KR20200060580A - System for charging Drone using power utilities, Method thereof, and Computer readable storage medium having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drone charging system using power facility. The drone charging system comprises: a drone (110); a power facility (130) in which a charging station (230) for seating and charging the drone (110) is installed; and a charging management integrated server (150) connected to the power facility (130) through a communication network (140), performing authentication for the drone (110) according to the transmission of a charging request signal of the drone (110), and generating charging rate information according to a charging amount after the authentication.

Description

System for charging Drone using power utilities, Method thereof, and Computer readable storage medium having the same}

The present invention relates to a drone charging technology, and more particularly, to a drone charging system and method using a power facility already installed.

In addition, the present invention relates to a drone charging system and method for charging a drone by receiving power from a power generation facility to charge a drone and using a payment system as much as the used power in order to expand the charging infrastructure of the drone.

In general, a drone is a type of flight unit that flies through the sky by rotating a plurality of propellers using battery power, and is configured to allow various patterns of flight according to a user's remote control operation. At this time, in order to fly the drone, the plurality of propellers must be rotated very quickly, so the battery consumption is very high, and accordingly, the battery needs to be constantly replaced.

In general, when a disposable battery is mounted on a drone, the drone can fly for a time of about 10 minutes or so, so that the disposable battery usage is very high and a large amount of money is consumed in order to fly the drone for a long time.

In order to solve such a problem of battery replacement cost, a rechargeable battery can be used in a drone, but when using the rechargeable battery, there is a hassle that the battery needs to be periodically charged.

On the other hand, the drone developed to date has a problem in that in order to be able to fly for a long time, the user needs to constantly replace or charge the battery, so that the drone can only fly around the user and cannot fly the drone far away.

On the other hand, although the equipment for charging the drone is disclosed, there is a problem that must be installed separately. In addition, when a user who does not have legitimate authority attempts to charge, there is a disadvantage that it cannot be restricted.

In addition, if you are not familiar with geography, there is a disadvantage that charging may not be possible because the charging location is not found.

In addition, since there is no accurate information on the charging cost, there is a disadvantage that excessive payment may be made or power usage may be excessive.

1. Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1599423 (Registration date: 2016.02.25) 2. Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1808330 (Registration date: 2017.12.06)

The present invention has been proposed to solve the problems according to the above background, an object of the present invention is to provide a drone charging system and method for charging a drone using an installed power facility.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a drone charging system and method for charging a drone by receiving power from a power generation facility and charging a fee using the payment system as much as the power used to expand the charging infrastructure of the drone. .

In addition, the present invention provides a drone charging system and method that allows only a drone that has been previously allowed to use a drone charging system, and more stably charges the battery of the drone so that the drone can move over long distances regardless of distance. There is another purpose.

The present invention provides a drone charging system capable of charging a drone by using an already installed power facility in order to achieve the above-mentioned problems.

The drone charging system,

drone;

A power facility in which a charging station for seating and charging the drone is installed; And

It includes a charge management integrated server that is connected to the power facility through a communication network, performs authentication for the drone in response to transmission of the charging request signal of the drone, and generates charging rate information according to the amount of charge after authentication. It is characterized by.

In addition, the drone is characterized in that it receives power facility location information indicating the location of the power facility from the charge management integrated server.

In addition, the power facility location information is characterized in that the location information of the power facility closest to the current location information of the drone.

In addition, the power facility, a distribution panel for supplying power to the charging station; And a communication unit that checks the seating of the drone and generates charging information including charging state information indicating whether charging to the drone is normally performed and charging amount information accumulated as charging is performed.

In addition, the distribution panel is characterized in that it comprises; a meter for measuring the amount of power supplied to generate charging amount information.

In addition, the distribution panel, it characterized in that it comprises a; circuit breaker for blocking the power supplied to the charging station.

In addition, the power facility is characterized in that it further comprises a measurement sensor for detecting whether the drone is seated at a specific location of the charging station.

In addition, the charging is characterized in that it is made through a wireless charging method or a wired charging method.

In addition, the authentication is characterized in that it is made by storing the unique identification information for the drone in advance in the charging management integrated server, and then the drone provides the unique identification information to the charging management integrated server.

In addition, the charging stage, the charging stage is installed on the upper surface of the power facility; And a charging base which is moved in the X or Y axis on the charging stage and on which a charging line for charging is disposed.

On the other hand, another embodiment of the present invention, (a) the drone transmits a charging request signal to the charging management integrated server connected to the power equipment via a communication network; (b) the charging management integrated server performing authentication on the drone according to the transmission of the charging request signal; (c) after the authentication, the drone is seated and charged in a charging station installed in the power facility; And (d) generating, by the charging management integrated server, charging charge information according to the amount of charge by the charging; a method for charging a drone using a power facility.

On the other hand, another embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code for executing a drone charging method utilizing the power facility described above.

According to the present invention, through the automatic charging system of the drone through the power facility, the drone user can save the trouble of frequently replacing the battery and can stably fly the drone for a long time.

In addition, as another effect of the present invention, even if the user is not geographically familiar, the location information can be used to identify a charging location located in the vicinity, so that charging is easy.

In addition, another effect of the present invention is that charging charges are charged through a registered database, so that payment costs and power consumption can be efficiently managed.

1 is a block diagram of a drone charging system using a power facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the power facility shown in FIG. 1.
3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the drone shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a wired charging method as an example showing the configuration of the charging station shown in FIG. 2.
5 is a conceptual diagram of a wireless charging method as another example showing the configuration of the charging station shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a concept of mounting a drone on the charging station shown in FIG. 2.
7 is a flowchart showing a charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to various changes and can have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In describing each drawing, similar reference numerals are used for similar components. Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components.

For example, the first component may be referred to as a second component without departing from the scope of the present invention, and similarly, the second component may be referred to as a first component. The term "and / or" includes a combination of a plurality of related described items or any one of a plurality of related described items.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

Terms such as those defined in a commonly used dictionary should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with meanings in the context of related technologies, and should not be interpreted as ideal or excessively formal meanings unless explicitly defined in the present application. Should not.

Hereinafter, a drone charging system and method using a power facility according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a drone charging system 100 using a power facility according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the drone charging system 100 includes a drone 110, a base station 120 that exchanges communication with the drone 110 in real time, a power facility 130 charging the drone 110, and a power facility. It may be configured to include a communication network 140 connecting the charge management integrated server 150 and the charge management integrated server 150 for authenticating to the drone 110 and generating charging charge information according to charging. have.

The base station 120 functions to connect the charging management integrated server 150, the power facility 130, and the drone 110 to a wireless network. In particular, the base station 120 transmits the request of the drone 110 to the charging management integrated server 150 when the drone 110 searches for the power facility 130 closest to the current location according to the current location information. In addition, the base station 120 receives the location information of the power facilities belonging to the current location of the drone 110 at the request of the drone 110 from the charging management integrated server 150 to the drone 110 send.

The power facility 130 may include a ground transformer, a column transformer, and a ground switch. Thus, the power facility 130 is a device that is already installed to supply power.

The communication network 140 performs a function of connecting the power facility 130 and the charge management integrated server 150 through communication. Accordingly, the communication network 140 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a public switched data network (PSDN), an integrated services digital networks (ISDN), a broadband integrated information network (BISDN), and a local area network (LAN). Local Area Network (MAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and Wide Area Network (WLAN). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the wireless communication network is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Wireless Broadband (Wibro), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). ) Network, bluetooth, etc. Or, it may be a combination of these wired communication networks and wireless communication networks.

On the other hand, in the drawing, for convenience of understanding, the communication network 140 and the base station 120 are separately displayed, but the communication network 140 may include the base station 120 as a higher concept.

The charge management integrated server 150 communicates with the drone 110 through the base station 120 and communicates with the power facility 130 through the communication network 140. In addition, the charge management integrated server 150 provides power facility location information at the request of the drone 110. Incidentally, when the charge amount of the drone 110 is less than the reference value, the charging request signal is transmitted to the KEPCO charge management integrated server 150 and the charge management integrated server 150 flies the drone 110 when there is a received signal. The location information of the closest available power facility 130 on the route is transmitted to a drone control controller (not shown). If the amount of charging that does not reach the power facility 130 close to the flight path is transmitted, the location information of the power facility 130 that is closest to the flight path and immediately available upon arrival is transmitted. When the drone 110 is in an autonomous driving mode, it is possible to directly transmit position control to a drone, not a controller for steering.

In addition, the charge management integrated server 150 performs an authentication procedure to check whether or not there is a party authority for the drone 110. Of course, for this purpose, a database for storing in advance unique information about the drone 110 (such as identification information and a drone identification code) is configured. The integrated monitoring server 151 is configured.

The integrated monitoring server 151 calculates the amount of power used for charging when the drone 110 is charged and requests payment to the payment server 152 for the amount of power. The payment server 152 is connected to a server (not shown) operating in a financial system such as a bank or a credit card company, and performs a payment procedure.

In FIG. 1, for convenience of understanding, the charging management integrated server 150 is composed of an integrated monitoring server 151 and a payment server 152, but it is also possible to configure it as a single server. In addition, the database (not shown) configured in the charge management integrated server 150 may be separately managed using a database management server.

The location information satellite 160 performs a function of providing current location information at the request of the drone 110. The location information satellite 160 may be a global positioning system (GPS), a differential global positioning system (DGPS), or a carrier phase differential global positioning system (CDP).

2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the power facility 130 shown in FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of a ground transformer among power facilities 130. Of course, in addition, it can be applied to column transformers, ground switchgear, etc. through modification and modification. Referring to FIG. 2, the drone 110 is seated and connected to a charging station 230 capable of charging and charging, a distribution panel 210 supplying power to the charging station 230, a charging station 230 and a sensor 240 It can be configured to include a communication unit 220 and the like to check whether the drone 110 is seated in the correct position, and to check whether the drone 110 is properly charged to generate charging information. The charging information may include charging status information indicating whether charging is normally performed, charging amount information accumulated as charging is performed, and the like.

The distribution panel 210 may be configured to include a meter 211 for measuring the amount of power supplied to generate charging amount information, a circuit breaker 212 for blocking power supplied to the charging station 230, and the like. The circuit breaker 212 is an electronic circuit breaker that is turned on or off according to a control signal of the charge management integrated server 150 to block or conduct power supply to the charging station 230 through the charging pad power line 212-1. To perform the function. To this end, the circuit breaker 212 may include a switch element such as a relay, an integrated circuit, or the like.

The meter 211 is connected to the power supply line 211-1 of the distribution panel and performs a function of calculating the power flowing in the distribution panel 210. Generally, an electronic meter is used. Accordingly, the accumulated power amount can be calculated and transmitted to the communication unit 220 through the communication unit power line 221.

The communication unit 220 is connected to the charging station 230 through the charging pad communication line 222, and checks whether the drone 110 is seated in the correct position for charging. To this end, the measurement sensor 240 may be configured. The measurement sensor 240 may be a position pressure sensor, a laser scanner, a video camera, an infrared camera, or the like. Incidentally, if a position pressure sensor is installed in the charging station 230 and operates by sensing the pressure when the drone 110 descends, it is determined that the seating is successfully performed. Alternatively, when the measurement sensor 240 is installed on one side to generate image information of the drone 110 and transmits it to the charge management integrated server 150 through the communication unit 220, the charge management integrated server 150 ) Can compare the image information of the charging station 230 stored in advance to check whether the drone 110 is seated.

Since the antenna 223 is configured in the communication unit 220, it is possible to transmit or receive information even through wireless communication.

3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the drone 110 shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, the drone 110 drives a controller 310 that exchanges and controls signals and data with components, a communication unit 320 for communication, and a motor 331 for rotating a wing for flight. The driving unit 330, a program having an algorithm for flight, charging, etc., a storage unit 340 for storing data, a charging unit 360 for charging the power unit 350, a photographing unit for photographing images ( 370) and the like.

The controller 310 performs a function of transmitting a charging request signal to the KEPCO charging management integrated server 150 through the communication unit 320 when the charging amount of the power supply unit 350 is less than or equal to a reference value. To this end, the controller 310 may be configured as a microprocess, electronic circuit, microcomputer, or the like.

The communication unit 320 is composed of an electronic circuit, a micro process, and the like for communication with the outside. Accordingly, the power facility 130, the base station 120, and a user controller (not shown) communicate with each other.

The driving unit 330 serves to supply or cut off the power of the power unit 350 to drive the motor 331. In addition, it performs the function of adjusting the speed and direction under the control of the controller 310.

The storage unit 340 includes a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, and a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory, etc.), At least one of Random Access Memory (RAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), ReadOnly Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ReadOnly Memory (EEPROM), Programmable ReadOnly Memory (PROM), magnetic memory, magnetic disk, and optical disk It may include one type of storage medium.

The power supply unit 350 is composed of rechargeable battery cells. The battery cell may be designed as a cylindrical cell, a prismatic cell, or a pouch-shaped cell. The pouch-shaped cells include a flexible cover made of a thin film, in which electrical components of a battery cell are arranged.

Pouch-shaped cells are used in particular to realize optimal space utilization within one battery cell. The pouch-shaped cells are also characterized by high capacity and low weight.

The charging unit 360 is configured to include a charger, and functions to charge the power unit 350 by converting AC (AC) to DC (DC). To this end, the charging unit 360 includes an input filter that removes noise from AC power, which is an input power, a PFC (Power Factor Corrector) circuit that increases energy efficiency, and a DC / DC converter for stably supplying power to a battery. Can be configured.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a wired charging method as an example showing the configuration of the charging station shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4, in the case of a wired charging method, a charging stage 420 is disposed on an upper surface of the exterior housing 410 of the power facility 130, and a charging terminal (not shown) is provided in the charging stage 420. It is installed. Of course, in this case, a charging terminal (not shown) is also installed at the bottom of the drone 110. Therefore, charging can be achieved by contacting these charging terminals. Of course, unlike this, the charging terminal may be configured as an outlet or a plug, and the user may directly connect the plug.

5 is a conceptual diagram of a wireless charging method as another example showing the configuration of the charging station shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 5, in the case of the wireless charging method, the charging stage 520 is disposed on the upper surface of the exterior housing 510 of the power facility 130, and an electric coil (not shown) is provided on the charging stage 520. It is installed. Of course, in this case, an electric coil (not shown) is also installed on the leg of the drone 110.

Wireless charging is generally performed through a magnetic resonance method, but is not limited thereto, and a magnetic induction method is also possible. The magnetic resonance method uses a resonance phenomenon that vibrates with a large amplitude at a specific frequency, and connects power to one of the two coils and connects the other to an electronic device to charge it using the current generated by resonance. .

In the magnetic induction method, a primary coil is used as a transmitter, a secondary coil is used as a receiver, and a magnetic field generated in the primary coil of the transmitter is induced to supply the current to the secondary coil of the receiver. Since the wireless charging method is widely known, a further description will be omitted.

6 is a view showing a concept of seating the drone 110 on the charging station 230 shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 6, the charging stage 420 is a charging base 610 that is moved in the X or Y axis on the charging stage 420, the charging stage 420, and the charging line 620 for charging is disposed in the center. And the like.

On the surface of the charging stage 420, an X-axis rail and a Y-axis rail are arranged, and an actuator and a gear are configured to move on the rail.

Of course, the positional relationship between the drone 110 and the charging stage 420 is grasped through the measurement sensor (240 in FIG. 2), and the charging management unit 150 automatically adjusts the charging stage 420, thereby allowing the drone 110 to Let it settle down. Of course, it is also possible to adjust the drone side with the photographing unit 370 of the drone 110. That is, if it is an autonomous flight drone, it can be adjusted using the corresponding algorithm, and if it is a user controller, it can be adjusted through this controller.

7 is a flowchart showing a charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, when the drone (110 of FIG. 1) charges during flight falls below a certain level, the drone 110 sends a charging request signal to the charging management integrated server 150 (step S710).

Thereafter, the charge management integrated server 150 checks whether it is a registered drone according to the charge request signal (step S720). Incidentally, the charging request signal may include the unique identification information of the drone, or may be transmitted separately. Using this unique identification information, the charge management integrated server 150 determines whether the drone 110 requesting charging is a registered legitimate authorized drone.

In step S720, if the drone is not registered as a result of the determination, docking is rejected (step S721). That is, the seating of the charging station 230 is rejected. This may be done by sending a message, or it may not send power facility location information indicating the location of the power facility.

On the other hand, in step S720, as a result of the determination, if it is a registered drone, docking is approved and charging is performed (step S740). In other words, power facility position information indicating the position of the power facility is sent, and charging is performed when the drone arrives according to the position information.

Thereafter, it is determined whether charging completion is confirmed (step S740). As a result of the determination, when the charging is completed, the payment amount is guided based on the accumulated charging amount obtained by accumulating the supplied charging amount, and when the payment is made, docking is released (steps S750, S760). Therefore, the drone is ready to take off.

Payment can be used in a pre-set and authorized manner, a method using a card embedded in a drone, or a method of paying with a user's own credit card.

In addition, the steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein are implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means, such as a microprocessor, processor, central processing unit (CPU), and the like, to read a computer. It can be recorded on a possible medium. The computer-readable medium may include program (instruction) codes, data files, data structures, or the like alone or in combination.

The program (instruction) code recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in computer software. Examples of computer readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and ROMs, and RAMs (ROMs). RAM), a flash memory, etc., may include a semiconductor memory element specifically configured to store and execute program (instruction) code.

Here, examples of the program (instruction) code include high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like, as well as machine language codes made by a compiler. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operation of the present invention, and vice versa.

110: drone
120: base station
130: power equipment
140: communication network
150: charge management integrated server
160: location information satellite

Claims (16)

Drone 110;
A power facility 130 in which a charging station 230 for seating and charging the drone 110 is installed; And
It is connected to the power facility 130 through the communication network 130, and performs authentication for the drone 110 according to the transmission of the charging request signal of the drone 110, and charges the charge according to the charge amount after the authentication Charge management integrated server 150 for generating information;
Drone charging system using a power facility, characterized in that it comprises a.
According to claim 1,
The drone 110 is a drone charging system using a power facility, characterized in that the power facility location information informing the location of the power facility 130 is transmitted from the charging management integrated server 150.
According to claim 2,
The power facility location information is a drone charging system using a power facility, characterized in that the location information of the power facility closest to the current location information of the drone (110).
According to claim 1,
The power facility 130,
A distribution panel 210 that supplies power to the charging station 230; And
A communication unit 220 for confirming the seating of the drone 110 and generating charging information including charging state information indicating whether charging to the drone 110 is normally performed and charging amount information accumulated as charging is performed; Drone charging system using a power facility characterized in that it comprises.
The method of claim 4,
The distribution panel 210, a meter for measuring the amount of power supplied to generate charging information (211); Drone charging system utilizing a power facility comprising a.
The method of claim 4,
Drone charging system using a power facility comprising a; breaker 212 to cut off the power supplied to the charging station 230.
According to claim 1,
The power facility 130 further comprises a measurement sensor 240 for detecting whether the drone 110 is seated at a specific location of the charging station 230; charging a drone using a power facility, characterized in that it further comprises system.
According to claim 1,
The charging is a wireless charging method or a drone charging system using a power facility, characterized in that is made through a wired charging method.
According to claim 1,
The authentication is achieved by pre-storing the unique identification information for the drone 110 in the charging management integrated server 150 and then providing the unique identification information to the charging management integrated server 150 by the drone 110. Drone charging system using a power facility, characterized in that.
According to claim 1,
The charging stage 420,
A charging stage 420 installed on an upper surface of the power facility 130; And
Drone charging system using a power facility comprising a; charging base 610 is moved in the X or Y axis on the charging stage 420 and the charging line 620 for charging in the center.
(a) the drone 110 transmitting a charging request signal to the charging management integrated server 150 connected to the power facility 130 through the communication network 130;
(b) the charging management integrated server 150 performing authentication on the drone 110 according to transmission of the charging request signal;
(c) after the authentication, the drone 110 is seated and charged in a charging station 230 installed in the power facility 130; And
(d) the charging management integrated server 150 generating charging charge information according to the charging amount by the charging;
Drone charging method using a power facility, characterized in that it comprises a.
The method of claim 11,
The drone 110 is a method for charging a drone using a power facility, characterized in that the power facility location information informing the location of the power facility 130 is transmitted from the charging management integrated server 150. The method of claim 12,
The power facility location information is a drone charging method using a power facility, characterized in that the location information of the power facility closest to the current location information of the drone (110).
The method of claim 11,
The charging method is a drone charging method using a power facility, characterized in that the wireless charging method or a wired charging method.
The method of claim 11,
The authentication is achieved by pre-storing the unique identification information for the drone 110 in the charging management integrated server 150 and then providing the unique identification information to the charging management integrated server 150 by the drone 110. Drone charging method using a power facility, characterized in that.
A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for executing a drone charging method using a power facility according to any one of claims 11 to 15.

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