WO2023162583A1

WO2023162583A1 - Control apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023162583A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/002849
Authority: WO
Inventors: 真幸森下; 広樹石塚; 昌志安沢; 圭祐中島
Original assignee: 株式会社Ｎｔｔドコモ
Priority date: 2022-02-22
Filing date: 2023-01-30
Publication date: 2023-08-31

Abstract

An IoT device (40) is installed by a user living in a dwelling unit (30), in order to perform communication for a variety of purposes in said dwelling unit (30). In the present embodiment, the dwelling unit (30) is included in a multiple-dwelling residence such as an apartment building or the like, in which a plurality of dwelling units (30) sharing the same address (except for the dwelling unit number) are in proximity to one another. IoT devices (40) are usually wireless communication devices for communicating with various types of devices in the dwelling unit (30), but in the present embodiment also function as wireless communication devices performing wireless communication with an IoT communication apparatus of a drone (10). The drone (10) determines a landing position on the basis of a number of wireless connections with IoT devices (40) in dwelling unit (30) that is a candidate destination, or on the basis of the time required for the wireless connections, and lands at the determined landing position.

Description

Control device

The present invention relates to technology for determining the landing position of an aircraft.

With the spread of unmanned flying objects called drones, various mechanisms for using drones to deliver packages have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, a beacon device is provided on the veranda of the delivery destination of an apartment building, and the unmanned aircraft measures the received signal strength of the beacon signal while circling the building of the delivery destination. Disclosed is a mechanism for locating a delivery destination based on.

Japanese Patent No. 6741073

It is conceivable to use image recognition technology to identify delivery destinations by identifying differences in the appearance and shape of the entrances and doors of each delivery destination, for example, without installing a dedicated facility such as a beacon device as described above. However, in collective housing such as condominiums and apartments, a plurality of delivery destination candidates corresponding to the destination of the aircraft are close to each other, and the appearance and shape of the entrances and doors are similar. Therefore, there is a possibility that the delivery destination cannot be specified accurately.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to determine a landing position corresponding to a correct destination even when multiple destination candidates for an aircraft are close to each other.

The present invention comprises a storage unit that stores, for each destination candidate of an aircraft, an identifier for identifying one or more wireless communication devices existing at the destination, and a wireless connection with the wireless communication device using the identifier. a determination unit that determines the landing position of the aircraft using at least one of the number of wireless communication devices wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit and the time required for the wireless connection; and To provide a control device comprising:

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the landing position corresponding to the correct destination even when multiple destination candidates of the flying object are close to each other.

It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of drone management system 1 concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of hardware constitutions of drone 10 concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the server apparatus 60 which concerns on the same embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the drone 10; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an IoT device list; 3 is a diagram illustrating the number and positions of IoT devices 40 in each dwelling unit 30. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a connection result with the IoT device 40 at the position p1; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a connection result with the IoT device 40 at position p2; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a connection result with the IoT device 40 at position p3. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of landing position determination operation by the drone 10; FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an IoT device list according to a modification;

[composition]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a drone management system 1 according to an embodiment of an information processing system of the present invention. The drone management system 1 includes a drone 10 for transporting a parcel to a destination designated by the sender of the parcel, a user terminal 20 used by a user who receives the parcel, and each dwelling unit 30 as a destination candidate. It also includes one or more IoT devices 40 , a wireless communication network 50 , and a server device 60 connected to the wireless communication network 50 . Note that FIG. 1 shows one drone 10, one user terminal 20, one dwelling unit 30, one IoT (Internet of Things) device 40, one wireless communication network 50, and one server device 60, but there are a plurality of each. may

The drone 10 is an unmanned flying object that flies in the air. The drone 10 transports the cargo by holding the cargo, flying to the destination, and landing at the destination.

The user terminal 20 is a communicable computer such as a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. In this embodiment, the user terminal 20 is a smart phone and functions as a communication terminal for the user who receives the parcel to access the server device 60 via the wireless communication network 50 .

The IoT device 40 is a device for realizing so-called IoT, such as a speaker, a lighting fixture, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or a smartphone. installed or prepared by a user residing in In this embodiment, it is assumed that the dwelling units 30 are collective housing such as condominiums and apartments, and that a plurality of dwelling units 30 are adjacent to each other at the same address except for the dwelling unit number. Each IoT device 40 is originally a wireless communication device that communicates with various devices in the dwelling unit 30, but in the present embodiment, a wireless communication device for wireless communication with an IoT communication device (described later) provided in the drone 10 also functions as In addition to its wireless communication function, the IoT device also has functions as a controller that controls various sensors that detect various physical values and various devices in the dwelling unit 30 . In other words, the IoT device 40 is not only used for determining the landing position of the drone 10, but also has other main uses.

The wireless communication network 50 may be, for example, equipment conforming to the 4th generation mobile communication system or may be equipment conforming to the 5th generation mobile communication system.

The server device 60 stores flight plan information such as the flight date and time, flight route and flight altitude of the drone 10, and remotely steers the drone according to the flight plan information. Remote control by the server device 60 is mainly a section between a drone departure/arrival point called a base and the vicinity of the drone's destination. In the section between the vicinity of the destination and the landing position of the drone, the flight is performed under autonomous control by the drone itself. The drone 10 determines the landing position based on the number of wireless connections with the IoT devices 40 present in each dwelling unit 30 as a destination candidate or the time required for the wireless connection, and autonomously lands at the determined landing position. do.

In this embodiment, as described above, the section between the drone's departure and arrival point and the vicinity of the destination depends on remote control by the server device 60, and the section between the vicinity of the destination and the landing position of the drone is Although it is realized by autonomous flight by itself, it is not limited to this example. For example, the drone 10 may autonomously fly all sections between the landing positions of the departure/arrival point and the destination without relying on remote control by the server device 60, or may You may fly according to the remote control of the server apparatus 60 in all the sections between.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the drone 10. FIG. The drone 10 physically includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a NW communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a positioning device 1007, a sensor 1008, a flight drive mechanism 1009, an IoT communication device 1010, and these It is configured as a computer device including a connecting bus and the like. Note that in the following description, the term "apparatus" can be read as a circuit, device, unit, or the like. The hardware configuration of the drone 10 may be configured to include one or more of each device shown in the figure, or may be configured without some of the devices.

Each function in the drone 10 is performed by causing the processor 1001 to perform calculations by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, controlling communication by the NW communication device 1004, and controlling the communication by the memory 1002. and by controlling at least one of reading and writing data in the storage 1003 and controlling the positioning device 1007 , the sensor 1008 and the flight drive mechanism 1009 .

The processor 1001, for example, operates an operating system and controls the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including interfaces with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, registers, and the like. Also, for example, a baseband signal processing unit, a call processing unit, and the like may be implemented by the processor 1001 .

The processor 1001 reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the NW communication device 1004 to the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to them. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least part of the operations described later is used. The functional blocks of drone 10 may be implemented by a control program stored in memory 1002 and running on processor 1001 . Various types of processing may be executed by one processor 1001, but may also be executed by two or more processors 1001 simultaneously or sequentially. Processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. Note that the program may be transmitted to the drone 10 via the wireless communication network 50 .

The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, ROM, EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM, and the like. The memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory (main storage device), or the like. The memory 1002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc. to perform the methods of the present invention.

The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray disk), smart card, flash memory (eg, card, stick, key drive), floppy disk, magnetic strip, and/or the like. Storage 1003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device. The storage 1003 stores various programs and data groups.

The processor 1001, memory 1002, and storage 1003 described above function as an example of the control device of the present invention.

The NW communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via the wireless communication network 50, and is also called a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, or the like. NW communication device 1004 includes a high frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. in order to implement frequency division duplexing and time division duplexing. A transmitting/receiving antenna, an amplifier section, a transmitting/receiving section, a transmission line interface, etc. may be implemented by the NW communication device 1004 . The transceiver may be physically or logically separate implementations for the transmitter and receiver.

The input device 1005 is an input device that receives input from the outside, and includes, for example, keys, switches, and microphones. The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to the outside, and includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display and a speaker. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated.

The positioning device 1007 is hardware that measures the position of the drone 10, such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) device. Based on the positioning by the positioning device 1007, the drone 10 flies from the departure/arrival base to the vicinity of the destination.

The sensor 1008 includes a ranging sensor that functions as altitude measurement means for the drone 10 and distance measurement means to an object, a gyro sensor and direction sensor that function as attitude measurement means for the drone 10, an image sensor that functions as imaging means, and the like. .

The flight drive mechanism 1009 includes hardware such as motors and propellers for the drone 10 to fly.

The IoT communication device 1010 is hardware for performing wireless communication with the IoT device 40 inside the dwelling unit 30 . The wireless communication standards that the IoT communication device 1010 and the IoT device 40 follow are, for example, LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) and LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network), but are not limited to these, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark) or any other wireless communication standard.

Each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus for communicating information. The bus may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between devices. In addition, the drone 10 includes a microprocessor, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a digital signal processor (DSP: Digital Signal Processor), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. hardware, and part or all of each functional block may be realized by the hardware. For example, processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server device 60. As shown in FIG. The hardware configuration of the server device 60 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in FIG. 3, or may be configured without some of the devices. Further, the server device 60 may be configured by connecting a plurality of devices having different housings for communication.

The server device 60 is physically configured as a computer device including a processor 6001, a memory 6002, a storage 6003, a communication device 6004, and a bus connecting them. Each function in the server device 60 is performed by causing the processor 6001 to perform calculations, controlling communication by the communication device 6004 and controlling the and by controlling at least one of data reading and writing in the storage 6003 . Each of these devices operates with power supplied from a power source (not shown). Note that in the following description, the term "apparatus" can be read as a circuit, device, unit, or the like.

A processor 6001, for example, operates an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 6001 may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including interfaces with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, registers, and the like. Also, for example, a baseband signal processing unit, a call processing unit, and the like may be implemented by the processor 6001 .

The processor 6001 reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 6003 and the communication device 6004 to the memory 6002, and executes various processes according to them. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least part of the operations described later is used.

The memory 6002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and RAM, for example. The memory 6002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory (main storage device), or the like. The memory 6002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc. to perform the methods of the present invention.

The storage 6003 is a computer-readable recording medium, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk ), smart card, flash memory (eg, card, stick, key drive), floppy disk, magnetic strip, and/or the like. Storage 6003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device.

The communication device 6004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via the wireless communication network 50, and is also called a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, or the like.

Each device such as the processor 6001 and memory 6002 is connected by a bus for communicating information. The bus may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between devices.

The server device 60 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, digital signal processor, ASIC, PLD, FPGA, etc., and part or all of each functional block may be implemented by the hardware. For example, processor 6001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the drone 10. As shown in FIG. Each function realized by the drone 10 is performed by the processor 1001 by loading predetermined software (program) on hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, and the NW communication device 1004 or the IoT communication device 1010 is operated. and at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003 . Specifically, in the drone 10, functions of a storage unit 11, a wireless connection unit 12, a determination unit 13, a flight control unit 14, and an image recognition unit 15 are realized.
Note that the functions illustrated in FIG. 4 are mainly functions as a control device for the drone 10 to determine the landing position and land at that landing position, and the drone 10 may have functions other than these.

The storage unit 11 stores an IoT device list including information about the IoT devices 40 present in each dwelling unit 30 that is a destination candidate for the drone 10 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an IoT device list. The IoT device list includes a dwelling unit ID that identifies each dwelling unit 30, position information that expresses the position of each dwelling unit 30, for example, in latitude and longitude, the number of IoT devices that are present in each dwelling unit 30, and the number of IoT devices. An IoT device ID, which is an identifier for identifying an IoT device existing in each dwelling unit 30, is associated with each other and stored. The IoT device ID corresponds to a so-called communication address for identifying a communication partner according to the wireless communication standard such as LPWA described above, and is a unique value for each IoT device. Among the information included in the IoT device list, the dwelling unit ID and the location information are given or input by the system administrator, for example. On the other hand, the number of IoT devices and the IoT device ID are input to the user terminal 20 by, for example, a user living in each dwelling unit 30 and notified to the server device 60 via the wireless communication network 50 .

Returning to the description of FIG. 4 , the flight control unit 14 controls the flight drive mechanism 1009 while confirming the position and attitude of the drone 10 measured by the positioning device 1007 and the sensor 1008 to fly the drone 10 . As described above, the drone 10 is remotely controlled according to the flight plan information by the server device 60 until it reaches the vicinity of the dwelling unit 30 as its destination.
When the drone 10 reaches the vicinity of the dwelling unit 30, which is the destination, the image recognition unit 15 of the drone 10 uses an image recognition algorithm such as so-called pattern matching for image data captured by the sensor 1008 (especially an image sensor). , the entrance of each dwelling unit 30, a door, a door, a door, or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as a door) to the dwelling unit 30 is recognized. At this time, in addition to the fact that a plurality of dwelling units 30 are close to the same address excluding the dwelling unit number, the appearance and shape of the doors are similar. difficult to identify.

Therefore, the flight control unit 14 sets each of the plurality of dwelling units 30 assumed to be the dwelling unit 30 of the destination by address and image recognition as destination candidates, and the drone 10 sequentially moves in front of the door of these dwelling units 30. And, it is controlled to move while hovering in front of the door of each dwelling unit 30 for a certain period of time. During the hovering period in each dwelling unit 30, the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 searches for the IoT device 40 with which wireless connection is possible, and attempts wireless connection. The wireless connection at this time is, for example, a wireless connection called pairing.

The determination unit 13 determines the landing position of the drone 10 using at least one of the number of IoT devices 40 wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 and the connection time required for the wireless connection. As an example, the determination unit 13 determines that the number of IoT devices 40 wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 is the largest among the IoT device IDs stored in association with the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30 that is the original destination, or , the position where the time required for wireless connection with the IoT device 40 of the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30, which is the original destination, is the shortest is determined as the landing position of the drone 10. .

Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the number and positions of the IoT devices 40 in each dwelling unit 30, and is a plan view when each dwelling unit 30 is viewed from above. In FIG. 6, of the three

dwelling units

30a, 30b, and 30c, the dwelling unit 30a has five IoT devices 40, the dwelling unit 30b has three IoT devices 40, and the dwelling unit 30c has four IoT devices 40. . Here, the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30a is set to "A0001" illustrated in FIG. 5, the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30b is set to "A0002" illustrated in FIG. 5, and the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30c is set to "A0003" illustrated in FIG. do.

For example, when the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device 40 at a position p1 in front of the entrance 31a of the dwelling unit 30a, at positions p2 and p3 in front of the

entrances

31b and 31c of the dwelling

units

30b and 30c Probability of successful wireless connection with the IoT device 40 of the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID “A0001” of the dwelling unit 30a in the IoT device list compared to when attempting wireless connection with the IoT device 40 is high. This is because the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 located at the position p1 has a shorter distance from the IoT device 40 of the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID "A0001" than at the positions p2 and p3. Also, there are few structures (for example, walls, furniture, etc.) that may interfere with wireless communication. Similarly, when the wireless connection unit 12 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device at the position pb in front of the entrance 31b of the dwelling unit 30b, the IoT Wireless connection with the IoT device 40 having the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID "A0002" of the dwelling unit 30b becomes easier than when wireless connection with the device 40 is attempted. Similarly, when the wireless connection unit 12 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device at the position p3 in front of the entrance 31c of the dwelling unit 30c, the IoT Wireless connection with the IoT device 40 having the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID "A0003" of the dwelling unit 30b becomes easier than when wireless connection with the device 40 is attempted.

Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram exemplifying the connection result when the drone 10 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device 40 at the position p1, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram exemplifying a connection result when a connection is attempted, and FIG. 9 is a diagram exemplifying a connection result when the drone 10 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device 40 at position p3.

Here, the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30, which is the original destination of the drone 10, is "A0001". As exemplified in FIG. 7, in the IoT device group wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 at the position p1, it is stored in association with the dwelling unit ID "A0001" of the dwelling unit 30, which is the original destination. Among the number of IoT devices 40 having an IoT device ID of “5”, the wireless connection is established with “4” IoT devices 40, which is the largest percentage. On the other hand, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, in the IoT device group wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 at positions p2 and p3, the dwelling unit ID "A0001" of the dwelling unit 30, which is the original destination, Among the number of IoT devices 40 of the IoT device IDs stored in association with each other, which are “5”, only “1” or “0” IoT devices 40 can be wirelessly connected. In such a case, the determination unit 13 determines the number of IoT devices 40 wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 among the IoT device IDs stored in association with the dwelling unit ID "A00001" of the dwelling unit 30 that is the original destination. is determined as the landing position. Also, at this time, the determination unit 13 establishes a wireless connection with the IoT device 40 having the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID “A0001” in the IoT device group wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 . The landing position may be determined as p1, which is the position with the shortest average connection required time. The determination unit 13 may determine the landing position using both the number of wirelessly connected IoT devices 40 and the connection time required for wireless connection with the IoT devices 40, or using only one of them. A landing position may be determined. The flight control unit 14 then lands the drone 10 at the landing position determined by the determination unit 13 .

[motion]
Next, the processing of the landing position determination operation of the drone 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 . In FIG. 10, the drone 10 starts flying from the departure/arrival base toward the destination while holding the baggage (step S01). After that, the drone 10 flies under the control of the server device 60 to the vicinity of the dwelling unit 30 corresponding to the destination address specified at the time of requesting the transport of the package.

When the drone 10 reaches the vicinity of the dwelling unit 30 as the destination (step S02; YES), the image recognition unit 15 of the drone 10 recognizes each dwelling unit 30 based on the image data captured by the sensor 1008 (image sensor). The door is recognized (step S03). At this time, it is desirable that the drone 10 lowers the altitude to some extent from the vicinity of the destination and approaches the dwelling unit 30 to perform image recognition.

The determination unit 13 selects one of the plurality of dwelling units 30 recognized by the image recognition unit 15 as corresponding to candidates for the destination (step S04). The flight control unit 14 hovers in front of the door of the selected dwelling unit 30 for a certain period of time. The wireless connection unit 12 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device 40 during the hovering period, and temporarily stores the connection result (step S05).

When wireless connection by the wireless connection unit 12 is attempted for all of the plurality of dwelling units 30 recognized as destination candidates (step S06; YES), the determination unit 13 causes the wireless connection unit 12 to The landing position of the drone 10 is determined using at least one of the number of wirelessly connected IoT devices 40 and the connection time required for the wireless connection (step S07). Then, the flight control unit 14 lands the drone 10 at the landing position determined by the determination unit 13 (step S08). After that, the drone 10 performs a predetermined operation such as releasing the hold of the package and returning to the departure/arrival base.

According to the embodiment described above, even when multiple destination candidates of the drone 10 are close to each other, the landing position corresponding to the correct destination is determined based on the wireless connection result with the IoT device 40. becomes possible. In addition, in this embodiment, since the IoT device 40 installed in the dwelling unit 30 is used to perform communication for various purposes, there is no need to provide dedicated equipment such as a beacon device for determining the landing position. There is an advantage.

[Modification]
The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. The embodiment described above may be modified as follows. Also, two or more of the following modified examples may be combined for implementation.
[Modification 1]
The following processing is conceivable for describing necessary information in the IoT device list. For example, when the user terminal 20 is a wireless communication terminal capable of wirelessly communicating with the IoT device 40, the user corresponding to each dwelling unit 30 uses his or her own user terminal 20 in front of the door of the dwelling unit 30 to wireless connection with the IoT device 40 inside. The user terminal 20 notifies the server device 60 of the IoT device ID specified based on the connection result together with the dwelling unit ID via the wireless communication network 50 . The storage unit 11 of the server device 60 associates the notified IoT device ID with the dwelling unit ID and describes it in the IoT device list. In this way, the user corresponding to each dwelling unit 30 uses his/her own user terminal 20 to establish a wireless connection with the IoT device 40 existing in the dwelling unit 30, and the IoT device ID specified based on the result is transmitted to the user terminal 20. may be notified to the server device 60 via the wireless communication network 50, and the server device 60 may store it as an IoT device list. This simplifies the effort required to describe information in the IoT device list.

Also, when the drone 10 landed at the correct landing position of the dwelling unit 30 by another method such as image recognition in the past, the wireless connection unit 12 of the drone 10 attempts wireless connection with the IoT device 40 to A method of investigating the IoT device 40 is also conceivable. The drone 10 notifies the server device 60 of the IoT device ID specified based on this result together with the dwelling unit ID via the wireless communication network 50 . The storage unit 11 of the server device 60 associates the notified IoT device ID with the dwelling unit ID and describes it in the IoT device list. In this way, when the drone 10 landed at the landing position of each dwelling unit 30 in the past, the IoT device ID specified based on the result of wireless connection with the IoT device 40 existing in the dwelling unit 30 is stored. may
This simplifies the effort required to describe information in the IoT device list.

[Modification 2]
In the IoT device list, the conditions related to the connection time required for the wireless connection unit 12 and the IoT device 40 are also described, and the determination unit 13 determines the landing position that meets the conditions, as illustrated in FIG. may Specifically, the storage unit 11 associates the IoT device ID of the IoT device 40 present in each dwelling unit 30 with the IoT device list, and stores time information regarding the time required for connection with the IoT device 40 . This time information is the time when the user terminal 20 or the drone 10 attempted wireless connection with the IoT device 40 in the dwelling unit 30 at a position in front of the door of each dwelling unit 30 in the past, as described in the first modification. It is the maximum value, minimum value, average value, or the like of the connection required time. That is, the storage unit 11 stores the time information specified based on the result of wireless connection with the IoT device 40 existing in the dwelling unit 30 by the user corresponding to the dwelling unit 30 using the user terminal 20. Alternatively, when the drone 10 landed at the landing position of each dwelling unit 30 in the past, the time information specified based on the result of wireless connection with the IoT device 40 existing in the dwelling unit 30 is stored. can be Then, the determination unit 13 determines the time information stored in the storage unit 11 in association with the dwelling unit ID of the dwelling unit 30 that is the original destination, and the time required for wireless connection with the IoT device 40 by the wireless connection unit 12. is used to determine the landing position of the drone 10, for example, where the difference between them is the smallest. In this way, it is possible to determine the landing position taking into consideration the conditions related to the time required for connection between the wireless connection unit 12 and the IoT device 40 .

[Modification 3]
In addition, if one dwelling unit has a plurality of doors suitable for the landing position of the drone 10, the IoT device list may also describe the conditions regarding the required connection time corresponding to each of these doors. In this case as well, the storage unit 11 associates each door of each dwelling unit 30 with an IoT device ID that identifies the IoT device 40 present in the dwelling unit in the IoT device list, and the IoT device at the position in front of the door. Stores time information about the time required to connect to 40 . As described in Modification 1 above, this time information is the time required for connection when the user terminal 20 or the drone 10 attempted wireless connection with an IoT device in each dwelling unit at a position in front of each door of each dwelling unit in the past. It is the maximum value, minimum value, average value, or the like of time. The determining unit 13 determines the time information stored by the storage unit 11 in association with the dwelling unit ID and the door ID of the dwelling unit 30 that is the original destination, and the time required for wireless connection with the IoT device 40 by the wireless connection unit 12. Time is used to determine the landing position of drone 10 . As a result, of the plurality of doors in one dwelling unit 30, the door desired by the user (for example, a position where the connection time with the IoT device 40 is not the shortest) can be set as the landing position of the drone 10.

[Modification 4]
The IoT device 40 in the dwelling unit 30 may be newly purchased, unused, or discarded. Therefore, when the IoT device 40 having an IoT device ID different from the IoT device ID stored in the storage unit 11 is wirelessly connected, the IoT device ID of the old IoT device 40 is deleted or a new IoT device ID is deleted according to the user's instruction. The IoT device ID of the device 40 may be added. Specifically, when the IoT device ID stored in association with the dwelling unit ID in the IoT device list is different from the IoT device ID of the IoT device 40 wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 12, the drone 10 The user terminal 20 of the user corresponding to the dwelling unit is inquired about how to update the IoT device ID in the IoT device list, and in response to the user instruction in response to the inquiry, it is stored in association with the dwelling unit. and an updating unit that updates the IoT device ID that is stored. As a result, it becomes possible to appropriately update the IoT device in the IoT device list.

[Modification 5]
For example, in a case where the transportation of luggage is permitted only when the user is at home in the dwelling unit 30 (for example, transportation of refrigerated or frozen food), the specific IoT device 40 used by the user (for example, the user always carries it) If wireless connection with a smart phone, tablet, wearable terminal, etc. that is likely to be present is not possible, the drone 10 may not land, or may confirm with the user whether or not the cargo can be transported. Specifically, even if the determination unit 13 determines the landing position of the drone 10 using the number of IoT devices 40 wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit 23 and the time required for the wireless connection, the purpose Of the one or more IoT device IDs corresponding to the dwelling unit 30 that is the ground, if the IoT device 40 of the specific IoT device ID cannot be wirelessly connected, the landing position of the drone 10 is invalidated, or Contact the corresponding user. In the latter case, the determination unit 13 asks the user terminal 20 of the user corresponding to the dwelling unit how to handle the luggage, and then, in response to the user's instruction in response to the inquiry, determines the landing position of the dwelling unit. You may choose to land and transport your cargo, or you may decide to return to the drone base without landing.

[Modification 6]
Landing control of the drone 10 is realized by so-called edge computing (control by the drone), cloud computing (control by the server device), or combination thereof (control by the drone and the server device), as described in the embodiment. may Therefore, at least part of the functions of the control device according to the present invention may be provided in the server device 60 .

[Modification 7]
The flying object is not limited to what is called a drone, and may have any structure or form as long as it is an flying object.

[Modification 8]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the flying object (drone 10) that transports the cargo lands at the destination has been described. It is also possible to apply the present invention to the landing of an aircraft in a scene in which a cargo is received and held at a point and taken off to the next destination. Further, the purpose or application of the flying object is not limited to the transport of luggage as exemplified in the embodiment, but may be any purpose such as measuring or photographing some object. That is, the present invention can be applied when the aircraft lands regardless of the flight purpose or application of the aircraft.

[Modification 9]
In the above-described embodiment, an image sensor is used as an imaging means provided in the sensor 1008 of the drone 10 in inspection of the destination. The position, shape, or size of the door is not limited to such an example of the embodiment. A method capable of sensing the thickness and the like can be used.

[Other Modifications]
The block diagrams used in the description of the above embodiments show blocks in functional units. These functional blocks (components) are implemented by any combination of hardware and/or software. Further, means for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be implemented by one device physically and/or logically coupled, or may be implemented by two or more physically and/or logically separated devices directly and/or indirectly. These multiple devices may be physically connected (eg, wired and/or wirelessly).
Any one of the devices constituting the drone management system 1 may have each function.

Each aspect/embodiment described herein includes LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, FRA (Future Radio Access), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), It may be applied to systems utilizing Bluetooth®, other suitable systems, and/or advanced next generation systems based thereon.

The order of the processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described in this specification may be changed as long as there is no contradiction. For example, the methods described herein present elements of the various steps in a sample order and are not limited to the specific order presented. Each aspect/embodiment described herein may be used alone, in combination, or switched between implementations. In addition, the notification of predetermined information (for example, notification of “being X”) is not limited to being performed explicitly, but may be performed implicitly (for example, not notifying the predetermined information). good too.

The information or parameters described in this specification may be represented by absolute values, relative values from a predetermined value, or other corresponding information.

The terms "determining" and "determining" used herein may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining", "determining" means, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., table , searching in a database or other data structure), ascertaining as "determining" or "determining". In addition, "judgment" and "decision" are used for receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., transmitting information), input, output, access, and so on. (accessing) (for example, accessing data in memory) may include deeming that something has been "determined" or "determined". In addition, "judgement" and "decision" are considered to be "judgment" and "decision" by resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. can contain. In other words, "judgment" and "decision" may include considering that some action is "judgment" and "decision".

The present invention may be provided as an information processing method or as a program. Such a program may be provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disc, or may be provided in a form in which the program is downloaded to a computer via a network such as the Internet, installed, and made available. It is possible.

Software, instructions, etc. may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, the software can be used to access websites, servers, or other When transmitted from a remote source, these wired and/or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

The information, signals, etc. described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may refer to voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or photons, or any of these. may be represented by a combination of

Any reference to elements using the "first", "second", etc. designations used herein does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, reference to a first and second element does not imply that only two elements can be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in any way.

"Means" in the configuration of each device described above may be replaced with "unit", "circuit", "device", or the like.

To the extent that "including," "comprising," and variations thereof are used in the specification or claims, these terms, as well as the term "comprising," are inclusive. intended to be Furthermore, the term "or" as used in this specification or the claims is not intended to be an exclusive OR.

Throughout this disclosure, where articles have been added by translation, e.g., a, an, and the in English, these articles are used unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It shall include plural things.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present invention can be implemented with modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined by the claims. Accordingly, the descriptions herein are for the purpose of illustration and description, and are not intended to have any limiting meaning with respect to the present invention.

1: drone management system, 10: drone, 11: storage unit, 12: wireless connection unit, 13: determination unit, 14: flight control unit, 15: image recognition unit, 20: user terminal, 30, 30a, 30b, 30c : Dwelling unit, 31a, 31b, 31c: Entrance, 40, 40a, 40b, 40c: IoT device, 50: Wireless communication network, 60: Server device, 1001: Processor, 1002: Memory, 1003: Storage, 1004: NW communication device , 1005: input device, 1006: output device, 1007: positioning device, 1008: sensor, 1009: flight driving mechanism, 1010: IoT communication device, 6001: processor, 6002: memory, 6003: storage, 6004: communication device, p1 , p2, p3: position.

Claims

a storage unit that stores, for each destination candidate of the aircraft, an identifier that identifies one or more wireless communication devices that are present at the destination;
a wireless connection unit that wirelessly connects with the wireless communication device using the identifier;
a determination unit that determines the landing position of the aircraft using at least one of the number of wireless communication devices wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit and the time required for the wireless connection. control device.
The determination unit selects a position where the number of the wireless communication devices wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit is the largest among the wireless communication devices indicated by the identifier stored in association with the destination of the aircraft, or , determining as the landing position of the flying object the position where the time required for wireless connection with the wireless communication device indicated by the identifier stored in association with the destination of the flying object is the shortest. 2. A control device according to claim 1.
The storage unit associates each destination candidate of the aircraft with an identifier that identifies one or more wireless communication devices existing at the destination, and stores time information regarding the time required for connection with the wireless communication device. remember,
The determination unit determines the landing position of the aircraft using the time information stored in the storage unit and the time required for wireless connection with the wireless communication device by the wireless connection unit. 3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by:
The storage unit
Storing the identifier specified based on a result of a wireless connection made by a user corresponding to the destination to a wireless communication device existing at the destination using a wireless communication terminal. 4. The control device according to any one of 3.
The storage unit
storing the identifier specified based on a result of establishing a wireless connection with a wireless communication device existing at each destination when the flying object landed at a landing position of each destination in the past; 4. The control device according to any one of items 1 to 3.
The storage unit
3. The time information specified based on a result of a wireless connection made by a user corresponding to the destination using a wireless communication terminal to a wireless communication device existing at the destination is stored. Control device as described.
The storage unit
and storing the time information specified based on the result of wireless connection with a wireless communication device existing at each destination when the flying object landed at the landing position of each destination in the past. 4. A control device according to claim 3.
When the identifier stored in association with the destination of the aircraft in flight is different from the identifier of the wireless communication device wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit, according to the user's instruction corresponding to the destination The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: an updating unit that updates the identifier stored in association with the destination according to the destination.
The decision unit
1 or more corresponding to the destination even when the landing position of the aircraft is determined using the number of wireless communication devices wirelessly connected by the wireless connection unit and the time required for the wireless connection of the identifiers, if a wireless communication device with a specific identifier cannot be wirelessly connected, the landing position of the aircraft is invalidated, or an inquiry is made to the user corresponding to the destination. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the flying object is a flying object that transports packages to the destination.