KR101917587B1 - Drone operating based on electric power facility information and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A drone according to one technical aspect of the present invention comprises: a sensor portion obtaining location information of a drone; a flight area managing portion setting a flight area in which the drone is able to fly by using electric power facility map information and drone information; and a driving control portion controlling flight of the drone based on the flight area and the location information of the drone.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a drone operated using power equipment information and a control method thereof,

The present application relates to a drones operated using electric power facility information and a control method thereof.

As the technology related to the drone develops and the social institutional foundation for it has been strengthened, various applications of the drone have been suggested.

In order to utilize various kinds of drones, automation of drones is required. Accordingly, there is a great demand for a technique in which the drone recognizes the surrounding environment and accordingly sets and automatically sets a route.

Particularly, in setting the route of the drone, there is an increasing need for a technique for operating the drone based on efficient map data in order to prevent damage by the drone.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2017-0080354 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-131019 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-265699

An object of an embodiment according to the present invention is to provide a dron and a control method of the dron which can set a flying area of a dron easily in various environments by setting a power facility as a reference of drones flight.

An object of an embodiment according to the present invention is to prevent a malfunction that can be induced in a power facility by a dron by setting different flightable areas depending on the type of dron, The present invention provides a drones and a control method thereof that can provide a more stable dron operating environment by setting different flightable areas according to the present invention.

An object of an embodiment according to the present invention is to provide a drone and a control method thereof that can increase the maintenance efficiency of a power facility by allowing a power facility to be checked in an unmanned environment using a drones.

The above objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the various embodiments of the present invention by those skilled in the art.

One technical aspect of the present invention proposes a drones. The drones may include a sensor unit for acquiring position information of the drones, a flight area management unit for setting the flight area in which the drones can fly by using the electric power facility map information and the dron information, And a drive control unit for controlling the flight of the drones.

In one embodiment, the flight area manager can set the flightable area of the drones based on the electric power facilities included in the electric power facility map information.

In one embodiment, the power facility map information may be configured using map information, including geographical information and associated location information, and power facility geographic information, including information about the power facility and associated location information .

In one embodiment, the dron information may include drones classification information that is distinguished by the use of the drones.

In one embodiment, the flying area management unit may set the flying area by setting a required separation distance from the electric power facility included in the electric power facility map information corresponding to the use of the drones.

In one embodiment, the required separation distance may be an altitude difference from the power plant.

In one embodiment, the sensor unit includes at least one of a magnetic sensor for detecting magnetic data from an adjacent power facility, a thermal image sensor for detecting a thermal image for an adjacent power facility, and an acoustic sensor for sensing noise from an adjacent power facility One can be included.

In one embodiment, the drones may further include an electric power facility inspecting unit that detects at least one of the magnetic data, the thermal image, and the noise sound using the at least one of the magnetic data, the thermal image, and the noise sound.

Another technical aspect of the present invention proposes a dron control method. The control method of the drone includes the steps of setting a flying area in which the drones can fly by using power facility map information and drones information, acquiring position information of the drones, and acquiring position information of the drones , And controlling the flight of the drones.

In one embodiment, the power facility map information may be configured using map information, including geographical information and associated location information, and power facility geographic information, including information about the power facility and associated location information .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of setting the flying area may include: checking drone classification information classified according to the use of the drone in the drone information; And setting a required separation distance from the electric power facility to set the flying area.

The solution of the above-mentioned problems does not list all the features of the present invention. Various means for solving the problems of the present invention can be understood in detail with reference to specific embodiments of the following detailed description.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by setting the electric power facility as a reference of the drone's flight, it is possible to easily set the flying area of the drone in various environments.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by setting different flightable zones depending on the types of drones, the drones prevent malfunctions that may be caused in the electric power facilities, By setting different flightable areas, it is possible to provide a more stable drone operating environment.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to increase the maintenance efficiency of the electric power facility by making it possible to check the electric power facility in the unmanned environment by using the drone.

In addition to this, these advantages and various advantages of the present invention can be easily understood from the various embodiments of the present invention described below.

1 is a view showing an example of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic diagram for explaining power facility map information in an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a flying area in an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of operating a drones according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, the embodiments of the present invention can be modified into various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Further, the embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive.

The meaning of the terms described in the present invention should be understood as follows.

It should be understood that the singular " include "or" have "are to be construed as including a stated feature, number, step, operation, component, It is to be understood that the combination is intended to specify that it does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

It is also to be understood that the term "connected" between different configurations encompasses not only the case where the different configurations are directly connected but also the case where other configurations are connected and indirectly connected between the two configurations. Terms such as "serial" or "parallel" should be understood as well.

In the present invention, "drone" is a generic term for unmanned aerial vehicles. That is, in the present invention, "drone" collectively refers to a unmanned aerial vehicle including a quadcopter, an unmanned helicopter, and an unmanned airplane, as well as a drones in ordinary expression.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig.

1 is a view showing an example of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the dron 100 may include a body 10, an extension 20, a driver 30, a sensor 31, and a wing 40.

The body 10 constitutes the body of the drones 100 and may include a flight area management unit 120, a drive control unit 130 and a power facility inspection unit 150, which will be described later.

 The extension portion 20 is formed to extend from the body portion 10. One end of the extension portion 20 is connected to the body portion 10 and the other end is connected to the driving portion 30. [

The driving unit 30 includes a driving motor, and the wing 50 is rotated by the driving motor so that the drones 100 can fly. The driving unit 30 can tilt the direction of the blade 50. [

The sensor unit 31 may include various sensors. In the illustrated example, an example is shown in which the sensor portion 31 is provided in the driving portion 30 so as to be provided on the outermost side of the drones 100, which is an exemplary one. Accordingly, some sensors of the sensor unit 31 can be variously modified, for example, provided in the body 10.

On the other hand, in Fig. 1, a dron with four wings is disclosed, but this is merely an example. Therefore, the shape, shape, number of wings, etc. of the drone can be variously modified.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the drone 100 may include a sensor unit 110, a flying area management unit 120, a driving control unit 130, and a driving unit 140. According to an embodiment, the drones 100 may further include a power facility inspection unit 150.

The sensor unit 110 can acquire position information of the drones. For example, the sensor unit 110 may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) module to acquire GPS position data of the drones. The sensor unit 110 may provide the drive controller 130 with the acquired position information of the drones.

According to the embodiment, the sensor unit 110 may further include various other sensors.

For example, the sensor unit 110 may include at least one of a magnetic sensor that detects magnetic data from an adjacent power facility, a thermal image sensor that detects a thermal image for an adjacent power facility, and an acoustic sensor that senses noise sound from an adjacent power facility . ≪ / RTI > The sensing data obtained from the various sensors may be provided to the flight area management unit 120, the drive control unit 130, or the electric power facility inspection unit 150 and used for various controls.

The flight area management unit 120 can set the flight area in which the drones can fly using the electric power facility map information and the drones information.

For example, the flying area management unit 120 may set a flying area, which is an area where the drone can fly, in advance, depending on the location of the electric power facility and the type of the drones. The flying area management part 120 provides information on the flying area to the driving part 140 and the driving part 140 controls the flying of the drones 100 in the flying area.

Also, the flight area management unit 120 can set the flight area using the electric power facility map information. Here, the electric power facility map information is information generated based on the map information and the electric power facility information.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining power facility map information according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is further described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an example for conceptually explaining the electric power facility map information. As shown in FIG. 3, the electric power facility map information is configured by reflecting information on electric power facilities based on the map information.

That is, the power facility map information is configured by reflecting the map information including the topographic information-the map in the illustrated example, and the power facility geographical information including the information about the power facility-displayed in white in the illustrated example. .

The map information may include topographical information and associated location information, and the power facility geographical information may also include information about the power facility and associated location information. Therefore, the location information of the map information and the location information of the electric power facility geographical information can be correlated to form one electric power facility map information.

On the other hand, for example, the entire electric power facility map information may be stored in the flight area management unit 120. Alternatively, the flight area management unit 120 may be connected to a separate server to download at least a part of the electric power facility map information, if necessary. For this purpose, the flight area management unit 120 may include wireless communication means . That is, as described above, the flight area management unit 120 can receive power facility map information in various embodiments, and the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments.

In one embodiment, the flight area management unit 120 can set a flightable area of the drones (hereinafter referred to as a flight area) based on the electric power facilities included in the electric power facility map information.

For example, the flight area management unit 120 may set the flying area within a certain distance from the electric power facilities included in the electric power facility map information, and set the area other than the flying-prohibited area as the flying area. In this case, it is possible to prevent the drones from inadvertently touching the electrical equipment, thereby preventing breakage of the drones and also preventing unexpected failure of the electrical equipment.

In one embodiment, the drone information may include drone classification information that is distinguished according to the use of the drone, and the flight area manager 120 may be configured to determine the required distance from the power facility included in the power facility map information You can set the flight area by setting the distance.

FIG. 4 is a schematic conceptual view for explaining a flying area in an embodiment of the present invention, which will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The flight area management unit 120 generates power facility map information by reflecting the power facility geographical information 402 based on the map information 401 as described above. The flight area management unit 120 may reflect the dron classification information in the power facility map information and set the flight area differently depending on the use of the drones.

For example, the drone can be classified into a dron for power equipment inspection, a dron for national infrastructure inspection, an emergency drone, and a general drone. To set the flight area. The flight area management unit 120 can set the flight area so that at least some areas are different from each other for the country infrastructure check drones, the emergency drones, and the general drones.

For example, the flying area management unit 120 can set the flying area by setting the required separation distance from the electric power facility to be different according to the drones classification. For example, the power plant inspection drone can be set to have the shortest required separation distance from the power plant. Here, in one example, the required separation distance may be an altitude difference from the power plant.

Alternatively, the flying area management unit 120 can set the flying area by setting the maximum separation distance from the electric power facility for the electric power facility inspection drones. Meanwhile, the flying area management unit 120 may not set the maximum separation distance for other types of drone. This is to provide a dedicated space adjacent to the power facility to increase the inspection efficiency of the power facility and prevent accidents with other types of drone.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the drive controller 130 may perform various drive controls.

The driving control unit 130 may control the flight of the drones based on the position information of the dron provided by the sensor unit 110 based on the flying area set by the flying area management unit 120. [

For example, the driving control unit 130 may control the driving unit 140 to control the drones according to a predetermined control in the flying area or a control signal that is input wirelessly.

The driving unit 140 may correspond to the driving unit 30 shown in FIG. 1, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Based on the sensing data provided from the sensor unit 110, the power equipment inspection unit 150 can determine whether the adjacent power equipment is malfunctioning. That is, the electric power facility inspection unit 150 can check whether the adjacent electric power facility is out of order by using at least one of magnetic data, thermal image, and noise sound.

In one embodiment, the electric power facility inspection unit 150 can determine whether or not a fault has occurred by preferentially using the magnetic data. For example, even when the deterioration phase or the noise sound is in the normal range, it can be determined that the magnetic data is out of the reference value, that is, the failure state - for example, the residual leakage state. This is because the deterioration phase and the noise sound are relatively influenced by the change of the surrounding environment, while the magnetic data is mostly changed by the electric power facility.

Meanwhile, the flight area management unit 120, the drive control unit 130, and the electric power facility inspection unit 150 may be implemented as a computing device.

The computing device may include at least one processing unit and memory. The processing unit may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) And may have a plurality of cores. The memory may be a volatile memory (e.g., RAM, etc.), a non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, flash memory, etc.), or a combination thereof.

The computing device may also include additional storage. Storage includes, but is not limited to, magnetic storage, optical storage, and the like. The storage may store computer readable instructions for implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein, and other computer readable instructions for implementing an operating system, application programs, and the like. The computer readable instructions stored in the storage may be loaded into memory for execution by the processing unit

In the foregoing, various embodiments of the drone have been described with reference to Figs. Hereinafter, a method of operating the drones will be described with reference to FIG.

However, the operation method of the drones to be described below is an operating method for the drones described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, and thus can be easily understood from the above description with reference to Figs. Therefore, the description overlapping with the above description with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 will be omitted.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of operating a drones according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, power facility map information may be constructed (S510). The power plant map information includes the map information including the topographical information and the related position information, the information about the power plant, and the related position information. The constructed power facility map information can be stored in a drone or stored in a separate server and provided to a drone.

The drone can set the flying area in which the drone can fly using the electric power facility map information and the drone information (S530). For example, the type of the drone is checked (520) and the flight area can be set according to the electric power facility map information and the type of drones - classification information.

Then, the drones acquire the position information of the drones and control the flight so that the drones fly within the flying area based on the information of the flying area and the position of the drones (S540).

In one embodiment, the step of setting the flying area may include the steps of: identifying the dron classification information that is classified according to the use of the dron in the dron information; and determining power information included in the power facility map information Setting a required separation distance from the facility, and setting the flight area.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and all of the equivalents or equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims, I will say.

100: Drones
110: sensor unit 120: flight area manager
130: drive control unit 140:
150: Power equipment inspection section

Claims (11)

A sensor unit for acquiring position information of the drone;
A flight area manager for setting a flight area in which the drones can fly by using electric power facility map information and drone information; And
A driving control unit for controlling the flying of the drones based on the flying area and the position information of the drones; Lt; / RTI >
The power equipment map information includes:
Map information including topographic information and location information associated therewith,
A power plant geographical information including information on a power facility and associated location information,
The dron information includes dron classification information classified according to the use of the dron.
2. The navigation system according to claim 1,
And a dron that sets the flightable area of the dron on the basis of the electric power facility included in the electric power facility map information.
delete delete A sensor unit for acquiring position information of the drone;
A flight area manager for setting a flight area in which the drones can fly by using electric power facility map information and drone information; And
A driving control unit for controlling the flying of the drones based on the flying area and the position information of the drones; Lt; / RTI >
The power equipment map information includes:
Map information including topographic information and location information associated therewith,
A power plant geographical information including information on a power facility and associated location information,
The flying area management unit
And setting a required separation distance from the electric power facility included in the electric power facility map information corresponding to the use of the drone to set the flying area.
6. The method of claim 5,
The drones are altitude differences from the power plant.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit
A magnetic sensor for detecting magnetic data from an adjacent electric power facility;
A thermal image sensor for detecting a thermal image for an adjacent electric power facility; And
An acoustic sensor for sensing a noise sound from an adjacent electric power facility;
The drones comprising at least one of the drones.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the drones
An electric power facility inspection unit for detecting a fault in an adjacent electric power facility using at least one of the magnetic data, the thermal image, and the noise sound;
Further comprising:
Setting a flight area in which the drones are able to fly using power facility map information and drone information;
Acquiring position information of the drones; And
Controlling the flight of the drones based on the flight area and the position information of the drones; Lt; / RTI >
The power equipment map information includes:
Map information including topographic information and location information associated therewith,
A power plant geographical information including information on a power facility and associated location information,
The step of setting the flying area comprises:
Confirming dron classification information classified according to the use of the dron in the dron information; And
Setting a required separation distance from a power facility included in the power facility map information corresponding to the type information of the drone to set the flying area;
The method comprising: delete delete

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