JP7176785B2 - Drone, drone control method, and drone control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drone, a drone control method, and a drone control program.

The application of small helicopters (multi-copters), generally called drones, is progressing. One of its important application fields is the spraying of chemicals such as agricultural chemicals and liquid fertilizers on farmlands (fields) (for example, Patent Document 1). In Japan, where farmland is narrower than in Europe and the United States, the use of drones rather than manned airplanes and helicopters is often suitable.

Technologies such as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System and RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematic - Global Positioning System) have made it possible for drones to accurately determine their absolute position in centimeters during flight. Even in farmland with narrow and complex topography typical of , it can fly autonomously with minimal manual operation and can spray chemicals efficiently and accurately.

On the other hand, there were cases where it was difficult to say that consideration of safety was sufficient for autonomous flying drones for spraying agricultural chemicals. Drones loaded with drugs can weigh tens of kilograms, which could lead to serious consequences in the event of an accident such as falling on a person. In addition, drone operators are usually not experts, so a fool-proof mechanism is necessary, but consideration for this has been insufficient. Until now, there have been drone safety technologies premised on human operation (for example, Patent Document 2), but it addresses the unique safety issues of autonomous flying drones, especially for agricultural chemical spraying. The technology to do so did not exist.

Also, in a multi-copter drone, the flight speed and acceleration of the drone are changed by changing the angle of the drone with respect to the direction of travel. In a chemical spraying drone, the direction of the chemical nozzle changes according to the change in the angle of the airframe, and thus the chemical drop point changes. If the chemical is dropped at an unintended point, there is a risk that the chemical will be sprayed where it should not be sprayed, contaminating surrounding objects, or that excessive spraying of the chemical will contaminate the soil. In addition, if the chemical is not sufficiently applied to the field, the effect of the chemical may not be sufficiently obtained. Therefore, there is a need for a drone whose flight is controlled according to the aircraft angle of the drone, and which is capable of effectively effecting the effects of chemicals on agricultural fields. Patent Literature 3 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for spraying a chemical solution that controls the spraying amount, spraying angle, and spraying direction of a chemical to be sprayed based on flight speed, flight altitude, wind direction, and wind speed. In addition, Patent Document 3 discloses that by controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle to face upwind based on the detected wind direction and wind speed, even if the aircraft is swept away by the wind, Passage on the route is described.

Patent Publication JP 2001-120151 Patent publication publication JP 2017-163265 Patent publication JP 2017-206066

To provide a drone capable of adjusting the drop point of a chemical by controlling the flight according to the attitude angle of the aircraft and making the effect of the chemical on a field effective.

In order to achieve the above object, a drone according to one aspect of the present invention is a drone for chemical spraying, comprising a flight control unit and an ejection unit for spraying a chemical agent during flight by the flight control unit, an attitude angle detection unit that detects an attitude angle of the drone; a drug dropping point prediction unit that predicts a drug dropping point of the drug ejected from the drone based on the posture angle; and the predicted drug dropping point. and a drug drop point control unit that controls the working mode of the drone based on.

The medicine dropping point control unit may be configured to increase the speed of the drone when the attitude angle with respect to the traveling direction is smaller than in a calm state.

The medicine dropping point control unit may be configured to reduce the speed of the drone when the attitude angle with respect to the traveling direction is large compared to a state of no wind.

The work mode includes the speed and altitude of the drone, the spray flow rate of the drug, and set values for an ejection start point at which the ejection of the drug is started and an ejection stop point at which the ejection of the drug is stopped in the linear movement of the drone. may be configured to include at least one of

The drug dropping point control unit adjusts the ejection start point and the ejection stop point from the ejection start point and the ejection stop point in a no-wind state when a tailwind along the traveling direction of the drone is blowing against the drone. may also be configured to be moved rearward in the traveling direction.

The medicine dropping point control unit sets the ejection start point and the ejection stop point to the ejection start point and the ejection stop point in a windless state when a head wind blowing in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the drone is blowing against the drone. It may be configured to move forward in the traveling direction from the stop point.

When a wind blowing in a direction different from the traveling direction of the drone is blowing on the drone on a horizontal plane, the drug dropping point control unit adjusts the horizontal position of the drone to the left and right sides of the traveling direction and to the windward side. It may be configured to move.

Based on the wind speed of the wind blown to the drone and the altitude of the drone, it is determined whether or not the medicine ejected from the drone is affected by the wind, and the distance over which the medicine is flowed is determined. In the case described above, it may be configured to further include a correction unit that corrects the drug dropping point predicted based on the attitude angle to the leeward side.

a ground speed calculation unit that calculates the ground speed of the drone; and at least one of the attitude angle, the weight of the drone, and the thrust exerted by the propulsion device operated by the flight control unit. It may further include an airspeed calculator that calculates an airspeed, and a wind speed calculator that calculates a wind speed and a wind direction in a traveling direction based on the ground speed and the airspeed.

When the absolute value of the attitude angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, a retraction action is taken, and the retraction action includes at least one action of prohibition of takeoff, suspension of ejection of the medicine, return, emergency landing, and hovering. may be

At least one of target flight speed and acceleration of the drone may be reduced when the absolute value of the attitude angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

The medicine dropping point control unit divides at least one of a difference between the current posture angle and a windless posture angle, a displacement amount of the medicine dropping point, and a wind speed into a plurality of stages, and divides them into a plurality of stages. It may be configured to control the work mode according to.

It may further include an energy consumption prediction unit that predicts energy consumption consumed by the drone based on the work mode controlled by the drug dropping point control unit.

At least one of the replacement timing of the battery mounted on the drone and the predicted flight time of the battery may be updated based on the energy consumption.

Information on at least one of the replacement timing of the battery and the estimated flight time may be transmitted to the operating device, and the information may be notified to the user via the operating device.

In order to achieve the above object, a drone control method according to another aspect of the present invention provides a drone for chemical spraying comprising a flight control section and an ejection section for spraying a chemical during flight by the flight control section. A control method comprising the steps of: detecting an attitude angle of the drone; predicting a drug dropping point of the drug to be ejected from the drone based on the posture angle; controlling the working behavior of the drone based on.

In order to achieve the above object, according to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drone control program for spraying chemicals, comprising: a flight control unit; and an ejection unit that sprays chemicals during flight by the flight control unit comprising a command for detecting an attitude angle of the drone, a command for predicting a drug dropping point of the drug ejected from the drone based on the posture angle, and the predicted drug dropping point causes a computer to execute instructions for controlling the working behavior of the drone based on
The computer program can be provided by downloading via a network such as the Internet, or can be provided by being recorded on various computer-readable recording media such as a CD-ROM.

By controlling the flight according to the attitude angle of the aircraft, it is possible to adjust the drop point of the chemicals and make the effects of the chemicals on the field effective.

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a drone according to the present invention; FIG. It is a front view of the said drone. It is a right view of the said drone. It is a rear view of the said drone. It is a perspective view of the said drone. 1 is an overall conceptual diagram of a chemical spraying system that the drone has. FIG. It is the whole conceptual diagram which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of the chemical|medical agent dispersion system which the said drone has. FIG. 11 is an overall conceptual diagram according to a third embodiment of a chemical spraying system that the drone has. It is a schematic diagram showing the control function of the said drone. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a route along which the drone flies over a field while spraying chemicals. It is a schematic left side view showing how the drone is flying, (a) a schematic left side view during hovering, and (b) a schematic left side view during flight. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram relating to a configuration of the drone for predicting a dropping point of a medicine ejected from the drone and controlling the operation of the drone. 4 is a table showing the relationship between the direction of wind blowing on the drone and the motion of the drone that changes according to the direction of the wind; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a medicine ejection start point and an ejection stop point on a driving route of the drone in a field. 4 is a flow chart showing a process in which the drone predicts a drug drop point and controls its operation.

Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. All figures are illustrative. In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, certain details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, embodiments are not limited to these specific details. Also, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown to simplify the drawings.

In the specification of the present application, a drone refers to a power means (electric power, prime mover, etc.), a control method (wireless or wired, and whether it is an autonomous flight type or a manually operated type, etc.), It refers to an aircraft in general that has a plurality of rotor blades.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the rotor blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101-2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (also called rotors) are: It is a means to fly the drone 100, and considering the balance of flight stability, aircraft size, and power consumption, it is equipped with 8 aircraft (4 sets of two-stage rotor blades). Each rotor 101 is arranged on the four sides of the main body 110 of the drone 100 by means of arms protruding from the main body 110 of the drone 100 . That is, rotor blades 101-1a and 101-1b are on the left rear in the traveling direction, rotor blades 101-2a and 101-2b are on the left front, rotor blades 101-3a and 101-3b are on the right rear, and rotor blades 101- on the right front. 4a and 101-4b are arranged respectively. In addition, the drone 100 makes the downward direction of the paper surface in FIG. 1 the advancing direction. Rod-shaped legs 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, and 107-4 extend downward from the rotating shaft of rotor blade 101, respectively.

Motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 102-4a, 102-4b are equipped with rotors 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101- Means for rotating 2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (typically an electric motor, but may be a motor, etc.), one machine provided for one rotor blade It is Motor 102 is an example of a propeller. The upper and lower rotors in one set (e.g. 101-1a and 101-1b) and their corresponding motors (e.g. 102-1a and 102-1b) are used for drone flight stability etc. The axes are collinear and rotate in opposite directions. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the radial members for supporting the propeller guard provided to prevent the rotor from interfering with foreign objects are not horizontal but have a scaffold-like structure. This is to prevent the member from interfering with the rotor by promoting the buckling of the member to the outside of the rotor blade at the time of collision.

Four drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, and 103-4 are provided and are means for spraying the drug downward. Medicine nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, and 103-4 are examples of ejection units. In the present specification, chemicals generally refer to liquids or powders such as pesticides, herbicides, liquid fertilizers, insecticides, seeds, and water that are applied to fields.

The drug tank 104 is a tank for storing the sprayed drug, and is provided at a position close to and lower than the center of gravity of the drone 100 from the viewpoint of weight balance. The drug hoses 105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4 are means for connecting the drug tank 104 and the drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4, and are hard material, and may also serve to support the drug nozzle. A pump 106 is means for ejecting a drug from a nozzle.

FIG. 6 shows an overall conceptual diagram of a system using an embodiment of the drone 100 for chemical spraying according to the present invention. This figure is a schematic diagram and not to scale. In the figure, drone 100, controller 401, and base station 404 are connected to farming cloud 405, respectively. Also, the small mobile terminal 401 a is connected to the base station 404 . These connections may be wireless communication using Wi-Fi, a mobile communication system, or the like, or may be partially or wholly wired.

The operation device 401 is a means for transmitting commands to the drone 100 by the operation of the user 402 and displaying information received from the drone 100 (for example, position, drug amount, remaining battery level, camera image, etc.). Yes, and may be implemented by a portable information device such as a general tablet terminal that runs a computer program. The drone 100 according to the present invention is controlled to fly autonomously, but manual operation may be performed during basic operations such as takeoff and return, and in an emergency. In addition to the portable information device, an emergency operating device (not shown) with a dedicated emergency stop function may be used (emergency operating devices such as a large emergency stop button can be (It may be a dedicated device equipped with Furthermore, apart from the operation device 401, the system may include a small portable terminal 401a, such as a smart phone, capable of displaying part or all of the information displayed on the operation device 401. FIG. Further, it may have a function of changing the operation of the drone 100 based on information input from the small portable terminal 401a. The small portable terminal 401a is connected to a base station 404, for example, and can receive information and the like from the farming cloud 405 via the base station 404. FIG.

A farm field 403 is a rice field, a field, or the like to which the drone 100 sprays chemicals. In reality, the topography of the farm field 403 is complicated, and there are cases where a topographic map cannot be obtained in advance, or there are cases where the topographic map differs from the situation of the field. Fields 403 are usually adjacent to houses, hospitals, schools, other crop fields, roads, railroads, and the like. Also, there may be obstacles such as buildings and electric wires in the field 403 .

The base station 404 is a device that provides a Wi-Fi communication base unit function, etc., and may also function as an RTK-GPS base station and provide an accurate position of the drone 100 (Wi-Fi Fi communication master unit function and RTK-GPS base station may be independent devices). Also, the base station 404 may be able to communicate with the farming cloud 405 using a mobile communication system such as 3G, 4G, and LTE. The base station 404 is on board a vehicle 406a along with a point of origin 406 in this embodiment.

The farming cloud 405 is typically a group of computers and related software operated on a cloud service, and may be wirelessly connected to the operation device 401 via a mobile phone line or the like. The farming cloud 405 may analyze the image of the field 403 captured by the drone 100, grasp the growth status of crops, and perform processing for determining the flight route. In addition, the drone 100 may be provided with topographical information and the like of the field 403 that has been saved. In addition, a history of flight and captured images of the drone 100 may be accumulated and various analysis processes may be performed.

Normally, the drone 100 takes off from the departure/arrival point 406 outside the field 403 and returns to the departure/arrival point 406 after spraying the chemical on the field 403 or when replenishment of the chemical, charging, or the like is required. The flight path (entry path) from the departure/arrival point 406 to the target field 403 may be stored in advance in the farming cloud 405 or the like, or may be input by the user 402 before starting takeoff.

Note that, as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, in the chemical spraying system for the drone 100 according to the present invention, the drone 100, the operation device 401, the small portable terminal 401a, and the farming cloud 405 are each connected to the base station 404. It may be a configuration that is

In addition, as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the drone 100 chemical spraying system according to the present invention includes the drone 100, the controller 401, and the small portable terminal 401a, each of which is connected to a base station 404. A configuration in which only the operation device 401 is connected to the farming cloud 405 may be employed.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram showing control functions of an embodiment of the chemical spray drone according to the present invention. The flight controller 501 is a component that controls the entire drone, and specifically may be an embedded computer including a CPU, memory, related software, and the like. Flight controller 501 controls motors 102-1a and 102-1b via control means such as ESC (Electronic Speed Control) based on input information received from operation device 401 and input information obtained from various sensors described later. , 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, and 104-b, the flight of the drone 100 is controlled. The actual rotation speeds of motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, and 104-b are fed back to flight controller 501 to ensure normal rotation. It is configured to be able to monitor whether or not Alternatively, an optical sensor or the like may be provided on the rotor blade 101 and the rotation of the rotor blade 101 may be fed back to the flight controller 501 .

The software used by the flight controller 501 is rewritable through a storage medium or the like, or through communication means such as Wi-Fi communication or USB, in order to extend/change functions or correct problems. In this case, protection is provided by encryption, checksum, electronic signature, virus check software, etc. to prevent rewriting by unauthorized software. Also, part of the calculation processing used for control by the flight controller 501 may be executed by another computer existing on the operation device 401, on the farming cloud 405, or at another location. Due to the high importance of flight controller 501, some or all of its components may be duplicated.

The flight controller 501 communicates with the controller 401 via the Wi-Fi slave device 503 and via the base station 404, receives necessary commands from the controller 401, and transmits necessary information to the controller 401. can be sent to In this case, the communication may be encrypted to prevent fraudulent acts such as interception, impersonation, and device hijacking. The base station 404 also has a function of an RTK-GPS base station in addition to a Wi-Fi communication function. By combining signals from RTK base stations and GPS (GNSS) positioning satellites, the flight controller 501 can measure the absolute position of the drone 100 with an accuracy of several centimeters. Due to the high importance of the flight controller 501, it may be duplicated or multiplexed, and each redundant flight controller 501 should use a different satellite in order to cope with the failure of a particular GPS satellite. may be controlled.

The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is means for measuring the acceleration of the drone body in three mutually orthogonal directions (further means for calculating the velocity by integrating the acceleration). The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is means for measuring changes in the attitude angle of the drone body in the three directions described above, that is, angular velocity. The geomagnetic sensor 506 is a means of determining the direction of the drone body by measuring geomagnetism. The air pressure sensor 507 is a means of measuring air pressure, and can also indirectly measure the altitude of the drone. The laser sensor 508 is means for measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground surface using reflection of laser light, and may be an IR (infrared) laser. Sonar 509 is a means of measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground using the reflection of sound waves such as ultrasonic waves. These sensors may be selected according to the drone's cost targets and performance requirements. Also, a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor) for measuring the tilt of the airframe, a wind sensor for measuring the wind force, etc. may be added. Also, these sensors may be duplicated or multiplexed. If there are multiple sensors for the same purpose, the flight controller 501 may use only one of them and switch to an alternative sensor if it fails. Alternatively, multiple sensors may be used at the same time and a failure is assumed to occur if their measurements do not match.

Flow rate sensors 510 are means for measuring the flow rate of the drug, and are provided at multiple locations along the path from drug tank 104 to drug nozzle 103 . A liquid shortage sensor 511 is a sensor that detects when the amount of medicine has fallen below a predetermined amount. Multispectral camera 512 is a means of photographing field 403 and acquiring data for image analysis. The obstacle detection camera 513 is a camera for detecting drone obstacles, and is a separate device from the multispectral camera 512 because its image characteristics and lens orientation are different from those of the multispectral camera 512 . Switch 514 is a means for user 402 of drone 100 to make various settings. The obstacle contact sensor 515 is a sensor for detecting that the drone 100, especially its rotor or propeller guard portion, has come into contact with an obstacle such as a wire, building, human body, standing tree, bird, or other drone. . The cover sensor 516 is a sensor that detects that the operation panel of the drone 100 and the internal maintenance cover are open. A drug inlet sensor 517 is a sensor that detects that the inlet of the drug tank 104 is open. These sensors may be selected, duplicated or multiplexed depending on the drone's cost targets and performance requirements. Also, a sensor may be provided outside the drone 100 at the base station 404, the controller 401, or at another location to transmit the read information to the drone. For example, a wind sensor may be provided in the base station 404 to transmit information on wind power and wind direction to the drone 100 via Wi-Fi communication.

The flight controller 501 transmits a control signal to the pump 106 to adjust the medicine ejection amount and stop the medicine ejection. The current status of the pump 106 (eg, number of revolutions, etc.) is configured to be fed back to the flight controller 501 .

The LED 107 is display means for informing the operator of the drone of the state of the drone. Display means such as a liquid crystal display may be used in place of or in addition to LEDs. The buzzer 518 is an output means for informing the state of the drone (especially error state) by means of an audio signal. A Wi-Fi slave device function 519 is an optional component for communicating with an external computer or the like for transferring software, for example, separately from the operation device 401 . In place of or in addition to the Wi-Fi slave unit function, infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), other wireless communication means such as NFC, or wired communication means such as USB connection may be used. Also, instead of the Wi-Fi slave device function, it may be possible to communicate with each other by mobile communication systems such as 3G, 4G, and LTE. The speaker 520 is output means for notifying the state of the drone (especially error state) by means of recorded human voice, synthesized voice, or the like. Weather conditions can make it difficult to see the visual display of the drone 100 in flight, and in such cases, audible status communication is effective. A warning light 521 is a display means such as a strobe light that indicates the state of the drone (especially an error state). These input/output means may be selected, duplicated or multiplexed according to the drone's cost targets and performance requirements.

As shown in FIG. 10, the drone 100 flies to reciprocate and scan the field 403 to spray chemicals. That is, the drone 100 moves linearly within the field 403 (hereinafter also referred to as “linear movement”), and when it reaches the vicinity of the edge of the field 403, it stops spraying the chemical and turns. repeat. During the turn and before and after the turn, the speed of the drone 100 becomes less than a predetermined speed, and there is a risk that an excessive amount of medicine will be dropped, so spraying of the medicine is stopped. Note that the turning method is not limited to turning in which the nose is rotated in the direction of travel, and includes appropriate movement in which the direction of the nose is finally turned. A driving route in the field 403 is planned in advance, and the drone 100 flies along the driving route. The driving route is calculated by the farming cloud 405, the drone 100, or a separate external device based on the size and shape of the field 403. FIG. Of the driving routes, the route along which the drug is planned to be sprayed, that is, the route of particularly linear movement, is a continuous connection of drug dropping points in no wind conditions.

As shown in FIGS. 11(a) and (b), the drone 100 changes its velocity and acceleration by tilting its attitude angle. Assuming that the attitude angle is θ, both the roll angle and the pitch angle of the attitude angle θ are 0 when the drone 100 is hovering on the spot in no wind, as shown in FIG. 11(a). In windless conditions, the drug 600 is dropped directly below the drug nozzle 103 .

As shown in FIG. 11(b), when the wind is blowing on the drone 100, the drone 100 generates velocity and acceleration that counteract the wind, thereby suppressing movement of the drone 100 due to the wind. That is, the drone 100 leans forward greatly toward the windward direction.

For example, if the wind is blowing at 1 km/h to the drone 100, the drone 100 will tilt upwind and develop a speed of 1 km/h in order to stay in place and hover. In other words, in order to make the actual speed of the drone 100 with respect to the ground, that is, the ground speed of the drone 100 0, the drone 100 is directed in the upwind direction to achieve an airspeed equivalent to the wind speed of the wind. Demonstrate. The airspeed is the speed when the operating force that the propulsion device of the drone 100 exerts in consideration of the effect of wind in order to achieve a predetermined ground speed is converted into the speed in a no-wind state. Conversely, by dividing the ground speed from the air speed, the wind speed of the wind blowing on the drone 100 can be obtained.

The amount of displacement D between the drug dropping point when the drone 100 flies at an altitude L from the ground and an attitude angle of 0 degrees and the drug dropping point when the drone 100 flies at an attitude angle of θ is given by the following formula: Street asked.
D=L×tanθ (1)

In addition, the drone 100 operates the propeller so as to exhibit an airspeed that is the sum of the ground speed and the wind speed in order to achieve a predetermined ground speed with respect to the ground.

The wind can blow on the drone 100 from any direction of 360 degrees. In the following explanation, among the components of the wind speed vector of the wind blowing on the drone 100 that are horizontal to the ground, the wind in the same direction as the intended direction of travel of the drone 100 is called the “tail wind”, and the wind blowing in the opposite direction to the direction of travel. is called a "headwind", and a wind that blows in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel is also called a "crosswind". In a tailwind or headwind, the pitch angle of the drone 100 changes. In crosswinds, the roll angle of the drone 100 changes. The actual wind is a combination of a tailwind or a headwind and a crosswind, but in the following description, the actual wind will be explained by decomposing it into each direction.

Note that the pitch angle of the drone 100 becomes larger during acceleration/deceleration than during constant-speed flight, regardless of the effect of the blowing wind. Therefore, subsequent control may be performed based on the attitude angle during acceleration/deceleration.

When the drone 100 tilts, the drug hoses 105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4 attached to the drone 100, and the drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3 fixed thereto, 103-4 inclines, and the ejection direction of the medicine 600 changes. Therefore, the drop point of the medicine 600 changes according to the attitude angle of the drone 100 . Therefore, the drone 100 in the present invention controls the working mode of the drone 100 according to the attitude angle of the drone 100 in order to drop the drug 600 at the intended point.

The working mode of the drone 100 includes at least one of the speed, altitude, horizontal position of the drone 100, the spray flow rate of the medicine 600, and the set values of the discharge start point and the discharge stop point of the medicine 600.

Also, if the wind is blowing around the drone 100, it is expected that the discharged chemical 600 will be blown away by the wind before it reaches the field or crops, and the chemical 600 will be dropped at a point different from the windless state. be done. In the drone 100 of the present embodiment, the downwash wind force generated by the rotor blades 101 is sufficiently large, so that in most cases, the medicine 600 dropped downward from the drone 100 reaches the ground or crops without being blown away by the wind. do. For example, the wind speed of downwash is about 20m/s to 45m/s, whereas the wind speed of natural wind is usually about 3m/s to 5m/s. big enough compared to However, the drone 100 corrects the predicted drug dropping point in consideration of the wind speed when wind with a wind speed higher than a predetermined value is blowing against the drone 100 . That is, the total displacement amount Dt of the drug dropping point during flight of the drone 100 is the sum of the displacement amount D due to the attitude angle θ and the displacement amount d of the drug dropping point due to the wind.

Also, if the altitude L of the drone from the ground is higher than the normal altitude assumed for the drone 100 by a predetermined amount or more, the medicine may be blown away by the wind. Therefore, the drone 100 determines whether to consider the effect of the wind based on the altitude of the drone 100 and the wind speed of the wind blowing on the drone 100, and based on the wind speed, the predicted drug dropping point correct.

Note that in this description, the speed and acceleration of the drone 100 and the wind speed are all vectors, regardless of whether they are explicitly stated, and are concepts that include directions in addition to absolute values.

As shown in FIG. 12, the drone 100 includes a drug dropping point prediction unit 20 as a configuration for predicting the dropping point of the drug 600 ejected from the drone 100. As shown in FIG. The drone 100 also includes a medicine dropping point control section 30 as a configuration for controlling the dropping point of the medicine 600 . Furthermore, the drone 100 includes an energy consumption prediction unit 40 as a configuration for predicting the energy consumption changed by controlling the drug dropping point.

The drug dropping point prediction unit 20 includes a flight control unit 21, an attitude angle detection unit 22, an altitude calculation unit 23, a correction unit 24, and a retreat determination unit 25.

The flight control unit 21 is a functional unit that controls the exerted thrust generated in the drone 100 by adjusting the operation of the propulsion device of the drone 100, and is realized by the flight controller 501, for example. The propulsion devices of drone 100 are, for example, rotor blades 101 and motors 102 . The flight control unit 21 controls the thrust generated by each rotor blade 101 by adjusting the rotation speed of each motor 102 . The flight control unit 21 can independently control the rotation speed of each motor 102, and by making the rotation speed of one or more motors 102 different from the rotation speed of the other motors 102, the drone 100 is tilted, Demonstrate speed and acceleration. More specifically, the height of the fuselage portion where the number of rotations of the motor 102 is high rises compared to the portion of the fuselage where the rotation speed is low. The flight control unit 21 can control the roll angle and pitch angle of the drone 100 .

The attitude angle detection unit 22 is a functional unit that detects the attitude angle of the flying drone 100, particularly the roll angle and the pitch angle. The posture angle detection unit 22 can detect the posture angle using, for example, the 6-axis gyro sensor 505 or an appropriate spirit level. Specifically, the attitude angle is obtained by integrating the angular velocity ω acquired by the 6-axis gyro sensor 505 .

The altitude calculation unit 23 is a functional unit that calculates the altitude of the drone 100, particularly the altitude L of the medicine nozzle 103 of the drone 100 relative to the ground. The altitude calculator 23 can calculate the altitude L by, for example, sonar 509, laser sensor 508, or RTK-GPS (GPS modules RTK504-1, 504-2).

As shown in FIG. 11(b), the medicine dropping point prediction unit 20 can obtain the displacement amount D of the medicine dropping point based on the posture angle and the altitude L by D=L×tan θ. The roll angle contributes to the amount of displacement along the direction of travel, and the pitch angle contributes to the amount of displacement laterally in the direction of travel.

The correction unit 24 determines whether or not the medicine ejected from the drone 100 is influenced by the wind, based on the wind speed of the wind blowing on the drone 100 and the altitude L of the drone 100, and determines whether the medicine is blown away by the wind. It is a functional unit that corrects the predicted drug dropping point when the distance to be dropped is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

The correction unit 24 includes a weight estimation unit 241 , a ground speed calculation unit 242 , an airspeed calculation unit 243 , a wind speed calculation unit 244 , a correction necessity determination unit 245 , and a correction execution unit 246 .

The weight estimation unit 241 is a functional unit that estimates the total weight m of the drone 100 . The weight estimating unit 241 may estimate the total weight m of the drone 100 including the load weight of the load, or estimate the load weight of the load that can change, and then select a configuration in which the weight does not change, such as the drone 100 By adding the weights of the flight controller 501, the rotors 101, the motors 102 and other accessories, the total weight m of the drone 100 including the payload may be estimated. The variable weight payload is a drug in this embodiment.

The weight estimation unit 241 may estimate the total weight m of the drone 100 including the load weight of the cargo based on the thrust T in the height direction exerted by the propulsion device when the altitude of the drone 100 does not change. This is because the thrust T in the height direction exerted by the propulsion device of the drone 100 is balanced with the gravitational acceleration g that the drone 100 receives when the altitude of the drone 100 does not change.

Weight estimating unit 241 obtains the amount of medicine ejected by integrating the amount of medicine ejected from medicine tank 104 measured by flow rate sensor 510, and subtracts the amount of medicine ejected from the amount of medicine initially loaded to determine the amount of medicine tank 104. Weight may be estimated. According to this configuration, the weight of the medicine tank 104 can be estimated regardless of the flight state of the drone 100 . Also, the weight estimation unit 241 may have a function of estimating the liquid level in the medicine tank 104, for example. The weight estimator 241 may estimate the weight using a liquid level gauge, a water pressure sensor, or the like placed inside the drug tank 104 .

The ground speed calculator 242 is a functional unit that calculates the actual speed of the drone 100 with respect to the ground, that is, the ground speed of the drone 100 . The ground speed can be calculated by obtaining the absolute speed of space from the GPS Doppler 504 . Also, the ground speed can be determined by the GPS modules RTK504-1 and 504-2 that the drone 100 has. Furthermore, the ground speed can also be obtained by integrating the acceleration of the drone 100 acquired by the 6-axis gyro sensor 505.

The airspeed calculation unit 243 calculates the speed when the operating force exerted by the propulsion device of the drone 100 to achieve a predetermined ground speed considering the influence of the wind is converted into a speed in a no-wind state, that is, the relative speed. This is a functional unit that calculates air velocity.

（４）
ｇは、重力加速度である。このように、ドローン100の姿勢角θおよび重量ｍに基づいて、ドローン100の対気速度v_aを求めることができる。The airspeed can be determined based on the attitude angle θ and weight of drone 100 . While the drone 100 is moving at a constant speed or hovering, the following equation holds for the drag force Fd due to air resistance and the airspeed v _a .
Fd=(1/2)×ρv _a 2S×Cd ( ² )
Note that the air density ρ and the air resistance coefficient Cd. The representative area S such as the front projected area is a value obtained in advance based on the size and shape of the drone 100 .
In addition, the following formula holds between the posture angle θ and the drag force Fd.
Fd=mg tanθ (3)
Note that m is the weight of the drone 100 . While the drone 100 is moving at a constant speed or hovering, the airspeed v _a can be obtained by the following formula by solving the formulas (1) and (2).

(4)
g is the gravitational acceleration. Thus, the airspeed v _a of the drone 100 can be obtained based on the attitude angle θ and the weight m of the drone 100 .

In the present embodiment, the airspeed v _a of the drone 100 is determined during constant speed movement or hovering, that is, when the acceleration is 0, but during movement with acceleration a, weight m and acceleration a It is also possible to obtain the airspeed v _a by adding the value obtained by multiplying by to the drag force Fd in equation (3).

The following formula holds between the attitude angle θ and the thrust T produced by the rotor blades 101 of the drone 100.
Fd=T sinθ (5)
Therefore, the airspeed v _a can also be obtained based on the attitude angle θ and the exerted thrust T. Note that the exerted thrust can be estimated based on the number of revolutions of the rotor blade 101, for example.

The wind speed calculation unit 244 is a functional unit that calculates the wind speed that blows on the drone 100 . The wind speed calculation unit 244 can obtain the wind speed in the traveling direction that blows the drone 100 by subtracting the ground speed from the air speed. Further, since the airspeed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the drone 100 is 0, the wind speed perpendicular to the direction of travel can be obtained by obtaining the ground speed. The wind speed calculation unit 244 can determine the direction of the wind blowing on the drone 100 by calculating the ground speed and the air speed as a vector with the direction taken into account. That is, according to this configuration, the wind speed of the wind blowing against the drone 100 can be obtained with a simple configuration without installing a separate wind speed measurement means on the drone 100 .

Note that the wind speed calculator 244 may have a separate sensor that directly detects the wind speed. The wind speed calculator 244 may calculate the wind speed based on the difference between the current attitude angle and the attitude angle in the no-wind state.

The correction necessity determining unit 245 has a function of determining whether or not it is necessary to correct the drug dropping point based on the wind speed calculated by the wind speed calculating unit 244 and the altitude L, depending on the distance the drug is blown by the wind. Department. The correction necessity determination unit 245 determines that the medicine dropping point needs to be corrected when the wind speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined value and the altitude L is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. When the configuration according to the present invention is installed in a drone with small downwash, the threshold value for determining whether or not correction is necessary should be set small.

The correction execution unit 246 corrects the predicted drug dropping point when the correction necessity determination unit 245 determines that correction of the drug dropping point is necessary. The correction execution unit 246 moves the predicted drug dropping point to the leeward side based on the wind speed. The amount of displacement of the drug dropping point is sufficiently negligible below a predetermined wind speed. At a predetermined wind speed or higher, the displacement amount of the drug dropping point increases as the wind speed increases, and is proportional to the square of the wind speed, for example.

In this way, the medicine dropping point prediction unit 20 predicts, based on the attitude angle θ, the altitude L, and the wind speed and wind direction of the drone 100, the medicine dropping point reached by the medicine ejected at a certain point in a calm state. can be predicted. In addition, the drug dropping point prediction unit 20 can predict the coordinates of the drug dropping point by adding the displacement amount to the planned driving route of the drone 100 . In addition to the above, the medicine dropping point prediction unit 20 may be configured to predict the three-dimensional position coordinates of the point where the medicine will reach by considering the three-dimensional shape of the field.

The evacuation decision unit 25 is a functional unit that decides to make the drone 100 take an evacuation action when the attitude angle θ of the drone 100 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. When the posture angle θ is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the motor 102 is used in a range close to the upper limit value, so there is a high probability that the control value to the motor 102 will exceed the allowable upper limit value of the motor 102 . If the control value to the motor 102 exceeds the allowable upper limit, the drone 100 may crash, so the drone 100 should be evacuated.

Evacuation actions include, for example, an "emergency landing" in which a normal landing operation is performed on the spot, an air stop such as hovering, and an "emergency return" in which the aircraft immediately moves to a predetermined return point by the shortest route. The predetermined return point is a point stored in the flight control unit 21 in advance, such as the departure/arrival point 406 . The predetermined return point is, for example, a point on land where the user 402 can approach the drone 100, and the user 402 can inspect the drone 100 that has reached the return point, or manually carry it to another place. can do.

In an emergency return, the target flight speed and acceleration may be lower than normal. This is to prevent the control value to the motor 102 from exceeding the upper limit allowable value of the motor 102 .

In addition, evacuation actions may also include an "emergency stop" that stops all rotors and causes the drone 100 to fall downwards from the scene.

Furthermore, the evacuation action includes the action of interrupting the takeoff of the drone 100 and prohibiting the takeoff. This takeoff prohibition operation is performed, for example, when the attitude angle is detected immediately after the drone 100 leaves the ground and the attitude angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Further, the takeoff prohibition operation may refer to the attitude angle in the previous flight before takeoff, and prohibit takeoff if the attitude angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

As shown in FIG. 12, the drug dropping point control unit 30 includes a flight change command unit 31 as a configuration for changing the flight mode of the drone 100. As shown in FIG. Further, the drug dropping point control unit 30 includes a drug control unit 32 as a configuration for changing the spraying mode of the drug 600. FIG.

The flight change command unit 31 is a functional unit that transmits a command to the flight control unit 21 based on the predicted displacement amount of the drug dropping point to change the speed, altitude and horizontal position of the drone 100 . The flight change command unit 31 decomposes the wind speed vector of the blowing wind into a tailwind, a headwind, a crosswind perpendicular to the direction of travel, and a component perpendicular to the ground, and issues a command corresponding to each wind speed vector to the flight control unit 21. Send. In practice, winds other than winds along the direction of travel and winds against the direction of travel are winds that blow in a direction different from the direction of travel in the horizontal plane. Note that the wind speed vector resolved in the direction perpendicular to the ground uniformly changes the rotation speed of each motor 102, and therefore does not affect the attitude angle of the drone 100. Therefore, the flight change command unit 31 does not generate a flight change command based on the change in attitude angle for the wind velocity vector resolved in the direction perpendicular to the ground. In order to maintain the altitude of the drone 100 against the wind in the vertical direction, the control for adjusting the thrust generated in the thrust direction is appropriately performed. That is, against the wind that blows from top to bottom, the rotation speed of the motor 102 is evenly increased to generate an upward thrust, and for the wind that blows from bottom to top, the rotation speed of the motor 102 is increased. Control to evenly reduce the thrust may be performed.

Flight change command section 31 includes speed change command section 311 , altitude change command section 312 , and route change command section 313 .

The speed change command unit 311 transmits a command to change the speed of the drone 100 to the flight control unit 21 based on the predicted displacement amount of the drug dropping point. As shown in FIG. 13, a command to increase speed is transmitted against a tailwind. Since the airspeed of the drone 100 receiving a tailwind is smaller than the ground speed, the pitch angle of the drone 100 is smaller than that in no wind. That is, the drug dropping point is displaced forward in the traveling direction due to the tailwind. Therefore, the speed change command unit 311 increases the pitch angle of the drone 100 by increasing the speed of the drone 100, thereby displacing the drug dropping point backward.

A speed change command unit 311 transmits a speed reduction command against a headwind. Since the airspeed of the drone 100 facing a headwind is greater than the ground speed, the pitch angle of the drone 100 is greater than in no wind. That is, the drug dropping point is displaced rearward in the traveling direction. Therefore, the speed change command unit 311 decreases the pitch angle of the drone 100 by decreasing the speed of the drone 100, and displaces the medicine dropping point forward. Speed change command section 311 changes the speed more as the pitch angle increases.

The speed change command unit 311 does not command a speed change for crosswinds. The speed change command unit 311 may transmit a command to maintain the speed, or may not transmit a command. This is because the crosswind does not affect the pitch angle of the drone 100 and does not displace the drug dropping point forward or backward in the traveling direction.

Further, the speed change command section 311 may reduce the target flight speed and acceleration regardless of the wind direction when the attitude angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This is because when the attitude angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the motor 102 is used in a range close to the upper limit value, and the control value to the motor 102 exceeds the allowable upper limit value of the motor 102, which may result in a crash. .

The altitude change command unit 312 transmits a command to change the altitude of the drone 100 to the flight control unit 21 based on the predicted displacement amount of the drug dropping point. As shown in FIG. 13, the altitude change command unit 312 transmits commands to decrease altitude against any of the headwind, tailwind and crosswind. This is because by lowering the altitude, the amount of displacement of the drug dropping point due to the attitude angle and the wind is reduced. Altitude change command section 312 decreases the altitude as the attitude angle and wind speed increase.

The route change command unit 313 transmits a command to change the horizontal position of the drone 100 to the flight control unit 21 based on the predicted displacement amount of the drug dropping point. The route change command unit 313 does not command a horizontal position change against tailwinds and headwinds. The route change command unit 313 may transmit a command to maintain the position, or may not transmit a command.

The route change command unit 313 issues a command to move the horizontal position to the left and right sides of the traveling direction and to the windward side against the wind that blows in a direction different from the traveling direction of the drone on the horizontal plane, including crosswind components. , to the flight control unit 21. This is because the roll angle of the drone 100 increases due to crosswinds, and the drug dropping point shifts laterally from the driving route.

As shown in FIG. 12, the drug controller 32 includes a spray flow rate controller 321 and an ejection point controller 322. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, the spray flow rate control section 321 controls the flow rate of the medicine 600 ejected from the drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4, that is, the spray flow rate, based on the attitude angle of the drone 100. FIG. The spraying flow rate control unit 321 performs a process of increasing the spraying flow rate for a tailwind. This is because the speed of the drone 100 increases when there is a tailwind, so the flow rate of spraying needs to be increased in order to ensure the same spraying density as when flying at a normal speed.

The spraying flow rate control unit 321 performs processing to reduce the spraying flow rate against headwinds. This is because the speed of the drone 100 decreases in the case of a headwind, so the flow rate of spraying needs to be lowered in order to ensure the same spraying density as when flying at a normal speed.

The spray flow rate control unit 321 changes the flow rate more as the pitch angle increases. Since the drug 600 to be dropped may be blown away by the wind until it reaches the dropping point, the drug dropping point is superimposedly affected by the pitch angle and the strength of the wind. However, the drug drop point of the drug blown by the wind due to the headwind and the tailwind is uniformly moved on the driving path of the drone 100 when the drone 100 moves linearly. Therefore, it is sufficient for the spray flow rate control section 321 to change the spray flow rate mainly based on the attitude angle θ. The spray flow rate controller 321 may change the spray flow rate based on the speed of the drone 100 . That is, the higher the speed of the drone 100, the higher the spray flow rate.

The spray flow rate control unit 321 does not change the spray flow rate for crosswinds. This is because the speed of the drone 100 does not change in the case of a crosswind.

The spray flow rate control section 321 may stop the ejection of the medicine when the absolute value of the posture angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This is because, if the posture angle is a positive value and exceeds a predetermined value, the medicine 600 may be rolled up forward, and the medicine 600 may scatter to an unintended point. Further, when the attitude angle is a negative value and becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, the ejection direction of the medicine 600 and the traveling direction of the drone 100 become the same direction, and the medicine is rolled up backward. At this time, the drone 100 may hover to wait for the wind speed to decrease, or may return to the departure/arrival point 406 .

The ejection point control unit 322 starts ejection of the drug 600 during linear movement at the point where the drone 100 starts spraying the drug or at a predetermined point after turning based on the predicted amount of displacement of the drug drop point. , and a discharge stop point for stopping the discharge of the drug 600 at a predetermined point before turning or a point at which the drug is finished. Note that the discharge point control unit 322 determines the discharge start point and the discharge stop point by time or time based on the estimated time of arrival at the turning point or the point where the operation is interrupted, etc., instead of the horizontal coordinates. may

As shown in FIG. 14, a discharge start point 601 and a discharge stop point 602 in no wind are defined near the start position and near the end position of linear movement. In a calm state, the drug dropping point is located slightly behind the position of the drone 100 in the traveling direction. This is because the drone 100 is slightly tilted forward in the traveling direction during movement. Therefore, the discharge start point 601 and the discharge stop point 602 in the windless state are defined slightly ahead of the end of the spraying range in the traveling direction.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the discharge point control section 322 moves the discharge start point 601a and the discharge stop point 602a rearward in the direction of travel against the tailwind. When the ground speeds of the drones 100 are the same, the airspeed of the drone 100 receiving a tailwind is smaller than the airspeed of the drone 100 in no wind. Therefore, the attitude angle of the drone 100 becomes small. This is because the drug dropping point is slightly forward with respect to the position of the drone 100 . By moving the ejection start point 601b and the ejection stop point 602b rearward in the traveling direction, the drug dropping point can be set to an intended point.

The discharge point control unit 322 moves the discharge start point 601b and the discharge stop point 602b forward in the traveling direction against the headwind. When the ground speeds of the drones 100 are the same, the airspeed of the drone 100 receiving a tailwind is greater than the airspeed of the drone 100 in no wind. Therefore, the attitude angle of the drone 100 is increased. That is, since the drug dropping point is slightly behind the position of the drone 100, by moving the ejection start point 601b and the ejection stop point 602b forward in the traveling direction, the drug dropping point can be set to the intended point. can.

The discharge point control unit 322 does not perform processing for changing the discharge start point and the discharge stop point for crosswinds. This is because the drug dropping point does not change in the traveling direction in the case of a crosswind.

Note that the drug dropping point control unit 30 has a predetermined threshold value for either the attitude angle θ or the wind speed, or the amount of displacement of the drug dropping point, and issues a predetermined command and control when the wind speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value. may be configured to do so. This is because control that responds excessively to a slight change in wind speed may cause an excessive computational load.

The drug dropping point control unit 30 steplessly changes control values for the altitude, speed, horizontal position, ejection flow rate, and ejection start point and ejection stop point according to the amount of displacement of the drug dropping point. However, instead of this, the difference between the current attitude angle and the attitude angle in the no wind state, the displacement amount of the drug dropping point, or the wind speed is divided into a plurality of stages, and each control is performed according to the divided stages It may be configured to switch values. According to this configuration, the calculation load can be further reduced. Note that the drug dropping point control unit 30 stores in advance the correspondence relationship between the attitude angle in the no-wind condition and the velocity, and is configured to be able to calculate the attitude angle in the no-wind condition based on the airspeed. may

The energy consumption prediction unit 40 is a functional unit that acquires information regarding the control of the work mode of the drone 100 performed by the drug dropping point control unit 30 and corrects the expected amount of energy consumption. This is because the amount of energy consumed may increase when the operation of the drone 100 is changed by the drug dropping point control unit 30 . In particular, when the drone 100 is caused to accelerate and decelerate, the energy consumption increases.

The energy consumption prediction unit 40 predicts the energy consumption in the entire driving route when the operation of the drone 100 is continuously changed by the drug dropping point control unit 30. FIG. The energy consumption prediction unit 40 may calculate the amount of increase in energy consumption associated with the change in motion and add it to the initially predicted energy consumption to calculate the corrected energy consumption, or All energy consumption may be integrated based on the flight plan. Based on the corrected energy consumption, the energy consumption prediction unit 40 updates the replacement timing of the battery 502 and the prediction value of the possible flight time by the installed battery 502 . The user may be notified of the updated replacement timing and the predicted value of the possible flight time by the display means of the operation device 401 or the like.

●Flowchart As shown in FIG. 15, first, the weight estimation unit 241 estimates the total weight of the drone 100 (S11). Next, the attitude angle detection unit 22 detects the attitude angle of the drone 100 in the traveling direction with respect to the horizontal direction (S12). The ground speed calculator 242 calculates the ground speed of the drone 100 (S13). The airspeed calculator 243 calculates the airspeed of the drone 100 (S14). The wind speed calculation unit 244 calculates the speed of the wind blowing on the drone 100 based on the ground speed and the air speed (S15). Note that steps S11 and S12, step S13, and step S14 may be performed in any order and may be performed at the same time. Further, if the wind speed calculation unit 244 has a separate sensor for measuring the wind speed, the step of measuring the wind speed with the sensor may be executed instead of the step of calculating the ground speed and the air speed.

The spraying flow rate control unit 321 determines whether the wind speed is equal to or higher than the first threshold (S16), and if it is equal to or higher than the first threshold, stops spraying the medicine 600 (S17). At this time, the operator 401, the small portable terminal 401a, or the notification method of the drone 100 itself may be used to notify the user to that effect along with the reason.

When the wind speed is less than the first threshold, the altitude change command unit 312 determines whether the wind speed is less than the first threshold and equal to or greater than a second threshold that is smaller than the first threshold (S18). When the wind speed is equal to or higher than the second threshold, the altitude change command section 312 lowers the altitude (S19).

Based on the wind speed, the correction necessity determining unit 245 determines whether or not to correct the medicine dropping point due to the influence of the wind (S20). Specifically, the correction necessity determining unit 245 determines whether the wind velocity blowing against the drone 100 is equal to or higher than the third threshold. The third threshold may be greater than or equal to or less than the second threshold, or may be the same as the second threshold. When the wind speed is greater than or equal to the third threshold, the correction execution unit 246 corrects the expected drug dropping point based on the wind speed (S21).

The route change command unit 313 determines whether or not a crosswind is blowing on the drone 100 (S22), and if a crosswind is blowing, moves the drone 100 horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel (S23).

The speed change command unit 311 determines whether there is a tailwind or headwind (S24), and if there is a tailwind or headwind, changes the speed (S25). In addition, the spray flow rate control unit 321 controls the spray flow rate of the medicine 600 based on the wind speed of the tailwind or headwind, or the speed of the drone 100 (S26). Further, the ejection point control section 322 changes the ejection start point and the ejection end point (S27). Steps S22 to S23 and steps S24 to S26 are in no particular order. Also, steps S23 to S25 may be performed simultaneously.

Steps S18 to S19 may be performed simultaneously with any of steps S22 to S27 or after steps S22 to S27. However, depending on whether or not the altitude of the drone 100 is changed, the optimum values for the speed, horizontal position, spray flow rate, and discharge point will differ. Therefore, it is necessary to execute steps S22 to S27.

The processing of steps S11 to S26 can be executed at a timing at which the weight of the drone 100 can be detected, and can be executed during constant-speed flight or hovering, for example. Therefore, it is assumed to be performed immediately after the drone 100 takes off, during constant-speed flight, or when turning. However, if the wind speed is expected to change significantly, such as when the thrust exerted by the motor 102 suddenly increases, the operation may be interrupted, hovering may be performed, and steps S11 to S27 may be executed. .

At each step, the energy consumption consumed at each step may be predicted, and the predicted values of remaining battery 502 and remaining flight time may be recalculated. Further, the information obtained by the recalculation may be displayed on the operation device 401 or the like each time the recalculation is performed or at another timing.

(Technically Remarkable Effects of the Present Invention)
In the drone according to the present invention, by controlling the flight according to the attitude angle of the aircraft body, it is possible to adjust the drop point of the chemical agent and make the effect of the chemical agent on the field effective. In addition, compared to a configuration that mechanically controls the ejection direction of a medicine nozzle mounted on a drone, the configuration can be simplified and the weight can be reduced.

Claims (15)

a flight control unit;
a discharge section for spraying the medicine during flight by the flight control section;
A pesticide spraying drone having a plurality of rotor blades, comprising:
an attitude angle detection unit that detects the attitude angle of the drone;
a drug dropping point prediction unit that predicts a drug dropping point of the drug ejected from the drone based on the attitude angle;
a drug drop point control unit that controls a work mode of the drone based on the predicted drug drop point;
with
The drug dropping point control unit transmits to the flight control unit a command to increase speed against a tailwind along the direction of travel of the drone, and decreases speed against a headwind blowing in the direction opposite to the direction of travel of the drone. sending a lowering command to the flight control unit;
The drug dropping point control unit increases the spray flow rate against the tailwind and lowers the spray flow rate against the headwind,
drone.
The drug dropping point control unit increases the speed of the drone when the attitude angle with respect to the traveling direction is smaller than in a no-wind state.
A drone according to claim 1 .
The drug dropping point control unit reduces the speed of the drone when the attitude angle with respect to the traveling direction is larger than in a no-wind state.
Drone according to claim 1 or 2 .
The drug dropping point control unit advances the ejection start point and the ejection stop point ahead of the ejection start point and the ejection stop point in a no-wind state when a tailwind along the traveling direction of the drone is blowing against the drone. move backwards,
A drone according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .
The drug dropping point control unit sets the ejection start point and the ejection stop point to the ejection start point and the ejection stop point in a calm state when a head wind blowing in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the drone is blowing against the drone. move forward in the direction of travel,
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 4 .
When a wind blowing in a direction different from the traveling direction of the drone is blowing on the drone on a horizontal plane, the drug dropping point control unit adjusts the horizontal position of the drone to the left and right sides of the traveling direction and to the windward side. to move
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 5 .
Based on the wind speed of the wind blown to the drone and the altitude of the drone, it is determined whether or not the medicine ejected from the drone is affected by the wind, and the distance over which the medicine is flowed is determined. In the case above, further comprising a correction unit that corrects the drug dropping point predicted based on the posture angle to the leeward side,
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .
A ground speed calculation unit that calculates the ground speed of the drone;
an airspeed calculation unit that calculates the airspeed of the drone based on the attitude angle and at least one of the weight of the drone and the thrust exerted by the propeller operated by the flight control unit;
a wind speed calculation unit that calculates a wind speed and a wind direction in a traveling direction based on the ground speed and the air speed;
further comprising
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .
When the absolute value of the attitude angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the evacuation action is taken, and the evacuation action includes at least one action of prohibiting takeoff, stopping the discharge of the drug, returning, emergency landing, and hovering.
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 8 .
The medicine dropping point control unit divides at least one of a difference between the current posture angle and a windless posture angle, a displacement amount of the medicine dropping point, and a wind speed into a plurality of stages, and divides them into a plurality of stages. controlling the working mode in response to
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 9 .
Further comprising an energy consumption prediction unit that predicts energy consumption consumed by the drone based on the work mode controlled by the drug dropping point control unit,
Drone according to any one of claims 1 to 10 .
updating at least one of the replacement timing of the battery mounted on the drone and a predicted flight time based on the energy consumption;
Drone according to claim 11 .
transmitting information on at least one of the replacement timing of the battery and the predicted value of the possible flight time to an operating device, and notifying the user of the information via the operating device;
13. A drone according to claim 12 .
a flight control unit;
a discharge section for spraying the medicine during flight by the flight control section;
A method of controlling a drone for spraying pesticides having a plurality of rotor blades, comprising:
detecting an attitude angle of the drone;
predicting a drug drop point of the drug ejected from the drone based on the attitude angle;
controlling the working behavior of the drone based on the predicted drug drop point;
including
The step of controlling the operation mode of the drone includes transmitting a command to the flight control unit to increase speed against a tailwind along the direction of travel of the drone, and sending a command to increase speed against a headwind blowing in the direction opposite to the direction of travel of the drone. sends a command to reduce speed to the flight control unit,
The step of controlling the working mode of the drone includes increasing the spray rate against the tailwind and decreasing the spray rate against the headwind.
How to control the drone.
a flight control unit;
a discharge section for spraying the medicine during flight by the flight control section;
A control program for a chemical spraying drone having a plurality of rotor blades,
an instruction to detect an attitude angle of the drone;
a command for predicting a drug drop point of the drug ejected from the drone based on the attitude angle;
instructions for controlling the working behavior of the drone based on the predicted drug drop point;
on the computer, and
The command for controlling the working mode of the drone is to send a command to the flight control unit to increase speed against a tailwind along the direction of travel of the drone, and to send a command to increase speed against a headwind blowing in the opposite sends a command to reduce speed to the flight control unit,
instructions for controlling the working behavior of the drone increase the spray rate for the tailwind and decrease the spray rate for the headwind;
Drone control program.

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