JP6801402B2 - Antenna orientation adjustment system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an antenna orientation adjusting system.

When laying a LAN (Local Area Network) between two outdoor points, if wired wiring is not possible due to physical restrictions, for example, as an alternative to wired wiring, LAN access points can be connected to each other via wireless communication. By connecting, LAN laying is realized. At this time, if the distance between the LAN access points is long, the LAN access point is provided with a directional antenna from the viewpoint of reducing interference with wireless communication between the LAN access points due to radio waves from other than the LAN access point. It is generally provided. As the installation position of the directional antenna, a wall surface of a building or the like, a new or existing pillar, or the like is a candidate.

By the way, when installing the directional antenna, the builder installs a test directional antenna having the same performance as the directional antenna in advance at the installation candidate position to pseudo-wireless LAN. Lay. Then, the worker adjusts the direction of the test directional antenna, measures the communication characteristics (radio wave quality) in the pseudo-laid wireless LAN, and can the desired communication characteristics be actually established in the wireless LAN. Please do some preliminary verification.

Specifically, the above-mentioned pre-verification is performed by temporarily installing a test directional antenna, a test radio unit, measurement equipment, and the like at the installation candidate positions. Then, after temporarily installing the test directional antenna or the like, the worker visually adjusts the direction of the test directional antenna. Alternatively, the direction of the test directional antenna is adjusted using the systems shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below. Furthermore, after adjusting the direction of the test directional antenna, the communication characteristics are measured and the measurement results are examined, so that the installation candidate position is the permanent directivity for continuous use in the wireless LAN. Judge whether or not it is suitable as the installation position of the antenna.

By the way, the influence from the surrounding environment, buildings, etc. at the candidate installation position is theoretically predicted in advance, and the direction of the permanent directional antenna for ensuring the desired communication characteristics is determined based on the prediction. , A method of installing a permanent directional antenna according to the decision is also conceivable. However, in reality, it is often not as expected because it is affected by various factors such as the ground, buildings, and trees in the surrounding environment. Therefore, if the permanent directional antenna is installed without performing the above-mentioned preliminary verification, the installation position may not be suitable as the installation location due to the influence of reflected waves, etc., or the permanent directional antenna may be installed. The desired communication characteristics may not be obtained due to insufficient adjustment of the antenna direction. In some cases, the installation of the permanent directional antenna may be wasted. Therefore, when a permanent directional antenna is provided as a LAN access point, it is required to carry out the above-mentioned preliminary examination.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-226920 JP-A-2002-271124

However, the position where the directional antenna can be installed is often limited by the surrounding landscape and the wishes of the owner of the building to be installed, and it is narrow for high places or installation work. It is often a place. Therefore, even if the position is such that the desired communication characteristics can be secured, the installer cannot temporarily install large measuring equipment, so the installation of the test directional antenna, etc. must not be abandoned. It may not be possible. Further, when the installation candidate position is a high place, a test directional antenna or the like is temporarily installed by an aerial work platform, a builder, or the like. In such a case, it is necessary to secure an aerial work platform and its stop place, and further, equipment for ensuring the safety of the builder is required for dangerous work at a high place. It is difficult to save time and money.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to adjust the direction of the directional antenna even at a position where it is difficult to install the directional antenna. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved antenna direction adjustment system capable of easily performing preliminary verification such as measurement of radio wave quality using a directional antenna.

In order to solve the above problems, according to a certain viewpoint of the present invention, radio waves are transmitted between an unmanned vehicle having a first directional antenna and flying in a three-dimensional space and the first directional antenna. An antenna direction adjustment system including an adjustment auxiliary device having a second directional antenna for transmission and reception, the angle variable portion for varying the azimuth angle and elevation angle of the first directional antenna, and the unmanned flying object. Based on the position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information, the calculation unit that calculates the positional relationship between the unmanned vehicle and the adjustment assisting device based on the position information, and the positional relationship calculated by the calculation unit. An angle control unit that controls the angle variable unit, a measurement unit that measures the quality of the radio waves transmitted and received via the first and second directional antennas, and the first and second directional antennas. A communication unit that communicates between the unmanned vehicle and the adjustment assist device without intervention,
An antenna orientation adjustment system is provided.

Based on the position information, the calculation unit provides first directional information indicating the orientation of the adjustment assisting device as seen from the unmanned vehicle on a horizontal plane, and the adjustment as seen from the unmanned vehicle on a vertical plane. The second directional information indicating the directional of the auxiliary device may be calculated, and the angle control unit may control the angle variable unit based on the calculated first directional information and the second directional information.

The angle control unit controls the angle variable unit so as to change the azimuth angle and the elevation angle of the first directivity antenna with a predetermined azimuth angle and elevation angle as center values, and controls the first directivity unit. Each time the azimuth angle and the elevation angle of the sex antenna change, the radio wave is transmitted and received between the first directional antenna and the second directional antenna, and the measuring unit receives the radio wave. Quality may be measured.

The antenna orientation adjusting system may further include a selection unit that selects the azimuth and elevation angles of the first directional antenna based on the quality of the radio waves measured by the measuring unit.

The angle variable portion may change the azimuth angle of the first directional antenna by changing the direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

The variable angle portion rotates on a vertical plane with a first step motor that rotates on a horizontal plane and a first rotation axis that transmits the rotation of the first step motor to the first directional antenna. It may have a second step motor and a second rotation shaft that transmits the rotation of the second step motor to the first directional antenna.

The unmanned aerial vehicle may have a power supply line that supplies power to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

The adjustment assist device may be an unmanned aerial vehicle different from the unmanned aerial vehicle.

As described above, according to the present invention, even in a position where it is difficult to install a directional antenna, prior verification such as adjustment of the direction of the directional antenna and measurement of radio wave quality using the directional antenna is performed. Can be easily performed.

It is explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the antenna direction adjustment system 10 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the elevation angle of the directional antennas 420a and 420b which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the azimuth angle of the directional antenna 420a, 420b which concerns on this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 according to the same embodiment. It is a block diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 which concerns on the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining the structure of the antenna variable unit 430 which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram of the server 70 which concerns on the same embodiment. It is an operation flow diagram of the antenna direction adjustment system 10 which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 in the operation flow which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of the elevation angle adjustment step S200 in the operation flow which concerns on the same embodiment. It is an operation flow diagram of the radio wave quality measurement step S300 in the operation flow which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the data acquired in the radio wave quality measurement step S300 which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating step S340 and step S350 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the information stored in step S350 of FIG. It is an operation flow diagram in each step from step S310 to step S330 of FIG. It is a sequence diagram in each step of step S3120, step S3150, and step S3190 of FIG.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, so that duplicate description will be omitted.

Further, in the present specification and the drawings, a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different alphabets after the same reference numerals. For example, a plurality of configurations having substantially the same functional configuration or logical significance are distinguished as necessary, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle 40a and an unmanned aerial vehicle 40b. However, if it is not necessary to distinguish each of the plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration, only the same reference numerals are given. For example, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b, it is simply referred to as the unmanned aerial vehicle 40.

Further, the figures referred to in the following description are diagrams for promoting the explanation and understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, and for the sake of clarity, the shapes, dimensions, ratios, etc. shown in the drawings are actual. May be different. In addition, the devices and the like shown in the drawings can be appropriately redesigned in consideration of the following description and known techniques.

In the following, the embodiment of the present invention will be described in advance for determining the installation position of the permanent directional antenna installed at the outdoor access point when constructing the wireless LAN and the direction of the permanent directional antenna. An example applied to the antenna direction adjustment system used in the study will be described. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the construction of a wireless LAN, and may be used when constructing another wireless communication network using a directional antenna.

<< Outline of configuration of antenna direction adjustment system 10 >>
First, the outline of the configuration of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment mainly includes unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b and a server (processing device) 70. The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b and the server 70 are configured to be able to communicate with each other by the public communication network 30. The public communication network 30 can be, for example, a wireless communication network provided by a telecommunications carrier by a mobile communication service for mobile phones, PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), etc., which will be described later. It is preferable that the wireless communication network does not cause interference with the wireless communication performed via the sex antennas 420a and 420b.

The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are small airplanes, also called drones, which are structurally free of a pilot and have an autonomous flight function, an independent attitude control function, and the like, and can fly in a three-dimensional space. Specifically, the operator of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b can control the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via a control device (not shown). Alternatively, the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b may be controlled via the public communication network 30 by transmitting a control signal from the server 70. In the present embodiment, the sizes of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are not particularly limited, but the size is such that the directional antennas 420a and 420b mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b can be mounted. It is preferable that the size is large enough to fly even in a narrow place.

Further, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b use a GPS unit 414 (see FIG. 5) capable of acquiring the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b by using GPS signals from the GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite 20. Have. Further, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b have test directional antennas 420a and 420b for use in the preliminary study, respectively. The directional antennas 420a and 420b can perform Wi-Fi communication and the like using signals in the 2.4 GHz band and 5 GHz band used in the wireless communication between the LAN access points described above, that is, they can perform Wi-Fi communication and the like. , Communication can be performed without going through the above-mentioned public communication network 30.

Then, for example, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b fly to the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, which are candidates for the positions where the permanent directional antennas are installed. In addition, in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 are located on the outer walls of the buildings 90a and 90b, respectively. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, when the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b use the GPS unit 414 and the like to position themselves. Information can be acquired and transmitted to the server 70 via the public communication network 30.

The server 70 is a processing device installed at a location different from the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 where the unmanned aircraft 40a and 40b are located, and is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access). It is mainly composed of hardware such as Memory). The server 70 can acquire the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the public communication network 30, and can calculate the positional relationship of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b based on the acquired position information. The positional relationship calculated by the server 70 is transmitted to the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b, and is used when determining the directions of the directional antennas 420a and 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b.

Specifically, the information on the positional relationship of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b calculated by the server 70 is used when determining the elevation angle and the azimuth angle of the directional antennas 420a and 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b. Therefore, the elevation angle and the azimuth angle of the directional antennas 420a and 420b will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view for explaining the elevation angles of the directional antennas 420a and 420b according to the present embodiment. Specifically, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 are viewed from the side. The schematic diagram of the case is shown. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the azimuth angles of the directional antennas 420a and 420b according to the present embodiment. Specifically, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 are viewed from below. The schematic diagram is shown. In addition, in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the directional antennas 420a and 420b are enlarged and shown as compared with the main body of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a and 40b for the sake of clarity.

First, the elevation angle will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a is located at the installation candidate position CAP1, and the position of the installation candidate position CAP1 is the two-dimensional position information Ga which is the latitude and longitude information of the installation candidate position CAP1 and the altitude. Indicated by information Ha. Further, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b is located at the installation candidate position CAP2, and the position of the installation candidate position CAP2 is indicated by the two-dimensional position information Gb which is the latitude and longitude information of the installation candidate position CAP2 and the altitude information Hb. Is done. Then, in such a positional relationship, when the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a located at the installation candidate position CAP1 is directed toward the installation candidate position CAP2, the inclination of the directional antenna 420a with respect to the ground surface is tilted φa. Called. Further, when the directional antenna 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b located at the installation candidate position CAP2 is directed toward the installation candidate position CAP1, the inclination of the directional antenna 420b with respect to the ground surface is called an elevation angle φb. In other words, the angle indicating the direction of one unmanned aerial vehicle 40a and the other unmanned aerial vehicle 40b on a plane perpendicular to the ground surface (referred to as a vertical plane in the following description) is called an elevation angle φ. In FIG. 2, the distance between the position indicated by the two-dimensional position information Ga corresponding to the installation candidate position CAP1 and the position indicated by the two-dimensional position information Gb corresponding to the installation candidate position CAP2, that is, on the ground surface. The distance between the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b on the ground surface when the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b are projected is shown as d.

Next, the azimuth angle will be described with reference to FIG. For example, the front surfaces of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are defined. In FIG. 3, the front surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a is a surface 42a facing the right side in the figure, and the front surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b is the left side in the figure. It is assumed that the surface 42b faces the surface. Further, when the directional antennas 420a and 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b extend from the front surfaces 42a and 42b along the direction perpendicular to the front surfaces 42a and 42b, respectively, the directional antennas 420a and 420b, respectively. The directions of are referred to as reference directions Sa and Sb. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a is located at the installation candidate position CAP1 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b is located at the installation candidate position CAP2, as in FIG. In such a positional relationship, when the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a located at the installation candidate position CAP1 is directed toward the installation candidate position CAP2, the inclination of the directional antenna 420a with respect to the reference direction Sa is the azimuth angle. Called θa. Further, the inclination of the directional antenna 420b with respect to the reference direction Sb when the directional antenna 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b located at the installation candidate position CAP2 is directed toward the installation candidate position CAP1 is called an azimuth angle θb. In other words, the angle indicating the orientation of the other unmanned aerial vehicle 40b as seen from one unmanned aerial vehicle 40a on a plane parallel to the ground surface (referred to as a horizontal plane in the following description) is called an azimuth angle θ.

In this embodiment, the magnitudes of the elevation angle φ and the azimuth angle θ described above may be represented by positive and negative numerical values. For example, when the directional antenna 420 rotates in one direction on a vertical plane and the directional antenna 420 faces upward (top side), the elevation angle φ may be indicated by a positive numerical value. On the other hand, when the directional antenna 420 rotates in the other direction on the vertical plane and faces downward (ground surface side), the elevation angle φ may be indicated by a negative numerical value. Further, when the directional antenna 420 rotates in one direction in the horizontal plane and is tilted to the right with respect to the reference direction S, the azimuth angle θ may be indicated by a positive numerical value. On the other hand, when the directional antenna 420 rotates in the other direction in the horizontal plane and is tilted to the left with respect to the reference direction S, the azimuth angle θ may be indicated by a negative numerical value. Further, the rotation angle in the elevation angle φ, that is, the rotation angle in the vertical plane may be indicated by a positive or negative numerical value according to the rotation direction, and the rotation angle in the azimuth angle θ, that is, the rotation angle in the horizontal plane is also shown in the rotation direction. It may be indicated by a positive or negative numerical value according to. However, in the present embodiment, the expressions of the sizes such as the elevation angle φ and the azimuth angle θ are not limited to the above, and various expressions can be selected.

<Unmanned aerial vehicle 40>
The outline of the configuration of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment has been described above. Next, the detailed configuration of each device included in the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the details of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the appearance of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 according to the present embodiment, and more specifically, is a schematic view of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 when viewed from the front 42 thereof. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. Further, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view for explaining the configuration of the antenna variable unit 430 according to the present embodiment, and in detail, the upper part of FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the antenna variable unit 430 as viewed from above. The lower part of FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the antenna variable unit 430 as viewed from the side.

As described above, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 is an unmanned small airplane, and can fly by an autonomous flight function, an independent attitude control function, and the like. The unmanned aerial vehicle 40 includes a propeller 400, a propeller drive unit 402, a positioning unit (position information acquisition unit) 410, a directional antenna 420, an antenna variable unit (angle variable unit) 430, a control unit 440, and communication. It mainly has a unit 460. Each functional unit of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 will be described below.

(Propeller 400 and Propeller Drive Unit 402)
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of propellers 400 are provided on the upper part of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 is rotated by the power transmitted from the propeller drive unit 402 provided inside the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. Propulsion is given to the vehicle, and the attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 is maintained horizontally. Further, the propeller drive unit 402 is provided inside the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, and rotates each propeller 400 according to the control from the flight control unit 442 of the control unit 440 described later.

(Positioning unit 410)
The positioning unit 410 is provided inside the unmanned aircraft 40, and includes two-dimensional position information (longitude information, latitude information) G and altitude information H, which are position information of the unmanned aircraft 40, and attitude information and attitude information of the unmanned aircraft 40. The acceleration information is acquired and output to the flight control unit 442 of the control unit 440, which will be described later. In the following description, the two-dimensional position information G and the altitude information H are collectively referred to as position information. The output position information, attitude information, and the like are used to fly the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 to a desired location and maintain the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 in a horizontal attitude. Further, the output position information can also be transmitted to the server 70 via the communication unit 460 described later.

As shown in FIG. 5, the positioning unit 410 mainly includes a posture detection unit 412, a GPS unit 414, and an altimeter 416. Specifically, the attitude detection unit 412 includes, for example, a gyro sensor in which an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor are combined, and detects the attitude (tilt, direction, etc.) and acceleration of the unmanned vehicle 40. The GPS unit 414 is composed of a current position measuring device that performs measurement using GPS signals from GPS satellites 20, and can acquire two-dimensional position information (latitude information, longitude information) G on the ground surface of the unmanned flying object 40. .. The altimeter 416 can acquire the altitude information (height from the ground surface) H of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40.

In the present embodiment, the positioning unit 410 may not include the altimeter 416 if the GPS unit 414 can acquire the altitude information H with sufficient accuracy. However, the accuracy of the altitude information H obtained by the GPS unit 414 may be low depending on the positioning state, and in this case, the altitude information H used for the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 or the like does not have sufficient accuracy. There is. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is preferable that the positioning unit 410 includes an altimeter 416 in order to acquire the altitude information H having sufficient accuracy. Further, in the present embodiment, the positioning unit 410 is not limited to including a device or the like that performs measurement using the GPS signal described above, as long as it is a device that can acquire the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. It is not particularly limited. For example, an image pickup device installed at the installation candidate position CAP acquires an image of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 flying in the installation candidate position CAP, and the acquired image is analyzed to acquire the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. You may.

(Directional antenna 420)
As shown in FIG. 4, the directional antenna 420 is provided in the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 and transmits / receives test radio waves as a test directional antenna used in the preliminary verification. The directional antenna 420 can be rotated in a horizontal plane and further can be rotated in a vertical plane by an antenna variable unit 430 described later. Then, the directional antenna 420 can change its own azimuth angle θ and elevation angle φ by rotating. As described above, the directional antenna 420 can perform Wi-Fi communication using signals in the 2.4 GHz band or 5 GHz band used in wireless communication between LAN access points, and the wireless communication can be performed. It has the same function as the permanent directional antenna used in.

(Antenna variable unit 430)
The variable antenna unit 430 is provided on the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 and is connected to the directional antenna 420 as shown in FIG. 6, so that the directional antenna 420 can be rotated. Specifically, the variable antenna unit 430 includes a step motor 432a that rotates in a horizontal plane, a rotation shaft 434a that transmits the rotation of the step motor 432a to the directional antenna 420, a step motor 432b that rotates on a vertical surface, and a step motor. It has a rotation shaft 434b that transmits the rotation of 432b to the directional antenna 420. Specifically, the step motor 432a rotates in a horizontal plane, and the rotation is transmitted to the directional antenna 420 via the rotation shaft 434a, so that the azimuth angle θ of the directional antenna 420 changes. Further, the step motor 432b rotates on a vertical surface, and the rotation is transmitted to the directional antenna 420 via the rotation shaft 434b, so that the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 changes. Further, the step motors 432a and 432b can rotate according to the rotation control pulse signal output from the antenna direction control unit 444 of the control unit 440 described later.

Since the antenna variable unit 430 shown in FIG. 6 is simply configured with a small number of parts, its weight can be reduced. Therefore, since the weight is light, the variable antenna unit 430 can be mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 whose load weight is limited. In this embodiment, the variable antenna unit 430 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 6, and may be another form as long as it is simply configured with a small number of parts.

Further, in order to prevent the variable antenna unit 430 from rotating accurately due to vibration caused by the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 (for example, the rotation of the propeller 400) and to avoid damage, the variable antenna unit 430 is shown in the figure. It may be provided on a vibration isolation table.

Further, in the present embodiment, the azimuth angle θ of the directional antenna 420 is not limited to being changed by the antenna variable unit 430 described above, and for example, by controlling the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, the unmanned aerial vehicle It may be changed by changing the direction of 40. In this case, since the antenna variable unit 430 can be made into a simple structure with fewer parts than the structure shown in FIG. 6, the weight of the antenna variable unit 430 can be further reduced. As a result, the weight of the antenna variable unit 430 has been reduced in the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, so that, for example, a large number of batteries can be loaded and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 can fly longer.

(Control unit 440)
The control unit 440 is mainly composed of hardware such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM provided inside the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 440 includes a flight control unit 442, an antenna direction control unit (angle control unit) 444, an antenna transmission / reception control unit 446, a radio wave quality measurement unit 448, a selection unit 450, a storage unit 452, and the like. It has a functional block of.

When the flight control unit 442 receives the control signal from the control device (not shown) possessed by the pilot or the control signal from the server 70 via the communication unit 460 described later, the flight control unit 410 described above. The propeller drive unit 402 is controlled according to the flight instruction of the control signal while using the position information, the attitude information, and the like acquired in.

When the antenna direction control unit 444 receives the control signal from the server 70 via the communication unit 460 described later, the antenna direction control unit 444 controls the antenna variable unit 430 according to the instruction of the control signal, and the direction (azimuth) of the directional antenna 420. Angle θ, elevation angle φ) are changed. Specifically, the antenna direction control unit 444 calculates the rotation angle for setting the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 to the direction indicated by the control signal, and converts the calculated rotation angle into a rotation control pulse signal. Then, it is transmitted to the antenna variable unit 430. Further, the antenna direction control unit 444 controls the antenna variable unit 430 so that the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 sequentially become various angles according to a control program stored in the storage unit 452 described later. You can also do it.

The antenna transmission / reception control unit 446 controls the directional antenna 420 so as to transmit a predetermined test radio wave. Further, the antenna transmission / reception control unit 446 can acquire the test radio wave received by the directional antenna 420 and output it to the radio wave quality measurement unit 448 described later. Further, the antenna transmission / reception control unit 446 can also convert the measurement result obtained by the radio wave quality measurement unit 448 into a radio wave signal, superimpose it on the test radio wave, and transmit it via the directional antenna 420.

The radio wave quality measuring unit 448 analyzes the test radio wave received by the directional antenna 420 and measures the quality of the received test radio wave. The radio wave quality measuring unit 448 uses the reception strength (RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator) of the test radio wave, the transmission speed of the test radio wave, or the transmission speed of the test radio wave as an index indicating the quality of the test radio wave received by the directional antenna 420. At least one of the carrier-to-noise ratio (CN ratio), which is the ratio of noise to the carrier in the test radio wave, can be measured. In the present embodiment, the radio wave quality measuring unit 448 can measure all or a plurality of the above-mentioned indexes, and appropriately select them according to the accuracy of adjusting the direction of the directional antenna 420 and the like. can do. Then, the measurement result of the radio wave quality measuring unit 448 is output to the antenna transmission / reception control unit 446 described above and the storage unit 452 described later. The measurement result output to the storage unit 452 is associated with the information on the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 when the measurement result is obtained, and is stored in the storage unit 452. ..

The selection unit 450 selects the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 based on the measurement results obtained by the radio wave quality measurement unit 448 described above. More specifically, the selection unit 450 selects the measurement result showing the best radio wave quality from the plurality of measurement results stored in the storage unit 452 described later. Then, the selection unit 450 selects the azimuth θ and elevation φ of the directional antenna 420 associated with the selected measurement result as the optimum azimuth θ and elevation φ of the directional antenna 420. Then, the information of the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ selected by the selection unit 450 can be output to the storage unit 452 described later or transmitted to the server 70 via the communication unit 460 described later. The selected azimuth angle θ and elevation angle φ will be utilized when installing the permanent directional antenna.

The storage unit 452 is a program executed by, for example, the flight control unit 442 of the control unit 440, the antenna direction control unit 444, the antenna transmission / reception control unit 446, and the like to control the propeller drive unit 402, the antenna variable unit 430, and the like. And stores information used for control. Further, the storage unit 452 obtains information transmitted from the server 70, a control device (not shown), and the like via the communication unit 460 described later, position information obtained by the positioning unit 410, and radio wave quality measurement unit 448. Stores the measured results, etc. For example, the storage unit 452 stores the measurement result in association with the information of the azimuth angle θ and the elevation angle φ of the directional antenna 420 when the measurement result is obtained.

(Communication unit 460)
The communication unit 460 is provided inside the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, and communicates with a control device (not shown) possessed by the operator and with the server 70. As shown in FIG. 5, the communication unit 460 mainly includes a flight control communication unit 462 that communicates with the control device and an antenna control communication unit 464 that communicates with the server 70. ..

The flight control communication unit 462 wirelessly communicates with a control device (not shown) possessed by the operator, and transmits / receives control signals and the like used for the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. For example, the flight control communication unit 462 receives a control signal from the control device at predetermined time intervals, and outputs the received control signal to the flight control unit 442 described above. The flight control communication unit 462 can perform communication using signals in the 2.4 GHz band or 5 GHz band used in wireless LANs and the like. However, in such a case, the flight control communication unit 462 is used in the above-mentioned directional antenna 420 so that the communication related to the flight control and the transmission / reception of the test radio wave by the directional antenna 420 do not interfere with each other. A signal channel different from the signal channel to be used will be used.

As described above, the antenna control communication unit 464 performs wireless communication with the server 70 via the public communication network 30. For example, the antenna control communication unit 464 receives information about the positional relationship between the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b from the server 70, and outputs the received information to the antenna direction control unit 444. Further, the antenna control communication unit 464 can also transmit the selection result by the selection unit 450 described above to the server 70.

When the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 is controlled by a control signal from the server 70 via the public communication network 30, the communication unit 460 has only the antenna control communication unit 464 and is for flight control. It is not necessary to have the communication unit 462.

Further, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 includes a battery (not shown) as a power source. However, in the present embodiment, as the directional antenna 420 included in the unmanned vehicle 40, it is preferable to use a test directional antenna of the same type as the permanent directional antenna used in the wireless LAN, and such directivity Antennas can be heavy. In such a case, since the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 will fly with the heavy directional antenna 420 mounted, it will be difficult to fly for a long time with the built-in battery having a small capacity. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 may be connected to the mooring power supply on the ground (not shown) by a wiring cable (not shown). That is, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 according to the present embodiment may have a power supply line (not shown) for supplying electric power to the unmanned aerial vehicle 40. Further, in this case, the mooring power supply may also serve as a control device for operating the unmanned aerial vehicle 40, and the wiring cable may also serve as a power supply line and a wired communication.

<Server 70>
The detailed configuration of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40 according to the present embodiment has been described above. Subsequently, the detailed configuration of the server 70 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the server 70 according to the present embodiment. As described above, the server 70 is a processing device installed at a location different from the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 where the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are located, and is mainly composed of hardware such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM. It is composed of. As shown in FIG. 7, the server 70 mainly includes a calculation unit 700, a storage unit 702, and a communication unit 704. Each functional unit of the server 70 will be described below.

(Calculation unit 700)
The calculation unit 700 calculates the positional relationship of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b based on the position information acquired from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the communication unit 704 described later. Specifically, the calculation unit 700 can acquire the two-dimensional position information (longitude information, latitude information) G and altitude information H of each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b. Then, the calculation unit 700 uses these position information (two-dimensional position information G, altitude information H) to determine the positional relationship between the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b on the horizontal plane and the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b on the vertical plane. Can recognize the positional relationship of. Further, the calculation unit 700 geometrically indicates the directional information of the unmanned vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40a in the horizontal plane and the unmanned vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40b in the horizontal plane based on the recognized positional relationship. It is possible to calculate the directional information indicating the directional of the aircraft 40a. Further, the calculation unit 700 similarly obtains the directional information indicating the direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b seen from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a on the vertical plane and the directional information of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a seen from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b on the vertical plane. The indicated orientation information can be calculated. For example, the directional information may be latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information (coordinates) of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b centered on a reference point (for example, a rotation axis) of the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a. It may be possible, or it may be angle information indicating these as angles centered on the reference point. Then, the calculation unit 700 transmits the calculation result to the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the communication unit 704 described later. Further, the calculation unit 700 may output the calculation result to the storage unit 702 described later.

(Memory unit 702)
The storage unit 702 stores a program that executes the operation of the calculation unit 700 and the like, and information used for the operation of the calculation unit 700 and the like. Further, the storage unit 702 can also store information and the like transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the communication unit 460 described later.

(Communication unit 704)
As described above, the communication unit 704 can perform wireless communication with the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the public communication network 30. For example, the communication unit 704 outputs the position information transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b to the above-mentioned calculation unit 700, the storage unit 702, etc., and outputs the calculation result of the calculation unit 700 to the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b. You can send it.

<< Operation of antenna direction adjustment system 10 >>
The detailed configuration of each device included in the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the operation of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is an operation flow diagram of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment. First, the operation of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment is composed of three main steps from step S100 to step S300, as shown in the flow chart of FIG.

(Step S100)
The azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b of the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b of the antenna direction adjustment system 10 are adjusted (azimuth angle adjustment step).

(Step S200)
The elevation angles φa and φb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are adjusted (elevation angle adjustment step).

(Step S300)
The quality of the radio waves transmitted and received via the directional antennas 420a and 420b is measured while slightly changing the azimuth θ and the elevation angle φ of any of the directional antennas 420a and 420b (radio waves). Quality measurement step).

The details of each step (S100 to S300) of the operation of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described below.

<Azimuth adjustment step S100>
First, the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 in the operation of the antenna direction adjustment system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. Explaining the rough flow of the azimuth adjustment step S100 according to the present embodiment, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are flown to the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, and the two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are obtained. get. The antenna direction adjustment system 10 is based on the acquired two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb, and has directional information indicating the direction of the unmanned vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40a in the horizontal plane and the direction information as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40b in the horizontal plane. The directional information indicating the directional of the unmanned vehicle 40a is calculated. Further, the antenna direction adjusting system 10 controls the azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b based on the calculated result. The details of the azimuth angle adjusting step S100 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of the azimuth angle adjustment step (S100) in the operation flow according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the azimuth angle adjusting step S100 is mainly composed of steps S101 to S119.

(Step S101)
The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b are flown to the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, respectively. For example, the operator controls the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via a control device (not shown), and causes the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b to fly to the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2.

(Step S103)
The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b acquire two-dimensional position information (latitude information and longitude information) Ga and Gb, respectively, by using their own positioning unit 410. Then, based on the acquired two-dimensional position information, the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b indicate that the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b have arrived at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, in detail, the directivity of the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b. When it is confirmed that the reference points of the antennas 420a and 420b (for example, the rotation centers of the directional antennas 420a and 420b) are located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, the process proceeds to the next step.

(Step S105)
The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b transmit the two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb acquired when the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b arrive at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 to the server 70 via the public communication network 30.

(Step S107)
The server 70 receives the two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the public communication network 30.

(Step S109)
Based on the two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb received from the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b, the server 70 includes directional information indicating the orientation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a in the horizontal plane and the unmanned aerial vehicle in the same horizontal plane. The direction information indicating the direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a as seen from 40b is calculated. Further, the server 70 has a distance d between the two-dimensional position information Ga corresponding to the installation candidate position CAP1 and the two-dimensional position information Gb corresponding to the installation candidate position CAP2, that is, the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b on the ground surface. You may calculate the distance d between the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b on the ground surface when the above is projected. The calculated distance d may be used in the elevation angle adjustment step S200.

(Step S111)
The server 70 stores the calculation result calculated in step S109 described above in the storage unit 702.

(Step S113)
The server 70 transmits the calculation result calculated in step S109 to the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b via the public communication network 30. Specifically, the server 70 transmits directional information indicating the orientation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a in the horizontal plane to the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a as seen from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b in the horizontal plane. Direction information indicating the direction is transmitted to the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b.

(Step S115)
The unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b each receive the calculation results transmitted from the server 70 via the public communication network 30.

(Step S117)
The unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b have the directional antenna 420a facing the unmanned flying object 40b and the directional antenna 420b facing the unmanned flying object 40a based on the calculation result transmitted from the server 70 (in the following, the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b). , Such a state is called a state in which the directional antenna 420a and the directional antenna 420b face each other), so that the rotation angles of the directional antennas 420a and 420b to be rotated in the horizontal plane are calculated, respectively. Further, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b convert the calculated rotation angle into a rotation control pulse signal. The unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b are the calculation results transmitted from the server and the orientations of the directional antenna 420a and the directional antenna 420b when the directional antenna 420a and the directional antenna 420b are opposed to each other. The angles θa and θb are stored in the storage unit 452. Further, the stored information may be transmitted to the server 70.

(Step S119)
The unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b output the rotation control pulse signal converted in step S117 to their own antenna variable unit 430, and the directional antenna 420a so that the directional antenna 420a and the directional antenna 420b face each other. , 420b is rotated on a horizontal plane.

Through the steps as described above, the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 according to the present embodiment is carried out, and the azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are adjusted. In the azimuth adjustment step S100 according to the present embodiment, the azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are adjusted by using the highly accurate two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb by the GPS unit 414. .. Therefore, according to the azimuth adjustment step S100, the positional relationship between the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 is more accurate than when the azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are adjusted visually by the operator. At the same time, the azimuth angles θa and θb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b can be adjusted.

In the above description, in the unmanned flying objects 40a and 40b, the rotation angle of the directional antennas 420a and 420b to be rotated in the horizontal plane for causing the directional antenna 420a and the directional antenna 420b to face each other. Although the calculation has been performed, the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the rotation angle may be calculated by the server 70, and the calculated rotation angle information may be transmitted from the server 70 to the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b.

<Elevation angle adjustment step S200>
Next, the elevation angle adjustment step S200 in the operation of the antenna direction adjustment system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. Explaining the general flow of the elevation angle adjusting step S200 according to the present embodiment, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 acquire the altitude information Ha and Hb of the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b. Based on the already acquired two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb and the altitude information Ha and Hb, the antenna direction adjustment system 10 provides directional information indicating the direction of the unmanned vehicle 40b as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40a in the vertical plane. Similarly, the direction information indicating the direction of the unmanned vehicle 40a as seen from the unmanned vehicle 40b on the vertical plane is calculated. Then, the antenna direction adjusting system 10 controls the elevation angles φa and φb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b based on the calculated result. In this way, the elevation angle adjustment step S200 according to the present embodiment is carried out, and the elevation angles φa and φb of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are adjusted.

In the following description, the elevation angle adjustment step S200 is a step performed after the above-mentioned azimuth angle adjustment step S100 is performed, and in the elevation angle adjustment step S200, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b continue to be , It is assumed that they are located at the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, respectively.

The flow of the elevation angle adjustment step S200 is shown in FIG. 10 which is a sequence diagram of the elevation angle adjustment step (S200) in the operation flow according to the present embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 10, the elevation angle adjustment step S200 is , Steps S201 to S217 are mainly configured.

Since steps S201 to S217 are the ones in which the azimuth angles θa and θb are replaced with the elevation angles φa and φb in steps S103 to S119 shown in FIG. 9, here, steps S201 to S217 The detailed description of is omitted.

In the elevation angle adjustment step S200 according to the present embodiment, the directional antennas 420a and 420b are used by using the highly accurate two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb by the GPS unit 414 and the highly accurate altitude information Ha and Hb by the altimeter 416. The elevation angles φa and φb of are adjusted. Therefore, according to the elevation angle adjustment step S200, as in the above-mentioned azimuth angle adjustment step S100, the directivity is adjusted according to the positional relationship between the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, as compared with the case where the adjustment is made visually by the operator. The elevation angles φa and φb of the sex antennas 420a and 420b can be adjusted.

<Radio wave quality measurement step S300>
Next, the radio wave quality measurement step S300 in the operation of the antenna direction adjusting system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. Explaining the rough flow of the radio wave quality measurement step S300 according to the present embodiment, the azimuth angle θa and the elevation angle φa (predetermined azimuth angle and elevation angle) determined in the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 and the elevation angle adjustment step S200 are used as the center values. , The azimuth angle θa and the elevation angle φa of the directional antenna 420a are slightly changed. Then, each time the azimuth angle θa and the elevation angle φa of the directional antenna 420a are slightly changed, a test radio wave is transmitted from the directional antenna 420a to the directional antenna 420b. The unmanned aerial vehicle 40b that has received the test radio wave from the directional antenna 420a measures the quality of the received test radio wave and transmits the measurement result to the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a. Further, the antenna direction adjustment system 10 makes measurements in a plurality of predetermined directions (azimuth θ, elevation angle φ), and when a plurality of measurement results are obtained, the measurement results are compared and the best is obtained. Select the measurement result that shows the best radio quality. Then, the antenna direction adjustment system 10 selects the azimuth angle θa and the elevation angle φa of the directional antenna 420a associated with the selected measurement result as the optimum azimuth angle θa and the elevation angle φa of the directional antenna 420a. The selected azimuth angle θa and elevation angle φa will be utilized when installing the permanent directional antenna.

First, a rough flow of the radio wave quality measurement step S300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. 11 is an operation flow diagram of the radio wave quality measurement step (S300) in the operation flow according to the present embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of data acquired in the radio wave quality measurement step (S300) according to the present embodiment. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining step S340 and step S350 of FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of the information stored in step S350 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 11, the radio wave quality measurement step S300 is composed of five main steps from step S310 to step S350.

(Step S310)
A test radio wave using the directional antenna 420a in a state where the azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a are the same as the azimuth θa and elevation φa determined in the azimuth adjustment step S100 and the elevation adjustment step S200. The quality of the test radio wave is measured by transmitting and receiving. Further, while maintaining the azimuth angle of the directional antenna 420a at the initial θa, the elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a is rotated by Δφa upward from φa to obtain φa + Δφa, and rotated by Δφa downward from φa to obtain φa−. The quality of the test radio wave is measured in the same manner as in the case of Δφa. Therefore, the quality of the test radio wave is measured when the directions (azimuth, elevation) of the directional antenna 420a are in the three states of (θa, φa), (θa, φa + Δφa), and (θa, φa−Δφa). You can get the result. The result obtained by the measurement is stored in the storage unit 452 in association with the azimuth angle and elevation angle information of the directional antenna 420a at the time of measurement. The above-mentioned Δφa is a predetermined minute angle, and can be appropriately selected according to the adjustment accuracy of the direction of the desired directional antenna 420a.

(Step S320)
The azimuth angle θa of the directional antenna 420a is rotated clockwise by Δθa from the azimuth angle θa determined in the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 to obtain θa + Δθa. Then, while maintaining the azimuth angle θa of the directional antenna 420a at θa + Δθa, the elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a is the same as the elevation angle φa determined in the elevation angle adjustment step S200, and the azimuth angle φa is rotated upward by Δφa from φa. The quality of the test radio wave is measured in the case of φa + Δφa and the case of rotating Δφa downward from φa to obtain φa−Δφa. Therefore, the measurement result of the quality of the test radio wave when the direction (azimuth angle, elevation angle) of the directional antenna 420a is three states (θa + Δθa, φa), (θa + Δθa, φa + Δφa), (θa + Δθa, φa−Δφa). Can be obtained. The above-mentioned Δθa is a predetermined minute angle like Δφa, and can be selected according to the adjustment accuracy of the direction of the desired directional antenna 420a.

(Step S330)
Similar to step S320, the azimuth angle θa of the directional antenna 420a is rotated counterclockwise by Δθa from the azimuth angle θa determined in the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 to obtain θa−Δθa. Then, while maintaining the azimuth angle of the directional antenna 420a at θa−Δθa, the elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a is made the same as the elevation angle φa determined in the elevation angle adjustment step S200, and the directional antenna 420a is rotated upward by Δφa. The quality of the test radio wave is measured in the case where φa + Δφa is set and the case where Δφa is rotated downward from φa to obtain φa−Δφa. Therefore, the test when the direction (azimuth angle, elevation angle) of the directional antenna 420a is in three states of (θa-Δθa, φa), (θa-Δθa, φa + Δφa), and (θa-Δθa, φa-Δφa). The measurement result of the quality of radio waves can be obtained.

In this way, nine data (Data (X)) as shown in FIG. 12 can be acquired. In each data (Data (X)), the measurement result and the azimuth angle θa (X) and the elevation angle φa (X) of the directional antenna 420a when the measurement result is obtained are associated with each other. In FIG. 12, as the measurement result, the reception intensity of the measured test radio wave is shown as RSSI (X).

It should be noted that the present embodiment is not limited to acquiring nine data as shown in FIG. 12, and a plurality of data are acquired according to the desired adjustment accuracy of the direction of the directional antenna 420a. can do. The details of the control of the directional antenna 420a and the quality measurement of the test radio wave in steps S310 to S330 will be described later.

(Step S340)
The plurality of measurement results obtained in steps S310 to S330 described above are compared. Specifically, a plurality of measurement results are compared and the measurement result showing the best radio wave quality is selected. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 12, RSSI (X) having the highest reception intensity is selected from the nine measurement result RSSI (X).

(Step S350)
The azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a when the measurement result selected in step S340 is acquired, that is, the azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a associated with the selected measurement result. Select as the optimum azimuth and elevation of 420a. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the RSSI (X) having the highest reception strength is selected from the plurality of reception strength RSSIs (X) shown on the left side of FIG. 13, and as shown on the right side of FIG. The azimuth θ (X) and elevation φ (X) associated with the selected reception intensity RSSI (X) are selected as the optimum azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a.

Then, the information on the optimum azimuth angle and elevation angle of the selected directional antenna 420a is transmitted to the server 70, and is stored in the storage unit 702 of the server 70 together with other information as shown in FIG. As other information, for example, the position information of the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2 (two-dimensional position information Ga, Gb, altitude information Ha, Hb), the azimuth angle θb and elevation angle φb of the directional antenna 420b, and step S350. Information such as the selected measurement result RSSI (X) can be mentioned. Then, the stored information will be utilized when installing the permanent directional antenna.

In the present embodiment, the information shown in FIG. 14 is not limited to being stored in the storage unit 702 of the server 70, and may be stored in the storage unit 452 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40.

In the radio wave quality measurement step S300 according to the present embodiment, the quality of the test radio waves transmitted and received via the directional antennas 420a and 420b is measured while slightly changing the azimuth and elevation angles of the directional antenna 420a. , The optimum azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a are determined based on the quality of the measured test radio waves. Therefore, according to the radio wave quality measurement step S300, the optimum azimuth and elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a can be determined based on the result of the quantitative measurement of the radio wave quality, so that the adjustment can be made according to the sense of the worker. The azimuth and elevation angles of the directional antenna 420a can be more optimized than in the case of

The details of the operation (control of the directional antenna 420a and measurement of the test radio wave) in each step of steps S310 to S330 of FIG. 11 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 15 is an operation flow diagram in each step from step S310 to step S330 of FIG. It is an operation flow diagram in each step (S310-S330) of the radio wave quality measurement step (S300) which concerns on this embodiment. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram in each step of step S3120, step S3150, and step S3190 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15, steps S310 to S330 of FIG. 11 are composed of 11 main steps from step S3100 to step S3200, respectively.

(Step S3100)
The antenna direction control unit 444 calculates and calculates the rotation angle Δθa for rotating the directional antenna 420a so that the azimuth angle of the directional antenna 420a becomes a desired azimuth angle θa (X) according to the control program stored in the storage unit 452. The rotation angle Δθa is converted into a rotation control pulse signal.

(Step S3110)
The antenna direction control unit 444 transmits the rotation control pulse signal converted in step S3100 to the antenna variable unit 430, and rotates the directional antenna 420a by Δθa on the horizontal plane.

In step S310 of FIG. 11, the step S3100 and step S3110 described above are skipped, and the next step S3120 is carried out.

(Step S3120)
The directional antenna 420a transmits the test radio wave to the directional antenna 420b, and starts measuring the radio wave quality of the test radio wave. The details of step S3120 will be described later with reference to FIG.

(Step S3130)
The antenna direction control unit 444 calculated and calculated a rotation angle Δφa for rotating the directional antenna 420a so that the elevation angle φa becomes a desired elevation angle φa (X) according to the control program stored in the storage unit 452. The rotation angle Δφa is converted into a rotation control pulse signal.

(Step S3140)
The antenna direction control unit 444 transmits the rotation control pulse signal converted in step S3130 to the antenna variable unit 430, and rotates the directional antenna 420a by Δφa on the vertical plane.

(Step S3150)
Since step S3150 is the same as step S3120, description thereof will be omitted here.

(Step S3160)
The antenna direction control unit 444 controls the antenna variable unit 430 to cause the directional antenna 420a to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation performed in step S3140. Then, the elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a returns to the state of step S3120.

(Step S3170, Step S3180 and Step S3190)
Step S3170, step S3180, and step S3190 are the same as step S3130, step S3140, and step S3150, except that in step S3180, the directional antenna 420a is rotated on a vertical plane opposite to the rotation of the directional antenna 420a in step S3140. Since they are the same, the description thereof will be omitted here.

(Step S3200)
The antenna direction control unit 444 controls the antenna variable unit 430 to cause the directional antenna 420a to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation performed in step S3180. Then, the elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a returns to the state of step S3120. Further, the antenna direction control unit 444 controls the antenna variable unit 430 to cause the directional antenna 420a to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation performed in step S3110. Then, the azimuth angle of the directional antenna 420a returns to the state of step S3120.

Next, with reference to FIG. 16, the details of the measurement of the test radio wave in step S3120, step S3150, and step S3190 of FIG. 15 will be described. As shown in FIG. 16, step S3120, step S3150, and step S3190 of FIG. 15 are each composed of six steps from step S3121 to step S3126.

(Step S3121)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40a transmits a test radio wave from the directional antenna 420a toward the directional antenna 420b.

(Step S3122)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40b receives the test radio wave transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a via the directional antenna 420b.

(Step S3123)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40b analyzes the received test radio wave to measure the radio wave quality of the test radio wave. If the unmanned vehicle 40b cannot receive the test radio wave even after a lapse of a predetermined time, or if it cannot receive the radio wave having a predetermined intensity or higher, the test radio wave is used as a measurement result of the radio wave quality. Information indicating that reception is not possible or that radio waves of a predetermined intensity or higher cannot be received, for example, a numerical value of zero is assigned.

(Step S3124)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40b transmits the measurement result to the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a. At this time, the measurement result may be converted into a signal, superimposed on the test radio wave, and transmitted using the directional antenna 420b, or the converted signal may be transmitted via the public communication network 30. Good.

(Step S3125)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40a receives the measurement result transmitted from the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b.

(Step S3126)
The unmanned aerial vehicle 40a stores the received measurement result in the storage unit 452.

In the above description, the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a collects the measurement results and the like, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a selects the optimum azimuth and elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a. However, in the present embodiment, It is not limited to this. For example, the measurement results and the like may be accumulated in the server 70, and the optimum azimuth angle and elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a may be selected by the server 70. Further, in the above description, in the radio wave quality measurement step S300, the azimuth angle and elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a are slightly changed to measure the radio wave quality. The form is not limited to this. For example, the same thing may be done with the directional antenna 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b instead of the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a. Alternatively, after performing the radio wave quality measurement step S300 on the directional antenna 420a of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a, the same thing may be performed on the directional antenna 420b of the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b, or vice versa. ..

Further, once the above-mentioned radio wave quality measurement step S300 is performed, and when a measurement result indicating that the desired radio wave quality (communication characteristics) cannot be secured is obtained, the above-mentioned radio wave quality measurement step S300 is performed again. Is preferable.

Further, in the present embodiment, the azimuth angles of the directional antennas 420a and 420b for theoretically predicting the influence of the surrounding environment, the building, etc. at the installation candidate position CAP in advance and ensuring the desired communication characteristics. If the θa and θb and the elevation angles φa and φb can be predicted with high accuracy, the implementation of the azimuth angle adjustment step S100 and the elevation angle adjustment step S200 may be omitted. In this case, the predicted azimuth angles θa, θb and elevation angles φa, φb of the directional antennas 420a, 420b are set to the median values used first in the radio wave quality measurement step S300 (in the above description, the azimuth adjustment steps S100 and It may be used as the azimuth angles θa and θb and the elevation angles φa and φb determined in the elevation angle adjustment step S200). By doing so, the time for pre-verification can be shortened.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the direction of the directional antenna is adjusted, the radio wave quality is measured using the directional antenna, and the like, using the unmanned flying object 40 capable of freely flying in the three-dimensional space. .. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the test is performed even if the installation candidate position CAP of the permanent directional antenna is in a high place or in a narrow place for performing temporary work such as a directional antenna. Pre-verification can be easily performed by arranging the directional antenna 420 or the like at the installation candidate position CAP. That is, according to the present embodiment, since the pre-verification cannot be performed, the antenna is not removed from the installation candidate position, so that the restriction on the installation position of the directional antenna can be reduced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, even when the installation candidate position CAP is in a high place, it is not necessary to secure the aerial work platform and its stop place, and the builder is required for dangerous work in a high place. Since there is no need for equipment to ensure safety, the time and cost required for pre-verification can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the azimuth angles θa of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are utilized by using the highly accurate two-dimensional position information Ga and Gb by the GPS unit 414 and the highly accurate altitude information Ha and Hb by the altimeter 416. , Θb and elevation angles φa and φb are adjusted. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the azimuth angles θa, θb and elevation angles of the directional antennas 420a and 420b are more accurately adjusted according to the positional relationship between the installation candidate positions CAP1 and CAP2, as compared with the case of adjusting visually by the operator. φa and φb can be adjusted.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the quality of the test radio waves transmitted and received via the directional antennas 420a and 420b is measured and measured while slightly changing the azimuth and elevation angles of the directional antenna 420a. The optimum azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a are determined based on the quality of the test radio waves. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the optimum azimuth and elevation angle of the directional antenna 420a can be determined based on the result of the quantitative radio wave quality, and therefore, as compared with the case of adjusting by the sense of the worker. , The azimuth and elevation of the directional antenna 420a can be optimized.

In detail, when the worker adjusts the direction of the test directional antenna visually or sensibly, it is not based on the result of quantitative measurement of the direction and communication characteristics. The orientation of the sex antenna is not always optimized. For example, when it is found that the desired communication characteristics cannot be secured after the permanent installation when the direction is adjusted visually at the time of temporary installation of the test antenna and the permanent installation is performed according to the result of the direction adjustment. There is a possibility that the worker will have to temporarily install the antenna again and adjust the direction. However, according to the present embodiment, the direction of the test directional antenna is determined based on the result of quantitative measurement of the orientation and communication characteristics. Therefore, as described above, the direction of the test directional antenna is determined. Due to insufficient adjustment, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the desired communication characteristics cannot be secured after the permanent construction work and temporary installation and direction adjustment are performed again.

The antenna direction adjustment system 10 according to the present embodiment is not limited to including two unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b, and one of the two unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b is a building 90. It may be an adjustment assisting device (not shown) having a directional antenna 420b, which is fixedly installed in the above. Further, in the present embodiment, by imparting the function of the server 70 according to the present embodiment to either one of the two unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b, the antenna direction adjustment system 10 that does not include the server 70 can be obtained. Good. Further, in this case, the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b may be connected by wire, and the communication between the unmanned aerial vehicles 40a and 40b may be secured by wired communication.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the field of technology to which the present invention belongs can come up with various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims. , These are also naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

In addition, each step in the processing of each of the above-described embodiments does not necessarily have to be processed in the order described. For example, each step may be processed in an appropriately reordered manner. Further, each step may be partially processed in parallel or individually instead of being processed in chronological order. Further, the processing method of each step does not necessarily have to be processed according to the described method, and may be processed by another functional unit by another method. For example, in the above description, the calculation unit 700 is located on the server 70, but in the present embodiment, the calculation unit 700 is provided on the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a or the unmanned aerial vehicle 40b to fly with the unmanned aerial vehicle 40a. It is also possible to calculate the positional relationship with the body 40b.

10 Antenna direction adjustment system 20 GPS satellites 30 Public communication network 40, 40a, 40b Unmanned aircraft 42, 42a, 42b Front 70 Server 90, 90a, 90b Building 400 Propeller 402 Propeller drive unit 410 Positioning unit 412 Attitude detection unit 414 GPS Unit 416 Altitude meter 420, 420a, 420b Directional antenna 430 Antenna variable unit 432a, 432b Step motor 434a, 434b Rotation axis 440 Control unit 442 Flight control unit 444 Antenna direction control unit 446 Antenna transmission / reception control unit 448 Radio quality measurement unit 450 Selection unit 452, 702 Storage unit 460, 704 Communication unit 462 Flight control communication unit 464 Antenna control communication unit 700 Calculation unit CAP1, CAP2 Installation candidate position Ga, Gb Two-dimensional position information Ha, Hb Altitude information Sa, Sb Reference direction d Distance θa, θb directional angle φa, φb elevation angle

Claims (8)

Includes an unmanned vehicle flying in three-dimensional space with a first directional antenna and an adjustment assist device with a second directional antenna that transmits and receives radio waves between the first directional antenna. It is an antenna direction adjustment system
An angle variable portion that changes the azimuth and elevation angle of the first directional antenna,
A position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and
A calculation unit that calculates the positional relationship between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the adjustment assist device based on the position information, and
An angle control unit that controls the angle variable unit based on the positional relationship calculated by the calculation unit, and
A measuring unit that measures the quality of the radio waves transmitted and received via the first and second directional antennas, and
A communication unit that communicates between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the adjustment assist device without going through the first and second directional antennas.
To prepare
Antenna orientation adjustment system. Based on the position information, the calculation unit provides first directional information indicating the orientation of the adjustment assisting device as seen from the unmanned vehicle on a horizontal plane, and the adjustment as seen from the unmanned vehicle on a vertical plane. Calculate the second directional information indicating the directional of the auxiliary device,
The angle control unit controls the angle variable unit based on the calculated first direction information and the second direction information.
The antenna direction adjusting system according to claim 1. The angle control unit controls the angle variable unit so as to change the azimuth and elevation of the first directional antenna with a predetermined azimuth and elevation as the center value.
Each time the azimuth angle and the elevation angle of the first directional antenna change, the radio waves are transmitted and received between the first directional antenna and the second directional antenna, and the measuring unit is used. Measures the quality of the radio wave,
The antenna orientation adjusting system according to claim 1 or 2. A selection unit for selecting the azimuth angle and the elevation angle of the first directional antenna based on the quality of the radio wave measured by the measuring unit is further provided.
The antenna direction adjusting system according to claim 3. The antenna direction adjusting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the angle variable portion changes the azimuth angle of the first directional antenna by changing the direction of the unmanned flying object. The angle variable portion is
A first step motor that rotates on a horizontal plane,
A first rotation shaft that transmits the rotation of the first step motor to the first directional antenna, and
A second step motor that rotates on a vertical plane,
A second rotation axis that transmits the rotation of the second step motor to the first directional antenna, and
Have,
The antenna direction adjusting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The antenna orientation adjusting system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle has a power supply line for supplying electric power to the unmanned aerial vehicle. The antenna direction adjusting system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the adjustment assisting device is an unmanned aerial vehicle different from the unmanned aerial vehicle.

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