KR102561295B1 - Drone battery replacement support method for seamless power supply and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

In a method for supporting battery replacement of a drone for seamless power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention, recognizing that a remaining amount of a first main battery supplying power to the drone is equal to or less than a first level; providing a notification notifying replacement of the first main battery to a user; receiving a battery replacement input for the first main battery from the user; switching a power supply source of the drone from the first main battery to an auxiliary battery built into the drone; unlocking the first main battery; Recognizing that the first main battery is removed and a second main battery is inserted in the drone; setting the lock on the second main battery; and switching the power source of the drone from the auxiliary battery to the second main battery. can include

Description

Drone battery replacement support method for seamless power supply and device therefor}

This specification proposes a battery replacement support method of a drone for seamless power supply and a device therefor.

An unmanned airplane refers to an airplane that performs missions that are difficult or dangerous for humans to perform directly, such as filming, reconnaissance, cargo transportation, and radiation monitoring by flying by remote control or autonomous flight control without a pilot on board. As an unmanned airplane in which navigation or landing guidance is controlled using a Global Positioning System (GPS), a drone is widely known.

A drone is a type of unmanned aerial vehicle that flies in the sky by rotating a plurality of propellers using battery power, and is configured to fly by a user's remote control or an automatic navigation system.

Such a drone was initially developed as a military unmanned aerial vehicle, but has recently been used for businesses, media, and individuals. For example, newspapers, broadcasting industries, and film production companies are using drones as filming devices, and the delivery industry will use drones for actual delivery services within a few years. In particular, IT (Internet Technology) companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon have recently invested in drone development, and among them, Amazon has unveiled a delivery system using drones to automate inventory management and distribution systems. .

However, these drones consume a lot of power and require high battery capacity. However, as the battery capacity increases, the volume and weight of the battery also increase, reducing the flight efficiency of the drone. this existed In order to solve this problem, it is widely used to secure the flight efficiency and battery efficiency of drones at a certain level at the same time by providing a plurality of batteries but replacing the batteries according to the remaining battery capacity.

However, since the power supplied to the drone is cut off while the battery is being replaced, not only the user cannot use the drone seamlessly, but also has a problem that the user has to wait for the rebooting and rebooting time of the drone.

In order to solve this problem, in the battery replacement support method of a drone for seamless power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention, the remaining amount of the first main battery supplying power to the drone is first Recognizing that the level is below the level; providing a notification notifying replacement of the first main battery to a user; receiving a battery replacement input for the first main battery from the user; switching a power supply source of the drone from the first main battery to an auxiliary battery built into the drone; unlocking the first main battery; Recognizing that the first main battery is removed and a second main battery is inserted in the drone; setting the lock on the second main battery; and switching the power source of the drone from the auxiliary battery to the second main battery. can include

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the power supply source is flexibly switched in consideration of the remaining amount of batteries, there is an effect that a seamless drone use environment can be provided to the user.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of prolonging the life of the main battery by preventing the main battery from being completely discharged.

1 is a block diagram of a battery replaceable drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of a method for supporting battery replacement of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of charging a first main battery using an auxiliary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 illustrates an embodiment of determining a driving mode based on a location of a second main battery and a charge level according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 illustrates a driving mode state diagram of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a drone in a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram illustrating a drone in a non-power saving driving mode and a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a diagram illustrating a flight radius of a drone in a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the technology to be described below can have various changes and various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the technology described below to specific embodiments, and it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the technology described below.

Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited by the above terms, and are merely used to distinguish one element from another. used only as For example, without departing from the scope of the technology described below, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, the second element may be referred to as a first element. The terms and/or include any combination of a plurality of related recited items or any of a plurality of related recited items. For example, 'A and/or B' may be interpreted as meaning 'at least one of A or B'. Also, '/' can be interpreted as 'and' or 'or'.

In the terms used in this specification, singular expressions should be understood to include plural expressions unless clearly interpreted differently in context, and terms such as “comprising” refer to the described features, numbers, steps, operations, and components. , parts or combinations thereof, but it should be understood that it does not exclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features or numbers, step-action components, parts or combinations thereof.

Prior to a detailed description of the drawings, it is to be clarified that the classification of components in the present specification is merely a classification for each main function in charge of each component. That is, two or more components to be described below may be combined into one component, or one component may be divided into two or more for each more subdivided function. In addition, each component to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions of other components in addition to its main function, and some of the main functions of each component may be performed by other components. Of course, it may be dedicated and performed by .

In addition, in performing a method or method of operation, each process constituting the method may occur in a different order from the specified order unless a specific order is clearly described in context. That is, each process may occur in the same order as specified, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

Hereinafter, a battery replacement support method/system for providing a seamless use environment in a battery replacement type drone will be proposed. A battery replaceable drone described below may correspond to a drone in which programs/applications designed/manufactured to implement the embodiments proposed in this specification are pre-installed.

1 is a block diagram of a battery replaceable drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At least one component described below with reference to this drawing may be excluded from the battery replaceable drone (hereinafter, abbreviated as 'drone') 100 or a new component may be added to the drone 100 according to an embodiment. . Furthermore, each component may be implemented through at least one hardware/software component.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the drone 100 includes a controller 111, a drive unit 112, a camera 113, a main battery 114, a sensor unit 115, an auxiliary battery 116, a locking unit 117, It may include a communication unit 118, a remaining battery capacity measurement unit 119, and/or a location acquisition unit 120.

The controller 111 can communicate with other elements and control them. In particular, the controller 111 may control at least one component to perform various embodiments proposed in this specification. Therefore, the control unit 111 can be described as identical with the drone 100. The control unit 111 may be implemented through at least one processor. The control unit 111 may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processor Unit), MCU (Micro Controller Unit), AP (Application Processor), AP (Application Processor), or any form well known in the art of the present invention. It may be configured to include at least one processor. The controller 111 may perform calculations for at least one application or program for executing a method according to embodiments of the present invention.

The drive unit 112 may include a plurality of propellers and at least one motor for providing rotational force to the plurality of propellers, and provide lift for the drone 100 to fly by driving them under the control of the control unit 111. can do. More specifically, the driving unit 112 may rotate a propeller by operating at least one motor, and may move the drone 100 to a specific altitude or maintain it at a specific altitude. In addition, the driving unit 111 may move the horizontal coordinates of the drone 100 by adjusting lift between a plurality of propellers.

The camera 113 may generate visual data such as an image or video by capturing an object. In particular, the camera 113 may capture an object while tracking it, and may rotate about a certain axis for this purpose.

The main battery 114 is a replaceable battery detachable from the drone 100 and may correspond to a main power supply source of the drone 100. The main battery 114 may correspond to various replaceable batteries usable as a power supply source for the drone 100, such as, for example, a lithium battery, a lithium ion battery, and a lithium polymer battery. The main battery 114 is provided in plurality and can be replaced with another main battery when discharging. The discharged main battery 114 may be charged through an external charging device, or may be charged through a wired/wireless charging device while mounted on the drone 100. In this specification, for convenience of description, the first main battery is defined as a main battery currently installed in the drone, and the second main battery is defined as a main battery not currently installed in the drone 100, respectively. .

The sensor unit 115 collectively refers to various sensing means, and senses various user inputs and external/surrounding environments of the drone 100, and transmits the sensing results to the control unit so that the drone 100 can perform corresponding operations. 111) can be forwarded. For example, the sensor unit 115 may include a gravity sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, a motion sensor, a gyroscope sensor, an acceleration sensor, an infrared sensor, an inclination sensor, a brightness sensor, an altitude sensor, an olfactory sensor, a temperature sensor, It may include at least one of various sensing means such as a depth sensor, a pressure sensor, a bending sensor, an audio sensor, a video sensor, a camera sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a proximity sensor, and a grip sensor. there is. The above-described sensors may be included in the drone 100 as a separate module/component, or integrated into one or more modules/components. In particular, the sensor unit 114 may sense a replacement input of the main battery 114 and transmit a sensing result to the control unit 111 .

The auxiliary battery 116 is a built-in battery of the drone 100 and may correspond to an auxiliary power supply source of the drone 100. Similar to the main battery 114, the auxiliary battery 114 may also correspond to various built-in batteries usable as a power supply source of a drone, such as a lithium battery, a lithium ion battery, and a lithium polymer battery. Since the auxiliary battery 116 is always built into the drone 100, it has a smaller weight/volume than the main battery 114, and as a result, the battery capacity may be smaller than that of the main battery 114. The auxiliary battery 116 serves as a power source for the drone 100 in place of charging the main battery 114 or replacing the main battery 114 when the battery remaining amount of the main battery 114 is very low below a predetermined level. can be done Through this, the user can use the drone 100 seamlessly even during battery replacement. This embodiment will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 2 .

The locking unit 117 has a physical/mechanical locking device, so that the main battery 114 may be physically/mechanically locked under the control of the controller 111 so that the main battery 114 is not separated/separated from the drone 100. When the main battery 114 is replaced, the locking unit 117 may be unlocked under the control of the controller 111 so that the main battery 114 may be separated from the drone 100.

The communication unit 118 may transmit/receive various data/information/signals by performing communication using at least one wired/wireless communication protocol. In particular, the communication unit 118 is connected to a wireless control unit previously paired with the drone 100, a main battery 114 (particularly, a second main battery), and/or a user device in order to adjust/enact the drone 100. communication can be performed. Here, the wireless control unit may refer to a control module used to control the drone wirelessly.

The remaining battery capacity measurement unit 119 may measure the remaining battery capacity of the main battery 114 and the auxiliary battery 116 and transmit the measurement result to the control unit 111 . The remaining battery capacity measuring unit 119 may include at least one sensor for measuring the remaining capacity of the battery. For example, the remaining battery capacity measurement unit 119 may include a precision current sensing resistor, and may measure the remaining battery capacity by continuously monitoring the output current of the battery and comparing the output current of the battery with the maximum battery charge capacity. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the remaining battery capacity measurement unit 119 may measure the remaining battery capacity using various techniques for measuring the remaining battery capacity.

The location obtaining unit 120 may obtain the location of the drone 100 in real time by including at least one sensor and transmit the obtained location to the controller 111 . For example, the location obtaining unit 120 may obtain the current location of the drone 100 (in real time) by using a GPS sensor, and may transmit information about the current location to the controller 111.

2 is a flowchart of a method for supporting battery replacement of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the drone may monitor the remaining amount of the first main battery in real time and recognize that the remaining amount of the first main battery is equal to or less than the first level (S201).

Next, the drone may provide the user with a notification notifying replacement of the first main battery (S202). In this step, if the drone has at least one output unit (eg, display, speaker, etc.), the user is notified by directly outputting a notification through the output unit, or the battery replacement notification is sent to the wireless control unit and/or through the communication unit. Alternatively, it may be performed by transmitting to a user device. In the latter case, the wireless control unit and/or the user device may output a battery replacement notification through the output unit to notify the user of replacing the first main battery.

Next, the drone may receive a battery replacement input for the first main battery from the user (S203). This step may be performed by the drone directly receiving a user's battery replacement input through a sensor unit or by receiving a battery replacement input from a wireless control unit and/or user device through a communication unit. Although not shown in this flowchart, the drone that has received the battery replacement input uses the communication unit to acquire the location of the wireless control unit and/or user device, and moves to the corresponding location so that the user can easily replace the main battery. .

Next, the drone may switch the power source from the first main battery to the auxiliary battery (S204). To this end, a battery switching module for a power supply source switching operation may be separately provided in the drone. When the power source is switched, the drone may stop supplying power to the drive unit, but maintain power supply to the rest of the configuration. This is because there is a risk of injury to the user due to the operation of the propeller if the drive unit is continuously driven even during battery replacement. In addition, the power supply to the rest of the configuration is maintained so that the user can seamlessly use the functions of the drone that were used before replacing the battery.

Next, the drone may release the lock on the first main battery by controlling the locking unit (S205).

Next, the drone may recognize that the first main battery is removed and the second main battery is inserted (S206). This may be implemented by providing at least one sensor for sensing attachment/detachment of the main battery to the battery compartment in which the main battery is stored.

Next, when the drone recognizes the storage of the second main battery in the battery compartment, it controls the locking unit to set a lock on the second main battery (S207), and switches the power supply source of the drone from the auxiliary battery to the second main battery. It can be converted (S208). The second main battery installed in the drone supplies power as a main power supply source of the drone and simultaneously charges the auxiliary battery so that it can be used again later.

As described above, the battery replacement support method proposed in this specification has an effect of increasing user convenience by seamlessly providing drone functions since the power source is switched to the auxiliary battery when the user replaces the main battery.

In addition to this, a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a power supply source switching method for extending the lifespan of a main battery, which will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3 .

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of charging a first main battery using an auxiliary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A fully discharged state of a battery is one of the main causes of rapidly reducing battery life. In particular, since batteries used in drones are expensive, a rapid decrease in battery life may act as a very heavy burden on users. Therefore, in the present specification, an embodiment for preventing the life of the battery from rapidly decreasing by preventing complete discharge of the main battery is proposed.

In FIG. 2 , when the battery replacement input is not received until the remaining amount 304 of the first main battery 302 reaches the second level L2 lower than the first level from the time when the battery replacement notification of step S202 is provided. there may be In this case, the drone uses the auxiliary battery 301 to charge the first main battery 302 in order to prevent the first main battery 302 from being completely discharged, so that the remaining amount 304 of the first main battery 302 is reduced. It can be maintained so as not to fall below the second level (L2). Accordingly, the second level L2 is a preset battery level to prevent the first main battery 302 from being fully discharged, and may be set to, for example, 10% or 5%.

The first main battery 302 supplied with power from the auxiliary battery 301 can continuously operate as a power supply source for the drone. However, when the power of the drone is supplied through the first main battery 302 by the auxiliary battery 301 charging the first main battery 302, the auxiliary battery 301 directly supplies power to the drone. Since power supply efficiency decreases, the drone may stop charging the first main battery 302 when the remaining amount 303 of the auxiliary battery 301 drops to the third level. Furthermore, the drone may switch the power supply source from the first main battery 302 to the auxiliary battery 301 . At this time, the remaining amount 304 of the second level L2 remains in the first main battery 302 to prevent complete discharge. Furthermore, according to embodiments, the residual amount 304 of the first main battery 302 may be used as an emergency power source in an emergency mode, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 5 .

When the power source is switched to the auxiliary battery, the drone may determine a driving mode of the drone based on the location and charge level of the second main battery.

If the location of the second main battery is located close to the drone and is sufficiently charged above the preset level, since the auxiliary battery can be immediately replaced at any time even if the remaining amount is insufficient, from the user's point of view, rather than the power saving mode in which some functions are limited It is reasonable to assume that they want to maintain the non-power saving mode that has been in use so far. On the other hand, if the current location of the second vane battery is far away or not sufficiently charged, it is reasonable to assume that the user wants to maintain the power of the drone for a long time by reducing battery use as much as possible even if some functions are limited.

With this point in mind, the present specification intends to propose an embodiment for determining the driving mode of a drone based on the location and charge level of the second main battery. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 .

4 illustrates an embodiment of determining a driving mode based on a location of a second main battery and a charge level according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 illustrates a state diagram of a driving mode of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The drone 401 may acquire information about the remaining amount 403 and location of the second main battery 402 . To this end, the second main battery 402 may include a battery residual amount measurement unit, a location acquisition unit, and a communication unit, and each configuration is as described above with reference to FIG. 1 . The second main battery 402 may measure its own remaining amount 403 in real time using the remaining battery amount measuring unit and transmit the measurement result to the drone 401 through the communication unit. Similarly, the second main battery 402 may obtain its own location in real time using the location acquisition unit and transmit the obtained location to the drone 401 . Alternatively, instead of the second main battery 402 having a separate location acquisition unit, the drone 401 may indirectly obtain location information of the second main battery 402 using a short-range wireless communication protocol through the communication unit. there is. For example, when the drone 401 detects a Bluetooth signal of the second main battery 402 using a Bluetooth communication protocol, it indirectly indicates that the second main battery 402 is currently located close to the drone 401. can be recognized as In this case, the user device and/or the wireless control unit may function as a relay node and/or a gate node between the drone 401 and the second main battery 402 according to embodiments.

The drone 401 that has obtained the remaining amount 403 of the second main battery 402 and location information can determine a driving mode based on the acquired information. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , the remaining amount 403 of the second main battery 402 is equal to or greater than a preset level L3 and the second main battery 402 is a preset distance from the drone 401 When located within (d1), the drone 401 may maintain the power driving mode as the current non-power saving driving mode 501 . Conversely, when the remaining amount 403 of the second main battery 402 is less than the preset level L3 or the second main battery 402 is not located within the preset distance d1 from the drone 401, the drone ( 401 ) may switch the power driving mode to the power saving driving mode 502 .

In this specification, the power saving driving mode 502 may correspond to a low power power driving mode in which power supplied to some hardware components is cut off and some software components are terminated in order to maximize battery saving of the drone 401 . The non-power saving driving mode 502 is a general power driving mode opposite to the power saving driving mode, and may correspond to a power driving mode in which power is not supplied to some hardware components or some software components are not terminated. The operation of the drone 401 in the power saving driving mode 502 will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 .

As shown in FIG. 5 , the drone 401 may operate in an emergency driving mode 503 in addition to the aforementioned non-power saving driving mode 501 and power saving driving mode 502 . In the emergency driving mode 503, when the drone 401 reaches the level immediately before the auxiliary battery is fully discharged during the power saving driving mode 502 operation, emergency power corresponding to the second level left in the first main battery may correspond to an emergency power driving mode using In particular, when the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery is not sufficient for the drone 401 to return to the user location (more specifically, the location of the wireless control unit, the location of the user device, or a preset return location) due to a rapid temperature drop, etc. , can operate in an emergency driving mode (503).

In this case, the power source may be switched from the auxiliary battery to the first main battery, and the emergency power of the first main battery may be mainly used for the drone 401 to fly to the return location (ie, to supply power to the drive unit). there is.

This emergency drive mode 503 may be selectively applied to the drone according to a user's or manufacturer's design.

The drone 401 may obtain information on the remaining amount 403 and location of the second main battery 402 in real time even while operating in the power saving driving mode 502, and based on this, the power driving mode is changed to the non-power saving driving mode. (501). More specifically, while the drone 401 is acquiring information on the second main battery 402 in real time, the remaining amount 403 of the second main battery 402 is equal to or greater than the preset level L3 and the second main battery 402 When recognizing that the battery 402 is located within a predetermined distance d1 from the drone 401 (for example, the user purchases a new main battery and sets it as the second main battery 402, or As a result of charging the battery 402 in real time, when the remaining amount 403 exceeds the preset level (L3, etc.), the power driving mode can be switched from the power saving driving mode 502 to the non-power saving driving mode 503. can Since there is an alternative battery that will stably supply power even if the auxiliary battery is discharged, it is reasonable to see that the continuation of the function of the drone 401 with high performance / quality / performance rather than battery saving is an operation that is more in line with the user's intention. .

6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a drone in a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the power saving driving mode, the drone 601 may identify/recognize the function being performed (mainly) before switching to the power saving driving mode. This figure illustrates a case in which the drone is photographing before switching to the power saving driving mode.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the drone 601 may recognize a photographing function as a function being performed before switching to a power saving driving mode. In this case, the drone may distinguish/recognize configurations of hardware 602 and software 603 required to perform shooting so that shooting can be maintained seamlessly even if the drone is switched to power saving mode. In the case of the photographing function, the camera 602-1, the communication unit 602-2, and the drive unit 602-3 can be distinguished/recognized as the hardware configuration 602, and the photographing program ( 603-1) can be distinguished/recognized. The drone 601 may group the distinguished/recognized hardware configuration 602 and software configuration 603 into one group in association with the photographing function and store them as grouping information. For grouping information, if the same function is later recognized as a function that was in use before switching to the power saving mode, the drone 601 repeats the hardware/software configuration (602, 603) for the function to perform associated grouping without the need to distinguish/recognize By retrieving the information, it can be easily used to figure out those configurations.

When the grouping is completed, the drone 601 selectively assists the hardware configuration 602 (in this embodiment, the camera 602-1, the communication unit 602-2, and the driving unit 602-3) belonging to the group. The power of the battery can be supplied, and the power supply of the auxiliary battery can be cut off for the rest of the hardware configuration. Similarly, the drone 601 can be selectively activated only for the software component 603 belonging to the group (in this embodiment, the photographing program 603-1), and the remaining software components can be forcibly terminated. .

If the drone 601 was executing a plurality of functions in a multitasking manner before switching to the power saving driving mode, the function occupying the highest portion of the common resources of the entire central processing unit (CPU) (ie, control unit) (or The function occupying the highest occupancy rate) can be recognized as a function that was being performed before switching to the power saving driving mode. Alternatively, the priority of each function may be separately set by the user, and the function set with the highest priority among the running functions may be recognized as a function that was being performed before switching to the power saving driving mode.

7 is a diagram illustrating a drone in a non-power saving driving mode and a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 7(a) illustrates a drone 701-1 photographing in a non-power saving driving mode, and FIG. 7(b) illustrates a drone 701-2 photographing in a power saving driving mode.

Referring to FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), the drone 701-2 in the power saving driving mode compared to the non-power saving driving mode has a maximum flight altitude (and/or current altitude) at a first height h1. It is limited/adjusted as low as the second height h2, and the shooting view angle may also be limited/adjusted as low as the second angle θ2 from the first angle θ1. And/or, although not shown in this drawing, the shooting resolution may also be limited/adjusted low from the first resolution to the second resolution, and the shooting frame rate may also be low limited/adjusted from the first frame rate to the second frame rate.

That is, the basic functions (eg, shooting function) of the drone in the power saving driving mode remain the same as in the non-power saving driving mode, but the performance/performance/quality of the function (eg, altitude, moving distance, shooting angle of view, shooting resolution, shooting frame, etc.) may be adjusted low. Through this, the minimum function that the user wants to continuously use is maintained/supported as it is, but the performance/performance/quality of the corresponding function is adjusted low, thereby providing a seamless use environment and maximizing battery efficiency.

8 is a diagram illustrating a flight radius of a drone in a power saving driving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The maximum flight altitude and maximum radius of the drone 801 in the power saving driving mode may be determined in proportion to the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery. This is to allow the drone 801 to use the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery to stably return to the position of the user 802, since the flight distance of the drone 801 decreases as the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery decreases. In addition, since the drone 801 is located within the field of view of the user 802 even if the auxiliary battery is suddenly discharged due to a sudden drop in temperature or the like, the user can easily retrieve the crashed drone 801.

Therefore, as shown in this figure, when the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery is at the first level, the maximum flying radius of the drone 801 may be set to the first distance r1, and the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery is at the first level. In case that is reduced to the second level, the maximum flying radius of the drone 801 may be set to a second distance r2 smaller than the first distance. Similarly, the maximum flight altitude can also be adjusted/limited in proportion to the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery.

The drone 801 may safely return to the user 802 before the auxiliary battery is completely discharged by executing a forced return command when the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery drops to a specific level. If the auxiliary battery of the drone 801 is completely discharged during flight and falls to the ground, the drone 801 may be severely damaged or fall into a river or sea and the user 802 may not be able to find it. To prevent this problem, when the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery reaches a certain level (eg, the fourth level), the drone 801 automatically recognizes the location of the user 802 and issues a forced return command to fly back. can run The location of the user 802 may be recognized by recognizing the location of the wireless control unit and/or user device. A level (eg, a fourth level) set for the drone 801 to return forcibly may be set to a minimum power level required for the drone 801 to fly back to the user 802 . Accordingly, when the return flight distance is long, the fourth level may be set high, and when the return flight distance is short, the fourth level may be set low.

Furthermore, if a specific function is currently being performed, all information related to the function currently being performed is saved/backed up, the function is forcibly terminated, and then the user 802 returns. For example, if the drone 801 is currently filming, it can return to the position of the user 802 by forcibly ending the shooting function after saving/backing up all the image/video data it has taken, and then controlling the driving unit. .

An embodiment according to the present invention may be implemented by various means, for example, hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case of hardware implementation, one embodiment of the present invention provides one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), FPGAs ( field programmable gate arrays), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, etc.

In addition, in the case of implementation by firmware or software, an embodiment of the present invention is implemented in the form of a module, procedure, function, etc. that performs the functions or operations described above, and is stored on a recording medium readable through various computer means. can be recorded. Here, the recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention, or those known and usable to those skilled in computer software. For example, recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) and DVDs (Digital Video Disks), floptical It includes hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as magneto-optical media, such as a floptical disk, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions may include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like as well as machine language codes generated by a compiler. These hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

In addition, an apparatus or terminal according to the present invention may be driven by a command that causes one or more processors to perform the functions and processes described above. For example, such instructions may include interpreted instructions, such as script instructions such as JavaScript or ECMAScript instructions, or executable code or other instructions stored on a computer readable medium. Furthermore, the device according to the present invention may be implemented in a distributed manner over a network, such as a server farm, or may be implemented in a single computer device.

In addition, a computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script or code) loaded into a device according to the present invention and executing the method according to the present invention includes a compiled or interpreted language or a priori or procedural language. It can be written in any form of programming language, and can be deployed in any form, including stand-alone programs, modules, components, subroutines, or other units suitable for use in a computer environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be in a single file provided to the requested program, or in multiple interacting files (e.g., one or more modules, subprograms, or files that store portions of code), or parts of files that hold other programs or data. (eg, one or more scripts stored within a markup language document). A computer program may be deployed to be executed on a single computer or multiple computers located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

For convenience of description, each drawing has been divided and described, but it is also possible to design to implement a new embodiment by merging the embodiments described in each drawing. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and method of the described embodiments as described above, but the above-described embodiments are configured by selectively combining all or part of each embodiment so that various modifications can be made. It could be.

In addition, although preferred embodiments have been shown and described above, this specification is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art in the art to which the specification pertains without departing from the subject matter claimed in the claims Of course, various modifications are possible by the person, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or perspective of the present specification.

100: drone

Claims (12)

In the battery replacement support method of a drone for seamless power supply,
Recognizing that the remaining amount of a first main battery supplying power to the drone is equal to or less than a first level;
providing a notification notifying replacement of the first main battery to a user;
receiving a battery replacement input for the first main battery from the user;
switching a power supply source of the drone from the first main battery to an auxiliary battery built into the drone;
unlocking the first main battery;
Recognizing that the first main battery is removed and a second main battery is inserted in the drone;
setting the lock on the second main battery; and
switching a power supply source of the drone from the auxiliary battery to the second main battery; Including,
When the battery replacement input is not received from the time when the notification is provided until the remaining amount of the first main battery becomes a second level lower than the first level, the first main battery is charged using the auxiliary battery. maintaining the remaining amount of the first main battery so that it does not fall below the second level; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. delete According to claim 1,
When the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery drops to a third level as the first main battery is charged,
stopping charging of the first main battery; and
switching a power supply source of the drone from the first main battery to the auxiliary battery; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 3,
obtaining information about the remaining amount and location of the second main battery; and
When the remaining amount of the second main battery is equal to or greater than a preset level and the second main battery is located within a preset distance from the drone, maintaining the power driving mode of the drone as the current non-power saving driving mode;
switching a power driving mode of the drone to a power saving driving mode when the remaining amount of the second main battery is less than the predetermined level or the second main battery is not located within the predetermined distance from the drone; Including, battery replacement support method. According to claim 4,
When the drone is switched to the power saving driving mode,
identifying a function being performed before switching to the power saving driving mode;
Recognizing a hardware configuration and a software configuration required to continuously perform the function;
grouping the recognized hardware configuration and software configuration into one group in association with the function; and
selectively supplying power to the auxiliary battery only to hardware components belonging to the group and selectively activating only software components belonging to the group; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 5,
When the drone is switched to the power saving driving mode and the function being performed before switching to the power saving driving mode is a shooting function,
adjusting the photographing resolution of the photographing function to be lower than a preset resolution; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 4,
When the drone is switched to the power saving driving mode,
limiting an ascending altitude and a movable radius of the drone within a preset distance from the user; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 7,
The predetermined distance is determined in proportion to the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery. According to claim 4,
When the remaining amount of the auxiliary battery drops to the fourth level,
terminating the function and recognizing the location of the user after storing all information related to the currently performed function; and
flying to the user's location; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 4,
obtaining information on the remaining amount and location of the second main battery in real time while the drone operates in the power saving driving mode;
Switching the power driving mode of the drone from the power saving driving mode to the non-power saving driving mode when the remaining amount of the second main battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined level and the second main battery is located within a predetermined distance from the drone step; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 1,
When the power supply source of the drone is switched to the second main battery,
charging the auxiliary battery using the second main battery; Further comprising a battery replacement support method. According to claim 1,
When the battery replacement input is received,
cutting off the supply of power to the driving unit of the drone, but maintaining the supply of power to a hardware configuration required for a function being performed before receiving the battery replacement input; Further comprising a battery replacement support method.

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