RU2278060C1 - Method of landing of unmanned flying vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: methods of landing of super-light unmanned aerodynamic flying vehicles.

SUBSTANCE: prior to flight, electronic guidance equipment is mounted on flying vehicle. Ground landing equipment and landing platform with landing appliance are placed on landing area. During landing approach of unmanned flying vehicle, it is brought to landing area according to preset trajectory, thus slowing it down and ensuring its arrival to point of mechanical contact with landing appliance, after which kinetic energy of unmanned flying vehicle is fully killed and it is freed from landing appliance. Prior to flight, contact tape is bonded to lower section of fuselage surface; front side of this tape is coated with loop-like mono-threads with side cut which perform function of hooks. Video guidance is used as electronic guidance equipment of unmanned flying vehicle. Vertical pole is used as landing platform. Landing appliance made in form of sphere is secured on upper end of pole. Surface of said landing appliance is coated with contact tape whose front surface is provided with loop-like mono-threads for fastening with mono-tape of flying vehicle contact tape. Used as ground landing equipment are optical sources located on landing area and spaced apart. Their signals are used for homing guidance of unmanned flying vehicle for mechanical contact with upper hemisphere of landing appliance.

EFFECT: enhanced probability of keeping the flying vehicle intact.

4 cl, 4 dwg, 2 tbl

Description

The invention relates to methods for landing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of an aerodynamic type, in particular ultralight (weighing about one kilogram) UAVs equipped with on-board electronic devices for monitoring the earth's surface, navigation and automatic flight control.

A known method of landing UAVs using a parachute system (for example, the newsletter "Foreign press on the economic, scientific, technical and military potential ...", a series of "Technical means of intelligence services of the capitalist states", Moscow, No. 6, 1998, p.21 ), in which the parachute system is pre-installed on the UAV, the parachute is opened during landing, and with it, the UAV landing speed is suppressed to an acceptable value.

The disadvantage of this method is the increase in the total mass of the UAV due to the mass of the parachute system, leading to the need to significantly reduce the mass of the payload. Due to the indicated weight and size limitations, it is difficult to use a parachute system on ultralight UAVs for landing. In addition, the opening of a parachute with a strong crosswind can lead to the drift of the UAV and to its mechanical damage, for example, about a tree branch.

Another known method of landing UAVs (both small and large mass) is based on damping the relative speed due to the coordinated movement of the landing site.

This class of technical solutions includes, for example, the method of landing UAVs according to Japanese patent JP No. 2005 1354199, B 64 F 1/00, B 63 V 35/50, B 64 C 13/18. This method is based on the movement of the landing site, the role of which is played by the deck of a surface vessel (ship, barge, etc.), at a speed close to the horizontal speed of the UAV in the final landing area. In this case, the horizontal component of the speed of the UAV is measured and the speed of the vessel is adjusted so that the relative speed of approach of the UAV and the deck surface tends to zero.

Obviously, such a method can have very limited application, and its use creates significant inconvenience for the object used as a landing site.

To eliminate this drawback, a platform is used as a landing pad, on which a vertical frame with a landing net is installed, made with the possibility of rotation around a vertical axis and horizontal movement along guides fixed to the platform. On board the UAV and on the platform, special electronic landing equipment (optical or radar) is installed that allows you to remotely control the relative location and speed of approach of the UAV to the network and control the UAV at the final landing approach site.

So, in the known method of landing UAVs by capturing it in a vertical network (review "Remote-piloted aircraft of the capitalist countries", under the editorship of EA Fedosov, Moscow, Scientific Information Center, 1989, pp. 51-61) parts of the UAV establish a pulsed radiation source operating in the near infrared (IR) region of the spectrum. A platform with guides is installed on the landing pad, which remains stationary during the UAV landing process, and a vertical frame is mounted on the platform, which is rotatable around the vertical axis, and a drive for this rotation. Two IR receivers are installed on the frame, a vertical landing network with the possibility of its horizontal movement along the rails mounted on the platform, a calculator and a brake device, which are connected to the network by cables. Using the drive, the frame is pre-rotated in the direction of the wind. At the final section of the UAV approach by landing, by remote control from the ground, they bring it into the range of infrared receivers, measure the angle of elevation and the lateral offset of the UAV with respect to the network center, calculate the deviations of the UAV from the programmed flight path and transfer this data to the UAV to ensure it gets into the network. When the UAV enters the network, the latter is moved along the frame guides, by pulling the braking device cables, the kinetic energy of the UAV movement is suppressed and the UAV trapped in the network is released from the network.

The same class of technical solutions includes an improved method for landing UAVs in a vertical network according to patent RU No. 2208555, B 64 F 1/18, B 64 C 13/20, G 08 C 5/02.

It differs from the analogue described above in that in order to increase the probability of UAV non-damage during its landing on the network, the platform is installed with the possibility of translational movement in the direction of the horizontal axis perpendicular to the plane of this network. Additionally, a platform displacement drive is installed. An additional linear acceleration sensor is installed on a vertical frame, the sensitivity axis of which is set in the direction perpendicular to the network plane, a range finder and a sensor for starting the pulling of the braking device cables. The value of the maximum range of infrared receivers in simple meteorological conditions is introduced into the calculator in advance. When landing at the moment the UAV enters the coverage area of the IR receivers, the current value of the range and the speed of approach of the UAV to the landing site is determined. The calculator remembers the values of the range and speed of the UAV at the time of its entry into the range of infrared receivers. Using certain values, the required acceleration value of the translational movement of the platform is calculated. Further, a platform translational drive is included. Using this drive, the platform is progressively moved. In this case, using the linear acceleration sensor measure the current values of acceleration and speed. The difference between the current and the required speed values is calculated. The drive is controlled in an effort to reduce the indicated speed difference to zero. When a UAV enters the network, the drive is turned off by a signal from the sensor for starting the pulling of the braking device cables.

As follows from the above description, for the implementation of both of the above methods for capturing UAVs in a vertical network, a rather complex and cumbersome ground equipment is required that is capable of automatically controlling the braking process. At the same time, at the final section of the UAV flight, it is necessary to remotely control it from the ground by transmitting the appropriate commands over the communication line. These features limit the scope of the possible application of methods for capturing UAVs in a vertical network, especially in cases where the UAV should have a small cost, small weight and dimensions. In these cases, the use of complex landing gear is not justified for tactical or economic reasons.

As a prototype of the present invention, the aforementioned UAV landing method by capturing it in a vertical network according to RU patent No. 2208555, B 64 F 1/18, B 64 C 13/20, G 08 C 5/02 was selected.

The present invention is aimed at eliminating the above disadvantages of the prototype method.

The subject of the invention is a UAV landing method, in which, before the UAV flight starts, electronic guidance equipment is installed on it, a ground landing equipment and a landing platform equipped with a landing gear are placed on the landing site, when the UAV enters the landing, it is brought into the coverage area of the ground landing equipment, the signals of which electronic guidance equipment carry out UAV guidance to the landing site along a predetermined path, providing a decrease in its speed and output d to the point of mechanical contact with the landing gear, after which the UAV kinetic energy is completely extinguished and released from the landing gear - in this case, before the start of the flight, an on-board contact tape is glued to the bottom of the UAV fuselage surface, the front side of which is covered with loop monofilaments, and As part of the electronic UAV guidance equipment, a video guidance system is used that is capable of visually recognizing the landing site, and estimates the current distance to the landing gear I and holding the UAV on a given landing path, use a vertically mounted landing platform-pole as the landing platform, on the upper end of which the landing gear is fixed, the upper part of the surface of the landing gear-ball is glued with ground contact tape, the front side of which is covered with loop monofilaments made with the possibility of hook coupling according to the type of textile fastener with loop monofilaments of the side ribbon-contact on the fuselage of the UAV, and as a ground landing of the used equipment, one or several spatially separated ground-based optical radiation sources placed on the landing site are used for homing UAVs until mechanical contact between the lower part of the surface of its fuselage and the upper hemisphere of the landing device-ball, and the extinction of the kinetic energy of the UAV is carried out due to the elastic deviations and reciprocating movements with gradually decreasing amplitude of the upper part of the landing platform-pole.

Particular features of the invention are as follows.

The landing platform-pole is a cylindrical rod made of an elastic, plastic material.

Ground-based optical radiation sources placed on the landing site are optical reflectors characterized by contrast to nearby technogenic and natural objects.

As a ground landing equipment, a ball landing device is used, and the color of the ground contact tape glued to the upper part of its shell is selected based on the criterion of its maximum visibility against the underlying surface.

One or more optical reflectors are placed on the surface of the landing device-ball.

A light source is installed inside the landing gear-ball, and openings for transmitting light are made in the upper part of the shell of the landing gear-ball and in the ground contact tape glued to it.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ultralight UAV landing technology that would not require complex and expensive ground landing equipment and would provide a high probability of UAV non-damage.

The technical result provided is to simplify the landing platform, reducing its weight and dimensions (the landing platform in the present method is an elastic pole vertically mounted on the landing site). The technical result also consists in simplifying the design and increasing the reliability of the landing gear (which in the present method is a ball with a ground contact tape glued onto it).

This technical result is achieved due to the use of “textile fastener” technology for capturing UAVs at the final landing site, implemented using high-strength, operationally reliable contact tape (both airborne on the UAV and ground on the landing gear), as well as using UAV braking properties of the elasticity of the landing platform-pole.

The essence of the invention is illustrated in figures 1-4.

Figure 1 presents in two angles: a bottom view and a front view (flight and landing) of a sketch of an ultralight UAV developed by the applicant company. Geometric dimensions (wingspan, fuselage length and width) are indicated in millimeters.

Figure 2 shows the relative position (top view in the horizontal plane):

- UAV equipped with an on-board video guidance system;

- landing gear-ball;

- ground-based optical radiation sources distributed over the landing site.

Figure 3 shows the relative position (top view in the horizontal plane):

- UAV equipped with an on-board video guidance system;

- landing gear-ball;

- ground-based optical radiation sources distributed over the surface of the landing device-ball.

Figure 4 illustrates the process of capturing and braking UAVs landing gear-ball mounted on the landing platform-pole.

Figure 1-4 used the following notation: 1 - UAV; 2 - video guidance system; 3 - ground-based optical radiation sources; 4 - landing platform-pole; 5 - landing gear-ball; 6 - ground tape-contact; 7 - side ribbon contact; 8 - power plant; 9 - internal elevons; 10 - external elevons; 11 - console; 12 - vertical stabilizers.

In the role of UAV 1 can be any aircraft with an aerodynamic design scheme. As an example, we consider an ultralight small-sized UAV of the "flying wing" type 1 on electric traction (Fig. 1) with a flight mass of the order of 1 kg. The drawing shows the main structural elements and the characteristic overall dimensions of the prototype of such a UAV 1, developed at the applicant enterprise.

The claimed method is implemented, thanks to the following features of the flight landing equipment:

- installation in the bow of the UAV 1 video guidance system 2, allowing UAV 1 to get to the area of the landing site;

- drawing on the bottom of the surface of the fuselage of the UAV 1 landing gear in the form of an on-board tape-contact 7;

- installation on the landing site of the landing platform-pole 4 in the form of a flexible elastic pole with a lower end rigidly fixed to the ground and with a free upper end on which the landing device-ball 5 is rigidly fixed;

- applying to the upper surface of the landing device-ball 5 of the ground tape-contact 6, which is responsive to the on-board tape-contact 7, applied to the lower part of the surface of the fuselage of the UAV 1. The interaction of the ground-contact-6 and on-board tape-contact 7 provides this mechanical contact, capture and braking of the UAV 1;

- complete damping of the kinetic energy of the UAV 1 due to the deviation of the landing platform-pole 4 from the vertical position at the moment of mechanical contact of the UAV 1 with the surface of the landing device-ball 5 and its subsequent reciprocating movement with gradually decreasing amplitude.

The considered version of the UAV 1 type "flying wing" (figure 1) consists of consoles 11 and the fuselage. On the consoles 11 there are control planes - internal 9 and external 10 elevons and vertical stabilizers 12, made of lightweight synthetic material. The fuselage (central part) contains a working compartment in which power, navigation and control elements are located, as well as a payload in the form of a video guidance system 2. Outside, on the upper part of the fuselage, is a power plant 8, which is a turbine driven by an electric motor located inside the cylindrical body of the turbine. The horizontal thrust is created by a rotating impeller located inside the cylindrical turbine casing. The fuselage is made of fiberglass or carbon fiber. An on-board contact tape 7 is glued to the lower part of its surface, which ensures “adhesion” of ELA 1 to the upper part of the spherical surface of the landing gear-ball 5 covered with ground contact-contact tape 6.

The main tactical and technical characteristics of the prototype UAV 1 type "flying wing" are presented in table 1.

Table 1 Wingspan, mm 1370 Weight: - full, kg no more than 0.8 - payload, kg no more than 0.25 Wing area, dm ² 26 Speed range, km / h from 0 to 60 Flight duration, h no more than 0.5 Material: - consoles extruded polypropylene - working compartment fiberglass / carbon fiber Supply voltage from 11 to 12

The key factor determining the practical feasibility of implementing the claimed method is the unique properties of the ground contact tape 6 and the side contact tape 7. As noted in the information material posted on the website www.gamma.msk.ru, the industry is currently mass-producing tape contact ("Velcro", "burdock", "Velcro"), resistant to water and chemical cleaners, which provides high adhesion strength. In aviation technology, these types of contact tapes are used for fastening (as a textile fastener) various devices and accessories inside the aircraft cabin.

Table 2 shows the adhesion strength characteristics of the specified airborne 7 and ground 6 tape contacts in the version of the textile fastener (http://www.igolochka.ru/lipuchka.php).

table 2 Tape width mm 17 twenty 25 thirty 40 fifty Shear force, N 58-59 97-98 125-130 129-147 254-273 285-296

As can be seen from table 2, the connection between the contact strips with a width of 5 cm withstands a shear force of up to 285 N, which is sufficient to dampen the speed of the ultralight UAV 1 using the above-described construction of the landing platform-pole 4 with a rigidly fixed landing gear-ball 5. Reducing the shock the load on the UAV 1 at the moment of mechanical contact of the UAV 1 with the landing gear-ball 5 is ensured due to the springy action of the elastic vertically fixed rod of the landing platform-pole 4. If you use natural ogy, it resembles an insect landing on a flower.

Obviously, the elements of such landing equipment are simpler and more convenient to use than in the prototype (RU No. 2208555, B 64 F 1/18, B 64 C 13/20, G 08 C 5/02).

So, the landing platform-pole 4 is a cylindrical rod made of elastic plastic material.

The landing gear-ball 5, mounted on the upper part of the landing platform-pole 4, is much simpler and safer for UAVs 1 than the mesh used in the prototype in a movable frame mounted on a trolley. In this case, it is not necessary to adjust the angle of orientation of the grid in the vertical plane and to perform braking in the horizontal plane using a cable mechanism. Due to the shape of the landing gear-ball 5, the entry of the UAV 1 on it can be carried out at any angle in the horizontal plane.

As ground-based optical sources 3 of radiation placed on the landing site, simple optical reflectors, for example, mirrors, which create a significant contrast with respect to the underlying surface, can be used (Fig. 2).

An even simpler version is the practical implementation, in which the role of the ground landing equipment is played by the landing gear-ball 5. This is achieved by coloring the ground contact tape 6 glued on its surface in bright color to achieve maximum visibility of the surface of the landing gear-ball 5 against the underlying surface.

It is also possible placement of ground-based optical radiation sources 3 - optical reflectors - on the surface of the landing device-ball 5 (figure 3).

Finally, ground-based landing equipment can include any light source located inside the landing device-ball 5, in the upper part of the shell of which holes have been made for the passage of light.

The video guidance system 2 used on the UAV 1 is a video module containing a digital video camera with an optical system and a digital video processor, the output of which is connected to the input of the UAV 1 navigation and flight control system.

As a video module, for example, the ultra-compact ADCM-2650-0001 video system from Agilent Technologies, Inc. can be used.

It contains a high-quality lens, a miniature video camera on complementary metal oxide field integrated circuits (CMOS), which provide ultra-low consumption (not more than 120 mW at a clock frequency of more than 13 MHz) and high resolution in VGA format (no worse than 480 × 640 pixels), as well as high-performance a digital processor configured to process images in VGA format and compress images in JPEG format.

The video processor can be programmed to recognize ground objects of a specific configuration and color. As noted above, it can be either several ground-based optical radiation sources 3 distributed over the territory of the landing site in the form of optical reflectors (for example, mirrors), or the used landing device-ball 5 with a colored ground tape-contact 6 contrasted with the underlying surface. A method and device for recognizing such objects and video guidance on them UAV 1 are described in detail, for example, in patent RU No. 2248307, 64 C 29/00, G 08 C 21/00.

Thus, the considered method of UAV landing 1 is practically implementable, and the devices required for its implementation are much simpler than the devices required for the implementation of the prototype method.

The proposed method of landing UAV 1 includes the following sequence of operations. Prior to the flight of the UAV 1 (Fig. 1), electronic equipment is installed on its board, including a video guidance system 2, capable of visually recognizing the landing site, within which one ground-based optical radiation source 3 or a given configuration of several ground-based optical sources 3 are installed radiation. In the central part of the landing pad, a vertical landing platform-pole 4 of elastic plastic material is installed, at the upper end of which there is a landing device-ball 5. In turn, a ground contact strip 6 is glued to the upper part of the surface of the landing device-ball 5.

At the final stage of the flight of the UAV 1 it is taken out into the coverage area of the video guidance system 2 of radius R (FIGS. 2, 3). Using the video guidance system 2, the UAV 1 autonomously, at a predetermined elevation angle, goes to the landing gear-ball 5. In this case, mechanical contact of the upper part of the landing gear-ball 5, on which the ground tape-contact 6 is glued, with the lower part of the UAV fuselage 1, on which a response on-board tape-contact is glued 7. Prior to crossing the border of the coverage area of the video guidance system 2 with a radius R, the UAV 1 is controlled, for example, using a satellite radio navigation system or any other navigation hydrochloric system. After the start of homing, the orientation and control of the UAV 1 are carried out with higher accuracy - according to the video images received by the video guidance system 2. Homing is carried out on ground-based optical radiation sources 3. In this case, various options for the formation of ground-based optical radiation sources 3.

Terrestrial optical radiation sources 3, placed on the landing site, can be optical reflectors, for example, mirrors, characterized by high contrast with respect to nearby technogenic and natural objects.

As the ground landing equipment, the ball landing gear 5 itself can be used, while the color of the ground contact tape 6 glued onto its surface is selected based on the criterion of its maximum visibility against the underlying surface.

One or more optical reflectors can be placed on the surface of the landing device-ball 5.

Terrestrial optical radiation sources 3 can also be formed by installing a light source inside the landing gear-ball 5 and making holes in the light-contacting strip-contact 5 on the upper part of the shell of the landing gear-ball 5 and glued onto it.

The specific form of navigation and subsequent homing algorithms at the final landing site is not essential for the present invention, and is not further specified.

When approaching a predetermined distance to the landing device, the ball 5 UAV 1 goes into landing mode:

- decreases the thrust of the electric motor of the power plant 8 and, accordingly, the speed of rotation of the impeller of the power plant 8;

- the inner elevons 9 are lowered and the outer elevons 10 are raised, as a result of which the horizontal component of the speed of movement is extinguished.

Thus, the kinetic energy of ELA 1 is reduced to some safe value.

At the same time, the engine thrust, internal 9 and external 10 elevons are controlled in such a way that the UAV 1 approaches the landing gear-ball 5 most efficiently, that is, the UAV 1 smoothly approaches the landing platform-pole 4 at a given elevation angle, gradually extinguishing kinetic energy of its movement. As noted above, the angle of approach in the horizontal plane does not matter at the same time, since the landing is made on a spherical surface.

The small mass of the UAV 1 and the large wingspan of the consoles 11 wings, at the ends of which there are vertical stabilizers 12, determine the good controllability of the UAV 1 at the final landing site.

At the moment of contact of the UAV 1 with the landing gear ball 5, the UAV 1 “sticks” to the upper part of the landing gear ball 5, glued with ground tape-contact 6 (Fig. 4).

In this case, the residual kinetic energy is extinguished due to the elastic deviation of the landing platform-pole 4 from the vertical position and the reciprocating movement of the upper end of the landing platform-pole 4 with a gradually decreasing amplitude, which ensures smooth braking of the UAV 1, "stuck" to the landing device-ball 5.

Thus, a new landing technology for an ultralight UAV 1 is proposed, which does not require complicated and expensive flight landing equipment and at the same time provides a high probability of UAV 1 not being damaged, which helps to solve the problem of the invention.

The technical result provided is to simplify and reduce the weight of the landing platform, as well as to simplify the design and increase the reliability of the landing device.

Claims (6)

1. A method of landing an unmanned aerial vehicle, in which electronic guiding equipment is installed on it before the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle, a ground landing equipment and a landing platform equipped with a landing gear are placed on the landing pad, and when the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, it is brought into the coverage area ground landing equipment, the signals of which electronic guidance equipment carry out guidance of an unmanned aerial vehicle that to the landing site along a predetermined path, providing a decrease in its speed of movement and reaching the point of mechanical contact with the landing device, after which the kinetic energy of the unmanned aerial vehicle is completely extinguished and released from the landing device, characterized in that it is glued to the bottom before the flight the surface of the fuselage of an unmanned aerial vehicle, an on-board contact tape, the front side of which is covered with loop monofilaments, and as part of electronic equipment Drones of an unmanned aerial vehicle use a video guidance system capable of visually recognizing the landing site, estimating the current distance to the landing device and holding the unmanned aerial vehicle on a given landing path, using a vertically mounted landing platform-pole as the landing platform, the landing platform is fixed at its upper end fixture-ball, the upper part of the surface of the landing fixture-ball is glued with ground flax an o-contact, the front side of which is covered with loop monofilaments made with the possibility of hooking like a textile fastener with loop monofilaments of the side contact tape on the fuselage of an unmanned aerial vehicle, and one or more spatially separated ground-based optical radiation sources are used as ground landing equipment, placed on the landing pad, by the signals of which homing unmanned aerial vehicle to mechanical contact and between the lower part of the surface of its fuselage and the upper hemisphere of the landing gear-ball, and the damping of the kinetic energy of the unmanned aerial vehicle is carried out due to elastic deviation and reciprocating motion with gradually decreasing amplitude of the upper part of the landing platform-pole. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the landing platform-pole is a cylindrical rod made of an elastic, plastic material. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the ground-based optical radiation sources placed on the landing site are optical reflectors, characterized by contrast with respect to nearby technogenic and natural objects. 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the landing gear is used as a ground landing equipment, while the color of the ground contact tape glued to the upper part of its shell is selected based on the criterion of its maximum visibility against the underlying surface. 5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that one or more optical reflectors are placed on the surface of the landing device-ball. 6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that a light source is installed inside the landing gear-ball, and openings for transmitting light are made in the upper part of the shell of the landing gear-ball and in the ground contact tape glued to it.

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