LU500222B1

LU500222B1 - Unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system and method

Info

Publication number: LU500222B1
Application number: LU500222A
Authority: LU
Inventors: Zhixian Gao; Dianpeng Han; Tie Han; Yuan Peng; Shuang Li; Jialei Bai
Original assignee: Inst Of Environmental And Operational Medicine Academy Of Military Medical Science Academy Of Milita
Priority date: 2021-05-28
Filing date: 2021-05-28
Publication date: 2021-11-29

Abstract

The present invention provides an unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system for long time continuous multiple detecting and sampling at different depths and areas, which includes a drone, control box, pulling wire and sampling cylinder. battery, circuit control module, lift motor, motor bracket and reel are arranged inside the control box; the present invention especially designed a sampling cylinder, its top without cover, the bottom is conical, the interior contains sensor group, water piezometer, sealing motor and sealing cover, by controlling the sealing motor to open and close the sealing cover to achieve water quality sampling; at the same time the core chip of the master control unit of the system uses low-power devices, the master control unit detects the water depth data of the water manometer and controls the opening/closing of the sensor group, which greatly improves the continuous working time. Through the set of devices, the water quality can be continuously measured, recorded and automatically sampled online for multiple times under different water depth conditions.

Description

Unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system and method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

[01] The present invention relates to the field of water quality sampling and analyzing, and in particular relates to a drone-based water quality sampling and analyzing system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[02] Drone-based water source detection and inspection system has strong real-time performance and can operate in high-risk areas. It is very suitable for emergency rescue in various natural disasters. In the process of securing drinking water in future major natural disaster rescue, this system may reduce the accidental injury of medical personnel and rescue personnel under severe geological disasters such as earthquakes, mudslides, floods and etc., and may also realize remote and rapid analysis of drinking water in safe areas under severe natural disaster conditions, and may also carry out rapid disinfection of small water area after replacing the disinfection module.

[03] At present, water source detection and inspection systems based on UAV technology are often only capable of online inspection, and rarely have the function of sampling and online inspection of water sources at the same time, and lack of long time continuous multiple detections and automatic sampling at different depths and areas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[04] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system for long time continuous multiple analysis and automatic sampling at different depths and different areas.

[05] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution 1 proposed by the present invention is as follows: An unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system and method, for long time continuously sampling and analyzing water quality, comprising a drone, a slide rail is installed under the drone; a control box, which is connected to the drone through the sliding rail, wherein a battery, a circuit control module, a lift motor, a motor bracket and a reel are arranged in the control box. A lifting motor is mounted on the motor bracket, the motor bracket is fixed to the bottom of the control box, and the reel is connected to the lifting motors by a coupling; a pull wire, which is connected to the reel, the winding and unwinding actions are carried out under the drive of the lifting motor, and then the sampling cylinder is controlled to lift and lower by means of the pull wire, the pull wire can be wound on the reel and a watertight cable is wrapped inside the pull wire. The watertight cable is connected to a circuit control module.

[06] A sampling cylinder comprises at least two fixing points evenly arranged at the top for fixing the pulling wire, the bottom is conical and the inside contains a sensor group, a water manometer, a sealing motor, a sealing cover, a motor fixed base and a screw rod. The watertight cable is connected to the sensor group, the water manometer and the sealing motor, wherein the sensor group and the water manometer are suspended from the upper part of the sampling cylinder. The sealing motor is fixedly mounted to the motor fixing base, and is coaxially connected to the screw rod, wherein the sealing motor is also connected by the watertight cable to control the operation. The motor fixing base is fixed to the inner wall of the sampling cylinder by at least two support arms. The sealing cover is fixedly connected to the screw rod, so that the sealing motor drives the sealing cover to rotate. Through the set of devices, the water quality can be continuously measured, recorded and automatically sampled online for multiple times under different water depth conditions. The 2 upper cover of the sampling cylinder can be automatically closed after the sampling and analyzing system leaves the water surface to prevent contamination of the sample.

[07] The circuit control module consists of a main control unit, a collection control unit, a motor drive unit and a power supply unit. The main control unit 1s used to control the flight path and communication of the drone, collect the water quality data collected by the collection control unit and send it to the drone for forwarding to the remote end; the collection control unit can comprehensively analyze the water quality and control the sampling of water samples; the power supply unit is used for power supply voltage conversion, and provides power for the circuit control module, the lifting motor and the sealing motor. The motor drive unit controls the sealing motor to open or close the sealing cover, and controls the lifting motor to lift or lower the sampling cylinder.

[08] Preferably, the core chip of the main control unit uses the ultra-low power device MSP430FR69x, which has the beneficial effect of reducing system power consumption and increasing continuous operation time.

[09] Preferably, the main control unit detects the water depth data from the water manometer and controls to switch the sensor group, which has the beneficial effect of further reducing system power consumption and improving continuous operation time.

[10] Preferably, the sensor group includes a PH sensor, a dissolved oxygen sensor, a conductivity sensor, a turbidity sensor and a temperature sensor, which can simultaneously measure five parameters of water quality, and has the beneficial of comprehensively detecting the water quality.

[11] Preferably, the drone is a hoverable multi-rotor drone, the lift motor is DC reduction type, which is able to directly drive the reel to rotate.

[12] Preferably, the battery, the pull wire, the sealing motor, and also the 3 main control module, the power supply unit, the collection control unit, drive unit in the main control unit are waterproof by means of external coating of waterproof adhesive. The beneficial effect is to ensure the safety of underwater operations.

[13] A method of using an unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system, comprising the steps of: S101, after the drone receives the command from the drone control terminal, sends the received command to the circuit control module, S102, the circuit control module determines whether the command 1s a command to start water quality analysis, if yes, execute step S103, if not, execute the step 101, S103, the circuit control module parses the water depth list in the command, S104, the circuit control module controls the sealing motor to open the sealing cover, S105, the circuit control module controls the lift motor to lower the sampling cylinder, S106, the circuit control module collects the data of the water manometer, determines whether the water manometer reaches the minimum water depth not detected in the water depth list, and if not, execute step S107, and if yes, skip the step and execute step S109, S107, determining whether the pull wire is fully released, if yes, execute step S108, if it is not, execute step the S105, S108, notifying the drone to descent height, and execute the step S106, S109, the circuit control module controls to turn on the sensor group, S110, starting the water quality analyzing and sending the analyzed water quality to the drone, S111, after the water quality analyzing is completed, the circuit control 4 module turns off the sensor group, S112, determining whether the undetected water depth list is empty, if not, repeat the step S105 to step S111, if yes, execute the next step, S113, determining whether there is a water intake command, if yes, execute step S114, if no, execute step S115, S114, the circuit control module controls the sealing motor to close the sealing cover, S115, the circuit control module controls the lift motor to retract the sealing cover, S116, determine whether the sampling cylinder is in place, if not, repeat step S115, if yes, execute the next step, S117, end.

[14] According to the method of using the unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system, the water quality comprehensive index can also be set through the program to automatically carry out the water intake operation. After the online comprehensive analysis of the water quality situation, when the water quality situation meets the index, the sealing cover is closed, lift the sampling cylinder and bring back the water sample through the drone; if the water quality does not meet the index, continue to perform water quality analyzing at different depths.

[15] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that the unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system can perform real-time online analysis and execute water quality analyzing at different depths according to the results of the water manometer, and control the sealing motor and sealing cover to seal the water sample according to the detection results, which is convenient for sampling. At the same time, it can be used for remote disinfection by controlling the sealing motor and the sealing cover to open in the designated water area. 5

[16] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments.

[17] Figure 1 is an overall structure diagram of the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention;

[18] Figure 2 is a schematic structure diagram of the control box of the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention;

[19] Figure 3 1s a schematic structure diagram of the sampling cylinder of the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention;

[20] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the work flow of the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention;

[21] Figure 5 1s a schematic structure diagram of the circuit control module of the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention;

[22] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the connection between the unmanned water sampling and analyzing system according to the present invention and the drone.

[23] Reference number

[24] 1. UAV, 2. Control box, 3. Pull wire, 4. Sampling cylinder, 5. Battery, 6. Circuit control module, 7. Lifting motor, 8. Motor bracket, 9. Reel, 10. Watertight cable, 11. Sensor group, 12. Water manometer, 13. Sealing motor,

14. Sealing cover, 15. Motor fixed base, 16. Screw rod, 17. Main control unit,

18. Collection control unit, 19. Motor drive unit, 20. Power supply unit

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[25] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These drawings are all simplified schematic diagrams, which merely illustrate the basic structure of the present 6 invention in a schematic manner, so they only show the structures related to the present invention.

[26] As shown in Figure 1, an unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system includes a drone, a control box, a pull wire, and a sampling cylinder. The control box and sampling cylinder are installed on the drone, and the water quality is analyzed by the drone hovering on the water surface, and sampling is automatically performed. The feedback to the equipment of the background control platform is performed through the communication module of the drone. The control box can control the lifting and lowering of the sampling cylinder through the internal lifting motor.

[27] As shown in Figure 2, the battery, circuit control module, lifting motor, motor bracket and reel are arranged inside the control box. The lifting motor 1s installed on the motor bracket, and the motor bracket is fixed to the bottom of the control box, the reel is connected to the lifting motors by a coupling. The winding and unwinding actions are carried out under the drive of the lifting motor.

[28] As shown in Figure 6, the control box is connected to the drone by a slide rail. This installation method is simple and reliable. As long as the device is pushed in parallel along the rail from the front of the drone, it can be locked firmly.

[29] As shown in Figure 3, the sampling cylinder has no cover at the top, and comprises at least two fixing points evenly arranged at the top for fixing the pulling wire, the bottom is conical and the inside contains a sensor group, a water manometer, a sealing motor, a sealing cover, a motor fixed base and a screw rod. The watertight cable is connected to the sensor group, the water manometer and sealing motor, wherein the sensor group and the water manometer are suspended from the upper part of the sampling cylinder. The sealing motor is a screw rod stepper motor, which is fixedly mounted to the 7 motor fixing base. The motor fixing base is fixed to the inner wall of the sampling cylinder by at least two support arms. The sealing cover is fixedly connected to the screw rod. The sealing motor drives the sealing cover, so that the sealing motor drives the sealing cover up and down, so as to open and close the sampling cylinder. Through the set of devices, the water quality can be continuously measured, recorded and automatically sampled online for multiple times under different water depth conditions.

[30] As shown in Figure 5, the control box can be divided into five parts by function, including a main control unit, a collection control unit, a motor drive unit and a power supply unit. The main control unit is used to control the flight path and communication of the drone, collect the water quality data collected by the collection control unit and send the water quality data to the drone for forwarding to the remote end. The collection control unit can comprehensively analyze the water quality and control the sampling of water samples. The water quality parameters analyzed by the sensor group are read through the RS485 interface and Modbus protocol. The power supply unit is used for power supply voltage conversion, and provides power for the circuit control module, the lifting motor, and the sealing motor. The motor drive unit controls the sealing motor to open or close the sealing cover, and controls the lifting motor to lift or lower the sampling cylinder.

[31] When in use, the drone flies to the designated water area and hovering on the water surface. First, the main control unit controls the sealing motor to open the sealing cover, and then controls the lifting motor to lower the sampling cylinder. When the main control unit detects that the sampling cylinder is placed in the specified depth in the water, the lifting motor stops working. At this time, the sensor group will be turned on to the detection state, and 5 parameters of water quality will be measured at the same time, and sent to the remote end via the drone through the RS232 interface. According to the 8 measurement results, you can choose whether to take the sample directly, or start a new test at a different depth. When sampling, the main control unit controls the sealing motor to close the sealing cover, and closes the sensor group at the end of each test to reduce the power consumption of the system.

After the entire sampling and analyzing is finished, the main control unit controls to lift the sampling cylinder. The communication between the drone and the analysis box is a custom protocol, which distinguishes water quality data and drone control data, which is flexible and safe.

[32] As shown in Figure 4, the process of analyzing and sampling through the system includes: after the drone receives a command from the drone control terminal, sends the received command to the circuit control module; the circuit control module determines whether the command is a command to start water quality analyzing, and if not, sends the command directly to the drone; if the command is a water quality analyzing command, the circuit control module parses the water depth list in the command. The circuit control module controls the sealing motor to open the sealing cover. The circuit control module controls the lifting motor to lower the sampling cylinder to the minimum water depth in the undetected water depth list; the circuit control module collects the data of the water manometer and determines whether the water manometer reaches the specified depth. If it does not reach the specified depth, then determines whether the wire is completely released. If the release is completed, the drone will be notified of the descending height. If the release is not completed, release it to the specified water depth. The circuit control module controls to turn on the sensor group, starts water quality analyzing, and sends the analyzed water quality to the drone. After the water quality analyzing is completed, the circuit control module turns off the sensor group. Determining whether the undetected depth list is empty, if it is not empty, repeat steps 3) to 5), if it is empty, execute the next step. Determining 9 whether there is a water intake command, if yes, the circuit control module controls the sealing motor to close the sealing cover, if no, the circuit control module controls the lift motor to lift the sealing cover until the sampling cylinder returns to the initial position.

[33] According to the method of using the unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system, the water quality comprehensive index can also be set through the program to automatically carry out the water intake operation. After the online comprehensive analysis of the water quality situation, when the water quality situation meets the index, the sealing cover is closed, lift the sampling cylinder and bring back the water sample through the drone; if the water quality does not meet the index, continue to perform water quality analyzing at different depths.

[34] The analyzing system relies on the battery power supply on the drone to reduce power consumption and extend the flight time of the drone. The following aspects are considered in the design:

[35] (1) Under the premise of meeting the operational capability, use low-power devices;

[36] (2) The main control unit turns on/off other units according to the working conditions, such as adding a water manometer to detect. When it 1s detected that the sampling cylinder reaches the specified depth and meets the analyzing conditions, the sensor group will be turned on;

[37] (3) Improve the efficiency of the conversion power supply and use high-efficiency DC-DC switching power supply chips to further reduce system power consumption;

[38] (4) Reduce equipment weight and optimize structural design. While considering that the equipment has a certain degree of impact resistance, reduce the overall weight of the equipment and reduce the load of the drone.

[39] Preferably, the core chip of the main control unit uses an ultra-low 10 power consumption device MSP430FR69x, which has the beneficial effect of further reducing system power consumption and increasing continuous working time. MSP430FR69x has an optimized ultra-low power mode, a 16-bit reduced instruction set (RISC) architecture with a clock frequency of up to 16MHz, and its working mode is about 100uA/MHz, standby 0.4uA, real-time clock (RTC) (LPM3.5) 0.35uA, Cut-off current (LPM4.5) 0.04uA, ultra-low-power ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), up to 64KB of non-volatile memory, ultra-low-power write, it has smart digital peripherals, high-performance analog, code security and encryption, multi-function input/output ports, enhanced serial communication and flexible clock system.

[40] At the beginning of a water quality test, the main control unit detects the water depth data from the water manometer. When the water manometer reaches the target water depth, it controls to turn on the sensor group to analyze the water quality. When the water quality analyzing is finish, the sensor group will be turned off. The beneficial effect is to further reduce the power consumption of the system and increase the continuous working time.

[41] Preferably, the lifting motor is a DC deceleration type, and its beneficial effect is that it can directly drive the reel to rotate.

[42] Preferably, the sensor group includes a PH sensor, dissolved oxygen sensor, conductivity sensor, turbidity sensor and temperature sensor, which can simultaneously measure five parameters of water quality, and its beneficial effect is that it can comprehensively analyze the water quality. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the PH sensor is an online industrial pH electrode, 485 interface, PH detection range 1s 0-14pH, accuracy —0.1pH, waterproof and dustproof standard is IP68, response time < 0.5min, temperature compensation 0 — 50°C automatic temperature compensation; The dissolved oxygen sensor adopts the fluorescence method, the detection range is 0-20mg/L or 0-200% saturation, the waterproof and 11 dustproof standard is IP68, the resolution is 0.1mg/L, 25°C reaction time T90:30s, T99:90s, temperature compensation 0-60°C automatic temperature compensation; The conductivity sensor is electromagnetic type, range: 20 x s/cm-600ms/cm, accuracy: < x 1.5%, electrode material: PP, operating temperature: 0-100°C, waterproof and dustproof standard is IP68, measuring range is 10 uS- 500mS/cm, test method 1s 4-pole electrode method, electrode constant K=0.917cm-1, + 1.5%, reaction time (25°C) T90:30s T99:90s, temperature compensation is built-in surface water nonlinear temperature compensation; The turbidity sensor is optical fiber turbidity, range:

0.1-1000NTU, accuracy: <5% or 0.3NTU, response time: <2sec, operating temperature: 0~50°C, waterproof and dustproof standard is IP68, measuring range is 0.0-1000FNU and the principle of the method is the 90-degree Scattering turbidimetry, the built-in ultrasonic generator is used to clean the lens, the test lens is a sapphire lens, and the measurement accuracy is +3% of the measured value; the measurement range of the temperature sensor is

0.0-60.0°C, and the response time is <<0.5min. Preferably, the drone is a hoverable multi-rotor drone. The beneficial effect is stable operation and small fluctuation of detection data.

[43] Preferably, the battery, the pull wire, the sealing motor, and also the main control module, the power supply unit, the collection control unit, drive unit in the main control unit are waterproof by means of external coating of waterproof adhesive. The beneficial effect is to ensure the safety of underwater operations. The battery, the pull wire, and the main control unit, power supply unit, collection control unit, and also the motor drive unit in the circuit control module adopt an integral coating method. The lifting motor is a waterproof motor with a waterproof and dustproof standard IP66. The sealing motor 1s a waterproof motor with a waterproof and dustproof standard IP68. 12

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: I. An unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system, for long time continuously sampling and analyzing water quality, characterized in that, comprising a drone (1), a control box (2), a pull wire (3) and a sampling cylinder (4); a slide rail is installed under the drone (1); the drone is connected to the control box (2) through the sliding rail, wherein a battery (5), a circuit control module (6), a lifting motor (7), a motor bracket (8) and a reel (9) are arranged in the control box (2), the lifting motor (7) is mounted on the motor bracket (8), the motor bracket (8) is fixed to the bottom of the control box (2), and the reel (9) is connected to the lifting motors (7) by a coupling; the pull wire (3) is connected to the reel (9), the pull wire (3) can be wound on the reel (9), wherein the winding and unwinding actions are carried out under the drive of the lifting motor (7), so that the lifting and lowering of the sampling cylinder (4) is controlled by the pull wire (3), a watertight cable (10) 1s wrapped inside the pull wire (3), and the watertight cable (10) is connected to the circuit control module (6); the sampling cylinder (4) is connected to the tail of the pulling wire (3), the sampling cylinder (4) comprises at least two fixing points evenly arranged at the top for fixing the pulling wire, the bottom is conical and the inside contains a sensor group (11), a water manometer (12), the watertight cable (10) 1s connected to the sensor group (11), and the water manometer (12), wherein the sensor group (11) and the water manometer (12) are suspended from the upper part of the sampling cylinder (4).
2. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the inside of the sampling cylinder 13

(4) also includes a sealing motor (13) and a sealing cover (14), a motor fixed base (15), and a screw rod (16), the sealing motor (13) is a screw rod stepper motor, coaxially connected to the screw rod (16), wherein the sealing motor is also connected by the watertight cable (10) to control the operation, and fixedly mounted to the motor fixing base (15), wherein the motor fixing base (15) is fixed to the inner wall of the sampling cylinder (4) by at least two support arms, the sealing cover (14) is fixedly connected to the screw rod (16), the sealing motor drives the sealing cover, so that the sealing motor (13) drives the sealing cover (14) up and down, so as to open and close the sampling cylinder, through the set of devices, the water quality can be continuously measured, recorded and automatically sampled online for multiple times under different water depth conditions.
3. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 2, characterized in that the circuit control module (6) consists of a main control unit (17), a collection control unit (18), a motor drive unit (19) and a power supply unit (20), wherein the main control unit (17) 1s used to control the flight path and communication of the drone (1), collect the water quality data collected by the sensor collection unit and send the water quality data to the drone (1) for forwarding to the remote end; the collection control unit (18) can comprehensively analyze the water quality and control the sampling of water samples; the power supply unit (20) is used for power supply voltage conversion, and provides power for the circuit control module, the lifting motor, and the sealing motor, the motor drive unit (19) controls the sealing motor (13) to open or close the sealing cover (14), and controls the lifting motor (7) to lift or lower the sampling cylinder (4).
4. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 3, characterized in that, the core chip of the main control 14 unit (17) uses ultra-low power device MSP430FR69x, for reducing system power consumption.
5. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 4, characterized in that, the main control unit (17) detects the water depth data from the water manometer (12), and controls to switch the sensor group (11) for further reducing system power consumption.
6. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 5, characterized in that, the sensor group (11) includes a PH sensor, dissolved oxygen sensor, conductivity sensor, turbidity sensor and temperature sensor, which can simultaneously measure five parameters of water quality.
7. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 6, characterized in that, the battery, the pull wire, the sealing motor, and also the main control unit (17), the power supply unit (20), the collection control unit (18), the drive unit in the circuit control module are waterproof by means of external coating of waterproof adhesive.
8. The unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 6, characterized in that, the drone (1) is a hoverable multi-rotor drone, the lift motor (7) is DC reduction type, which is able to directly drive the reel (9) to rotate.
9. A method for analyzing using the unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 2, comprising the steps of.

S101, after the drone (1) receives the command from the drone control terminal, sends the received command to the circuit control module (6), S102, the circuit control module (6) determines whether the command is a command to start water quality analysis, if yes, execute step S103, if not, execute the step 101, S103, the circuit control module (6) parses the water depth list in the 15 command,

S104, the circuit control module (6) controls the sealing motor (13) to open the sealing cover (14),

S105, the circuit control module (6) controls the lift motor (7) to lower the sampling cylinder (4),

S106, the circuit control module (6) collects the data of the water manometer (12), determines whether the water manometer (12) reaches the minimum water depth not detected in the water depth list, and if not, execute step S107, and if yes, skip the step and execute step S109,

S107, determining whether the pull wire (3) is fully released, if yes, execute step S108, if it is not, execute step the S105,

S108, notifying the drone (1) to descent height, and execute the step S106,

S109, the circuit control module (6) controls to turn on the sensor group

(11),

S110, starting the water quality analysis and sending the analyzed water quality to the drone (1),

S111, after the water quality analyzing is completed, the circuit control module (6) turns off the sensor group (11),

S112, determining whether the undetected water depth list is empty, if not, repeat the step S105 to step S111, if yes, execute the next step,

S113, determining whether there is a water intake command, if yes, execute step S114, if no, execute step S115,

S114, the circuit control module (6) controls the sealing motor (13) to close the sealing cover (14),

S115, the circuit control module (6) controls the lift motor (7) to retract the sealing cover (4),

S116, determining whether the sampling cylinder is in place, if not,

16 repeat step S115, if yes, execute the next step, S117, end.
10. Method for analyzing using the unmanned water quality sampling and analyzing system according to claim 9, characterized in that the water quality comprehensive index is set through a program to automatically perform the water intake operation, and after performing an online comprehensive analysis of the water quality, when the water quality meets the index, close the sealing cover, lift the sampling cylinder, and bring back the water sample through the drone; 1f the water quality does not meet the index, continue to perform water quality analyzing at different depths. 17