WO2020153372A1 - Drone system and drone system control method - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To make it possible, in a system in which a drone replenishes a resource from a mobile unit, to efficiently replenish the resource in the drone and the mobile unit even when the resource stored in the drone and the mobile unit becomes depleted while the drone and the mobile unit are working. [Solution] A drone system 500 containing at least a drone 100, a mobile unit 406a upon which the drone can land and which can move together with the drone, and an operation determination device 40 which acquires the positions and statuses of the drone and the mobile unit and determines the operations of the drone and the mobile unit, wherein the mobile unit is equipped with a storage compartment 821a that is capable of housing a resource used by the drone, and the operation determination device is equipped with a mobile unit resource acquisition unit 411 that acquires the amount of the resource stored in the storage compartment, and a resource replenishment determination unit 41 that determines to replenish the resource in the mobile unit when the aforementioned resource amount satisfies a predetermined condition.

Description

Drone system, drone system control method

The present invention relates to a drone system and a drone system control method.

　The application of small helicopters (multicopters) commonly called drones is progressing. One of its important fields of application is spraying chemicals such as pesticides and liquid fertilizers on farmland (field) (for example, Patent Document 1). In relatively small farms, it is often appropriate to use drones instead of manned planes and helicopters.

With technologies such as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System and RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematic-Global Positioning System), drones have become able to accurately know their absolute position in centimeters during flight. Even in a farmland with a narrow and complicated terrain typical of the above, it is possible to autonomously fly with minimal manual operation and to efficiently and accurately apply a drug.

On the other hand, there were cases where it was difficult to say that safety considerations were sufficient for autonomous flight drones for agricultural drug spraying. A drone loaded with medicines weighs several tens of kilograms, which could have serious consequences in the event of an accident such as falling onto a person. In addition, the drone operator is usually not an expert, so a fool-proof mechanism is necessary, but the consideration for this was insufficient. Until now, there have been drone safety technologies that are premised on human control (for example, Patent Document 2), but in particular, address the safety issues peculiar to autonomous flying drones for drug spraying for agriculture. There was no technology to do this.

Also, the amount of resources such as batteries and medicines that can be installed in the drone is limited, so the drone needs to replenish resources during work. For example, a resource such as a light truck that stands by around a farm field contains resources, and the drone appropriately interrupts the work and returns to the vehicle to replenish the resources. According to this structure, since the moving body is provided with the replenishment mechanism, the replenishment mechanism can be made to stand by around the field in which the work is being performed. That is, the drone can replenish resources in a short flight, and is efficient in terms of energy and time. However, there may be a shortage of resources accommodated in the mobile body. Therefore, there is a need for a system capable of efficiently replenishing resources to a mobile unit when the resources contained in the mobile unit are insufficient.

Patent Document 3 recognizes a plurality of unmanned guided vehicles, a main route for guiding these unmanned guided vehicles to a work site, a charging unit for charging each unmanned guided vehicle, and the number of times of travel of each unmanned guided vehicle after charging. There is described a control method for an automated guided vehicle, comprising: a centralized control unit that inputs a travel request and commands each automated guided vehicle to perform a predetermined operation. This control method is based on the travel request frequency distribution that is empirically obtained and converted into data, and when the unprocessed amount of travel requests is large and the number of travel requests is expected to decrease, the charging time When a predetermined time, which is shorter than the predetermined time, is reached, the automatic guided vehicle starts running.

However, Patent Document 3 does not describe that the charging unit that charges the automated guided vehicle that performs the work is further supplemented with resources.

Patent publication gazette JP 2001-120151 Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2017-163265 Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-127303

Provided is a system for replenishing resources from a moving body to a drone, which enables the drone and the moving body to be efficiently replenished with resources even when the resources contained in the drone and the moving body are insufficient during work. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, a drone system according to an aspect of the present invention is a drone that performs work in a work area, the drone is landable, a movable body that is movable with the drone, the drone, and A drone system including at least a motion determining device that grasps a position and a state of the moving body and determines a motion of the drone and the moving body, wherein the motion determining device includes the moving body landing the drone. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped at the planned position, and if the moving body is not stopped at the planned landing position, the drone is put on standby in the work area of the drone.

The motion determining device may be configured to make the drone stand by in the work area of the drone by hovering the drone.

In the case where the operation determining device makes the drone stand by in the work area of the drone by hovering the drone, the moving body does not reach the planned landing position even if the amount of electricity stored in the drone reaches a predetermined amount. If, or if it is expected that the moving body does not reach the planned landing position from the exit point of the work area until the drone reaches the planned landing position, the drone is scheduled to land. It may be landed on the ground corresponding to the position.

In order to achieve the above object, a control method of a drone system according to another aspect of the present invention is a drone, the drone is landable, a movable body movable with the drone, the drone and the movable body. A method of controlling a drone system, comprising at least a motion determining device that grasps a position and a state and determines a motion of the drone and the moving body, wherein the moving body is stopped at a planned landing position of the drone. And a step of making the drone stand by in the work area of the drone when the moving body is not stopped at the planned landing position.

In a system for replenishing resources from a moving body to a drone, even if the resources contained in the drone and the moving body run out during work, the drone and the moving body can be efficiently replenished with resources.

1 is a plan view of a drone included in a drone system according to the present invention. It is a front view of the drone which the drone system has. It is a right view of the said drone. It is a rear view of the said drone. It is a perspective view of the drone. It is the whole conceptual diagram of the medicine distribution system which the drone has. It is a whole conceptual diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the chemical spray system which the said drone has. It is the whole conceptual diagram showing a 3rd embodiment of the medicine spraying system which the drone has. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the mode of arrangement|positioning of the agricultural field where the said drone works, and the automatic travel permission area in which the said mobile body travels. It is a schematic diagram showing the control function of the said drone. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the mode of the moving body concerning this invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows a mode that the upper surface plate of the said moving body on which the said drone is mounted is sliding backward. It is a functional block diagram regarding the replenishment of the resource to the drone and the moving body, which the drone, the moving body, and the motion determining apparatus according to the present invention have. .. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between a charging time and a charging rate of a battery included in the drone. (A) Time chart showing an example of the operation of the drone and the moving body from the start to the end of the total work, (b) a graph showing the completion rate of work in the field, (c) the charging rate of the battery of the drone It is a graph which shows. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI of the operating device which the said drone system has.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The figures are all examples. In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, certain specific details are set forth in order to facilitate a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, embodiments are not limited to these particular details. Also, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings.

First, the configuration of the drone included in the drone system according to the present invention will be described. In the specification of the present application, the drone, regardless of power means (electric power, prime mover, etc.), control system (whether wireless or wired, and whether it is an autonomous flight type or a manual control type), It refers to all aircraft that have multiple rotors.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the rotor blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101-2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b (also referred to as rotors) are It is a means for flying the drone 100, and in consideration of the stability of flight, the size of the aircraft, and the balance of power consumption, eight aircraft (four sets of two-stage rotary blades) are provided. Each rotor 101 is arranged on four sides of the main body 110 by an arm extending from the main body 110 of the drone 100. That is, the rotating blades 101-1a and 101-1b in the left rear in the traveling direction, the rotating blades 101-2a and 101-2b in the left front, the rotating blades 101-3a and 101-3b in the right rear, and the rotating blades 101-in the front right. 4a and 101-4b are arranged respectively. Note that the drone 100 has the traveling direction downward in the plane of FIG. Rod-shaped legs 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, 107-4 extend downward from the rotation axis of the rotary blade 101.

The motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 102-4a, 102-4b are rotor blades 101-1a, 101-1b, 101-2a, 101-. 2b, 101-3a, 101-3b, 101-4a, 101-4b is a means for rotating (typically an electric motor, but may be a motor, etc.), one for each rotor Has been. The motor 102 is an example of a propeller. The upper and lower rotor blades (eg 101-1a and 101-1b) and their corresponding motors (eg 102-1a and 102-1b) in one set are for drone flight stability etc. The axes are collinear and rotate in opposite directions. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the radial member for supporting the propeller guard, which is provided so that the rotor does not interfere with foreign matter, is not horizontal but has a tower-like structure. This is for promoting the buckling of the member to the outside of the rotor blade at the time of collision and preventing the member from interfering with the rotor.

The drug nozzles 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4 are means for spraying the drug downward, and are equipped with four machines. In the specification of the present application, the term “medicine” generally refers to pesticides, herbicides, liquid fertilizers, insecticides, seeds, and liquids or powders applied to fields such as water.

The drug tank 104 is a tank for storing the drug to be sprayed, and is provided at a position close to the center of gravity of the drone 100 and lower than the center of gravity from the viewpoint of weight balance. The drug hoses 105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4 are means for connecting the drug tank 104 and each drug nozzle 103-1, 103-2, 103-3, 103-4, and are rigid. It may be made of the above-mentioned material and also have a role of supporting the medicine nozzle. The pump 106 is a means for discharging the medicine from the nozzle.

FIG. 6 shows an overall conceptual diagram of a system using an example of drug application of the drone 100 according to the present invention. This figure is a schematic diagram and the scale is not accurate. In the figure, the drone 100, the operation device 401, the small portable terminal 401a, the base station 404, and the moving body 406a are connected to the farm cloud 405, respectively. For these connections, wireless communication may be performed by Wi-Fi, a mobile communication system, or the like, or a part or all of them may be wired.

The drone 100 and the mobile unit 406a transmit and receive information to and from each other, and operate in cooperation with each other. The moving body 406a has a departure/arrival point 406. The drone 100 has a flight control unit 21 that controls the flight of the drone 100, and a functional unit that transmits and receives information to and from the moving body 406a.

The operation unit 401 is a means for transmitting a command to the drone 100 by the operation of the user 402 and displaying information received from the drone 100 (for example, position, drug amount, battery level, camera image, etc.). Yes, and may be realized by a portable information device such as a general tablet terminal that runs a computer program. Although the drone 100 according to the present invention is controlled to perform autonomous flight, it may be configured so that it can be manually operated during basic operations such as takeoff and return, and in an emergency. In addition to the portable information device, an emergency operating device (not shown) having a function dedicated to emergency stop may be used. The emergency operation device may be a dedicated device having a large emergency stop button or the like so that an emergency response can be taken quickly. Further, in addition to the operation device 401, a small mobile terminal 401a capable of displaying a part or all of the information displayed on the operation device 401, for example, a smartphone may be included in the system. Further, the operation of the drone 100 may be changed based on the information input from the small portable terminal 401a. The small portable terminal 401a is connected to the base station 404, for example, and can receive information and the like from the farm cloud 405 via the base station 404.

The field 403 is a rice field, a field, etc. to which the drug is sprayed by the drone 100. Actually, the topography of the farm field 403 is complicated, and there are cases where the topographic map cannot be obtained in advance or the topographic map and the situation at the site are inconsistent. Normally, the farm field 403 is adjacent to a house, a hospital, a school, another crop farm field, a road, a railroad, and the like. Further, there may be an intruder such as a building or an electric wire in the field 403.

The base station 404 is a device that provides a master device function of Wi-Fi communication and the like, and may also function as an RTK-GPS base station to provide an accurate position of the drone 100 (Wi- The base unit function of Fi communication and RTK-GPS base station may be independent devices). Further, the base station 404 may be capable of communicating with the farm cloud 405 using a mobile communication system such as 3G, 4G, or LTE. In this embodiment, the base station 404 is loaded on the moving body 406a together with the departure point 406.

The farm cloud 405 is a group of computers typically operated on a cloud service and related software, and may be wirelessly connected to the operation unit 401 via a mobile phone line or the like. The farm cloud 405 may analyze the image of the field 403 captured by the drone 100, grasp the growth status of the crop, and perform a process for determining a flight route. Further, the drone 100 may be provided with the stored topographical information of the field 403 and the like. In addition, the history of the flight of the drone 100 and captured images may be accumulated and various analysis processes may be performed.

The small mobile terminal 401a is, for example, a smartphone or the like. On the display unit of the small mobile terminal 401a, information on predicted motions regarding the operation of the drone 100, more specifically, the scheduled time when the drone 100 will return to the departure point 406, and the work that the user 402 should perform when returning Information such as contents is displayed as appropriate. Further, the operations of the drone 100 and the moving body 406a may be changed based on the input from the small mobile terminal 401a. The small portable terminal 401a can receive information from both the drone 100 and the mobile body 406a. Further, the information from the drone 100 may be transmitted to the small mobile terminal 401a via the mobile body 406a.

Normally, the drone 100 will take off from a departure/arrival point 406 outside the field 403, and will return to the departure/arrival point 406 after spraying a drug on the field 403 or when it becomes necessary to replenish or charge the drug. The flight route (intrusion route) from the landing point 406 to the target field 403 may be stored in advance in the farm cloud 405 or the like, or may be input by the user 402 before the start of takeoff.

As in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, in the drug spraying system of the drone 100 according to the present invention, the drone 100, the operation device 401, the small portable terminal 401a, and the farming cloud 405 are connected to the base station 404, respectively. It may be configured.

Further, as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the drug spraying system of the drone 100 according to the present invention is such that the drone 100, the operation unit 401, and the small portable terminal 401a are connected to the base station 404, respectively, and operated. Only the device 401 may be connected to the farm cloud 405.

As shown in FIG. 9, the drone 100 flies over the fields 403a and 403b and performs the work in the fields. The moving body 406a automatically travels in the automatic operation permission area 90 provided around the farm fields 403a and 403b. The automatic driving permission area 90 is, for example, a farm road. The fields 403a and 403b and the automatic operation permission area 90 form a work area. Further, in the autonomous driving permission area 90, the moving body 406a is movable, but the movement permitting area 901 where the drone 100 cannot land and the moving body 406a are movable, and the drone 100 can land on the moving body 406a. The landing permission area 902 is subdivided. The reason why the drone 100 cannot land is that, for example, an obstacle 80 such as a guardrail, a power pole, an electric wire, a warehouse, or a grave is installed between the area and the field 403a.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of drones 100a and 100b (hereinafter, also referred to as the first drone 100a and the second drone 100b) simultaneously fly to one field 403a (an example of a work area) and perform their respective works. May be. The work performed by the first drone 100a is an example of the first work, and the work performed by the second drone 100b is an example of the second work. The first work includes an operation of flying the first operation route 51 comprehensively set in the first work area 403c which is a part of the farm field 403a. The second work includes an operation of flying the second operation route 52, which is comprehensively set, in the second work area 403d which is a region other than the first work area 403c in the farm field 403a. The drones 100a and 100b fly along the first and second driving routes 51 and 52, spray chemicals, and photograph the inside of the field 403a.

The first driving route 51 includes a start point 51s, a worked route 51a, an unworked route 51b, and an end point 51e. The first drone 100a starts flying from the starting point 51s and flies to the ending point 51e. The route which the drone 100a has already flown is referred to as a worked route 51a, and the route which is planned to fly from now on is referred to as an unworked route 51b. Similarly, the second driving route 52 includes a start point 52s, a worked route 52a, an unworked route 52b, and an end point 52e. The second drone 100b starts flying from the starting point 52s and flies to the ending point 52e. The route which the drone 100b has already flown is referred to as a worked route 52a, and the route which is planned to fly from now on is referred to as an unworked route 52b.

A plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406b (hereinafter, also referred to as first moving body 406A and second moving body 406B) run in the automatic driving permission area 90. The plurality of drones 100a and 100b and the plurality of mobile bodies 406A and 406B included in the drone system 500 are connected to each other via a network, and are centrally managed by an operation determination device 40 described later in FIG.

In this embodiment, the number of drones and the number of mobile units are the same, but they do not have to be the same. When the number of drones and the number of moving bodies are the same, one drone can be installed for each moving body, so all the drones can be loaded on the moving body and the drone can be carried in from outside the work area. Further, although a mobile unit cannot replenish resources to a plurality of drones at the same time, the drone system 500 includes the same number of drones and mobile units, so that all drones can be replenished at the same time.

The motion determining device 40 may be an independent device, or may be installed in any of the configurations included in the drone system 500, such as the plurality of drones 100a, 100b, the plurality of mobile bodies 406A, 406B, or the farming cloud 405. May be.

The drone 100 takes off from the moving body 406a and performs work in the fields 403a and 403b. The drone 100 appropriately interrupts the work during the work in the fields 403a and 403b and returns to the moving body 406a to replenish the battery 502 and the medicine. When the work on the predetermined field is completed, the drone 100 rides on the moving body 406a to move to the vicinity of another field and then takes off from the moving body 406a again to start the work on the different field. As described above, the movement of the drone 100 in the automatic driving permission area 90 is basically carried on the moving body 406a, and the moving body 406a carries the drone 100 to the vicinity of the field where the work is performed. According to this configuration, the battery 502 of the drone 100 can be saved. Further, since the moving body 406a stores the battery 502 and the medicine that can be replenished in the drone 100, the moving body 406a moves to the vicinity of the field where the drone 100 is working and waits. The resource can be replenished to 100 efficiently.

The area outside the automatic driving permission area 90 is an automatic driving non-permission area 91. The automatic driving permission area 90 and the automatic driving non-permission area 91 are partitioned by partition members 407a, 407b, 407c, 407d, 407e. The automatic driving permission area 90 and the automatic driving non-permission area 91 are separated by various obstacles and the like, and the road is continuously formed, and the partition members 407a, 407b, 407c, 407d, 407e are concerned. It may be arranged on the road. In other words, the partition members 407a, 407b, 407c, 407d, 407e are arranged at the entrance to the automatic driving permission area 90.

The partition member 407 is a member for partitioning a work area that is a field around the farm field 403 and its surroundings, and that moves when the moving body 406a and the drone 100 work, and is, for example, a color cone (registered trademark) or a triangular cone. , Corn bars, barricades, field arches, fences, etc. The partition member 407 may be physically partitioned or may be partitioned by light rays such as infrared rays. The partition member 407 is used mainly for informing an intruder outside the work area that he/she is working and for restricting entry into the work area. Therefore, it is a member that an intruder can see from a distance. Further, since the partition member 407 is installed by the user 402 at the start of the work, it is preferable that the partition member 407 is easy to install and remove. A plurality of partition members 407 may be included in the drone system 500. The partition member 407 may detect that an intruder has entered the work area and may transmit the intrusion information to the moving body 406a, the operation unit 401, the small portable terminal 401a, or the like. The intruder includes a person, a car, and other moving bodies.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram showing the control function of the embodiment of the drug spraying drone according to the present invention. The flight controller 501 is a component that controls the entire drone, and specifically may be an embedded computer including a CPU, memory, related software, and the like. The flight controller 501, based on the input information received from the operation unit 401 and the input information obtained from various sensors described later, via the control means such as ESC (Electronic Speed Control), the motor 102-1a, 102-1b. , 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, 104-b are controlled to control the flight of the drone 100. The actual rotation speed of the motors 102-1a, 102-1b, 102-2a, 102-2b, 102-3a, 102-3b, 104-a, 104-b is fed back to the flight controller 501 to perform normal rotation. The configuration is such that it can be monitored. Alternatively, the rotary blade 101 may be provided with an optical sensor or the like so that the rotation of the rotary blade 101 is fed back to the flight controller 501.

The software used by the flight controller 501 can be rewritten through storage media or the like for function expansion/change, problem correction, etc., or through communication means such as Wi-Fi communication or USB. In this case, encryption, checksum, electronic signature, virus check software, etc. are used to protect the software from being rewritten by unauthorized software. In addition, a part of the calculation process used by the flight controller 501 for control may be executed by another computer existing on the operation unit 401, the farm cloud 405, or another place. Since the flight controller 501 is highly important, some or all of its constituent elements may be duplicated.

The flight controller 501 communicates with the operation unit 401 via the Wi-Fi slave unit function 503 and further via the base station 404, receives a necessary command from the operation unit 401, and outputs necessary information to the operation unit. Can be sent to 401. In this case, the communication may be encrypted to prevent illegal acts such as interception, spoofing, and hijacking of the device. The base station 404 has a function of an RTK-GPS base station in addition to a communication function by Wi-Fi. By combining the signal from the RTK base station and the signal from the GPS positioning satellite, the flight controller 501 can measure the absolute position of the drone 100 with an accuracy of about several centimeters. Since the flight controller 501 is of high importance, it may be duplicated/multiplexed, and in order to cope with the failure of a specific GPS satellite, each redundant flight controller 501 should use a different satellite. It may be controlled.

The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is a means for measuring the acceleration of the drone aircraft in three mutually orthogonal directions, and is also a means for calculating the speed by integrating the acceleration. The 6-axis gyro sensor 505 is a means for measuring the change in the attitude angle of the drone body in the three directions described above, that is, the angular velocity. The geomagnetic sensor 506 is a means for measuring the direction of the drone body by measuring the geomagnetism. The atmospheric pressure sensor 507 is a means for measuring atmospheric pressure, and can indirectly measure the altitude of the drone. The laser sensor 508 is a means for measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground surface by utilizing the reflection of laser light, and may be an IR (infrared) laser. The sonar 509 is a means for measuring the distance between the drone body and the ground surface by utilizing the reflection of sound waves such as ultrasonic waves. These sensors may be selected depending on the drone's cost goals and performance requirements. Further, a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor) for measuring the tilt of the machine body, a wind force sensor for measuring wind force, and the like may be added. Further, these sensors may be duplicated or multiplexed. If there are multiple sensors for the same purpose, the flight controller 501 may use only one of them, and if it fails, switch to an alternative sensor. Alternatively, a plurality of sensors may be used simultaneously, and if the measurement results do not match, it may be considered that a failure has occurred.

The flow rate sensor 510 is a means for measuring the flow rate of the medicine, and is provided at a plurality of places on the path from the medicine tank 104 to the medicine nozzle 103. The liquid shortage sensor 511 is a sensor that detects that the amount of the medicine has become equal to or less than a predetermined amount. The multi-spectral camera 512 is a means for photographing the field 403 and acquiring data for image analysis. The intruder detection camera 513 is a camera for detecting a drone intruder, and is a device different from the multispectral camera 512 because the image characteristics and the lens orientation are different from those of the multispectral camera 512. The switch 514 is a means for the user 402 of the drone 100 to make various settings. The intruder contact sensor 515 is a sensor for detecting that the drone 100, in particular, its rotor or propeller guard portion has contacted an intruder such as an electric wire, a building, a human body, a tree, a bird, or another drone. .. The intruder contact sensor 515 may be replaced with a 6-axis gyro sensor 505. The cover sensor 516 is a sensor that detects that the operation panel of the drone 100 and the cover for internal maintenance are open. The drug injection port sensor 517 is a sensor that detects that the injection port of the drug tank 104 is open. These sensors may be selected according to the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated or multiplexed. In addition, a sensor may be provided in the base station 404 outside the drone 100, the operation device 401, or another place, and the read information may be transmitted to the drone. For example, a wind sensor may be provided in the base station 404, and information regarding wind force/wind direction may be transmitted to the drone 100 via Wi-Fi communication.

The flight controller 501 sends a control signal to the pump 106 to adjust the drug discharge amount and stop the drug discharge. The current status of the pump 106 (for example, the number of rotations) is fed back to the flight controller 501.

LED107 is a display means for informing the drone operator of the status of the drone. Display means such as a liquid crystal display may be used instead of or in addition to the LEDs. The buzzer 518 is an output means for notifying a drone state (especially an error state) by a voice signal. The Wi-Fi slave device function 519 is an optional component for communicating with an external computer or the like for the transfer of software, for example, separately from the operation unit 401. In addition to or in addition to the Wi-Fi cordless handset function, other wireless communication means such as infrared communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), NFC, or wired communication means such as USB connection May be used. Further, instead of the Wi-Fi slave device function, the mobile communication systems such as 3G, 4G, and LTE may be able to communicate with each other. The speaker 520 is an output means for notifying the drone state (particularly, the error state) by the recorded human voice, synthesized voice, or the like. Depending on the weather conditions, it may be difficult to see the visual display of the drone 100 in flight, and in such a case, it is effective to communicate the situation by voice. The warning light 521 is a display means such as a strobe light that informs the drone state (particularly an error state). These input/output means may be selected according to the cost target and performance requirements of the drone, and may be duplicated/multiplexed.

Configuration of Mobile Object The mobile object 406a shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 receives the information that the drone 100 has and notifies the user 402 appropriately, or receives the input from the user 402 and transmits it to the drone 100. It is a device. Further, the moving body 406a can move by carrying the drone 100. The moving body 406a may be driven by the user 402 or may be autonomously movable. Although the moving body 406a in the present embodiment is assumed to be a vehicle such as an automobile, more specifically, a light truck, it may be an appropriate moving body capable of running on land such as an electric train, or a ship or a flight. It may be the body. The drive source of the moving body 406a may be an appropriate source such as gasoline, electricity, a fuel cell, or the like.

The moving body 406a is a vehicle in which a passenger seat 81 is arranged in the front in the traveling direction and a luggage platform 82 is arranged in the rear. On the bottom surface side of the moving body 406a, four wheels 83, which are an example of moving means, are arranged so that they can be driven. A user 402 can get into the passenger seat 81.

The passenger seat 81 is provided with a display unit 65 that displays the state of the moving body 406a and the drone 100. The display unit 65 may be a device having a screen, or may be realized by a mechanism that projects information on the windshield. In addition to the display unit 65, a rear display unit 65a may be installed on the rear side of the vehicle body 810 that covers the passenger seat 81. The rear display unit 65a can change the angle with respect to the vehicle body 810 to the left and right, and the user 402 working behind and on the left and right sides of the cargo bed 82 can obtain information by looking at the screen.

At the left end of the front of the loading platform 82 of the mobile unit 406a, a base station 404 having a shape in which a disk-shaped member is connected above a round bar extends above the passenger seat 81. The shape and position of the base station 404 are arbitrary. According to the configuration in which the base station 404 is on the passenger seat 81 side of the luggage platform 82, the base station 404 is less likely to interfere with the takeoff and landing of the drone 100, as compared to the configuration behind the luggage platform 82.

The cargo bed 82 has a battery 502 of the drone 100 and a cargo room 821 for storing medicines to be replenished in the medicine tank 104 of the drone 100. The luggage compartment 821 is a region surrounded by a vehicle body 810 that covers the passenger seat 81, a rear plate 822, a pair of side plates 823 and 823, and an upper plate 824. The rear plate 822 and the side plate 823 are also referred to as “flaws”. Rails 825 are provided on both upper ends of the rear plate 822 along the upper ends of the side plates 823 to the vehicle body 810 on the rear side of the passenger seat 81. The upper surface plate 824 is a departure/arrival area which is a departure/arrival point 406 where the drone 100 is placed and can be taken off/landed, and is slidable along the rail 825 in the forward/backward direction. The rail 825 is a rib that protrudes above the plane of the upper plate 824, and prevents the drone 100 on the upper plate 824 from slipping out from the left and right ends of the moving body 406a. Further, a rib 8241 is formed behind the upper surface plate 824 so as to project to the upper surface side to the same extent as the rail 825.

A warning light 830 that indicates that the drone system 500 is working may be arranged on the upper side of the vehicle body 810 and on the rear side of the rear plate 822 in the traveling direction. The warning light 830 may be a display device that distinguishes between working and non-working by coloration or blinking, and may be capable of displaying characters or patterns. Further, the warning light 830 on the upper part of the vehicle body 810 may extend to above the vehicle body 810 and can be displayed on both sides. According to this configuration, the warning can be visually recognized from the rear even when the drone 100 is arranged on the loading platform 82. Further, the warning can be visually recognized from the front of the moving body 406a in the traveling direction. Since the warning light 830 can be seen from the front and the rear, part of the labor for installing the partition member 407 can be omitted.

The top plate 824 may be manually slidable, or may be slid automatically by using a rack and pinion mechanism or the like. By sliding the upper surface plate 824 rearward, articles can be stored in or taken out of the luggage compartment 821 from above the cargo bed 82. Further, in the form in which the upper plate 824 slides rearward, the upper plate 824 and the vehicle body 810 are sufficiently separated from each other, so that the drone 100 can take off and land at the landing point 406.

④ On the top plate 824, four foot receiving portions 826 to which the feet 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, 107-4 of the drone 100 can be fixed are arranged. The foot receiving portion 826 is, for example, a disk-shaped member having an upper surface recessed in a truncated cone shape, which is installed one at a position corresponding to four feet 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, 107-4 of the drone 100. is there. The bottom of the frustoconical recess of the foot receiving portion 826 and the tips of the feet 107-1, 107-2, 107-3, 107-4 may be shaped so that they can be fitted to each other. When landing on the foot rest 826, the feet 107-1,107-2,107-3,107-4 of the drone 100 slide along the conical surface of the foot rest 826, and the feet 107-1,107-2,107 on the bottom of the truncated cone. -3,107-4 tip is guided. The drone 100 can be automatically or manually fixed to the foot support 826 by an appropriate mechanism, and even when the moving body 406a moves with the drone 100 mounted thereon, the drone 100 does not vibrate excessively or fall, and the drone 100 does not fall. Can be safely transported. Further, the moving body 406a can detect whether or not the drone 100 is fixed to the foot receiving portion 826.

Around the center of the top plate 824, there is a circumferential light 850 that displays a guide for the takeoff/landing position of the drone 100. The circumferential lamp 850 is formed of a luminous body group arranged in a substantially circular shape, and the luminous body group can be individually blinked. In the present embodiment, four large light emitters 850a are arranged at intervals of about 90 degrees on the circumference, and two small light emitters 850b are equally spaced between the large light emitters 850a. It is composed of a circular lamp 850. The circumferential light 850 displays the flight direction of the drone 100 after takeoff or the direction of flight when landing, by lighting one or more of the light emitter groups 850a and 850b. The circumferential lamp 850 may be composed of a single ring-shaped light-emitting body that can be partially blinked.

The pair of side plates 823 are hinged at the bottom sides to the loading platform 82, and the side plates 823 can be tilted outward. FIG. 12 shows that the side plate 823 on the left side in the traveling direction is tilted outward. When the side plate 823 falls outward, it is possible to store and take out stored items from the side of the moving body 406a. The side plate 823 is fixed substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the luggage compartment 821, and the side plate 823 can also be used as a workbench.

The pair of rails 825 form a form switching mechanism. Further, a hinge that connects the side plate 823 and the loading platform 82 may be included in the form switching mechanism. The moving body 406a moves in a form in which the upper surface plate 824 is arranged so as to cover the upper side of the luggage compartment 821 and the side plate 823 stands up and covers the side surface of the luggage compartment 821. When the moving body 406a is stationary, the upper plate 824 is switched to the rearward sliding form or the side plate 823 is tilted so that the user 402 can approach the inside of the luggage compartment 821.

The drone 100 can replenish the battery 502 while landing on the departure point 406. Refilling the battery 502 includes charging the built-in battery 502 and replacing the battery 502. A battery 502 charging device is stored in the luggage compartment 821, and the battery 502 stored in the luggage compartment 821 can be charged. Further, drone 100 may include an ultracapacitor mechanism instead of battery 502, and a charger for ultracapacitor may be stored in luggage compartment 821. In this configuration, when the drone 100 is fixed to the foot receiving portion 826, the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100 can be rapidly charged via the feet of the drone 100.

The drone 100 can replenish the medicine stored in the medicine tank 104 while landing at the departure point 406. The luggage compartment 821 stores a diluting and mixing tank for diluting and mixing medicines, an agitation mechanism, and appropriate components for diluting and mixing such as a pump and a hose that suck up medicines from the dilution and mixing tank and inject them into the medicine tank 104. It may have been done. Further, a refilling hose that extends from the luggage compartment 821 above the upper surface plate 824 and can be connected to the inlet of the medicine tank 104 may be provided. The concentrated drug and water are injected into the luggage compartment 821 and diluted and mixed by the diluting and mixing tank to generate a drug having a predetermined concentration. In the following description, the act of replenishing the drug in the luggage compartment 821 means the act of injecting the drug having the concentration dispersed by the drone 100 into the luggage compartment 821 as it is, and the act of injecting the concentrated drug and water. Shall be included.

A waste liquid groove 840 and a waste liquid hole 841 for guiding the medicine discharged from the medicine tank 104 are formed on the upper surface side of the upper surface plate 824. Two waste liquid grooves 840 and two waste liquid holes 841 are arranged, so that the waste liquid groove 840 is positioned below the medicine nozzle 103 regardless of whether the drone 100 is landing facing the left or right of the moving body 406a. ing. The waste liquid groove 840 is a groove having a predetermined width, which is formed substantially straight along the position of the medicine nozzle 103 and along the length direction of the moving body 406a, and slightly toward the passenger seat 81 side. It is inclined. A waste liquid hole 841 is formed at an end of the waste liquid groove 840 on the passenger seat 81 side to penetrate the upper surface plate 824 and guide the chemical liquid into the inside of the luggage compartment 821. The waste liquid hole 841 communicates with a waste liquid tank 842 installed in the luggage compartment 821 and directly below the waste liquid hole 841.

When the medicine is injected into the medicine tank 104, an air venting operation is performed to discharge the gas filling the medicine tank 104, mainly air, to the outside. At this time, an operation of discharging the medicine from the discharge port of the medicine tank 104 is required. Further, it is necessary for the drone 100 to perform an operation of discharging the medicine from the medicine tank 104 after the work is completed. According to the configuration in which the waste liquid groove 840 and the waste liquid hole 841 are formed in the upper surface plate 824, when the drug is injected into and discharged from the drug tank 104 with the drone 100 placed on the upper surface plate 824, the waste liquid is stored in the waste liquid tank. It can be guided to 842, and drug infusion and excretion can be performed safely.

Configuration of drone, moving body, and motion determining apparatus included in drone system As shown in FIG. 13, drone system 500 includes drone 100, first moving body 406A, second moving body 406B, and motion determining apparatus 40. .. The drone 100, the first moving body 406A, the second moving body 406B, and the motion determining device 40 are configured to be connected to each other via a network NW, for example. The network NW may be all wireless, or part or all may be wired. Further, the specific connection relationship is not limited to that shown in the figure, and each configuration may be connected directly or indirectly.

In the present embodiment, the number of drones is one and the number of moving bodies is two, but the number may be more than each. Further, the number of drones and the number of moving bodies may be the same or different. The plurality of drones can take off and land by any of the plurality of mobile units 406A and 406B, and resources can be replenished. Note that the replenishment of resources is a concept including replenishment of the battery 502 and replenishment of medicines.

The drone 100 includes a flight control unit 21, an onboard resource acquisition unit 22, and a battery 502.

The flight control unit 21 is a functional unit that operates the motor 102 of the drone 100 to control the flight and takeoff/landing of the drone 100. The flight control unit 21 is realized by the function of the flight controller 501, for example.

The installed resource acquisition unit 22 is a functional unit that acquires the amount of resources installed in the drone 100, that is, the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 and the amount of medicine. The onboard resource acquisition unit 22 includes a storage amount acquisition unit 221 and a drug amount acquisition unit 222.

The storage amount acquisition unit 221 is a functional unit that acquires the storage amount of the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100. The amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 refers to the amount of energy that can operate the drone 100 without supplementing resources. The battery 502 may be any type of energy supply mechanism such as a primary battery, a secondary battery, a capacitor or a fuel cell.

The storage amount acquisition unit 221 may acquire information from another configuration that measures the storage amount of the battery 502, or the storage amount acquisition unit 221 itself may measure the storage amount of the battery 502.

The drug amount acquisition unit 222 is a functional unit that estimates the current amount of drug stored in the drug tank 104. The drug amount acquisition unit 222 may estimate the stored amount from the weight of the drone 100 measured by the weight measurement unit 211a. Further, the medicine amount acquisition unit 222 may have a function of estimating the liquid level height in the medicine tank 104, for example. The drug amount acquisition unit 222 may estimate the stored amount by using a liquid level gauge or a water pressure sensor arranged in the drug tank 104. When the drone 100 is working, the drug amount acquisition unit 222 calculates the drug discharge amount by integrating the discharge flow rates from the drug tank 104 measured by the flow sensor 510, and calculates the drug discharge amount from the initially loaded drug amount. The storage amount may be estimated by subtracting.

The first moving body 406A includes a luggage compartment 821a, a storage resource acquisition unit 31a, a landing detection unit 32a, and a replenishment unit 33a. The second moving body 406B includes a luggage compartment 821b, a storage resource acquisition unit 31b, a landing detection unit 32b, and a replenishment unit 33b. The configurations of the first moving body 406A and the second moving body 406B are substantially the same. The luggage compartments 821a and 821b have the same configuration as the luggage compartment 821 described above.

The accommodation resource acquisition units 31a and 31b are functional units that measure the amount of resources held by the mobile units 406A and 406B. The amount of resources includes the number of charged batteries 502 and the amount of medicine. Further, the amount of resources may be the remaining charging capacity of the facility that charges the battery 502. In the case where the drones 100a and 100b are driven by a fuel cell, the amount of fuel gas that can be stored in the drones 100a and 100b, for example, hydrogen gas may be used. The amount of resources prepared in the moving bodies 406A and 406B may be manually input by the user 402 or may be automatically acquired. As an example of the configuration that is automatically acquired, a configuration may be adopted in which the weight of a predetermined range of the luggage compartment 821 is measured in order to acquire the drug amount. In addition, in order to obtain the number of charged batteries 502, a configuration may be adopted in which the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 is measured in addition to the weight of the luggage compartment 821 in a predetermined range.

The landing detection units 32a and 32b are functional units that detect whether or not the drone 100 is landing on the moving bodies 406A and 406B. The landing detection units 32a and 32b are configured to detect the feet 107-1 to 107-4 of the drone 100, such as a touch switch and a capacitance sensor mounted on the foot receiving unit 826, so that the drone 100 can move to the moving body 406A. , 406B is detected. If there are a plurality of drones 100 in the drone system 500, the landing detection units 32a and 32b acquire which of the drones 100 is landing by acquiring the unique information of the drone 100 from the feet 107-1 to 107-4. May be identifiable. Further, the landing detection units 32a and 32b may identify the drone 100 landing by acquiring the position information of each drone 100 by RTK-GPS or the like.

The replenishment units 33a and 33b are functional units that replenish resources to the drone 100 landing on the mobile units 406A and 406B. The replenishing units 33a and 33b can charge the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100 landing on the moving bodies 406A and 406B, as described above. Further, the replenishing units 33a and 33b can replenish the medicine stored in the medicine tank 104.

The operation determination device 40 is a functional unit that determines a work plan for the drone 100 and the moving body 406a. The operation determination device 40 includes a resource replenishment determination unit 41, a notification unit 42, a priority switching unit 43, a charging planning unit 44, and a landing position determination unit 45.

The resource replenishment determination unit 41 determines whether or not the amount of resources contained in each of the mobile units 406A and 406B satisfies a predetermined condition, and determines to replenish the mobile units 406A and 406B with resources. It is a functional unit that does.

The resource supplement determination unit 41 includes a mobile resource acquisition unit 411 that acquires the amount of resources accommodated in the mobiles 406A and 406B. The mobile body resource acquisition unit 411 acquires the amount of resources contained in each of the plurality of mobile bodies 406A and 406B included in the drone system 500. The mobile body resource acquisition unit 411 may acquire the amount of resources via the accommodation resource acquisition units 31a and 31b included in the mobile units 406A and 406B, respectively.

The resource replenishment determining unit 41 determines to replenish resources to the moving bodies 406A and 406B when the amount of the resources accommodated in the moving bodies 406A and 406B is less than a predetermined amount. When the drone system 500 includes a plurality of moving bodies 406a as in the present embodiment, the necessity of replenishing resources is determined for each of the moving bodies 406A and 406B.

In addition, the resource replenishment determination unit 41 refers to the work plan of the drone 100, and when the amount of resources accommodated in the mobile units 406A and 406B is less than the planned value to be replenished in the drone 100 in the work plan, It may be decided to replenish resources to the mobiles 406A, 406B. As in the present embodiment, when the drone system 500 includes a plurality of moving bodies 406a, reference is made to the replenishment plan for each moving body 406a scheduled in the work plan, and resources are provided to the moving bodies 406A and 406B. You may decide to replenish.

The resource replenishment decision unit 41 decides to move the mobile bodies 406A and 406B, which are decided to replenish resources, to a position where resources can be replenished (hereinafter, also referred to as “stock replenishment point”). The position where the resources can be replenished is, for example, the end of the automatic driving permission area 90 of the mobile bodies 406A and 406B. The end of the automatic driving permission area 90 includes the entire boundary between the automatic driving permission area 90 and the automatic driving non-permission area 91. The user 402 transports the resource from a separate warehouse and transports the resource to the vicinity of the outer periphery of the automatic operation permission area 90. According to the configuration in which the mobile bodies 406A and 406B move to the end of the automatic driving permission area 90 for resource supplementation, the user 402 approaches the mobile bodies 406A and 406B from outside the automatic driving permission area 90 and moves. Resources can be supplemented to the bodies 406A, 406B. If a person including the user 402 or an intruder such as a car enters the automatic driving permission area 90, there is a risk of colliding with the moving bodies 406A, 406B or the drone 100. Further, when an intruder enters the automatic driving permission area 90, the mobile body 406A, 406B or the drone 100 may be configured to stop operating. According to this configuration, the user 402 can replenish resources without invading the automatic driving permission area 90, so that it is safe and the operation of the mobile bodies 406A, 406B or the drone 100 can be continued.

The resource replenishment determination unit 41, via the notification unit 42, when the mobile body 406A, 406B need to replenish the inventory, various configurations in the drone system 500, such as the operation unit 401 or small portable terminal 401a to that effect. Notice. The notification unit 42 is a functional unit that transmits information indicating that inventory replenishment is necessary to various components in the drone system 500.

The operation unit 401 or the small portable terminal 401a that has received the notification notifies the user 402 and prompts to replenish the inventory of the mobile bodies 406A and 406B. At this time, the operation unit 401 and the small mobile terminal 401a may display the resource amount to be replenished for each of the mobile bodies 406A and 406B by referring to the work plan. Further, the operation unit 401 and the small portable terminal 401a, referring to the work plan, the expected time when the drone 100a, 100b will return for replenishment, or calculate the time required to return based on the current time, resources You may also display by when the replenishment of is needed. According to this configuration, even when the user 402 is far away from the fields 403a and 403b, it is possible to receive a notification regarding inventory replenishment through the small mobile terminal 401a. In the present system, the drones 100a and 100b and the moving bodies 406A and 406B automatically operate, so that the work by the user 402 is almost limited to restocking the moving bodies 406A and 406B. Therefore, by making it possible to notify the remote user 402 of the information of inventory replenishment, the user 402 does not need to be always in the fields 403a and 403b.

Incidentally, the operation unit 401 and the small portable terminal 401a, along with the above-mentioned information, the current position and working state of the drone 100 and the moving body 406a, that is, information on whether the drone 100 is spraying, shooting, or preparing, Information about whether or not the moving body 406a is moving may be displayed. Further, the operation unit 401 and the small portable terminal 401a display the progress status of the work in the field 403, that is, the information indicating whether the work is in progress or waiting for the intervention of the user 402, the presence or absence of the work, and the work completion rate. May be.

The small mobile terminal 401a may display only a part of the information displayed on the operation device 401, or may issue a sound or the like by a separate reporting means such as only a part of the information. .. For example, the small portable terminal 401a, when it is necessary to replenish the resources to the mobile body 406a, when the total work is completed and tidying up, such as information at the time when the user 402 requires intervention, and each It may be configured such that only the information regarding the prediction of the time point is displayed. Further, the user 402 may be notified when the mobile body 406a needs to be replenished with resources, when the total work is completed, and when an abnormality occurs.

Note that the inventory may be replenished from another mobile unit that has sufficient resources, or from a separate warehouse. The operation device 401 or the small portable terminal 401a may display from which the resource is replenished. By replenishing from another moving body, it is possible to reduce the labor of storing from the moving body to the warehouse after the work is completed. Therefore, the resource replenishment determining unit 41 may determine to preferentially replenish from another moving body. The resource replenishment determining unit 41 compares the total amount of inventory held by the moving body 406a included in the drone system 500 with the amount of resources required for total work, and the total amount of inventory is less than the amount of resources required for total work. At this time, it may be decided to replenish the inventory from a separate warehouse.

When the total amount of inventory held by the mobile unit 406a is equal to or more than the resource amount necessary for the total work, the resource replenishment determining unit 41 determines to transfer the resources from the mobile unit 406A to the mobile unit 406B, and the mobile unit 406A and It is decided to move at least one of the moving bodies 406B so that the distance between the moving bodies 406A and 406B becomes shorter. That is, the moving body 406A having sufficient resources may approach the moving body 406B requiring inventory replenishment, or the moving body 406B may approach the moving body 406A. Furthermore, the moving body 406A and the moving body 406B may move together so that they move closer to each other. At this time, the operation unit 401 and the small portable terminal 401a notify the user 402 of how much inventory needs to be moved from which moving body to which moving body.

The resource replenishment determining unit 41 moves the moving body 406a to a position suitable for the drone 100 to return when the replenishment of the moving body 406a is completed. The position is, for example, a position before the moving body 406a moves to replenish inventory. In addition, depending on the situation, the drone 100 may be moved to a separate position suitable for returning.

The priority order switching unit 43 is a functional unit that switches whether the operation determining apparatus 40 gives priority to the total work time or the total amount of stored electricity to determine the work plan. When the user 402 is in the vicinity of the field 403 and is monitoring work, it is desirable to finish the work early, while when the user 402 is in a remote place, prioritizing the total amount of electricity stored reduces the work cost. May be desirable because it saves money. The priority order switching unit 43 may determine the priority order based on the input from the user 402. Further, the priority switching unit 43, based on the position information of the small portable terminal 401a that the user 402 has, determines whether the user 402 is monitoring the work of the field 403, it is possible to switch the priority. It may be configured.

The charging planning unit 44 determines a charging plan for charging the battery 502 of the drone 100 with the amount of stored electricity corresponding to the total charging rate. The charging plan is a part of the work plan, and includes the timing at which the drone 100 returns to the moving bodies 406A and 406B to perform charging, the charging time, and the number of times of charging. The timing of charging is, for example, the time of charging, or the elapsed time from a predetermined reference time such as when the drone 100 takes off to the time of charging. The charging time is a time for performing charging for each charging. The number of times of charging is the number of times of charging within the work plan.

The charging planning unit 44 includes a charging rate acquisition unit 441, a required charging rate acquisition unit 442, and a charging rate-charging time storage unit 443.

The charging rate acquisition unit 441 is a functional unit that acquires the current charging rate of the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100. The charge rate is also called SOC (state of charge), and is the remaining rate of the fully charged battery 502 excluding the amount of electricity discharged, and is also called the remaining capacity. The charging rate acquisition unit 441 acquires the stored power amount from the stored power amount acquisition unit 221 of the drone 100. Further, the charging rate acquisition unit 441 may be configured to measure the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 of the drone 100 landing on the moving bodies 406A and 406B.

The required charging rate acquisition unit 442 is a functional unit that acquires the total charging rate required to complete the work plan of the drone 100. The work plan is a work performed by comprehensively flying one or a plurality of fields, for example, chemical spraying and monitoring work. The work plan includes an operation in which the drone 100 returns to the moving bodies 406A and 406B, charges the battery 502, and restarts work on the field. The total charge rate also includes the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 required to return for charging. The total charging rate may include a charging operation during a work plan, and thus may be a value exceeding 100%.

The charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 is a functional unit that stores the charging rate of the battery 502 and the required time for charging a predetermined amount of the drone having the charging rate in association with each other.

As shown in FIG. 14, the charging rate of the battery 502 and the required time are non-linear. When the charging rate is small, the charging rate can be greatly increased by charging for a short time. If the charging rate is high, more time is required to increase the charging rate. The charging rate/charging time storage unit 443 stores the correspondence relationship between the charging rate and the charging time as shown in FIG. The charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 may store a plurality of combinations of the charging rate and the charging time as a table, or may store them in a mathematical formula. The charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 may store different correspondence relationships for each individual battery 502. This is because the battery 502 deteriorates depending on the number of times of use and the like, and thus the correspondence relationship may differ for each battery 502. The charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 may be configured to call a correspondence relationship used for calculation based on information stored in the battery 502, for example, usage history. Further, the charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 may be configured to calculate and store the correspondence. The charging rate-charging time storage unit 443 may correct the correspondence according to other factors such as temperature.

The charging planning unit 44 may predict the time when the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502 is less than a predetermined amount and determine the time when the drone 100 is returned. Further, the charging planning unit 44 may be configured to be able to determine the conditions for ending the charging and resuming the work. For example, the charging planning unit 44 may be configured to terminate the charging and restart the field work when the charging rate reaches a predetermined condition. Furthermore, the charging planning unit 44 may be configured to end charging when the charging rate becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined value. The predetermined value may be less than 70% or less than 50%, for example.

The amount of energy required to operate the drone 100 consumes the amount of electricity stored in the battery 502, and does not relate to the charge rate of the battery 502. That is, for example, the amount of energy generated by discharging the battery 502 having a charging rate of 100% to 90% and the amount of energy generated by discharging the battery 502 having a charging rate of 20% to 10% It is almost the same. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the charging time varies depending on the charging rate, and charging in the same charging amount is faster in the range where the charging rate is low. Therefore, by determining the work plan of the drone 100 so that the drone 100 will work while repeatedly charging within the range of high charging speed, that is, the rate of increase in the charging rate with respect to the charging time, the time required for charging is shortened and work efficiency is improved. Can be made.

The charging plan unit 44, based on the required charging time, the charging rate obtained by the charging, and the flight time based on the charging rate, a charging plan that minimizes the total work time including the work interruption time for charging. decide.

Describe the flow from the start to the end of total work using the example in Figure 15. As shown in FIG. 15(a), the total working time is the sum of the moving time between the moving body and the field 60a to 60h, the working time in the field 61a to 61d, and the charging time 62a to 62c. First, the drone 100 moves from the moving body 406a to the field 403 over the moving body-field moving time 60a. When the drone 100 reaches the field 403, the field work is performed during the field work time 61a to 61d. The drone 100 appropriately interrupts the work in the field, returns to the moving body 406a after the moving time between the moving body and the field 60b, 60d, 60f, and charges for the charging time 62a to 62c. After the predetermined charging, the drone 100 returns to the field 403 in the moving time between the mobile body and the field 60c, 60e, and 60g, and restarts the field work. When the work in the field is completed, it returns to the mobile body 406a in the moving time between the mobile body and the field of 60 h, and the whole work is finished. It should be noted that although the number of times of charging is three in this embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this.

As shown in Figure 15(b), the work completion rate for field work is 0% at the start of total work. The work completion rate increases during the in-field work time 61a to 61d, and does not change during the work interruption time 63a to 63c of the total work time excluding the in-field work time 61a to 61d. The work completion rate reaches 100% at the end of the field working time 61d.

As shown in FIG. 15(c), the charging rate of the battery 502 mounted on the drone 100 decreases during the flight times 64a to 64d excluding the charging times 62a to 62c and increases during the charging times 62a to 62c. .. Note that the state of increase in the charging rate during the charging times 62a to 62c corresponds to FIG. 14 and is non-linear.

In addition to the flight time 64a depending on the amount of electricity stored at the start of work, the sum of one work interruption time 63a and the flight time 64b obtained by the work interruption time is integrated for the number of times of charging, and movement at the start and end The total work time can be calculated by adding the body- field travel times 60a and 60h. The charging planning unit 44 determines a charging plan by determining a charging rate at the time of work interruption that minimizes the total work time and one work interruption time.

The charging time 62c for the last charging of the total work may be different from the other charging times 62a, 62b. In particular, the last charging time 62c may be shorter than the other charging times 62a, 62b. This is because the last in-field work time 61d during the total work is shorter than most of the other in-field work times 61a to 61c in most cases, and therefore it is sufficient to charge only the amount of electricity storage required to complete the work. With this configuration, the charging time 62c can be shortened and the total working time can be shortened.

The landing position determination unit 45 is a functional unit that determines the landing positions of the drones 100a and 100b. For example, the landing position determination unit 45 is a functional unit that determines which of the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B is to land. In a configuration in which one drone system 500 includes a plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B, the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B exist around the fields 403a and 403b. According to the landing position determination unit 45, the drone 100 does not need to land on the moving bodies 406A and 406B that have taken off, and can determine and land on the moving bodies 406A and 406B that meet more conditions. Further, the landing position determination unit 45 may determine to land the drones 100a and 100b on the ground, not limited to the moving bodies 406A and 406B. For example, as described later, when a plurality of drones want to land on the same moving body 406A, 406B, it is possible to make a decision to land one on the ground and wait.

The landing position determination unit 45 includes a storage amount acquisition unit 451 and a movement information acquisition unit 452.

The storage amount acquisition unit 451 is a functional unit that acquires the storage amount of the battery 502.

The movement information acquisition unit 452 acquires movement information of the moving bodies 406A and 406B, including the positions of the moving bodies 406A and 406B and the time required for the moving bodies 406A and 406B to reach the planned landing position of the drone 100. To do. In addition to the time required to reach the planned landing position from the current position, the arrival time required is that the mobile units 406A and 406B start moving to the inventory replenishment point, move to the inventory replenishment point, and perform the inventory replenishment work. This is a concept that includes the time required to reach the planned landing position in a series of operations performed to move from the inventory replenishment point to the planned landing position. Further, the movement information may include the amount of resources accommodated in each of the moving bodies 406A and 406B. Furthermore, the movement information may include information on whether or not the drone 100 is landing on the moving bodies 406A and 406B.

Even if the landing position determination unit 45 decides to land the drones 100a and 100b on the moving bodies 406A and 406B having the resource amount required to be replenished to the drone 100 among the plurality of moving bodies 406A and 406B. Good. In addition, the landing position determination unit 45 causes the drone 100a, 100b to land on the moving body with the smallest holding amount among the moving bodies 406A, 406B that have the resource amounts necessary for the drones 100a, 100b. You may decide. The resource may be the holding amount of the battery 502 or the holding amount of the medicine. Depending on the type of resource that the drone 100 replenishes at the time of landing, it may be configured to determine which of the battery 502 and the medicine is stored to select the moving bodies 406A and 406B. According to this configuration, it is sufficient to replenish the resources only to a specific moving body, so that it is possible to reduce the movement distance of the stock of the moving bodies 406A and 406B and the number of times the stock is replenished.

The landing position determination unit 45 may determine to land the drone 100 on a mobile body of the plurality of mobile bodies 406A and 406B that is not landed by another drone 100. The moving body on which one drone 100 is landing cannot land the other drone 100. Therefore, according to this configuration, the plurality of drones 100a and 100b can simultaneously land on the moving bodies 406A and 406B without interference. That is, it becomes possible to replenish resources for a plurality of drones 100a and 100b at the same time, and it is possible to shorten the total work time and perform work efficiently.

The landing position determination unit 45 has a plurality of drones 100a and 100b scheduled to land on the same moving body 406A, and when one of the drones 100a returns to the moving body 406A, another drone 100b lands on the moving body 406A. If so, the drone 100b may be determined to land on the ground and stand by, and land on the moving body 406A after another drone 100b takes off. At this time, the drone 100b may be configured to land and stand by while waiting and in a state where the amount of power storage required for landing on the moving body 406A is secured.

The landing position determination unit 45 causes the drone 100 to wait in the field 403 when the moving bodies 406A and 406B scheduled to land are moving to the inventory replenishment point. This is because the replenishment of the inventory to the moving body 406a is performed manually, and thus the end time varies. Since the drone 100 is hovering during standby, the amount of electricity stored gradually decreases. In the standby state, even if the remaining storage amount of the drone 100 reaches a predetermined value (for example, the storage amount required to land at the planned landing position), the moving bodies 406A and 406B do not reach the planned landing position, or If it is expected that the moving bodies 406A, 406B will not reach the planned landing position during the period from the exit point of the farm field 403 until the drone 100 reaches the planned landing position, the landing position determination unit 45 causes the drone 100 to Land the drone 100 on the ground corresponding to the planned landing position. According to this configuration, even if it takes time to replenish the inventory of the moving body 406a, the drone 100 can be safely landed. The operation device 401 or the small mobile terminal 401a appropriately notifies the information that the drone 100 is landing and the reason.

●GUI Configuration for Specifying Landing Point As shown in FIG. 16, the operation screen 800 of the operation device 401 is realized by a computer program running on a smartphone or a tablet terminal. Although an image of a specific field is displayed on the operation screen 800, a menu screen for selecting a plurality of fields under the control of the user 402 may be displayed before the screen is displayed.

On the operation screen 800, peripheral device status display area 801, flight status display area 802, airframe status display area 803, altitude adjustment input means 804, map display area 805, route information display area 806, emergency response button 807 and landing point. A designated pin 808 is provided.

The peripheral device status display area 801 displays the battery remaining amount of the drone 100, the pump condition, the drug remaining amount, the communication condition, the GPS reception condition, and the like. By simplifying the information as much as possible and changing the color when there is an error, the operator can be surely notified of a highly important situation.

The flight status display area 802 displays the flight time, GPS coordinates, flight speed, altitude, etc. of the drone 100. In addition, a progress bar (not shown) may be displayed to show the completion status of drug spraying.

The airframe status display area 803 displays the current status of the drone 100, such as flight preparation, drug replenishment, takeoff, flight, and emergency evacuation. In addition, a notification of the next work or a request for action to the user (for example, “prepare for drug refill”) may be displayed.

The altitude adjustment input means 804 is a user interface input means realized by a button or the like for increasing or decreasing the current altitude of the drone 100. The drone 100 according to the present invention flies autonomously in principle, and the altitude is automatically adjusted by a computer program, but for example, the operator finely adjusts the altitude according to the height of the crop or the like. This is because there may be cases where the user wants to do so.

The map display area 805 is a map including fields that are targets for drug spraying, and may be an aerial photograph or a topographic map, or may be a superimposed display thereof. The scale and position may be adjustable by gesture operation or the like. In the map display area 805, the current position of the drone 100 is displayed in real time. The image of the field 403 captured by the camera 712 of the drone 100 may be displayed by switching the map display or together with the map display.

The route information display area 806 is an area for displaying a route which the drone should autonomously fly, which is calculated in advance by the drone 100 or the farming cloud 405 in the pilot. The route may be displayed by switching between the shooting only plan or the pesticide spraying plan. In addition, in the pesticide spraying plan, the route that prioritizes the required time, the route that prioritizes the battery consumption, or the route that prioritizes minimizing the drug spraying leakage is displayed, and the user can select it. desirable. The medicine-dispersed area may be displayed in different colors. Information about the position and size of obstacles (electric wires, buildings, trees, etc.) in the field may be displayed together with the route.

The emergency response button 807 is a button for transmitting a command when an emergency situation such as a failure or collision of the drone 100 occurs, so as to prevent an erroneous operation and allow the operator 402 to easily operate in an emergency. , Occupies a large portion (typically one third or more of the entire screen space) on the operation screen 800. The operation of the drone 100 in an emergency includes hovering (temporary stop in the air), emergency return to the departure/arrival point 406, soft landing on the spot, or emergency stop of the motor. Allows one or more of those actions to be activated. In the example of FIG. 16, the hovering is activated by swipe operation and the motor emergency stop is activated by four consecutive taps, but other operation and process combinations may be used. The emergency operation button is semi-transparent so that the screen space can be used as effectively as possible, and the map information behind it can be seen through. In order not to confuse an operator who is not an expert in an emergency, the operation to be performed in an emergency may be displayed in characters on the emergency operation button. It is desirable that the emergency operation is a simple operation that does not make a mistake even when the operator is agitated, such as repeatedly hitting the button four times, and is an operation that is less likely to be erroneously operated. According to the configuration in which the emergency response button 807 is arranged at a sufficient distance (typically 1 cm or more) from the edge of the screen, it is erroneously operated by the finger of the smartphone or tablet touching the button. Is less likely to occur.

-The landing point designation pin 808 is a mark indicating the point where the drone 100 is about to land. When the drone 100 flies along a pre-calculated route, the landing point is also predetermined. However, there is a case where the user 402 wants to interrupt the work due to his/her convenience or an emergency requires an intervention operation. Therefore, the user 402 can specify the landing point of the drone 100 by operating the operation screen 800 and disposing the landing point specification pin 808. More specifically, the user places the landing point designation pin 808 by tapping or long-pressing a point on the map display area 805. The GUI allows you to specify points on the map, which allows you to intuitively enter landing points.

Based on the arrangement of the landing point designation pin 808, the moving body 406a may be autonomously moved to a point corresponding to the position of the landing point designation pin 808. In addition, in order to display that fact on the GUI of the moving body 406a and to move the moving body 406a to the user 402, navigation to the point may be displayed.

The operation unit 401 has information on whether the drone 100 is taking off, allows the designation of the landing point when the drone 100 is taking off, and designates the landing point when the drone 100 is landing. You may ban. The intervention operation is an exceptional operation, and by using the planned route as a rule, efficient and safe flight is realized in terms of energy efficiency and required time. Therefore, the planned flight can be ensured by allowing the user 402 to specify the landing point only when performing the intervention operation during the flight.

The controller 401 may allow the designation of the landing point on the planned flight route and prohibit the designation of the landing point outside the flight route. That is, the landing point is a point included in at least one of the field 403, the takeoff point, and the entry/exit route from the takeoff point to the field 403. The pre-planned flight route is a place where the user 402 recognizes that the drone 100 will fly and is paying sufficient attention, and it is highly probable that the safety of landing is secured. is there. That is, according to this configuration, the drone 100 can be safely landed even when the landing point is designated manually.

The controller 401 may display on the operation screen 800 a request to specify a landing point when the amount of electricity stored in the battery of the drone 100 falls below a predetermined value unplanned. At this time, the operation screen 800 may display a landable range on a map according to the amount of electricity stored in the battery. Further, the controller 401 may allow designation of a landing point within the landable range and prohibit designation of a landing point outside the range. The case where the amount of stored electricity in the battery decreases unplanned is, for example, the case where the standby time is long in a state where the drone 100 is waiting for landing and hovering. According to this configuration, the landing point of the drone 100 can be secured based on the intention of the user 402 even when landing is required outside the plan.

In the present description, the agricultural chemical spray drone has been described as an example, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to drones for other purposes such as shooting and monitoring. .. In particular, it is applicable to a machine that operates autonomously. Further, the moving body is not limited to the vehicle and may have an appropriate configuration.

(Technically remarkable effect of the present invention)
In a drone system according to the present invention, in a system for replenishing resources from a moving body to a drone, even if the resources accommodated in the drone and the moving body run short during work, the drone and the moving body are efficiently provided with resources. Can be replenished.

Claims (4)

1. A drone that performs work in the work area,
   A moving body on which the drone can land and can move with the drone,
   An operation determination device that grasps the positions and states of the drone and the moving body, and determines the operation of the drone and the moving body,
   A drone system including at least
   The operation determining device determines whether or not the moving body has stopped at the planned landing position of the drone, and when the moving body has not stopped at the planned landing position, the drone is the work area of the drone. To wait inside,
   Drone system.
   
2. The operation determining device makes the drone stand by in a work area of the drone by hovering the drone,
   The drone system according to claim 1.
   
3. In the case where the operation determining device makes the drone stand by in the work area of the drone by hovering the drone, the moving body does not reach the planned landing position even if the amount of electricity stored in the drone reaches a predetermined amount. If, or if it is expected that the moving body does not reach the planned landing position from the exit point of the work area until the drone reaches the planned landing position, the drone is scheduled to land. Land on the ground corresponding to the position,
   The drone system according to claim 2.
   
4. Drone,
   A moving body on which the drone can land and can move with the drone,
   An operation determination device that grasps the positions and states of the drone and the moving body, and determines the operation of the drone and the moving body,
   A control method for a drone system including at least
   A step of determining whether or not the moving body is parked at the planned landing position of the drone;
   If the moving body is not stopped at the planned landing position, a step of waiting the drone in the work area of the drone,
   With
   Drone system control method.
   
   
   

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