JP7318549B2 - Wireless power supply system - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a wireless power supply system, and more particularly to a wireless power supply system that supplies power to an unmanned flying device.

In recent years, unmanned flying devices called so-called drones have become widespread. This flight device flies by driving a propeller with a motor using electric power stored mainly in a battery or the like as a power source. Power is supplied to this flight device by charging a battery or the like. In this case, wireless and contactless power supply is expected.

When power is supplied in a contactless manner, a high-frequency generator such as an inverter is provided on the ground facility side, and the power output from the power transmission electrode section on the ground facility side is received by the power reception electrode section provided on the flight device. Here, when the flight device takes off, the power transmitting side and the power receiving side are forcibly separated. Therefore, if the flight device takes off while the flight device is being charged, electrical energy may be reflected, which may greatly affect the high-frequency generator (see Patent Document 1). Therefore, in a wireless power feeding system used for a flight device, it is necessary to release the electrical coupling between the power transmission electrode section and the power reception electrode section before the flight device takes off.

JP 2019-17151 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless power supply system that can detect takeoff of a flight device with high accuracy and reduce the electrical influence on a high frequency generator with a simple configuration.

In this embodiment, the rotation detector detects the rotation of the rotor of the flight device parked on the apron. When the flight device takes off from the tarmac, the rotor blades rotate. That is, when the rotor takes off from the tarmac, it undergoes a change in the state of rotation, for example, starting from a standstill and starting to rotate, or transitioning from low to high rpm. The rotation detection unit detects whether the flight device is taking off or is about to take off by detecting such rotation of the rotor blades. Based on the rotation of the rotor blade detected by the rotation detection section, the control section interrupts the generation of the high frequency from the high frequency generation section. Thereby, the control unit controls the supply of high frequency waves from the high frequency generation unit to the power transmission electrode unit according to the state of the flight device. In this case, the flight device and the control unit do not need to communicate the takeoff of the flight device, for example, by communication. Also, the control unit does not need to detect the distance between the power transmitting electrode unit and the power receiving electrode unit of the flight device using, for example, a sensor. Therefore, it is possible to detect the takeoff of the flight device with high accuracy with a simple configuration, and reduce the electrical influence on the high-frequency generator when the flight device takes off.

Schematic diagram showing a wireless power supply system according to a first embodiment 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a wireless power supply system according to a first embodiment; FIG. Schematic diagram showing the flow of processing of the wireless power supply system according to the first embodiment Schematic diagram showing a wireless power supply system according to a second embodiment Schematic diagram showing a wireless power supply system according to a third embodiment Block diagram showing the configuration of a wireless power supply system according to a third embodiment Block diagram showing the configuration of a wireless power feeding system according to another embodiment

A plurality of embodiments of the wireless power feeding system will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the substantially common component in several embodiment, and description is abbreviate|omitted.
(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless power supply system 10 supplies electric power from the parking apron 11 to the flight device 12 in a non-contact manner using electric field coupling. The wireless power supply system 10 includes a high frequency generation unit 13, a power transmission electrode unit 14, a power transmission circuit unit 15, a rotation detection unit 16, and a control unit 17, as shown in FIG. The wireless power feeding system 10 also includes a power receiving electrode unit 21 , a power receiving circuit unit 22 , a power storage unit 23 , a drive unit 24 and a body control unit 25 in addition to the above. The high-frequency generation unit 13, the power transmission electrode unit 14, the power transmission circuit unit 15, and the control unit 17, which constitute the wireless power supply system 10, are all provided on the parking lot 11 side, which is ground equipment. In the case of the first embodiment, the rotation detection unit 16 is provided on the parking apron 11 side on the ground. The power receiving electrode unit 21, the power receiving circuit unit 22, the power storage unit 23, the driving unit 24, and the airframe control unit 25, which constitute the wireless power supply system 10, are all provided in the flight device 12, which is the movable side. The flying device 12 takes off from the parking apron 11 on the ground side or lands on the apron 11 . When the flying device 12 is parked on the parking apron 11, it receives power from the apron 11 in a non-contact manner.

The high-frequency generator 13 has, for example, an inverter, and uses power from the power supply 31 to generate high-frequency waves. The high frequency generated by the high frequency generation unit 13 is supplied to the power transmission electrode unit 14 through the power transmission circuit unit 15 . The power transmission circuit unit 15 has, for example, a matching circuit, etc., and attempts to match the impedance according to the electrical characteristics of the flight device 12 on the power receiving side. The power transmission electrode unit 14 outputs the high frequency generated by the high frequency generation unit 13 through the power transmission circuit unit 15 .

The controller 17 of the parking apron 11 is connected to the high frequency generator 13 and the rotation detector 16 . The control unit 17 has a microcomputer composed of, for example, a CPU, a ROM and a RAM. The control unit 17 implements the rotation detection unit 16 by executing a computer program on the CPU, and executes control of the parking apron 11 as a whole including intermittent operation of the high frequency generation unit 13 . The control unit 17 may be configured to control the high-frequency generation unit 13 and the rotation detection unit 16 not only by software, but also by hardware, or by cooperation between software and hardware.

The power receiving electrode section 21 of the flying device 12 faces the power transmitting electrode section 14 of the parking apron 11 as shown in FIG. 1 when parked on the apron 11 . At this time, the power receiving electrode portion 21 faces the power transmitting electrode portion 14 in a non-contact manner. When power transmission electrode unit 14 outputs high-frequency power, power reception electrode unit 21 receives power from power transmission electrode unit 14 in a contactless manner using electric field coupling. In this manner, the high-frequency power generated by the high-frequency generation unit 13 is transmitted from the power transmission electrode unit 14 to the power reception electrode unit 21 in a contactless manner.

The power receiving circuit unit 22 shown in FIG. 2 has, for example, a matching circuit and a rectifying circuit, and achieves impedance matching according to the electrical characteristics of the parking lot 11 on the power transmission side, and the power receiving electrode unit 21 Rectify the received power. The rectified power is stored in power storage unit 23 . The power receiving circuit section 22 may have a transformer circuit for transforming the power received by the power receiving electrode section 21 or the power rectified by the rectifier circuit, such as a DC-DC converter. The power storage unit 23 has, for example, a battery or a capacitor, and stores rectified power. As shown in FIG. 1, the drive unit 24 has a motor 32, a propeller 33 that is a rotating blade, and the like, and generates a propulsion force for the flight device 12 to fly. A plurality of drive units 24 are provided in the flight device 12 .

Airframe control unit 25 of flight device 12 shown in FIG. 2 controls power supplied from power storage unit 23 to drive unit 24 and controls charging of power storage unit 23 from power receiving electrode unit 21 . The body control section 25 is connected to the attitude detection section 34 . The attitude detection unit 34 has, for example, an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor (not shown), and detects the flight position and flight state of the flight device 12 such as acceleration, angular velocity, altitude, and geomagnetism applied to the flight device 12 . The attitude detection unit 34 outputs data acquired by these various sensors to the body control unit 25 . The airframe control unit 25 changes the number of rotations of the motor 32 and the pitch of the propeller 33 based on instructions from the ground and the flight state acquired by the attitude detection unit 34 . Thereby, the body control unit 25 controls the propulsion forces generated by the plurality of drive units 24 respectively. The airframe control unit 25 controls the flight attitude and flight speed of the flight device 12 by controlling the propulsion forces generated by the plurality of drive units 24 . Further, the body control unit 25 controls the power supplied from the power receiving circuit unit 22 to the power storage unit 23 so that the amount of charge in the power storage unit 23 is within a preset range. Note that the airframe control unit 25 may be configured to autonomously control the flight attitude and flight speed of the flight device 12 according to a preset flight plan without being limited to instructions from the ground.

The wireless power supply system 10 includes a power transmission electrode section 14 and a floor section 41 on a parking lot 11 as shown in FIG. The floor portion 41 covers at least the surface of the power transmission electrode portion 14 facing the flight device 12 . That is, the floor portion 41 is positioned between the power transmitting electrode portion 14 and the power receiving electrode portion 21 when the flying device 12 is parked on the parking lot 11 . The flight device 12 has a leg portion 42 extending toward the apron 11 side. The leg portion 42 is in contact with the floor portion 41 when the flying device 12 is parked on the parking spot 11 . With the leg 42 in contact with the floor 41 , the floor 41 is interposed between the power transmission electrode 14 provided on the parking apron 11 and the power reception electrode 21 provided on the flight device 12 . distance is ensured. Note that the floor portion 41 may be omitted.

In the case of the first embodiment, the rotation detector 16 is connected to the controller 17 and has a light source 43 and a light receiver 44 . The light source 43 emits light toward the propeller 33 of the flying device 12 parked on the parking apron 11 based on the instruction from the control unit 17 . The light receiving unit 44 receives light emitted from the light source 43 and reflected by the propeller 33 . The light receiving section 44 outputs an electrical signal based on the received light to the control section 17 . The control section 17 determines the rotation state of the propeller 33 based on the electrical signal output from the light receiving section 44 .

Propeller 33 has a plurality of blade members. Therefore, when the propeller 33 is stopped, if the blade member of the propeller 33 exists on the axis of the light emitted from the light source 43, the light receiving section 44 always receives the light emitted from the light source 43 and reflected by the propeller 33. do. On the other hand, when the propeller 33 is stopped, if the blade member of the propeller 33 does not exist on the axis of the light emitted from the light source 43, the light receiving part 44 always receives the light emitted from the light source 43 and reflected by the propeller 33. not receive light. Furthermore, when the propeller 33 is rotating, the light emitted from the light source 43 is reflected each time a plurality of blade members of the propeller 33 block the light axis, and the light receiving section 44 intermittently receives the light reflected by the propeller 33. receive light effectively. Therefore, the control unit 17 acquires whether or not the propeller 33 is rotating and the rotational speed of the propeller 33 based on the electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 44 .

The control unit 17 acquires the rotation state of the propeller 33 through the rotation detection unit 16 and detects the state of the flight device 12 . Specifically, when the control unit 17 determines that the propeller 33 is not rotating or that the propeller 33 is rotating at a speed lower than the preset speed, the control unit 17 determines that the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff. In other words, it is determined that the aircraft is in a state of maintaining parking. When the flight device 12 takes off, the propeller 33 rotates at high speed. Therefore, when the propeller 33 is not rotating, the controller 17 determines that the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff. Further, when the propeller 33 is rotating at less than the preset set speed, the propeller 33 of the flight device 12 is in an idling state that is not ready for takeoff, so the control unit 17 determines that the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff. . In this manner, the control unit 17 determines whether the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff based on the rotation state of the propeller 33 detected by the rotation detection unit 16 .

When the propeller 33 of the flying device 12 is in a stopped state or rotating at less than the set speed, the control unit 17 determines that the flying device 12 is not ready for takeoff, and causes the high frequency generating unit 13 to generate the high frequency. That is, when the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff, the power supply from the apron 11 to the flight device 12 is not cut off when the flight device 12 takes off. Therefore, since there is no risk that the high frequency generator 13 will be affected by the forced power cutoff, the control unit 17 executes the generation of the high frequency from the high frequency generator 13 .

On the other hand, when the propeller 33 of the flight device 12 is rotating at the set speed or higher, the control unit 17 determines that the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff, and stops the high frequency generation unit 13 from generating the high frequency. That is, when the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff, the power supply from the apron 11 to the flight device 12 is cut off as the flight device 12 takes off, which may affect the high frequency generator 13 . Therefore, the control unit 17 stops the high frequency generation from the high frequency generation unit 13 to protect the high frequency generation unit 13 .

Next, the flow of processing in the control section 17 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the charging of the flight device 12 from the apron 11 is started, the controller 17 initializes the value T of the timer for measuring the detection period to T=0 (S101). Further, the control unit 17 initializes the value C of the counter for determining the number of times the light reflected by the propeller 33 is detected to C=0 (S102). In this case, the control unit 17 counts either the rise at which the light receiving unit 44 of the rotation detection unit 16 detects the start of light reception or the fall at which the end of light reception is detected as the number of detections.

When the initialization of the timer and the initialization of the counter are completed, the controller 17 advances the value T of the timer to T=T+1 (S103) and starts counting the number of light detections (S104). The control unit 17 determines whether or not the detection period by the timer has reached a preset period Td, that is, whether or not T=Td (S105). The set period Td is arbitrarily set according to the performance of the parking apron 11 and the flight device 12 .

When the controller 17 determines that the timer value T has not reached the set period Td (S105: No), it returns to S103 and continues the processing of S103 and S104 until the set period Td is reached. On the other hand, when the controller 17 determines that the timer value T has reached the set period Td (S105: Yes), it determines whether the counter value C is equal to or greater than the preset set value Cd, that is, if C≧Cd. It is determined whether or not there is (S106). When the propeller 33 is stopped, the counter value C becomes C=0 because the light is not intermittently incident on the light receiving section 44 . On the other hand, when the propeller 33 is rotating, the incidence of light on the light receiving section 44 is intermittent, so the light intensity increases according to the rotation speed of the propeller 33 . The set period Td is set to Td=0 or a value close to 0 in the case of the flying device 12 in which the propeller 33 stops while parked. Also, in the case of the flight device 12 in which the propeller 33 maintains idling while parked, the set period Td is set according to the idling rotation speed.

When the control unit 17 determines that the counter value C is equal to or greater than the set value Cd (S106: Yes), the control unit 17 stops the high frequency generation unit 13 and stops generating the high frequency from the high frequency generation unit 13 (S107). That is, when the counter value C in the set period Td is equal to or greater than the set value Cd, the flight device 12 indicates that the propeller 33 is rotating at the set speed toward takeoff. Therefore, the control unit 17 stops the high frequency generation from the high frequency generation unit 13 in order to avoid the forced stoppage of the power supply due to the takeoff of the flight device 12 .

On the other hand, when the control unit 17 determines that the counter value C is less than the set value Cd (S106: No), it drives the high frequency generation unit 13 to generate a high frequency from the high frequency generation unit 13 (S108). . That is, when the value of the counter C during the set period Td is less than the set value Cd, it indicates that the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff and the propeller 33 is stopped or in an idling state in which it rotates at less than the set speed. Therefore, the control unit 17 causes the high-frequency generation unit 13 to generate the high-frequency wave, assuming that there is no risk of the power supply being forcibly stopped due to takeoff of the flight device 12 .
After stopping the generation of the high frequency in S107 or executing the generation of the high frequency in S108, the control unit 17 returns to S101 and repeats the subsequent processes.

In the first embodiment described above, the controller 17 detects the rotation of the propeller 33 of the flying device 12 parked on the parking spot 11 through the rotation detector 16 . Based on the rotation of the propeller 33 detected by the rotation detection unit 16, the control unit 17 intermittently causes the high frequency generation unit 13 to generate high frequencies. Thereby, the control unit 17 controls the supply of the high frequency from the high frequency generation unit 13 to the power transmission electrode unit 14 according to the state of the flight device 12 . In this case, the flight device 12 and the controller 17 of the parking apron 11 do not need to communicate the takeoff of the flight device 12 by communication or the like. Also, the control unit 17 does not need to detect the distance between the power transmitting electrode unit 14 and the power receiving electrode unit 21 of the flight device 12 using, for example, a sensor. Therefore, the takeoff of the flight device 12 can be detected with high accuracy with a simple configuration, and the electrical influence on the high frequency generator 13 can be reduced when the flight device 12 takes off.

Further, in the first embodiment, when the rotation detection unit 16 detects that the propeller 33 has stopped rotating or is rotating below the set speed, the control unit 17 outputs the high frequency signal from the high frequency generation unit 13. generate the . When the propeller 33 stops rotating or rotates at a speed less than the set speed, the flight device 12 is not ready for takeoff, and there is no fear that the power supply will be forcibly cut off upon takeoff. Therefore, the control unit 17 causes the high frequency generation unit 13 to generate the high frequency. On the other hand, when the rotation detection unit 16 detects that the propeller 33 is rotating at the set speed or more, the control unit 17 causes the high frequency generation unit 13 to generate a high frequency. When the propeller 33 is rotating at a speed equal to or higher than the set speed, the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff, and the power supply may be forcibly cut off along with the takeoff. Therefore, the control unit 17 stops the high frequency generation from the high frequency generation unit 13 . As a result, it is possible to detect with high accuracy whether or not the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff with a simple configuration of detecting the rotation of the propeller 33, and to reduce the electrical influence on the high frequency generator 13 due to takeoff. can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the rotation detection unit 16 detects the rotation state of the propeller 33 by receiving light emitted from the light source 43 with the light receiving unit 44 . Therefore, whether or not the flight device 12 is ready for takeoff can be detected with a simple configuration of the light source 43 and the light receiving section 44 . Therefore, the state of the flight device 12 can be detected with a simple configuration without complicating the structure.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 4 shows a wireless power feeding system according to the second embodiment.
In the second embodiment, the configuration of the rotation detector 16 is different from that in the first embodiment. In the case of the second embodiment, the light source 51 of the rotation detector 16 is provided in the flight device 12 as shown in FIG. The light-receiving unit 52 is provided on the parking apron 11, which is ground equipment, as in the first embodiment. Thus, in the case of the second embodiment, the light receiving section 52 receives light emitted from the light source 51 provided in the flight device 12 with the propeller 33 interposed therebetween. That is, in the case of the second embodiment, the light receiving section 52 does not detect light reflected by the propeller 33 but receives light intermittent due to the rotation of the propeller 33 .

In the second embodiment, the rotational state of the propeller 33 is detected as in the first embodiment. The flight device 12 may also include various lights, such as anti-collision lights and navigation lights. In such a case, by using these various lamps provided in the flight device 12 as the light source 51, there is no need to install a new light source 51 separately. Therefore, the state of the flight device 12 can be detected with a simple configuration without complicating the structure.

(Third embodiment)
A wireless power supply system according to the third embodiment is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , the wireless power supply system 10 according to the third embodiment includes a parking detector 61 . The parking detector 61 detects the presence or absence of the flying device 12 on the parking spot 11 . The parking detection unit 61 is connected to the control unit 17 and outputs the detected presence or absence of the flying device 12 to the control unit as an electric signal. The parking detector 61 detects the presence or absence of the flying device 12 on the parking apron 11 by various methods such as optical, contact, or electromagnetic. The control unit 17 controls the high frequency generation unit 13 using the presence or absence of the flying device 12 on the parking apron 11 detected by the parking detection unit 61 and the rotation of the propeller 33 detected by the rotation detection unit 16 .

Specifically, the control unit 17 detects the presence or absence of the flying device 12 on the parking spot 11 from the parking detection unit 61 prior to the process described with reference to FIG. That is, when the parking detection unit 61 detects that the flying device 12 is parked on the parking apron 11, the control unit 17 executes the processing shown in FIG. On the other hand, the controller 17 does not execute the processing shown in FIG. When the flight device 12 is not detected on the parking spot 11, the flight device 12 does not take off and charging is not forcibly cut off along with takeoff. Therefore, the processing according to FIG. 3 becomes unnecessary.

In the third embodiment, in addition to the rotation state of the propeller 33, the generation or stop of the high frequency from the high frequency generation unit 13 is controlled based on the presence or absence of the flying device 12 detected by the parking detection unit 61. FIG. Therefore, useless processing is reduced, and safety and certainty of control are improved. Therefore, the takeoff of the flight device 12 can be detected with higher accuracy, and the electrical influence on the high frequency generator 13 can be reduced when the flight device 12 takes off.

Further, in the third embodiment, the parking detector 61 only detects the presence or absence of the flying device 12 on the parking spot 11 . Therefore, a highly accurate position sensor that detects the distance between the power transmission electrode portion 14 of the parking apron 11 and the power reception electrode portion 21 of the flight device 12 is not required. As a result, it is possible to reduce the influence of takeoff of the flight device 12 during charging without requiring expensive and complicated equipment.

(Other embodiments)
In the multiple embodiments described above, an example in which the rotation detection unit 16 has the light source 43 and the light receiving unit 44 has been described. However, the rotation detector 16 may be configured to detect the rotation of the propeller 33 by means other than light. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a sound source 53 is provided in place of the light source 43, and a sound of a frequency band different from the driving sound of the motor 32 and the rotating sound of the propeller 33 is used to generate the propeller 33 as in the above-described embodiments. It is good also as a structure which detects rotation of. In this case, the apron 11 is provided with a sound receiving unit 54 that acquires the sound from the sound source 53 instead of the light receiving unit 44 .

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to examples, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such examples or structures. The present disclosure also includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and configurations, as well as other combinations and configurations, including single elements, more, or less, are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.
The controller and techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied by the computer program. may be Alternatively, the controls and techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated computer provided by configuring the processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control units and techniques described in this disclosure can be implemented by a combination of a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions and a processor configured by one or more hardware logic circuits. It may also be implemented by one or more dedicated computers configured. The computer program may also be stored as computer-executable instructions on a computer-readable non-transitional tangible recording medium.

In the drawings, 10 is a wireless power supply system, 11 is a parking apron, 12 is a flight device, 13 is a high frequency generator, 14 is a power transmission electrode, 16 is a rotation detection unit, 17 is a control unit, 21 is a power reception electrode, and 33 is a power receiving electrode. 43 and 51 are light sources; 44 and 52 are light receivers; 53 is a sound source; 54 is a sound receiver;

Claims (3)

A wireless power feeding system for contactlessly transmitting electric power using electric field coupling between a tarmac (11) and a flight device (12) landing on or taking off from the tarmac (11). and
a high-frequency generator (13) that generates high-frequency power;
A power transmission electrode unit (14) provided on the parking lot (11) for outputting the high frequency generated by the high frequency generation unit (13);
a power receiving electrode section (21) provided in the flight device (12) for receiving the high frequency output from the power transmitting electrode section (14);
a rotation detector (16) for detecting rotation of a rotor (33) of the flight device (12) parked on the parking apron (11);
a control unit (17) for intermittently generating a high frequency from the high frequency generation unit (13) based on the rotation of the rotor blade (33) detected by the rotation detection unit (16);
A parking detector (61) that detects whether the flight device (12) is parked on the parking apron (11);
When the parking detector (61) detects parking of the flight device (12),
The rotation detector (16) detects that the rotor blade (33) is not rotating, or the rotation detector (16) detects that the rotor blade (33) is rotating at less than a preset set speed. Then, the high-frequency generation unit (13) generates high-frequency waves,
A wireless power supply system for stopping generation of high frequency from the high frequency generator (13) when the rotation detector (16) detects that the rotor (33) is rotating at the set speed or higher. The rotation detector (16)
A light source (43, 51) that emits light and a light receiving section (44, 52) that acquires the light emitted from the light source (43, 51),
2. The wireless power feeding system according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of said rotor blade (33) is detected from the light emitted from said light source (43, 51) and obtained by said light receiving part (44, 52). The rotation detector (16)
A sound source (53) for outputting a sound wave and a sound receiving section (54) for receiving the sound wave output from the sound source (53),
2. The wireless power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the rotary blade (33) is detected from sound waves outputted from the sound source (53) and acquired by the sound receiving section (54).

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