JP7591858B2 - Method for controlling an aircraft - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an aircraft.

Traditionally, maintenance and inspection of railway tracks has been performed manually by workers walking along the tracks, which is time-consuming and poses risks to trains operating through the maintenance section.

As a system to support such maintenance work, a system has been disclosed in which a server verifies the safety of the closed track section where maintenance work is to be performed, and approval for the work is sent to the mobile phone carried by the worker (Patent Document 1). In addition, a system has been disclosed that improves safety when route setting requests are made during maintenance work by displaying information about other switches that are switched in conjunction with route setting based on preset interlocking diagram information of a signaling system (Patent Document 2).

JP 2015-168316 A JP 2017-065329 A

However, even if the system disclosed in the patent document ensures the safety of workers and shortens the time required to ensure safety, manual maintenance work during train operation still needs to be performed within a limited time.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a method for inspecting railway tracks that can solve these problems and ensure the safety of railway operations more efficiently.

One embodiment of the present invention is a method for controlling an aircraft, which includes the steps of acquiring predetermined position information, controlling the aircraft to move to a predetermined position, capturing an image of a predetermined area at the predetermined position, and transmitting the captured image.

The present invention provides a method for inspecting railway tracks that is more efficient and ensures safety.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inspection method using an aircraft 10 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the aircraft 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing control related to inspection of an aircraft according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the control of the flying object and the management terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing control related to inspection of an aircraft according to the second embodiment.

The contents of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The flying object according to the embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising:
acquiring predetermined location information;
A step of controlling the aircraft to move to the predetermined position;
capturing an image of a predetermined area at the predetermined position;
transmitting the captured image;
A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising:
[Item 2]
A method for controlling an aircraft according to claim 1,
The method for controlling an aircraft further includes a step of confirming whether an investigation has been performed at the specified location.
[Item 3]
A method for controlling an aircraft according to claim 1,
The method for controlling an aircraft further includes a step of checking for any abnormalities based on the captured image.
[Item 4]
Item 3. A method for controlling an aircraft according to item 3,
A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising: mapping the specified position onto map information when an abnormality is confirmed in the confirming step.
[Item 5]
2. A method for controlling an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising:
A method for controlling an aircraft, characterized in that the position information is obtained by referring to railway operation information.

(First embodiment)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a method for inspecting a railroad track using an aircraft 10 according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flying object 10 can fly above the railway line 1 and capture images of the area around the railway line 1 using a camera. The captured images can be transmitted to an external device such as a management terminal via a network.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the aircraft 10 according to the first embodiment. First, the flight controller 21 can have one or more processors, such as a programmable processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)). The camera 5 is mounted on the aircraft via a gimbal, and can rotate, for example, vertically relative to the aircraft by the gimbal. Preferably, the camera can rotate in three axial directions (pitch angle, roll angle, yaw angle) relative to the aircraft.

Flight controller 21 also has and has access to memory 22. Memory 22 stores logic, code, and/or program instructions that the flight controller can execute to perform one or more steps.

The memory 22 may include, for example, a separable medium such as an SD card or random access memory (RAM) or an external storage device. Data acquired from the camera or sensors may be directly transmitted to and stored in the memory. For example, still image and video data captured by a camera or the like is recorded in an internal memory or an external memory. The camera is installed on the aircraft via a gimbal.

The flight controller 21 includes a control module configured to control the state of the air vehicle. For example, the control module controls the propulsion mechanism (motor, etc.) of the air vehicle via the ESC to adjust the spatial arrangement, speed, and/or acceleration of the air vehicle having six degrees of freedom (translational motion _x , y, and z, and rotational motion θ x _{, θ y} , and θ _z ). The motor rotates the propeller to generate lift for the air vehicle. The control module can control one or more of the states of the onboard parts and sensors.

The flight controller 21 can communicate with a transceiver 24 configured to transmit and/or receive data from one or more external devices (e.g., a transceiver 23, a terminal, a display device, or other remote control). The transceiver 23 can use any suitable communication means, such as wired or wireless communication.

For example, the transceiver unit 24 may utilize one or more of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), infrared, radio, WiFi, a point-to-point (P2P) network, a telecommunications network, cloud communications, and the like.

The transceiver unit 24 can transmit and/or receive one or more of the following: data acquired by sensors, processing results generated by the flight controller, specific control data, user commands from a terminal or a remote controller, etc.

The sensors 25 in this embodiment may include an inertial sensor (acceleration sensor, gyro sensor), a GPS sensor, a proximity sensor (e.g., lidar), or a vision/image sensor (e.g., camera).

The inspection unit 31 also stores information necessary for the inspection, such as image data captured by the camera 5, in the memory 32 and performs the track inspection. As another example, all or part of the functions of the inspection unit 31 may be provided in a management terminal or the like outside the aircraft (not shown).

Next, the control method of the flying object in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of the flying object control related to the inspection of the track of the flying object in this embodiment. Also, Figure 4 is a flow chart diagram of the same control of the flying object and the management terminal in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the control method for the aircraft to inspect the track can be realized by executing a control program in the CPU in the flight controller 21 and/or the CPU in the inspection unit 31. As another example, all or part of the functions of the flight controller 10 and/or the inspection unit 31 can be provided in an external device 28 (e.g., a server or management terminal), and the aircraft 10 and the external device 28 can cooperate to execute the necessary processing.

First, in FIG. 3, the line information acquisition unit 51 refers to line information related to the line position and/or operation time of the railway stored in the line information storage unit 61 of the memory 22, for example, to confirm the location to be surveyed. With respect to the location information confirmed by referring to the line information, the current location information acquisition unit 52 acquires current location information from the GPS sensor 54, the acceleration sensor 55, etc., and the flight control unit 53 controls the motor 26 to move the aircraft 10 to the inspection position that is the destination (S401). The acquired current location information is stored in the current location information storage unit 62 in the memory 22. Note that this step can also be replaced by manually operating the aircraft, or by controlling the aircraft to fly on the tracks by recognizing the tracks using image recognition technology without relying on the location information.

Next, when the flying object 10 is positioned on the track to be surveyed, the track inspection unit 71 of the inspection unit 31, for example, refers to the map information 83 to check whether the target track has already been surveyed (S403). In this example, an example is assumed in which the surveyed positions are mapped on a map, but other formats are acceptable as long as they can be understood as location information. In addition, the flying object 10 can inquire about this information via the transmission/reception unit 24 and the network to an external device 28 such as a management terminal. In this step, if it is confirmed that the target track has not been surveyed, the process proceeds to the next step, and if it is confirmed that the track has been surveyed, the process returns to the original process. In another example, the flying object 10 can understand in advance the surveyed and unsurveyed positions, set the routing for the unsurveyed positions, and fly. In yet another example, the flying object 10 can turn off the power of the camera at the surveyed positions. This can save battery resources.

Next, the imaging control unit 74 of the inspection unit 31 controls the camera 5 to capture an image of the area around the target track (S403). When capturing an image, an area camera such as a digital camera can be used to capture an image instead of visual inspection. When capturing an image at night, an infrared camera can be used or LED lighting can be used. The captured image can be stored in the memory 32.

Then, the notification generating unit 72 of the inspection unit 31 transmits a notification to an external device 28 such as a management terminal via the transmitting/receiving unit 24 (S404). The notification contents may include location information, images, etc. The notification process may be performed periodically by accumulating images, but is preferably performed simultaneously with the imaging.

The external device 28, such as a management terminal, receives the image transmitted from the flying object 10 (S405). Next, the external device 28, such as a management terminal, inspects the track based on the received image (S406). For the inspection, for example, an image that has been processed using known methods such as image binarization and edge and feature detection in an image processing unit (not shown) of the management terminal can be used. Alternatively, the presence or absence of abnormalities can be confirmed by comparing the image-processed inspection image of the area around the track with a normal image that is captured under normal circumstances and then image-processed. Here, possible inspection items include rail damage, deformation, and misalignment.

In this way, by using an aircraft to inspect rail tracks, not only can the conventional visual inspection work be automated, but the time required to ensure safety can be reduced, providing a rail inspection method that can more efficiently ensure the safety of railway operations.

Second Embodiment
5 shows a flowchart of the control of the aircraft in relation to the inspection of the track of the aircraft according to the second embodiment. The feature of the aircraft 20 in this embodiment is that the inspection that was performed by the management terminal in the first embodiment is performed by the aircraft 20 itself.

The structure and functional blocks of the aircraft 20 of this embodiment can be the same as those of the aircraft 10 disclosed in the first embodiment shown in Figure 2, except where specifically mentioned.

The step of flying over the tracks in FIG. 5 (S501), the step of checking whether the location of the survey target has been surveyed (S502), and the step of capturing an image of the area around the location of the survey target (S503) are the same as the method in the first embodiment described in FIG. 4, and therefore will not be described here.

In FIG. 5, the track inspection unit 71 of the inspection unit 31 of the flying object 20 inspects the track based on the captured image (S454). For the inspection, for example, an image that has been processed by the image processing unit 73 using known methods such as image binarization and edge and feature detection can be used. Alternatively, the presence or absence of abnormalities can be confirmed by comparing the image-processed inspection image 81 of the area around the track with a normal image 82 that is captured under normal circumstances and then image-processed. Here, possible inspection items include rail damage, deformation, and misalignment.

Then, the track inspection unit 71 checks whether or not there is an abnormality in the track being inspected as a result of the inspection (S505). Possible abnormalities include, for example, damage to the rail, a rail width that is different from normal, the center of the rail being misaligned, etc.

If no abnormality is found, the original process is resumed. However, if an abnormality is found, the track inspection unit 71 inputs the fact that an abnormality has been found, the details of the abnormality, an image, etc., into the map included in the map information 83 (S506). In addition, information about whether an inspection has been carried out or not can also be input into the map. The updated map information is sent as a notification by the notification generation unit 72 to an external device 28 such as a management terminal, allowing the operator of the management terminal to check the inspected positions and inspection results on the map at a glance.

In this way, in this embodiment, the aircraft 20 can handle all of the investigation, making it possible to further improve work efficiency.

The aircraft of the present invention is expected to be used as an industrial aircraft for investigations, surveying, observations, etc., mainly in the railway business. The aircraft of the present invention can also be used in the aircraft-related industry, such as multicopters and drones, and furthermore, through the present invention, it can contribute to improving the safety of these aircraft and the flight of aircraft.

The above-described embodiment is merely an example to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents.

1 Track 5 Camera 10 Aircraft 21 Flight controller
22 Memory 23 Sensors 24 Transmitter/receiver 25 Transmitter/receiver 26 Motor 28 External device 31 Inspection unit 32 Memory 51 Route information acquisition unit 52 Current position information acquisition unit 53 Flight control unit 54 GPS sensor 55 Acceleration sensor 61 Route information storage unit 62 Current position information storage unit 71 Track inspection unit 72 Notification generation unit 73 Image processing unit 74 Imaging control unit 81 Inspection image 82 Normal image 83 Map information

Claims (2)

A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising:
obtaining a predetermined position;
obtaining map information including a map onto which the surveyed locations are mapped;
referring to the map information to determine whether the predetermined location has been surveyed;
If the predetermined position has not been surveyed, controlling the aircraft to move to the predetermined position;
capturing an image of a predetermined area at the predetermined position;
transmitting the captured image;
checking whether or not there is an abnormality based on the captured image, and when an abnormality is confirmed, mapping the predetermined position onto map information;
A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising: A method for controlling an aircraft, comprising:
obtaining a predetermined position;
obtaining map information including a map onto which the surveyed locations are mapped;
referring to the map information to determine whether the predetermined location has been surveyed;
If the predetermined position has not been surveyed, controlling the aircraft to move to the predetermined position;
capturing an image of a predetermined area at the predetermined position;
transmitting the captured image;
Including,
The predetermined position is acquired by referring to train operation information.
A method for controlling an aircraft.

Images