KR20170004508A - Method and apparaus for automatic landing of aircraft using vision-based information - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an automatic landing guide system and an automatic landing guide method are disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the automatic landing guide method comprises: a direction information obtaining step of detecting a symbol from an image to obtain information related to an alignment state of an aircraft and a landing field; an altitude information obtaining step of detecting brightness of a lighting means provided to the landing field from the image to obtain information related to an altitude of the aircraft; and an aircraft control step of controlling the aircraft based on the information related to the alignment state and the altitude.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to an automatic landing method and apparatus for an aircraft,

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for automatically landing a flight vehicle using image information.

Most aircraft fly along the flight path using the Global Positioning System (GPS) or the Inertial Navigation System (INS). However, these devices are not suitable for use as a device for inducing landing in terms of precision. Therefore, technologies are being actively developed to enable automatic landing by attaching additional devices such as an image sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and an infrared sensor to a flight body.

However, the mounting of these sensing devices on a flight or separate landing sites has complicated the structure of the system and increases the manufacturing cost of the system.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2015-0019771

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to simplify the system by using only the image information in the automatic landing guidance process of the air vehicle, and to guide the landing of the air vehicle more safely and accurately.

An automatic landing induction method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a direction information obtaining step of detecting a symbol in an image to obtain information about an alignment state of a flying object and a landing field; An altitude information acquiring step of acquiring information about an altitude of the airplane by detecting a luminous intensity of light emitting means provided in the landing area in the image; And a flight control step of controlling the airplane based on the information on the alignment state and the information on the altitude.

The light emitting means may include a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a row and a column direction, the symbols may be displayed by a lighting pattern of the plurality of light emitting elements,

Wherein the step of acquiring altitude information comprises: detecting a brightness of the light emitting means; And acquiring information about the altitude of the air vehicle using the relationship between the predetermined light intensity and the distance and the detected light intensity.

The light emitting means may alternately display a pattern of the symbol and a pattern of a dummy symbol for luminance detection.

As the brightness of the surrounding environment increases, the number of light emitting devices that are turned on to display the pattern of the dummy symbol may increase.

The automatic landing induction method according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include the step of converting the information about the alignment state and the altitude information into an indicator pattern capable of being displayed by the light emitting means, May alternately display the pattern of the symbol, the pattern of the dummy symbol, and the indicator pattern.

According to the automatic landing induction method according to another embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting means is installed apart from the symbol,

Wherein the step of acquiring altitude information comprises: detecting a brightness of the light emitting means; And acquiring information on the altitude of the air vehicle using the relationship between the predetermined luminous intensity and the distance and the detected luminous intensity.

On the other hand, the air vehicle may be an unmanned aerial vehicle, and the present invention may be a computer program stored in a medium for carrying out the above-described method.

An automatic landing induction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a direction information obtaining unit detecting a symbol in an image and obtaining information on an alignment state between a flying object and a landing field; An altitude information acquiring unit for acquiring information about an altitude of the airplane by detecting the luminous intensity of light emitting means provided in the landing area in the image; And a flight control unit for controlling the airplane based on the information about the alignment state and the information about the altitude.

The light emitting means may include a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a row and a column direction, the symbols may be displayed by a lighting pattern of the plurality of light emitting elements,

The altitude information obtaining unit may detect the luminous intensity of the light emitting unit, obtain a relationship between the predetermined luminous intensity and the distance, and information on the altitude of the airplane using the detected luminous intensity.

The light emitting means may alternately display a pattern of the symbol and a pattern of a dummy symbol for luminance detection.

As the brightness of the surrounding environment increases, the number of light emitting devices that are turned on to display the pattern of the dummy symbol may increase.

The automatic landing induction device according to an embodiment of the present invention converts the information on the alignment state and the altitude information into an indicator pattern capable of being displayed by the light emitting means, The dummy symbol pattern and the indicator pattern may be alternately displayed.

According to the automatic landing induction apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting means is installed apart from the symbol,

The altitude information obtaining unit may detect the luminous intensity of the light emitting unit, obtain a relationship between the predetermined luminous intensity and the distance, and information on the altitude of the airplane using the detected luminous intensity.

Other aspects, features, and advantages will become apparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed description of the invention.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to simplify the system by using only the image information in the process of inducing automatic landing of the air vehicle, and realize a method and apparatus capable of more securely and accurately inducing landing of the air vehicle.

1 is a view illustrating a configuration of an automatic landing guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining a process of acquiring an image by the image acquiring apparatus.
3 is a diagram for explaining a determination process of the direction information obtaining unit.
4 is a diagram for explaining the process of calculating the altitude of the air vehicle.
5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between altitude and luminous intensity.
6 is a diagram for explaining a method in which a light emitting means provides a dummy symbol.
Figure 7 is an illustration of a dummy symbol pattern.
Fig. 8 is an example of an indicator pattern when the air vehicle is located on the left side of the landing area.
9 is an example of an indicator pattern when the air vehicle is located at the lower right of the landing area.
10 is an example of an indicator pattern displayed by the light emitting means provided at the landing area to provide information about the altitude of the airplane.
11 shows an example of a symbol pattern.
12 is a view showing a configuration of an automatic landing guidance system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
13 is an example of arrangement of light emitting means.
14 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic landing induction method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is capable of various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following embodiments, the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by terms. Terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terms used in the following examples are used only to illustrate specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the following description, the terms "comprises" or "having ", and the like, specify that the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, But do not preclude the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention may be represented by functional block configurations and various processing steps. These functional blocks may be implemented in a wide variety of hardware and / or software configurations that perform particular functions. For example, embodiments of the invention may be embodied directly in hardware, such as memory, processing, logic, look-up tables, etc., that can perform various functions by control of one or more microprocessors or by other control devices Circuit configurations can be employed. Similar to the components of an embodiment of the present invention that may be implemented with software programming or software components, embodiments of the present invention include various algorithms implemented with a combination of data structures, processes, routines, or other programming constructs , C, C ++, Java, assembler, and the like. Functional aspects may be implemented with algorithms running on one or more processors. Embodiments of the present invention may also employ conventional techniques for electronic configuration, signal processing, and / or data processing. Terms such as mechanisms, elements, means, and configurations are widely used and are not limited to mechanical and physical configurations. The term may include the meaning of a series of routines of software in conjunction with a processor or the like.

Automatic landing refers to a maneuver, without maneuvering, who is aware of his surroundings and manages the altitude, direction, speed, and so on. In the case of fixed-wing aircraft, devices such as ILS (instrument landing system) and auto-throttle system have been developed and used.

In particular, recently, a rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle has been used in various fields such as monitoring, reconnaissance, defense, logistics delivery, and hobby activities, and accordingly, the need for more efficient management of the wing wing unmanned aerial vehicle has been emphasized.

In the case of unmanned aerial vehicles, landing on the ground periodically requires energy supply due to limitations of battery performance, which requires a lot of manpower and equipment. Therefore, if the unmanned aerial vehicle recognizes the landing area by itself, can land, and can take off the energy again, many unmanned aerial vehicles can be operated more efficiently.

Referring to FIG. 1, an automatic landing guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an automatic landing induction device 1, a flying object 2, And a landing area (4).

The landing field 4 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a space for landing the air vehicle 2, and a light emitting means 5 is provided on the surface thereof. The light emitting means 5 includes a plurality of light emitting elements 6 arranged in the row and column directions. Further, the light emitting means 5 may display a symbol for guiding landing by using the plurality of light emitting elements 6. In this case, the light emitting element 6 may be a light emitting element such as an LED lamp, an IR lamp, or a halogen lamp.

The landing field 4 may further include an energy supplying means (not shown) for supplying energy to the air vehicle 2 and may further include a locking means (not shown) for preventing departure of the air vehicle 2 .

The flying body 2 may be a flying body in the form of a rotor blade, and may be a floating body or a UAV that does not carry a human being. There is no limitation on the size and type of the flying body 2 as long as it is in the form of a rotor.

On the other hand, the air vehicle 2 has an image acquisition device 3 for acquiring image information. The image acquiring device 3 photographs a surrounding environment or scene (space), and photographs various objects (for example, a static object such as a building, a tree, an obstacle, or a dynamic object such as a person or an animal) . The image acquisition device 3 may be a camera including an image sensor.

The air vehicle 2 can be connected to the automatic landing induction device 1 via a wireless network, wherein the wireless network may be a network of various frequency bands of various types such as CDMA, WIFI, WIBRO, or LTE.

The automatic landing guidance apparatus 1 includes a direction information obtaining unit 10, an altitude information obtaining unit 20, a flying object control unit 30, and a light emitting means control unit 40. The direction information obtaining unit 10 detects a symbol from the image acquired by the image obtaining apparatus 3 to obtain information on the alignment state of the air vehicle 2 and the landing field 4. [ The altitude information obtaining unit 20 detects the brightness of the light emitting unit 5 provided in the landing area 4 from the image acquired by the image obtaining unit 3 to obtain information about the altitude of the air vehicle 2. The flight control unit 30 controls the air vehicle 2 on the basis of the information acquired by the direction information obtaining unit 10 and the altitude information obtaining unit 20. [ On the other hand, the light emitting means control unit 40 controls the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing area 4 according to the surrounding environment so that the flight body 2 can easily acquire information about the altitude.

2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the case where the direction information obtaining unit 10 obtains information on the alignment state between the air vehicle 2 and the landing stage 4 from the image acquired by the image acquiring device 3, And FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the direction information obtaining unit 10 obtains the direction information from the image obtained by the image obtaining apparatus 3 provided in the air vehicle 2, And acquires information on the alignment state of the air vehicle 2 and the landing field 4. [

In detail, the direction information obtaining unit 10 compares the position of a predetermined symbol with a symbol displayed by the light emitting unit 5 in the image to determine the direction in which the flying body 2 should move.

3 (a) is an example of a case in which the air vehicle 2 is located on the left side of the landing field 4. Fig. In the image 11 obtained by the image acquiring device 3 (the visual field of the image is shown by a dotted line), the symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 is located on the right side of the image. That is, the position of the symbol in the image is located on the right side than the position (12) of the symbol for correct landing. Therefore, the direction information obtaining unit 10 can obtain information that the air vehicle 2 is located on the left side of the landing field 4 and that the air vehicle 2 should be moved in the right direction 13 for landing.

Similarly, FIG. 3 (b) is an example of a case in which the air vehicle 2 is located at the lower right of the landing field 4. In the image 11 obtained by the image acquiring device 3 (the visual field of the image is indicated by a dotted line), the symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 is located at the upper left of the image. That is, the position of the symbol in the image is located at the upper left than the position (12) of the symbol for correct landing. Therefore, the direction information obtaining unit 10 can acquire information that the air vehicle 2 is located on the lower right side of the landing field 4 and that the air vehicle 2 should be moved in the left-upper direction 14 for landing have.

Even if the air vehicle 2 is rotated in the altitude direction (H axis in FIG. 1) and is not aligned with the landing area 4, the direction information obtaining unit 10 obtains the position of the predetermined symbol It is possible to acquire information that the air vehicle 2 must rotate clockwise or counterclockwise through comparison of the position and direction of the symbols obtained from the image.

1 again, the altitude information acquisition unit 20 detects the intensity of the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing area 4 from the image acquired by the image acquisition device 3, .

In the prior art, an infrared sensor (infrared sensor), an ultrasonic sensor (Sonar sensor), a GPS, a beacon, and the like were required to be provided to the air vehicle 2 or the landing area 4 in addition to a vision sensor. This is because the information obtained from the image information is limited. Especially, accurate landing requires distance information between the airplane and the landing area, which was obtained mainly by a separate sensor such as an ultrasonic sensor.

The present invention can acquire not only the information about the direction but also the altitude information from the image information by providing the light emitting means 5 in the landing area 4. [ Therefore, it is possible to induce more accurate landing with simpler equipment configuration.

4, the altitude information acquiring unit 20 acquires altitude information from the image acquired by the image acquiring apparatus 3 provided in the air vehicle 2, the light irradiated by the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing field 4, The altitude 21 of the air vehicle 2 is calculated.

In detail, the altitude information obtaining unit 20 detects the luminous intensity of the light emitting means 5 in the image, acquires information about the altitude of the air vehicle 2 using the relationship between the predetermined luminous intensity and the distance and the detected luminous intensity.

Light intensity refers to the amount of light passing through a unit area perpendicular to the direction of light at a unit distance from the light source. Thus, as the distance from the light source decreases, the amount of light passing through the unit area decreases, thereby reducing the brightness. Letting L be the luminosity, h be the distance, and k be the proportionality constant, the relation between the luminosity and the distance can be expressed as Equation (1).

The degree-of-accuracy acquiring unit 20 determines the proportionality constant k by measuring the luminous intensity according to the brightness of the light-emitting means 5 at several test altitudes, and stores it in advance. Can be calculated.

5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship of the luminous intensity according to the altitude. From Equation (1), the difference in luminous intensity according to the altitude difference can be expressed as Equation (2).

,

에 대하여,

가

의 2배라고 한다면, 고도차이에 따른 광도차이는 수학식 3과 같이 산출될 수 있다.For example, the altitude at which the landing area (4)

,

about,

end

, The difference in luminous intensity according to the altitude difference can be calculated as shown in Equation (3).

)에서의 광도(

)는, 고도가 1배인 지점(

)에서의 광도(

)의 1/4 임을 알 수 있다.That is, at a point twice as high as the altitude

) ≪ / RTI >

) Is the point at which the altitude is 1x (

) ≪ / RTI >

) Is one-fourth of that of the first embodiment.

It may happen that the brightness of the light emitting means 5 is not sufficient because the altitude information obtaining unit 20 recognizes the altitude information according to the symbol pattern of the light emitting means 5 or depending on the surrounding environment.

In this case, the altitude information obtaining unit 20 can obtain the altitude information from the pattern of the dummy symbol for detecting the light intensity. In detail, when the brightness of the light emitting means 5 is not sufficient because the altitude information obtaining unit 20 recognizes the altitude information, the light emitting means control unit 40 determines that the light emitting means 5 has received the symbol and the dummy symbol Can be alternately displayed.

On the other hand, the altitude information obtaining unit 20 may calculate the average value of the brightness components of all or some pixels of the captured image, and determine that it is difficult to obtain the altitude information when the calculated average value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold brightness .

The dummy symbol is a symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 so as to more easily acquire the altitude information in the altitude information acquiring unit 20. [

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of displaying the dummy symbol by the light emitting means 5. FIG. The light emitting means control section 40 can display only the symbol pattern 7 by the light emitting means 5 as shown in Fig. That is, when the altitude information obtaining section 20 can easily obtain the altitude information from the image of the symbol pattern 7, the light emitting means 5 can display only the symbol pattern 7.

However, in some cases, the altitude information obtaining unit 20 may not be able to obtain the altitude information from the image of the symbol pattern 7 depending on the pattern of the symbol or the surrounding environment. In such a case, The symbol pattern 7 and the dummy symbol pattern 22 can be alternately displayed.

That is, when it is difficult to acquire the altitude information by only the symbol pattern 7, the light emitting means control section 40 alternately displays the symbol pattern 7 and the dummy symbol pattern 22 for luminance detection alternately .

On the other hand, the dummy symbol pattern 22 can be variously set as shown in FIG. 7 according to the surrounding environment.

7 (a), it is possible to use a pattern in which only a part of the light emitting elements 6 constituting the light emitting means 5 emits light. On the other hand, when the surrounding environment is bright, a pattern in which all the light emitting elements 6 constituting the light emitting means 5 emit light can be used as shown in Fig. Further, in a case where the surrounding environment is dark, but it is desired to emit light evenly throughout the light emitting means 5, a pattern as shown in Fig. 7C or 7D may be used.

That is, the dummy symbol can be configured so that the brighter the surrounding environment, the greater the number of the light emitting devices 6 that are turned on to display the pattern of the dummy symbol.

1, the flight control unit 30 controls the air vehicle 2 on the basis of the information acquired by the direction information obtaining unit 10 and the altitude information obtaining unit 20. That is, the flight control unit 30 generates a command to move the flying object 2 based on the information about the direction in which the flying object 2, which is information acquired by the direction information obtaining unit 10, should be moved. Further, based on the information about the altitude acquired by the altitude information acquiring unit 20, a command for gradually lowering the altitude is generated. The generated control command is transmitted to the air vehicle 2 to control the air vehicle.

The automatic landing induction device 1 can land the air vehicle 2 without user's manipulation using only the image information obtained by the image acquiring means 3 by the above-described method.

On the other hand, in the operation of the air vehicle 2, a person may observe the landing process at the periphery of the landing field 4 to check whether the air vehicle 2 is normally landing. There is also a case where a person at a remote location observes the landing process of the air vehicle 2 through the image acquired by the image acquisition device 3. [ In this case, the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing area 4 may be utilized for providing more intuitive information.

The light emitting means control unit 40 converts the information obtained by the direction information obtaining unit 10 and the altitude information obtaining unit 20 into an indicator pattern which can be displayed by the light emitting means 5. [ Also, the light emitting means control unit 40 may control the light emitting means 5 to alternately display the symbol pattern, the dummy symbol pattern, and the indicator pattern.

8 to 10 show an example of an indicator pattern displayed by the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing area 4 to provide information about the landing of the air vehicle 2.

8 is an example of an indicator pattern when the air vehicle 2 is located on the left side of the landing field 4 as shown in Fig. 8 (a). In this case, in the image 11 obtained by the image acquiring device 3 (the visual field of the image is indicated by a dotted line), the symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 is displayed on the right side of the image Located. That is, the position of the symbol in the image is located on the right side than the position (12) of the symbol for correct landing. Therefore, the direction information obtaining unit 10 can obtain information that the air vehicle 2 is located on the left side of the landing field 4 and that the air vehicle 2 should be moved in the right direction 13 for landing. The light emitting means control unit 40 displays the direction in which the moving object 2 should be moved in a pattern as shown in FIG. 8B or displays the direction in which the moving object 2 is currently positioned as a pattern as shown in FIG. 8C can do.

9 is an example of an indicator pattern when the air vehicle 2 is located on the lower right side of the landing field 4 as shown in Fig. 9 (a). In this case, in the image 11 obtained by the image acquiring device 3 (the visual field of the image is indicated by a dotted line) as described above in FIG. 3, the symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 is located at the upper left . That is, the position of the symbol in the image is located at the upper left than the position (12) of the symbol for correct landing. Therefore, the direction information obtaining unit 10 can acquire information that the air vehicle 2 is located on the lower right side of the landing field 4 and that the air vehicle 2 should be moved in the left-upper direction 14 for landing have. The light emitting means control unit 40 displays the direction in which the flying object 2 should be moved in a pattern as shown in Fig. 9B or displays the direction in which the flying object 2 is currently positioned as a pattern as shown in Fig. 9C can do.

10 is an example of an indicator pattern displayed by the light emitting means 5 provided in the landing area 4 to provide information about the altitude of the airplane 2.

The light emitting means control unit 40 can increase the size of the indicator symbol as the air vehicle 2 approaches the landing stage 4. [ That is, when the indicator symbol is in the X shape, the pattern of symbols displayed on the light emitting means 5 as the air vehicle 2 approaches the landing field 4 is changed from the pattern shown in FIG. 10 (a) b).

Similarly, when the indicator symbol is a quadrangle shape, the light emitting means control unit 40 changes the pattern of symbols displayed on the light emitting means 5 as the air vehicle 2 approaches the landing field 4, (d) in the same pattern as that shown in Fig. 10 (c).

By displaying such indicator symbols on the light emitting means 5, the user or the like of the automatic landing guidance device 1 can obtain information on the flying state of the flying object 2 more intuitively.

On the other hand, in the case of a symbol for guiding the landing of the air vehicle 2, patterns of various shapes can be used as shown in FIG. That is, a pattern having a symmetrical structure may be used as shown in FIG. 11 (a), or a pattern having an asymmetric structure as shown in FIG. 11 (b) may be used. The pattern of the symbol can be set by the user.

The automatic landing guidance device 1 can control the photographing method differently depending on what pattern is output to the light emitting means 5. [ That is, when a pattern of symbols is output to the light emitting means 5, it is possible to control to shoot a direction alignment image. When a pattern of dummy symbols is outputted to the light emitting means 5, can do. On the other hand, when the light emitting means 5 outputs an illuminator pattern, it is possible to control not to photograph.

The landing area according to another embodiment of the present invention may have a light emitting unit spaced apart from the symbol, unlike the above embodiment. 12 shows a configuration of an automatic landing guidance system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The automatic landing guidance system according to another embodiment of the present invention includes an automatic landing induction device (not shown), a flying object 2, and a landing area 4. [ Unlike the above-described embodiment, the symbol 8 for landing guidance is not displayed by the light emitting means 9 but is installed in the landing area 4 according to a predetermined shape. That is, the light emitting means 9 is provided apart from the symbol, and the light emitting means 9 is used only for providing the altitude information of the air vehicle 2. [

The automatic landing guidance apparatus 1 includes a direction information obtaining unit 10, an altitude information obtaining unit 20, a flying object control unit 30, and a light emitting means control unit 40. The direction information obtaining unit 10 detects the symbol 8 from the image acquired by the image obtaining device 3 and obtains information on the alignment state of the air vehicle 2 and the landing field 4. [ The altitude information obtaining unit 20 detects the brightness of the light emitting means 9 provided in the landing area 4 from the image acquired by the image obtaining apparatus 3 to obtain information about the altitude of the air vehicle 2. The flight control unit 30 controls the airplane 2 to land based on the information obtained by the direction information obtaining unit 10 and the altitude information obtaining unit 20. [ On the other hand, the light emitting means control unit 40 controls the brightness of the light emitting means 9 provided in the landing area 4 according to the environment around the landing field 4.

The symbols are not displayed by the light emitting means 9 and the light emitting means 9 transmits the information about the altitude to the automatic landing induction device 1).

Fig. 13 shows an example of the arrangement of the light emitting means 9. Fig. 13 (a) and 13 (b) and 13 (b) can be arranged at four corners of the symbol 8 with the light emitter 9 adjacent to the symbol 8 as shown in FIG. 13 The light emitting means 9 can be positioned at the four vertexes of the symbol 8 as well.

The automatic landing induction method shown in Fig. 14 can be performed by the automatic landing induction device 1 of Fig. 1 described above. Hereinafter, detailed description of the contents overlapping with those described in Figs. 1 to 13 will be omitted.

The direction information obtaining unit 10 detects a symbol in the image obtained by the image obtaining apparatus 3 and obtains information on the alignment state between the air vehicle 2 and the landing field 4. In operation S10, The controller 10 compares the shape of a symbol displayed by the light emitting means 5 and 9 with the position of a predetermined symbol in the image to determine the current position of the flying object 2 and the direction in which the flying object 2 should move.

The altitude information obtaining unit 20 detects the luminous intensity of the light emitting units 5 and 9 provided in the landing area 4 from the image acquired by the image obtaining unit 3 to obtain information about the altitude of the airplane 2 (S20) In detail, the altitude information obtaining section 20 detects the luminous intensity of the light emitting means 5, 9 in the image, and determines the altitude of the air vehicle 2 using the relationship between the predetermined luminous intensity and the distance and the detected luminous intensity Obtain information. Since the amount of light passing through the unit area decreases as the distance from the light source decreases, the luminous intensity decreases, and the altitude of the air vehicle 2 can be accurately calculated using this relationship.

The control unit 30 controls the air vehicle 2 based on the information obtained by the direction information obtaining unit 10 and the altitude information obtaining unit 20. (S30) Namely, the information obtained by the direction information obtaining unit 10 And a control command for moving the air vehicle 2 based on information about a direction in which the air vehicle 2 is to be moved. And generates a control command for gradually lowering the altitude based on the altitude information acquired by the altitude information acquisition unit 20. [ The generated control command is transmitted to the air vehicle (2) by the automatic landing guidance device (1).

On the other hand, the light emitting means control unit 40 can control the light emitting means 5 to alternately display patterns of symbols and patterns of dummy symbols for detecting light intensity. (S40) The altitude information obtaining unit 20 obtains altitude information In order to obtain more easily.

The light emitting means control unit 40 may control the light emitting means 5 so that the person can obtain information about the landing of the air vehicle 2 at the periphery of the landing gear 4. In operation S40,

Embodiments of the present invention enable a plurality of air vehicles to operate more efficiently by letting the airplane recognize and land the self-landing field.

Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to all kinds of flywheel bodies. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be used for landing for energy supply in a surveillance, reconnaissance system comprised of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Also, in the case of the popularity of a person aboard, the embodiment of the present invention can be applied for more accurate and safe landing.

The automatic landing guidance apparatus and method according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that computer readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers of the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, You will understand.

Automatic landing gear (1)
Direction information obtaining unit 10,
The image (11) obtained by the image acquisition device
Location of symbol for correct landing (12)
Right direction (13)
The left-top direction (14)
The altitude information obtaining unit 20,
Elevation of the aircraft (21)
Patterns of dummy symbols (22)
The flight control unit 30,
The light-
Aviation (2)
Image acquisition device (3)
Landing stages (4)
The light emitting means (5)
The light-
Symbol pattern (7)
Symbol (8)
The light emitting means (9)

Claims (15)

A direction information obtaining step of detecting a symbol in an image and obtaining information about an alignment state of a flying object and a landing field;
An altitude information acquiring step of acquiring information about an altitude of the airplane by detecting a luminous intensity of light emitting means provided in the landing area in the image; And
And controlling the airplane based on the information about the alignment state and the information about the altitude. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the light emitting means comprises a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in row and column directions,
Wherein the symbol is represented by a lighting pattern of the plurality of light emitting devices,
The elevation information obtaining step
Detecting light intensity of the light emitting means; And
And acquiring information about the altitude of the air vehicle using the relationship between the predetermined light intensity and the distance and the detected light intensity. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the light emitting means alternately displays a pattern of the symbols and a pattern of dummy symbols for detecting light intensity. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the number of light emitting devices illuminated to display the pattern of the dummy symbol increases as the brightness of the surrounding environment increases. The method of claim 3,
Further comprising the step of converting information about the alignment state and information about the altitude into an indicator pattern capable of being displayed by the light emitting means,
Wherein the light emitting means alternately displays the pattern of the symbol, the pattern of the dummy symbol, and the indicator pattern. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the light emitting means is spaced apart from the symbol,
The elevation information obtaining step
Detecting light intensity of the light emitting means; And
And acquiring information about the altitude of the air vehicle using the relationship between the predetermined light intensity and the distance and the detected light intensity. The method of claim 1, wherein
Wherein the air vehicle is an unmanned air vehicle. A direction information obtaining unit for detecting a symbol in an image and obtaining information about an alignment state of a flying object and a landing field;
An altitude information acquiring unit for acquiring information about an altitude of the airplane by detecting the luminous intensity of light emitting means provided in the landing area in the image; And
And an airplane controller for controlling the airplane based on the information about the alignment state and the information about the altitude. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the light emitting means comprises a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in row and column directions,
Wherein the symbol is represented by a lighting pattern of the plurality of light emitting devices,
The altitude information obtaining unit
Wherein the control unit detects the brightness of the light emitting unit and acquires information about the altitude of the airplane using a relationship between the predetermined brightness and the distance and the detected brightness. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the light emitting means alternately displays a pattern of the symbols and a pattern of dummy symbols for detecting light intensity. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the number of light emitting devices illuminated to display the pattern of the dummy symbol increases as the brightness of the surrounding environment increases. 11. The method of claim 10,
Information on the alignment state and information on the altitude into an indicator pattern capable of being displayed by the light emitting means,
Wherein the light emitting means alternately displays the pattern of the symbol, the pattern of the dummy symbol, and the indicator pattern. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the light emitting means is spaced apart from the symbol,
The altitude information obtaining unit
Wherein the control unit detects the brightness of the light emitting unit and acquires information about the altitude of the airplane using a relationship between the predetermined brightness and the distance and the detected brightness. The method of claim 8, wherein
Wherein the air vehicle is a unmanned air vehicle. A computer program stored on a medium for carrying out the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 using a computer.

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