JP6940670B1 - Flight path creation method and system for unmanned aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flight route creating method capable of accurately and automatically performing a flight path of an unmanned vehicle having a certain distance along a shape of an inspection object with a minimum necessary operation. SOLUTION: A map information acquisition process for acquiring map information including position information of an inspection object, a position coordinate setting process for setting position coordinates of a start point and an end point of a flight path of an unmanned vehicle, and a position coordinate setting process for a flight path. A separation setting process that sets a certain distance from the inspection object, a drawing information acquisition process that acquires drawing information of the inspection object, a map drawing collation process that collates map information with drawing information, and position coordinates are constant. A method for creating a flight path for an unmanned vehicle, comprising a flight path creation step for creating a flight path based on the distance between the two and the collation result of the map drawing collation step. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a method and system for creating a flight path for an unmanned vehicle.

A flight route creation method for creating a flight path for an unmanned aircraft is known. The conventional method of creating a flight route has been performed by manually setting a waypoint indicating a point through which an unmanned aircraft passes on a map. Waypoints need to be set to include altitude information in addition to latitude and longitude information. Therefore, for example, after setting a waypoint on a two-dimensional map, it is necessary to additionally set altitude information, which is very troublesome. In addition, there is a possibility that the waypoints are set manually, and there is a risk of collision of an unmanned aircraft.

Therefore, the flight path of the unmanned aircraft is created by acquiring the horizontal plane data of the flight plan route of the unmanned aircraft, the height reference values indicating the elevations of multiple positions on the route, and the altitude of the building on the route. A system has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-075075

The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 can automatically modify the flight path so as to bypass a building such as a high-rise building that may hinder the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle. However, in order to inspect a target such as a building or electric wire having a specific shape, it is possible to automatically create a flight path for flying an unmanned vehicle while maintaining a certain distance along the shape of the target. There was no way to do it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a flight capable of accurately and automatically performing a flight path of an unmanned vehicle having a certain distance along the shape of an object to be inspected with the minimum necessary operation. The purpose is to provide a route creation method.

(1) The present invention includes a map information acquisition step of acquiring map information including position information of an inspection object, a position coordinate setting step of setting position coordinates of a start point and an end point of a flight path of an unmanned vehicle, and a position coordinate setting step. A separation setting step of setting a certain distance from the inspection object of the flight path, a drawing information acquisition step of acquiring drawing information of the inspection object, and a map drawing for collating the map information with the drawing information. The present invention relates to a method for creating a flight path of an unmanned vehicle, which comprises a collation step, a flight path creation step of creating the flight path based on the collation result of the position coordinates, the constant distance, and the map drawing collation step.

According to the invention of (1), it is provided a method for creating a flight path that accurately and automatically performs a flight path of an unmanned vehicle having a certain distance along the shape of an object to be inspected with the minimum necessary operation. Can be done.

(2) The flight path creating step includes a step of generating a line connecting the start point and the end point, a step of arranging a plurality of waypoints on the line, the start point, the end point, and the plurality of waypoints. The flight path creating method according to (1), which comprises a step of correcting the position coordinates of the above-mentioned position based on the constant separation and the collation result.

According to the invention of (2), the flight path of an unmanned vehicle can be accurately created.

(3) The flight path creation step includes a step of generating a plurality of waypoints having the same latitude and longitude but different altitudes from at least one of the waypoints including the start point and the end point, and the step of generating the plurality of waypoints. The method for creating a flight path according to (1) or (2), which comprises a step of determining the order in which the unmanned vehicle passes through the waypoints according to altitude.

According to the invention of (3), a flight path having a plurality of waypoints having different altitudes can be automatically created with the minimum necessary operation.

(4) A system used in the flight route creating method according to any one of (1) to (3), an image display unit capable of displaying the map information and an input unit used for inputting the position coordinates. A drawing information database in which the drawing information is stored, a map information database in which the map information is stored, a collation unit for collating the drawing information and the map information, and a flight route creation unit for creating the flight route. And, with, a flight path creation system.

According to the invention of (4), it is possible to provide a flight route creation system that easily creates an accurate flight route by combining accurate drawing information possessed by the user and map information available from the outside.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the flight path of the unmanned flying body which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the setting and creation state of the flight path which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the flight path of the unmanned flying body which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the setting and creation state of the flight path which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flight path creation method which concerns on each embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the flight path making system which concerns on each embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[First Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 1, the method for creating a flight path of an unmanned vehicle according to the first embodiment is a flight for inspecting a building I, which is an inspection target having a specific shape, using the unmanned vehicle D. This is a method of creating a route W1.

The flight path W1 is created with a constant distance L above, for example, the building I. The flight path W1 is a path connecting a plurality of waypoints including a start point WP1 and an end point WP2 of the flight path. The plurality of waypoints include information on position coordinates (latitude, longitude, and altitude) and information on the order in which the unmanned vehicle D passes through each waypoint.

The building I as an inspection object is not particularly limited, and is, for example, a building, a factory, a road building, a bridge, an embankment, a dam, a tower, or the like. In the present embodiment, the building I has a complicated shape in which the roof portion has different altitudes depending on the horizontal position.

The unmanned aerial vehicle D is not particularly limited, but is, for example, an unmanned aerial vehicle such as a drone, a radio-controlled airplane, or a radio-controlled helicopter. The unmanned flying object D has a GPS device capable of acquiring the position coordinates of the unmanned flying object D in addition to being able to fly by operation by the user, and for example, by receiving information on the flight path W1 from an external control device. , It is possible to automatically fly the preset flight path W1.

The unmanned aircraft D is equipped with, for example, a camera device capable of capturing a visible light image, an infrared light image, or the like, and can manually or automatically photograph the building I. The unmanned vehicle D can automatically photograph the building I at each waypoint, for example. The user can easily inspect the building I by comparing the captured image with, for example, an image previously captured at the same waypoint.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a procedure for creating a flight path W1 by a user who uses the flight path creation method (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as “user”) will be described. In the conventional flight path W1 setting method, for example, a plurality of waypoints are manually set between the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 of the flight path W1 on the two-dimensional map M, and then the altitude information of each waypoint is added. The flight path W1 was created by setting with. For this reason, the user who creates the flight route must not only input the latitude and longitude information of each waypoint on the map, but also additionally input the altitude information of each waypoint, which requires time and effort. There was also the possibility of a setting error above.

In the flight path W1 creation method according to the present embodiment, for example, the position coordinates (latitude, longitude and altitude information) of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 are input on the two-dimensional map M including the latitude, longitude and altitude information, and then After that, the flight path W1 can be automatically created by the minimum necessary operation of inputting the separation L between the flight path W1 and the building I.

As shown in FIG. 5, the flight path W1 creation method according to the present embodiment includes a map information acquisition step S1, a position coordinate setting step S2, a separation setting step S3, a drawing information acquisition step S4, and a map drawing collation step. It has S5 and a flight path generation step S6. In each of the above steps, the position coordinate setting step S2 and the separation setting step S3 need to be executed by the user inputting data, but the other steps are automatically executed using an information processing device such as a computer. Can be done.

The map information acquisition step S1 is a step of acquiring map information. The map information includes, for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude information, which are position information of each point of the building I on the two-dimensional map M. In the present embodiment, the altitude information of each point on the map M is assumed to be the altitude information of the ground surface, which does not include the height information of the building I which is the inspection target. In addition to the above, the map information includes information regarding the shape of the building I. For example, information on the length I11, which is the length in the long side direction when the building I is viewed in a plan view, is included. In addition, the map information also includes information about the scale.

The position coordinate setting step S2 is a step in which the user sets the position coordinates of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 of the flight path W1. The position coordinates include latitude information and longitude information. The position coordinate setting step S2 is performed, for example, by the user plotting an arbitrary point on the two-dimensional map acquired in the map information acquisition step S1. In the position coordinate setting step S2, the user may further set any point other than the start point WP1 and the end point WP2.

The separation setting step S3 is a step in which the user sets a constant separation L with respect to the building I of the flight path W1. The separation L is set as a vertical separation when the unmanned vehicle D flies above the building I, for example.

The drawing information acquisition step S4 is a step of acquiring detailed drawing information of the building I. The drawing information is shape data of the outer shape of the building I, and is electronic data such as CAD data. The drawing information may be, for example, three-dimensional shape data. Alternatively, when the cross-sectional shape of the building I is the same regardless of the position, it may be two-dimensional shape data such as a cross-sectional view of the building I, or the cross-sectional shape of the building I differs depending on the position. In the case, it may be a plurality of two-dimensional shape data. The drawing information includes information about the actual size of the building I. As for the drawing information, for example, assuming that the cross-sectional view of the building I cut by a straight line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 in FIG. 2 is FIG. 1, the actual height I20 of the end portion of the building I and Contains information about the actual length I10 in the width direction of the building I. In addition to the above, the drawing information includes information about the actual size corresponding to a particular location of the building I. For example, it includes information about the actual height I21 of the building I corresponding to the position of WP0, which is a point existing on a straight line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2.

The drawing map collation step S5 is a step of collating the map information acquired in the map information acquisition step S1 with the drawing information acquired in the drawing acquisition step S4. The drawing map collation step S5 adds, for example, height information of the building I to each position coordinate (latitude, longitude, and altitude) on the map M in FIG. For example, when the coordinates on the ground surface corresponding to the start point WP1 are (X1, Y1, Z1), the position coordinates to which the height information of the building I is added are shown as (X1, Y1, Z1 + I20). Similarly, the position coordinates to which the height information of the building I corresponding to WP0, which is the coordinates (X2, Y2, Z2) on the ground surface, are added are shown as (X2, Y2, Z2 + I21). In the drawing map collation step S5, the same additional processing is performed for each predetermined position of the building I on the map M.

The collation in the drawing map collation step S5 converts, for example, the drawing information of the building I into set data indicating the height information at each predetermined position when the building I is viewed in a plane and shown in two dimensions. The process, the process of converting the set data according to the size of the building I shown on the map M using, for example, the information on the scale included in the map information, and the process of converting the converted data on the map M. It is performed by superimposing it on the building I shown in two dimensions and creating collation data by combining the height information of each predetermined position and the position coordinates of the map information. Here, since the collation data has a sufficient number, the collation data is made to correspond to each point of the building I shown in two dimensions on the map M with sufficient accuracy, and the height of the building I is high. Information can be added.

The flight path creation step S6 is a step of creating a flight path W1 by creating a plurality of waypoints to which the unmanned flying object D flies. In the flight path creation step S6, for example, a step of generating a line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2, a step of arranging a plurality of waypoints on the generated line, and altitude information of the plurality of waypoints are provided. Includes a step of making corrections based on the collation result in the drawing map collation step S5.

The line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 may be a straight line, or may be a curved line or a polygonal line passing through a point arbitrarily specified by the user. The line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 may be automatically generated or may be created by the user. In addition to the above, the automatically created line may be modified by the user.

The step of arranging a plurality of waypoints on the line connecting the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 may be to arrange the waypoints evenly at predetermined predetermined intervals on the generated line, or the user. May arbitrarily arrange a plurality of waypoints on the line, or the user may set only the number of waypoints and the distance between the waypoints. The plurality of waypoints may be automatically arranged, or the automatically arranged waypoints may be modified by the user. The plurality of waypoints include information on the position coordinates (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the ground surface on the map M and the order in which the unmanned vehicle D passes through the plurality of waypoints.

The step of correcting the altitude information of the plurality of waypoints corrects the altitude information of the plurality of waypoints arranged above, including the start point WP1 and the end point WP2. The altitude information included in the plurality of waypoints is the altitude information on the ground surface based on the map information at the stage when the waypoints are arranged. On the other hand, the collation data in the drawing map collation step S5 is made to correspond. For example, the collation data is made to correspond to the start point WP1 whose coordinates on the ground surface are (X1, Y1, Z1), and the height information of the building I is added to set the position coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1 + I20). And fix it. Further, the position coordinates of the start point WP1 are corrected to (X1, Y1, Z1 + I20 + L) in consideration of the separation L set by the user in the separation setting step S3. The above modifications are made for all of the plurality of waypoints.

The flight path creating method according to the above embodiment may include steps other than the above steps S1 to S6. For example, a process of determining a flight method such as whether to hover at each waypoint, a process of determining a nose direction of 360 ° in an arbitrary direction, and a camera direction (for example, tilt) according to the nose direction. + 40 ° ~ -90 °) The decision process, the shooting method of the camera device, always shoot a movie, shoot at each waypoint (video or still image), shoot a still image at regular intervals, etc. It may include a step of determining a photographing method, etc., which is selected from the above. Instructions and the like in each of these steps are automatically converted into arbitrary instruction formats of various flight software.

According to the flight path creation method according to the above embodiment, the flight path W1 having a certain distance L from the building I which is the inspection target can be accurately and automatically input by the minimum necessary user data input. Can be created. The user refers to the flight path W1 created above, and the unmanned flight object D automatically flies.

《Flight path creation system》
Next, the flight path creation system used in the flight path creation method of the above embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing functions mainly provided in the flight path creation system 1 according to the present embodiment.

The flight path creation system 1 includes an information processing device 100 and a map information database 200. The information processing device 100 is various information processing devices such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. The map information database 200 is, for example, an external server device in which map information is stored. The map information database 200 is configured to be able to communicate with the Internet 300 through a wired or wireless communication line 302. The information processing device 100 and the map information database 200 can communicate with each other via the Internet 300.

As shown in FIG. 6, the information processing device 100 includes a storage unit 101, an input unit 102, an image display unit 103, a drawing information database 104, a collation unit 105, a flight path creation unit 106, and a communication unit 107. These functions are functionally distinct, and each function may be independent, or a program or the like in which some or all of the functions are common.

The storage unit 101 stores the position coordinates of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 set by the user via the input unit 102, and information on the flight path created by the flight path creation unit 106. Further, the storage unit 101 stores a program for realizing the functions of the collation unit 105 and the flight path creation unit 106, which will be described later.

The input unit 102 is a device capable of inputting the position coordinates of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 and a constant separation L by the user. The input unit 102 is composed of hardware such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel.

The image display unit 103 displays the map information acquired from the map information database 200 and a screen for the user to input the position coordinates of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2. The map information and the position coordinates may be superposed and displayed. The image display unit 103 is a known display device such as a liquid crystal display.

The drawing information database 104 is a database in which drawing information such as CAD data of a building to be inspected is stored.

The collation unit 105 has a function of collating the drawing information stored in the drawing information database 104 with the map information stored in the map information database 200 to create collation data.

The flight path creation unit 106 creates a plurality of waypoints from the position coordinates of the start point WP1 and the end point WP2 set by the user via the input unit 102, and creates a plurality of waypoints including the start point WP1 and the end point WP2. It has a function of creating a flight path by modifying the collation data created by the collation unit 105.

The communication unit 107 is configured to be able to communicate with the outside through a communication means such as a communication line 301. The communication line 301 is a wired or wireless communication means, and is configured to be able to communicate with the Internet 300.

According to the flight path creation system according to the present embodiment, an accurate flight path can be easily created by combining the accurate drawing data of the inspection object owned by the user with the map data that can be acquired from the outside. Can be done.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described. The description of the parts described in the above embodiment may be omitted.

[Second Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 3, the method for creating a flight path of an unmanned vehicle according to the second embodiment is a flight for inspecting a building Ia, which is an inspection target having a specific shape, using the unmanned vehicle D. This is a method of creating a route W2.

The flight path W2 includes a plurality of waypoints having the same latitude and longitude but different altitudes. Such a flight path W2 is, for example, a route for inspecting each floor of the building Ia. The plurality of waypoints have a certain distance L from the building Ia. In this embodiment, the constant distance L is set as a horizontal distance from the building Ia.

The input procedure when the user creates the flight path W2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the position coordinate setting step S2, the user inputs the start point WP10, the waypoint WP20, and the end point WP30 of the flight path W2 on the two-dimensional map M. Next, in the separation setting step S3, the user sets and inputs the separation L from the building Ia. Further, the user may set the number or interval of generating waypoints having the same latitude and longitude as the start point WP10, the waypoint WP20, and the end point WP30 but having different altitudes.

In the drawing information acquisition step S4, detailed drawing information of the building Ia is acquired. The drawing information is three-dimensional shape data of the outer shape of the building Ia, and is electronic data such as CAD data. The drawing information includes information on the actual length Ia10 in the width direction of the building I shown in FIG. 3 and the actual height Ia20.

In the drawing map collation step S5, for example, height information of the building Ia is added to each position coordinate (latitude, longitude, and altitude) on the map M in FIG. For example, when the coordinates on the ground surface corresponding to a certain point on the building Ia are (X1, Y1, Z1), the position coordinates to which the height information of the building Ia is added are (X1, Y1, Z1 + I20a). Is shown. Similar to the first embodiment, the collation is performed by creating collation data in which the drawing information of the building Ia and the map information are collated according to the size of the building Ia having the width Ia11 on the map M.

The flight path creation step S6 includes, for example, a step of correcting the start point WP10, the waypoint WP20, and the end point WP30, which are each waypoint, based on a constant distance L, and a step of generating a line connecting the above waypoints. The order in which the unmanned air vehicle D passes through each waypoint based on the process of creating multiple waypoints with the same latitude and longitude as the above waypoints but different altitudes, and the altitude information of the generated multiple waypoints. Including the step of determining.

In the step of correcting each waypoint based on a constant distance L, the latitude and longitude information in the position coordinates of each waypoint is corrected so as to have a constant distance L from the building Ia.

In the step of generating a line connecting each waypoint, for example, on the two-dimensional map M in FIG. 4, a line connecting each waypoint having a certain distance L from the building Ia is generated. At this time, for example, a waypoint may be added to a point where the direction of the unmanned aircraft D is changed.

In the process of creating a plurality of waypoints having the same latitude and longitude as each waypoint but having different altitudes, for example, a plurality of waypoints having different altitudes are created with respect to the actual height Ia of the building Ia. The plurality of waypoints may be created at predetermined intervals or numbers, or correspond to object information (for example, position information of windows of a building) included in drawing information of a building Ia. It may be created. The plurality of waypoints are automatically created by the user setting a predetermined interval or number, or based on drawing information. Each created waypoint may be editable by the user.

In the process of determining the order in which the unmanned vehicle D passes through each waypoint based on the altitude information of the created multiple waypoints, a line connecting each waypoint created on the two-dimensional map M is drawn as 3. Convert as a dimensional line. Specifically, based on the altitude information of the created plurality of waypoints, for example, the order in which the unmanned aircraft D passes through each waypoint is determined in the order of WP11, WP21, and WP31, which are in ascending order of altitude in FIG. do. The determination of the above order is automatically made based on the altitude information, and may be editable by the user after the determination.

According to the flight path creation method according to the second embodiment, a plurality of waypoints in which only the altitude is changed can be automatically created with a minimum of operations, and each waypoint is created by the unmanned aircraft D. The flight path W2 can be created by automatically determining the order of passage.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be appropriately modified.

In the above embodiment, the map information has been described as information represented on a two-dimensional map including altitude information, but the present invention is not limited to the above. The map information is not particularly limited as long as it includes latitude, longitude and altitude information, and may be information represented on a three-dimensional map.

In the first embodiment, the separation L has been described as being set as a distance vertically above the building I as an inspection object, but the present invention is not limited to the above. The separation L may be set as a horizontal separation from the inspection object. In this case, for example, the flight path can be created by modifying the latitude information or longitude information of the waypoints arranged on the drawing showing the cross section of the building I based on the collation data between the drawing information and the map information. ..

In the second embodiment, the map information database 200 has been described as an external server device that can be connected to the information processing device 100 via the Internet, but the present invention is not limited to the above. The map information database 200 may be any information that can be acquired from the outside, and the data acquired from the outside may be stored in the information processing apparatus 100. Therefore, the map information database 200 does not need to be able to communicate with the information processing device 100 at any time via the Internet.

1 Flight route creation system 102 Input unit 103 Image display unit 104 Drawing information database 105 Collation unit 106 Flight route creation unit 200 Map information database D Unmanned aircraft I, Ia Building (inspection target)
L separation W1, W2 Flight path WP1, WP10 Start point WP2, WP30 End point

Claims (3)

The map information acquisition process, which acquires map information including the location information of the inspection target,
A position coordinate setting process that sets the position coordinates of the start point and end point of the flight path of an unmanned aircraft, and
A separation setting step of setting a certain distance from the inspection object of the flight path, and a separation setting step.
The drawing information acquisition process for acquiring the drawing information of the inspection object, and
A map drawing collation process for collating the map information with the drawing information,
It has a flight path creation step of creating the flight path based on the position coordinates, the constant separation, and the collation result of the map drawing collation step.
The map information includes information about the scale.
The drawing information is shape data of the outer shape of the inspection object, and includes information on an actual size corresponding to a plurality of positions of the inspection object.
The map drawing collation step is
A step of converting the drawing information into data indicating height information at each predetermined position of the inspection object, and
The data indicating the height information, see containing and a step of converting the size on the map information by using the information on the scale,
The flight route creation process is
A step of generating a line connecting the start point and the end point, and
The process of arranging multiple waypoints on the line and
A method for creating a flight path of an unmanned vehicle , comprising a step of correcting the position coordinates of the start point, the end point, and the plurality of waypoints based on the constant distance and the collation result. The flight path creating step includes a step of generating a plurality of waypoints having the same latitude and longitude but different altitudes from at least one of the waypoints including the start point and the end point.
Wherein the plurality of waypoints highly depending on the and a step of determining the order in which the unmanned aircraft the waypoint is passed, the flight path creation method according to claim 1. A system used in the flight route creation method according to claim 1 or 2.
An image display unit that can display the map information and
The input unit used to input the position coordinates and
A drawing information database in which the drawing information is stored and
A map information database in which the map information is stored and
A collating unit that collates the drawing information and the map information,
A flight path creation system having a flight path creation unit for creating the flight path.

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