WO2017185607A1

WO2017185607A1 - Method and device for switching unmanned aerial vehicle flight control modes, and unmanned aerial vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2017185607A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/099929
Authority: WO
Inventors: 杨震; 李大龙
Original assignee: 乐视控股（北京）有限公司; 乐视体育文化产业发展（北京）有限公司
Priority date: 2016-04-29
Filing date: 2016-09-23
Publication date: 2017-11-02
Also published as: CN105843254A

Abstract

A method and a device for switching unmanned aerial vehicle flight control modes, and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The method for switching unmanned aerial vehicle flight control modes comprises: obtaining the distance between an unmanned aerial vehicle and a remote control, the remote control being used for controlling the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle by means of a remote-control mode (S11); determining the current flight control mode of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the control mode comprising said remote-control mode and a long-range control mode (S13); and, on the basis of the distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the remote control, switching unmanned aerial vehicle flight control modes (S15). In the present method and device, switching control modes on the basis of the distance between an unmanned aerial vehicle and a remote control allows for more flexible unmanned aerial vehicle control. In particular, when an unmanned aerial vehicle flies out of remote control range, a mobile cellular network is utilized for conducting long-range control, thereby improving the flight control of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Description

Method, device and drone for UAV flight control mode switching

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed on April 29, 2016, the Chinese Patent Office, the application number is 201610282002.3, and the application name is "an unmanned aerial vehicle flight control mode switching method, device and its drone". The entire contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of flight control, and in particular, to a method and a device for switching a flight control mode of a drone, and a drone thereof.

Background technique

The drone is a non-manned aerial vehicle that is operated by a remote controller. There is no cockpit on the plane, but it is equipped with autopilot, program control device and other equipment. In addition to being able to fly in the air under the control of the remote control, the ground control station personnel can also track and locate the drone through radar and other equipment. .

In the process of implementing the present application, the inventors have found that the prior art is mainly controlled by a remote controller, and the switching between control modes cannot be realized. Therefore, the control method is not flexible enough.

Summary of the invention

The embodiment of the present application aims to provide a method and device for switching a flight control mode of a drone and a drone thereof, and control the mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, so that the control of the drone is more flexible. Conducive to the flight control of the drone.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for switching a flight control mode of a drone, including:

Obtaining a distance between the drone and a remote controller, the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight by remote control,

Determining the current flight control mode of the drone, the control mode including a remote control mode and a remote control mode,

According to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, the drone flight control mode is switched.

Optionally, the obtaining the distance between the UAV and the remote controller includes:

Obtain the current position of the drone by satellite positioning or radar,

Calculate the distance between the drone and the remote control based on the current position of the drone.

Optionally, the determining the current flight control mode of the drone includes:

Receiving a flight control signal, the flight control signal including a remote control signal or a remote control signal,

Determining the current flight control mode of the drone based on the received flight control signal.

Optionally, the switching the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller includes:

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller exceeds the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode, or

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller is less than the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode.

Optionally, the switching distance is smaller than a remote control distance of the remote controller.

Optionally, the remote control mode is a mobile cellular communication control mode.

Optionally, the method further includes:

Sending a drone identification to the ground control station to cause the ground control station to transmit a remote control signal according to the UAV identity in a remote control mode.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a UAV flight control mode switching device, including:

An acquiring unit, configured to acquire a distance between the drone and a remote controller, where the remote controller is used to control the drone flight by remote control,

a determining unit, configured to determine a current flight control mode of the drone, wherein the control mode includes a remote control mode and a remote control mode,

And a switching unit configured to switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the control device.

Optionally, the obtaining unit is specifically configured to:

Obtain the current position of the drone by satellite positioning or radar,

Optionally, the determining unit is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the switching unit is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the device further includes:

And a sending unit, configured to send the drone identification to the ground control station, so that the ground control station sends the remote control signal according to the UAV identity in the remote control mode.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a drone, including:

Remote antenna for receiving remote control signals

RF antenna for receiving remote control signals,

a central processor, configured to obtain a distance between the drone and the remote controller, and determine a current flight control mode of the drone according to the received remote control signal or a remote control signal, according to the drone and the remote controller The distance, switch the drone flight control mode.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including:

At least one processor; and,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein

The memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the method as described above.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions for causing a computer to execute as described above Methods.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions, when the program When the instructions are executed by the computer, the computer is caused to perform the method as described above.

In the embodiment of the present application, by obtaining the distance between the drone and the remote controller, the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight by remote control, and determine the current flight control mode of the drone, wherein the control manner includes The remote control mode and the remote control mode switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, and realize the flexible switching of the drone flight control mode, which is beneficial to the flight control of the drone.

DRAWINGS

The one or more embodiments are exemplified by the accompanying drawings in the accompanying drawings, and FIG. The figures in the drawings do not constitute a scale limitation unless otherwise stated.

1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for switching a flight control mode of a drone according to an embodiment of the present application;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of a UAV flight control mode switching device according to an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a drone provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It is a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without departing from the inventive scope are the scope of the present application.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions, and advantages of the present application more comprehensible, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and are not intended to be limiting.

Further, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present application described below may be combined with each other as long as they do not constitute a conflict with each other.

In the embodiment of the present application, the drone can be controlled by the remote control, or by the ground control station, and the flight control by the remote control is a remote control mode, and the flight controlled by the ground control station. The control method is remote control mode. In the remote control mode, signal transmission can be performed by means of mobile cellular communication, including various wireless communication systems, such as 2G, 3G or 4G communication modes, and in the remote control mode, a ground controller can Controls multiple drones, each of which is provided with a mobile cellular communication unit, such as a 2G, 3G or 4G communication unit. In order to realize the flight control of the ground controller to multiple UAVs, the ground controller can be used to assign an identity to the drone that is flying within its control distance.

In the embodiment of the present application, a satellite positioning system can be installed on the drone, for example, a GPS satellite positioning system, and the current position of the drone can be obtained through the satellite positioning system, thereby obtaining the drone and the remote controller and the ground controller. The distance between the remote control mode and the remote control mode is realized according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller.

In the embodiment of the present application, the unmanned aerial vehicle may include: an unmanned fixed wing aircraft, an unmanned vertical take-off and landing machine, an unmanned airship, an unmanned helicopter, an unmanned multi-rotor aircraft, an unmanned wing aircraft, and the like.

The embodiments of the present application are specifically described below with the unmanned multi-rotor aircraft in conjunction with specific drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for switching a flight control mode of a drone according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the method includes the following steps:

S11. Obtain a distance between the drone and a remote controller, and the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight in a remote manner.

In the embodiment of the present application, the drone is mainly controlled by the remote controller in a remote control manner. During the flight, the current position of the drone can be obtained by satellite positioning or radar on the drone, and no calculation is performed according to the current position. The distance between the human machine and the remote control. The drone has a certain remote control distance when it is controlled by remote control. For example, the remote control distance is 2KM. If it exceeds the distance, it needs to be switched to the remote control mode. In the remote control mode, the drone can be positioned by the ground control station. Or the radar system monitors the current position of the drone and obtains the distance between the drone and the remote. For example, the ground control station can separately locate the position of the drone and the remote controller through the GPS positioning system, thereby obtaining the distance between the drone and the remote controller, and transmitting the distance to the drone.

S13. Determine a current flight control mode of the drone, and the control mode includes a remote control mode and a remote control mode.

In the embodiment of the present application, during the flight of the drone, the drone can receive the remote control signal and the remote control signal respectively through the remote control system and the mobile cellular communication unit, and determine the unmanned according to the received flight control signal. The current flight control mode. When the drone receives the remote control signal, the current flight control mode of the drone is the remote control mode. When the drone receives the remote control signal, the current flight control mode of the drone is the remote control mode.

S15. Switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller.

In the embodiment of the present application, in order to realize the switching of the flight control mode of the drone, especially when the flight distance of the drone is about to exceed the remote control distance of the remote controller, in order to achieve safe flight, the drone needs to be switched from the remote control mode to Remote control mode. Therefore, according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, switching During the flight control mode of the drone, the switching distance of the switching control mode needs to be set in advance, and the switching distance should be smaller than the remote control distance of the remote controller, so as to switch the flight control mode before the aircraft exceeds the remote control range of the remote controller to ensure flight safety. .

In the embodiment of the present application, the switching the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller includes:

In the embodiment of the present application, before the UAV switches to the remote control mode, the UAV is required to send the UAV identity to the ground control station, or the ground control station allocates the UAV identity to the UAV. So that the ground control station sends a remote control signal according to the UAV identity in a remote control mode.

In the embodiment of the present application, in order to realize remote control of the drone, the mobile communication system is used for communication between the drone and the ground control station. Therefore, the mobile communication unit needs to be installed on the drone, for example, 2G. , 3G or 4G communication unit.

In the embodiment of the present application, by obtaining the distance between the drone and the remote controller, the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight by remote control, and determine the current flight control mode of the drone, wherein the control manner includes The remote control mode and the remote control mode switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, thereby realizing the flexible switching of the drone flight control mode, especially when the drone flight distance exceeds the remote control distance When using the mobile cellular network for remote control, it is beneficial to the flight control of the drone.

2 is a schematic structural diagram of a UAV flight control mode switching device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the device 2 includes:

The acquiring unit 21 is configured to acquire a distance between the drone and a remote controller, and the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight by using a remote control manner.

The determining unit 22 is configured to determine a current flight control mode of the drone, and the control mode includes a remote control mode and a remote control mode.

The switching unit 23 is configured to switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller.

In the embodiment of the present application, the obtaining unit 21 is specifically configured to:

Obtain the current position of the drone by satellite positioning or radar,

In the embodiment of the present application, the determining unit 22 is specifically configured to:

Determining the current flight mode of the drone based on the received flight control signal.

In the embodiment of the present application, the switching unit 22 is specifically configured to:

In the embodiment of the present application, the drone obtains the current position of the drone through the satellite positioning or radar through the acquiring unit 21, thereby acquiring the distance between the drone and the remote controller, and the receiving unit 22 according to the received The flight control signal determines the current flight control mode of the drone, and then the switching unit 23 switches the flight control mode of the drone according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller. During the switching process, the switching unit 23 connects the drone with The distance between the remote controller and the switching distance are compared. If the distance between the drone and the remote controller is greater than the switching distance, and the current control mode of the drone is the remote control mode, the drone is switched to the remote control mode. If the distance between the drone and the remote controller is less than the switching distance, and the current control mode of the drone is the remote control mode, the drone is switched to the remote control mode, wherein, in order to realize the flight safety control of the drone, The switching distance is smaller than the remote control distance of the remote controller.

In the embodiment of the present application, the remote control mode moves the cellular communication control mode. In order to realize remote control of the drone, the mobile communication system is used for communication between the drone and the ground control station. Therefore, the mobile communication unit, such as a 2G, 3G or 4G communication unit, needs to be installed on the drone.

In the embodiment of the present application, the device 2 further includes:

The sending unit 24 is configured to send the drone identification to the ground control station, so that the ground control station sends the remote control signal according to the UAV identity in the remote control mode.

In the embodiment of the present application, before the UAV switches to the remote control mode, the UAV is required to send the UAV identity to the ground control station, or the ground control station allocates the UAV identity to the UAV. So that the ground control station sends the far-end according to the identity of the drone in the remote control mode. Process control signal.

It should be noted that, since the UAV flight control mode switching method and the UAV flight control mode switching device are based on the same application concept, the corresponding technical contents in the method embodiment and the device embodiment may be mutually applicable, and the details are not described herein. Said.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a drone provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 3, the drone 3 includes:

a remote control antenna 31 for receiving a remote control signal,

An RF antenna 32 for receiving a remote control signal,

The central processing unit 33 is configured to acquire a distance between the drone and the remote controller, and determine a current flight control mode of the drone according to the received remote control signal or a remote control signal, according to the drone and the remote control The distance of the device, switching the drone flight control mode.

In the embodiment of the present application, the unmanned aerial vehicle may be an unmanned fixed wing aircraft, an unmanned vertical take-off and landing machine, an unmanned airship, an unmanned helicopter, an unmanned multi-rotor aircraft, an unmanned wing aircraft, and the like.

In the embodiment of the present application, the central processing unit is a control center of the drone, and connects various parts of the entire electronic device by using various interfaces and lines, by running or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the storage unit. And invoking data stored in the storage unit to perform various functions of the electronic device and/or process data. The processor may be composed of an integrated circuit, or may be composed of a plurality of sealed integrated chips that connect the same function or different functions. That is, the processor can be a combination of a GPU, a digital signal processor, and a control chip in the communication unit.

A person skilled in the art should further appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the various examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both, in order to clearly illustrate hardware and software. Interchangeability, the composition and steps of the various examples have been generally described in terms of function in the above description. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the solution. Professional technicians can apply to each specific application Different methods are used to implement the described functionality, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the present application. The computer software can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, which, when executed, can include the flow of an embodiment of the methods described above. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only storage memory, or a random storage memory.

4 is a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic device 4 includes:

One or more processors 41 and a memory 42 are exemplified by a processor 41 in FIG.

The processor 41 and the memory 42 may be connected by a bus or other means, and the connection by a bus is taken as an example in FIG.

The memory 42 is a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, and is applicable to a non-volatile software program, a non-volatile computer-executable program, and a module, such as an image acquisition method of a terminal in the embodiment of the present application. Program instructions/modules (for example, acquisition unit 21, determination unit 22, switching unit 23 of UAV flight control mode switching device 2 shown in FIG. 2). The processor 41 executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device 4 by executing non-volatile software programs, instructions, and modules stored in the memory 42, that is, the UAV flight control mode switching of the above method embodiment is implemented. The method and the functions of the various modules of the above-described UAV flight control mode switching device embodiment.

Memory 42 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid state storage device. In some embodiments, memory 42 may optionally include memory remotely located relative to processor 41, which may be coupled to processor 41 via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The program instructions/modules are stored in the memory 42 and, when executed by the one or more processors 41, the UAV flight control mode switching method in any of the above method embodiments may be performed, for example, performing the above Method step S11 to step S15 in FIG. 1 described; the module in FIG. 2 can also be implemented The function of blocks 21-24.

The electronic device 4 of the embodiment of the present application exists in various forms, including but not limited to:

Unmanned fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned vertical take-off and landing aircraft, unmanned airships, unmanned helicopters, unmanned multi-rotor aircraft, unmanned parachute aircraft.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a non-volatile computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions executed by one or more processors, such as one of the processes in FIG. The one or more processors may be configured to perform the UAV flight control mode switching method in any of the foregoing method embodiments, for example, to perform the method steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 1 described above; The function of module 21-24 in 2.

The apparatus or device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, ie It can be located in one place or it can be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the various embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus a general hardware platform, and of course, by hardware. Based on such understanding, the above technical solutions may be embodied in the form of software products in essence or in the form of software products, which may be stored in a computer readable storage medium such as a ROM/RAM or a disk. , an optical disk, etc., includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform the methods described in various embodiments or portions of the embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and are not limited thereto; in the idea of the present application, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments may also be combined. The steps may be carried out in any order, and there are many other variations of the various aspects of the present application as described above, which are not provided in the details for the sake of brevity; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, The skilled person should understand that the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may be modified, or some of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or substitutions do not deviate from the embodiments of the present application. The scope of the technical solution.

Claims

A method for switching a flight control mode of a drone, characterized in that it comprises:

Obtaining a distance between the drone and a remote controller, the remote controller is configured to control the drone flight by remote control,

Determining the current flight control mode of the drone, the control mode including a remote control mode and a remote control mode,

According to the distance between the drone and the remote controller, the drone flight control mode is switched.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining the distance between the drone and the remote controller comprises:

Obtain the current position of the drone by satellite positioning or radar,

Calculate the distance between the drone and the remote control based on the current position of the drone.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the current flight control mode of the drone comprises:

Receiving a flight control signal, the flight control signal including a remote control signal or a remote control signal,

Determining the current flight control mode of the drone based on the received flight control signal.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the switching the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the remote controller comprises:

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller exceeds the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode, or

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller is less than the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode.
The method of claim 4 wherein said switching distance is less than a remote control distance of the remote control.
The method of claim 4 wherein said remote control mode is a mobile cellular communication control mode.
The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

Sending a drone identification to the ground control station to cause the ground control station to transmit a remote control signal according to the UAV identity in a remote control mode.
A UAV flight control mode switching device, comprising:

An acquiring unit, configured to acquire a distance between the drone and a remote controller, where the remote controller is used to control the drone flight by remote control,

a determining unit, configured to determine a current flight control mode of the drone, wherein the control mode includes a remote control mode and a remote control mode,

And a switching unit configured to switch the drone flight control mode according to the distance between the drone and the control device.
The device according to claim 8, wherein the obtaining unit is specifically configured to:

Obtain the current position of the drone by satellite positioning or radar,

Calculate the distance between the drone and the remote control based on the current position of the drone.
The device according to claim 8, wherein the determining unit is specifically configured to:

Receiving a flight control signal, the flight control signal including a remote control signal or a remote control signal,

Determining the current flight control mode of the drone based on the received flight control signal.
The device according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the switching unit is specifically configured to:

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller exceeds the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode, or

When the current control mode of the drone is remote control mode, and the distance between the drone and the remote controller is less than the switching distance, the drone is switched to the remote control mode.
The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said switching distance is less than a remote control distance of the remote control.
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said remote control mode is a mobile cellular communication control mode.
The device according to claim 13, wherein the device further comprises:

And a sending unit, configured to send the drone identification to the ground control station, so that the ground control station sends the remote control signal according to the UAV identity in the remote control mode.
A drone, characterized in that it comprises:

Remote antenna for receiving remote control signals

RF antenna for receiving remote control signals,

a central processor, configured to acquire a distance between the drone and the remote controller, and determine a current flight control mode of the drone according to the received remote control signal or a remote control signal, according to the drone The distance from the remote control switches the flight control mode of the drone.