KR102366800B1 - Apparatus, method and program for controlling a plurality of drone - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device, method, and program for controlling a plurality of drones so that one person can control, in real-time, the plurality of drones individually or in a group. The method comprises: a step of obtaining the individual state information from the plurality of drones, respectively; a step of calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, and controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval; a step of receiving a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled among the plurality of drones; a step of checking whether a leader drone exists in the drone group if the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping the plurality of drones; a step of recognizing the remaining drones other than the leader drone in the drone group as subordinate drones if the leader drone exists; a step of receiving a second user input comprising a flight control command of the drone group; and a step of controlling the flight of the leader drone corresponding to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight of the leader drone.

Description

A number of drone control devices, methods and programs {APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF DRONE}

The present invention relates to a plurality of drone control apparatuses, and more particularly, to a plurality of drone control apparatuses, methods and programs by which one person can control a plurality of drones individually or in a group in real time.

In general, a drone refers to an aircraft that performs a specific mission by judging the current situation by a human being wirelessly controlling an aircraft in a remote environment or by judging the current situation with minimal human intervention, such as an autonomous vehicle.

As drone technology develops today, drones are being used in various fields such as delivery, driving, local surveillance, and military weapons.

When controlling the flight of drones, flight control of one drone can be easily controlled, but when controlling the flight of a plurality of drones, a high-level control device and technology are required.

In particular, the swarm drone control technology is optimized for shows or swarm missions that emphasize the visible effect because it flies only according to the value entered in advance by focusing on the overall formation, but there is no concept of a leader and there is an immediate reaction when there is a departure of an object And since it is impossible to cope with it, and a lot of time reprogramming work is required, there is a problem that is not suitable in terms of real-time on-site response such as during operation.

Therefore, in the future, there is a demand for the development of a control device for a plurality of drones in which one person can easily control a plurality of drones individually or in a group flight in real time.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2273133 (June 29, 2021)

One object of the present invention for solving the above-described problems is a plurality of drone control apparatus and method in which one person can easily control individual flight or group flight of a plurality of drones in real time through a user interface of a control screen and to provide programs.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the problems mentioned above, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

A drone control method of an apparatus for controlling a plurality of drones according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problems includes: obtaining individual state information from each of the plurality of drones; calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the flight interval, controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval, and a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among the plurality of drones receiving, if the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, checking whether a leader drone exists in the drone group, if the leader drone exists, other than the leader drone in the drone group Recognizing the remaining drones as subordinate drones, receiving a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group, and controlling the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight.

In an embodiment, the receiving of the first user input comprises receiving the first user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button. do.

In an embodiment, the receiving of the first user input may include receiving a first user input for selecting one or more of a plurality of drone markers displayed on the control screen.

In an embodiment, in the step of checking whether the leader drone exists, if the first user input is an input for selecting only one drone from among the plurality of drones, it is recognized as a drone individual selection, and the first user input is the If it is an input for selecting several drones from among a plurality of drones, it is recognized as a drone group selection, and when it is recognized as the drone group selection, it is characterized in that it is checked whether a leader drone exists in the drone group.

In an embodiment, the receiving of the second user input comprises receiving the second user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button. do.

In an embodiment, the controlling of the flight of the drone group includes selecting the target moving point coordinate information specified by the user based on the second user input when the flight control command is a point flight command based on the first user input. It is characterized in that it is given only to the leader drone.

In an embodiment, the controlling the flight of the drone group includes: when the target movement point coordinate information designated by the user is given to the leader drone, the movement point coordinate information of the subordinate drones in the drone group is based on the current interval. It is characterized in that it is automatically assigned to subordinate drones.

In an embodiment, the controlling of the flight of the drone group includes, if the flight control command is a flight group flight command based on the second user input, the user-specified target movement point coordinate information and a movement command to the target movement point It is characterized in that the information is transmitted to the leader drone selected by the first user input, and flight formation information and left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information are transmitted to all subordinate drones in the flight group.

In an embodiment, the step of controlling the flight of the drone group includes: when the leader drone in the drone group moves to the target movement point, the subordinate drones in the drone group receive the flight formation information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information Based on the leader drone, it is characterized in that the formation flight command is transmitted to move to the target movement point while maintaining the left and right intervals and front and rear intervals corresponding to the flight formation.

In an embodiment, the step of controlling the flight of the drone group includes, if the second user input is a flight formation change, the changed flight formation information is transmitted to the drones to correspond to the left and right spacing and the drones corresponding to the changed flight formation It is characterized in that the interval between the front and rear is changed.

In an embodiment, the controlling of the flight of the drone group includes selecting drones to be collision monitoring among the drones, providing an alarm when the selected drones to be monitoring a collision are approaching within a specified radius, and the selected collision When the drones to be monitored approach within the collision risk radius, it is characterized in that it transmits a stop command to perform collision avoidance control.

In an embodiment, the step of performing the collision avoidance control by transmitting the stop command comprises setting a collision detection distance based on the flight speed of the collision monitoring target drones, and corresponding to the set collision detection distance. It is characterized in that the collision avoidance control is performed on the collision monitoring target drone.

In an embodiment, the step of controlling the flight of the drone group includes, when receiving the missing information of the missing flight control command from the drone, analyzes the received missing information to determine whether to retransmit the flight control command corresponding to the missing information and retransmitting the flight control command corresponding to the missing information to the drone corresponding to the missing information.

The computer program stored in the computer readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the computer program is executed in one or more processors, to perform the following operations for controlling a plurality of drones, the operations, obtaining individual state information from each of the drones of , calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, and controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval; When receiving a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among the plurality of drones, if the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, a leader drone exists in the drone group checking whether the leader drone is present, recognizing the remaining drones other than the leader drone in the drone group as subordinate drones, receiving a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group, and and controlling the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight of the leader drone.

A drone control apparatus for controlling a plurality of drones according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a processor including one or more cores, and a memory, wherein the processor obtains individual state information from each of the plurality of drones and calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval, and controlling at least one of the plurality of drones. Receives a first user input for selecting a drone, and if the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, checks whether a leader drone exists in the drone group, and if the leader drone exists, the drone group Recognizes the remaining drones other than the leader drone as subordinate drones within, receives a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group, and controls the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, It is characterized in that the flight of the drone group is controlled so that the subordinate drones perform the flight according to the flight of the leader drone.

A computer program for providing a method for controlling a plurality of drones according to another embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problems is combined with a computer that is hardware and is stored in a medium to perform any one of the methods described above.

In addition to this, another method for implementing the present invention, another system, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording a computer program for executing the method may be further provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, one person can easily control individual flight or group flight of a plurality of drones in real time through the user interface of the control screen.

In addition, the present invention is applicable to various military operation drones such as surveillance and reconnaissance drones, tohadrons, admiral drones, self-detonation drones, etc. that can perform effective military missions, and a number of them depending on various situations and purposes that may occur in military operations It controls the drones of the company so that they can fly in formation and perform individual missions, and can provide a responsive drone with a high degree of freedom that can perform each assigned mission in real time.

In addition, according to the present invention, one user can easily and conveniently control the drone with a controller such as a joystick or keyboard or a GCS (Ground Control System) screen.

In addition, according to the present invention, if a squadron is formed and a leader drone is designated, the squadron following the leader drone can be flown, the designation of the leader drone can be changed at any time, and an immediate mission response is possible. performance is excellent

In addition, the present invention can be used as a mission drone that can configure or dismantle a squadron according to the operational situation, and can assign a mission to each drone by excluding or re-including some drones in the squadron.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a block diagram of a drone control apparatus for controlling a plurality of drones according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 7 are diagrams for explaining various drone flight implemented by the drone control method of the present invention.
8 and 9 are diagrams for explaining a user input device for controlling a plurality of drones.
10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a plurality of drones according to the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only the present embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully understand the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, the singular also includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise in the phrase. As used herein, “comprises” and/or “comprising” does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components in addition to the stated components. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout, and "and/or" includes each and every combination of one or more of the recited elements. Although "first", "second", etc. are used to describe various elements, these elements are not limited by these terms, of course. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Accordingly, it goes without saying that the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the spirit of the present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein will have the meaning commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In addition, terms defined in a commonly used dictionary are not to be interpreted ideally or excessively unless specifically defined explicitly.

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

Before the description, the meaning of the terms used in this specification will be briefly described. However, it should be noted that, since the description of the term is for the purpose of helping the understanding of the present specification, it is not used in the meaning of limiting the technical idea of the present invention unless explicitly described as limiting the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a drone control apparatus for controlling a plurality of drones according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The configuration of the drone control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is only a simplified example. In an embodiment of the present invention, the drone control apparatus 100 may include other components for performing drone control of the drone control apparatus 100 , and only some of the disclosed components constitute the drone control apparatus 100 . may be

The drone control apparatus 100 may include a processor 110 , a memory 130 , and a network unit 150 .

In the present invention, the processor 110 obtains individual state information from a plurality of drones 200, respectively, and calculates a flight interval between the drones 200 based on the obtained individual state information. Controls a plurality of drones 200 based on If a drone group grouping 200 is selected, it is checked whether a leader drone exists in the drone group, and if there is a leader drone, the remaining drones other than the leader drone are recognized as subordinate drones in the drone group, and the flight control command of the drone group It is possible to receive a second user input including: to control the flight of the leader drone according to the flight control command, and to control the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform the flight according to the flight of the leader drone.

When obtaining the individual state information of the drone, the processor 110 is an individual state including at least one of a unique identifier, latitude, longitude, altitude, heading, speed, battery state, GPS state, and geomagnetic sensor state of each drone. Information can be obtained and stored.

Here, the processor 110 may obtain and store individual state information every second from all drones when acquiring individual state information of the drones.

In addition, the processor 110 may further acquire and store obstacle avoidance flight information from the drone that has avoided a specific obstacle when acquiring individual state information of the drone.

And, when calculating the flight interval between the drones, the processor 110 may calculate the left and right intervals and the front and rear intervals between the drones based on individual state information of the drones.

Here, when calculating the flight interval between the drones, the processor 110 calculates the left and right and front and rear intervals between the leader drone and the subordinate drone and the left and right and front and rear gaps between the subordinate drones based on individual state information of the drones. can be calculated.

Then, when controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval, the processor 110 may control the plurality of drones to maintain a preset designated flight interval based on the calculated flight interval.

Here, when controlling a plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval, the processor 110 checks whether the flight interval of the drones is a specified flight interval based on the calculated flight interval, and does not maintain the specified flight interval. It is possible to identify drones and control the drones to maintain a specified flight interval by transmitting a position movement command to the identified drones.

Next, when receiving the first user input, the processor 110 may receive the first user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button.

Here, when receiving the first user input, the processor 110 may receive a first user input for selecting one or more of the plurality of drone markers displayed on the control screen.

Then, when the processor 110 checks whether a leader drone exists, if the first user input is an input for selecting only one drone from among a plurality of drones, it is recognized as an individual drone selection, and the first user input is a plurality of drones. If it is an input for selecting multiple drones among them, it is recognized as a drone group selection, and if it is recognized as a drone group selection, it is possible to check whether a leader drone exists in the drone group.

Here, the processor 110 may check whether one leader drone exists in each drone group if a plurality of drone groups is recognized when checking whether a leader drone exists.

Also, when checking whether a leader drone exists, if the first user input is a drone group selection, the processor 110 may recognize the first selected drone in the drone group as the leader drone.

In some cases, when checking whether a leader drone exists, the processor 110 may recognize the leader drone based on a user input for additionally selecting a leader drone from among drones in the drone group if the first user input is a drone group selection. there is.

As another case, when checking whether a leader drone exists, if the first user input is a drone group selection, the processor 110 displays a request message requesting additional selection of a leader drone among drones in the drone group on the control screen, and When a user input for selecting a leader drone is received in response to a message, it may be recognized as a leader drone based on this.

Next, when receiving the second user input, the processor 110 may receive the second user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button.

Here, the processor 110, when receiving the second user input, the target movement point coordinate information through the map displayed on the control screen (map) and the first including flight formation information and movement command information through the control command input button 2 Can receive user input.

And, when controlling the flight of the drone group, when the flight control command is a point flight command based on the second user input, the processor 110 uses target movement point coordinate information designated by the user as the leader drone selected by the first user input. can only be given to

Here, when the target moving point coordinate information designated by the user is provided to the leader drone, the processor 110 may automatically provide moving point coordinate information of the subordinate drones in the drone group based on the current interval.

As an example, the subordinate drones simultaneously depart to the target movement point and arrive at the target movement point may not have the same time.

In addition, when the subordinate drones move to the target movement point, the left and right intervals and the front and rear intervals between them may not be constant.

Next, when the processor 110 controls the flight of the drone group, if the flight control command is a flight group flight command based on the second user input, the user-specified target movement point coordinate information and movement command information to the target movement point can be transmitted to the leader drone selected by the first user input, and flight formation information, left and right spacing, and front and rear spacing information can be transmitted to all subordinate drones in the flight group.

Here, the processor 110, when the leader drone in the drone group moves to the target movement point, the subordinate drones in the drone group follow the leader drone based on the flight formation information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information corresponding to the left and right corresponding to the formation A formation flight command can be sent to move to the target movement point while maintaining the spacing and forward and backward spacing.

At this time, the subordinate drones are changed to face the same direction as the leader drone, and can move to the target movement point while maintaining the left and right distances and front and rear distances corresponding to the flying formation along the leader drone.

In addition, when controlling the flight of the drone group, the processor 110 may transmit flight formation information and left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information to all subordinate drones in the flight group every second.

In addition, when the second user input ends the flight formation, the processor 110 may transmit flight end information to the drone to control to maintain a predetermined interval between the drones.

In addition, if the second user input is a flight formation change, the processor 110 may transmit the changed flight formation information to the drones to change the left and right spacing and the front and rear spacing corresponding to the changed flight formation of the drones.

In addition, if the second user input is a point flight change, the processor 110 may control the flight of the leader drone in response to the point flight change command, and the subordinate drones may automatically maintain an interval with the leader drone.

As an example, flight formation information may include a horizontal type, a vertical type, an A type, a V type, a two-row vertical type, a defensive type, a back projection type, a left and right separation type, etc., which is only an embodiment, but is not limited thereto does not

Next, when controlling the flight of the drone group, the processor 110 selects collision monitoring target drones from among the drones, provides an alarm when the selected collision monitoring target drones approach within a specified radius, and selects the selected collision monitoring target drones When drones approach within the collision risk radius, they can transmit a stop command to perform collision avoidance control.

Here, when selecting the collision monitoring target drones, the processor 110 may select the collision monitoring target drones from among the flying drones flying within a predetermined height from the ground.

As an example, the processor 110 may select drones to be taken off from the ground without an altitude limitation when selecting the drones to be subjected to collision monitoring, but this is only an example, and is not limited thereto.

In addition, the processor 110, when performing collision avoidance control by transmitting a stop command, controls the collision monitoring target drone located at a lower height among the collision monitoring target drones to fly lower, and controlling the collision monitoring target drones from among the collision monitoring target drones. It is possible to control the drone for collision monitoring located at a high height to fly higher.

Here, when the processor 110 transmits a stop command to perform collision avoidance control, if the collision monitoring target drones are controlled to have an altitude difference from each other, the collision monitoring target drone returns a movement path to re-perform the ongoing flight. can

In some cases, when performing collision avoidance control by transmitting a stop command, the processor 110 sets a collision detection distance based on the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring, and corresponds to the set collision detection distance. Collision avoidance control can also be performed on a drone to be monitored for collision.

Here, the processor 110, when performing collision avoidance control by transmitting a stop command, checks the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring, and when the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring is faster than the reference speed, the collision detection distance is far The radius is set, and if the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring is slower than the reference speed, the collision detection distance can be set to a nearby radius.

As an example, the processor 110 sets the collision detection distance to increase in proportion to the flight speed when the flight speed of the collision monitoring target drones increases when performing collision avoidance control by transmitting a stop command, and the collision monitoring target When the flight speed of the drones decreases, the collision detection distance may be set to decrease in proportion to the flight speed.

Then, when controlling the flight of the drone group, the processor 110 may transmit a flight control command including control target drone identification information, control device identification information, serial number information, command information, and verification information. This is only an example, and is not limited thereto.

And, the processor 110, when controlling the flight of the drone group, when receiving the missing information of the missing flight control command from the drone, analyze the received missing information to determine whether to retransmit the flight control command corresponding to the missing information, , if it is decided to retransmit the flight control command corresponding to the missing information, the flight control command corresponding to the missing information can be retransmitted to the corresponding drone.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the memory 130 may store a computer program for providing a drone control method, and the stored computer program may be driven by the processor 110 . The memory 130 may store any type of information generated or determined by the processor 110 and any type of information received by the network unit 150 .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the memory 130 includes a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, and a card type memory (eg, a memory card type). SD or XD memory, etc.), Random Access Memory (RAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Programmable Memory (PROM) read-only memory), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk may include at least one type of storage medium. The drone control apparatus 100 may operate in relation to a web storage that performs a storage function of the memory 130 on the Internet. The description of the above-described memory is only an example, and is not limited thereto.

The network unit 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention may operate based on any type of wired/wireless communication technology currently used and implemented, such as short-distance (short-range), long-distance, wired and wireless, and other networks. can also be used in

The drone control apparatus 100 of the present invention may further include an output unit and an input unit.

The output unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may display a user interface (UI) for controlling the drone. The output unit may output any type of information generated or determined by the processor 110 and any type of information received by the network unit 150 .

In an embodiment of the present invention, the output unit is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) , it may include at least one of a flexible display (flexible display), a three-dimensional display (3D display). Some of these display modules may be configured as a transparent type or a light transmission type so that the outside can be seen through them. This may be referred to as a transparent display module, and a representative example of the transparent display module is a transparent OLED (TOLED).

The input unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may receive a user input. The input unit may include a key and/or buttons on a user interface for receiving a user input, or a physical key and/or buttons. A computer program for controlling the display according to embodiments of the present invention may be executed according to a user input through the input unit.

The input unit according to embodiments of the present invention may receive a signal by sensing a user's button manipulation or touch input, or may receive a user's voice or motion through a camera or a microphone and convert it into an input signal. For this, speech recognition technology or motion recognition technology may be used.

The input unit according to embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as an external input device connected to the drone control apparatus 100 . For example, the input device may be at least one of a touch pad, a touch pen, a joystick, a keyboard, and a mouse for receiving a user input, but this is only an example and is not limited thereto.

The input unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may recognize a user touch input. The input unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may have the same configuration as the output unit. The input unit may be configured as a touch screen configured to receive a user's selection input. For the touch screen, any one of a contact capacitive method, an infrared light sensing method, a surface ultrasonic wave (SAW) method, a piezoelectric method, and a resistive film method may be used. The detailed description of the touch screen described above is merely an example according to an embodiment of the present invention, and various touch screen panels may be employed in the drone control apparatus 100 . The input unit configured as a touch screen may include a touch sensor. The touch sensor may be configured to convert a change in pressure applied to a specific portion of the input unit or capacitance generated at a specific portion of the input unit into an electrical input signal. The touch sensor may be configured to detect not only the touched position and area, but also the pressure at the time of the touch. When there is a touch input to the touch sensor, a signal(s) corresponding thereto is sent to the touch controller. The touch controller may process the signal(s) and then send the corresponding data to the processor 110 . Accordingly, the processor 110 can recognize which area of the input unit has been touched, and the like.

Meanwhile, according to the present invention, when each communication device is installed in a plurality of drones, frequency intervals may be provided at predetermined intervals to improve reception rate.

For example, in the present invention, communication devices may be installed based on frequency intervals of 433.111Mhz, 433.121Mhz, 433.131Mhz, etc., and a unique ID may be assigned to each communication device to prevent cross-talk.

In addition, the present invention can verify communication using a standard protocol method.

For example, in a communication verification method using a standard protocol, when sending and receiving commands, commands can be sent and received based on open source MavLink.

Here, MavLink is an open-source, long-tested protocol, and is used by most F/Cs.

MavLink can send a command in the form of "opponent's ID + own ID + serial number + command + CRC".

In addition, the present invention may verify communication using the CRC method.

Here, as a parity check, CRC adds a certain pattern to all commands to be sent, and displays the result as CRC, and adds the command in the same pattern at the receiving end. If the result is the same as the sent CRC, the command is not modified can judge

In addition, the present invention may verify communication using a continuous serial number scheme.

As an example, in the present invention, whenever a command is sent, a serial number is assigned and sent, so if the receiving side of the command remembers the previous serial number, , it is possible to detect the omission of a command.

If it is "Receive 1, receive 2, receive 4...", it can be determined that the 3rd command is missing.

That is, when the drone detects that the number is not continuous and the command omission is detected, it can notify the GCS of the reception omission, and the operator who receives the notification can select whether to retransmit or ignore the missing command.

As described above, according to the present invention, one person can easily control individual flight or group flight of a plurality of drones in real time through the user interface of the control screen.

In addition, the present invention is applicable to various military operation drones such as surveillance and reconnaissance drones, tohadrons, admiral drones, self-detonation drones, etc. that can perform effective military missions, and a number of them depending on various situations and purposes that may occur in military operations It controls the drones of the company so that they can fly in formation and perform individual missions, and can provide a responsive drone with a high degree of freedom that can perform each assigned mission in real time.

In addition, according to the present invention, one user can easily and conveniently control the drone with a controller such as a joystick or keyboard or a GCS (Ground Control System) screen.

In addition, according to the present invention, if a squadron is formed and a leader drone is designated, the squadron following the leader drone can be flown, the designation of the leader drone can be changed at any time, and an immediate mission response is possible. performance is excellent

In addition, the present invention can be used as a mission drone that can configure or dismantle a squadron according to the operational situation, and can assign a mission to each drone by excluding or re-including some drones in the squadron.

2 to 7 are diagrams for explaining various drone flights implemented by the drone control method of the present invention.

2 to 7 , the present invention may receive a user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button.

And, the present invention may receive a user input including target movement point coordinate information and flight formation information and movement command information through a control command input button through a map displayed on the control screen.

As an example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , in the present invention, if the flight control command is a point flight command based on a user input, target moving point coordinate information designated by the user may be provided only to the leader drone selected by the user input.

Next, according to the present invention, when the target moving point coordinate information designated by the user is given to the leader drone, the moving point coordinate information of the subordinate drones in the drone group may be automatically assigned based on the current interval.

Here, for point flight, a user can easily designate a flight path by selecting a leader drone and clicking a moving point.

For example, when the user selects multiple drones and clicks the movement point of the leader drone, the moving points that automatically maintain the left and right distances are automatically designated for the subordinate drones by reflecting the current left and right distances, and the user presses the flight start button When pressed, the selected drones can start at the same time.

In other words, in point flight, only the location to reach the destination is reflected in the interval, and since the drone control device does not periodically interfere to maintain the left/right or front/rear distance between the drones, all drones may not arrive at the arrival point at the same time. there is.

As an example, the subordinate drones simultaneously depart to the target movement point and arrive at the target movement point may not have the same time.

In addition, when the subordinate drones move to the target movement point, the left and right intervals and the front and rear intervals between them may not be constant.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the user selects drones No. 1 to No. 8, selects Drone No. 1 as the leader drone, designates a moving point, and selects a flight start button to start a plurality of selected drones. there is.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3 , the user selects drone No. 1, drone No. 2, and drone No. 3, selects drone No. 1 as the leader drone, specifies a moving point, and selects a flight start button, of drones can be launched.

Then, the user selects drone 4, drone 5, and drone 6, selects drone 4 as the leader drone, designates a moving point, and selects the flight start button to start the selected multiple drones. can

Then, the user can start the selected plurality of drones by selecting drones 7 and 8, selecting drone 7 as the leader drone, designating a moving point, and selecting a flight start button.

As such, according to the present invention, since three or more drone groups can be moved to each group, user convenience can be provided so that the user can conveniently and easily control the group.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , in the present invention, if the flight control command is a flight group flight command based on a user input, the user-specified target movement point coordinate information and movement command information to the target movement point are transmitted to the leader drone. In addition, flight formation information and left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information can be transmitted to all subordinate drones in the squadron group.

Here, in the present invention, when the leader drone in the drone group moves to the target moving point, the subordinate drones in the drone group follow the leader drone based on the flight size information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information corresponding to the left and right spacing corresponding to the formation and A formation flight command can be sent to move to the target movement point while maintaining the front-to-back spacing.

At this time, the subordinate drones are changed to face the same direction as the leader drone, and can move to the target movement point while maintaining the left and right distances and front and rear distances corresponding to the flying formation along the leader drone.

In addition, the present invention can transmit flight formation information and left and right intervals and front and rear interval information to all subordinate drones in the squadron group every second, and when the flight formation is finished, the flight end information is transmitted to the drone to maintain a certain interval between the drones. can be controlled to keep.

In flight group flight, the drone control device may transmit a position correction command to the drones while confirming that the selected drones maintain the left/right and front/rear intervals several times per second.

Therefore, the drones of the formation group can maintain formation in any situation.

The drone control apparatus of the present invention can analyze the positions of the drones to check the left/right/front/back/altitude difference, and send commands from time to time to maintain a predetermined left/right/front/back/altitude interval, and left/right/front/back/altitude interval You can easily change the settings at any time.

As shown in Figure 4, the present invention can be changed to a straight formation by tying eight drones in a state in which latitude, longitude, altitude, and heading are not regular.

As an example, in the present invention, subordinate drones maintaining a horizontal spacing of about 20 m can be switched to face the same direction as the leader drone, and then controlled to move at regular intervals of about 20 m.

And, according to the present invention, when the large change is completed, the drones are notified of the completion of the large change, and the existing interval can be maintained even when the large change is completed.

Next, according to the present invention, if the user input is a flight formation change, the changed flight formation information is transmitted to the drones so that the drones can change the left and right spacing and the front and rear spacing corresponding to the changed flight formation.

As such, the present invention supports various formations in flight group flight, such as horizontal, vertical, A-type, V-type, second-row vertical, defensive type, turning back, left and right split type, etc., in the flight group state You can easily change formations at any time, and when the formations change, you can control to keep that formation.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5 , the present invention may convert a drone squadron group from a straight-line type to an A-type.

Also, according to the present invention, if the user input is a point flight change, the flight of the leader drone may be controlled in response to the point flight change command, and the subordinate drones may automatically maintain an interval with the leader drone.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , in the present invention, when the drones are in a formation state, if only the leader drone designates a point flight, the drones can be moved while maintaining the current formation.

That is, other subordinate drones can move while maintaining only the distance from the leader drone, regardless of the overall path.

Next, the present invention selects collision monitoring target drones among drones, provides an alarm when the selected collision monitoring target drones approach within a specified radius, and gives a stop command when the selected collision monitoring target drones approach within a collision risk radius can be sent to perform collision avoidance control.

Here, according to the present invention, among drones in flight, drones taking off from the ground without height restrictions may be selected for collision monitoring.

In addition, the present invention controls the collision monitoring target drone located at a lower height among the collision monitoring target drones to fly lower, and controlling the collision monitoring target drone located at a high height among the collision monitoring target drones to fly higher can do.

Here, in the present invention, when the collision monitoring target drones are controlled to have an altitude difference from each other, the movement path of the collision monitoring target drones can be returned to re-perform the ongoing flight.

In some cases, the present invention may set a collision detection distance based on the flight speed of the collision monitoring target drones and perform collision avoidance control on the collision monitoring target drones according to the set collision detection target distance.

Here, the present invention checks the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring, sets the collision detection distance to a far radius if the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring is faster than the reference speed, and sets the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring to the reference speed If it is slower, you can set the collision detection distance to a nearby radius.

As an example, the present invention sets the collision detection distance to increase in proportion to the flight speed when the flight speed of the drones subject to collision monitoring increases, and sets the collision detection distance to the flight speed when the flight speed of the collision monitoring target drones decreases It can also be set to decrease in proportion to .

As shown in Figure 7, when the red drone No. 1 moves to the southeast at an altitude of about 40 m, and the green drone No. 3 moves to the northwest at an altitude of about 41 m, the present invention shows that the drones traveling at a speed of about 10 m/s are about 15 m If it comes within a collision detection distance of ~20m, it can detect a collision risk and send a stop command to the drones.

Accordingly, the corresponding drones slightly deviate from the stop position due to flying inertia and stop, and the two drones can stop with an altitude difference from each other and then move back to their original destination.

8 and 9 are diagrams for explaining a user input device for controlling a plurality of drones.

8 and 9 , the drone control device of the present invention may include a user input device and an output device for controlling a plurality of drones.

The output device may display a user interface (UI) for controlling the drone.

For example, the output device includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display ( It may include at least one of a flexible display) and a three-dimensional display (3D display).

In addition, the user input device may receive a user input, and may include a key and/or buttons on a user interface for receiving the user input, or a physical key and/or buttons.

In addition, the user input device may receive a signal by sensing a user's button manipulation or touch input, or may receive a user's voice or motion through a camera or a microphone and convert it into an input signal.

Also, the user input device may be implemented as an external input device connected to the drone control device as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .

For example, the input device may be at least one of a touch pad, a touch pen, a joystick, a keyboard, and a mouse for receiving a user input, but this is only an example and is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the present invention, as a user input device, can easily control drones using a keyboard.

For example, in point flight, when a target point is clicked, the drone can move to the target point. The user can move the drones forward, backward, left and right from the current location without the target point through keyboard control.

For example, angle adjustment is possible as well as 10 degree left turn and 10 degree right turn, and both altitude rise and altitude fall are possible. You can easily control multiple drones at once.

In addition, according to the present invention, the distance to be moved by one click using a keyboard can be set, and a drone group can be easily designated like a game.

For example, you can designate a drone group by pressing Control + number keys on the keyboard, and a predefined drone group can be automatically selected by clicking only a number key.

Also, as shown in FIG. 9 , the user may easily control the drones using a manipulator or a joystick as a user input device.

Here, like the keyboard, only one drone can be selected and controlled, or multiple drones can be selected and controlled simultaneously.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a plurality of drones according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10 , in the present invention, individual state information can be obtained from a plurality of drones ( S10 ).

Here, the present invention may obtain and store individual state information including a unique identifier of each drone, latitude, longitude, altitude, heading, speed, battery state, GPS state, geomagnetic sensor state, and the like.

In addition, the present invention can obtain and store individual state information every second from all drones.

And, according to the present invention, a flight interval between drones may be calculated based on the obtained individual state information, and a plurality of drones may be controlled based on the calculated flight interval ( S20 ).

Here, the present invention can control a plurality of drones to calculate the left and right and front and rear intervals between the drones based on individual state information, and to maintain a preset designated flight interval based on the calculated flight interval.

Next, the present invention may receive a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among a plurality of drones (S30).

Here, the present invention may receive a first user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker displaying an actual drone location and a control command input button, and one of a plurality of drone markers displayed on the control screen A first user input for selecting dogs or multiple dogs may be received.

Next, in the present invention, it may be confirmed whether the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones (S40).

Here, in the present invention, if the first user input is an input for selecting only one drone from among a plurality of drones, it is recognized as a drone individual selection, and if the first user input is an input for selecting several drones from a plurality of drones, a drone group It can be recognized as a choice.

And, in the present invention, if the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, it is checked whether a leader drone exists in the drone group, and if there is a leader drone, the remaining drones other than the leader drone are subordinated in the drone group. It can be recognized as a drone (S50).

However, in the present invention, if the first user input is not a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, the first user input may be recognized as an individual drone selection (S90).

Next, the present invention may receive a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group (S60).

Here, the present invention receives the second user input through a user interface of a control screen including a drone marker on which the actual drone location is displayed and a control command input button, and a target movement point through a map displayed on the control screen. A second user input including flight formation information and movement command information may be received through the coordinate information and the control command input button.

Next, the present invention can control the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command and control the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform the flight according to the flight of the leader drone (S70).

Here, in the present invention, when the flight control command is a point flight command, if the target moving point coordinate information is given only to the leader drone in the drone group, the moving point coordinate information of the remaining subordinate drones in the drone group is automatically given based on the current interval. can

In addition, the present invention transmits, when the flight control command is a flight group flight command, the target movement point coordinate information and the movement command information to the target movement point to the leader drone in the squadron group, and the flight formation information and the left and right intervals and the front and rear intervals Information can be transmitted to all subordinate drones in the flight group.

Here, in the present invention, when the leader drone in the drone group moves to the target moving point, the subordinate drones in the drone group follow the leader drone based on the flight size information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information corresponding to the left and right spacing corresponding to the formation and A formation flight command can be sent to move to the target movement point while maintaining the front-to-back spacing.

In addition, in the present invention, when the flight formation is changed, the changed flight formation information is transmitted to the drones, so that the drones can be controlled to change the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing corresponding to the changed flight formation.

Also, according to the present invention, in case of a point flight change, the flight of the leader drone may be controlled in response to a point flight change command, and subordinate drones may be controlled to automatically maintain an interval with the leader drone.

Then, the present invention may check whether a drone control termination request is received (S80), and when the drone control termination request is received, the drone control may be terminated.

As described above, according to the present invention, one person can easily control individual flight or group flight of a plurality of drones in real time through the user interface of the control screen.

In addition, the present invention is applicable to various military operation drones such as surveillance and reconnaissance drones, tohadrons, admiral drones, self-detonation drones, etc. that can perform effective military missions, and a number of them depending on various situations and purposes that may occur in military operations It controls the drones of the company so that they can fly in formation and perform individual missions, and can provide a responsive drone with a high degree of freedom that can perform each assigned mission in real time.

In addition, according to the present invention, one user can easily and conveniently control the drone with a controller such as a joystick or keyboard or a GCS (Ground Control System) screen.

In addition, according to the present invention, if a squadron is formed and a leader drone is designated, the squadron following the leader drone can be flown, the designation of the leader drone can be changed at any time, and an immediate mission response is possible. performance is excellent

In addition, the present invention can be used as a mission drone that can configure or dismantle a squadron according to the operational situation, and can assign a mission to each drone by excluding or re-including some drones in the squadron.

The method according to an embodiment of the present invention described above may be implemented as a program (or application) to be executed in combination with a server, which is hardware, and stored in a medium.

The above-mentioned program, in order for the computer to read the program and execute the methods implemented as a program, C, C++, C#, JAVA, which the processor (CPU) of the computer can read through the device interface of the computer; It may include code coded in a computer language such as machine language. Such code may include functional code related to a function defining functions necessary for executing the methods, etc., and includes an execution procedure related control code necessary for the processor of the computer to execute the functions according to a predetermined procedure. can do. In addition, this code may further include additional information necessary for the processor of the computer to execute the functions or code related to memory reference for which location (address address) in the internal or external memory of the computer should be referenced. there is. In addition, when the processor of the computer needs to communicate with any other computer or server located remotely in order to execute the functions, the code uses the communication module of the computer to determine how to communicate with any other computer or server remotely. It may further include a communication-related code for whether to communicate and what information or media to transmit and receive during communication.

The storage medium is not a medium that stores data for a short moment, such as a register, a cache, a memory, etc., but a medium that stores data semi-permanently and can be read by a device. Specifically, examples of the storage medium include, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and an optical data storage device. That is, the program may be stored in various recording media on various servers accessible by the computer or in various recording media on the computer of the user. In addition, the medium may be distributed in a computer system connected to a network, and a computer-readable code may be stored in a distributed manner.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in relation to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented directly in hardware, as a software module executed by hardware, or by a combination thereof. A software module may contain random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or It may reside in any type of computer-readable recording medium well known in the art to which the present invention pertains.

As mentioned above, although embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains know that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. you will be able to understand Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive.

100: drone control device
110: processor
130: memory
150: network unit
200: drone

Claims (10)

In the drone control method of an apparatus for controlling a plurality of drones,
obtaining individual status information from each of the plurality of drones;
calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, and controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval;
receiving a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among the plurality of drones;
checking whether a leader drone exists in the drone group when the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones;
recognizing other drones other than the leader drone as subordinate drones in the drone group when the leader drone exists;
receiving a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group; and
Controlling the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight of the leader drone,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
Selects drones to be monitored for collision among the drones, provides an alarm when the selected drones to be monitored for collision approaches within a specified radius, and sends a stop command when the selected drones to monitor for collision approaches within a collision risk radius A plurality of drone control methods, characterized in that performing prevention control. According to claim 1,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
If the flight control command is a point flight command based on the second user input, the user-specified target moving point coordinate information is provided only to the leader drone selected by the first user input. 3. The method of claim 2,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
When the target moving point coordinate information designated by the user is given to the leader drone, the moving point coordinate information of the subordinate drones in the drone group is automatically assigned based on the current interval. According to claim 1,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
If the flight control command is a flight group flight command based on the second user input, the user-specified target movement point coordinate information and movement command information to the target movement point are transmitted to the leader drone selected by the first user input,
A method for controlling a plurality of drones, characterized in that the flight formation information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information are transmitted to all subordinate drones in the squadron group. 5. The method of claim 4,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
When the leader drone in the drone group moves to the target moving point, the subordinate drones in the drone group follow the leader drone based on the flight formation information and the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing information corresponding to the left and right spacing and front and rear corresponding to the flight formation A method for controlling a plurality of drones, characterized in that transmitting the flight group flight command to move to the target movement point while maintaining an interval. 5. The method of claim 4,
The step of controlling the flight of the drone group,
When the second user input is a flight formation change, the changed flight formation information is transmitted to the drones, and the drones change the left and right spacing and front and rear spacing according to the changed flight formation. delete According to claim 1,
The step of performing collision avoidance control by sending the stop command,
Control of multiple drones, characterized in that setting a collision detection distance based on the flight speed of the collision monitoring target drones, and performing collision avoidance control on the collision monitoring target drones according to the set collision detection target drone method. A computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer program, when executed on one or more processors, performs the following operations for controlling a plurality of drones, the operations comprising:
obtaining individual state information from each of the plurality of drones;
calculating a flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, and controlling the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval;
receiving a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among the plurality of drones;
checking whether a leader drone exists in the drone group when the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones;
recognizing other drones other than the leader drone as subordinate drones in the drone group when the leader drone exists;
receiving a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group; and
Controlling the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight of the leader drone,
The operation of controlling the flight of the drone group is,
Selects drones to be monitored for collision among the drones, provides an alarm when the selected drones to be monitored for collision approaches within a specified radius, and sends a stop command when the selected drones to monitor for collision approaches within a collision risk radius A computer program stored on a computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it performs prevention control. As a drone control device for controlling a plurality of drones,
a processor including one or more cores; and
Memory;
including,
The processor is
Obtaining individual status information from each of the plurality of drones,
Calculate the flight interval between the drones based on the obtained individual state information, and control the plurality of drones based on the calculated flight interval,
receiving a first user input for selecting at least one drone to be controlled from among the plurality of drones;
If the first user input is a drone group selection for grouping a plurality of drones, it is checked whether a leader drone exists in the drone group,
If the leader drone exists, the remaining drones other than the leader drone in the drone group are recognized as subordinate drones,
Receives a second user input including a flight control command of the drone group,
controlling the flight of the leader drone in response to the flight control command, and controlling the flight of the drone group so that the subordinate drones perform flight according to the flight of the leader drone,
The processor, when controlling the flight of the drone group,
Selects drones to be monitored for collision among the drones, provides an alarm when the selected drones to be monitored for collision approaches within a specified radius, and sends a stop command when the selected drones to monitor for collision approaches within a collision risk radius A drone control device, characterized in that it performs prevention control.

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