travel up to that time and stopped (see FIG. 1). Furthermore, the operation lever 10a
Controls the direction of the helicopter 1 by adjusting the pitch angle of the tail rotor 9 with a flight command signal s3 (hereinafter, referred to as a ladder signal) based on the lateral operation amount, and operates the operation lever 10b in the vertical direction. Flight command signal s4 based on manipulated variable
(Hereinafter referred to as the encon signal) and the engine output and the collective system 8c of the main rotor 8, ie, the helicopter 1
It also has the ability to control the altitude of
It is configured to be performed through the control device 7 that holds the helicopter 1 at a constant altitude and azimuth.

The control device 7 comprises three control devices, an altitude control device 15, an engine speed control device 16, and an azimuth control device 17. The engine speed controller 16 is illustrated in accordance with an arbitrary target speed signal, a detection signal of an engine speed sensor (not shown), and an en-con signal s4 of the operation lever 10b received via the receiver 11. It is configured to control the engine speed by driving an encon servo motor. Also, the azimuth control device
17 drives a ladder servomotor (not shown) according to an arbitrary target azimuth control signal, a detection signal of an azimuth sensor not shown above, and a ladder signal s3 from the operation lever 10a received via the receiver 11. Thus, the pitch angle of the tail rotor 9 is adjusted so that the azimuth of the helicopter 1 is controlled to be constant. The altitude control device 15 receives an elevator signal s2, an aileron signal s1, and an encon signal s4,
The altitude of the helicopter 1 is controlled based on these.

Hereinafter, the processing performed by the altitude control device 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The altitude control device 15 compares the altitude detection result c1 fed back from the altitude sensor 3 with the target altitude c2 preset in the target altitude setting unit 15a and the correction control signals cc8 and cc9 described later in the comparison unit 15b. The control signal converter 15c compares the comparison result c3 with the control signal c4.
(Specifically, multiplied by a certain gain and converted into a control signal c4).
The drive signal determination unit 15d determines the drive amount of the collective servomotor 14 based on the encon signal S4 input from the input control signal 10b and a control signal c8 fed back from the acceleration sensor 6 described later, and outputs a drive signal c5. The collective system 8c of the main rotor 8 is adjusted by driving the collective servomotor 14 at c5, that is, the collective pitch angle of the main rotor 8 of the helicopter 1 is adjusted to correspond to the target altitude signal c2 or the operation signal s4. Highly controlled. The control signal c8 is the acceleration sensor 6
The acceleration c6 applied to the aircraft fed back from the robot is converted into a speed c7 by the speed converter 15e, and the speed c7 is converted by the control signal converter 15f (specifically, multiplied by a constant gain).
And output to the drive signal determination unit 15d as described above. Since the drive signal determination section 15d adds the control signal c8 when determining the drive signal c5, unnecessary movement of the helicopter 1 due to the altitude sensor 3 picking up minute irregularities on the ground is prevented. The control for correcting the altitude by detecting the acceleration applied to the airframe is a conventionally known control, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Since the encon signal s4 controls both the engine speed control and the altitude control as shown in FIG. 3, if the engine speed and the collective pitch angle of the main rotor do not match well, the helicopter will be notified. Causes various problems. For example, if the collective pitch angle is too small with respect to the engine speed, the load on the engine will be too small, causing the engine to overrun, resulting in a problem that the engine will seize. If the collective pitch angle is too large with respect to the rotation speed, the load on the engine becomes too large and the engine rotation speed decreases, resulting in a problem that thrust decreases. In order to prevent this, the drive signal determination unit 15d uses the control signal c
Drive signal c determined based on 4, c8 and encon signal s4
The limit is set so that 5 does not exceed the range of the preset maximum and minimum values of the collective pitch angle. Further, the correction control signals cc8 and cc9 are based on the elevator signal s2 and the aileron signal s1, and the correction control sections 18 and 18 '.
Is determined respectively. Hereinafter, the processing in the correction control unit 18 will be described. As described above, the elevator signal s2 from the operation lever 10a for operating the elevator system 8b of the main rotor 8 drives the elevator servomotor 13 and is also input to the correction control unit 18 in the altitude control device 15. The elevator signal s2 is input to a body inclination angle estimating unit 18a, an operation time measuring unit 18b, and an operation amount calculating unit 18c, where a predetermined characteristic amount is extracted. In detail, the aircraft inclination angle estimation unit 18
In a, the estimated aircraft inclination angle cc1 of the aircraft estimated to be subsequently inclined by the elevator signal is calculated, and
The operation time measurement unit 18b measures an operation time cc2 in which the operator operates the operation lever 10a in the vertical direction, and the operation amount calculation unit 18c calculates an operation amount cc3 in which the operator operates the operation lever 10a in the vertical direction. I do. Thereafter, the estimated body inclination angle cc1, the operation time cc2, and the operation amount cc3 are input to the flare degree extraction units 18d, 18e, 18f, respectively. The flare degree extraction unit 18
d extracts the flare degree cc4 from a map which is a function of the estimated body inclination angle and the flare degree obtained from the actually measured data based on the input estimated body inclination angle cc1, and the flare degree extraction unit 18e is inputted. The flare degree cc5 is extracted from a map that is a function of the operation time and the flare degree obtained from the actual measurement data based on the operation time cc2, and the flare degree extraction unit 18f performs the actual measurement based on the input operation amount cc3. Flare degree from map obtained from data, which is a function of manipulated variable and flare degree
Extract cc6. The flare degree referred to here is controlled based on the detection results of the altitude sensor and the acceleration sensor, and operated a remote-controlled helicopter equipped with an altitude control device that is not corrected and controlled by an elevator signal or an aileron signal. Sometimes, the altitude sensor measures an altitude higher than the actual altitude, and furthermore, the acceleration sensor misidentifies acceleration due to ascending acceleration, and the control device lowers the helicopter. In this specification, what is called a flare degree is the same as this.

Further, the flare degrees cc4, cc5 and cc6 extracted by the respective flare degree extracting sections 18d, 18e and 18f are respectively used as the flare degree determining section 18g.
The minimum flare among the three types of flare is input to the correction signal converter 18h as the control flare cc7. The correction signal converter 18h corrects the input control flare degree cc7 to correct the target altitude c2.
cc8, more specifically multiplied by a certain correction gain to convert it to a correction control signal cc8, and outputs the correction control signal cc8 to the comparator 15b. The correction control section 18 'also receives the aileron signal s1 and performs the same processing as the correction control section 18 to output a correction control signal cc9 to the comparison section 15b. In the comparing section 15b, the correction control signal cc8
, Cc9 to the target altitude c2 and the detection result c1 of the altitude sensor 3 are compared to determine the comparison result c3.

As described above, the altitude control device 15 always receives the elevator signal s2 and the aileron signal s1, and the correction control units 18, 18 'estimate the flare degree of the aircraft from the signals s2, s1. It is configured so that the target altitude c2 in the altitude control device 15 can be corrected according to the estimated flare degree before actually performing the flare operation, that is, feedforward control can be performed. Even if the altitude sensor 3 detects a value different from the actual value when performing an operation for the purpose of operation, the control signal can be corrected before the collective servomotor 14 is driven, and the helicopter 1 is inconsistent with the intention of the operator. Does not move in any way.

The remote control type helicopter control device of this embodiment estimates the flare degree of the airframe based on the elevator signal s2 and the aileron signal s1, and determines the correction control signals cc8 and cc9 by the correction control units 18 and 18 '. Although the target altitude c2 is corrected by the correction control signals cc8 and cc9, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
Any configuration may be used as long as it can correct before driving the drive signal 14. For example, as shown in the block diagram of the altitude control device in FIG. 5, the correction signals cc8 'and cc9'
To the drive amount of the collective servo motor,
That is, the correction amount of the collective pitch angle of the main rotor may be corrected. Correction signal in this case
The values of cc8 'and cc9' are different from the values of the correction signals in the present embodiment, but it goes without saying that the values may be processed by the correction control units 18 and 18 '. The processing of the altitude controller in this case is
The processing is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 except that the object to be corrected by the correction control signal is different.

Further, the control device of the present embodiment extracts three types of feature amounts (estimated body inclination angle, operation time, and operation amount) from the elevator signal s2, and three types of flare degrees extracted based on these. Is based on the correction signal, but this is not limited to the present embodiment, and contributes to at least one altitude from the operation signal from the operation lever which may be intended for the flare operation. What is necessary is just to be able to extract a feature quantity, for example, it may be configured to extract one feature quantity, or may be configured to extract four or more types of feature quantities. Furthermore, the control device of the present embodiment is configured to extract the estimated body inclination angle, the operation time, and the operation amount from the elevator signal s2, and to extract the flare degree based on them. The configuration is not limited to the example, and any configuration may be used as long as the configuration can extract a feature amount that contributes to the height.

Further, the control device of the present embodiment extracts three types of flare degrees cc4, cc5, cc6 based on three types of feature quantities cc1, cc2, cc3 extracted from the elevator signal s2, and determines the minimum value thereof. The configuration is such that the control flare degree is converted into the correction control signal cc8 as the control flare degree cc7. However, this is not limited to the present embodiment, and the value in which the characteristic amounts complement each other is set as the control flare degree. Any configuration may be used as long as, for example, a plurality of flare degrees are extracted, and the average value thereof may be used as the control flare degree. Furthermore, the control device of this embodiment is configured so that after extracting the control flare degree cc7, the correction signal conversion unit 18h multiplies the flare degree cc7 by a fixed gain to convert the flare degree cc7 into correction signals cc8 and cc9. However, this is not limited to that of the present embodiment, and the correction signal conversion unit may be adjustable in order to perform correction control according to the operator, that is, by adjusting the value of the gain to be multiplied there. Is also good.

Furthermore, although the control device of the present embodiment is mounted on the helicopter 1 which is remotely controlled, the control device may be mounted on the transmitter side without being limited to the present embodiment. Furthermore, the altitude control device 15 of the present embodiment is configured to control the altitude to be constant based on the detection results of the altitude sensor 3 and the acceleration sensor 6, but this is not limited to the present embodiment. Any configuration may be used as long as it is configured to control at least one of the altitude sensor and the acceleration sensor.

According to the control device of the present embodiment, the elevator signal s2 and the aileron signal s1 are always input and the correction control unit 1
At 8, 18 ', the flare degree of the aircraft is estimated from the signals s12, s1, the correction signals cc8, cc9 corresponding to the flare degrees are determined, and the target altitude c2 is corrected by the correction signals cc8, cc9. With this configuration, when the operator performs an operation for the purpose of flare operation, the effect of being able to take into account the flare degree of the aircraft and make corrections to the constant altitude control before the aircraft enters the flare operation Play.

As described above, the remote-controlled helicopter control device of the present invention performs feedforward control in which the flare degree of the airframe is estimated in advance and correction control is performed.
There is an effect that the helicopter can be operated with only the altitude sensor and the acceleration sensor and with a simple operation without violating the intention of the operator.

[0020]

The control device for a remote-controlled helicopter according to the present invention uses at least one of an altitude sensor and an acceleration sensor to adjust a collective pitch angle of a main rotor based on an encon signal from a transmitter. In a remote-controlled helicopter control device that controls the flight altitude of a helicopter to be constant, the control device adjusts the horizontal cycle pitch angle of the main rotor, inclines the helicopter in the left-right direction, and flies in the left-right direction. The aileron signal from the transmitter to be adjusted or the vertical cycle pitch angle of the main rotor is adjusted, and the helicopter is tilted in the fore-and-aft direction from the elevator signal from the transmitter to fly in the fore-and-aft direction,
The altitude of the helicopter is determined based on the data on the altitude according to the aileron signal or the elevator signal for the flare operation for reversing the aircraft attitude in the left-right direction or the front-rear direction before the operation, which is measured and stored in advance, before the operation. Since it is configured to estimate the amount of variation that contributes and perform correction control to cancel this, altitude control is performed in advance of altitude change accompanying flare operation performed for braking for leftward or rightward flight or forward / backward flight. And can prevent temporary changes in altitude during flare operation, and as a result, can be used for conventional helicopter control without using expensive sensors. By using at least one of the altitude sensor and the acceleration sensor, it is possible to improve the responsiveness of the brake due to the flare operation. Can be, also, conventionally, an effect that even without a special operation that can not be mastered unless train becomes possible to perform easily the braking operation by the flare operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operation diagram of a remote-controlled helicopter showing an ideal flare operation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing one embodiment of a remote-controlled helicopter equipped with the control device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a main part of a helicopter driven by a signal from a receiver 11 including the control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an internal process of the altitude control device in the control device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the internal processing of the altitude control device in the control device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Helicopter 2 Airframe 3 Altitude sensor 4 Leg 5 Laser 6 Acceleration sensor 7 Controller 8 Main rotor 8a Main rotor aileron system 8b Main rotor elevator system 8c Main rotor collective system 9 Tail rotor 10 Transmitter 10a Operation lever 10b Operation lever 11 Reception 12 Aileron servo motor 13 Elevator servo motor 14 Collective servo motor 15 Altitude control device 15a Target altitude setting unit 15b Comparison unit 15c Control signal conversion unit 15d Drive signal determination unit 15e Speed signal conversion unit 15f Control signal conversion unit 16 Engine speed control Device 17 Azimuth control device 18 Correction control unit 18a Aircraft tilt angle estimation unit 18b Operation time measurement unit 18c Operation amount calculation unit 18d Flare degree extraction unit 18e Flare degree extraction unit 18f Flare degree extraction unit 18g Flare degree determination unit 18h Correction signal conversion unit 18 'Correction control section s1 Aileron signal s2 Elevator signal s3 Ladder signal s4 Collective signal

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-81793 (JP, A) JP-A-4-173495 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63H 27/133 A01M 7/00 A63H 30/04 B64C 13/18 B64C 27/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An at least one of an altitude sensor and an acceleration sensor is used to adjust a collective pitch angle of a main rotor based on an encon signal from a transmitter so that a flight altitude of a helicopter is controlled to be constant. In the remote-controlled helicopter control device, the control device adjusts the horizontal cycle pitch angle of the main rotor, and tilts the helicopter in the left-right direction to fly in the left-right direction. Adjust the cycle pitch angle and incline the helicopter in the front-back direction and fly it back and forth. Of altitude in response to the aileron signal or elevator signal for flare operation Control device for remotely piloted helicopter estimating highly contributes variation helicopter, characterized by being configured to perform correction control for canceling it on the basis of.