JP6979782B2 - 3D map data and control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to control devices, control methods, control systems and / or data used therein.

In recent years, unmanned aircraft have been developed, and various types of radio-controlled flights or autonomous flights have been proposed. Such an unmanned aerial vehicle, for example, an aerial vehicle called a drone, is equipped with a GPS device and a video camera, knows its own flight position, and flies on a predetermined route. These flights also include takeoff and landing. Further, in order to avoid a collision with an obstacle, it has been proposed to input the coordinates of the obstacle in advance to prevent the obstacle from approaching (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 5550016

The present invention aims to provide a control equipment capable of adequately performing the flight of the air vehicle.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can be realized as the following aspects and forms.

As one aspect of the present invention, a control device for controlling the flight of an air vehicle is provided. This control device includes position data that specifies the position occupied in the flight space by dividing the flight space in which the flying object flies, and property data that is assigned to each of the areas and represents the properties of the area for the flying object. based on bets, a control unit for controlling the flight of the aircraft, a plurality of the regions having the same properties that have been merged.

The present invention can be carried out in various embodiments other than the above embodiments. For example, a method for producing a 3D map, a device for producing a 3D map, a recording medium for recording 3D map data, a 3D map, a method for using a 3D map, a device for using a 3D map, and a 3D map were used. It can be implemented in various embodiments such as a flight control device for an air vehicle, a flight control method, and an air vehicle that flies using a three-dimensional map. Further, in the following description of the embodiment, there may be no components other than those described as essential items, and it is possible to combine them with other components as needed. At the time of implementation, it is arbitrary which part is realized by hardware and which part is realized by software. It doesn't matter if everything is realized by hardware.

An explanatory diagram showing the concept of a three-dimensional map as an embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing explaining the designation of a position in a 3D map. An explanatory diagram showing an example in which a three-dimensional map is constructed by boxes of equal size. A flowchart showing a risk setting process in a three-dimensional map. An explanatory diagram showing an example in which a 3D map is constructed by partially changing the size of a 3D map box. A flowchart showing the area merging process. Explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the box. Explanatory diagram showing the data structure of boxes of different sizes. Explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the box of the basic unit. Explanatory diagram showing the data structure when the risk varies with time. Explanatory diagram showing other data structures when risk varies over time. A flowchart illustrating a data structure when a risk increase / decrease direction is set in the box. Schematic diagram of the system that controls the flight of the flying object. A flowchart showing an example of processing of an air vehicle and a flight server. An explanatory diagram illustrating the case where information about the flight route of an air vehicle is given to a box. An explanatory diagram illustrating the case where the cost related to the flight route is given to the box. A flowchart showing an outline of self-sustaining flight control of an air vehicle. An explanatory diagram showing a state of independent flight by an air vehicle using a three-dimensional map.

A. First Embodiment:
The first embodiment of the three-dimensional map will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of a three-dimensional map. In the three-dimensional map of the present embodiment, three-dimensional spaces (in this embodiment, a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped box of a predetermined size) are arranged in the X, Y, and Z directions from the origin. The origin may be any, but for example, the Japanese geodetic origin may be used as the origin of the three-dimensional map, or any point that serves as a reference for the flight of the aircraft described later may be used as the origin. The size of the box is arbitrary, but may be, for example, 1 meter on each side. Each side may be substantially the same as or several times the maximum dimension of the vertical and horizontal heights of the flying object described later. In that case, it may be a three-dimensional map for each flying object. The creation of the 3D map is executed on a general-purpose computer, but as a premise, it is assumed that the topography of the range for generating the 3D map and the data of the features in the range are prepared. Further, since the general-purpose computer itself has a well-known configuration and has no particular structural features, the illustration of the general-purpose computer is omitted.

In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the origin is at the same height as the ground surface. A box whose origin is the lower left corner is called a coordinate (0,0,0) box. From here, boxes of the same size are defined in each of the X, Y, and Z directions. In FIG. 1, giving priority to the clarity of the illustration, 6 × 6 boxes (X = 0 to 5, Y = 0 to 5) at the same height as the ground surface (Z = 0) and the ground such as buildings. Six boxes (X = 0, Y = 0-5, Z = 4) at the same position in the X direction as the origin at the fifth height from the ground surface with the object OBJ, and the fifth from the ground surface. Only the six boxes (X = 0 to 5, Y = 5, Z = 4) at the same position in the Y direction as the box (0, 5, 4) in height are shown, and the rest are omitted. Each box can be identified by the coordinate values of (X, Y, Z).

Feature OBJs exist on the surface of the earth, such as buildings such as buildings and iron pillars, roadside trees, and hills, and include anything that may hinder the flight of flying objects. In the present embodiment, the boxes corresponding to the three-dimensional space are arranged regardless of the presence or absence of the feature OBJ. If the surface of the earth is higher than the origin, the three-dimensional box between them will not appear on the surface of the earth. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the three-dimensional box can be uniformly defined in all directions three-dimensionally regardless of the presence or absence of a feature. FIG. 2 illustrates four boxes in the X direction, seven boxes in the Y direction, and four boxes in the Z direction. However, since the purpose of creating the three-dimensional map in the present embodiment is to support the flight of the flying object, it is not necessary to define the three-dimensional box up to a place higher than the flight height of the flying object. Similarly, in the X and Y directions, it is not necessary to define a three-dimensional box to a range outside the flight range of the flying object.

After setting the three-dimensional boxes, each box is given a risk in the present embodiment as a property of the box. The risk means that the flying object described later may be an obstacle to flight. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, when a tree exists from the ground surface to a predetermined height, the box in which the branch of the tree exists (the box hatched in FIG. 3) has a risk as property data. The flag Fr = 1 indicating the above is added. When the value of the flag Fr is 1, it means that there is a risk (risk level) that the flying object collides with a tree or the like and cannot continue the flight when entering this box. Immediately after the three-dimensional box shown in FIG. 2 is generated, a default value (value 0 in this embodiment) is set in the flag Fr indicating the risk of each box, as will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which a three-dimensional map is viewed from the X direction, and Fr = 1 is set as a risk in the illustrated boxes TB00, TB10, TB20, TB11, TB21, TB12, and TB22. The box TB is given coordinates with the lower left of the figure as the origin, and its suffix indicates the coordinate numbers in the Y direction and the Z direction. In FIG. 3, the X direction is treated as the coordinate number 0, but in reality, there is a box in the X direction in which the flag Fr = 1 indicating the risk is set within a certain range.

Next, a method of setting a risk in the production of such a three-dimensional map will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the risk setting process. This process is executed after the box shown in FIG. 2 is generated for a predetermined range in the creation of the three-dimensional map.

When this process is started, first, a process for specifying the range in which the risk setting process is performed is performed (step S100). Next, the value 0 is set in the flag Fr as the default risk in the entire specified range. That is, all boxes are set as risk-free spaces. Subsequently, first, one box containing the ground surface and having the smallest X and Y at the end of the processing range specified in step S100 is specified, and the following processing is performed at the limit in the XY direction (specified range). Repeat until (step S200s-S200e). Specifically, the search is first started from the endmost box in the X and Y directions, and it is determined whether or not there is a feature such as a building (step S210). When it is determined that the feature exists on the ground surface, the following processing is repeated up to the upper limit in the Z direction of the processing range specified in step S100 (step S300s-S300e). If even a part of the feature exists, it is judged that the box has the feature. This also applies to the following processing.

Once the surface box in which the feature was found is found, then the box on the surface is turned upward in order to determine if the feature occupies the box. If it is occupied, the value 1 is set in the flag Fr indicating the risk of the box (step S320). The process is repeated upward in order from the ground surface (step S300e), and if there is a box not dedicated to the feature, the flag Fr is not set (step S320). Therefore, the flag Fr of the box is kept at the value 0.

After repeating the process up to the upper limit in the Z direction (step S300e), it is determined whether the limit has been reached in the X and Y directions (step S200e), and the box to be processed in the X and Y directions until the limit is reached. The process is repeated from the detection of the feature (step S210) while sequentially moving. In this way, for the processing range specified first, the presence or absence of a feature and the setting of the flag Fr when there is a feature are repeated, and when the processing for the entire range is completed, this is used as a three-dimensional map, such as a hard disk. After writing to the storage device of (step S120), exit to "END" and end the process shown in FIG.

By performing the above processing, as shown in FIG. 3, a risk according to the existence of the feature is set in the three-dimensional box. In the example of FIG. 3, the size of the three-dimensional box is constant, but the size of the box may be changed according to the risk. FIG. 5 shows an example when the size of such a box is changed. A three-dimensional map with variable box sizes can be created by examining the properties of each box and merging boxes with the same properties after the risk has been set. For example, the process shown in FIG. 6 may be executed following the risk setting process shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the area merging process.

When the process shown in FIG. 6 is executed following the process of FIG. 4, the process start position is first specified (step S130). The processing start position may be the same as the processing start position of FIG. From that position, first, the search is started in the X direction and the Y direction (step S400s-S400e), and it is checked whether there is a box in which the flag Fr is the value 1 (step S410). When a box having a flag Fr of 1 is found, the process is repeated up to the upper limit in the Z direction (step S500s-S500e). Search for the largest rectangular parallelepiped consisting of boxes such that the flag Fr has a value of 1 (step S510). When the largest rectangular parallelepiped can be identified, the area included in the rectangular parallelepiped is rewritten into the data of one area (step S520). This process is repeated up to the upper limit in the Z direction (step S500e).

After repeating this process in the Z direction, or if the flag Fr of the box focused in step S410 is not a value 1, the search in the X and Y directions is advanced, and the process is repeated until the end in the X and Y directions (step). S400e). When the processing is completed up to the respective limits in the Z direction and the X and Y directions, a rectangular parallelepiped with flag Fr = 1 is created in the processed area up to a box having a predetermined height in the Z direction. Become. Therefore, next, these rectangular parallelepipeds are collectively replaced with a larger rectangular parallelepiped (step S420). After the above processing, exit to "END" and end this processing routine.

As a result of the processing shown in FIG. 6, the boxes with the flag Fr = 1 are put together into a large rectangular parallelepiped area. In the example shown in FIG. 5, in the grouping process of step S420, boxes that are continuous in the vertical and horizontal directions are grouped together with a box having a flag Fr = 1, and a rectangular parallelepiped in which all of them are stored is grouped. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the boxes TB01 and TB02 whose flag Fr was originally not a value 1 are also grouped into a larger rectangular parallelepiped TB00, and the flag Fr = 1. Of course, without making such a compilation, in the example of FIG. 3, the boxes TB00, TB10, and TB20 may be used as one rectangular parallelepiped, and the boxes TB11, TB21, TB12, and TB22 may be used as another rectangular parallelepiped. Although the X direction is not shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, both of them can be expanded in the X direction in that the regions are organized so as to form a rectangular parallelepiped.

The method of producing a three-dimensional map using boxes of different sizes is not limited to the above method. There can be various algorithms for constructing a 3D map from boxes of different sizes. For example, if you first prepare a large box and find that there is a feature in it, search for a place in the box where there is no feature, replace that location with a smaller box, and remove it from the first box. You may also use the method. Since the method shown in FIG. 4 searches for the first box on the surface of the earth, it shows the risk for features that are small on the surface and become large at a distance from the surface (for example, an iron pillar supporting a large signboard in the sky). It may not be possible to set the flag Fr to the box well. When the existence of such a feature is assumed, the process of step S400s in FIG. 4 may be sequentially performed not only for the boxes on the ground surface but also for the boxes separated upward from the ground surface. Or you can check all the boxes for features.

This section describes how to hold data in boxes of constant size and boxes of different sizes. 7 to 11 are explanatory views showing a data structure for each box. FIG. 7 shows the basic data structure when all boxes are the same size. In this case, the box is specified by the coordinates of X, Y, Z and has a parameter indicating the coordinates and a value of the flag Fr indicating the risk. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the flag Fr in the box of coordinates (1,5,0) has a value of 0, that is, there is no risk of hindering flight for the flying object, and the coordinates (2,5,0) and (1). , 5, 1) flag Fr has a value of 1, that is, there is a flight obstacle (risk) for the flying object in these boxes.

FIG. 8 shows a data structure when the size of the box is variable. In this case, the box consists of the coordinates of X, Y, Z, the magnifications xa, yb, zc in the X, Y, Z directions, and the flag Fr indicating the risk. In the example shown in FIG. 8, in the box of coordinates (1, 5, 0), the magnification xa in the X direction is a value 3, the magnification yb in the Y direction is a value 2, and the magnification zc in the Z direction is a value 3. Therefore, it is shown that each side of XYZ is a box that is 3 times, 2 times, or 3 times (18 times in volume) the box as a unit. The flag Fr indicating the risk of the box has a value of 1, indicating that the box is a box that may hinder flight for the flying object. If all the boxes have information on the magnification, the magnification in each direction can be defined as 1 for the box as a unit, as shown in FIG. Of course, the information on the magnification is an option, and it is easy to have a data structure in which the parameter of the magnification is not provided for the box as a unit.

In the above explanation, the risk of the box is treated as fixed (the risk that does not change over time), but the flight risk of each box for the flying object is not necessarily fixed. One is that the risk of each box may differ depending on the time. For example, a box that is windy at a specific time and has no risk during a time when there is no wind for the flying object may become a box that is at risk during a time when there is wind. In addition, if the flying object is a flying object with a camera loaded and recognizing an image of the surrounding area, in a building with a glass exterior, there may be a time zone in which sunlight is reflected and difficult to recognize in the box around the building. During that time, the boxes that are at risk for the aircraft change.

So, in these boxes, the parameters can include hourly risks. As an example, FIG. 10 shows a data structure in a box having a magnification in the XYZ direction and having information that the time zone in which the flag Fr = 1 is from 10:00 to 14:30. Other than this time zone, the flag Fr means that it has a default value, that is, a value of 0.

Furthermore, the risk may be managed by changing the size of the box according to the time. FIG. 11 shows an example of such a case. In the data structure shown in FIG. 11, in addition to the coordinates of X, Y, and Z, there are two parameters of magnification, M1 and M2, and a parameter indicating that M1 is the default, and a parameter indicating that M1 is the default, at a specific time. It has a parameter indicating that the magnification M2 is applied. The flag Fr indicating the risk of this box has a value of 1. The box of coordinates (1,5,0) illustrated in FIG. 11 is usually a unit box of magnification (1,1,1), but the size is large in the Y direction from 10:00 to 14:30. Shows that is transformed into a double box. In other words, in this time zone, if it is a unit box, even the box located at the coordinates (1,6,0) is treated as the same risk (Fr = 1) as the box at the coordinates (1,5,0). Shows.

In the three-dimensional map described above, the flight space in which the flying object flies is expressed as a space composed of boxes consisting of rectangular parallelepipeds of a predetermined size with a predetermined location as the origin, and each box is expressed for the flying object. As a property of, the presence or absence of risk is stored as a flag Fr. Therefore, for the flying object, it is possible to easily know which box the current position and the position where the flight is about to fly correspond to and what kind of risk location.

If each box is a unit box of a predetermined size, it is possible to easily determine which box the position of the flying object corresponds to. On the other hand, if the space with the same risk is specified as a box as large as possible, the number of boxes can be reduced and the total amount of data can be reduced. If a correspondence table of which position corresponds to which box is created as a map, it is easy to obtain the correspondence between the two even if the sizes of the boxes are different.

Furthermore, the risks set in these boxes can be easily converted by parameters such as time. As such parameters, not only time but also weather including wind speed and brightness, conditions such as when another aircraft enters the same box, and the like can be assumed.

In the above explanation, risk is used as the property of the box which is a three-dimensional space, and this is treated as binary information of the value 1 (with risk) and the value 0 (without risk) of the flag Fr, but the property of the space. May be treated as a multi-valued one with three or more stages. For example, if the nature of the three-dimensional space is risk, as three-value information such as value 0: no risk, value 1: high risk (must not invade), value 2: low risk (exit quickly). You may handle it. Of course, it may be treated as more multi-valued information. This also applies to the following embodiments.

B. Second embodiment:
Next, as another embodiment of the three-dimensional map, an example in which the magnitude of the risk and the increasing / decreasing direction of the risk are given as the properties of the box will be described. In addition, flight control of the flying object using a three-dimensional map in which the box has information on the direction of increase / decrease in risk will be described. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a box used in the second embodiment. When the three-dimensional space is composed of a plurality of boxes, the method of taking the coordinates of each box is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 12, the box of the second embodiment includes information on the direction of increasing or decreasing the risk. An example of the data structure is shown in the lower part of FIG. Each box has data in the risk direction (+ Dx · −Dx, + Dy · −Dy, + Dz · −Dz) in addition to the coordinates (X, Y, Z) and the magnification (xa, yb, zc). For each of the X, Y, and Z directions, the increasing direction is "+" and the decreasing direction is "-", and they are opposite to each other, such as + Dx ·-Dx, + Dy · -Dy, + Dz · -Dz. Data showing that there is no increase or decrease in risk or bias in risk in two directions is held as a pair. That is, if the risk direction is a value of 0, it indicates that there is no increase or decrease in risk in that direction, if the value is 1, it indicates that the risk increases in that direction, and if the value is -1, the risk is in that direction. Indicates a decrease. If (+ Dx · −Dx) = (1.0), it means that the risk increases in the direction in which the coordinate X increases, and there is no increase / decrease in the risk in the direction in which the coordinate X decreases. If (+ Dx · −Dx) = (0 · -1), it is shown that the risk does not increase or decrease in the direction in which the coordinate X increases, and the risk decreases in the direction in which the coordinate X decreases. If (+ Dx · −Dx) = (-1 · 1), it means that the risk decreases in the direction in which the coordinate X increases, and the risk increases in the direction in which the coordinate X decreases. In the box (coordinates (1, 5, 3)) shown in the upper part of FIG. 12, the risk decreases in each arrow direction, that is, in the −X direction, the Y direction, and the −Z direction, and the risk increases or decreases in the other directions. Since there is no such thing, (+ Dx · −Dx, + Dy · −Dy, + Dz · −Dz) = (0 · -1, -1. 0, 0 · -1).

When the box has information on the increasing / decreasing direction of the risk, it is desirable to digitize the value of the flag Fr indicating the risk of the box, for example. For example, as in the past, flag Fr = 0 indicates that the box has no flight obstacles, and flag Fr = 1 indicates that the box must not fly due to the presence of flight obstacles. On that basis, the flag Fr = 2 is provided, and the box with the flag Fr = 2 is arranged adjacent to the box with the flag Fr = 1. The box with flag Fr = 2 may fly, but if the vehicle enters this box, the risk can be avoided by referring to the risk direction and flying toward the side where the risk is reduced. Become. In addition, an air vehicle flying in a box with flag Fr = 0 is prevented from flying toward the side where the risk increases by referring to the risk direction. In the production of a three-dimensional map having such information, according to the method of the first embodiment, the risks for all the boxes are first investigated, the flag Fr of each box is set, and then the box with the flag Fr = 1 is set. If risk data (+ Dx ·-Dx, + Dy · -Dy, + Dz · -Dz) indicating that the risk decreases in the direction away from the box of flag Fr = 1 is set for the box of flag Fr = 0 adjacent to good.

An example of controlling the flight of an air vehicle using a three-dimensional map containing information on such risks will be described. FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system for controlling the flight of an air vehicle. As shown in the figure, in this system, the flying object 50 has a function of wirelessly communicating with a flight server 80 that functions as a control device. The flight server 80 is connected to the external server 70 via the network 25. Not only does it exchange data with the flight server 80 and the flight object 50, but it also acquires various information from the external server 70 as needed.

The flight body 50 is equipped with a wireless communication device that performs wireless communication with the flight server 80, a GPS device that identifies its own position, a flight controller that controls the flight direction, and the like. The flight body 50 flies from the departure point to the destination by using the risk information of the three-dimensional map received from the flight server 80.

The flight server 80 includes a control unit 90 inside. The control unit 90 acquires a three-dimensional box from the communication unit 91 that communicates with the flying object 50 and the external server 70, the feature data unit 92 that stores the feature data, and the three-dimensional map database 95. It includes an acquisition unit 93, an external information acquisition unit 97 that acquires information from an external server 70, a risk update unit 98 that updates risks, and the like. In the second embodiment, the three-dimensional map is created in advance and stored in the three-dimensional map database 95 (in the figure, "database" may be abbreviated as "DB"), but due to external factors such as weather. Risks on 3D maps may be updated. The risk update unit 98 performs an update process for that purpose. The external information acquisition unit 97 acquires external information for updating the risk.

Next, an example of flight of the flight body 50 and output processing of flight information from the flight server 80 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the aircraft body 50, the departure point and the destination are first input (step S600). Such input of the departure point and the destination may be performed by using a mobile terminal such as a smart phone connected to the flying object 50. It is easy to call up the required map on the screen of the home mobile terminal and enter the destination or departure point by tapping the desired part of the map. The current location of the aircraft 50 can also be used as the departure point.

The flight object 50 that has input the departure point and the destination performs a process of requesting information from the flight server 80 (step S610). The flight body 50 requires information on the flight route from the departure point to the destination, the box containing the flight route, and the box surrounding the flight route box.

Upon receiving the request from the flight object 50 (step S700), the flight server 80 reads the risk information from the three-dimensional map and calculates the flight route from the departure point to the destination (step S710). This flight route is a route in which the aircraft 50 passes through a risk-free box in the shortest distance to the target ground sky after climbing to an altitude required by regulation at the departure point. When the flight route is calculated, the flight server 80 also acquires information on the box including the flight route and the box surrounding the flight route box. When using a rectangular parallelepiped box as a three-dimensional space, there are at least nine boxes around the box containing the flight route, some of which overlap with the boxes around the boxes before and after the flight route. Therefore, the boxes around the box containing the flight route will be excluded from such duplication.

When the flight server 80 determines the flight route, it determines whether or not external information is necessary (step S720), and when it determines that external information is necessary, it connects to the external server 70 via the network 25 and requires external information. Acquire information (step S730). The external information is information such as the weather including wind speed and the like. Based on the acquired information, the flight server 80 updates the risk of the box containing the flight route acquired in step S710 and the box surrounding the box of the flight route (step S740). For example, the data regarding the direction of risk is changed from the wind speed and the wind direction, or the flag Fr indicating the risk is changed from the value 0 to the value 1 for a box having a feature such as a building on the leeward side. After updating the risk in this way, the information of the box containing the flight route and the box surrounding the box of the flight route is output to the flying object (step S750). If there is no need for external information, step S750 is executed without performing steps S730 and S740. The fact that external information is not required is, for example, when the elapsed time since the last acquisition of external data is extremely short, or when the data of the three-dimensional map is constantly updated by external information.

The flight body 50 acquires the information output by the flight server 80, that is, the information of the box including the flight route and the box surrounding the box of the flight route (step S620), and starts flight control (step S630). As a general rule, the flying object 50 flies along the flight route in a box having a risk flag Fr having a value of 0. In other words, it refers to the direction of increase / decrease in risk of the box, and flies in the direction in which the risk does not increase / decrease (at least in the direction in which the risk does not increase). However, for example, it is possible that the flying object 50 deviates from the box of the flight route and enters the adjacent box due to being swept by a strong wind. Therefore, the flying object 50 constantly determines whether or not the flag Fr of the box to which it belongs has a value of 2 (step S640), and if the flag Fr of the box to which it belongs has a value of 2. , Refer to the increase / decrease direction of the risk in the box, and fly to the side with the lower risk (step S650). The aircraft 50 repeats such a process until it arrives at the destination (step S660). When it reaches the destination, it exits to "END" and ends the process.

According to the second embodiment described above, each box of the three-dimensional map has information on the direction of increase / decrease in risk. Therefore, even if the route is set to fly in a risk-free box, if the route is deviated for some reason such as a strong wind, it is possible to leave to the one with the lower risk. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the flight risk of the flying object 50.

In the above example, boxes for the entire area where the flying object 50 may fly are prepared, each box is provided with risk information, and is stored in the three-dimensional map database 95 as a three-dimensional map. Therefore, it can be considered that the box with the risk flag Fr = 1 indicates the area where the flight should not be performed. In this case, the box with the flag Fr = 0 may not be provided in the first place. In other words, from the perspective of the flying object, it can be said that whether it has "information on boxes that can fly" or "information on boxes that must not fly" is equivalent in the case of simple binarization. .. In other words, it is possible to set a flight route for an air vehicle just by having information on either one. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 15, a box with a flag Fr = 0 is arranged with the box TB00 set on the ground surface GD as the origin. As long as the flying object flies in this box, only the box indicating that it can fly in this way may be used, or conversely, a box with an obstacle to flight may be placed in a place other than the box shown in FIG. good.

In the second embodiment, a box having information on the increasing / decreasing direction of the risk is assumed, but instead of the risk, a cost may be given as the property of the box. Costs can be used as information for selecting multiple possible flight routes, especially if the vehicle is flying autonomously. For example, in FIG. 16, in the boxes TB10, TB20, TB11, TB21, TB12, and TB22 where the flying object should ascend, it is assumed that the flying object must fly horizontally from the uppermost boxes TB12 and TB22. At this time, if it is up to the flight body to decide which direction to fly, the flight body reads out the cost of the adjacent boxes in the horizontal direction and selects a flight route having a small total cost to the destination. It is possible to deal with such issues. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the cost of the box TB02 is lower than the cost of the boxes TB32 and TP42. Therefore, the flying object that has reached the boxes TB12 and TB22 can select and fly the route on the side with the lower cost. The cost may be set in the same manner as the risk, or may be set according to the situation of the flying object 50, such as how the battery of the flying object is depleted when passing through the flight route.

C. Third embodiment:
Next, a third embodiment using the three-dimensional map of the embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, the flight server 80 and the like have the same hardware configuration as in the second embodiment, but the flying object 50 performs autonomous flight. In the second embodiment, the flight server 80 identifies a box in which no risk exists, and outputs a flight route (connection of boxes to be flown) to the flight body 50. Therefore, the flight body 50 only flies according to the flight route output from the flight server 80 unless it is swept by the wind. On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the flying object 50 flies while specifying the box to be flown by itself.

The processing of the flying object 50 in the third embodiment is shown in FIG. When this autonomous flight process is started, the flight object 50 first acquires a flight route (step S800). This flight route is a flight route before referring to a box or the like on a three-dimensional map, and is a so-called polygonal flight route that flies from the starting point to the destination while maintaining a regulated altitude.

The flight object 50 then acquires information around the flight route from the three-dimensional map along this flight route (step S810). The area around the flight route is not limited to the box containing the flight route and the box adjacent to the box, but means a wider area. For example, when flying from point A to point B, a rectangular parallelepiped that covers up to the height at which the flying object 50 can fly in a rectangular area diagonal to points A and B is assumed and included in this rectangular parallelepiped. All the boxes that are used are the boxes around the flight route, and the information is acquired. The information of the box around the flight route may be acquired from the flight server 80, or a three-dimensional map may be stored in the flight object 50 in advance and acquired inside the flight object 50.

Subsequently, the flight body 50 enters flight control (step S820), and immediately after taking off, refers to the information in the box to which its flight point belongs and acquires risk information (step S830). The acquired risk information, specifically, whether or not the flag Fr has a value of 0 is determined (step S840), and if Fr = 0, flight control along the flight route is continued as it is (steps S820-S840). ). On the other hand, if the risk flag Fr obtained from the box at the flight point is not a value 0, the process of flying to the low risk side is performed (step S850). The above process is repeated until the destination is reached (step S860).

FIG. 18 illustrates the flight state of the flight object 50 when the autonomous flight process illustrated in FIG. 17 is performed. In the figure, the blank boxes TBs are boxes in which the risk flag Fr has a value of 0. Further, the box TBL with vertical hatching is provided with information that the risk is reduced in the −Y direction (left direction in the drawing). Similarly, the box TBr subjected to the hatching of the longitudinal wave is given information that the risk is reduced in the Y direction (right direction in the drawing). Further, the information that the risk of the box TBd hatched by the horizontal line is reduced in the −Z direction (lower direction in the drawing) is given. Information that the risk is reduced in the Z direction (upper direction in the figure) of the box TBu that has been hatched with transverse waves is given. Further, the box TBc with the hatched diagonal lines is provided with information that the risk is reduced in the −Y and −Z directions (resulting in the lower left direction in the drawing). In the figure, the black-filled boxes BDG1 and BDG2 are given information that the risk flag Fr has a value of 1 and they must not fly.

It is assumed that the flying object 50 flying in the flightable box TBs stores the broken line AR as a flight route and is about to fly to the next target point DD along this flight route AR. Therefore, the flying object 50 tries to fly to the left side (-Y direction) in the drawing, that is, diagonally upward while ascending from the current flight position. As a result, when the flying object 50 enters the box TBr, the flying object 50 moves to the side where the risk is reduced in the box TBr at its own judgment (processing in FIG. 17, step S850). As a result, the aircraft 50 continues to climb while returning to the risk-free box TBs, but since the flight route is directly toward the next target point DD, it tries to fly diagonally upward again and invades the box TBr. And repeat withdrawal.

After that, when the flying object 50 continues to rise and enters the box TBd this time, the flying object 50 moves from this box TBd to the side where the risk is reduced, that is, downward, and there is no risk. Return to Box TBs. In this way, the flying object 50 flies along the course exemplified by the solid line RR and reaches the next target point DD. In the figure, the flight route of the flying object 50 is drawn so as to repeatedly enter and leave the box TBr so that the above processing can be easily understood, but the judgment about the box flag Fr is made frequently. Then, the flying object 50 will fly so as to rise along the boundary between the box TBr and the box TBs.

According to the third embodiment described above, the flying object 50 can fly avoiding the risky box at its own discretion without being provided with a flight route along the riskless box. .. Therefore, even if the risk of the box changes with time, for example, the flying object 50 can fly to the destination correspondingly.

D. Other embodiments:
Hereinafter, other embodiments will be described. In the above embodiment, the minimum unit of the three-dimensional space constituting the flight space is a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but a shape other than the rectangular parallelepiped may be used. If it is possible to make a cube with a similar shape or a rectangular body with a similar shape or different aspect ratio by bundling several of them, such as a cube or a square, the size of the smallest unit of 3D space and multiple 3D spaces. It is easy to construct a flight space from another three-dimensional space provided with a space, in which case the flight space can be represented by the smallest unit of three-dimensional shape and its magnification in the three-dimensional direction. Of course, the size of the three-dimensional space does not depend on the magnification, and may be represented by specific dimensions.

Further, the position of the origin may be determined in any way as long as the position in the three-dimensional space can be specified. For example, the three-dimensional space is a polyhedron that does not form a gap between the three-dimensional space and the adjacent three-dimensional space, and the position data is the coordinates of at least one peak of the three-dimensional space that is the polyhedron and the origin is a specific position. It can be data. An embodiment with the origin of the three-dimensional space center, which is a polyhedron, is also possible.

The size of the three-dimensional space that constitutes the flight space may be the same, but if the three-dimensional map has data that specifies the size of each three-dimensional space, the flight space can be created by three-dimensional spaces of different sizes. It is also possible to use a configured embodiment. In this case, the data for specifying the size may be prepared as an absolute value for specifying the size, or may be prepared as a magnification with respect to the size of the three-dimensional space which is the basic unit. The magnification does not have to be greater than 1, but may be less than 1. Further, when the three-dimensional map adopts a Cartesian coordinate system, a magnification may be prepared for each direction.

The coordinate system when the flight space is composed of the three-dimensional space is not limited to the XYZ Cartesian coordinate system shown in the above embodiment, but may be a spherical coordinate system, a polar coordinate system, or the like. In the polar coordinate system and the spherical coordinate system, it is easy to specify the box when the three-dimensional map is constructed with the point where the flying object takes off and land as the origin. The box constituting the three-dimensional map is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped, and may be any shape as long as it can fill the three-dimensional space. Any shape can be used as long as it is a basic three-dimensional shape corresponding to a so-called space filler. Further, if a polar coordinate system or a spherical coordinate system is used, a three-dimensional map may be constructed using a three-dimensional space including a curved surface.

As the property data showing the properties of the three-dimensional space, it is also possible to use an embodiment in which various properties are adopted in addition to the flight risk of the flying object. For example, an index such as a cost indicating the ease of flight or the enjoyment of flight in a scenic flight may be used as the property of the space. It is also possible to make a three-dimensional map in which the properties of such a space, for example, the degree of danger of flight of a flying object, are combined with the period in which the degree of danger appears. Alternatively, as a property of the three-dimensional space, for example, an embodiment in which a three-dimensional map is used is also possible in which the risk of flight of a flying object is included in the direction in which the risk increases or decreases. As a property of such a space, if it has a direction, it can be used for a specific purpose such as danger avoidance or search for a desirable flight route.

It is not necessary to prepare the properties of the three-dimensional space for all three-dimensional spaces. For example, if the properties of the three-dimensional space are the risk level, only when the risk level is significant, the three-dimensional space is three-dimensional. An embodiment in which a space is defined is also possible. In this case, the risk level of the flight space in which the three-dimensional space is not defined may be treated as if it is not set. The same applies to other properties. If the properties of the 3D space are binary, such as whether or not they exist, for example, there is a risk or no risk related to flight, define the 3D space only for one of the properties. You can leave it.

In the above embodiment, the position data of the box corresponding to the three-dimensional space uses the Cartesian coordinate system XYZ defined with the predetermined position as the origin, and the number (number from the origin) that increases monotonically in each axis direction. However, it may be expressed using the absolute coordinates of the center of the box (position of the center of gravity, etc.). Further, the origin is set at the lower left position of a certain box (the point having the smallest value in each direction of XYZ), but this may also be associated with a different position such as the center coordinate. As shown in FIG. 12, the direction in which the risk increases or decreases is specified only in each direction of XYZ, but it is more finely increased (decreased) in the direction of α degree in the X direction and β degree in the Y direction. May be specified in. If the arrangement of the boxes is aligned to the north, south, east, and west, and directly upward, it is permissible to specify 20 degrees north and 30 degrees west.

The embodiments described in all or part of the above embodiments provide a device for guiding an air vehicle and a data structure of data that can be used therefor, an improvement in processing speed, an improvement in processing accuracy, and usability. Appropriate data such as improvement of functions, provision of appropriate functions using data, provision of other functions or provision of appropriate functions, reduction of data and / or program capacity, miniaturization of devices and / or systems, etc. , Programs, recording media, equipment and / or system provision, and data, programs, recordings such as reduction of production / manufacturing costs of data, programs, equipment or systems, facilitation of production / manufacturing, shortening of production / manufacturing time, etc. Solve any one of the issues of optimizing the production and manufacture of media, equipment and / or systems.

25 ... Network 50 ... Aircraft 70 ... External server 80 ... Flight server 90 ... Control unit 91 ... Communication unit 92 ... Feature data unit 93 ... 3D box acquisition unit 95 ... 3D map database 97 ... External information acquisition unit 98 ... Risk update department

Claims (6)

A control device that controls the flight of an air vehicle.
The above is based on the position data that specifies the position occupied in the flight space by the divided area of the flight space in which the flight object flies, and the property data that is assigned to each area and represents the property of the area for the flight object. a control unit for controlling the flight of the flying object,
A plurality of the regions that have been merged controller having the same properties. The control device according to claim 1.
The region is a polyhedron that does not form a gap between the region and the adjacent region.
The position data is a control device including data of coordinates having a specific position as an origin of at least one apex of the region which is the polyhedron. The control device according to claim 2.
The position data is a control device including data for specifying the size of the region together with data for the coordinates. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The property data is a control device including information on the flight risk of the flying object. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The property data is a control device including information on the flight risk of the flying object and information on the period during which the risk appears. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The property data is a control device including at least one of information on the flight risk of the flying object and information on a direction in which the risk is high or low.

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