JP6738611B2 - Unmanned rotorcraft - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an unmanned rotary wing aircraft including a plurality of rotor units and flying under wireless communication control, and particularly to an unmanned rotary wing aircraft that includes a camera and can photograph an object.

An unmanned rotorcraft equipped with a camera is known as an unmanned rotorcraft comprising a plurality of rotor units and flying under wireless communication control. For example, this type of unmanned rotorcraft may be used in the inspection of structures such as bridges. Specifically, fly the unmanned rotary wing aircraft to the vicinity of the structure to be inspected and take a picture of the surface of the structure with a camera to check for cracks, damage, and other deterioration of the structure surface. It is possible to observe.

By the way, in such an inspection, the flow of air generated by the rotor unit of the unmanned rotorcraft is disturbed depending on the positional relationship between the unmanned rotorcraft and the structure, etc. There is concern that posture control will become difficult. For example, when there is a structure (such as a ceiling) above the unmanned rotorcraft during flight, the air pressure above the unmanned rotorcraft may be disturbed and the flight may not be stable, causing the aircraft to move up and down. There is a nature.

Further, it becomes particularly remarkable when the unmanned rotary wing aircraft flies in a corner area or the like of the structure. Further, as a peculiar phenomenon that can occur in a rotary wing aircraft, a phenomenon in which a downward airflow returns to the upper portion of the rotor and loses lift in the rotor peripheral portion of the rotor unit (so-called vortex ring state) is also known. .. If the flight of the unmanned rotorcraft is unstable, the risk of the unmanned rotorcraft contacting (colliding with) a structure increases.

In this regard, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses an unmanned rotary wing machine in which a wheel unit is provided outside the machine body frame. In this unmanned rotary wing aircraft, the wheel unit comes into contact with the ceiling or the wall surface, so that the body portion can be prevented from coming into contact (collision) with the ceiling or the like.

In addition, Non-Patent Document 2 discloses an unmanned rotary wing aircraft in which a skeleton-shaped spherical structure is provided so as to wrap the entire body. Even in this unmanned rotary wing aircraft, it is possible to avoid the body portion from contacting (colliding) with the ceiling or the like by the spherical structure contacting the ceiling or the wall surface.

"ROLLING SPIDER", Parrot, [January 15, 2016 search], Internet (URL: http://www.parrot.com/jp/products/rolling-spider/) "Gimball/flying robot", FLYABILITY, [January 15, 2016 search], Internet (URL: http://www.flyability.com)

However, in the technique of Non-Patent Document 1, the positional relationship between the wheel unit and the machine body frame is fixed. Further, the wheel unit can rotate only on one axis. In this case, depending on how the wheel unit and the structure are in contact with each other, a large resistance is generated at the time of contact. Specifically, when the wheel unit comes into contact with the structure obliquely without directly facing it, rotation of the wheel unit is suppressed and contact resistance cannot be reduced. Therefore, the movement (flying) of the unmanned rotary wing aircraft may be hindered. In other words, there are still weak points in terms of flight stability.

According to the technique of Non-Patent Document 2, when a camera is mounted on a machine body to capture an image of the surroundings, the skeleton of the spherical structure comes into the field of view of the camera. Therefore, in the scene of inspecting a structure with a camera, a problem may occur in inspection accuracy.

In an unmanned rotary wing aircraft equipped with a camera capable of photographing an object, it is desired to enhance flight stability or safety without impairing photographing quality.

An unmanned rotary wing aircraft according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a flying body frame, a rotor unit attached to the flying body frame to generate lift, and a control mounted on the flying body frame to control driving of the rotor unit. An unmanned rotorcraft comprising a unit and a camera that is connected to the aircraft frame and takes a picture of the surroundings. The aircraft frame is a member that forms the skeleton of an unmanned rotary wing aircraft.

The unmanned rotary wing aircraft further includes a support unit that connects the camera and the aircraft frame via a gimbal device that corrects tilt.
The support unit is an arm-shaped arm member that supports the camera, and a circular or spherical rotation mechanism that is rotatably attached to the arm member, and the rotation mechanism that projects to the outermost side in the unmanned rotorcraft. And, so that the relative distance between the aircraft frame and the camera can be changed.

According to such an unmanned rotary wing aircraft, since the rotating mechanism attached to the arm member projects to the outermost side of the unmanned rotary wing aircraft, the aircraft frame and the rotor unit, etc. come into contact with the wall or ceiling of the flight area. Can be avoided. Specifically, since the rotating mechanism is overhanging, the rotating mechanism can come into contact with the wall surface, the ceiling, or the like first.

Moreover, since the rotating mechanism has a circular or spherical shape and is rotatably attached to the arm member, the rotating mechanism should be allowed to rotate when the rotating mechanism comes into contact with the wall or ceiling. Can be kept to a minimum. Therefore, stable flight of the unmanned rotary wing aircraft can be realized.

When the unmanned rotary wing aircraft is flying with the rotating mechanism in contact with the object, the object can be photographed by the camera while keeping the distance between the camera and the object constant. As a result, it is possible to improve the accuracy of photographing, and thus it is possible to easily and surely inspect an object or the like.

According to the unmanned rotary wing aircraft of the present disclosure, it is possible to avoid contact between the flying object frame, the rotor unit, and the like, and the object to be photographed by the camera, thereby improving safety. Further, it is possible to further improve the accuracy and quality of shooting by the camera.

Further, in the unmanned rotary wing aircraft of the present disclosure, the camera may be connected to the gimbal device, and the gimbal device may be supported by the arm member.
According to such an unmanned rotary wing machine, the tilt (or posture) of the camera is constantly corrected by the gimbal device. In other words, the tilt (or posture) of the camera can be maintained at a desired tilt (or posture) by the gimbal device. As a result, it is possible to improve the accuracy and quality of shooting by the camera.

Further, in the unmanned rotary wing aircraft of the present disclosure, the camera may be supported by the arm member, and the arm member may be connected to the aircraft frame via the gimbal device.
According to such an unmanned rotary wing machine, the inclination (or posture) of the arm member can be corrected by the gimbal device and held at a desired inclination (or posture). As a result, the tilt (or posture) of the camera can be maintained at a desired tilt (or posture). Therefore, as in the case described above, it is possible to improve the accuracy and quality of image capturing by the camera.

Further, in the unmanned rotary wing aircraft of the present disclosure, the arm member may be configured to be swingable with respect to the aircraft frame.
According to such an unmanned rotary wing machine, the contact resistance between the rotating mechanism and the object can be further reduced because the arm member can swing. Therefore, flight stability of the unmanned rotary wing aircraft can be further enhanced. As a result, flight safety can be further enhanced. In addition, by reducing the contact resistance when the rotating mechanism contacts the object, it is possible to suppress blurring of the unmanned rotary wing aircraft when the rotating mechanism contacts the object, and the accuracy and quality of the image taken by the camera. And the like can be suppressed. In other words, it is possible to improve the accuracy and quality of shooting by the camera.

Further, the unmanned rotary wing aircraft of the present disclosure includes a battery that supplies electric power for driving, and the battery is provided on the opposite side of the rotating mechanism with the arm member sandwiching a fulcrum on which the arm member swings. May be attached to.

According to this configuration, by adjusting the positions of the rotation mechanism supported by the arm member, the camera, and the battery (attachment positions in the arm member), it is possible to improve the balance of the arm member. Therefore, it becomes easy to obtain the effects described above.

It is a perspective view showing the whole multi-copter composition of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline of the system configuration of the multicopter of this embodiment. It is a side view of the multicopter of this embodiment. It is a top view of the multicopter of this embodiment, and is a figure explaining operation|movement of a rotation mechanism. It is a top view of the multicopter of this embodiment, and is a figure explaining operation|movement of a rotation mechanism. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a suspension mechanism. It is a figure explaining other embodiment of a multi-copter.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The unmanned rotary wing machine of the present embodiment includes a plurality of rotor units, and the unmanned rotary wing machine of the present embodiment is hereinafter referred to as a multicopter.

[overall structure]
The multicopter 1 of the present embodiment includes a machine body 10, a support unit 20, a battery unit 40, a camera unit 60, and a rotation mechanism 80.

1. Aircraft 10
The airframe 10 includes a flying body frame 11, support legs 17, an airframe cover 19, a receiving unit 29, a flight controller (hereinafter, referred to as FC: Light Controller) 31, and an inertial unit (hereinafter, IMU: Internal Measurement Unit). 33), an electronic speed controller (hereinafter, referred to as ESC: Electronic Speed Controller) 35, a motor 37, and a rotor 39.

The aircraft frame 11 is a member that forms the skeleton of the multicopter 1. Specifically, it is a member that serves as a base for mounting or mounting various members that form the multicopter 1.

The aircraft frame 11 is required to be strong and lightweight, and the aircraft frame 11 is made of carbon, for example. In addition to the aircraft frame 11, the support legs 17 and the body cover 19 are also made of carbon.

The aircraft frame 11 has four frames 15 extending in an X shape, and the frame 15 has a long longitudinal portion 15a, a tip portion 15b to which the motor 37 is attached, and wiring for inserting the wiring 13. It has a hole 15c. An ESC 35 is attached to a root portion of the longitudinal portion 15a on the side of the aircraft frame 11.

A motor 37 is attached to the tip portion 15b, and the ESC 35 and the motor 37 are electrically connected by the wiring 13.
The support legs 17 are legs for supporting the machine body 10, and are provided at four locations corresponding to the frame 15 in the present embodiment.

The body cover 19 is arranged on the aircraft frame 11 so as to cover the receiving unit 29, the FC 31, the IMU 33, etc. mounted on the aircraft frame 11.
The reception unit 29 is a device that receives a signal transmitted from a control device (not shown) for remotely controlling the multicopter 1. The receiving unit 29 has a built-in antenna for receiving a signal from the control device. The signal transmitted from the control device and received by the reception unit 29 is input to the FC 31.

The FC 31 is a controller that controls flight control of the machine body 10, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. although not shown. Further, the FC 31 includes a camera control unit 31a (see FIG. 2). The camera control unit 31a is a unit for controlling a gimbal device 62 and a camera 64, which will be described later.

The IMU 33 includes a gyro sensor 33a, an acceleration sensor 33b, and an atmospheric pressure sensor 33c (see FIG. 2), and is configured to transmit the data acquired by each sensor to the FC 31.

The gyro sensor 33a is a sensor that detects the amount of change in the angle (in other words, the amount of change in the tilt of the multicopter 1). The gyro sensor 33a is a triaxial gyro, and the gyro sensor 33a detects the amount of change in the tilt with respect to each of the roll axis, the pitch axis, and the yaw axis.

The acceleration sensor 33b is a sensor that detects the acceleration of the multicopter 1. The acceleration sensor 33b is a triaxial acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the three directions of the XYZ axes.
The atmospheric pressure sensor 33c may be provided to detect the atmospheric pressure and also perform altitude detection based on the detected atmospheric pressure.

Although not shown, the multi-copter 1 is equipped with a well-known Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The FC 31 is configured to acquire GNSS data (specifically, position information data) from the IMU 33 or directly receive it from an antenna (not shown).

The ESC 35 is a controller that controls the rotation speed (rotation speed) of the motor 37.
The motor 37 is a three-phase brushless DC motor having a U phase, a V phase, and a W phase, and rotates at a desired rotation speed under the control of the FC 31 and the ESC 35.

The rotor 39 is attached to each of the rotating shafts 37a of the motor 37, and rotates as the motor 37 is driven to generate lift. In the multicopter 1, one set of rotors 39 facing each other rotate in the same direction, and the other set of rotors 39 rotate in the opposite direction, whereby the rotational torque around the yaw axis of the machine body 10 is canceled. ..

The FC 31 drives the motors 37 via the ESC 35, that is, individually controls the number of rotations of the rotors 39 to control the attitude of the multi-copter 1. The multicopter 1 can freely fly (move) by individually controlling the rotation speed (rotation speed) of each rotor 39.

2. Support unit 20
The support unit 20 includes a pillar 22 fixed to the aircraft frame 11, an arm 24 swingably connected to the pillar 22, and a motor 26.

The column 22 includes a fixing portion 22a fixed to the machine body 10 and a connecting portion 22b for connecting the arm 24 (see FIG. 3). A motor 26 for swinging the arm 24 is arranged at the connecting portion 22b. The motor 26 is fixed to the connecting portion 22b via a bracket (not shown). The rotation shaft of the motor 26 is connected to the arm 24. As a result, the arm 24 swings (rotates) as the motor 26 is driven (rotated).

The swing range of the arm 24, in other words, the drive range of the motor 26 is preset in a range in which the arm 24 does not contact the multi-copter 1 itself (for example, the aircraft frame 11, the rotor 39, etc.), and the FC 31 is not shown. It is stored in a memory or the like. The FC 31 controls the drive of the motor 26, that is, the swing of the arm 24, based on a command from a control device (not shown).

The multicopter 1 is moving (flying) in the horizontal direction, the distance to the side wall surface of the object (the distance in the horizontal direction) is equal to or less than a predetermined distance, and the wall surface existing above the multicopter 1 or When the distance to the structure is a predetermined distance or more, the swing of the arm 24 may be controlled so that the arm 24 is in a substantially horizontal state.

Further, when the distance to the wall surface or the structure existing above is a predetermined distance or less and the horizontal distance to the side wall surface of the object is a predetermined distance or more, the arm 24 is set in a substantially vertical state. Moreover, the swing of the arm 24 may be controlled.

3. Battery unit 40
The battery unit 40 is attached to the arm 24 of the support unit 20.
The battery unit 40 includes a housing 42, a battery 44 held by the housing 42 and supplying electric power for driving the multicopter 1, and a connecting member 46 for fixing the housing 42 to the arm 24. Have. The battery unit 40 is attached to the arm 24 on the opposite side of the camera unit 60 and the rotation mechanism 80, which will be described later, with the connecting portion 22b interposed therebetween.

A lithium polymer rechargeable battery may be used as the battery 44. A PMU (Power Management Unit) is connected to the battery 44, and drive power is supplied to each unit from the battery 44 directly or via the PMU.

4. Camera unit 60
A camera unit 60 is attached to the arm 24. The camera unit 60 includes a gimbal device 62, a camera 64 arranged in the gimbal device 62, and a connecting member 66 that connects the gimbal device 62 and the arm 24. The gimbal device 62 has biaxial degrees of freedom. The gimbal device 62 has a servo motor, and is a well-known device that cancels the tilt by driving the servo motor to keep the posture (horizontal degree, depression angle, etc.) of the camera 64 constant. The operations of the gimbal device 62 and the camera 64 are controlled by the camera control unit 31a as described above. The camera 64 is a camera having an image pickup device such as CCD or CMOS, but may be an infrared camera, for example.

5. Rotating mechanism 80
A rotation mechanism 80 is provided at the tip of the arm 24 opposite to the battery unit 40. The rotating mechanism 80 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.

The rotating mechanism 80 includes a support shaft 82, two wheel members 84 rotatably supported by the support shaft 82, and a rotating portion 86. The support shaft 82 has a rotating shaft body 82a and a central shaft 82b held by the rotating shaft body 82a.

The rotation mechanism 80, which is fixed to the arm 24, projects outward from the machine body 10, the rotor 39, and the like. More specifically, in the swingable range of the arm 24, the rotation mechanism 80 always projects outside the machine body 10, the rotor 39, and the like.

The support shaft 82 is connected and fixed to the tip of the arm 24 by the rotary shaft main body 82a. Wheel members 84 are fixed to both ends of the central shaft 82b via bearings (not shown). Each wheel member 84 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the central shaft 82b via a bearing. The two wheel members 84 can rotate independently of each other. It should be noted that the two wheel members 84 may be fixed to a common central axis and configured to interlock with each other.

The rotating portion 86 is provided so as to be interposed between the arm 24 and the support shaft 82, and is configured to be rotatable around the axis of the arm 24.
The operation of the rotating mechanism 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as described above, the wheel member 84 is rotatable with respect to the support shaft 82. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the wheel member 84 is configured to be rotatable in the direction of arrow X.

Further, the rotating portion 86 is configured to be rotatable around the axis of the arm 24, whereby the portion including the support shaft 82 and the wheel member 84 is configured to be rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow Y.
[Effect]
As described above, the multi-copter 1 according to the present embodiment is configured so that the rotating mechanism 80 projects outward from the machine body 10, the rotor 39, and the like, and is capable of flying with the rotating mechanism 80 in contact with, for example, a wall surface or a ceiling surface. ing. In particular, the rotation mechanism 80 is allowed to come into contact with the wall surface or the ceiling surface, and the body 10 and the rotor 39 are prevented from coming into contact with the wall surface or the ceiling surface.

When the multicopter 1 approaches the structure of the object to be imaged (inspection target), the wheel member 84 projects to the outermost side, so that even if the wheel member 84 contacts the wall surface or the ceiling surface of the structure, The main body of 10, the rotor 39, and the like do not contact the structure. Therefore, the multi-copter 1 can be safely flown.

Further, since the wheel member 84 can contact and rotate on the wall surface or ceiling surface of the structure, the multi-copter 1 can be realized while the wheel member 84 contacts the wall surface or ceiling surface of the structure. Particularly, at this time, the motor 26 is driven to adjust the angle of the arm 24 to a desired angle, whereby the contact between the wheel member 84 and the wall surface or the ceiling surface can be optimized. Since the rotating mechanism 80 and the wheel member 84 are rotatable, the wheel member 84 and the wall surface or the ceiling surface can be smoothly brought into contact with each other regardless of the posture of the multicopter 1.

According to such a multi-copter 1, the multi-copter 1 is caused to fly while the wheel member 84 is in contact with the wall surface or the ceiling surface, so that the distance between the wall surface or the ceiling surface and the camera 64 can be kept constant. It will be possible. Therefore, the object to be imaged can be appropriately imaged, and particularly in the case of inspecting the presence or absence of cracks, damage, or other deterioration of the structure surface, highly accurate inspection can be realized.

[Other Embodiments]
Although an example of the embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various forms can be adopted without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the multicopter 1 may include the suspension mechanism 90 shown in FIG.
Specifically, the rotation mechanism 80 may be connected to the arm 24 via the suspension mechanism 90 as shown in FIG. In this case, the suspension mechanism 90 is preferably provided so as to be interposed between the rotating portion 86 and the support shaft 82.

The suspension mechanism 90 includes an elastic member 92, links 94 and 96, and a joint 98.
The elastic member 92 is specifically a spring, and is provided so as to be capable of expanding and contracting in the axial direction of the arm 24.

One end of the link 94 is connected to the support shaft 82, and the other end of the link 94 is connected to the joint 98. One end of the link 96 is connected to one end side of the elastic member 92 in the arm 24, and the other end of the link 96 is connected to the joint 98.

The joint 98 rotatably connects the links 94 and 96 at their connection points.
Such a suspension mechanism 90 absorbs an external force acting on the rotating mechanism 80 (specifically, an external force acting on the wheel member 84). In other words, the wheel member 84 absorbs a shock when it comes into contact with the wall surface, the ceiling, or the like of the structure.

By providing the suspension mechanism 90, the shock when the wheel member 84 comes into contact with the wall surface or the ceiling of the structure can be absorbed, and the stability and safety of the multicopter 1 can be further enhanced.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another arrangement of the rotating mechanism 80.
In FIG. 7, unlike the configuration of FIG. 1, the rotation mechanism 80 is arranged at the top end of the column 22. In the example of FIG. 7, the rotation mechanism 80 is arranged so as to be rotatable 360° around the axis of the column 22 like a weathercock. Other configurations of the rotating mechanism 80 are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. Although the camera unit 60 is not shown in FIG. 7, the camera unit 60 may be attached to the column 22. Alternatively, the camera unit 60 may be provided on the body cover 19.

According to the configuration of FIG. 7, it is advantageous to keep the distance between the ceiling and the camera at a constant distance, especially when the multicopter 1 is brought close to the ceiling of the structure to photograph the ceiling. Further, it is possible to more effectively prevent the fuselage 10, the rotor 39, and the like from coming into contact with the ceiling.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the arm 24 to which the rotating mechanism 80 is attached is swingably attached to the support column 22 has been described, but the arm 24 may be fixed horizontally, vertically, or at a predetermined angle.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which two wheel members 84 are provided (two-wheel configuration) has been described, but three or more wheel members 84 may be provided. Further, instead of the support shaft 82 and the wheel member 84, a spherically formed rotatable member may be provided. It should be noted that such a member is of course preferably rotatable from the viewpoint of reducing the contact resistance with the object, but may be configured not to rotate as long as the contact resistance with the object can be suppressed within an allowable range. ..

In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the camera unit 60 is provided on the arm 24, specifically, the configuration in which the gimbal device 62 is arranged on the arm 24 and the camera 64 is held by the gimbal device 62 has been described. The camera 24 may be directly fixed to the arm 24 or the support 22 by fixing the support 24 or the support 22 to the machine body 10 via a gimbal device. In this case, the gimbal device 62 can maintain the arm 24 or the column 22 at a desired angle, and the camera 64 can be maintained at the desired angle through the arm 24 or the column 22, and a similar effect can be obtained. ..

1...Multicopter, 10...Airframe, 11...Aircraft frame, 15...Frame, 17...Support legs, 19...Airframe cover, 20...Support unit, 22... -Post, 24... Arm, 26... Motor, 29... Receiving unit, 31... Flight controller (FC), 33... Inertial unit (IMU), 35... Electronic speed controller ( ESC), 37... Motor, 39... Rotor, 42... Housing, 44... Battery, 46... Connection member, 62... Gimbal device, 64... Camera, 66... ..Connecting member, 80... Rotating mechanism, 82... Support shaft, 84... Wheel member, 86... Rotating part

Claims (5)

With the aircraft frame,
A rotor unit attached to the aircraft frame to generate lift,
A control unit mounted on the aircraft frame and controlling driving of the rotor unit;
An unmanned rotary wing aircraft comprising: a camera that is connected to the aircraft frame and takes a picture of the surroundings,
A support unit that connects the camera and the aircraft frame via a gimbal device that corrects the tilt is provided, and the support unit includes:
An arm-shaped arm member for supporting the camera, and a circular or spherical rotating mechanism rotatably attached to the arm member, which is projected to the outermost side in the vertical and horizontal directions in the unmanned rotary wing aircraft. An unmanned rotorcraft comprising a rotating mechanism. The unmanned rotorcraft according to claim 1, wherein the camera is connected to the gimbal device, and the gimbal device is supported by the arm member. The unmanned rotorcraft according to claim 1, wherein the camera is supported by the arm member, and the arm member is connected to the aircraft frame via the gimbal device. The unmanned rotary wing aircraft according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the arm member is configured to be swingable with respect to the aircraft frame. With the aircraft frame,
A rotor unit attached to the aircraft frame to generate lift,
A control unit mounted on the aircraft frame and controlling driving of the rotor unit;
A camera that is connected to the aircraft frame and takes a picture of the surroundings,
An unmanned rotorcraft comprising a battery supplying electric power for driving,
A support unit that connects the camera and the aircraft frame via a gimbal device that corrects the tilt is provided, and the support unit includes:
An arm-shaped arm member that supports the camera, the arm member configured to be swingable with respect to the aircraft frame, and a circular or spherical rotation mechanism rotatably attached to the arm member. The unmanned rotary wing aircraft has a rotating mechanism protruding to the outermost side,
An unmanned rotary wing aircraft, wherein the battery is attached to the arm member on a side opposite to the rotating mechanism with a fulcrum on which the arm member swings being interposed.

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