WO2019015370A1 - Unmanned aerial vehicle positioning device, ground control system, positioning system, and unmanned aerial vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and particularly to an unmanned aerial vehicle positioning device, an unmanned aerial vehicle ground control system, an unmanned aerial vehicle positioning system, and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle positioning device comprises: a positioning module configured to obtain position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle from a positioning satellite; a control unit configured to read the position information from the positioning module; and a cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things module configured to send the position information to a cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things base station. According to the embodiments of the present invention, access to the cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things base station is achieved by means of the cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things module, such that connection to a cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things is achieved, and the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle is sent to a named destination by means of the cellular-based narrow-band Internet of Things so that a user of the unmanned aerial vehicle knows the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle. When the unmanned aerial vehicle crashes, the user is allowed to find the crash site of the unmanned aerial vehicle rapidly, the undamaged parts or loads of the unmanned aerial vehicle are facilitated to be recovered, and the loss of the user is retrieved to a certain extent.

Description

UAV positioning device, ground control system, positioning system and drone

This application is required to be submitted to the Chinese Patent Office on July 18, 2017, the application number is 201710585618.2, and the Chinese patent entitled "UAV positioning device, UAV ground control system, UAV positioning system and UAV" The priority of the application, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

The present application relates to the field of drones, and in particular, to a drone positioning device, a drone ground control system, a drone positioning system, and a drone.

Background technique

With the development of drone technology, drones have been widely used in military and civilian fields. In military applications, drones are mainly used for reconnaissance, combat, and drones. In civilian applications, drones can be used in different industries, including aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, express transportation, disaster relief, surveying and so on.

In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventors have found that at least the following problems exist in the related art: the drone may crash during flight due to weather or damage to the drone itself. For some more expensive drones or drones carrying heavy loads, the crash will cause heavy losses to drone users. If you can find the location where the drone crashed, it will help to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone, and to some extent recover the user's loss.

Summary of the invention

An object of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a drone positioning device, a drone ground control system, a drone positioning system, and a drone that can help a user to know the position information of the drone.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a drone positioning device, where the device includes:

a positioning module, configured to obtain location information of the drone from a positioning satellite;

a control unit, configured to read the location information from the positioning module;

A cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things module is configured to transmit the location information to a cellular-based narrowband IoT base station to cause the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station to transmit the location information to a user terminal.

Optionally, the positioning module is further configured to periodically obtain location information of the drone from the positioning satellite when receiving the startup signal of the drone.

Optionally, the device further includes:

A power module for powering the positioning module, the control unit, and the cellular based narrowband IoT module.

Optionally, it also includes:

a power switching module, configured to detect an operating state of the drone, and control, according to the working state, a power supply module of the power module or the drone as the positioning module, a control unit, and a narrow band based on a cell The IoT module is powered.

Optionally, the power switching module is further configured to determine, when the working state of the drone is normal, that the power supply module of the drone is the positioning module, the control unit, and a narrow band based on a cell. The IoT module is powered.

Optionally, the power switching module is further configured to: when the working state of the drone is abnormal, determine that the power module supplies power to the positioning module, the control unit, and the cellular-based narrowband IoT module. .

Optionally, the power switching module is further configured to send an operating state of the drone to the control unit;

The control unit is further configured to control the acquiring frequency of the location information by the positioning module according to the working state of the drone.

Optionally, the control unit is further configured to: when the working state of the drone is abnormal, control the cell-based narrowband Internet of Things module to send alert information to the cell-based narrowband IoT base station, So that the cell-based narrowband Internet of Things base station transmits the alert information to the user terminal;

The warning information is used to alert the working state of the drone that the working state is abnormal.

Optionally, the control unit is an embedded microcontroller.

Optionally, the location information includes: longitude information, latitude information, and altitude information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a drone, and the drone includes the above-described drone positioning device.

Optionally, the UAV positioning device is located inside the casing of the UAV.

Optionally, the UAV positioning device is located outside the casing of the UAV.

Optionally, the UAV positioning device is bound to a load device outside the casing of the UAV.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a drone ground control system, including:

a cellular-based narrow-band IoT server, configured to receive location information of the UAV transmitted by the UAV positioning device through the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station, and send the location information to the user terminal;

And a user terminal, configured to receive the location information sent by the cellular-based narrowband IoT server through a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things, and display the location information.

Optionally, the cell-based narrowband IoT server is further configured to save location information of the UAV, and when receiving a request message sent by the user terminal for location information of the UAV, Sending location information of the drone to the user terminal.

Optionally, the cell-based narrowband IoT server is further configured to map a flight path of the drone according to the location information, and send the flight track to the user terminal.

Optionally, the cell-based narrowband IoT server is further configured to map a flight path of the drone according to the location information.

Optionally, the terminal device is further configured to draw a flight trajectory of the drone according to the location information.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a UAV positioning system, where the system includes:

UAV positioning device;

Cellular based narrowband IoT base station;

A drone ground control system, the drone ground control system comprising a cellular based narrowband IoT server and a user terminal.

Wherein the UAV positioning device, the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station and the UAV ground control system communicate via a cellular based narrowband Internet of Things;

The drone positioning device includes any one of the above-mentioned UAV positioning devices;

The UAV ground control system includes any of the above ground control systems.

The beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present invention are: the embodiment of the present invention accesses a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things base station through a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things module, thereby connecting to a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things, and through a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things The location information of the drone is sent to the designated destination so that the drone user knows the location of the drone. When the drone crashes, the user can quickly find the location where the drone crashed, which is beneficial to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone and restore the loss to the user to a certain extent.

DRAWINGS

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

1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of a drone positioning device of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of a drone positioning device of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of a drone ground control system of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the structure of an embodiment of the drone positioning system of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is a partial embodiment of the invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a drone positioning device, a drone ground control system, a drone positioning system, and a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention. The application scenario includes a drone 30 and The drone ground control system 20, the drone 30 includes a drone positioning device 10. The UAV positioning device 10 is configured to obtain the position information of the UAV 30 by positioning the satellite, and then transmitting the position information to the UAV ground control through a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT). System 20 is such that the drone user knows the location of the drone 30 through the drone ground control system 20. Among them, positioning satellites such as Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and the like.

Optionally, the application scenario may further include a cellular-based narrowband IoT base station, and the UAV positioning device 10 communicates with the UAV ground control system 20 through the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station.

Wherein, based on the narrowband cellular base station may be things second generation mobile communication technology (2 ^nd Generation, 2G), third generation mobile communication technology (3 ^rd Generation, 3G), fourth generation mobile communication technology (4 ^th Generation , 4G), 5G mobile communication technologies (5 ^th Generation, 5G) or a base station in a predetermined future mobile communication technologies. In this case, the base station can be connected to a cellular based narrowband Internet of Things.

Among them, the UAV positioning device 10 in the UAV 30 and the cellular-based narrow-band IoT base station can realize long-distance communication, for example, to achieve 20 km of signal communication.

The UAV positioning device 10 included in the UAV 30 may be installed in the casing of the UAV 30 or may be installed outside the casing of the UAV 30, depending on the inside of the casing of the UAV 30. The accommodation space is determined. The casing of the drone 30 is used to house various systems in the drone, such as a flight control system, a vision system, a power system, and the like. These systems work together to enable autonomous or controlled flight of the drone.

The drone positioning device 10 is independently mounted in or outside the casing of the drone 30, which may include an interface to enable communication with other systems included in the drone 30; or it may be independent of The other systems in machine 30 operate independently.

When the drone positioning device 10 is mounted outside the casing of the drone 30, further, the device 10 can be attached to the load device outside the casing of the drone 30. The drone can use the load device to perform tasks other than flight, such as photographing, sowing, and the like. When the UAV positioning device 10 is installed in binding with the load device, accurate information of the load device can be obtained. Further, if the load device is separated from the UAV during flight, the UAV positioning device 10 can be used to obtain The location information is found in the load device.

As shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides a UAV positioning device, which includes a positioning module 11, a control unit 12, and a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB). -IoT) module 13.

The positioning module 11 is configured to obtain the location information of the drone from the positioning satellite; the control unit 12 is connected to the positioning module 11 for reading the location information from the positioning module 11; the NB-IoT module 13 is connected to the control unit 12 And for transmitting the location information to the NB-IoT base station.

Further, after receiving the start signal of the drone, the positioning module 11 starts to obtain the location information of the drone. For example, after the drone is started, the start signal can be sent to the drone positioning device, and the positioning module 11 can start to obtain the position information of the drone. Before this, the positioning module 11 can be disabled, and the power consumption has been saved. .

Alternatively, other positioning modules may be configured in the drone, and the other positioning modules and the positioning module 11 may work simultaneously or cooperate. For example, when the positioning module 11 determines that other positioning modules in the drone are stopped, or when the working state is abnormal, for example, when other positioning modules feedback cannot obtain the position information, the positioning module 11 starts to work.

Of course, the positioning module 11 can also work according to the control command sent by the control unit 12. For example, the positioning module 11 acquires the location information according to the control command sent by the control unit 12, temporarily sleeps, or stops acquiring the location information. Alternatively, the positioning module 11 can adjust the acquisition frequency of the location signal according to the control command sent by the control unit 12. .

The positioning module 11 obtains the location information of the drone from the positioning satellite, and the location information can determine the exact location of the drone on the earth. Specifically, the location information can include the longitude, latitude, and altitude of the drone. The control unit 12 reads the location information from the positioning module 11 and then transmits the location information to the NB-IoT module 13, and the NB-IoT module 13 can transmit the location information of the drone to the designated NB-IoT server through the NB-IoT base station. To let the user know the location of the drone. Wherein, the control unit 12 can adopt a low power consumption embedded microcontroller to reduce the power consumption of the UAV positioning device.

The embodiment of the present invention accesses the NB-IoT base station through the NB-IoT module, thereby connecting to the NB-IoT network, and transmitting the location information of the drone to the designated destination through the NB-IoT network, so that the drone user Know the location of the drone. When the drone crashes, the user can quickly find the location where the drone crashed, which is beneficial to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone and restore the loss to the user to a certain extent.

NB-IoT is a new wireless cellular network standard for the Internet of Things. It has a wide coverage of a single base station, low power consumption, high signal-to-noise ratio, low interference, and strong penetrating power. Therefore, the UAV positioning device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can prevent the UAV from being far away from the base station, causing the user to be unable to track the position of the UAV, and the power consumption is low, and the operation can be performed for a long time, thereby preventing the power supply from being Depletion causes the drone to be tracked. Because the NB-IoT network has strong anti-interference ability, it can reduce the situation that the drone cannot be tracked due to signal interference.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 3, in another embodiment of the UAV positioning device of the present invention, the UAV positioning device further includes a power module 14 respectively, and the positioning module 11, the control unit 12, and The NB-IoT module 13 is connected to supply power to the positioning module 11, the control unit 12, and the NB-IoT module 13. The power module 14 can be a lithium battery or other dry batteries, batteries, and the like.

The UAV positioning device of the embodiment of the present invention uses an independent power supply instead of the main power supply of the UAV, and can still be damaged when the UAV crashes and the main power is damaged or the UAV is turned off. In normal operation, the drone location information is sent to the user to enable the user to find the location of the drone.

Optionally, the UAV positioning device may further include a power switching module, configured to select one of the power module 14 or the power supply module in the UAV to supply power to the UAV positioning device.

Exemplarily, the power switching module can detect the working state of the drone, and the working state of the drone can be normal or abnormal. The normal working state of the drone can mean that the system is running normally after the drone is turned on; the abnormal working state of the drone means that one of the systems or modules of the drone is not working normally, for example, sending an abnormal signal, etc. .

When the power switching module detects that the working state of the drone is normal, the power supply module of the drone is selected to supply power to the positioning module, the control unit and the NB-IoT module in the unmanned positioning device to save power consumption of the power module. Electricity.

When the power switching module detects that the working state of the drone is abnormal, the power module is selected to supply power to the positioning module, the control unit and the NB-IoT module in the unmanned positioning device to ensure abnormal operation of the main body of the drone. In this case, the drone positioning device can work independently of the drone, thereby ensuring that the position information of the drone can be obtained normally for the user to retrieve.

Specifically, the power switching module can detect whether the working state of the drone is normal through a heartbeat signal sent by one or more systems of the drone; for example, the power switching module can periodically receive the corresponding system (such as flying) The heartbeat signal sent by the control system or the power supply module indicates that the working state of the drone is normal, otherwise the working state of the drone is abnormal.

Further, the power switching module may further send the result of the detected working state of the drone to the control unit. For example, when the power switching module detects that the working state of the drone is abnormal, the abnormal result is sent to the control unit. And the control unit sends the warning information to the NB-IoT base station through the NB-IOT module, so that the NB-IoT base station sends the warning information to the drone ground control system 20 through the NB-IoT network to prompt the abnormal operation state of the drone. .

In an implementation manner, the NB-IoT server in the drone ground control system receives the location information of the drone sent by the UAV positioning device through the NB-IoT base station, and stores the information. After receiving the warning information sent by the UAV positioning device through the NB-IoT base station, the NB-IoT sends the warning information to the user terminal, so that the user terminal can request the NB-IoT server to retrieve the saved drone. Location information, and analysis of the location information of the drone to search for the drone.

In one scenario, if other positioning modules are configured in the drone, the user terminal can obtain the location information of the drone obtained by other positioning modules in real time. When the working state of the drone is abnormal, the user terminal cannot obtain the location information of the drone obtained by the other positioning module. At this time, the drone positioning device can send the warning information to the user terminal through the NB-IoT network, so that The user terminal can continue to obtain the location information of the drone, so that the drone can be searched.

Further, the control unit may control the acquisition frequency of the location information by the positioning module according to the working state of the drone. Specifically, when the working state of the drone is normal, the control unit may control the positioning module to periodically collect the position information at the first acquisition frequency; when the working state of the drone is abnormal, the control unit may control the positioning module to The second acquisition frequency periodically collects location information. The first acquisition frequency is smaller than the second acquisition frequency.

That is to say, when the working state of the drone is abnormal, the positioning module in the UAV positioning device obtains the position information of the drone at a higher frequency, and further, the user terminal can acquire more position information, thereby being more precise. Position the drone.

When the UAV is in normal working condition, it can appropriately reduce the acquisition frequency of the position information, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UAV positioning device.

Of course, in another implementation manner, the control unit in the UAV positioning device can detect the working state of the UAV, and can control the power switching module to select a power module as the UAV positioning device according to the working state thereof. Each module or unit is powered.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the invention further provides a drone, which comprises the above-mentioned drone positioning device. Optionally, if the space of the drone is limited, the UAV positioning device may be placed outside the UAV, and if the UAV positioning device is not desired to be easily discovered, it may be The drone positioning device is placed inside the drone. In practical applications, if the load is an important item, the UAV positioning device can also be bound to the load to prevent the drone from being separated from the load during the crash of the drone, and the position of the load cannot be found.

The embodiment of the present invention accesses the NB-IoT base station through the NB-IoT module, thereby connecting to the NB-IoT network, and transmitting the location information of the drone to the designated destination through the NB-IoT network, so that the drone user Know the location of the drone. When the drone crashes, the user can quickly find the location where the drone crashed, which is beneficial to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone and restore the loss to the user to a certain extent.

As shown in FIG. 4, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an unmanned aerial vehicle ground control system, which includes an NB-IoT server 21 and a terminal device 22, and the NB-IoT server 21 and the terminal device 22 pass The NB-IoT network or a cellular-based mobile communication network communication connection. In practical applications, the NB-IoT server 21 can connect to the NB-IoT network or connect to the cellular-based mobile communication network, and the NB-IoT base station sets the location of the drone through the NB-IoT network, or the NB-IoT network and the mobile communication network. The information is sent to the NB-IoT server 21. The NB-IoT server 21 receives the location information of the UAV transmitted by the NB-IoT base station and transmits the location information to the terminal device 22 through the NB-IoT network or the cellular-based mobile communication network, and the terminal device 22 receives the NB-IoT server. 21 The location information sent is displayed for the user to view.

The terminal device 22 can also perform further processing according to the location information of the drone, for example, generating a flight path of the drone on the map. It is also possible that the NB-IoT server 21 performs further processing based on the location information of the drone, and transmits the processing result to the terminal device 22. The terminal device 22 is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, or the like. Here, the terminal device 22 can be understood as the user terminal in the above embodiment. Further, the terminal device 22 may further include a remote controller that can establish communication with the drone, and can send a remote command to the drone or receive information such as flight data fed back by the drone.

In an implementation manner, the NB-IoT server 21 can store the location information of the UAV sent by the UAV positioning device, and when the terminal device 22 sends a request to the terminal device 22, according to the request, feedback the location of the corresponding UAV. information. In this way, the storage load of the terminal device 22 can be alleviated, and the processing efficiency of the terminal device 22 can be further improved, thereby improving the efficiency of finding the drone.

The embodiment of the present invention receives the location information of the UAV transmitted by the NB-IoT base station by using the NB-IoT server 21 and transmits the location information to the terminal device 22 to display the location information on the terminal device 22, thereby making the location unmanned. The user knows the location of the drone. When the drone crashes, the user can quickly find the location where the drone crashed, which is beneficial to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone and restore the loss to the user to a certain extent.

As shown in FIG. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a drone positioning system including the above-described drone 30 and the above-described drone ground control system 20. For technical details of the drone 30 and the drone ground control system 20, please refer to the above description, and details are not described herein again.

The embodiment of the present invention accesses the NB-IoT base station through the NB-IoT module, thereby connecting to the NB-IoT network, and transmitting the location information of the drone to the designated NB-IoT server through the NB-IoT network, and the NB-IoT server After receiving the location information, the location information is sent to the terminal device to display the location information of the drone at the terminal device, so that the drone user knows the location of the drone. When the drone crashes, the user can quickly find the location where the drone crashed, which is beneficial to recover the undamaged parts or loads of the drone and restore the loss to the user to a certain extent.

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

Claims (20)

A UAV positioning device, characterized in that the device comprises: a positioning module, configured to obtain location information of the drone from a positioning satellite; a control unit, configured to read the location information from the positioning module; A cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things module is configured to transmit the location information to a cellular-based narrowband IoT base station to cause the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station to transmit the location information to a user terminal. The device of claim 1 wherein: The positioning module is further configured to periodically obtain location information of the drone from the positioning satellite when receiving the activation signal of the drone. The device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device further comprises: A power module for powering the positioning module, the control unit, and the cellular based narrowband IoT module. The device of claim 3, further comprising: a power switching module, configured to detect an operating state of the drone, and control, according to the working state, a power supply module of the power module or the drone as the positioning module, a control unit, and a narrow band based on a cell The IoT module is powered. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that The power switching module is further configured to determine, when the working state of the drone is normal, that the power supply module of the drone powers the positioning module, the control unit, and the cellular-based narrowband IoT module . Device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that The power switching module is further configured to determine that the power module supplies power to the positioning module, the control unit, and the cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things module if the working state of the drone is abnormal. A device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein The power switching module is further configured to send an operating state of the drone to the control unit; The control unit is further configured to control the acquiring frequency of the location information by the positioning module according to the working state of the drone. The device of claim 7 wherein: The control unit is further configured to: when the working state of the drone is abnormal, control the cell-based narrowband IoT module to send alert information to the cell-based narrowband IoT base station, so that the The cellular based narrowband internet of things base station transmits the alert information to the user terminal; The warning information is used to alert the working state of the drone that the working state is abnormal. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit is an embedded microcontroller. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the location information comprises longitude information, latitude information, and altitude information. A drone, characterized in that the drone includes the drone positioning device according to any one of claims 1-10. The drone according to claim 11, wherein said drone positioning device is located inside a casing of said drone. The drone according to claim 11, wherein said drone positioning device is located outside said casing of said drone. The drone according to claim 13, wherein said UAV positioning device is coupled to a load device external to the casing of said UAV. An unmanned aerial vehicle ground control system, comprising: a cellular-based narrow-band IoT server, configured to receive location information of the UAV transmitted by the UAV positioning device through the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station, and send the location information to the user terminal; And a user terminal, configured to receive the location information sent by the cellular-based narrowband IoT server through a cellular-based narrowband Internet of Things, and display the location information. A floor control system according to claim 15 wherein: The cell-based narrowband IoT server is further configured to save location information of the UAV, and when the user terminal receives a request message for location information of the UAV, the The location information of the human machine is sent to the user terminal. The ground control system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the cellular-based narrow-band IoT server is further configured to map a flight trajectory of the drone according to the position information, and the flight trajectory Send to the user terminal. The ground control system according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the user terminal is further configured to draw a flight trajectory of the drone according to the position information. A UAV positioning system, characterized in that the system comprises: UAV positioning device; Cellular based narrowband IoT base station; a drone ground control system, the drone ground control system comprising a cellular based narrowband IoT server and a user terminal; Wherein the UAV positioning device, the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station and the UAV ground control system communicate via a cellular based narrowband Internet of Things; Wherein the drone positioning device comprises the device of any one of claims 1 to 10, the drone ground control system comprising the device of any one of claims 15 to 18. The system of claim 19 wherein: The UAV acquires location information of the UAV acquired by the UAV positioning device, and transmits the acquired location information of the UAV to the cellular-based narrowband IoT base station; The cell-based narrowband IoT base station transmits location information of the drone to the cell-based narrowband IoT server; The cellular-based narrowband IoT server transmits location information of the drone to the user terminal.

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