JP7137034B2 - Management device, flight management method, program and photography system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a management device, a flight management method, a program, and a photography system for determining a photography route by a flight device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a technique of causing a flying device to fly around facilities such as bridges, tunnels, roads, and plants to photograph, inspect, and monitor (hereinafter referred to as photographing, etc.) the state of the facility (for example, Patent document 1).

WO2015/163106

When using a flying device to photograph, inspect, or monitor facilities such as long roads or large factories, the remaining battery power may run out before the photographing is completed, and the photographing may not be completed. I had a problem.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to photograph a wider area using a flight device.

A management device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a management device capable of communicating with a flight device by wireless communication, and includes a route determination unit for determining a flight route by the flight device, to the first flight device via said wireless communication, and based on the position information received from said first flight device via said wireless communication, said second flight device that takes over the shooting from said first flight device shoots and a determining unit configured to determine a position from which to start shooting, wherein the instruction unit instructs the second flight device, via the wireless communication, to shoot on the flight route from the position determined by the determining unit. The determination unit may determine a position on the flight route where the first flight device stopped shooting as a position where the second flight device starts shooting.

The determining unit may determine, as the position at which the second flying device starts capturing, a position a predetermined distance back on the flight route from the position at which the first flying device stopped capturing. The management device may further include a specifying unit that specifies a position where the first flight device has stopped shooting based on stop position information indicating a stop position of shooting received from the first flight device. The management device includes an acquisition unit that acquires flight position information indicating the position of the first flight device at predetermined time intervals, and an acquisition unit that determines whether the first flight device has stopped shooting based on the acquisition status of the flight position information. and a specifying unit that specifies the position. The instruction unit determines to cause the first flight device to finish photographing based on the power required for the first flight device to return to the predetermined position and the remaining battery level of the first flight device. In this case, the first flying device may be instructed to finish photographing, and the second flying device may be instructed to start photographing.

The management device has a determination unit that determines whether the first flight device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flight device. When the determination unit determines that there is a failure, the first flying device may be instructed to stop photographing, and the second flying device may be instructed to start photographing. The instruction unit may instruct the second flight device to start shooting from a planned stop position obtained from the first flight device, which is a position where the first flight device is scheduled to end shooting. .

A management device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a management device capable of communicating with a flight device by wireless communication, and comprises a route determining unit for determining a flight route by the flight device, to the first flying device by wireless communication; and a determining unit that determines whether the first flying device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flying device, The instruction unit instructs the first flight device to stop shooting when the determination unit determines that the first flight device is out of order, and instructs the second flight device to stop shooting on the flight route. command to start shooting.

A flight management method according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises steps, executed by a computer, of determining a flight route by a flight device; instructing a first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication; and determining a position at which a second flight device, which takes over photography from the first flight device, starts shooting, based on the position information received from the first flight device via the wireless communication. and instructing the second flight device via the wireless communication to shoot on the flight route from a position. A program according to the fourth aspect of the present invention may cause a computer to execute each step of the management method according to the third aspect of the present invention.

A flight management method according to a fifth aspect of the present invention comprises steps, executed by a computer, of determining a flight route by a flight device, instructing a first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication, determining whether the first flying device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flying device; and determining that the first flying device is out of order. instructing a flight device to stop filming and instructing a second flight device to start filming on said flight route. A program according to the sixth aspect of the present invention may cause a computer to execute each step of the management method according to the fifth aspect of the present invention.

A photographing system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention comprises: a route determination unit that determines a flight route by a flight device; an instruction unit that instructs a first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication; a determination unit that determines a position at which a second flight device, which takes over photography from the first flight device, starts shooting, based on position information received from the flight device via the wireless communication, wherein the instruction unit comprises: and instructing the second flight device, through the wireless communication, to shoot on the flight route from the position determined by the determination unit.

A photographing system according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises a route determination unit that determines a flight route by a flight device, an instruction unit that instructs a first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication, and the first flight device. a determination unit that determines whether the first flight device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the flight device, and the instruction unit determines that the first flight device is out of order. When the determination unit makes a determination, the first flight device is instructed to stop photographing, and the second flight device is instructed to start photographing on the flight route.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it is effective in the ability to image|photograph a wider area using a flying device.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an imaging system according to a first embodiment; FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of a flight device. It is a figure which shows the structure of a management apparatus. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the imaging system when photographing a road; FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the imaging system of the second embodiment when photographing a road;

<First embodiment>
[Overview of imaging system S]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an imaging system S according to the first embodiment. The photographing system S is a system for photographing a relatively wide facility such as a road H. The imaging system S includes a plurality of flying devices 100 (100a, 100b, and 100c) and a management device 200. FIG. The flying devices 100a, 100b, and 100c are devices capable of flying in the air, such as drones. In the following description, the flight device 100 may be referred to when describing a configuration or operation common to the flight devices 100a, 100b, and 100c.

The flying device 100 communicates with the management device 200 via a base station 300 forming a network N such as a mobile phone network. The flying device 100 generates a photographed image of the inspection range R of the road H during flight using a camera mounted on the flying device 100 . The flying device 100 transmits the generated captured image to the management device 200 in association with the position information indicating the flight position.

If the flight device 100 has stopped or is planning to stop shooting due to insufficient remaining battery power, a failure, or the like, the flight device 100 sends a cancellation notification indicating that the shooting has been canceled or is scheduled to be canceled. 200. The flying device 100 associates stop position information indicating the position where the shooting was stopped with the stop notification and transmits it to the management device 200 .

The management device 200 is a server for managing flight conditions of the flight device 100 . The management device 200 determines a photographing route for photographing the inspection range R of the road H by the first flying device 100a. The inspection range R is a partial area of the road H, and is a range that needs to be inspected by photographing the road H. The management device 200 instructs the first flight device 100a to shoot on the determined shooting route. In FIG. 1, an example of a photographing route is indicated by dashed-dotted arrows extending from flight devices 100a, 100b, and 100c.

The first flying device 100 a shoots the road H while flying along the shooting route instructed by the management device 200 . In the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that when the first flying device 100a reaches the point A, the shooting of the road H is stopped due to insufficient remaining battery power. The first flying device 100a returns to the waiting position (for example, drone port) where the flying device 100 waits after transmitting the cancellation notification indicating that the shooting has been stopped to the management device 200. FIG. Upon receiving the cancellation notification, the management device 200 specifies the position where the first flying device 100a stopped shooting (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the cancellation position) based on the cancellation position information received in association with the cancellation notification. The management device 200 instructs the second flight device 100b, which is different from the first flight device 100a, to start shooting on the shooting route from the position where the first flight device 100a stopped shooting.

The second flying device 100b starts shooting along the shooting route from point A, which is the position where the first flying device 100a stopped shooting. Assume that the second flying device 100b stops photographing the road H when it reaches the point B due to insufficient remaining battery power. Like the first flying device 100a, the second flying device 100b returns to the standby position after transmitting the cancellation notification to the management device 200. FIG. The management device 200 specifies the position where the second flying device 100b stopped shooting, and instructs the third flying device 100c to start shooting on the shooting route from the position where the second flying device 100b stopped shooting. do. The third flying device 100c flies along the shooting route from the point B where the second flying device 100b stopped shooting. After the third flying device 100c completes the shooting of the remaining section from point B, the third flying device 100c returns to the standby position.

With such a configuration, the management device 200 sequentially moves the flying devices 100a, 100b, and 100c to the road when it is necessary to move a distance longer than the cruising distance of one flying device 100 in photographing the inspection range R on the road H. H can be photographed. Therefore, the management device 200 can use the flying devices 100a, 100b, and 100c to capture an area that cannot be captured by a single flying device 100. FIG.

[Configuration of flight device 100]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the flight device 100. As shown in FIG. The flight device 100 includes a communication section 11 , a position sensor 12 , a battery level gauge 13 , a camera 14 , a flight mechanism 15 , a storage section 16 and a control section 17 . The communication unit 11 is a wireless communication module for communicating with the management device 200 via the base station 300 and the network N. FIG. The position sensor 12 acquires the position of the aircraft during flight. For example, position sensor 12 is a GPS sensor that acquires GPS signals. The position sensor 12 may further include an altitude sensor to acquire the position of the aircraft during flight, including flight altitude.

The remaining battery level meter 13 measures the remaining battery level of the device itself. For example, the battery remaining amount meter 13 measures the battery remaining amount of the own device by measuring the terminal voltage of the battery mounted on the own device. The camera 14 generates a photographed image of the road H. The flight mechanism 15 includes a propeller, a motor for rotating the propeller, a rudder, and the like. The flight mechanism 15 operates these mechanisms under the control of the controller 17 . The storage unit 16 is a storage medium including ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The storage unit 16 stores programs executed by the control unit 17 .

The control unit 17 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 17 executes various functions by executing programs stored in the storage unit 16 . The control unit 17 acquires shooting route information indicating the shooting route from the management device 200 via the communication unit 11 . The control unit 17 controls the flight mechanism 15 so that the flight device 100 flies along the acquired imaging route. In addition to the shooting route information, the control unit 17 may acquire information specifying the orientation of the camera 14 at a plurality of flight positions on the shooting route or the position of the object to be shot. The object to be photographed is, for example, a pillar of the road H.

First, the control unit 17 moves from a predetermined standby position for the flying device 100 to a position to start shooting, and starts shooting the road H with the camera 14 . The control unit 17 photographs the road H with the camera 14 while moving along the photographing route. At this time, the control unit 17 may fly along the running direction of the road, or may fly over the road H in a zigzag manner. Moreover, when the road H is elevated, the robot may fly so as to photograph the bottom surface of the road H or the support from the side or below the road H. The control unit 17 controls the flight mechanism 15 so as to fly along the imaging route according to the flight method instructed by the management device 200, for example.

The control unit 17 acquires the position of the camera itself when the camera 14 takes the picture, using the position sensor 12 . The control unit 17 causes the storage unit 16 to store the photographed image generated by the camera 14 in association with the photographing position information indicating the position of the camera itself at the time of photographing. The control unit 17 may associate the photographed image and the photographing position information with each other and transmit them to the management device 200 .

The control unit 17 acquires the remaining battery level measured by the remaining battery level meter 13 . The control unit 17 transmits information indicating the acquired remaining battery level to the management device 200 . The control unit 17 determines whether or not to stop shooting based on, for example, the shooting route received from the management device 200 and the remaining battery level acquired from the battery level meter 13 . The control unit 17 determines whether or not the remaining battery level is enough to continue photographing the road H while securing the power required to return to the standby location. The control unit 17 stops photographing when it determines that the remaining battery power is not enough to continue photographing the road H in a state in which the electric power necessary for returning to the standby place is secured. On the other hand, if the control unit 17 determines that the remaining battery power is enough to continue photographing the road H while securing the power required to return to the standby place, the controller 17 does not stop photographing. .

Further, the control unit 17 may stop shooting when it determines that the flying device 100 is out of order. For example, the control unit 17 may (1) start photographing when a temperature sensor, wind speed sensor, rain sensor, or snow sensor (not shown) mounted on the flight device 100 detects that the outside air environment exceeds a predetermined standard. Cancel. The predetermined reference is, for example, a value defined by the standard of the flight device 100 as a condition under which the flight device 100 can fly. (2) When the control unit 17 determines that the flying device 100 not equipped with a wind speed sensor has deviated from the imaging route for a predetermined period of time or a predetermined number of times due to the wind force, the control unit 17 stops imaging. The predetermined time or the predetermined number of times is determined by those skilled in the art as a value indicating that safe flight is difficult due to wind power. (3) When determining that one or more of the plurality of propellers mounted on the flight device 100 do not rotate, the control unit 17 stops photographing.

When the photography is stopped, the control unit 17 transmits a cancellation notification indicating that the photography has been stopped to the management device 200 . The control unit 17 acquires the position of the camera itself when the shooting is stopped by the position sensor 12, and transmits the acquired position to the management device 200 as the stop position information. At this time, the control unit 17 associates the cancellation notification and the cancellation position information with each other and transmits them to the management device 200 .

The control unit 17 may specify in advance a planned stop position, which is a position where the imaging is scheduled to end, and transmit the specified planned stop position to the management device 200 . The control unit 17 identifies the scheduled stop position based on, for example, the shooting route received from the management device 200 and the remaining battery level obtained from the remaining battery level meter 13 . First, the control unit 17 calculates the cruising distance in which the photographing of the road H can be continued while the electric power necessary for returning to the standby place is secured. Subsequently, the control unit 17 specifies a position, which has moved along the shooting route by the calculated cruising distance, as the planned stop position. When there is a plan to stop shooting, the control unit 17 indicates that there is a plan to stop shooting, and transmits a cancellation notification including the planned cancellation position to the management device 200 . The control unit 17 ends the photographing when the planned stop position is reached, and returns to a predetermined standby position.

The control unit 17 may transmit state information indicating the state of its own device to the management device 200 . The status information is used, for example, by the management device 200 to determine whether or not the device itself is out of order. Specifically, the control unit 17 transmits state information indicating the flight speed, flight altitude, and flight direction of the flight mechanism 15 to the management device 200 .

[Configuration of management device 200]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the management device 200. As shown in FIG. The management device 200 includes a communication section 21 , a storage section 22 and a control section 23 . The communication unit 21 is an interface for communicating with the flight device 100 via the network N and the base station 300 . The storage unit 22 is a storage medium including ROM, RAM, and the like. The storage unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 23 . The control unit 23 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 23 functions as a route determination unit 231 , a specification unit 232 and an instruction unit 233 by executing programs stored in the storage unit 22 .

The route determination unit 231 determines a shooting route for the flight device 100 to shoot. For example, the route determination unit 231 determines the shooting route based on input information input by the administrator using a mouse or operation keys (not shown). The input information is, for example, information indicating the latitude and longitude on the boundary line of the inspection range R on the road H. FIG.

The route determination unit 231 may determine the shooting route based on disaster information acquired from an external device. For example, the external device is a server installed in an information providing organization such as the Meteorological Agency, and the disaster information is information indicating that an earthquake or the like has occurred. When receiving disaster information indicating that an earthquake has occurred, the route determining unit 231 determines the imaging route of the flying device 100 so as to image a specific part of the road that particularly needs to be inspected during an earthquake. For example, when the road H is elevated, the specific part is a pillar that supports the elevated road H.

Further, the route determining unit 231 receives disaster information indicating that an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity or more has occurred, or indicates that an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity or more has been detected from a seismic intensity sensor mounted on the road H. The imaging route of the flying device 100 may be determined so as to image a specific part when the detection information is received. The predetermined seismic intensity is defined by a person skilled in the art as the seismic intensity that requires the road H to be inspected. With such a configuration, the route determination unit 231 can determine an appropriate photographing route for inspecting the road H according to the type of disaster such as an earthquake.

In some cases, the time zone in which the flying device 100 can fly in the inspection range R of the road H is stipulated by regulation or the like. In this case, the administrator causes the storage unit 22 to store in advance the time period during which the flight device 100 can fly within the inspection range R. The route determination unit 231 may determine the shooting route based on the flightable time zone of the inspection range R stored in the storage unit 16 . For example, if the time period during which the inspection range R can be flown is from 15:00 pm to 17:00 pm, the route determining unit 231 starts shooting after 15:00 pm and finishes shooting before 17:00 pm. , determine the shooting route.

When the first flying device 100a stops photographing the road H, the identifying unit 232 identifies the position where the first flying device 100a stopped photographing so that the second flying device 100b takes over the photographing. The identifying unit 232 identifies the position at which shooting by the first flying device 100a is stopped based on the stop position information acquired in association with the stop notification when the stop notification is acquired from the first flying device 100a. For example, the specifying unit 232 specifies the position indicated by the acquired stop position information as the stop position of the first flying device 100a. The specifying unit 232 specifies, as a stop position, a position that is a predetermined distance back along the shooting route from the position indicated by the acquired stop position information in order to suppress the occurrence of a section in which shooting is not performed in the vicinity of the position indicated by the stop position information. You may The predetermined distance is, for example, a distance equal to or greater than the interval at which images are captured by the first flying device 100a.

The identifying unit 232 acquires flight position information indicating the position of the first flying device at predetermined time intervals. The predetermined time interval is, for example, a time interval of 5 seconds or less or 1 second or less. When the communication with the first flying device 100a becomes impossible, the identification unit 232 determines whether the normal shooting operation is being performed up to the position in the shooting route where the flight position information of the first flying device 100a was last received. We estimate that Therefore, when flight position information cannot be acquired for a predetermined time or longer, the specifying unit 232 specifies a position within a predetermined range from the position indicated by the last acquired flight position information as a stop position.

The predetermined time is set to be longer than the delay that normally occurs when the identifying unit 232 acquires the flight position information transmitted by the first flying device 100a. The predetermined range is, for example, a range of distance equal to or greater than the magnitude of the GPS error, with reference to the position indicated by the last acquired flight position information. With such a configuration, the specifying unit 232 can specify the abort position even if the flight device 100a fails to transmit the abort notification or the abort position information to the management device 200 due to a failure or the like.

The specifying unit 232 may specify the position at which the flying device 100a stops shooting based on information other than the cancellation notification received from the flying device 100a. For example, the identifying unit 232 acquires state information indicating the state of the first flying device 100a, and estimates the stop position based on the state information. The identifying unit 232 determines whether the acquired state information indicates a failure of the first flying device 100a in order to estimate the stop position. For example, when the obtained status information indicates that the flight altitude of the first flying device 100a is lower than the threshold, the specifying unit 232 determines that the flying device 100a is out of order. The threshold is, for example, a value indicating the flight altitude required for safe flight. The identifying unit 232 identifies the flight position of the first flying device 100a at the time when it is determined that the state information indicates that the first flying device 100a is out of order as the abort position.

The specifying unit 232 may specify the stop position by acquiring from the first flying device 100a the planned stop position, which is the position where the first flying device 100a is scheduled to end the imaging. Specifically, the specifying unit 232 may specify in advance the planned stop position acquired from the first flying device 100a as the stop position of the first flying device 100a. The specifying unit 232 notifies the instructing unit 233 of the specified stop position.

The instruction unit 233 instructs the first flying device 100a via the communication unit 21 to start photographing on the photographing route determined by the route determination unit 231 . The instruction unit 233 selects the first flying device 100a based on the imaging route determined by the route determination unit 231 when instruction information for instructing imaging is acquired from the operation terminal of the administrator. The instruction unit 233 selects, as the first flight device 100a, a flying device that is positioned within a predetermined distance from the imaging route determined by the route determining unit 231 and has specifications that allow it to fly along this imaging route. The predetermined distance is, for example, 5 kilometers. For example, when the shooting route includes a place with strong wind such as between buildings, the instruction unit 233 selects a flight device having specifications that enable it to fly along the shooting route without being blown away by the wind. Select as device 100a.

When starting inspection, the instruction unit 233 first transmits instruction information instructing to start shooting and shooting route information indicating the shooting route determined by the route determination unit 231 to the first flying device 100a. . The storage unit 22 may store the shooting route information after the instruction unit 233 transmits the shooting route information, or may erase the shooting route information.

When the specifying unit 232 specifies the stop position, the instructing unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b, which is different from the first flying device 100a, to start shooting on the shooting route from the stopping position. For example, when the first flight device 100a is selected as the flight device to be used with the highest priority, the instruction unit 233 selects the second flight device 100b as the flight device to be used with the second priority. The instruction unit 233 reserves the second flying device 100b in anticipation of the case where the first flying device 100a stops shooting. The reserved second flying device 100b has sufficient remaining battery power to fly the imaging route while the first flying device 100a is imaging the road H, and is ready for flight. stand by.

In addition, when the first flying device 100a stops shooting, the instruction unit 233 (1) has sufficient remaining battery power to fly the shooting route after the stop position specified by the specifying unit 232, and (2) (3) is within a predetermined distance from the stop position specified by the specifying unit 232; A flying device having specifications necessary for executing imaging may be selected as the second flying device 100b. The predetermined distance in (3) is, for example, 5 kilometers.

The instruction unit 233 provides instruction information for instructing to start shooting when the specifying unit 232 specifies the stop position, and a shooting route indicating a route after the stop position among the shooting routes determined by the route determination unit 231. information to the second flying device 100b.

With such a configuration, the instruction unit 233 can instruct the second flying device 100b to start shooting before the first flying device 100a stops shooting. Therefore, the instruction unit 233 suppresses the temporary interruption of the photographing due to the first flying device 100a suspending the photographing in the middle of the photographing route, or shortens the interruption time during which the photographing is temporarily interrupted. can do.

When the shooting route information is deleted from the storage unit 22 after the shooting route information is transmitted, the instruction unit 233 may acquire the shooting route information indicating the shooting route after the stop position from the first flying device 100a. In this case, the instruction unit 233 transmits the imaging route information acquired from the first flying device 100a to the second flying device 100b.

When the specifying unit 232 determines that the state information indicates that the first flying device 100a is out of order, the instructing unit 233 instructs the first flying device 100a to stop shooting, and instructs the first flying device 100a to stop shooting. 2 Instruct the flying device 100b to start shooting. When the specifying unit 232 determines that the state information indicates that the first flying device 100a is out of order, the instructing unit 233 instructs the first flying device 100a to immediately stop shooting. 100a. The instruction unit 233 transmits, to the second flying device 100b, instruction information for instructing to start shooting and shooting route information indicating the shooting route after the stop position specified by the specifying unit 232.

With such a configuration, the instruction unit 233 can cause the second flying device 100b to start shooting when the identifying unit 232 determines that the first flying device 100a is out of order. Therefore, the instruction unit 233 can suppress the delay in shooting caused by the failure of the first flying device 100a.

[Operation sequence of imaging system S]
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the photographing system S when photographing the road H. As shown in FIG. This processing procedure starts when the management device 200 receives the input information input by the user for setting the inspection range R of the road H as an imaging target. First, the route determination unit 231 determines a shooting route for shooting by the first flying device 100a based on the input information (S11). The instruction unit 233 transmits instruction information for instructing the start of imaging and imaging route information indicating the imaging route determined by the route determination unit 231 to the first flying device 100a. The first flying device 100 a moves from the standby location to the shooting route indicated by the shooting route information received from the management device 200 . The flying device 100a starts photographing the road H when it reaches the photographing start position on the photographing route (S12).

The control unit 17 of the flight device 100a stops shooting when it detects that the remaining battery level is insufficient (S13). The control unit 17 of the flying device 100a associates the cancellation notification and the cancellation position information with each other and transmits them to the management device 200 . The specifying unit 232 specifies the stop position of the shooting by the first flying device 100a based on the acquired stop position information (S14). The instruction unit 233 transmits, to the second flying device 100b, instruction information for instructing to start shooting and shooting route information indicating a route after the stop position among the shooting routes determined by the route determination unit 231. The control unit 17 of the second flying device 100b moves from the standby position to the stop position, and when it reaches the stop position, it starts photographing the road H on the photographing route (S15).

[Effect of shooting system S]
According to this embodiment, when the specifying unit 232 specifies the position where the first flying device 100a stopped shooting, the instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b to move from the stopping position on the shooting route. Instruct to start shooting. Therefore, even if the remaining battery level of the first flying device 100a becomes insufficient before the completion of the photographing, the instruction unit 233 can continue the photographing, and the photographing can be performed with only one flying device 100. It is possible to shoot a wider area than in the case of

<Second embodiment>
In the second embodiment, the specifying unit 232 estimates the time when the first flying device 100a will stop shooting, and the instructing unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232. An example of instructing to start shooting will be described. The identifying unit 232 of the second embodiment acquires flight position information indicating the flight position of the first flying device 100a and the remaining battery level of the first flying device 100a from the first flying device 100a. Based on the obtained flight position information, the specifying unit 232 calculates the electric power required for the first flight device to return from its flight position to a predetermined standby position.

The specifying unit 232 estimates the time when the first flying device 100a will stop shooting based on the calculated power and the remaining battery level obtained from the first flying device 100a. More specifically, the specifying unit 232 calculates the flight duration during which the first flying device 100a can continue photographing the road H while securing the necessary power until the first flying device 100a returns to the predetermined standby position. As an example, the identification unit 232 calculates the flight duration based on the statistical value of the power consumption of the first flying device 100a within the most recent predetermined period. The predetermined period is, for example, 5 minutes. The identifying unit 232 adds the calculated duration to the current time to estimate the time to stop shooting. With such a configuration, the specifying unit 232 can accurately estimate the time when the first flying device 100a stops shooting based on the remaining battery level obtained from the first flying device 100a.

The instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b to start shooting before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 . The instruction unit 233 calculates the time to depart the second flying device 100b so that the second flying device 100b reaches the position where the first flying device 100a stops shooting by the time estimated by the specifying unit 232. .

In order to calculate the time to depart the second flying device 100b, the instruction unit 233 first acquires position information indicating the position of the second flying device 100b. Based on the distance from the position of the second flying device 100b to the flight position of the first flying device 100a, the instruction unit 233 determines the movement required for the second flying device 100b to reach the flight position of the first flying device 100a. Calculate time.

Based on the calculated travel time, the instruction unit 233 determines the departure time of the second flying device 100b necessary for the second flying device 100b to reach the flight position of the first flying device 100a by the time estimated by the specifying unit 232. Determine the time of day. The instruction unit 233 notifies the second flying device 100b of the determined departure time. The instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b to start shooting before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 that the first flying device 100a is expected to stop shooting. By doing so, the management device 200 can cause the second flying device 100b to start photographing at the time when the first flying device 100a is expected to stop photographing.

In addition, in consideration of the possibility that the first flying device 100a and the second flying device 100b may collide, the instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device to start shooting after the time estimated by the specifying unit 232. 100b. For example, the instruction unit 233 causes the second flying device 100b to reach the position where the first flying device 100a stops shooting within a predetermined time after the time estimated by the specifying unit 232. The departure time may be calculated. The predetermined time is, for example, 5 minutes.

The instruction unit 233 may determine to cause the first flying device 100a to finish shooting based on the power and remaining battery power required for the first flying device 100a to return to the predetermined standby position. The instruction unit 233 determines the amount of electric power required for the first flying device 100a to return to the predetermined standby position after completing the imaging of all routes on the imaging route, and the remaining battery level obtained from the first flying device 100a. Compare with available power.

The instruction unit 233 determines that the power required for the first flying device 100a to return to the predetermined standby position after completing the imaging of all routes on the imaging route is greater than the power that can be supplied depending on the remaining battery level. In this case, it is determined that the first flying device 100a is caused to finish photographing at an end instructed position on the photographing route. The end instruction position is, for example, a position that the first flying device 100a will reach before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 when the first flying device 100a will stop shooting.

The instruction unit 233 instructs the first flying device 100a to finish shooting at the end instruction position when it is decided to have the first flying device 100a finish shooting. The instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b to start photographing at the end instruction position when it is decided to have the first flying device 100a finish photographing. By doing so, even if the first flying device 100a does not autonomously stop shooting, the management device 200 can perform the second flight before the first flying device 100a becomes unable to continue shooting. Imaging by the device 100b can be started.

[Operation sequence of the second embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of photographing the road H by the photographing system S of the second embodiment. Since the processing of S11 and S12 is the same as that of FIG. 4, description thereof is omitted.

The control unit 17 of the first flying device 100a sequentially transmits flight position information indicating the position of the first flying device 100a and information indicating the remaining battery level to the management device 200 while the road H is being photographed. The identifying unit 232 causes the first flying device 100a to stop shooting based on the power required for the first flying device 100a to return to the predetermined standby position and the remaining battery level obtained from the first flying device 100a. Estimate the time to be set (S21). The instruction unit 233 determines the departure time of the second flying device 100b necessary for the second flying device 100b to reach the flight position of the first flying device 100a by the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 (S22).

The instruction unit 233 provides instruction information for instructing the first flying device 100a to start shooting before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 and departure time notification for notifying the determined departure time. Transmit to the second flight device 100b. The control unit 17 of the second flying device 100b moves from the standby position to the position where the first flying device 100a stops shooting. The control unit 17 of the second flying device 100b starts photographing the road H on the photographing route when the first flying device 100a reaches the position for stopping photographing (S23). When the first flying device 100a stops photographing, the first flying device 100a stops photographing at the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 (S24), and returns to the standby position.

According to the second embodiment, the instruction unit 233 instructs the second flying device 100b to start photographing before the time estimated by the specifying unit 232 . Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a period during which no image capturing is performed after the first flying device 100a stops capturing images and before the second flying device 100b starts capturing images.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof. be. For example, specific embodiments of device distribution/integration are not limited to the above-described embodiments. can be done. In addition, new embodiments resulting from arbitrary combinations of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment caused by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

11 Communication unit 12 Position sensor 13 Battery level gauge 14 Camera 15 Flight mechanism 16 Storage unit 17 Control unit 21 Communication unit 22 Storage unit 23 Control unit 100a First flight device 100b Second flight device 100c Third flight device 200 Management device 231 Route determining unit 232 Identifying unit 233 Instruction unit 300 Base station

Claims (12)

A management device capable of communicating with a flight device by wireless communication,
a route determination unit that determines a flight route by the flight device;
an instruction unit that instructs the first flight device to shoot on the flight route through the wireless communication;
a determination unit that determines whether the first flying device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flying device;
The instruction unit instructs the first flight device to stop shooting when the determination unit determines that the first flight device is out of order, and instructs the second flight device to stop shooting on the flight route. command to start shooting with
management device. a position determination unit that determines a position at which the second flight device, which takes over the shooting from the first flight device, starts shooting based on the position information received from the first flight device via the wireless communication;
The instruction unit instructs the second flight device to shoot on the flight route from the position determined by the position determination unit.
The management device according to claim 1. The position determination unit determines a position on the flight route where the first flight device stopped shooting as a position where the second flight device starts shooting .
The management device according to claim 2 . The position determining unit determines, as a position at which the second flying device starts capturing, a position a predetermined distance back on the flight route from the position where the first flying device stopped capturing the image.
The management device according to claim 2 . further comprising a specifying unit that specifies a position where the first flight device stopped shooting based on stop position information indicating a stop position of shooting received from the first flight device,
The management device according to claim 3 or 4 . an acquisition unit that acquires flight position information indicating the position of the first flight device at predetermined time intervals;
a specifying unit that specifies a position where the first flight device stopped shooting based on the acquisition status of the flight position information;
The management device according to claim 3 or 4 . The instruction unit determines to cause the first flight device to finish photographing based on the power required for the first flight device to return to the predetermined position and the remaining battery level of the first flight device. In this case, instructing the first flight device to end shooting and instructing the second flight device to start shooting;
The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . The instruction unit instructs the second flight device to start shooting from a planned stop position, which is a position at which the first flight device is scheduled to end shooting, acquired from the first flight device.
The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The determination unit determines whether the first flight device fails based on the state information including information indicating at least one of the flight speed of the flight device, the flight altitude of the flight device, and the flight direction of the flight device. determine whether
The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. the computer runs
determining a flight route by the flight device;
a step of instructing the first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication;
determining whether the first flying device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flying device;
When it is determined that the first flight device is out of order, the first flight device is instructed to stop photographing, and the second flight device is instructed to start photographing on the flight route. and
A flight management method comprising: A program that causes a computer to execute each step according to claim 10 . a route determination unit that determines a flight route by the flight device;
an instruction unit that instructs the first flight device to shoot on the flight route by wireless communication;
a determining unit that determines whether the first flying device is out of order based on state information indicating the state of the first flying device;
The instruction unit instructs the first flight device to stop shooting when the determination unit determines that the first flight device is out of order, and instructs the second flight device to stop shooting on the flight route. command to start shooting with
shooting system.

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