WO2021010907A2 - A system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) and method for movement toward said curved wall - Google Patents

A system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) and method for movement toward said curved wall Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021010907A2
WO2021010907A2 PCT/TH2020/000037 TH2020000037W WO2021010907A2 WO 2021010907 A2 WO2021010907 A2 WO 2021010907A2 TH 2020000037 W TH2020000037 W TH 2020000037W WO 2021010907 A2 WO2021010907 A2 WO 2021010907A2
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
wall
uav
aerial vehicle
unmanned aerial
curved wall
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PCT/TH2020/000037
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French (fr)
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WO2021010907A3 (en
Inventor
Phakhachon HOONSUWAN
Chinnapat THIPYOPAS
Wattanakorn INTANON
Chandhawat BOONYARD
Original Assignee
Ptt Exploration And Production Public Company Limited
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Application filed by Ptt Exploration And Production Public Company Limited filed Critical Ptt Exploration And Production Public Company Limited
Publication of WO2021010907A2 publication Critical patent/WO2021010907A2/en
Publication of WO2021010907A3 publication Critical patent/WO2021010907A3/en

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64U—UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64U30/00—Means for producing lift; Empennages; Arrangements thereof
    • B64U30/20—Rotors; Rotor supports
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64U—UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64U10/00—Type of UAV
    • B64U10/10—Rotorcrafts
    • B64U10/13—Flying platforms
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64U—UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [UAV]; EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64U2201/00—UAVs characterised by their flight controls
    • B64U2201/10—UAVs characterised by their flight controls autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of aerospace, in particular, to a system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and method for movement toward said curved wall.
  • UAV unmanned aerial vehicle
  • unmanned aerial vehicles or drones are widely used from hobby activities to industrial applications such as transportation, high-angle shots in movies, and the application ofUAVs for inspecting the completion of construction inside factories, which cannot be performed or not conveniently performed by humans, surveying large areas before investment and construction, inspecting the completion of walls, determining the thickness of construction walls, and inspecting for leaks in construction walls in factories.
  • An example is a chemical tank wall which can be hazardous or the tank may contain flammable chemicals which would be extremely harmful to humans if inspected in person.
  • Patent document WO 2012/013878 A1 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for the inspecting construction thickness using an ultrasonic probe.
  • Said UAV comprises the UAV body, a column that extends from the UAV body installed with an ultrasonic probe for inspecting the wall.
  • a user When inspecting the wall thickness, a user will control said UAV toward the area needed to be inspected and the ultrasonic probe will be brought into contact with the wall in order to determine the thickness of said wall.
  • Drones, 2018, 2, 8 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting the erosion of construction walls using an ultrasonic probe comprising the UAV body which is a tri-copter UAV, a column extended from the UAV body installed with the ultrasonic probe for inspecting the wall. At the position between the ultrasonic probe and the extended column, there is spring installed in order to reduce the impact when the UAV contacts with the wall. There is a magnet installed at the lower part of the ultrasonic probe for assisting in fixing to the wall while conducting inspection.
  • Prodrone Co., Ltd. disclosed an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising an L- shape airframe having 6 propeller units and 6 wheels installed on its body. This disclosed UAV can move in both horizontal and vertical planes on the wall or ceiling surfaces.
  • the present invention aims to disclose the system and method to steadily move the UAV toward a curved wall, especially in the case of a curved wall of raw material tanks used in factories, which mostly are in the form of cylinders.
  • the present invention aims to provide a system and method for steady movement of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) toward a curved wall.
  • UAV unmanned aerial vehicle
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV comprises:
  • the UAV including an airframe, at least 4 propulsion units, and an avionics device configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signals to said propulsion units in order to control driving force of the propulsion units, and
  • a wall-approaching means installed at one side of the airframe and configured to maintain stability of the UAV ;
  • said wall-approaching means comprises at least one orientation sensor configured to measure a distance between the wall and the orientation sensor in at least 2 positions and send the measured distance to the avionics device in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV to the wall and compare said yaw angle to a predetermined value; wherein, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall steadily.
  • this invention also provides the system for steady inspection of the curved wall by the UAV, comprising the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV as described above, wherein the wall-approaching means further comprises the wall inspection sensor.
  • this invention also relates to the method for steady movement of the UAV toward the curved wall, comprising the steps of:
  • the avionics device calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit independently in order to steadily move the UAV toward to wall.
  • Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an UAV installed with a system for steady movement toward a curved wall according to the invention.
  • Figure 2 shows a side view of the UAV installed with the system for steady movement toward the curved wall according to the invention.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a use simulation of the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV according to the invention in order to inspect the wall.
  • Figure 4 shows a diagram of a method for inspecting the wall by using the U AV according to the invention.
  • Figure 5 shows a diagram of the method for movement toward the curved wall of the UAV according to the invention.
  • the present invention relates to a system and method for steady movement of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone toward a curved wall.
  • UAV unmanned aerial vehicle
  • wall inspection throughout this application means the examination of the wall using non-destructive inspection for the objective of, but not limited to, inspecting the thickness of the wall, inspecting for cracks and breaks in the wall, inspecting erosion of the wall, and inspecting the consistency of the wall using material inspection method that has no destructive effect to the wall material such as sound wave, ray, or magnetic wave, etc.
  • the technique used including device or equipment
  • this invention provides the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110, comprising: the UAV 110 including an airframe 111, at least 4 propulsion units 112, and an avionics device 113 configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signals to said propulsion units (112) in order to control driving force of the propulsion units 112, and
  • a wall-approaching means 130 installed at one side of the airframe 111 and configured to maintain stability of the UAV 110; wherein, said wall-approaching means 130 comprises at least one orientation sensor 160 configured to measure a distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 in at least 2 positions and send the measured distance to the avionics device 1 13 in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV 110 to the wall 1 and compare said yaw angle to a predetermined value,
  • the avionics device 1 13 calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 1 12 independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall 1 steadily.
  • said UAV 1 10 comprises 4 to 8 propulsion units 1 12.
  • the propulsion unit 112 comprises a motor (not shown in detail), a motor controller (not shown in detail), and at least one propeller (not shown in detail) arranged to work together in order to generate steady driving force for flying the UAV 1 10.
  • the orientation sensor 160 is installed between a principal axis of the orientation sensor and a roll axis of the UAV (110) at an angle of not more than ⁇ 1 degree.
  • the orientation sensor 160 is selected from, but not limited to, time-of-flight ranging sensor, LIDAR-Lite sensor, lightware LIDAR sensor, ultrasonic range finder, or Infrared range finder. In one preferred aspect of the invention, the orientation sensor 160 is a time-of-flight ranging sensor.
  • the wall-approaching means 130 further comprises an extension frame 131 including 2 side columns 131a, 131b connected to an upper beam 131c and a lower beam 131 d, and an extension arm 132, including 2 arms 132a, 132b, wherein one end of each arm is connected to one edge of the airframe 111 , and another end is connected to the extension frame 131 at the lower beam 131 d position.
  • the extension frame 131 further comprises 4 extension legs 133 extended from each comer of the extension frame 131 perpendicular to the extension frame 131, and having wheels 134 installed on said extension legs 133.
  • the orientation sensor 160 is installed at lower comers of the extension frame 131.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 according to this invention, further comprising a damper 135 (not shown in detail) installed at the connecting position between the extension arm 132 and one edge of the airframe 111 to reduce action forces onto the UAV 110 while moving toward the wall 1.
  • the avionics device 113 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently to move toward the wall 1 using a minimum-jerk trajectory.
  • the predetermined yaw angle is 5 degrees.
  • the predetermined yaw angle is 3 degrees.
  • the predetermined yaw angle is 1 degree.
  • the avionics device 113 is configured to calculate to adjust the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently for adjusting an orientation of the UAV 1 10 until the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value.
  • measuring positi ons of the distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 are operated in the same plane.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 further comprising an altitude sensor 140 selected from LIDAR sensor and barometric pressure sensor installed at the lower part of the airframe 1 11 for measuring an altitude of the UAV.
  • the altitude sensor 140 is TFminiLIDAR sensor.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 further comprising an optic flow sensor 150 installed at the end of the extension arm 132 on the closer side to the airframe 111 for orienting the UAV 110 in order to maintain the position of the UAV 110 while inspecting the wall.
  • the optic flow sensor 150 is configured to orient the UAV 110 by a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 further comprising a remote control unit 200 for sending the flight commands from the user to the avionics device 1 13.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 further comprising an energy source 170 for providing energy to the UAV 1 10 and the wall-approaching means 130.
  • the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 further comprising the lower support means 180 configured at the lower part of the airframe 111 for supporting the landing of the UAV 110.
  • this invention also provides the system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the UAV 110, comprising the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to above descriptions, wherein the wall- approaching means 130 further comprises a wall inspection sensor 120.
  • the wall inspection sensor 120 is installed at the center of the extension frame 131.
  • the wall inspection sensor 120 further comprising a probe 121 for inspecting the wall 1 , an actuator 122 configured to push the probe 121 outward while inspecting the wall 1, and a probe damper 123 for reducing action force occurring through movements of the UAV 110 toward the wall 1 while inspecting the wall.
  • the wall inspection sensor 120 depending on objectives of the measurement, which can be selected from, but are not limited to ultrasonic sensor, electro-magnetic acoustic transducer, eddy-current sensor, and temperature sensor.
  • the wall inspection sensor 120 is an ultrasonic sensor.
  • this invention also relates to the method for steady movement of the UAV 1 10 toward the curved wall.
  • figures 3 and 4 show the simulation of the use of the system and method diagram for steady movement toward the wall of the UAV according to the invention, respectively, for inspecting the wall.
  • Examples are such as the tank wall for storing chemicals in industrial factories that can be corrosive and the thickness of the walls need to be inspected in order to be certain that there is no leak of said chemicals.
  • the inspection method of the industrial factory wall using the UAV 1 10 having the system for moving toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 according to this invention comprises the following steps:
  • the user of the UAV 110 may control said aerial vehicle to the position that the distance between the UAV 1 10 and the wall 1 is as predetermined, wherein said distance can be adjusted according to the orientation sensor 160 being used.
  • the orientation sensor 160 is the time-of-flight ranging sensor, where the distance between the UAV 110 and the wall 1 is configured to about 80 cm.
  • the method of steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 comprises the steps of:
  • the avionics device 113 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently in order to steadily move the UAV toward to wall 1.
  • the avionics device 1 13 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently using the minimum-jerk trajectory.
  • the avionics device 1 13 is operated to:
  • said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 5 degrees.
  • said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 3 degrees
  • said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 1 degree.
  • the measuring positions of the distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 are operated in the same plane. Therefore, the distance between each measured position must be far enough that each orientation sensor 160 does not measure at the same position.
  • the method for steady movement of the UAV 1 10 toward the curved wall according to this invention further comprising the step for the orientation of the UAV 110 using the optic flow sensor for inspecting the movement of the UAV 1 10 compared to the wall 1 in order to maintain the position of the UAV 110 while inspecting the wall.
  • the orientation of the UAV 1 10 is operated by the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique.
  • PID proportional-integral-derivative

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising: the UAV including an airframe, at least 4 propulsion units, and an avionics device configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signal to said propulsion units in order to control driving force of the propulsion units, and a wall-approaching means installed at one side of the airframe and configured to maintain stability of the UAV; wherein, said wall-approaching means comprises at least one orientation sensor configured to measure a distance between the wall and said orientation sensor and send the measured distance to the avionics device in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV to the wall and compare said yaw angle to a predetermined value; wherein, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall steadily.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR STEADY MOVEMENT TOWARD A CURVED WALL OF AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) AND METHOD FOR MOVEMENT
TOWARD SAID CURVED WALL
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to the field of aerospace, in particular, to a system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and method for movement toward said curved wall.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At present, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones are widely used from hobby activities to industrial applications such as transportation, high-angle shots in movies, and the application ofUAVs for inspecting the completion of construction inside factories, which cannot be performed or not conveniently performed by humans, surveying large areas before investment and construction, inspecting the completion of walls, determining the thickness of construction walls, and inspecting for leaks in construction walls in factories. An example is a chemical tank wall which can be hazardous or the tank may contain flammable chemicals which would be extremely harmful to humans if inspected in person.
For this reason, there has been a lot of research and development in engineering related to UAVs, such as development in movement efficacy of UAVs and/or installation of many devices on UAVs so that the UAVs are capable of operating in various situations.
Patent document WO 2012/013878 A1 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for the inspecting construction thickness using an ultrasonic probe. Said UAV comprises the UAV body, a column that extends from the UAV body installed with an ultrasonic probe for inspecting the wall. When inspecting the wall thickness, a user will control said UAV toward the area needed to be inspected and the ultrasonic probe will be brought into contact with the wall in order to determine the thickness of said wall.
Drones, 2018, 2, 8 discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting the erosion of construction walls using an ultrasonic probe comprising the UAV body which is a tri-copter UAV, a column extended from the UAV body installed with the ultrasonic probe for inspecting the wall. At the position between the ultrasonic probe and the extended column, there is spring installed in order to reduce the impact when the UAV contacts with the wall. There is a magnet installed at the lower part of the ultrasonic probe for assisting in fixing to the wall while conducting inspection.
In 2016, Prodrone Co., Ltd. disclosed an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising an L- shape airframe having 6 propeller units and 6 wheels installed on its body. This disclosed UAV can move in both horizontal and vertical planes on the wall or ceiling surfaces.
In the 6th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Structural Engineering, 2015, there was disclosure of an unmanned aerial vehicle that could be controlled to fly to the target inspection position and the configuration of its roll, pitch, and yaw could be changed in order to adjust the UAV body from horizontal to vertical planes and move toward the wall for inspection operations.
However, there was no disclosure of the system of the UAV and/or the method of steady movement for moving the UAV toward the wall which causes difficulty to the user in controlling said UAV. Therefore, the present invention aims to disclose the system and method to steadily move the UAV toward a curved wall, especially in the case of a curved wall of raw material tanks used in factories, which mostly are in the form of cylinders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to provide a system and method for steady movement of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) toward a curved wall.
In one aspect of the present invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV comprises:
the UAV including an airframe, at least 4 propulsion units, and an avionics device configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signals to said propulsion units in order to control driving force of the propulsion units, and
a wall-approaching means installed at one side of the airframe and configured to maintain stability of the UAV ;
wherein, said wall-approaching means comprises at least one orientation sensor configured to measure a distance between the wall and the orientation sensor in at least 2 positions and send the measured distance to the avionics device in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV to the wall and compare said yaw angle to a predetermined value; wherein, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall steadily.
In another aspect of the invention, this invention also provides the system for steady inspection of the curved wall by the UAV, comprising the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV as described above, wherein the wall-approaching means further comprises the wall inspection sensor.
In another aspect of the invention, this invention also relates to the method for steady movement of the UAV toward the curved wall, comprising the steps of:
measuring the distance between the wall and at least one orientation sensor for at least 2 positions;
calculating the distance between the wall and the orientation sensor into the yaw angle of the UAV;
comparing the obtained yaw angle to the predetermined value;
adjusting the driving force of the propulsion units in order to move the UAV toward the wall;
wherein, if the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit independently in order to steadily move the UAV toward to wall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an UAV installed with a system for steady movement toward a curved wall according to the invention.
Figure 2 shows a side view of the UAV installed with the system for steady movement toward the curved wall according to the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates a use simulation of the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV according to the invention in order to inspect the wall.
Figure 4 shows a diagram of a method for inspecting the wall by using the U AV according to the invention.
Figure 5 shows a diagram of the method for movement toward the curved wall of the UAV according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and method for steady movement of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone toward a curved wall.
The present invention will be described below with referenced figures. The principle of systems, including units and methods described in this present invention, shows a detailed description of the invention without any objective to limit the scope of the invention in any way.
Definition
Technical terms or scientific terms used here have definitions as understood by persons skilled in the art unless stated otherwise.
Use of singular noun or singular pronoun with“comprising” in claims or in specification means“one” and includes“one or more”,“at least one”, and“one or more than one” too.
Throughout this application, unless stated otherwise;
“wall inspection” throughout this application means the examination of the wall using non-destructive inspection for the objective of, but not limited to, inspecting the thickness of the wall, inspecting for cracks and breaks in the wall, inspecting erosion of the wall, and inspecting the consistency of the wall using material inspection method that has no destructive effect to the wall material such as sound wave, ray, or magnetic wave, etc. The technique used (including device or equipment) may be changed according to the objective of the inspection, therefore, this includes the use of many techniques (including devices or equipment) as well.
The following shows the embodiments of the invention without any objective to limit the scope of the invention in any way.
In one aspect of the invention, as shown in figures 1 and 2, this invention provides the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110, comprising: the UAV 110 including an airframe 111, at least 4 propulsion units 112, and an avionics device 113 configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signals to said propulsion units (112) in order to control driving force of the propulsion units 112, and
a wall-approaching means 130 installed at one side of the airframe 111 and configured to maintain stability of the UAV 110; wherein, said wall-approaching means 130 comprises at least one orientation sensor 160 configured to measure a distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 in at least 2 positions and send the measured distance to the avionics device 1 13 in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV 110 to the wall 1 and compare said yaw angle to a predetermined value,
wherein, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device 1 13 calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 1 12 independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall 1 steadily.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, said UAV 1 10 comprises 4 to 8 propulsion units 1 12.
In one aspect of the invention, the propulsion unit 112 comprises a motor (not shown in detail), a motor controller (not shown in detail), and at least one propeller (not shown in detail) arranged to work together in order to generate steady driving force for flying the UAV 1 10.
In one aspect of the invention, the orientation sensor 160 is installed between a principal axis of the orientation sensor and a roll axis of the UAV (110) at an angle of not more than ±1 degree.
In one aspect of the invention, the orientation sensor 160 is selected from, but not limited to, time-of-flight ranging sensor, LIDAR-Lite sensor, lightware LIDAR sensor, ultrasonic range finder, or Infrared range finder. In one preferred aspect of the invention, the orientation sensor 160 is a time-of-flight ranging sensor.
In one aspect of the invention, the wall-approaching means 130 further comprises an extension frame 131 including 2 side columns 131a, 131b connected to an upper beam 131c and a lower beam 131 d, and an extension arm 132, including 2 arms 132a, 132b, wherein one end of each arm is connected to one edge of the airframe 111 , and another end is connected to the extension frame 131 at the lower beam 131 d position.
In one aspect of the invention, the extension frame 131 further comprises 4 extension legs 133 extended from each comer of the extension frame 131 perpendicular to the extension frame 131, and having wheels 134 installed on said extension legs 133.
In one aspect of the invention, the orientation sensor 160 is installed at lower comers of the extension frame 131. In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 according to this invention, further comprising a damper 135 (not shown in detail) installed at the connecting position between the extension arm 132 and one edge of the airframe 111 to reduce action forces onto the UAV 110 while moving toward the wall 1.
In one aspect of the invention, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device 113 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently to move toward the wall 1 using a minimum-jerk trajectory.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, the predetermined yaw angle is 5 degrees.
In one more preferred aspect of the invention, the predetermined yaw angle is 3 degrees.
In one most preferred aspect of the invention, the predetermined yaw angle is 1 degree.
In one aspect of the invention, if the calculated yaw angle is higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device 113 is configured to calculate to adjust the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently for adjusting an orientation of the UAV 1 10 until the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value.
In one aspect of the invention, measuring positi ons of the distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 are operated in the same plane.
In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to this invention further comprising an altitude sensor 140 selected from LIDAR sensor and barometric pressure sensor installed at the lower part of the airframe 1 11 for measuring an altitude of the UAV.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, the altitude sensor 140 is TFminiLIDAR sensor.
In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to this invention further comprising an optic flow sensor 150 installed at the end of the extension arm 132 on the closer side to the airframe 111 for orienting the UAV 110 in order to maintain the position of the UAV 110 while inspecting the wall. In one aspect of the invention, the optic flow sensor 150 is configured to orient the UAV 110 by a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique.
In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to this invention further comprising a remote control unit 200 for sending the flight commands from the user to the avionics device 1 13.
In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to this invention further comprising an energy source 170 for providing energy to the UAV 1 10 and the wall-approaching means 130.
In one aspect of the invention, the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 according to this invention further comprising the lower support means 180 configured at the lower part of the airframe 111 for supporting the landing of the UAV 110.
In another aspect of the invention, this invention also provides the system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the UAV 110, comprising the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 1 10 according to above descriptions, wherein the wall- approaching means 130 further comprises a wall inspection sensor 120.
In one aspect of the invention, the wall inspection sensor 120 is installed at the center of the extension frame 131.
In one aspect of the invention, the wall inspection sensor 120 further comprising a probe 121 for inspecting the wall 1 , an actuator 122 configured to push the probe 121 outward while inspecting the wall 1, and a probe damper 123 for reducing action force occurring through movements of the UAV 110 toward the wall 1 while inspecting the wall.
In one aspect of the invention, the wall inspection sensor 120, depending on objectives of the measurement, which can be selected from, but are not limited to ultrasonic sensor, electro-magnetic acoustic transducer, eddy-current sensor, and temperature sensor.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, the wall inspection sensor 120 is an ultrasonic sensor.
In another aspect of the invention, this invention also relates to the method for steady movement of the UAV 1 10 toward the curved wall.
In another embodiment, figures 3 and 4 show the simulation of the use of the system and method diagram for steady movement toward the wall of the UAV according to the invention, respectively, for inspecting the wall. Examples are such as the tank wall for storing chemicals in industrial factories that can be corrosive and the thickness of the walls need to be inspected in order to be certain that there is no leak of said chemicals. The inspection method of the industrial factory wall using the UAV 1 10 having the system for moving toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 according to this invention comprises the following steps:
Controlling the UAV 110 to the preferred position on the wall 1 that needs to be inspected, whereby in order to utilize the system the user of the UAV 110 may control said aerial vehicle to the position that the distance between the UAV 1 10 and the wall 1 is as predetermined, wherein said distance can be adjusted according to the orientation sensor 160 being used. For the example according to this invention, the orientation sensor 160 is the time-of-flight ranging sensor, where the distance between the UAV 110 and the wall 1 is configured to about 80 cm.
Entering an automatic mode for steady movement of the UAV 110 toward the curved wall, by the system of steady movement of the UAV 110 toward the curved wall according to this invention;
Orientating of the UAV 110 to be in the preferred position for inspection, by the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique; and
Inspecting the wall with the device according to objectives of the inspection.
As shown in figure 5, when entering the automatic mode for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110, the method of steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV 110 comprises the steps of:
measuring the distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 for at least 2 positions;
calculating the obtained distance into the yaw angle of the UAV 110;
comparing the obtained yaw angle to the predetermined value; adjusting the driving force of the propulsion units 112 in order to move the
UAV toward the wall 1 ;
wherein, if the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device 113 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently in order to steadily move the UAV toward to wall 1. In one preferred aspect of the invention, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device 1 13 calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 112 independently using the minimum-jerk trajectory.
In another aspect of the invention, if the calculated yaw angle is higher than the predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device 1 13 is operated to:
adjust the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit 1 12 independently in order to adjust the orientation of the UAV 110;
measure the distance between the curve wall and the orientation sensor 160 for at least 2 positions on the plane of the wall 1 again;
calculate the obtained distance into the yaw angle of the UAV 1 10 to the wall 1 again, and
compare the obtained yaw angle to the predetermined value again, wherein said steps are operated repeatedly until the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 5 degrees.
In one more preferred aspect of the invention, said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 3 degrees
In one most preferred aspect of the invention, said predetermined yaw angle is not more than 1 degree.
In one aspect of the invention, the measuring positions of the distance between the wall 1 and the orientation sensor 160 are operated in the same plane. Therefore, the distance between each measured position must be far enough that each orientation sensor 160 does not measure at the same position. In one aspect of the invention, as said above, the method for steady movement of the UAV 1 10 toward the curved wall according to this invention further comprising the step for the orientation of the UAV 110 using the optic flow sensor for inspecting the movement of the UAV 1 10 compared to the wall 1 in order to maintain the position of the UAV 110 while inspecting the wall.
In one aspect of the invention, the orientation of the UAV 1 10 is operated by the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique. The principle of the devices and methods, described in the present invention, aims to cover the aspects of the invention that have been performed, operated, modified, or changed any parameters significantly in order to obtain the outcome as the present invention according to the opinions of persons skilled in the art, although the aspects have not been specifically indicated in the claims. Therefore, any replaceable or similar aspects to the aspects of the present invention, including any minor modification or change that can be clearly seen by persons skilled in this art, should be construed as under the scope, objective, and concept of the invention as shown in the appended claims.
BEST MODE OR PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Best mode or preferred embodiment of the invention is as provided in the description of the invention.

Claims

1. A system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (110), comprising:
the UAV (110) including an airframe (111), at least 4 propulsion units (112), and an avionics device (113) configured to receive flight commands from a user, and receive measured parameters from sensors in order to calculate and send signals to said propulsion units (112) in order to control driving force of the propulsion units (112), and
a wall-approaching means (130) installed at one side of the airframe (111) and configured to maintain stability of the UAV (110);
wherein, said wall-approaching means (130) comprises at least one orientation sensor (160) configured to measure a distance between the wall ( 1 ) and the orientation sensor (160) in at least 2 positions and send the measured distance to the avionics device (113) in order to calculate a yaw angle of the UAV (110) to the wall (1) and comparing said yaw angle to a predetermined value;
wherein, if the calculated yaw angle is not higher than predetermined yaw angle, the avionics device (113) calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently in order to move the UAV toward the curved wall (1) steadily.
2. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, wherein said UAV (110) comprises 4 to 8 propulsion units (112).
3. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the propulsion unit (112) comprises a motor, a motor controller, and at least one propeller arranged to work together in order to generate steady driving force for flying the UAV (110).
4. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the wall-approaching means (130) further comprises:
an extension frame (131) including 2 side columns (131a, 131b) connected to an upper beam (131c) and a lower beam (13 Id), and
an extension arm (132) including 2 arms (132a, 132b), wherein one end of each arm is connected to one edge of the airframe (111), and another end is connected to the extension frame (131) at the lower beam ( 131 d) position.
5. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 4, wherein the extension frame (131) further comprises 4 extension legs (133) extended from each comer of the extension frame (131) perpendicular to the extension frame (131) ,and having wheels (134) installed on said extension legs (133).
6. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1 or any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the orientation sensor (160) is installed at lower comers of the extension frame (131).
7. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a damper (135) installed at the connecting position between the extension arm (132) and one edge of the airframe (111) for reducing action forces onto the UAV (110) while moving toward the wall (1).
8. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, wherein the avionics device (113) calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently to move toward the wall (1) using a minimum-jerk trajectory.
9. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1 , wherein if the yaw angle of the UAV (110) is higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device (113) is configured to calculate and adjust the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently for adjusting an orientation of the UAV (110) until the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value.
10. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1 or 9, wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 5 degrees.
11. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 10, wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 3 degrees.
12. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 11, wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 1 degree.
13. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, wherein at least 2 measuring positions of the distance between the wall (1) and the orientation sensor (160) are operated in the same plane.
14. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, further comprising an altitude sensor (140) selected from LIDAR sensor and barometric pressure sensor installed at the lower part of the airframe (111) for measuring an altitude of the UAV.
15. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 14, wherein the altitude sensor (140) is TFminiLIDAR sensor.
16. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, further comprising an optic flow sensor (150) installed at the end of the extension arm (132) on the closer side to the airframe (111) for orienting the UAV (1 10) in order to maintain the position of the UAV (110) while inspecting the wall.
17. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 16, wherein the optic flow sensor (150) is configured to orient the UAV (110) by a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique.
18. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, wherein the orientation sensor (160) is selected from time-of-flight ranging sensor, LIDAR-Lite sensor, lightware LIDAR sensor, ultrasonic range finder, or infrared range finder.
19. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 18, wherein the orientation sensor (160) is a time-of- flight ranging sensor.
20. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, wherein the orientation sensor (160) is installed between a principal axis of the orientation sensor and a roll axis of the UAV (110) at an angle of not more than ±1 degree.
21. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, further comprising a remote control unit (200) for sending the flight commands from the user to the avionics device (113).
22. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, further comprising an energy source (170) for providing energy to the UAV (110) and the wall-approaching means (130).
23. The system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 1, further comprising the lower support means (180) configured at the lower part of the airframe (111) for supporting the landing of the UAV (110).
24. A system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110), comprising the system for steady movement toward the curved wall of the UAV (110) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wall-approaching means (130) further comprises a wall inspection sensor (120).
25. The system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 24, wherein the wall inspection sensor (120) is installed at the center of the extension frame (131).
26. The system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the wall inspection sensor (120) further comprises a probe (121) for inspecting the wall (1), an actuator (122) configured to push the probe (121) outward while inspecting the wall (1), and a probe damper (123) for reducing action forces occurring by movements of the UAV (110) toward the wall (1) while inspecting the wall.
27. The system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the wall inspection sensor (120) is selected from ultrasonic sensor, electro-magnetic acoustic transducer, eddy-current sensor, and temperature sensor.
28. The system for steady inspection of the curved wall of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) according to claim 27, wherein the wall inspection sensor (120) is an ultrasonic sensor.
29. A method for steady movement of a unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward a curved wall, comprising the step of: measuring a distance between the wall (1) and at least one orientation sensor (160) for at least 2 positions;
calculating the distance between the wall (1) and the orientation sensor (160) into a yaw angle of the UAV (110);
comparing the obtained yaw angle to a predetermined value;
adjusting driving force of propulsion units (112) in order to move the UAV toward the wall (1);
wherein, if the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device (113) calculates suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently in order to steadily move the UAV (110) toward to wall (1).
30. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (1 10) toward the curved wall according to claim 29, wherein the avionics device (113) calculates the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently to move toward the wall (1) using a minimum-jerk trajectory.
31. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 29, wherein if the yaw angle of the UAV (110) is not higher than the predetermined value, the avionics device is operated to:
adjust the suitable driving force of each propulsion unit (112) independently in order to adjust an orientation of the UAV (1 10);
measure the distance between the wall (1) and the orientation sensor (160) for at least 2 positions on the planar of the wall (1) again;
calculate the distance between the wall (1) and the orientation sensor (160) into the yaw angle of the UAV (110) to the wall (1) again, and
compare the obtained yaw angle to the predetermined value again;
wherein said steps are operated repeatedly until the obtained yaw angle is not higher than the predetermined value.
32. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 31 , wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 5 degrees.
33. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 32, wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 3 degrees.
34. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 33, wherein said predetermined yaw angle is 1 degree.
35. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 29, wherein at least 2 measuring positions of the distance between the wall (1) and the orientation sensor (160) are operated in the same plane.
36. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 29, further comprising the step for orienting the UAV (110) using an optic flow sensor for inspecting the movement of the UAV (110) compared to the wall (1) in order to maintain the position of the UAV (110) while inspecting the wall.
37. The method for steady movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (110) toward the curved wall according to claim 36, wherein the orientation of the UAV (110) is operated by the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) technique.
PCT/TH2020/000037 2019-06-07 2020-06-05 A system for steady movement toward a curved wall of an unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) and method for movement toward said curved wall WO2021010907A2 (en)

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