JP7195652B2 - DRONE SYSTEM, DRONE SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD, AND OPERATION DETERMINATION DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drone system, a drone system control method, and an operation determination device.

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). Drones are often more suitable than manned planes or helicopters for relatively small farmlands.

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.

By sharing the work with a plurality of drones in a certain field, it is possible to finish the work in a shorter time than when the work is done with one drone. A plurality of drones perform work by flying a driving route that is planned in advance for each drone. In order to perform the work efficiently, it is desirable that the time required for the work plan planned for each drone is approximately the same and that many drones are operating for a long time. However, the number of replenishments of the batteries and medicines held by each drone and the time required for replenishment may differ from the work plan, and it is difficult to equalize the time required for the operation plan. Therefore, there is a need for a system that allows many drones to operate for a long time and efficiently carry out work even when there is an error in the work plan.

Patent Document 3 discloses a system for performing agricultural activities on arable land, comprising a host vehicle, two or more autonomous agricultural machines configured to perform agricultural activities, and each autonomous agricultural machine relative to the host vehicle. An agricultural system is described that includes a control subsystem for planning routes and controlling movement of plants. A control subsystem is described that re-plans movement of other autonomous farm machines in response to a malfunction detected in one autonomous farm machine.

However, Patent Document 3 does not describe the error between the work plan planned for each drone and the actual work, and does not disclose operating many drones for a long time.

Patent Publication JP 2001-120151 Patent publication publication JP 2017-163265 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-500655

To provide a drone system capable of operating many drones for a long time and efficiently performing work even when an error occurs with a work plan.

A drone system according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a plurality of drones that perform work in a work area; a motion determination device that grasps the positions and states of the plurality of drones and determines motions of the plurality of drones; At least one of each of the plurality of drones is capable of landing, and a plurality of moving bodies capable of replenishing resources to the drones; In the drone system, the plurality of drones includes a first drone that performs a first task and a second drone that performs a second task, and the plurality of mobile bodies are configured to perform a second task at which the first drone takes off. 1 moving body, and a second moving body from which the second drone takes off, wherein the moving body position determining unit determines the second moving body as the end point of the second driving route planned for the second work. a drone system, wherein the drone is stopped at a position closer to the end point of the first driving route planned for the first work, and the first drone lands on the second moving body.

The moving body position determination unit positions the first moving body at a position closer to the end point of the second driving route planned for the second work than to the end point of the first driving route planned for the first work. The second drone may be stopped and landed on the first moving body.

A control method for a drone system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of drones that perform work in a work area, grasping the positions and states of the plurality of drones, and determining motions of the plurality of drones. a device, a plurality of moving bodies capable of landing at least one each of the plurality of drones and capable of replenishing resources to the drones, and a moving body position determining unit that determines stop positions of the plurality of moving bodies; wherein the plurality of drones includes a first drone that performs a first task and a second drone that performs a second task, and the plurality of moving bodies is a first moving body from which the first drone takes off and a second moving body from which the second drone takes off, wherein the second moving body is positioned near the end point of the second driving route planned for the second work, A step of stopping the vehicle at a position near the end point of the first driving route planned for the first work, and a step of landing the first drone on the second moving body.

A motion determination device according to another aspect of the present invention grasps the positions and states of a plurality of drones performing work in a work area, wherein at least one of each of the plurality of drones is capable of landing, and the drones are provided with resources. , wherein the plurality of drones are a first drone that performs a first task and a second drone that performs a second task. 2 drones, wherein the plurality of moving bodies includes a first moving body from which the first drone takes off and a second moving body from which the second drone takes off; , stopping the second moving body at a position closer to the end point of the first driving route planned for the first work than the end point of the second driving route planned for the second work, and The body is stopped at a position closer to the end point of the second driving route planned for the second work than the end point of the first driving route planned for the first work.

Even if there are errors in the work plan, many drones can operate for a long time and work efficiently.

1 is a plan view of a drone included in a drone system according to the present invention; FIG. It is a front view of the drone which the said drone system has. 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. FIG. 4 is an overall conceptual diagram showing a second embodiment of a chemical spraying system that the drone has. It is an overall conceptual diagram showing a third embodiment of a chemical spraying system that the drone has. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a field in which the drone works, an automatic travel permission area in which the mobile body travels, and an arrangement of division members possessed by the drone system. It is a schematic diagram showing the control function of the said drone. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the appearance of the mobile body concerning this invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which an upper plate of the moving body on which the drone is placed is sliding backward; FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram relating to a function of flying a farm field by a plurality of drones, which the drones, the moving body, and the motion determining device according to the present invention have. Schematic diagrams showing how the plurality of drones fly while sharing a farm field, (a) a schematic diagram showing a state at the time when the plurality of drones start work, and (b) among the plurality of drones and (c) a schematic diagram showing how the next task is reallocated to the one drone. Fig. 10 is a flow chart of one of the drones deciding to work on an area assigned to another drone; It is a schematic diagram which shows a mode that several said moving bodies have stopped near the agricultural field which said drone operate|works. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram relating to a function of a drone system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of drones share a field and fly. Note that functional blocks other than the motion determining device are omitted.

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.

First, the configuration of the drone that the drone system according to the present invention has will be described. 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. 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, a drone 100, a controller 401, a small mobile terminal 401a, a base station 404, and a mobile object 406a are connected to a farming cloud 405, respectively. These connections may be wireless communication using Wi-Fi, a mobile communication system, or the like, or may be partially or wholly wired.

Drone 100 and mobile object 406a transmit and receive information to each other and operate cooperatively. A departure and arrival point 406 is provided on the moving object 406a. The drone 100 has a flight control unit 21 that controls the flight of the drone 100, and a functional unit that transmits and receives information to and from the moving object 406a.

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 operator (not shown) having a dedicated emergency stop function may be used. The emergency operation device may be a dedicated device equipped with a large emergency stop button or the like so that a quick response can be taken in case of emergency. 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. Moreover, there may be intruders 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.

The small portable terminal 401a is, for example, a smart phone. The display unit of the small portable terminal 401a displays information about the expected operation of the drone 100, more specifically, the scheduled time for the drone 100 to return to the departure/arrival point 406, and the work to be done by the user 402 when returning. Information such as the content is displayed as appropriate. Also, the operations of the drone 100 and the moving object 406a may be changed based on the input from the small portable terminal 401a. The small portable terminal 401a can receive information from both the drone 100 and the moving object 406a. Information from the drone 100 may also be transmitted to the small portable terminal 401a via the mobile object 406a.

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.

As in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the drone 100 pesticide spraying system according to the present invention includes the drone 100, the operation device 401, the small portable terminal 401a, and the farming cloud 405, each of which is connected to a base station 404. It may be a configuration that

Further, as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, in the chemical spraying system for drone 100 according to the present invention, drone 100, operation unit 401, and small portable terminal 401a are each connected to base station 404 and operated. A configuration in which only the device 401 is connected to the farming cloud 405 may be used.

As shown in FIG. 9, the drone 100 flies over fields 403a and 403b and performs work in the fields. The moving body 406a automatically travels in the automatic operation permitted area 90 provided around the fields 403a and 403b. The automatic driving permitted area 90 is, for example, a farm road. Fields 403a and 403b and automatic operation permitted area 90 constitute a work area. Automatic operation permission area 90 includes movement permission area 901 in which mobile object 406a can move but drone 100 cannot land, and mobile object 406a can move and drone 100 can land on mobile object 406a. It is subdivided into a landing clearance area 902 and . Reasons why the drone 100 cannot land include, for example, obstacles 80 such as guardrails, utility poles, electric wires, warehouses, and graves that are installed between the area and the field 403a.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of drones 100a and 100b (hereinafter also referred to as first drone 100a and second drone 100b) simultaneously fly to one farm field 403a (example of work area) to perform work. . The work performed by the first drone 100a is an example of the first work, and the work performed by the second drone 100b is an example of the second work. The first work includes an operation of flying along the first driving route 51 comprehensively set in the first work area 403c that is part of the field 403a. The second work includes an operation of flying the second driving route 52 comprehensively set in the second work area 403d, which is an area other than the first work area 403c in the farm field 403a. The drones 100a and 100b fly along the first and second driving routes 51 and 52 to spray chemicals and photograph the inside of the field 403a.

The first driving route 51 includes a start point 51s, a worked route 51a, an unworked route 51b, and an end point 51e. The first drone 100a starts flying from the start point 51s and flies to the end point 51e. Let the route already flown by the drone 100a be a completed route 51a, and the route to be flown from now on be a non-worked route 51b. Similarly, the second driving path 52 comprises a start point 52s, a worked path 52a, an unworked path 52b, and an end point 52e. The second drone 100b starts flying from start point 52s and flies to end point 52e. Let the route already flown by the drone 100b be the completed route 52a, and the route to be flown from now on be the unworked route 52b.

A plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406b (hereinafter also referred to as first moving body 406A and second moving body 406B) run within the automatic operation permitted area 90. A plurality of drones 100a and 100b and a plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B included in drone system 500 are connected to each other via a network and centrally managed by operation determining device 40 described later with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the numbers of drones and moving bodies are the same, but they do not have to be the same. If the number of drones and moving bodies is the same, one drone can be mounted on each moving body, so all drones can be loaded on the moving body and the drones can be brought in from outside the work area. In addition, although a moving object cannot replenish resources for multiple drones at the same time, if the same number of drones and moving objects are included in the drone system 500, all drones can be replenished with resources at the same time.

The operation determination device 40 may be an independent device, or may be mounted on any of the configurations included in the drone system 500, such as the plurality of drones 100a and 100b, the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B, or the farming cloud 405. may

The drone 100 takes off from the mobile object 406a and performs work in the fields 403a and 403b. The drone 100 interrupts the work as appropriate during the work in the fields 403a and 403b, returns to the moving body 406a, and replenishes the battery 502 and the chemical. When the work of a predetermined field is completed, the drone 100 rides on the moving body 406a to move to the vicinity of another field, then takes off again from the moving body 406a, and starts working on the other field. In this way, the movement of the drone 100 within the automatic operation permitted area 90 is basically carried out on the mobile body 406a, and the mobile body 406a transports the drone 100 to the vicinity of the field where the work is to be performed. With this configuration, the battery 502 of the drone 100 can be saved. In addition, since the moving body 406a stores the battery 502 and the medicine that can be replenished to the drone 100, according to the configuration in which the moving body 406a moves to the vicinity of the field where the drone 100 is working and stands by, the drone Replenishment of resources to 100 can be done efficiently.

An area outside the automatic operation permitted area 90 is an automatic operation non-permitted area 91 . The automatic operation permitted area 90 and the automatic operation prohibited area 91 are partitioned by partition members 407a, 407b, 407c, 407d, and 407e. The automatic driving permitted area 90 and the automatic driving non-permitted area 91 are separated by various obstacles and the like, and roads are continuously formed. It may be placed on the road. In other words, the partition members 407a, 407b, 407c, 407d, and 407e are arranged at entrances to the automatic operation permitted area 90.

The partition member 407 is a member for partitioning the work area, which is the field 403 and its surrounding area, and is moved when the moving body 406a and the drone 100 work, and is, for example, a color cone (registered trademark) or a triangular cone. , corn bars, barricades, field arches, fences, etc. The partitioning member 407 may be physically partitioned or may be partitioned by light rays such as infrared rays. The partition member 407 is mainly used to notify intruders outside the work area that work is in progress and to restrict entry into the work area. Therefore, it is a member that an intruder can visually recognize even from a distance. In addition, since the partition member 407 is installed by the user 402 at the start of work, it is preferable that installation and removal be easy. Multiple partition members 407 may be included within the drone system 500 . The partitioning member 407 may detect that an intruder has entered the work area and transmit the intrusion information to the moving body 406a, the operation device 401, the small portable terminal 401a, and the like. Intruders include people, cars, and other moving objects.

FIG. 10 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 function 503 and via the base station 404, receives necessary commands from the controller 401, and sends necessary information to the controller. You can send to 401. 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 the signals from the RTK base station and the signals from the GPS positioning satellite, 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, and is 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 inclination of the airframe, a wind sensor for measuring 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 intruder detection camera 513 is a camera for detecting drone intruders, 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 intruder 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 intruder such as an electric wire, building, human body, standing tree, bird, or other drone. . Note that the intruder contact sensor 515 may be replaced by the 6-axis gyro sensor 505. 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.

Configuration of moving object A moving object 406a shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 receives information possessed by the drone 100 and appropriately notifies the user 402, or accepts input from the user 402 and transmits it to the drone 100. It is a device. Also, the moving body 406a can move with the drone 100 loaded. The moving object 406a can be driven by the user 402, or can move autonomously. It should be noted that the moving body 406a in the present embodiment is assumed to be a vehicle such as an automobile, more specifically a light truck, but it may be a suitable moving body capable of traveling on land such as a train, a ship or a plane. It can be a body. The driving source of the moving body 406a may be gasoline, electricity, a fuel cell, or any suitable source.

The moving body 406a is a vehicle in which a passenger seat 81 is arranged in front in the traveling direction and a loading platform 82 is arranged in the rear. Four wheels 83, which are examples of moving means, are drivably arranged on the bottom side of the moving body 406a. A user 402 can get into the passenger seat 81 .

The passenger seat 81 is provided with a display unit 65 for displaying the state of the moving object 406a and the drone 100. FIG. The display unit 65 may be a device having a screen, or may be realized by a mechanism for projecting information onto the windshield. Further, in addition to the display section 65, a rear display section 65a may be installed on the rear side of the vehicle body 810 covering the passenger seat 81. FIG. The angle of the rear display unit 65a with respect to the vehicle body 810 can be changed left and right, and the user 402 working behind and on the left and right sides of the loading platform 82 can view the screen and obtain information.

A base station 404 having a shape in which a disk-shaped member is connected to the upper part of a round bar extends above the passenger seat 81 at the front left end of the loading platform 82 of the moving body 406a. Note that the shape and position of the base station 404 are arbitrary. According to the configuration in which the base station 404 is located on the passenger seat 81 side of the loading platform 82, compared to the configuration in which the base station 404 is located behind the loading platform 82, the base station 404 is less likely to interfere with takeoff and landing of the drone 100.

The carrier 82 has a luggage compartment 821 that stores the battery 502 of the drone 100 and the drug to be replenished in the drug tank 104 of the drone 100 . The luggage compartment 821 is an area surrounded by the vehicle body 810 that covers the passenger seat 81 , a rear plate 822 , a pair of side plates 823 and 823 , and an upper plate 824 . The rear plate 822 and the side plates 823 are also called "tilts". Rails 825 are arranged on both ends of the upper portion of the rear plate 822 along the upper ends of the side plates 823 to reach the vehicle body 810 on the back side of the passenger seat 81 . The top plate 824 is a landing/departure area where the drone 100 is placed and is a landing/departure point 406 from which the drone 100 can take off and land. The rails 825 are ribs projecting upward from the plane of the top plate 824 to prevent the drone 100 riding on the top plate 824 from slipping out of the left and right ends of the moving body 406a. Further, a rib 8241 is formed on the rear side of the top plate 824 so as to protrude upward to the same extent as the rail 825 .

A warning light 830 that indicates that the drone system 500 is working may be arranged on the upper part of the vehicle body 810 and on the rear side of the rear plate 822 in the traveling direction. The warning light 830 may be a display that distinguishes between work and non-work by color scheme or blinking, or may be capable of displaying characters or patterns. Also, the warning light 830 on the upper part of the vehicle body 810 may extend up to the upper part of the vehicle body 810 and display on both sides. According to this configuration, even when the drone 100 is placed on the loading platform 82, the warning can be visually recognized from behind. In addition, the warning can also be visually recognized from the front of the traveling direction of the moving body 406a. Since the warning light 830 can be visually recognized from the front and rear, it is possible to partially omit the trouble of installing the partition member 407 .

The top plate 824 may be manually slidable, or may be slid automatically using a rack and pinion mechanism or the like. When the top plate 824 is slid rearward, articles can be stored in the luggage compartment 821 from above the loading platform 82, and articles can be taken out. In addition, in the configuration in which the top plate 824 slides backward, the drone 100 can take off and land at the departure/arrival point 406 because the top plate 824 and the vehicle body 810 are sufficiently separated.

The top plate 824 is provided with four leg receiving portions 826 to which the legs 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, and 107-4 of the drone 100 can be fixed. The foot receiving part 826 is a disc-shaped member having a truncated cone-shaped concave upper surface, which is installed one by one at positions corresponding to the four legs 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, and 107-4 of the drone 100, for example. be. It should be noted that the bottom of the truncated cone-shaped recess of the foot receiving portion 826 and the tips of the feet 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, and 107-4 may be shaped so as to be fittable with each other. When landing on the footrest 826, the feet 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, 107-4 of the drone 100 slide along the conical surface of the footrest 826, and the feet 107-1, 107-2, 107 reach the bottom of the truncated cone. -3,107-4 tips are induced. The drone 100 can be automatically or manually fixed to the foot support portion 826 by an appropriate mechanism, and even when the moving body 406a carries the drone 100 thereon, the drone 100 can be secured without excessive vibration or falling. can be safely transported. In addition, the moving body 406a can detect whether the drone 100 is fixed to the foot support section 826 or not.

A circular light 850 that displays a guideline for the take-off and landing positions of the drone 100 is arranged in the approximate center of the top plate 824 . Circumferential light 850 is formed by a group of light emitters arranged in a substantially circular shape, and the group of light emitters can be individually blinked. In this embodiment, four large light emitters 850a are arranged at approximately 90-degree intervals on the circumference, and two small light emitters 850b are arranged at regular intervals between the large light emitters 850a. Circumferential light 850 is constructed. Circumferential light 850 displays the flight direction after takeoff of drone 100 or the direction in which drone 100 flies when landing by lighting one or more of light emitter groups 850a and 850b. Circumferential light 850 may be composed of a single annular light emitter that can partially blink.

A pair of side plates 823 are hinged to the loading platform 82 at their bottom edges, and can be tilted outward. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the side plate 823 on the left side in the traveling direction is tilted outward. When the side plate 823 falls outward, it becomes possible to store and take out stored items from the side of the moving body 406a. The side plate 823 is fixed substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the luggage compartment 821, and the side plate 823 can also be used as a workbench.

A pair of rails 825 constitutes a mode switching mechanism. A hinge connecting the side plate 823 and the loading platform 82 may also be included in the form switching mechanism. In the configuration in which the top plate 824 is arranged to cover the upper side of the luggage compartment 821 and the side plates 823 stand up to cover the sides of the luggage compartment 821, the moving body 406a moves. When the moving body 406a is stationary, the upper plate 824 is switched to the rearward sliding form or the side plate 823 is tilted, and the user 402 can approach the inside of the luggage compartment 821. FIG.

The drone 100 can replenish the battery 502 while landing at the departure/arrival point 406 . Replenishment of the battery 502 includes charging of the built-in battery 502 and replacement of the battery 502 . A charging device for the battery 502 is stored in the luggage compartment 821, and the battery 502 stored in the luggage compartment 821 can be charged. Further, the drone 100 may include an ultracapacitor mechanism instead of the battery 502, and a charger for the ultracapacitor may be stored in the luggage compartment 821. In this configuration, the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100 can be rapidly charged via the legs of the drone 100 when the drone 100 is fixed to the foot rests 826.

The drone 100 can replenish the medicine stored in the medicine tank 104 while landing at the departure/arrival point 406 . The luggage compartment 821 stores appropriate components for dilution and mixing, such as a dilution and mixing tank for diluting and mixing the drug, a stirring mechanism, and a pump and hose for sucking up the drug from the dilution and mixing tank and injecting it into the drug tank 104. may have been Further, a replenishing hose that extends from the luggage compartment 821 to the upper side of the top plate 824 and is connectable to the injection port of the chemical tank 104 may be arranged.

A waste liquid groove 840 and a waste liquid hole 841 for guiding the drug discharged from the drug tank 104 are formed on the upper surface side of the top plate 824 . Two liquid waste grooves 840 and two liquid waste holes 841 are arranged so that the liquid waste grooves 840 are positioned below the drug nozzle 103 regardless of whether the drone 100 lands on the left or right side of the moving body 406a. ing. The waste liquid groove 840 is a groove having a predetermined width, which is formed substantially straight along the length direction of the moving body 406a along the position of the drug nozzle 103, and slightly extends toward the passenger seat 81 side. Inclined. At the end of the waste liquid groove 840 on the passenger seat 81 side, a waste liquid hole 841 is formed to pass through the upper surface plate 824 and guide the chemical liquid into the luggage compartment 821 . The waste liquid hole 841 communicates with a waste liquid tank 842 installed in the luggage compartment 821 and substantially directly below the waste liquid hole 841 .

When injecting the medicine into the medicine tank 104, an air bleeding operation is performed to discharge gas, mainly air, filling the medicine tank 104 to the outside. At this time, an operation for discharging the medicine from the discharge port of the medicine tank 104 is required. Also, after the drone 100 finishes its work, it is necessary to discharge the medicine from the medicine tank 104 . According to the configuration in which the waste liquid groove 840 and the waste liquid hole 841 are formed in the top plate 824, when the drone 100 is arranged on the top plate 824 and the drug is injected into and discharged from the drug tank 104, the waste liquid is discharged into the waste liquid tank. It can be guided to 842 and can be safely drugged and discharged.

Configurations of Drones, Moving Objects, and Motion Determining Devices Included in the Drone System As shown in FIG. and a motion determining device 40 are connected to each other via a network NW. Note that the network NW may be entirely wireless, or partially or wholly wired. In addition, the specific connection relationship is not limited to that shown in the figure, and each component may be connected directly or indirectly.

Although there are two drones and two moving bodies in this embodiment, the number may be three or more. Also, the number of drones and moving bodies may be the same or may be different. The plurality of drones 100a, 100b can take off and land on any of the plurality of moving bodies 406A, 406B, and can replenish resources. Note that replenishment of resources is a concept that includes replenishment of the battery 502 and replenishment of medicines.

The first drone 100a includes a flight control unit 21a, a work plan acquisition unit 22a, and a work completion transmission unit 23a. The second drone 100b includes a flight control unit 21b, a work plan acquisition unit 22b, and a work completion transmission unit 23b. The configurations of the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b are substantially the same.

The flight control units 21a and 21b are functional units that operate the motors 102 of the drones 100a and 100b and control the flight, takeoff and landing of the drones 100a and 100b. The flight control units 21a and 21b are realized by the functions of the flight controller 501, for example.

The work plan acquisition units 22a and 22b acquire information (hereinafter also referred to as "work plan") regarding work scheduled to be flown in the fields 403a and 403b where the drones 100a and 100b work, This is the functional unit set to 100b. The work plan includes information on the flight speed and flight acceleration at various points along the planned driving route, as well as information on turning and hovering positions and times, in addition to the planned driving route to be flown over the fields 403a and 403b. In addition, the work plan includes a scheduled point at which the drones 100a and 100b will stop working in the fields 403a and 403b and return to the moving body 406A or 406B, or a scheduled elapsed time from a certain point. Note that the work of the drone 100 is substantially synonymous with flying the fields 403a and 403b exhaustively without duplication, and setting a work plan for the drone 100 means that the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b perform the work. It is equivalent to partitioning the first work area 403c and the second work area 403d. That is, the work plan may include the position coordinates of the work areas 403c and 403d where the drones 100a and 100b work.

The work plan is received, for example, from the action determining device 40 via the network NW, but a configuration in which the work plan acquisition units 22a and 22b generate the work plan is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In the present invention, even if the work of a certain drone is completed first, the work of another drone is reallocated to continue the work. Therefore, even if the work time of each drone is not managed equally, many drones can work for a long time to achieve high work efficiency. In other words, high work efficiency can be ensured even in a configuration in which each drone independently generates a work plan without centrally managing the work plan of each drone. However, in order to optimize the number of resource replenishments for each drone, it is more preferable for the operation determining device 40 to equally distribute the work time to each drone to some extent. In addition, since the scheduled operation routes of the drones must not overlap, one of the work plan acquisition units 22a and 22b determines the route by referring to the planned operation routes generated by the other scheduled operation plan acquisition units 22b and 22a. It is better to have a configuration that

The work completion transmitting units 23a and 23b transmit to the motion determining device 40 information indicating that the work on the planned driving route for which the drones 100a and 100b are set (hereinafter also referred to as "work completion information") is completed. It is a functional part. The work completion transmission units 23a and 23b acquire the position coordinates of the drones 100a and 100b by RTK-GPS, for example, and notify that the work is completed based on whether the drones have reached the end points 51e and 52e of the driving route. detect.

In this embodiment, the drone 100 has the work completion transmitters 23a and 23b, but the motion determining device 40 may have the work completion transmitters 23a and 23b.

The first moving body 406A includes a moving body position acquisition unit 31a, a resource weighing unit 32a, and a landing detection unit 33a. The second moving body 406B includes a moving body position acquisition section 31b, a resource weighing section 32b, and a landing detection section 33b. The configurations of the first moving body 406A and the second moving body 406B are substantially the same.

The mobile body position acquisition units 31a and 31b are functional units that acquire the current position coordinates of the mobile bodies 406A and 406B. The mobile position acquisition units 31a and 31b acquire position coordinates using, for example, RTK-GPS. Mobile object position acquisition units 31a and 31b have a configuration in which RTK-GPS mobile stations are installed in mobile objects 406A and 406B, and RTK-GPS installed in operation device 401 is used to identify positions, The positions may be obtained as position coordinates of the moving bodies 406A and 406B. This is because the operating device 401 is installed and used in the driver's seat of the moving bodies 406A and 406B during work. According to this configuration, since it is not necessary to mount an RTK-GPS mobile station on the moving body 406a, the configuration can be simple and inexpensive.

The resource weighing units 32a and 32b are functional units that measure the amount of resources possessed by the moving bodies 406A and 406B.
The amount of resources includes the number of charged batteries 502 and the amount of medicine. In addition, the amount of resources may be the remaining charge capacity of the equipment that charges the battery 502 . If the drones 100a and 100b are configured to be driven by fuel cells, it may be the amount of fuel gas, such as hydrogen gas, that can be stored in the drones 100a and 100b. The amount of resources prepared for the moving bodies 406A and 406B may be obtained manually by the user 402, or may be obtained automatically. As an example of an automatic acquisition configuration, a configuration may be employed in which the weight of a predetermined range in luggage compartment 821 is measured in order to acquire the drug amount. Also, in order to obtain the number of charged batteries 502, in addition to the weight of a predetermined range of luggage compartment 821, the capacity of batteries 502 may be measured.

When the amount of resources possessed by the moving bodies 406A and 406B is less than a predetermined amount, the resource weighing units 32a and 32b control the operation determination device 40 and various components in the drone system 500, such as the operation device 401 and the small mobile phone. The terminal 401a is notified to that effect. In addition, referring to the work plan, when the amount of resources expected to be replenished in the future in the work plan is greater than the current amount of resources, this may be notified.

The operating device 401 and the small portable terminal 401a that have received the notification notify the user 402 and urges the mobile units 406A and 406B to replenish the inventory. At this time, the operation device 401 and the small portable terminal 401a may refer to the work plan and display the amount of resources to be replenished for each of the moving bodies 406A and 406B. In addition, the operation device 401 and the small portable terminal 401a refer to the work plan, calculate the estimated time that the drones 100a and 100b will return for replenishment, or the time required to return based on the current time, and By when the replenishment of is required may also be displayed. According to this configuration, even when the user 402 is far away from the fields 403a and 403b, it is possible to receive the notification regarding stock replenishment through the small portable terminal 401a. In this system, the drones 100a and 100b and the moving bodies 406A and 406B operate automatically, respectively, so the work by the user 402 is almost limited to restocking the moving bodies 406A and 406B. Therefore, by making it possible to notify the remote user 402 of inventory replenishment information, the user 402 does not need to be in the fields 403a and 403b all the time.

Note that the inventory may be replenished from another moving body that has sufficient resources, or from a separate warehouse. The operating device 401 or the small portable terminal 401a may display which resource is to be replenished. By replenishing from another mobile body, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required to store it in the warehouse from the mobile body after the completion of the work.

The landing detection units 33a and 33b are functional units that detect whether or not the drones 100a and 100b have landed on the moving bodies 406A and 406B. The landing detection units 33a and 33b are configured to detect the feet 107-1 to 107-4 of the drone 100, such as touch switches and capacitance sensors mounted on the foot receiving unit 826, so that the drone 100a or 100b moves. Detects whether or not it has landed on bodies 406A and 406B. The landing detection units 33a and 33b may be able to identify which drone 100 is landing by acquiring unique information of the drone 100 from the legs 107-1 to 107-4. Also, the landing detection units 33a and 33b may identify the landing drone 100 by acquiring the position information of each drone 100 using RTK-GPS or the like.

The operation determination device 40 includes a work plan transmission unit 41, a work completion detection unit 42, a remaining work acquisition unit 43, a re-allocation unit 44, and a route transmission unit 45 as a configuration for allocating work to the plurality of drones 100a and 100b. Prepare. Further, the operation determination device 40 includes a landing moving body determining section 46 and a moving body position determining section 47 as a configuration for the drone 100 to take off, land, and replenish a plurality of moving bodies 406a.

In the following explanation, the first drone 100a is the drone that completed the set initial work plan first, and the second drone 100b is the drone that has unfinished work when the first drone 100a completes the work. described as.

The work plan transmission unit 41 is a functional unit that generates work plans for the drones 100a and 100b and transmits the work plans to the drones 100a and 100b. The work plan transmission unit 41 generates different work plans for the drones 100a and 100b. The work plan of each drone 100a, 100b is configured so that the planned driving routes do not overlap. The estimated required times for the tasks of the drones 100a and 100b may be generated to be approximately the same. However, the actual work time may include delays in work due to disturbances such as strong winds, magnetic turbulence, or bird strikes, delays in work related to resource replenishment, or earlier than expected battery 502 consumption, multiple times or long periods of time. In some cases, such as when resource replenishment is required, there may be an error in the estimated required time.

The work completion detection unit 42 is a functional unit that receives work completion information transmitted from the drones 100a and 100b. Further, instead of this configuration, the work completion detection unit 42 itself may be configured to detect completion of the work along the set planned driving route of the first drone 100a. In this case, the work completion detection unit 42 detects that the work of the drones 100a and 100b is completed based on, for example, that the position coordinates of the drones 100a and 100b are within a predetermined range from the end point of the driving route.

When the first drone 100a completes the work on the first driving route 51, the remaining work acquisition unit 43 acquires information on unfinished work owned by another drone, that is, the second drone 100b (hereinafter referred to as "unfinished work"). ). The unfinished work includes unworked routes 51b and 52b flying in fields 403a and 403b, flight speed and flight acceleration information at various locations on the unworked routes 51b and 52b, and information on turning and hovering positions and times. be In addition, the unfinished work includes the scheduled time required for the drone 100b to stop the work in the fields 403a and 403b and return from a scheduled point or a certain time to return to the moving body 406A or 406B.

The remaining work acquisition unit 43 has a scheduled work plan acquisition unit 431 and a drone position acquisition unit 432 .

The scheduled work plan acquisition unit 431 is a functional unit that acquires the second driving route 52 currently set for the second drone 100b that has not completed the work. The scheduled work plan acquisition unit 431 acquires the second driving route 52 by referring to the work plan generated by the motion determination device 40 or the drones 100a and 100b.

The drone position acquisition unit 432 is a functional unit that acquires the position coordinates of the second drone 100b that has not completed its work. The position coordinates of the second drone 100b are the position coordinates at the time when the unfinished work of the second drone 100b is reallocated to the first drone 100a that has completed the work, and may be an expected value.

The remaining work acquisition unit 43 calculates unfinished work on the second driving route 52 based on the second driving route 52 and the position coordinates of the second drone 100b. The remaining work acquisition unit 43 may calculate an unworked area where work is scheduled in the unfinished work. Further, the remaining work acquiring unit 43 may calculate a driving route along which work is scheduled in the unfinished work.

The resharing unit 44 is a functional unit that determines at least part of the unfinished work to be the next work of the first drone 100a, that is, reshares the unfinished work. The re-allocation unit 44 equally divides the unfinished work in the scheduled required time, and determines each equally divided work as the next work of the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b. According to this configuration, the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b can complete the work after the re-allocation substantially at the same time, so that the work can be completed efficiently.

The re-assignment unit 44 sets the continuous route including the end point 52e among the unworked routes 52b included in the unfinished work as the next work route of the first drone 100a, and determines the end point 52e as the starting point of the next work route. According to this configuration, the first drone 100a starts the next task from the farthest position on the driving route from the second drone 100b. It is possible to continue working from the position in which it is flying during redeployment.

The distance between the end point 51e of the first driving route 51 and the ending point 52e of the second driving route 52 is shorter than the distance between the starting point 51s of the first driving route 51 and the starting point 52s of the second driving route 52. That is, the end points 51e and 52e of the two driving routes 51 and 52 are configured to be close to each other. According to this configuration, after the first drone 100a reaches the end point 51e, it can reach the end point 52e in a short time, and the work after the re-allocation can be started efficiently.

The route transmission unit 45 is a functional unit that transmits the next tasks of the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b determined by the reallocation unit 44 to the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b, respectively. In terms of calculation processing, the next work may be newly transmitted, or processing for updating the current work plan may be performed.

With reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, a specific example of how the work is re-shared and the process will be described.

As shown in FIG. 14(a), first, the first drone 100a starts flying along the first driving route 51 from the start point 51s and performs work in the first work area 403c in the field 403a. The second drone 100b starts flying along the second driving route 52 from the start point 52s and performs work in the second work area 403d.

FIG. 14(b) is a schematic diagram showing a state after a predetermined time from FIG. 14(a). At the time of the figure, the first drone 100a has reached the end point 51e. That is, the first drone 100a has completed its initial work plan. At this time, the second drone 100b is flying on the second driving route 52, with the worked route 52a behind in the traveling direction and the unworked route 52b ahead in the traveling direction. At this point, as shown in FIG. 15, the work completion detector 42 detects that the work of the first drone 100a is completed (S11). Further, the work completion detection unit 42 may predict that the work will be completed a predetermined time before the arrival of the first drone 100a at the terminal point 51e.

As shown in FIG. 15, following step S11, the scheduled work plan acquisition unit 431 acquires the second driving route 52 of the second drone 100b (S12). Also, the drone position acquisition unit 432 acquires the position coordinates of the second drone 100b (S13). Steps S12 and S13 are out of order and may be performed simultaneously. The remaining work acquisition unit 43 acquires unfinished work based on the second driving route 52 and the position coordinates of the second drone 100b (S14). The unfinished work is the position coordinates of the unworked path 52b and the motion plan for performing the work on the unworked path 52b.

The reallocation unit 44 divides the unfinished work and reallocates it to the first drone 100a (S15). The route transmission unit 45 transmits the next work plan generated by the re-assignment to the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b (S17). Based on the work plan, the next work is started (S17).

FIG. 14(c) is a schematic diagram showing how the first drone 100a is re-shared with the unfinished work after the state of FIG. 14(b). The unworked path 52b is divided into a third driving path 53 and a fourth driving path . The scheduled required time for the third driving route 53 and the scheduled required time for the fourth driving route 54 are substantially the same. That is, the lengths of the third driving route 53 and the fourth driving route are substantially the same. The starting point 53s of the third driving route 53 is the position of the second drone 100b at the start of work after the resharing. The starting point 54s of the fourth driving route 54 is at the same position as the ending point 52e of the second driving route 52. The end point 53e of the third driving route 53 and the end point 54e of the fourth driving route 54 are arranged adjacent to each other in the middle of the unworked route 52b.

The first drone 100a moves from the end point 51e to the start point 54s and performs work along the unworked route 54b of the fourth driving route 54. The second drone 100b performs work along the unworked route 53b of the third driving route 53 from the starting point 53s.

Here, if any work is completed first, the unfinished work is shared again, and the re-sharing is repeated until all the work is completed.

Returning to FIG. 13, the configuration for the drone 100 to take off, land, and replenish a plurality of moving bodies 406a will be described.

The landing mobile object determination unit 46 is a functional unit that determines on which of the plurality of mobile objects 406A and 406B each of the plurality of drones 100a and 100b is to land, based on the position or state information of the mobile objects 406A and 406B. In other words, the drone system 500 acquires position or state information of the mobiles 406A, 406B, and determines which of the multiple mobiles the drones 100a, 100b should land on based on the results of the acquisition. and have In a configuration in which one drone system 500 has multiple moving bodies 406A and 406B, multiple moving bodies 406A and 406B exist around fields 403a and 403b. According to the landing mobile body determination unit 46, it is not necessary to land on the mobile bodies 406A and 406B from which the plurality of drones 100a and 100b have taken off, respectively. can. The state information includes, for example, the positions of the moving bodies 406A and 406B, the amounts of resources held by the moving bodies 406A and 406B, and whether or not the landing of the drones 100a and 100b on the moving bodies 406A and 406B has been determined. It includes information such as the distance between the moving bodies 406A and 406B and the exit point 403e where the drones 100a and 100b scheduled to land exit the field.

The landing moving body determination unit 46 determines that the drones 100a and 100b should land on the moving bodies 406A and 406B that are stopped at the closest positions from the exit points from the farm fields 403a and 403b among the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B. may decide. As shown in FIG. 16, for example, when the drone 100b flies outside the farm field 403a via the exit point 403e and returns to the moving body 406A or 406B, the landing moving body determination unit 46 determines the position coordinates of the moving bodies 406A and 406B. and decide to land on the moving object 406B located closer to the exit point 403e. According to this configuration, the distance and time required for the drones 100a and 100b to fly outside the fields 403a and 403b can be shortened, so the total work time can be shortened. Also, the amount of electricity stored in the batteries 502 of the drones 100a and 100b can be saved. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the user 402 due to the drones 100a and 100b flying outside the fields 403a and 403b.

The landing moving body determination unit 46 determines to land the drones 100a and 100b on the moving bodies 406A and 406B that possess the amount of resources required to replenish the drone 100 among the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B. good too.

When there are a plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B that possess the amount of resources required to replenish the drone 100b, the landing moving body determination unit 46 determines that the drone 100b among the plurality of moving bodies is selected from the work area 403a. It may be decided to land the drone 100b on the stationary mobile object 406B closest to the exit point 403e.

In addition, the landing moving body determination unit 46 lands the drones 100a and 100b on the moving body with the least amount of resources among the moving bodies 406A and 406B that have the amount of resources required to replenish the drones 100a and 100b. may be determined. The resource may be the amount of battery 502 held, or the amount of medicine held. Depending on the type of resource replenished by the drones 100a and 100b when they land, it may be determined which of the battery 502 and the drug is retained to sort out the moving bodies 406A and 406B. According to this configuration, it is sufficient to replenish resources only for specific moving bodies, so the number of times of restocking the inventory of moving bodies 406A and 406B can be reduced.

The landing moving body determination unit 46 lands the drone 100b on the moving bodies 406A and 406B to which the other drone 100a has not landed or the landing of the other drone 100a has not been determined among the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B. may decide to The other drone 100b cannot land on the moving bodies 406A and 406B on which one of the drones 100a has landed or on which the landing of the drone 100a has been determined. Therefore, according to this configuration, multiple drones 100a and 100b can simultaneously land on moving bodies 406A and 406B without interference. In other words, since resources can be replenished simultaneously for a plurality of drones 100a and 100b, the total work time can be shortened and the work can be performed efficiently.

Note that, when there are a plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B for which the other drone 100a has not landed or the landing of the other drone 100a has not been determined, the landing moving body determination unit 46 , the drone 100b may be determined to land on the moving object 406B that is parked closest to the exit point 403e where the drone 100 exits the work area 403a.
When the landing moving object determination unit 46 has a resource amount that needs to be replenished for the drone 100b and there are multiple moving objects for which the other drone 100a has not landed or the landing of the other drone 100a has not been decided. Then, it may be decided to land the drone 100b on the moving body 406B that is stopped closest to the exit point 403e at which the drone 100b leaves the work area 403a among the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B. .

According to the above configuration, even when it is possible to land on a plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B, it is possible to land with the shortest movement distance, and the total work time can be shortened. Also, the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 of the drone 100b can be saved. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the user 402 due to the drone 100b flying outside the field 403a.

The moving object position determining unit 47 is a functional unit that determines the stopping positions of the moving objects 406A and 406B when the drones 100a and 100b land. The moving body position determination unit 47 may determine, for example, to move the moving bodies 406A and 406B to the vicinity of the exit points of the drones 100a and 100b. According to this configuration, the distance and time required for the drones 100a and 100b to fly outside the fields 403a and 403b can be further shortened, so the total work time can be shortened. Also, the amount of electricity stored in the batteries 502 of the drones 100a and 100b can be saved. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the user 402 due to the drones 100a and 100b flying outside the fields 403a and 403b.

The moving body position determination unit 47 may determine to stop the second moving body 406B at a position closer to the end point 51e of the first driving route 51 than to the ending point 52e of the second driving route 52. In addition, the first moving body 406A is stopped at a position closer to the end point 52e of the second driving route 52 planned for the second work than the end point 51e of the first driving route 51 planned for the first work, and the drone 100b may land on first mobile 406A. That is, drones 100a and 100b may be configured to land on moving bodies 406B and 406A different from the moving bodies 406A and 406B that have taken off. According to this configuration, it is possible to shorten the moving distance and the moving time of the moving bodies 406A and 406B, and to perform the work more efficiently.

●Drone system (2)
As shown in FIG. 17, the drone system 500b in the fourth embodiment of the present invention has three drones 100a, 100b, 100c, three moving bodies 406A, 406B, 406C, and a motion determining device 40b. In addition, the same code|symbol was attached|subjected regarding the structure similar to 1st Embodiment.

When the first drone 100a completes the initially planned work, the re-allocation unit 44b of the motion determination device 40b re-allocates either the unfinished work of the second drone 100b or the unfinished work of the third drone 100c. It has the function to decide whether to The reallocation unit 44b may decide to reallocate the unfinished work with the longer expected required time to complete, out of the unfinished work of the second drone 100b and the unfinished work of the third drone 100c. . According to this configuration, the number of times of re-sharing can be minimized, and unfinished work can be shared.

In addition, the subdivision unit 44b selects the end point of the second driving route initially planned for the second drone 100b and the end point of the third driving route initially planned for the third drone 100c, and the first drone completes the work. A point closer to the end point of the first driving route that has been drawn may be determined, and a decision may be made to reallocate the work on the driving route whose ending point is nearer. According to this configuration, the time until the next work is started can be shortened, so the total work time can be shortened.

In this description, an agricultural chemical spraying drone has been described as an example, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to general drones for other purposes such as shooting and monitoring. . It is particularly applicable to machines that operate autonomously. Further, the moving body is not limited to a vehicle, and may be of any suitable configuration.

(Technically Remarkable Effects of the Present Invention)
In the drone system according to the present invention, many drones can operate for a long time and work efficiently even when there is an error with the work plan.

Claims (4)

a plurality of drones performing work in the work area;
a motion determination device that grasps the positions and states of the plurality of drones and determines motions of the plurality of drones;
a work plan transmission unit that generates driving routes for the plurality of drones;
at least one of each of the plurality of drones can land, and a plurality of autonomously traveling mobile bodies capable of replenishing resources to the drones;
a moving body position determination unit that determines the stop positions of the plurality of moving bodies;
A drone system comprising:
The plurality of drones includes a first drone that flies along a first driving route and performs a first task, and a second drone that flies along a second driving route and performs a second task,
The plurality of moving bodies includes a first moving body from which the first drone takes off and a second moving body from which the second drone takes off,
The moving body position determination unit refers to the positions of the end points of the first driving route and the end points of the second driving route generated by the work plan transmitting unit, and determines the second moving body to be the second driving route. to wait for the first drone to come by moving the drone to a position closer to the end point of the first driving route than the end point of
the first drone lands on the second mobile;
drone system.
The moving object position determination unit causes the first moving object to stop at a position closer to the end point of the second driving route than the ending point of the first driving route,
the second drone lands on the first mobile;
The drone system of claim 1.
a plurality of drones performing work in the work area;
a motion determination device that grasps the positions and states of the plurality of drones and determines motions of the plurality of drones;
a work plan transmission unit that generates driving routes for the plurality of drones;
at least one of each of the plurality of drones can land, and a plurality of autonomously traveling mobile bodies capable of replenishing resources to the drones;
a moving body position determination unit that determines the stop positions of the plurality of moving bodies;
with
The plurality of drones includes a first drone that flies along a first driving route and performs a first task, and a second drone that flies along a second driving route and performs a second task,
The plurality of moving bodies is a drone system control method including a first moving body from which the first drone takes off and a second moving body from which the second drone takes off,
The moving object position determination unit refers to the positions of the end point of the first driving route and the end point of the second driving route generated by the work plan transmitting unit, and determines the second moving object on the second driving route. a step of waiting for the first drone to come by moving it to a position closer to the end point of the first driving route than the end point of and stopping it;
a step of landing the first drone on the second moving object by the operation determination device ;
A method of controlling a drone system, including;
A plurality of autonomously traveling mobile bodies capable of grasping the positions and states of a plurality of drones performing work in a work area, capable of landing at least one of each of the plurality of drones, and capable of replenishing resources to the drones. A motion determination device having a moving body position determination unit that determines the stop position of
The plurality of drones includes a first drone that flies along a first driving route and performs a first task, and a second drone that flies along a second driving route and performs a second task,
The plurality of mobile bodies are a first mobile body from which the first drone takes off;
a second mobile body from which the second drone takes off;
The moving object position determination unit refers to the positions of the end points of the first driving route and the ending points of the second driving route, and moves the second moving object closer to the first driving route than the end point of the second driving route. Move it to a position near the end of the route and stop it,
The first moving body is moved to a position closer to the end point of the second driving route than the ending point of the first driving route and stopped , thereby waiting for the first drone to come .
Action decision device.

Images