TWI585563B - Flight control method and system for UAV - Google Patents

Description

UAV flight control method and system

The invention relates to unmanned flight technology, in particular to a flight control method and system for a drone.

In recent years, drones have been a very active area of research. Small drones have the ability to take off and land vertically and hover in tight spaces and complex environments, making them ideal platforms for a variety of tasks. UAVs have important applications in civil and military applications.

In the application scenario where the UAV is remotely controlled by a wireless fidelity (WI-FI, Wireless Fidelity) signal, the current UAV and the remote control communicate in a one-to-one manner.

Each drone has only one fixed remote control to control it. The existing one-to-one control scheme for the drone has a great limitation, and the practical application is not flexible enough.

The invention provides a flight control method for a drone, which can realize the control of the drone by using a plurality of remote controllers, so that the practical application is more flexible.

The invention provides a flight control system for a drone, which can realize the control of the drone by using a plurality of remote controllers, so that the practical application is more flexible.

A flight control method for a drone, the method comprising:

A drone establishes a wireless communication connection with a first remote controller;

Receiving a control request from the first remote controller, and transmitting a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling the drone;

Receiving, by the drone, a control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller, and if the switching is agreed, sending an permission control message to the first remote controller; and

The drone is flying under the control of the first remote controller.

A flight control system for a drone, the system comprising a drone, a first remote controller and a second remote controller, the second remote controller being a remote controller currently controlling the drone;

The drone establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller, receives a control request from the first remote controller, and sends a control right switching negotiation message to the two remote controllers currently controlling the same; receiving the first a control right switching negotiation message response of the second remote controller, if the switching response is to agree to the switching, sending an permission control message to the first remote controller, and performing flight under the control of the first remote controller;

The first remote controller establishes a connection with the drone, sends the control request to the drone, receives the permission control message from the drone, and controls the drone;

The second remote controller currently controls the drone, receives the control right switching negotiation message from the drone, and returns a handover response.

According to the above solution, in the present invention, the drone establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller, receives a control request from the first remote controller, and sends the control request to the second remote controller currently controlling the remote controller. The control right switches the negotiation message; the drone receives the control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller, and if the switching is agreed, sends the permission control message to the first remote controller; the drone is in the Flying under the control of a remote control. The invention improves the conventional one-to-one control mode, and provides a scheme for switching control of the drone by two or more remote controllers, which makes the practical application more flexible and further satisfies the demand.

In order to provide a better understanding and understanding of the features and the efficacies of the present invention, the preferred embodiment and the detailed description are as follows:

In the existing solution, the UAV and the remote controller communicate in a one-to-one manner, which has great limitations and is not flexible enough in practical applications.

The inventor conducted a comprehensive analysis based on the actual application situation, and proposed a scheme for controlling the drone using a plurality of remote controllers, which is specifically described below.

In practical applications, for the application scenarios where the drone passes through a plurality of remote locations, the control methods usually include: controlling the drone only at the start and end of the work, and the intermediate process cannot be It is controlled; or, the worker closely follows the drone with the remote control. For such situations, the control operation is very inconvenient. In view of this, the present invention breaks through the habitual processing method that is conventionally controlled one-to-one, and provides a method for relay control of a drone by a plurality of remote controllers. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a flight control method for a drone of the present invention, which includes the following steps:

In step 101, the drone establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller.

Currently, the second remote controller is controlled by the drone. During the subsequent flight, if another remote controller needs to control the drone, first establish a wireless communication connection with it and send a control request.

The wireless communication connection may be specifically connected as follows: WI-FI (802.11x), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Zigbee or infrared, and the like.

Step 102: The drone receives the control request from the first remote controller, and sends a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller that is currently controlling.

Step 103: The drone receives the control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller, and if it agrees to switch, sends an permission control message to the first remote controller.

After receiving the control right switching negotiation message, the second remote controller will display a prompt message of “whether or not to allow switching”, and the user selects “yes” or “no” according to the actual situation, and returns the selection result to the drone. The drone responds according to the control right handover negotiation message to determine whether to continue the handover process. Specifically, if the handover response is to agree to the handover, the permission control message is sent to the first remote controller, otherwise, the control of the first remote controller is rejected.

In step 104, the drone performs flight under the control of the first remote controller.

After that, the first remote controller can control the drone, and thus the remote control switching is completed. 2 is an example of a command interaction demonstrating switching from a first remote control to a second remote control.

The flow of FIG. 1 is a specific scheme in which the second remote controller releases control and switches to the first remote controller. For some cases, the drone leaves the control range of the second remote controller. According to the existing scheme, there is no remote controller to control the device at this stage. The present invention provides a control scheme for this stage, which is combined with the flow of FIG. The method further includes: before the drone receives the control request from the first remote controller, the method further includes:

The drone judges whether there is currently a remote controller for controlling it, and if so, performs the step of transmitting a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling it; otherwise, directly transmitting to the first remote controller The steps to allow control messages.

In addition to the connection between the remote controller and the unmanned aerial vehicle, the present invention further provides a method for connecting by using a wireless communication hotspot, such as a WI-FI hotspot. The following is a detailed description of the connection between the first remote control and the drone, including:

The first remote controller detects the wireless communication hotspot, reads the stored hotspot verification password corresponding to the wireless communication hotspot identifier, sends the verification request including the hotspot verification password to the wireless communication hotspot, and sets the wireless communication hotspot on the drone or sets On other devices;

The wireless communication hotspot reads the stored original hotspot verification password and compares it with the received hotspot verification password. If the two are consistent, the first remote controller is allowed to access (get the connection);

The first remote controller receives the broadcast information sent by the drone in the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot, and establishes a connection with the drone according to the broadcast information. The broadcast information includes information about the drone, such as the device identification. After receiving the broadcast information, the first remote controller reads the connection verification password corresponding to the device identifier stored according to the device identifier, and the verification request including the connection verification password is included. Send to the drone; the drone reads the stored original connection verification password and compares it with the received connection verification password. If the two match, the connection is established with the first remote controller.

In the specific implementation, the related information of each wireless communication hotspot, such as the correspondence between the hot spot identifier and the hotspot verification password, may be pre-stored in each remote controller; and the related information of each drone, such as device identification and connection verification, may be pre-saved. Correspondence between passwords; it is also possible to pre-store an authentication password for controlling each drone. Correspondingly, the information such as the hotspot verification password, the connection verification password, and the verification password are also pre-stored on the drone.

Further, in order to further improve the security, the drone can also verify the remote controller requesting control, specifically:

The control request sent by the remote controller to the drone includes a verification password. After the drone receives the control request from the first remote controller, the method further includes:

The drone reads the stored original verification password and compares it with the received verification password. If the two are consistent, the step of sending a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling it is performed, otherwise the first step is rejected. Remote control.

The invention not only provides a scheme for realizing control of the drone by a plurality of remote controllers, but also provides a plurality of working modules of the drone based on the application scenarios of the plurality of remote controllers to the drone, including:

The drone periodically performs hotspot detection, knows that its wireless communication hotspot is open, and loses contact with all remote controllers, then detects whether there is an available remote controller, and if so, establishes a connection with the detected remote controller, accepts the Remote control.

In the foregoing process, the implementation of detecting whether there is an available remote controller may be specifically: detecting by using a broadcast mode to see whether a remote controller corresponding to the broadcast message can be received; and establishing a connection with the detected remote controller may specifically include: receiving The control request from the remote controller is verified and judged. After the agreement is made, the connection is allowed. If the available remote controller is not detected, the detection can be continued, and the wireless communication hotspot can be turned off to detect other available wireless communication hotspots.

The foregoing is a mode in which the drone detects the remote controller through its own hotspot, and the mode in which the drone is added to the wireless communication hotspot is described below.

The drone periodically performs hotspot detection and finds that its wireless communication hotspot is in a closed state, detecting whether there are other wireless communication hotspots available, and if so, establishing a connection with other wireless communication hotspots, and detecting other wireless communication hotspots. Whether there is a remote controller available in the network, and if so, establish a connection with the detected remote controller and accept the control of the remote controller.

In the above process, the implementation of detecting whether there is a remote controller available in the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot may be specifically: sending a broadcast message to the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot to detect whether the broadcast can be received. The message is corresponding to the remote controller; establishing a connection with the detected remote controller may specifically include: receiving a control request from the remote controller, performing verification and judgment, and agreeing to allow the connection; if no remote controller is detected, the detection may be continued. It is also possible to open its own wireless communication hotspot and enter the former mode.

In the foregoing, the working mode of the drone is roughly divided and explained. The following is an example with reference to FIG. 3-7. Here, four working modes are divided according to different wireless communication environments.

Mode 1. The drone is in a controlled state and communicates with the remote controller using itself as a wireless communication hotspot.

In this case, the drone itself acts as a wireless communication hotspot, and multiple remote controllers work in the environment formed by the wireless communication hotspot, and the drone receives control of one of the remote controllers. This mode of operation is shown in Figure 3.

Mode 2, the drone is in a controlled state, and communicates with the remote controller by using other wireless communication hotspots.

In this case, the drone is in an environment formed by a wireless communication hotspot, and there may be one or more remote controllers in the wireless communication environment, and the drone receives control of one of the remote controllers. This mode of operation is shown in Figure 4.

Mode 3, the drone is in an automatic working state, and its own wireless communication hotspot is turned on, waiting for the remote control to access.

In this case, the drone is not controlled, is in the automatic working state according to the predetermined program, and opens its own wireless communication hotspot. Once the remote controller joins the wireless communication network, it transfers to the first working mode. This mode of operation is shown in Figure 5.

Mode 4: The drone is in an automatic working state, and its own wireless communication hotspot is turned off, and it is detected whether there is an available wireless communication hotspot in the current environment.

In this case, the drone is not under control and is in an automatic working state according to a predetermined program. If the drone detects an available wireless communication hotspot, join the wireless communication network, then look for the remote control in the network, and if it finds an available remote control, move to the second working mode. Mode 4 is shown in Figure 6.

In the course of work, the drone is generally first in the fourth working mode. At the same time of automatic operation, it first detects whether there are other wireless communication hotspots available, and whether there is one or more in the environment formed by the wireless communication hotspot. A remote control, if present, operates under the control of one of the remote controls, ie, operates in the second mode of operation. In this case, other remote controllers that have not obtained control may request remote control rights from the remote controller that has obtained control, thereby implementing relay control.

When the drone leaves the wireless communication environment and loses contact with all the remote controllers, it can turn on its own wireless communication hotspot function to form a wireless communication environment and enter the third working mode. If the remote controller detects such wireless communication. The environment exists, and no other remote control is controlling the drone in the wireless communication environment, the remote control takes control. If another remote control is already controlling the drone, the remote controller can request control from the remote controller that has obtained control. To achieve relay control. At this point the drone works in the first mode of operation.

If the drone opens its own wireless communication hotspot function and does not have any remote control to contact it for a period of time, the drone enters the fourth working mode, turns off its own wireless communication hotspot function, and detects whether there are other remote controls. The wireless communication hotspot, if any, enters the second mode of operation described above. If the wireless communication hotspot with the remote controller is not detected for a period of time, the wireless communication hotspot function is re-opened, and if the remote controller is detected, the first working mode is entered. In summary, the drone switches in the above four modes of operation. The transition between the various modes of operation of the drone is shown in Figure 7. The wireless communication hotspot in the figure is specifically the WI-FI hotspot.

The above four working modes are described below by means of a table.         <TABLE border="1" borderColor="#000000" width="_0002"><TBODY><tr><td> Mode Number</td><td> Mode Description</td><td> Entry Condition </ Td><td> leaving condition</td></tr><tr><td> 1 </td><td> The wireless communication hotspot of the drone is turned on, and one or more remote controls are added to the wireless communication. The network formed by the hotspot, the drone is under the control of one of the remote controls</td><td> The drone wireless communication hotspot is turned off, and no available wireless communication hotspots are detected for a period of time, or although there is a detective An available wireless communication hotspot was detected, but no available remote control was found in the network formed by the wireless hotspot.</td><td> The drone lost contact with all remotes and entered mode 4 </td></tr ><tr><td> 2 </td><td> The wireless communication hotspot of the drone is turned off, and the wireless communication hotspot communicates successfully with one or more remote controllers, controlled by one of the remote controllers</ Td><td> The drone detects an available wireless communication hotspot and one or more available remote controls exist in the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot. d><td> The drone loses contact with all remotes and enters mode 3 </td></tr><tr><td> 3 </td><td> The drone's own wireless communication hotspot is open And continue to detect whether there is a remote controller available in the network formed by its own wireless communication hotspot</td><td> The drone has lost contact with all the remote controllers, and no wireless device with available remote control is detected for a period of time. Communication network</td><td> l The remote control is still not detected for a while, enter mode 4 l detects the available remote control entry mode 1 </td></tr><tr><td> 4 < /td><td> The drone's own wireless communication hotspot is off, while continuously detecting the availability of a wireless communication network and looking for available remote control in the available wireless communication network</td><td> The machine lost contact with all the remote controllers, and after the wireless communication hotspot has been turned on for a while, the available remote controllers are still not detected.</td><td> l The remote controller is still not detected for a while, enter mode 3 l Detecting the available remote control, enter mode 2 </td></tr></TBODY></TABLE> Table 1 Various working mode states and conditions for entering and leaving       

The applicable environment of the solution of the present invention is numerous, and an example is as follows:

The take-off process and landing process of the drone are more complicated than the flight process and may require human intervention control. When the drone arrives from the location A under the control of the person and arrives at the location B, if there is no one to control, an accident may occur during the selection of the landing site or the hovering location. If there is a remote control in location B, the operator can control the drone according to the actual situation of the location, which can avoid accidents.

In addition, if at location B, the drone is found to have insufficient energy or abnormal state, the operator will use the remote control to make it fall to maintain it, supplement it with additional energy and overhaul it, thereby enhancing its battery life.

In the specific implementation, the following information is saved inside the drone:

All the information needed to enable your own wireless communication hotspot, including the passwords required for the remote control to join the wireless communication network; the passwords and other information required when the drone joins other wireless hotspots; all remote controls that are granted control Information; etc.

The following information is stored in the remote controller: the password information of the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot of the drone; the encrypted information when the control is applied to the drone; the password information of the network formed by the remote control added to other wireless communication hotspots; .

Referring to FIG. 8, a flight control system of the drone of the present invention includes a drone 1, a first remote controller 2 and a second remote controller 3, and the second remote controller 3 is a remote controller currently controlling the drone 1;

The drone 1 establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller 2, receives a control request from the first remote controller 2, and transmits a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller 3 currently controlling it; receiving the second remote control from the second remote controller The control right of the device 3 switches the negotiation message response, and if it is the consent to switch, sends an permission control message to the first remote controller 2, and performs flight under the control of the first remote controller 2;

The first remote controller 2 establishes a connection with the drone 1 to send a control request to the drone 1; receives a permission control message from the drone 1 to control the drone 1;

The second remote controller 3 controls the current drone 1, receives the switching negotiation message from the drone 1, and returns a switching response.

Preferably, the drone 1 includes a connection establishing module 10 and a switching module 20;

The connection establishing module 10 establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller 2;

The switching module 20 receives the control request from the first remote controller 2, and sends a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller 3 that is currently controlling it; receives the control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller 3, if To agree to the handover, an permission control message is transmitted to the first remote controller 2, and the flight is performed under the control of the first remote controller 2.

Preferably, before receiving the control request from the first remote controller 2, the switching module 20 further determines whether there is currently a remote controller for controlling it, and if so, sends it to the second remote controller 3 that is currently controlling it. The control right switches the negotiation message; otherwise, the permission control message is sent directly to the first remote controller 2.

Preferably, the system further comprises a wireless communication hotspot;

The first remote controller 2 detects the wireless communication hotspot, reads the stored hotspot verification password corresponding to the wireless communication hotspot identifier, and sends the verification request including the hotspot verification password to the wireless communication hotspot, and the line communication hotspot is set on the drone 1 Or set on other devices;

The wireless communication hotspot reads the stored original hotspot verification password and compares it with the received hotspot verification password. If the two are consistent, the first remote controller 2 is allowed to access;

The first remote controller 2 receives the broadcast information sent by the drone in the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot, and establishes a connection with the drone 1 according to the broadcast information.

Preferably, after receiving the control request from the first remote controller 2, the switching module 20 reads the stored original verification password and compares it with the received verification password. If the two are consistent, the current control is controlled. The second remote controller transmits a control right switching negotiation message, otherwise rejects the control of the first remote controller 2.

Preferably, the drone 1 includes a first detecting module 30, periodically performing hotspot detection, knowing that the wireless communication hotspot is in an open state, and losing contact with all the remote controllers, detecting whether there is an available remote controller, if any , to establish a connection with the detected remote control, to accept the control of the remote control.

Preferably, the UAV 1 includes a second detection module 40, periodically performing hotspot detection, and detecting that the wireless communication hotspot is in a closed state, detecting whether there are other wireless communication hotspots available, and if so, with other wireless The communication hotspot establishes a connection and detects whether there is a remote controller available in the network formed by other wireless communication hotspots, and if so, establishes a connection with the detected remote controller and accepts control of the remote controller.

The wireless communication connection of the present invention includes various implementations that enable wireless connection over a short range of distances, and alternatives having this functionality are within the scope of the present invention.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc., which are made within the spirit and principles of the present invention, should be included in the present invention. Within the scope of protection.

1 UAV 10 Connection setup module 20 Switching module 30 First detection module 40 Second detection module 2 First remote control 3 Second remote control 101~104 Steps

1 is a schematic flow chart of a flight control method of a drone of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an example of a command interaction of switching from a first remote controller to a second remote controller according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a first working mode of the drone of the present invention; 4 is a schematic diagram of a second working mode of the drone of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a third working mode of the drone of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a fourth working mode of the drone of the present invention; Schematic diagram of switching between modes of the invention of the drone; FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view of the flight control system of the drone of the present invention.

101~104 steps

Claims (13)

A flight control method for a drone, comprising: establishing a wireless communication connection between a drone and a first remote controller; the drone receiving a control request from the first remote controller, and a second to control the current remote controller The remote controller sends a control right switching negotiation message; the drone receives a control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller, and if the control right switching negotiation message responds to the consent switching, sends a control message to the first remote controller. Allowing control of the message; and the drone is flying under the control of the first remote control. The flight control method of claim 1, wherein before the step of receiving the control request from the first remote controller, the method further comprises: the drone determining whether there is currently control thereof The remote controller, if any, performs the step of transmitting the control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling it; otherwise, the step of transmitting the permission control message to the first remote controller is directly performed. The flight control method of claim 1, wherein the step of establishing a wireless communication connection between the drone and the first remote controller comprises: detecting, by the first remote controller, a wireless communication hotspot; The controller reads a hotspot verification password corresponding to the wireless communication hotspot, and sends a verification request including the hotspot verification password to the wireless communication hotspot, wherein the wireless communication hotspot is set on the drone or is set in other On the device; the wireless communication hotspot reads and stores an original hotspot verification password, and compares the received hotspot verification password, if the two are consistent, allowing the first remote controller to access; and the first remote controller is The network formed by the wireless communication hotspot receives a broadcast information sent by the drone, and establishes a connection with the drone according to the broadcast information. The flight control method of claim 1, wherein the control request includes a verification password, and after the step of receiving the control request from the first remote controller, the method further comprises: The UAV reads an original verification password stored by the UAV, compares it with the received verification password, and if the two are consistent, performs the step of transmitting the control handover negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling the same. Otherwise, the control of the first remote controller is rejected. The flight control method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: the drone periodically performing hotspot detection, detecting that the wireless communication hotspot is in an open state, and losing contact with all the remote controllers, Then, it is detected whether there is an available remote controller, and if so, a connection is established with the detected remote controller to receive control of the remote controller. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: the drone periodically performing hotspot detection, and detecting that the wireless communication hotspot is in a closed state, detecting whether the presence is available. Other wireless communication hotspots, if any, establish a connection with other wireless communication hotspots, and detect whether there is a remote controller available in the network formed by other wireless communication hotspots, and if so, establish a connection with the detected remote control, accept Remote control. A flight control system for a drone, the system comprising: a drone, a first remote controller and a second remote controller, wherein the second remote controller controls the drone; wherein the drone and the a remote controller establishes a wireless communication connection, receives a control request from the first remote controller, transmits a control right switching negotiation message to the second remote controller currently controlling the data, and receives a control from the second remote controller Right switching the negotiation message response, if the switching response is to agree to the switching, sending an permission control message to the first remote controller to perform flight under the control of the first remote controller; the first remote controller establishing a connection with the drone Transmitting a control request to the drone; receiving an allow control message from the drone to control the drone; and the second remote control currently controlling the drone to receive the control from the drone Switch the negotiation message and return the switch response. The flight control system of claim 7, wherein the drone includes a connection establishing module and a switching module; wherein the connection establishing module establishes a wireless communication connection with the first remote controller; the switching module receives the control request from the first remote controller, and performs current control on the first remote controller Controlling the second remote controller to send the control right switching negotiation message; and receiving the control right switching negotiation message response from the second remote controller, and if the switching response is to agree to the switching, sending the permission control to the first remote controller The message is flown under the control of the first remote controller. The flight control system of claim 8, wherein the switching module determines whether there is a remote controller for controlling the remote controller before receiving the control request from the first remote controller, and if so, The control right switching negotiation message is sent to the second remote controller currently controlling it; otherwise, the permission control message is directly sent to the first remote controller. The flight control system of claim 7, wherein the system further comprises a wireless communication hotspot; wherein the first remote controller detects the wireless hotspot and reads the stored wireless communication hotspot Identifying the corresponding hotspot verification password, and sending the verification request including the hotspot verification password to the wireless communication hotspot, where the wireless communication hotspot is set on the drone or set on another device; the wireless communication hotspot reads the stored one The original hotspot verification password is compared with the received hotspot verification password, if the two are consistent, the first remote controller is allowed to access; and the first remote controller receives the unmanned person in the network formed by the wireless communication hotspot A broadcast message sent by the machine, and establishing a connection with the drone according to the broadcast information. The flight control system of claim 8, wherein the switching module receives the control request from the first remote controller, reads an original verification password stored by the drone, and receives a verification The passwords are compared. If the two are consistent, the control right switching negotiation message is sent to the second remote controller that is currently controlling, otherwise the control of the first remote controller is rejected. The flight control system according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein The drone includes a first detecting module, periodically detecting the hotspot, knowing that the wireless communication hotspot is in an open state, and losing contact with all the remote controllers, detecting whether there is an available remote controller, and if so, detecting The remote establishes a connection and accepts control of the remote. The flight control system according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the drone includes a second detecting module, periodically performing hot spot detection, and detecting that the wireless communication hotspot is in a closed state, detecting Whether there are other wireless communication hotspots available, if any, establish a connection with other wireless communication hotspots, and detect whether there is a remote controller available in the network formed by other wireless communication hotspots, and if so, with the detected The remote establishes a connection and accepts control of the remote.