JP6663054B1 - Power supply system and vehicle for unmanned aerial vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power supply vehicle capable of improving operating time of an unmanned aerial vehicle and capable of efficiently supplying power even when wireless power supply efficiency is low. An unmanned aerial vehicle power supply system 2 includes a drone 30 that is an unmanned aerial vehicle that supports cargo handling, and a power supply vehicle 50 that supplies power to a battery of the drone 30. The power feeding vehicle 50 includes a wireless power feeding unit that wirelessly feeds power, and a contact power feeding unit that contacts the drone 30 and feeds power not wirelessly. The wireless power supply unit supplies power to the battery during flight of the drone 30 when the amount of stored electricity in the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, and the drone 30 flies when the amount of stored electricity in the battery becomes less than the predetermined amount. Then, the contact power supply unit supplies power to the battery. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle that supplies power to an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power supply vehicle.

  In general, a loading vehicle such as a forklift is operated to travel to a predetermined loading location, to take luggage at the loading location, to travel from the loading location to a predetermined unloading location while holding the luggage, In addition, an operation of placing luggage at the unloading place is performed.

  Also, research and development of a small unmanned aerial vehicle configured to support the operation of a cargo handling vehicle is being performed. As an unmanned aerial vehicle that supports the operation of a cargo handling vehicle, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with an imaging device for supporting an operation of picking up luggage.

JP 2017-36102A

  By the way, since an unmanned aerial vehicle with a small storage capacity of a built-in battery cannot fly for a long time, wireless power is supplied to an unmanned aerial vehicle in flight for the purpose of improving the operating time of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Is required.

  However, when power is supplied wirelessly, power may not be supplied efficiently.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power supply that can improve the operation time of an unmanned aerial vehicle and can efficiently supply power even when wireless power supply efficiency is low. It is an object to provide a vehicle.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 includes an unmanned aerial vehicle that performs cargo handling or cargo handling assistance, and a power supply vehicle that supplies power to a battery of the unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the power supply vehicle includes: A wireless power supply unit for supplying power wirelessly, and a contact power supply unit for contacting the unmanned aerial vehicle and supplying power without using a wireless communication, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided when the storage amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. During the flight, the wireless power supply unit supplies power to the battery, and when the charged amount of the battery becomes less than a predetermined amount, the unmanned aerial vehicle suspends flight and contacts the powered vehicle. The contact power supply unit supplies power to the battery.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the first aspect, the power supply vehicle approaches the unmanned aerial vehicle when the charged amount of the battery is less than a predetermined amount. It is characterized by moving.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the first or second aspect, the power supply vehicle follows the unmanned aerial vehicle when the storage amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. It is characterized by moving.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of the first to third aspects, the unmanned aerial vehicle supports cargo handling by a cargo handling vehicle, and the cargo handling vehicle includes the cargo handling vehicle. It is characterized in that it also serves as a power supply vehicle.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, when the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a first predetermined amount, the powered vehicle is When power is not supplied to the battery, and the amount of power stored in the battery is less than the first predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit starts supplying power to the battery during flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, When the charged amount of the battery is less than a second predetermined amount that is smaller than the first predetermined amount, the unmanned aerial vehicle interrupts the flight and comes into contact with the power supply vehicle, and the contact power supply unit includes the battery. Characterized by starting power supply to the.

  The invention according to claim 6 is a power supply vehicle that supplies power to a battery of an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power, A contact power supply unit for supplying power, and when the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit supplies power to the battery during flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the charged amount of the battery A power supply vehicle that supplies power to the battery by contacting the contact power supply unit with the unmanned aerial vehicle when the amount of power is less than a predetermined amount.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the power supply vehicle according to the sixth aspect, when the charged amount of the battery is less than a predetermined amount, the vehicle moves so as to approach the unmanned aerial vehicle.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply vehicle according to the sixth or seventh aspect, when the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the vehicle moves following the unmanned aerial vehicle.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply vehicle according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the power supply vehicle also serves as a cargo handling vehicle that performs cargo handling.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the power supply vehicle according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, power is supplied to the battery when the stored amount of the battery is equal to or more than a first predetermined amount. When the charged amount of the battery is less than the first predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit starts supplying power to the battery during the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the charged amount of the battery is reduced to the first amount. When the amount becomes less than the second predetermined amount that is smaller than the first predetermined amount, the contact power supply unit contacts the unmanned aerial vehicle that has stopped flying and starts power supply to the battery.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power supply vehicle that can improve the operation time of the unmanned aerial vehicle and can efficiently supply power even when the wireless power supply efficiency is low.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the marker provided above the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the cargo handling vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle which concern on the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle and a power supply vehicle according to the same embodiment.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an unmanned transport system 1 and a power supply system 2 for an unmanned aerial vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 1, the unmanned transport system 1 includes at least one unmanned transport vehicle 10 and a plurality of drones 30. The unmanned aerial vehicle power supply system 2 includes a drone 30 and at least one power supply vehicle 50.

  The unmanned transport vehicle 10 is a laser type unmanned forklift provided with a fork F, and is a cargo handling vehicle that performs cargo handling. The automatic guided vehicle 10 estimates the position (current location) of the automatic guided vehicle 10 based on the recognition results of the three or more reflectors R. The detailed configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The drone 30 is an unmanned aerial vehicle that supports cargo handling by the unmanned transport vehicle 10, and includes a battery 41 (see FIG. 4) as an internal power supply. Further, the drone 30 includes a reflector R that reflects the laser, and flies while maintaining the predetermined height so that the reflector R is disposed at the predetermined height. The drone 30 estimates the position of the drone 30 based on the recognition result of the marker M (see FIG. 2) provided on the ceiling C. The detailed configuration of the drone 30 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The power supply vehicle 50 is an unmanned power supply vehicle and supplies power to the battery 41 of the drone 30. Specifically, the power supply vehicle 50 moves following the drone 30 when the charged amount of the battery 41 of the drone 30 in flight is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, and supplies power to the battery 41 wirelessly. Further, the power supply vehicle 50 moves so as to approach the drone 30 when the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than the predetermined amount, and comes into contact with the drone 30 so that the power supply vehicle 50 Power is supplied without using wireless. The detailed configuration of the power supply vehicle 50 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the marker M provided on the ceiling C.
As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of markers M are provided at an interval in the orthogonal X direction and Y direction, and have different shapes (outer shapes) and patterns. The marker M is made of a retroreflective material that reflects infrared light emitted from the drone 30 toward the drone 30.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the drone 30.
As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic guided vehicle 10 includes a laser scanner 11, a wireless communication unit 12, a vehicle position estimating unit 13, and a traveling control unit 14.

  The laser scanner 11 transmits the laser while rotating it horizontally by 360 °, and receives the laser reflected by the reflector R. The laser scanner 11 outputs, as a laser reception result, a time from transmission of the laser to reception of the laser, and a moving direction angle of the laser reflected by the reflector R.

  The wireless communication unit 12 wirelessly communicates with the drone 30 and receives a result of estimating the position of the drone 30, which is the position information of the drone 30. The wireless communication unit 12 transmits and receives various types of information when the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the drone 30 perform communication.

  The vehicle position estimating unit 13 recognizes three or more reflectors R reflecting the laser based on the reception result of the laser beam received by the laser scanner 11, and calculates the distance from the laser scanner 11 to the reflector R and the reflector R. Is calculated. Then, the vehicle position estimating unit 13 calculates the distance to the reflector R, the angle of the reflector R, and the estimated result of the position of the drone 30 having the reflector R based on the result of the calculation. Estimate the position of.

  The traveling control unit 14 controls the traveling of the automatic guided vehicle 10 so that the automated guided vehicle 10 moves along a predetermined route based on the estimation result of the position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 that is the position information of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Control.

  Further, the drone 30 includes an infrared irradiation unit 31, a marker photographing unit 32, a flying object position estimating unit 33, and a wireless communication unit 34.

  The infrared irradiating unit 31 irradiates infrared rays toward above the drone 30, that is, toward the marker M. The marker photographing unit 32 is configured by an infrared camera, and photographs the marker M located above the drone 30.

  The flying object position estimating unit 33 recognizes the marker M located above the drone 30 based on the photographing result above the drone 30 using the marker photographing unit 32, and acquires characteristic information (for example, shape, Pattern, distance to other surrounding markers M, etc.). Then, the flying object position estimating unit 33 estimates the position of the drone 30 indoors based on the characteristic information of the marker M located above the drone 30.

  The wireless communication unit 34 wirelessly communicates with the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the power supply vehicle 50. The wireless communication unit 34 transmits a result of estimating the position of the drone 30, which is the position information of the drone 30. The wireless communication unit 34 transmits and receives various types of information when communicating with the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the power supply vehicle 50.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drone 30 and the power supply vehicle 50.
As shown in FIG. 4, the drone 30 includes a battery 41, a signal transmitting unit 42, a wireless power receiving unit 43, a contact power receiving unit 44, and a flight control unit 45.

  The battery 41 is configured by a rechargeable secondary battery, and supplies power to each part of the drone 30. The amount of power stored in the battery 41 is reduced by supplying power to each part of the drone 30, and is increased by storing power supplied from the power supply vehicle 50.

  The signal transmitting unit 42 generates and transmits a signal corresponding to the amount of charge of the battery 41. Specifically, the signal transmission unit 42 generates a wireless power supply request signal when the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than a first predetermined amount (for example, 50% of the maximum charged amount), and uses the wireless communication unit 34. And transmits a wireless power supply request signal to the power supply vehicle 50. The signal transmission unit 42 generates a contact power supply request signal when the charged amount of the battery 41 is less than a second predetermined amount (for example, 10% of the maximum charged amount), and uses the wireless communication unit 34 to contact power supply. The request signal is transmitted to the power supply vehicle 50.

  The wireless power receiving unit 43 includes a rectenna (not shown) that receives the microwave transmitted from the power supply vehicle 50, and a charging circuit (not shown) that converts the power received by the rectenna into charging power. The power supplied from the power supply vehicle 50 by radio is received.

  The contact power receiving unit 44 includes a connector (not shown) mechanically and electrically connected to the power supply vehicle 50, and a circuit (not shown) for supplying power received by the connector to the battery 41. The power supplied from the power supply vehicle 50 without wireless communication is received.

  The flight control unit 45 controls the flight of the drone 30 so that the drone 30 lands on the power supply vehicle 50 when the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than a second predetermined amount (for example, 10% of the maximum charged amount). . That is, the flight control unit 45 controls the drone 30 so as to interrupt the flight and come into contact with the power supply vehicle 50 when the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than the predetermined amount. In addition, the flight control unit 45 controls the drone 30 to restart the flight when it is determined that the charged amount of the battery 41 has sufficiently recovered.

  The power supply vehicle 50 includes a wireless communication unit 51, a travel control unit 52, a wireless power supply unit 53, and a contact power supply unit 54.

  The wireless communication unit 51 communicates with the drone 30 wirelessly. The wireless communication unit 51 receives a wireless power supply request signal and a contact power supply request signal, which are signals from the drone 30. The wireless communication unit 51 transmits and receives various types of information when the power supply vehicle 50 and the drone 30 perform communication.

  When the power supply vehicle 50 receives a wireless power supply request signal from the drone 30 (that is, a signal indicating that the charged amount of the battery 41 is less than the first predetermined amount), the traveling control unit 52 The travel of the power supply vehicle 50 is controlled so as to move following the vehicle 30. When the power supply vehicle 50 receives a contact power supply request signal from the drone 30 (that is, a signal indicating that the charged amount of the battery 41 is less than the second predetermined amount), the traveling control unit 52 Is controlled so that the vehicle approaches the drone 30. That is, when the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than the predetermined amount, the traveling control unit 52 causes the powered vehicle 50 to approach the drone 30 for the purpose of promptly bringing the drone 30 into contact with the powered vehicle 50. Move to

  The wireless power supply unit 53 includes a power transmission antenna (not shown) that transmits microwaves, and wirelessly supplies power to the battery 41. When the power supply vehicle 50 receives a wireless power supply request signal (that is, a signal indicating that the charged amount of the battery 41 is less than the first predetermined amount) from the drone 30, the wireless power supply unit 53 performs power transmission by microwave. Start. In addition, the wireless power supply unit 53 starts when the contact power supply unit 54 starts supplying power to the battery 41 and when the charged amount of the battery 41 is equal to or more than a third predetermined amount (for example, 80% of the maximum charged amount). Then, the power supply is stopped.

  The contact power supply unit 54 includes a connector (not shown) mechanically and electrically connected to the contact power receiving unit 44 of the drone 30, and a circuit (not shown) for generating a voltage to be output to the connector. , And contacts the drone 30 to supply power to the battery 41 without using wireless. The contact power supply unit 54 starts power transmission via the connector when it comes into contact with the contact power receiving unit 44 of the drone 30. The contact power supply unit 54 stops power supply when the drone 30 resumes flight.

In the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the charged amount of the battery 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount (second predetermined amount), the wireless power supply unit 53 supplies power to the battery 41 during flight of the drone 30. Can be improved. When the charged amount of the battery 41 becomes less than a predetermined amount (a second predetermined amount), the drone 30 interrupts the flight and comes into contact with the power supply vehicle 50, and the contact power supply unit 54 supplies power to the battery 41. Is performed, the power can be efficiently supplied to the battery 41 even when the wireless power supply efficiency is low.

  (2) Since the power supply vehicle 50 moves closer to the drone 30 when the charged amount of the battery 41 is less than the predetermined amount (second predetermined amount), the drone 30 and the power supply vehicle 50 are quickly brought into contact with each other. be able to.

  (3) Since the power supply vehicle 50 moves following the drone 30 when the charged amount of the battery 41 is equal to or more than a predetermined amount (second predetermined amount), it can wirelessly supply power from near the drone 30.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the above configuration can be appropriately changed. For example, the above embodiment may be modified and implemented as follows, or the following modifications may be appropriately combined.

  If the marker M can be recognized, the infrared irradiation unit 31 may be omitted. Further, the marker photographing section 32 may be configured by a camera other than the infrared camera. Further, the marker M may be provided at a place other than the ceiling.

  -You may comprise so that the vehicle position estimation part 33 may estimate the position of the drone 30 using GPS. Similarly, the vehicle position estimating unit 13 may be configured to estimate the position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 using GPS.

  The configurations of the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the drone 30 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the function of the flying object position estimation unit 33 may be configured to be provided in the automatic guided vehicle 10. Further, for example, the drone 30 may be configured to have the function of the vehicle position estimating unit 13 by performing communication between the drone 30 and the automatic guided vehicle 10.

  The function of the power supply vehicle 50 may be configured to be provided in the automatic guided vehicle 10. That is, the unmanned transport vehicle 10 may also serve as the power supply vehicle. According to this configuration, the unmanned transport vehicle 10 can supply power to the drone 30 that supports cargo handling by the unmanned transport vehicle 10.

  -Instead of the unmanned transport vehicle 10, a cargo handling vehicle other than the laser guided unmanned forklift may be used. That is, the cargo handling vehicle may be, for example, an unmanned transport vehicle provided with a transfer device other than the fork F or an unmanned transport vehicle not provided with a transfer device, and may be a magnetic induction type or an image recognition type unmanned transport vehicle. It may be.

  -Instead of the drone 30, an unmanned aerial vehicle that performs cargo handling may be adopted. That is, the unmanned aerial vehicle may not perform the cargo handling support by the cargo handling vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle itself may perform the cargo handling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Unmanned transport system 2 Power supply system for unmanned aerial vehicles 10 Unmanned transport vehicle (load handling vehicle)
30 drone (unmanned aerial vehicle)
31 Battery 50 Power supply vehicle 53 Wireless power supply 54 Contact power supply

Claims (10)

Unmanned aerial vehicles for cargo handling or cargo support;
A power supply vehicle that supplies power to the battery of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
The power supply vehicle includes a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power, and a contact power supply unit that contacts the unmanned aerial vehicle and supplies power without using wireless communication.
When the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit supplies power to the battery during flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
When the charged amount of the battery is less than a predetermined amount, the unmanned aerial vehicle interrupts the flight and comes into contact with the power supply vehicle, and the contact power supply unit supplies power to the battery. Power supply system for unmanned aerial vehicles. The power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the power supply vehicle moves so as to approach the unmanned aerial vehicle when the charged amount of the battery is less than a predetermined amount. 3. The power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the power supply vehicle moves following the unmanned aerial vehicle when the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. 4. The power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle supports cargo handling by a cargo vehicle, and the cargo vehicle also serves as the power supply vehicle. . When the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a first predetermined amount, the power supply vehicle does not supply power to the battery,
When the charged amount of the battery is less than the first predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit starts supplying power to the battery during the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
When the charged amount of the battery is less than a second predetermined amount that is smaller than the first predetermined amount, the unmanned aerial vehicle stops flying and comes into contact with the power supply vehicle, and the contact power supply unit is connected to the battery. The power supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein power supply to the unmanned aerial vehicle is started. A power supply vehicle that supplies power to a battery of an unmanned aerial vehicle,
A wireless power supply unit that supplies power by wireless, and a contact power supply unit that contacts the unmanned aerial vehicle and supplies power without using wireless,
When the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit supplies power to the battery during flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
A power supply vehicle, wherein when the amount of stored power in the battery is less than a predetermined amount, the contact power supply unit contacts the unmanned aerial vehicle to supply power to the battery. The power supply vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle moves so as to approach the unmanned aerial vehicle when the charged amount of the battery is less than a predetermined amount. The power supply vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the power supply vehicle moves following the unmanned aerial vehicle when the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. The power supply vehicle according to any one of claims 6 to 8, which also serves as a cargo handling vehicle that performs cargo handling. When the charged amount of the battery is equal to or more than a first predetermined amount, power is not supplied to the battery,
When the charged amount of the battery is less than the first predetermined amount, the wireless power supply unit starts supplying power to the battery during the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
When the charged amount of the battery is less than a second predetermined amount that is smaller than the first predetermined amount, the contact power supply unit contacts the unmanned aerial vehicle that has stopped flying and starts power supply to the battery. The power supply vehicle according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein:

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