阅读说明：本技术 一种基于近红外信标的无人机复合对接系统及其方法 (Unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system and method based on near-infrared beacon ) 是由 潘汉 敬忠良 陈务军 任炫光 董鹏 黄健哲 陈家耕 高颖 于 2019-04-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种基于近红外信标的无人机复合对接系统及其方法。该系统包括：无人机,包括飞控计算机、视觉处理器以及图像采集单元,图像采集单元与视觉处理器电性耦接,视觉处理器与飞控计算机电性耦接；清洁装置,包括清洁机器人、通信芯片和近红外信标,信标固定安装于清洁机器人,通信芯片用于将传感器及充电状态信息传送给清洁机器人并接收来自清洁机器人的命令；地面控制台,根据相对定位准则输出一系列空间坐标并实现无人机的任务规划。相比于现有技术,本发明可大幅提高空中无人机与清洁装置之间的对接精度,大大降低高层建筑的清洗成本,极大地改善工人的作业环境,以便提高清洗效率。(The invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system based on a near-infrared beacon and a method thereof. The system comprises: the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a visual processor and an image acquisition unit, wherein the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the visual processor, and the visual processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer; the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near-infrared beacon, wherein the beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting the sensor and the charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving a command from the cleaning robot; and the ground control console outputs a series of space coordinates according to the relative positioning criterion and realizes the task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Compared with the prior art, the invention can greatly improve the butt joint precision between the aerial unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device, greatly reduce the cleaning cost of high-rise buildings, and greatly improve the working environment of workers so as to improve the cleaning efficiency.)

1. A compound docking system of unmanned aerial vehicle based on near infrared beacon, its characterized in that, compound docking system of unmanned aerial vehicle includes:

the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a visual processor and an image acquisition unit, wherein the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the visual processor, and the visual processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer;

the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near infrared beacon, wherein the near infrared beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting sensor and charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving commands from the cleaning robot;

the ground control console wirelessly transmits the cleaning device to the unmanned aerial vehicle and wirelessly transmits the cleaning device to the ground control console, the ground control console outputs a series of space coordinates according to a relative positioning criterion and realizes the task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to a target area according to a planned cleaning task.

2. A near-infrared beacon-based drone composite docking system according to claim 1, characterized in that the near-infrared beacons are configured as composite spectral bands, spatial structures and/or spatial distribution patterns.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking system based on near-infrared beacon according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition unit is a near-infrared camera, and the image acquisition unit performs extraction and relative measurement of near-infrared feature points by shooting an image sequence of the cleaning device, so as to send feature data of the near-infrared beacon into the vision processor.

4. The near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking system of claim 1, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle delivers the cleaning device to a wall, a light and heat panel, or a photovoltaic panel surface and is autonomously cleaned by a cleaning robot of the cleaning device.

5. The near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking system of claim 1, wherein the ground console performs mission planning according to cleanliness of a platform surface to be cleaned.

6. The near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking system of claim 1, wherein the near-infrared beacon employs LEDs of different wavelength bands.

7. A near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking method is suitable for docking a cleaning robot to a target area, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

providing an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a visual processor and an image acquisition unit, the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the visual processor, and the visual processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer;

providing a cleaning device, wherein the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near infrared beacon, the near infrared beacon is fixedly installed on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting sensor and charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving commands from the cleaning robot; and

providing a ground control console, carrying out wireless transmission with unmanned aerial vehicle and carrying out wireless transmission with cleaning device, ground control console is according to relative positioning criterion, outputs a series of space coordinates and realizes unmanned aerial vehicle's mission planning, unmanned aerial vehicle will according to the clean mission of planning cleaning device sends to the target area.

8. A near-infrared beacon-based drone composite docking method according to claim 7, characterized in that the near-infrared beacon is configured as a composite spectrum band, spatial structure and/or spatial distribution.

9. The unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking method based on the near-infrared beacon as claimed in claim 7, wherein the image acquisition unit is a near-infrared camera, and the image acquisition unit performs extraction and relative measurement of near-infrared feature points by shooting an image sequence of the cleaning device, so as to send feature data of the near-infrared beacon into the vision processor.

10. The near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to a wall, a photo-thermal plate or a photovoltaic plate surface, and is autonomously cleaned by a cleaning robot of the cleaning device.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an aerial unmanned aerial vehicle and a key component thereof, in particular to an unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system and a method thereof based on near-infrared beacons.

Background

In the prior art, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been receiving wide attention since the past, and with the progress of scientific technology, Unmanned Aerial vehicles have been applied to various aspects such as terrain detection, disaster detection, Aerial reconnaissance, and the like. In addition, the existing urban high-rise building stands in forest, the floor can be as high as nearly one hundred meters, and the outer wall surface materials are mainly glass, ceramic tiles and the like. For cleaning the wall surface, most of the work is still carried out by cleaning staff through suspension wires, suspension ropes and the like, which is dangerous and low in cleaning efficiency. Moreover, these aloft work cannot sufficiently ensure personal safety and is highly likely to have a great threat to the wall surface. However, conventional mobile cleaning robots, such as a suspension type cleaning robot or a wall climbing robot, have problems of slow speed, complex structure, poor adaptability, etc. in terms of an adsorption method and a moving method.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects existing in the suspension type cleaning robot or the wall climbing robot in the prior art during high-altitude operation, the invention provides an unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system based on a near-infrared beacon and a method thereof.

According to one aspect of the invention, a near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system is provided, which comprises:

the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a visual processor and an image acquisition unit, wherein the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the visual processor, and the visual processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer;

the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near infrared beacon, wherein the near infrared beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting sensor and charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving commands from the cleaning robot;

the ground control console wirelessly transmits the cleaning device to the unmanned aerial vehicle and wirelessly transmits the cleaning device to the ground control console, the ground control console outputs a series of space coordinates according to a relative positioning criterion and realizes the task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to a target area according to a planned cleaning task.

In a particular embodiment, the near-infrared beacons are configured in a composite spectral band, spatial structure, and/or spatial distribution.

In a specific embodiment, the image acquisition unit is a near-infrared camera, and the image acquisition unit performs extraction and relative measurement of near-infrared feature points by shooting a sequence of images of the cleaning device, so that feature data of the near-infrared beacon is sent to the vision processor.

In a specific embodiment, the unmanned aerial vehicle delivers the cleaning device to the surface of a wall, a light and heat panel or a photovoltaic panel and is autonomously cleaned by the cleaning robot of the cleaning device.

In one embodiment, the floor console performs mission planning based on the cleanliness of the platform surface to be cleaned.

In one embodiment, the near-infrared beacon employs LEDs of different wavelength bands.

According to another aspect of the invention, a near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking method is provided, which is suitable for docking a cleaning robot to a target area, and comprises the following steps:

providing an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a visual processor and an image acquisition unit, the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the visual processor, and the visual processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer;

providing a cleaning device, wherein the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near infrared beacon, the near infrared beacon is fixedly installed on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting sensor and charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving commands from the cleaning robot; and

providing a ground control console, carrying out wireless transmission with unmanned aerial vehicle and carrying out wireless transmission with cleaning device, ground control console is according to relative positioning criterion, outputs a series of space coordinates and realizes unmanned aerial vehicle's mission planning, unmanned aerial vehicle will according to the clean mission of planning cleaning device sends to the target area.

In a particular embodiment, the near-infrared beacons are configured in a composite spectral band, spatial structure, and/or spatial distribution.

In a specific embodiment, the image acquisition unit is a near-infrared camera, and the image acquisition unit performs extraction and relative measurement of near-infrared feature points by shooting a sequence of images of the cleaning device, so that feature data of the near-infrared beacon is sent to the vision processor.

In a specific embodiment, the drone delivers the cleaning device to the wall, to the surface of the photothermal or photovoltaic panel and is autonomously cleaned by the cleaning robot of the cleaning device.

By adopting the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system and the method thereof, the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a vision processor and an image acquisition unit, wherein the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the vision processor, and the vision processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer; the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near-infrared beacon, wherein the near-infrared beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting the sensor and the charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving a command from the cleaning robot; the ground control console, the unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device are in wireless transmission, a series of space coordinates are output according to relative positioning criteria, task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle is achieved, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to a target area according to a planned cleaning task.

Compared with the prior art, the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with the near-infrared camera with the specific wave band, the cleaning device is provided with the near-infrared beacon with the specific wave band, and based on the small hole imaging model of the near-infrared camera, a series of space coordinates are output by extracting the detected near-infrared beacon characteristic points, the task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle is realized, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to the target area according to the planned cleaning task. Therefore, the invention can greatly improve the butt joint precision between the aerial unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device, greatly reduce the cleaning cost of high-rise buildings, and greatly improve the working environment of workers so as to improve the cleaning efficiency.

Drawings

The various aspects of the present invention will become more apparent to the reader after reading the detailed description of the invention with reference to the attached drawings. Wherein the content of the first and second substances,

fig. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system, according to an aspect of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the unmanned aerial vehicle is in composite docking with the cleaning device in the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system of fig. 1;

fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a near-infrared beacon fixedly mounted to a cleaning device in the unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking system of fig. 1; and

fig. 4 shows a block flow diagram of a method for near-infrared beacon-based drone composite docking, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the present disclosure more complete and complete, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar or analogous elements, and to the various embodiments of the invention described below. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the examples provided below are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not drawn to scale.

Specific embodiments of various aspects of the present invention are described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a near-infrared beacon-based unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system according to an aspect of the present invention, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a state in which an unmanned aerial vehicle is in composite docking with a cleaning device in the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system of fig. 1, and fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a near-infrared beacon fixedly mounted on the cleaning device in the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system of fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, in this embodiment, the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system of the present invention includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, a cleaning device, and a floor console.

In detail, as shown in fig. 1, the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a flight control computer, a vision processor, and an image acquisition unit. The image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the vision processor, and the vision processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer. The cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near-infrared beacon, wherein the near-infrared beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting the sensor and the charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving a command from the cleaning robot. That is, the communication chip and the cleaning robot perform bidirectional data interaction, for example, adopt a data transmission form based on the MAVLINK protocol therebetween. In the composite docking system, the near-infrared beacon is introduced and fixedly installed on the cleaning robot, and the relative pose between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device is obtained by solving the Perspective-3-Points (P3P) problem based on the computer vision theory, so that the adverse effects of complex conditions such as sunlight, strong wind, no GPS signal and the like can be reduced, and the robustness of the docking process is improved. Thus, the drone delivers the cleaning device to the wall, the light and heat panel or the photovoltaic panel surface, which can then be cleaned autonomously by the cleaning robot of the cleaning device. In addition, the ground console can also be tasked with the cleanliness of the platform surface to be cleaned.

The ground control console carries out wireless transmission with unmanned aerial vehicle and carries out wireless transmission with cleaning device, and the ground control console is according to relative positioning criterion, outputs a series of space coordinates and realizes unmanned aerial vehicle's mission planning, and unmanned aerial vehicle sends cleaning device to target area (such as wall, light and heat board or photovoltaic board surface) according to the clean mission of planning.

In one embodiment, the near-infrared beacon employs LEDs of different wavelength bands. Further, the near-infrared beacons are configured in a complex spectral band, spatial structure, and/or spatial distribution. For example, the near-infrared beacon is attached to the cleaning robot and actively emits near-infrared information, and meanwhile, the relative pose parameters are calculated by the vision processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the near-infrared beacon structure shown in fig. 3, so that interference of complex conditions such as sunlight, strong wind and no GPS signal can be inhibited, and the accuracy and robustness of the docking process are improved.

In one embodiment, the image capture unit is a near-infrared camera, for example, the near-infrared band is 800nm to 1300nm, and the image capture unit performs extraction and relative measurement of near-infrared feature points by shooting an image sequence of the cleaning device, so as to send feature data of the near-infrared beacon to a vision processor in the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Compared with the prior art, the unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with the near-infrared camera with the specific wave band, the cleaning device is provided with the near-infrared beacon with the specific wave band, and based on the small hole imaging model of the near-infrared camera, a series of space coordinates are output by extracting the detected near-infrared beacon characteristic points, the mission planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle is realized, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to the target area according to the planned cleaning mission. Therefore, the invention can greatly improve the butt joint precision between the aerial unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device, greatly reduce the cleaning cost of high-rise buildings, and greatly improve the working environment of workers so as to improve the cleaning efficiency.

Fig. 4 shows a block flow diagram of a method for near-infrared beacon-based drone composite docking, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 4, the method for unmanned aerial vehicle compound docking based on near-infrared beacons may be mainly implemented by steps S1, S3, and S5.

In more detail, in step S1, a drone is provided, the drone including a flight control computer, a vision processor, and an image acquisition unit. The image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the vision processor, and the vision processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer. The flight control computer is used for controlling the air flight attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The relative pose parameters are solved by the vision processor according to the near-infrared beacon structure, so that the interference in complex conditions can be inhibited, and the accuracy and the robustness of the docking process are improved.

In step S3, a cleaning device is provided, the cleaning device including a cleaning robot, a communication chip, and a near-infrared beacon, wherein the near-infrared beacon is fixedly mounted to the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is configured to transmit sensor and charge state information to the cleaning robot and receive commands from the cleaning robot. For example, near-infrared beacons employ LEDs in different wavelength bands. The near-infrared beacons are configured in a complex spectral band, spatial structure, and/or spatial distribution. For example, a near-infrared beacon is attached to the cleaning robot and actively emits near-infrared information.

In step S5, a ground console is provided for wirelessly transmitting with the drone and wirelessly transmitting with the cleaning device, the ground console outputs a series of spatial coordinates according to a relative positioning criterion and implements mission planning of the drone, and the drone delivers the cleaning device to the target area according to the planned cleaning mission. And then, the unmanned aerial vehicle is successfully butted with the cleaning device on the basis of the cleanliness evaluation according to the completion condition of the cleaning task, so that the cleaning device is separated from the target cleaning area and returns.

By adopting the unmanned aerial vehicle composite docking system and the method thereof, the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a flight control computer, a vision processor and an image acquisition unit, wherein the image acquisition unit is electrically coupled with the vision processor, and the vision processor is electrically coupled with the flight control computer; the cleaning device comprises a cleaning robot, a communication chip and a near-infrared beacon, wherein the near-infrared beacon is fixedly arranged on the cleaning robot, and the communication chip is used for transmitting the sensor and the charging state information to the cleaning robot and receiving a command from the cleaning robot; the ground control console, the unmanned aerial vehicle and the cleaning device are in wireless transmission, a series of space coordinates are output according to relative positioning criteria, task planning of the unmanned aerial vehicle is achieved, and the unmanned aerial vehicle sends the cleaning device to a target area according to a planned cleaning task.

More importantly, the unmanned aerial vehicle docking system can eliminate adverse effects on the whole docking process caused by complex environments such as sunlight with high intensity, strong wind, no GPS signal and the like, and can realize relative positioning and navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the complex environments. In addition, the invention can greatly improve the efficiency of cleaning work, has higher flexibility and robustness, has stronger adaptability to the structure of cleaning environment, and can be widely applied to the fields of glass curtain wall cleaning and the like.

Hereinbefore, specific embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and substitutions can be made to the specific embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Such modifications and substitutions are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.