JP7451112B2 - Drone movement system and delivery system using it - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a drone movement system that uses a plurality of moving bodies such as cars and trains to move a drone to a remote location, and a cargo drone delivery system using the same.

In recent years, delivery systems using drones have been tested on a trial basis, making this a reality.

The delivery method by flying a drone from a base station such as a distribution center depends on the flight performance of the drone, and the delivery area is limited by the flight time and flight speed.

In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 1 describes that a delivery vehicle is equipped with a plurality of drones and travels to the delivery area, and the delivery is performed using the drones in the area.

The roof of the delivery vehicle is used as a platform for the drone to take off and land, and the ceiling is equipped with a cargo supply port to supply the cargo to be delivered.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-153337

In the method of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to arrange a dedicated delivery vehicle for carrying multiple drones and moving to a remote location for each delivery.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drone movement system that efficiently moves a drone to a remote location, and a cargo delivery system using the same.

In order to achieve the above object, a drone movement system as one aspect of the present invention includes:
A drone movement system that uses multiple moving bodies including cars or trains to move a drone to a remote location,
A power supply port is installed in each of the plurality of moving objects for taking off and landing the drone and for supplying power to the drone,
The drone is configured to hop between power feeding ports of the plurality of mobile bodies according to the movement route of the mobile body,
Information on the scheduled movement routes of the plurality of mobile bodies is acquired, and based on the storage capacity of the battery of the drone and the information on the planned movement routes, the mobile bodies to be hopping and takeoff and landing at each mobile body. has a determining means for determining the time,
Information on the probability that the moving object will move as planned is attached to the planned movement route of the mobile object,
Personally owned cars in the cars are set to a lower accuracy than public buses, corporate trucks in the cars, and trains in the trains;
The determining means determines a mobile object to be hopping and takeoff and landing times for each mobile object based on a storage capacity of a battery of the drone and a plurality of planned travel routes with accuracy information. Features.

According to the present invention, a drone can move between moving objects by hopping between the power feeding ports (switching by jumping) by using a plurality of power feeding ports installed on each moving object such as a car or train. This allows the mobile object to assist the drone in approaching a remote location while supplying power to the drone.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a supply port installed in a moving body according to an embodiment. A schematic diagram of drone delivery according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing candidates for a moving route and selection as a moving route according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Furthermore, within the scope of the present invention, the scope of the present invention also includes modifications and improvements made to the embodiments described below based on the common knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof. include.

A first embodiment of the drone movement system according to the present invention is a delivery system that uses a plurality of moving bodies including automobiles or trains and performs delivery using a drone, and wherein each of the plurality of moving bodies has the A power supply port for taking off and landing the drone and supplying power to the drone is installed, and the drone is configured to hop between the ports of the plurality of mobile bodies according to the movement route of the mobile body. It is characterized by

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a power feeding port installed in a moving body in this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a drone 100, a mobile object 101, a power supply port 102, a communication means (antenna) 103, a power supply means 104, a control means 105, and a fixed locking mechanism 106 of the drone are schematically shown.

The mobile object 101 may be any form of transportation as long as it can take off and land the drone and is equipped with a power supply port 102 for supplying power to the drone, but examples include automobiles such as private cars, buses, trucks, and three-wheeled motorbikes; It can be a railway, a train, a locomotive, a freight vehicle, or in some cases a ship, a motorcycle, a trailer, or a bicycle.

It is preferable that the power supply port 102 be placed at a position that does not directly affect the movement of the moving body, such as on the top or side surface of the moving body 101.

The drone 100 can move between the power feeding ports 102 of the plurality of moving bodies 101 while flying as if hopping. In that case, it is preferable to control the timing so that takeoff and landing are performed while both moving bodies 101 are stopped.

For example, it is preferable to hop between moving objects when a plurality of trains are stopping at the same platform or when a plurality of cars are stopping at the same parking area at the same time.

Alternatively, the movement or braking of the mobile body may be used for the takeoff operation of the drone from the power supply port.

The power supply port 102 preferably has a fixed locking mechanism 106 that fixes the drone while the mobile body 101 is moving.

The drone 100 that has landed on the power supply port 102 is supplied with power from the power supply means 104 . Not only can power be supplied to the drone 100 every time it lands on the power supply port 102, but the drone 100 can also travel long distances by utilizing the movement of the mobile object 101 without consuming power.

By selecting an available mobile body from among a large number of mobile bodies 101 so as to approach the destination (for example, a delivery point or a collection point), the drone 100 hops between the power feeding ports 102 of the plurality of mobile bodies 101, This will enable efficient delivery.

The power supply port 102 also provides information regarding the planned movement route of the mobile object 101, power supply control to the drone 100, and control means (computer control means) for controlling communication with at least one of the delivery center and the drone via the communication means 103. ) 105 is preferably provided.

The communication means 103 is preferably provided at the power feeding port 102.

Further, the communication means 103 is preferably a means for communicating not only with a drone but also with a navigation system of a mobile body and a drone delivery center.

Next, the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2, which schematically shows how a drone hops between power supply ports of a mobile body and moves to a target remote location.

Traveling to a remote location is similar to so-called hitchhiking, and hopping is preferably performed by selecting a moving object that is as close to the remote location as possible.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a first truck 203 scheduled to move from a station 201 to a first parking area 202, which is a position B that is 5 km closer to a destination A, is selected as a candidate. Information about the availability of the supply port (for example, it cannot be used because another drone is landing) is obtained.

Since the first truck 203 is scheduled to move away from destination A from position B, after arriving at position B (first parking area 202), the drone 100 moves further toward position C, which approaches destination A. The driver flies toward the second truck 205 scheduled to move to the second parking area 204 and transfers there. By repeating this (that is, hopping), a large number of moving objects are used to move to the destination A.

In order to centrally manage deliveries, it is preferable to install a management center (control unit) 206 that centrally manages the GPS information of each mobile object.

The control unit 206 has a determining unit that acquires information on the planned movement routes of a large number of moving objects and determines the moving objects to be hopping and the takeoff and landing times for each moving object based on the information on the planned movement routes. are doing.

The distance that the drone 100 can move is limited by the storage capacity of the battery that the drone has. It is preferable that candidates of moving objects to be hopping to the next moving object are extracted from among the moving objects located within the movable distance.

Further, it is preferable that the information on the movement route of each mobile object includes at least current position information and information on a future movement schedule. The movement schedule may include position information after movement at a predetermined time. The movement of a mobile object naturally includes elements of uncertainty due to delays in traffic jams, etc., and information about the probability of proceeding according to the movement schedule, that is, the accuracy of the movement route (accuracy information), is included as information about the movement route. It is preferable.

In other words, information on the probability that the moving object will move as planned is given to the planned movement route of the moving object as movement route information, and the determining means determines the accuracy based on the planned movement route with accuracy information of each of the plurality of moving objects. , the mobile units to be hopping, and the takeoff and landing times for each mobile unit.

For example, trains, public buses, regular company trucks, etc. are likely to have a relatively high probability of following the travel schedule, whereas private cars are likely to have a lower probability.

Weather conditions can also be used as a factor in accuracy. By multiplying these, it is possible to obtain a large number of pieces of route information with accuracy information weighted by accuracy. This information is used to extract suitable candidate mobile objects for hopping, and the system uses them to extract as many courses as possible that connect multiple mobile objects to the destination by hopping. It is preferable that a course with a high priority is selected from among the plurality of extracted courses in descending order of accuracy and determined as a mobile object for hopping.

In addition, while mobile objects and drones are moving, the priority order can be searched in real time, and the course with the highest probability of arrival (overall accuracy) can be changed at any time and hopping can be carried out to reach the destination. It is possible to increase the probability of successful arrival.

Further, the accuracy weighting value may be calculated by machine learning based on weather information, traffic jam information, past drone accident information, and position information of moving objects.

In that case, the drone may have a control unit that selects the travel route of the drone based on weather information, traffic congestion information, past drone accident information, and location information of the moving object, and changes the moving object as the hopping destination at any time. good. The control unit may recalculate the accuracy of each course based on the changed weighting values, reselect the movement route of the drone, and change the moving object as the hopping destination at any time.

For example, depending on the degree of weather deterioration (rainfall, etc.), privately owned cars may choose to drive on a different route, but trains and other vehicles may change their travel route unless the weather deteriorates to the level of a natural disaster. There should be no. Since the accuracy of the arrival time of each route varies greatly depending on the type of mobile object, it is recommended to learn the route change rate of similar mobile objects in the past as training data and derive candidates for hopping routes (selection of mobile objects for hopping). . The selected hopping route may also be changed depending on the situation, and the user may repeatedly judge in real time which route to take to reach the destination and make changes repeatedly.

The position information of the power feeding port can be privacy information, so it may need to be handled with care. By placing a security lock on a location information terminal that makes it difficult to link the location information of the power supply port to personal information, it is possible to lower the threshold for installing a port in a private car.

The travel route can be determined by a computer mounted on the drone, a computer connected to the power supply port, or a computer at the delivery management center.Furthermore, the determination results are shared and one of the computers makes the final decision. It may be configured as follows.

The drone movement system of the present invention is useful as a delivery system for delivering packages, etc., but it can also be used not only for delivery, but also for dispatching disaster drones to remote areas during emergencies such as disasters. In addition, it can also be used for rescue in case of an accident involving a mobile vehicle in a remote location, such as when the power source, fuel, etc. are used up, so by providing it as a roadside service, the threshold for installing a supply port can be lowered.

If the owner of the mobile object 101 on which the power supply port 102 is loaded is paid according to the number of times the drone takes off and lands, that is, the number of times the drone is used, it is possible to install the power supply port in a personal vehicle or a carrier's vehicle. This is a benefit of installing a power supply port, and contributes to increasing the number of mobile objects with power supply ports installed and encouraging the movement of mobile objects to positions where power supply ports are required.

FIG. 3 describes in detail the method of determining the movement route (or delivery route) of the drone according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the respective movement routes of a large number of moving objects that may move between the starting point X and the ending point Y (delivery point Y).

Here, each line schematically shows the movement route of each moving object, and the vertical axis shows the distance from the starting point X to the ending point Y. For simplicity, the vertical axis direction is The movement paths of a large number of moving objects are depicted as having linear movement paths.

Further, the thickness of each line indicates the above-mentioned accuracy information, and the thicker the line, the higher the accuracy of moving along the movement route.

If you move the drone at a time when a large number of hopping-capable moving objects can pass, as in Schedule 3 G in the figure, even if some moving object does not move as planned, you can switch to another moving object. Since it is possible to hop to the body, there is a higher possibility of reaching the destination Y.

By devising the weighting of the accuracy described above, the accuracy of reaching the destination point can be further improved, and this accuracy can be further improved by machine learning or the like.

For example, machine learning can be used to acquire accuracy factors for buses, trucks, trains, and private cars for past weather information, past traffic congestion information by day of the week, or past drone accident information, and these factors are taken into account for each trip based on current information. The accuracy of the body can be determined more precisely.

Claims (6)

A drone movement system that uses multiple moving bodies including cars and trains to move a drone to a remote location,
A power supply port for taking off and landing of the drone and supplying power to the drone is installed in each of the mobile objects,
The drone is configured to hop between power feeding ports of the plurality of mobile bodies according to the movement route of the mobile body,
Information on the scheduled movement routes of the plurality of mobile bodies is acquired, and based on the storage capacity of the battery of the drone and the information on the planned movement routes, the mobile bodies to be hopping and takeoff and landing at each mobile body. has a determining means for determining the time,
Information on the probability that the moving object will move as planned is attached to the planned movement route of the mobile object,
Personally owned cars in the cars are set to a lower accuracy than public buses, corporate trucks in the cars, and trains in the trains;
The determining means determines a mobile object to be hopping and takeoff and landing times for each mobile object based on a storage capacity of a battery of the drone and a plurality of planned travel routes with accuracy information. Features a drone movement system. Claim 1 characterized in that it has at least one drone, a plurality of power supply ports to be installed on a plurality of moving objects, and a communication means capable of communicating with at least one of the power supply port and the drone. Drone movement system described in. The drone movement system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the planned movement route with accuracy information is calculated using machine learning. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the accuracy information is calculated based on at least one of the following: type of mobile object, weather information, traffic jam information, past drone accident information, and position information of the mobile object. The drone movement system according to paragraph 1. A delivery system that uses multiple moving bodies, including cars and trains, and uses drones to deliver,
A power supply port for taking off and landing of the drone and supplying power to the drone is installed in each of the mobile objects,
The drone is configured to hop between ports of the plurality of mobile bodies according to the movement route of the mobile body,
Information on the scheduled movement routes of the plurality of mobile bodies is acquired, and based on the storage capacity of the battery of the drone and the information on the planned movement routes, the mobile bodies to be hopping and takeoff and landing at each mobile body. has a determining means for determining the time,
Information on the probability that the moving object will move as planned is attached to the planned movement route of the mobile object,
Personally owned cars in the cars are set to a lower accuracy than public buses, corporate trucks in the cars, and trains in the trains;
The determining means determines a mobile object to be hopping and takeoff and landing times for each mobile object based on a storage capacity of a battery of the drone and a plurality of planned travel routes with accuracy information. Featured delivery system. 6. The delivery system according to claim 5 , wherein the power feeding port has communication means for performing at least one of communication with a drone, communication with a navigation system of a mobile object, and communication with a drone delivery center.

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