JP2017071285A - Flight vehicle, flight vehicle power supply device, and flight vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to stabilize flight operation at the time of taking off and landing while enabling non-contact power supply to a flight vehicle.SOLUTION: A flight vehicle control device (drone control terminal 200) for controlling a flight vehicle (drone 100) comprises: a taking off and landing control part (control part 202) which indicates taking off and landing to the drone 100; and a power transmission control part 302 performs at least one of controls for instructing start of power transmission after landing of the drone 100 is terminated, and for indicating stop of power transmission before start of landing to a flight vehicle power supply device (power transmission side unit 300) which performs non-contact power supply for charging a battery 114 to the drone 100.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an unmanned air vehicle referred to as a drone, a vehicle power supply device for charging a battery mounted on such a vehicle, and a vehicle control device that controls the flight of the vehicle. Is.

  In recent years, a flying object that uses a motor as a drive source to perform unmanned flight is being used. The battery that supplies power to the motor can be charged by, for example, power supply by non-contact power transmission from a moving mechanism on which the flying object is mounted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2014-104797, A

  As a power feeding method using non-contact power transmission as described above, for example, a method using electromagnetic induction or microwave is known. However, in these methods, the magnetic flux and radio waves generated from the power transmission device do not always reach the power receiving device, and leakage magnetic flux and radio waves can be generated. The inventors of the present application have the possibility that these leakage magnetic flux and leakage radio wave may affect the direction detection magnetic sensor provided in the flying object, and in that case, the landing operation when the flying object reaches the feeding position. In addition, it has been found that the flight operation may become unstable in the take-off operation when leaving the feeding position.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and enables power supply by non-contact power transmission to a flying object while reliably preventing flight operations during take-off and landing. The purpose is that.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
A flying object control apparatus for controlling a flying object by a motor powered from a battery,
A take-off and landing control unit for instructing the aircraft to land and take off;
Control for instructing start of power transmission after the landing of the flying object is completed with respect to the flying object power supply apparatus that supplies power to the flying object by contactless power transmission for charging the battery, and before the start of takeoff of the flying object A power transmission control unit that performs at least one of the control for instructing the power transmission stop to
It is provided with.

Further, the vehicle includes a battery and a motor powered by the battery, and is a flying object that flies by the motor,
Control for instructing start of power transmission after landing is completed and control for instructing stop of power transmission before the start of take-off for the power supply apparatus that supplies power to the aircraft by contactless power transmission for charging the battery. A power transmission control unit that performs at least one of them is provided.

In addition, a flying body power supply apparatus including a power transmission unit that performs power supply by non-contact power transmission for charging the battery to a flying body that is powered by a motor that is powered from a battery,
For the power transmission unit, at least one of the above-described flying object control device and power transmission start control according to a power transmission start instruction from at least one of the flying objects and power transmission stop control according to a power transmission stop instruction are performed. A power transmission control unit is provided.

  As a result, it is controlled so that power transmission by the flying object power feeding device is not performed until the landing of the flying object is completed, so that, for example, a magnetic sensor that detects the earth axis direction, position, altitude, etc. is affected by the leakage magnetic flux. Is avoided, and the landing operation is surely prevented from becoming unstable. In addition, since the take-off of the flying object is controlled to be performed after power transmission by the flying object power supply device is stopped, the magnetic sensor is also prevented from being affected by the leakage magnetic flux, and the take-off operation becomes unstable. Is reliably prevented.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can prevent reliably that the flight operation | movement at the time of take-off / landing becomes possible, enabling the electric power feeding by the non-contact power transmission to a flying body.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between each part of the drone 100, the drone control terminal 200, and the power transmission side unit 300. It is a block diagram which shows the specific structure of the principal part of said each part. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed by said each part. It is a timing chart which shows the operation timing of each said part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Overview of the entire system including drone 100)
As shown in FIG. 1, a system including a drone 100 that is a flying object includes a drone 100 itself, a drone control terminal 200 (flight control device) that controls the flight and the like, and a battery 114 mounted on the drone 100. A power transmission side unit 300 (air vehicle power supply device) that transmits electric power for charging is configured. Hereinafter, a specific configuration of a main part of each apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

(Drone 100)
The drone 100 includes a plurality of propellers 100a and a motor 100b that rotates the propellers 100a, and flies in accordance with control from the drone control terminal 200. More specifically, the drone 100 includes, for example, a flight control communication unit 101 that receives an instruction from the drone control terminal 200 and a flight control unit 102 that controls a flight according to the received instruction. The flight control communication unit 101 is also configured to transmit information indicating a state such as a flight altitude of the drone 100 detected by an altitude sensor to the drone control terminal 200, for example. The drone 100 is further provided with a power receiving unit 110 including a battery 114 that supplies electric power to the motor 100b and the like. The power receiving unit 110 also includes a power receiving coil 111 that receives power from the power transmitting side unit 300 by electromagnetic induction to charge the battery 114, and a DC that converts a voltage output from the power receiving coil 111 into a predetermined voltage. A DC converter 112 and a battery charging circuit 113 that controls charging of the battery 114 by the converted voltage are provided.

(Drone control terminal 200)
The drone control terminal 200 controls the flight of the drone 100 and the power transmission by the power transmission side unit 300. More specifically, the drone control terminal 200 includes an operation unit 201 that receives an operator's operation, and a control unit 202 that issues control instructions such as flight of the drone 100 and power transmission by the power transmission side unit 300 (takeoff / landing control unit, power transmission control unit, landing) A completion detection unit), a flight control communication unit 203 that performs communication with the drone 100 and the power transmission side unit 300, such as transmission of the control instruction, and a power transmission control communication unit 204. More specifically, the drone control terminal 200 can be configured using, for example, a tablet computer, a portable information terminal, a personal computer, or the like. Further, the communication method between the drone 100 and the power transmission side unit 300 is not particularly limited. For example, the flight control communication unit 203 performs communication using Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and the power transmission control communication unit 204 performs Bluetooth (registered trademark). ), Different methods may be used, or the same method may be used.

(Power transmission unit 300)
The power transmission side unit 300 generates a high frequency, a power transmission control communication unit 301 that receives control instructions from the drone control terminal 200, a power transmission control unit 302 that controls power transmission to the drone 100 according to the received control instructions, And a power transmission coil 304 (part of the power transmission unit) that transmits electric power to the drone 100 by electromagnetic induction using the high frequency.

(Operations performed in each part)
Operations performed by the drone 100, the drone control terminal 200, and the power transmission side unit 300 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  (S101) First, when the operator performs a landing instruction operation on the operation unit 201 during the flight of the drone 100, the drone control terminal 200 starts a landing control process, and a landing instruction is transmitted to the drone 100. (FIG. 4A).

  (S201) In the drone 100, when the landing instruction is received, the landing operation process is started, and the flight control unit 102 performs landing operation control for lowering the altitude while approaching the power transmission side unit 300 (FIG. 4 ( b)). At this time, the drone 100 detects the flight altitude, for example, every few ms, and transmits altitude information from the flight control communication unit 101 to the drone control terminal 200. When the flight altitude becomes 0, that is, when the flight state of the drone 100 is completed (FIG. 4E), the landing operation process is completed. Here, the control method in the landing operation is not particularly limited. For example, the flight position is controlled while confirming the position of the drone 100 itself by the position sensor in order to reliably approach the power transmission side unit 300, or the camera The flight position is controlled while photographing the marker or the like of the power transmission side unit 300, or the photographed image is transmitted to the drone control terminal 200 so that the drone control terminal 200 guides the drone 100. May be.

  (S102) The drone control terminal 200 receives the altitude information from the drone 100.

  (S103) Then, it is determined whether the altitude of the drone 100 has reached 0, that is, whether the landing has been completed, and the above (S102) and (S103) are repeated until completion.

  (S104) When the landing is completed, the drone control terminal 200 instructs the power transmission side unit 300 to start power transmission, and the ID of the aircraft of the drone 100 distributed in advance (Mac address, IP address, ID unique to the power transmission system, etc.) ) Is transmitted (FIG. 4F). Instead of transmitting the power transmission start instruction from the drone control terminal 200 as described above, a power transmission start instruction may be transmitted from the power transmission control unit provided in the drone 100 that has completed landing.

  (S301) In the power transmission side unit 300, when the power transmission start instruction is received, first, it is determined whether or not the target drone 100 is a power transmission permitted body.

  (S302) If it is not a power transmission permitted body, a power transmission disable notification is transmitted to the drone control terminal 200, and the power transmission start process ends.

  (S303) On the other hand, if it is a power transmission permission machine, after the transmission start notice is transmitted to the drone control terminal 200, the process proceeds to the following (S304).

  (S105) When the power transmission disabled notification or the power transmission start notification is transmitted from the power transmission side unit 300, the drone control terminal 200 can confirm whether power transmission is possible in the power transmission side unit 300, for example. When power transmission is not possible, the following power transmission stop instruction transmission (S111) may not be performed, or may be transmitted and ignored by the power transmission side unit.

  (S304) After the power transmission start notification is transmitted in (S303) above, the power transmission start process is started, and power transmission start control is performed. Specifically, for example, when the high-frequency power supply 303 is energized by the power transmission control unit 302 (FIG. 4 (h)), the high-frequency power is output from the high-frequency power supply 303 and input to the power transmission coil 304. Occurs (FIG. 4 (i)). Therefore, received power is generated in the receiving coil 111 of the drone 100 by electromagnetic induction (FIG. 4 (j)), and the battery 114 is charged via the DC-DC converter 112 and the battery charging circuit 113. Here, the example of FIG. 4 ((h) to (j)) shows an example in which energization, transmission power, and reception power to the high-frequency power supply 303 sequentially rise, but this is not restrictive, depending on the circuit configuration and the like. May prevent such a time lag from occurring.

  (S111) On the other hand, if the operator performs a take-off instruction operation on the operation unit 201 during the charging, the take-off control process is started in the drone control terminal 200. In this case, first, a power transmission stop instruction is transmitted to the power transmission side unit 300 (FIG. 4G).

  (S305) In the power transmission side unit 300, when the power transmission stop instruction is received, a power transmission stop process is started and power transmission stop control is performed. Specifically, for example, the power transmission control unit 302 stops energization of the high frequency power supply 303, and the transmitted power and the received power are also stopped (FIGS. 4H to 4J).

  (S112) Next, a takeoff instruction is transmitted from the drone control terminal 200 to the drone 100 (FIG. 4 (c)).

  The take-off instruction may be transmitted after a predetermined time has elapsed since the transmission stop instruction is transmitted. However, the power transmission by the power transmission side unit 300 is stopped by providing a power transmission stop detection unit. The take-off instruction may be transmitted after the power transmission is detected, that is, after the power transmission has stopped reliably. For this purpose, for example, the power transmission side unit 300 may be provided with a power transmission stop notification unit that notifies the drone control terminal 200 of power transmission stop.

  In addition, after the drone 100 receives the take-off instruction from the drone control terminal 200, the drone 100 may start take-off after a predetermined time has elapsed, or may include a power transmission stop detection unit, etc. You may make it start takeoff, after the stop of power transmission from a notification part is notified.

  Further, instead of transmitting a take-off instruction to the drone 100 after the power transmission stop instruction is transmitted from the drone control terminal 200 to the power transmission side unit 300, only the take-off instruction to the drone 100 is transmitted from the drone control terminal 200. The drone 100 may start take-off operation control after transmitting a power transmission stop instruction from the power transmission control unit provided therein to the power transmission side unit 300.

  (S202) When the take-off instruction is received from the drone control terminal 200, the drone 100 starts take-off operation processing (FIG. 4D), and the flight control unit 102 increases the thrust and attitude of the propeller 100a. Control or the like is performed, and the drone 100 takes off and enters a flight state (FIG. 4E).

  As described above, control is performed so that power transmission by the power transmission side unit 300 is not performed until the landing of the drone 100 is completed, so that a magnetic sensor for detecting the earth axis direction, position, altitude, etc. Even when the unit 300 is close to a distance of about 1.5 m or less, the influence of the leakage magnetic flux is avoided, and the landing operation is reliably prevented from becoming unstable. Further, since the take-off of the drone 100 is controlled to be performed after the power transmission by the power transmission side unit 300 is stopped, the magnetic sensor is also prevented from being affected by the leakage magnetic flux, and the take-off operation becomes unstable. Is reliably prevented. In addition, since power is transmitted only during landing, power consumption is reduced.

  In the above example, power transmission is started after landing, and power transmission is stopped before takeoff. However, the effect of power transmission on the sensor of the drone 100 is caused only in one of landing or takeoff. In such a case, the power transmission start or stop control may be performed only in one of the cases. For example, when power transmission is stopped by completing charging of the battery 114 during landing, it is only necessary to perform the control for starting power transmission after landing as described above. Further, landing and takeoff without charging may be performed without performing power transmission start and stop control as described above.

(Other matters)
The power transmission method from the power transmission side unit 300 to the drone 100 is not limited to the one using the electromagnetic induction as described above, and the flight and the circuit of the drone 100 in flight, such as the method using the microwave, are affected. If the power transmission method may be unstable, the above-described control can reliably prevent the flight operation during takeoff and landing from becoming unstable.

  In addition, the drone 100 and the drone control terminal 200 are not limited to being used in pairs, but may be used in a one-to-many or many-to-one pair, or a plurality of these sets may be used. One or more power transmission side units 300 may be used in common.

  When considering the existence of a plurality of drones 100 and the drone control terminal 200, the flight control of the drone 100 by the drone control terminal 200 and the power transmission control of the power transmission side unit 300 by the drone control terminal 200 are the IP address and the MAC. Each control may be enabled only by a specific combination by using an authentication or encryption method based on an address or ID. Specifically, for example, the drone control terminal 200 has a function of transmitting information for specifying the drone control terminal 200, and the drone 100 and the power transmission side unit 300 have a specific drone control terminal 200 based on the above information. Only for the above, a function of receiving a control instruction may be provided. As a result, the wireless communication used for remote control of the drone 100 can be prevented from being taken over or leaked due to interception, interference, or interference, and information security can be easily improved. It is possible to suppress unauthorized power reception by permitting power supply only to the drone control terminal 200 or a specific drone 100.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Drone 100a Propeller 100b Motor 101 Flight control communication part 102 Flight control part 110 Power receiving side unit 111 Power receiving coil 112 DC-DC converter 113 Battery charging circuit 114 Battery 200 Drone control terminal 201 Operation part 202 Control part 203 Flight control communication part 204 Power transmission Control communication unit 300 Power transmission side unit 301 Power transmission control communication unit 302 Power transmission control unit 303 High frequency power supply 304 Power transmission coil

Claims (10)

A flying object control apparatus for controlling a flying object by a motor powered from a battery,
A take-off and landing control unit for instructing the aircraft to land and take off;
Control for instructing start of power transmission after the landing of the flying object is completed with respect to the flying object power supply apparatus that supplies power to the flying object by contactless power transmission for charging the battery, and before the start of takeoff of the flying object A power transmission control unit that performs at least one of the control for instructing the power transmission stop to
An aircraft control apparatus comprising: The aircraft control apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
A landing completion detection unit that receives information sent from the flying object and detects completion of landing;
The aircraft control apparatus, wherein the power transmission control unit instructs the start of power transmission after the completion of landing is detected. The aircraft control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:
A power transmission stop detection unit for detecting a power transmission stop by the flying body power supply device;
The aircraft control apparatus, wherein the take-off and landing control unit instructs take-off after detecting the stop of power transmission. A vehicle including a battery and a motor powered by the battery, wherein the aircraft flies by the motor, and
Control for instructing start of power transmission after landing is completed and control for instructing stop of power transmission before the start of take-off for the power supply apparatus that supplies power to the aircraft by contactless power transmission for charging the battery. A flying body comprising a power transmission control unit that performs at least one of them. 5. The vehicle of claim 4, further comprising:
A power transmission stop detection unit that receives information sent from the flying object power supply device and detects power transmission stop,
An aircraft control apparatus configured to start takeoff after detecting the power transmission stop. A flying object power supply apparatus comprising a power transmission unit for supplying power by non-contact power transmission for charging the battery to a flying object by a motor powered by a battery,
A power transmission start control according to a power transmission start instruction from at least one of the flying object control device according to claim 1 and claim 4 or claim 5 and a power transmission stop with respect to the power transmission unit. A flying object power supply apparatus comprising a power transmission control unit that performs at least one of power transmission stop control according to an instruction. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 6, further comprising:
An aircraft power supply apparatus comprising: a power transmission stop notification unit configured to notify power transmission stop to at least one of the vehicle control apparatus according to claim 3 and the aircraft according to claim 5. The aircraft control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Further, the flying object control apparatus is configured to transmit specific information for specifying the flying object control apparatus to at least one of the flying object and the flying object power supply apparatus. The vehicle of claim 4 or claim 5, wherein
9. A flying object configured to receive only a control instruction sent from a specific flying object control device based on the specific information sent from the flying object control device of claim 8. The aircraft power feeding device according to claim 6 or 7,
9. A flying body power supply apparatus configured to receive only a control instruction sent from a specific flying body control apparatus based on the specific information sent from the flying body control apparatus according to claim 8.

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