JP7629199B2 - Unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicle pairs, and unmanned aerial vehicle groups - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicle pairs consisting of two unmanned aerial vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicle groups consisting of three or more unmanned aerial vehicles. In particular, the present invention relates to a structure of the unmanned aerial vehicles for improving the parking conditions of the unmanned aerial vehicles.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly called drones) are known for use in ground observation, cargo transportation, and the like. It is also known that one form of use for unmanned aerial vehicles is the cooperative control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.

Patent document 1 discloses the generation of multi-viewpoint video in which a subject is photographed from different viewpoints at the same time by cooperatively controlling multiple unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with cameras.

JP 2020-147105 A

When using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles as described above, a parking space (site for parking) is required to land (standby) the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles before the start of a flight or after the end of a flight. In conventional technology, each unmanned aerial vehicle was parked in a state where it had landed on the ground. For this reason, a parking space (site area) equivalent to the size of the unmanned aerial vehicle in plan view was required for each unmanned aerial vehicle. In other words, as the number of unmanned aerial vehicles increases, a parking space large enough (a large site area) for the number of unmanned aerial vehicles is required. For example, when parking dozens or more unmanned aerial vehicles, a large parking space is required, which poses a major problem in terms of practicality.

This issue arises not only when multiple unmanned aerial vehicles that are controlled in a coordinated manner are parked in a parking space, but also when multiple unmanned aerial vehicles that are not based on coordinated control (multiple unmanned aerial vehicles that are based on individual flight) are parked in a parking space.

The present invention was made in consideration of these points, and its purpose is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle that can reduce the parking space required when parking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.

The solution of the present invention for achieving the above object is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle that includes an aircraft body and rotors and flies with the rotation of the rotors. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes an overlapping support means that allows another unmanned aerial vehicle to be placed on the aircraft body in a landing state, an image display device that is rotatably attached to the aircraft body and has a display surface for displaying an image, and a rotation position adjustment actuator that allows the orientation of the display surface to be changed by adjusting the rotation position of the image display device relative to the aircraft body, the overlapping support means being provided to extend in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the image display device, and when the aircraft body is in a landing state, the image display device is parallel to the aircraft body due to the operation of the rotation position adjustment actuator, and the overlapping support means extends upward from the image display device .

This specification allows other unmanned aerial vehicles to be placed on the upper side of the stacking support means of a landing unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicles can be parked in a vertically stacked state. In other words, it becomes possible to park multiple unmanned aerial vehicles in a parking space for one vehicle. This makes it possible to reduce the parking space required when parking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.
Specifically, by operating the rotational position adjustment actuator to make the image display device parallel to the aircraft body, and extending the stacking support means upward from the image display device, another unmanned aircraft can be placed on top of this stacking support means and the unmanned aircraft can be kept waiting in a vertically stacked position.

In addition, the overlapping support means has a contact support point with which the other unmanned aerial vehicle contacts when the other unmanned aerial vehicle is placed, which is located above the upper end position of the main body of the aerial vehicle.

As a result, when another unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on the stacking support means of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the upper unmanned aerial vehicle (the other unmanned aerial vehicle) is supported at a position higher than the upper end position of the main body of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle, thereby preventing interference between the main bodies of the unmanned aerial vehicles and allowing the unmanned aerial vehicles to be stably stacked one on top of the other.

The unmanned aerial vehicle also includes a frame-shaped structure, and the overlapping support means are disposed at multiple locations along the extension direction of the outer edge of the frame, and each overlapping support means is configured to receive a frame-shaped frame provided on the other unmanned aerial vehicle.

This allows the unmanned aerial vehicles that are stacked on top to be supported at multiple locations (multiple stacking support means), resulting in a stable support state. This makes it possible to increase the number of unmanned aerial vehicles that can be stacked.

In addition, at the upper end of the overlapping support means when the aircraft is in the landing state, a V-shaped receiving portion is provided, which is made of a pair of wires that are inclined upward in opposite directions.

When an unmanned aerial vehicle in flight (the other unmanned aerial vehicle) is lowered and placed on the stacking support means of an unmanned aerial vehicle that has already landed, even if the positional accuracy (horizontal positional accuracy) of this unmanned aerial vehicle (the descending unmanned aerial vehicle) is not sufficiently obtained, if a part of the unmanned aerial vehicle (the part to be placed on the stacking support means) fits between the upper ends of a pair of wires in the receiving part (between the upper ends of the V-shape), the unmanned aerial vehicle can be placed on the stacking support means. Therefore, high accuracy is not required for the positional accuracy of the descending unmanned aerial vehicle, and the burden of information processing on the control system when controlling the descent can be reduced.

The stacking support means is equipped with a gripping mechanism that grips the other unmanned aerial vehicle when the other unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on it.

Simply stacking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles makes it difficult to transport these unmanned aerial vehicles simultaneously. For example, it is difficult to simultaneously transport multiple unmanned aerial vehicles onto a truck for transporting to another location. In view of this, the present solution provides the stacking support means with a gripping mechanism, which allows the stacked unmanned aerial vehicles to be integrally connected. This makes it easy to transport multiple unmanned aerial vehicles simultaneously.

In addition, an unmanned aerial vehicle pair consisting of two unmanned aerial vehicles also falls within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. That is, an unmanned aerial vehicle pair consisting of a lower unmanned aerial vehicle and an upper unmanned aerial vehicle, each of which has an aerial vehicle body and rotors, and which are stacked vertically in a landing state, the lower unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a stacking support means that allows the upper unmanned aerial vehicle to be placed thereon in a landing state, the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a placement section that can be placed on the stacking support means, and the lower unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with floodlights at multiple locations that irradiate light vertically upward in a landing state, Assuming that the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is placed above the lower unmanned aerial vehicle without any misalignment, a light detection means capable of detecting light from the spotlight is provided at each position of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle opposite the installation position of each spotlight, and the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a stack control unit that controls the rotation of the rotor of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle so that it descends towards the lower unmanned aerial vehicle while maintaining the state in which each light detection means detects the light from the spotlight .

This also allows the upper unmanned aerial vehicle to be placed on the upper side of the stacking support means of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle (the one that has already landed) and these unmanned aerial vehicles to wait in a stacked state. This makes it possible to reduce the parking space required when parking these unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition, in order to place the upper unmanned aerial vehicle on the upper unmanned aerial vehicle without misalignment, it is necessary to lower the upper unmanned aerial vehicle while recognizing the position of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle. In this solution, a plurality of projectors and light detection means are provided to achieve this. That is, each light detection means provided on the upper unmanned aerial vehicle controls the descent of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle by the stack control unit while maintaining a state in which it detects light from the projector of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle. Since each projector is disposed at a position opposite to the position of each projector when it is assumed that the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on the upper side of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle without misalignment while maintaining the above-mentioned detection state, these unmanned aerial vehicles will be superimposed without misalignment. This allows each unmanned aerial vehicle to be stably superimposed vertically.

In addition, a group of unmanned aerial vehicles consisting of three or more unmanned aerial vehicles also falls within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In other words, the group of unmanned aerial vehicles is provided with an aerial vehicle body and rotors, and flies with the rotation of the rotors, and is provided with a stacking support means that allows other unmanned aerial vehicles to be placed on the stacking support means of the unmanned aerial vehicle located below in a landing state, floodlights that are provided at multiple locations and irradiate light vertically upward in a landing state, light detection means that are provided vertically below each floodlight and can detect the light irradiated from the floodlight of the unmanned aerial vehicle located below, and a stack control unit that controls the rotation of the rotors so that the unmanned aerial vehicle descends toward the unmanned aerial vehicle located below while maintaining a state in which each light detection means detects the light from the floodlight of the unmanned aerial vehicle located below.

With this specification, it is possible to overlap the unmanned aerial vehicles without any misalignment, as in the case described above. In other words, it is possible to overlap each unmanned aerial vehicle without any misalignment even in an unmanned aerial vehicle group consisting of three or more unmanned aerial vehicles.

In the present invention, an unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a stacking support means that allows other unmanned aerial vehicles to be placed on it when in a landing state. This allows the unmanned aerial vehicles to be kept waiting in a vertically stacked state, making it possible to park multiple unmanned aerial vehicles in a parking space for one vehicle. As a result, it is possible to reduce the parking space required when parking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.

A diagram showing the general configuration of an aerial image display system including multiple unmanned aerial vehicles and a management server according to an embodiment. An oblique view showing an example of a flying state of an unmanned aerial vehicle. 2 is an oblique view showing the image display device of the unmanned aerial vehicle in a horizontal position. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the image display device of the unmanned aerial vehicle in a vertical position. FIG. A side view showing a stacked state of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of an unmanned aerial vehicle. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the management server. This is an image diagram showing an example of an aerial image display state by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles. A flowchart showing the procedure for stacking operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle. A diagram to explain the stacking operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle. FIG. 11 is a view equivalent to FIG. 10 in modified example 1. FIG. 4 is a view equivalent to FIG. 2 in a second modified example. FIG. 5 is a view equivalent to FIG. 3 in a second modified example. FIG. 5 is a view equivalent to FIG. 4 in a second modified example. FIG. 10 is a view equivalent to FIG. 6 in a third modified example.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. This embodiment describes an example in which an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the present invention (an unmanned aerial vehicle configured to be able to carry other unmanned aerial vehicles) is equipped with an image display device and is used to display images in the air by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles consisting of multiple other unmanned aerial vehicles.

First, we will explain the configuration of an aerial image display system for displaying images in the air using a group of unmanned aerial vehicles.

<System Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an aerial image display system 10 according to this embodiment.

The aerial image display system 10 is configured as a system including a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (also called drones or autonomous flying robots) 20, 20, ... and a management server 30 that manages these unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ....

Communication between each of these unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... and the management server 30 is possible by wireless communication via multi-carrier base stations such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (fourth generation), and 5G (fifth generation). This communication allows the transmission and reception of various information for controlling the flight state of each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., controlling the image display in the air (controlling the image display on the display surface of the image display device 220 provided on each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ...) and controlling the rotational position of the image display device 220 provided on each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., etc. In this embodiment, each piece of information is transmitted from the management server 30 to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., but the present invention is not limited to this, and the system may be configured so that each piece of information is stored in each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., or a system may be configured so that some of this information is transmitted from the management server 30 to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., and other information is stored in each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ....

- Configuration of unmanned aerial vehicles -
The unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... each have the same configuration. Therefore, one unmanned aerial vehicle 20 will be described here as a representative.

The unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is a multicopter with multiple rotors (rotating wings) 212, 212, ... evenly arranged around the main body 210 of the aerial vehicle. Specifically, it is configured as a quadcopter with four rotors 212, 212, .... The unmanned aerial vehicle may be a hexacopter with six rotors, an optocopter with eight rotors, or another unmanned aerial vehicle. It may also be a small unmanned helicopter with a single rotor. The configuration of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 according to this embodiment is described below.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the flight state of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. In the following explanation, the X direction in Figure 2 will be referred to as the left-right direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, with the X1 direction side in the figure referred to as the left side and the X2 direction side in the figure referred to as the right side. The Y direction in Figure 2 will be referred to as the front-to-rear direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, with the Y1 direction side in the figure referred to as the front side and the Y2 direction side in the figure referred to as the rear side. The Z direction in Figure 2 will be referred to as the up-down direction of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, with the Z1 direction side in the figure referred to as the top side and the Z2 direction side in the figure referred to as the bottom side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 includes an aerial vehicle main body 210, an image display device 220, and a rotation mechanism 230.

The aircraft body 210 is configured in a frame shape in which four frame members 210a, 210b, 210c, and 210d are connected in a rectangular shape in a plan view. Of the four frame members 210a, 210b, 210c, and 210d, the one located on the front side (Y1 direction side) of the unmanned aircraft 20 and extending in the left-right direction (X direction) is the front frame member 210a, and the one located on the rear side (Y2 direction side) of the unmanned aircraft 20 and extending in the left-right direction (X direction) is the rear frame member 210b. In addition, the one located on the left side (X1 direction side) of the unmanned aircraft 20 and extending in the front-back direction (Y direction) is the left frame member 210c, and the one located on the right side (X2 direction side) of the unmanned aircraft 20 and extending in the front-back direction (Y direction) is the right frame member 210d.

At the connection parts (at each corner of the aircraft body 210) between each of the frame members 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, motors 211, 211, ... having a rotating shaft that can rotate around a vertical axis are provided, and rotors 212, 212, ... are attached to the rotating shafts of these motors 211, 211, .... The rotors 212, 212 adjacent to each other via the frame members 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d can rotate in opposite directions. As a result, lift is generated by the rotors 212, 212, ... rotating in response to the operation of the motors 211, 211, ..., enabling the unmanned aircraft 20 to fly. In addition, the rotation speed of each motor 211, 211, ... can be individually controlled to move the unmanned aircraft 20 horizontally and change its attitude.

The image display device 220 is rotatably attached to the aircraft body 210 via a rotation mechanism 230. In the following description, the H direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as the first direction of the image display device 220, the H1 direction side in the figure is referred to as the left side, and the H2 direction side in the figure is referred to as the right side. The L direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as the second direction of the image display device 220, the L1 direction side in the figure is referred to as the base end side, and the L2 direction side in the figure is referred to as the tip end side.

The image display device 220 includes a device frame 221 and a plurality of display devices (self-luminous display devices) 222, 222, ... (only some of the display devices 222, 222, ... are shown in FIG. 2).

The device frame 221 includes an outer frame 223, a plurality of vertical frames 224, 224, ..., and link frames 225L, 225R. The outer frame 223 is configured in a frame shape in which four frame members 223a, 223b, 223c, 223d are connected in a rectangular shape. Of the four frame members 223a, 223b, 223c, 223d, the one located on the base end side (L1 direction side) of the image display device 220 and extending in the first direction (H direction) is the first frame member 223a, and the one located on the tip end side (L2 direction side) of the image display device 220 and extending in the first direction (H direction) is the second frame member 223b. Moreover, the third frame member 223c is located on the left side (H1 direction side) of the image display device 220 and extends in the second direction (L direction), and the fourth frame member 223d is located on the right side (H2 direction side) of the image display device 220 and extends in the second direction (L direction). The dimensions of the first direction (H direction) and the second direction (L direction) of this outer frame 223 are set to be approximately the same. For example, they are set to 3000 mm. This value is not limited to this. The dimension of the image display device 220 in the first direction (H direction) is set to be longer than the dimension of the aircraft body 210 in the left-right direction (X direction) by a predetermined dimension, and the dimension of the image display device 220 in the second direction (L direction) is set to be longer than the dimension of the aircraft body 210 in the front-rear direction (Y direction) by a predetermined dimension. In other words, the outer shape of the image display device 220 is set to be larger than the outer shape of the aircraft body 210. This configuration allows even an unmanned aerial vehicle 20 having a small aerial vehicle body 210 to be equipped with a large image display device 220, and when multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... are used to display images in the air, it is possible to reduce the gaps between the image display devices 220, 220, ... while avoiding interference (contact) between the aerial vehicle bodies 210, 210, ... of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... The outer frame 223 may have dimensions in the first direction (H direction) and the second direction (L direction) that are different from each other.

Seven of the vertical frames 224, 224, ... are installed at a predetermined interval in the first direction (H direction) between the first frame member 223a and the second frame member 223b. These vertical frames 224, 224, ... function as fixing parts for the display devices 222, 222, ... described below. The number of vertical frames 224 is not limited to this, and is set appropriately depending on the strength required for the image display device 220 and the number of display devices 222, 222, ... to be attached.

The link frames 225L, 225R are the connecting parts of the link mechanisms 232L, 232R described later, and include a left link frame 225L located on the left side (H1 direction side) and a right link frame 225R located on the right side (H2 direction side). The left link frame 225L has a first part 225La extending along the second direction (L direction), and second parts 225Lb, 225Lb extending from both ends (both ends in the L direction) of the first part 225La to the left side (H1 direction side) and connected to the third frame member 223c. Similarly, the right link frame 225R has a first part 225Ra extending along the second direction (L direction), and second parts 225Rb, 225Rb extending from both ends (both ends in the L direction) of the first part 225Ra to the right side (H2 direction side) and connected to the fourth frame member 223d.

Each display device 222, 222, ... is attached to each vertical frame 224, 224, ... and is arranged in a matrix with seven display devices arranged in each of the first direction (H direction) and the second direction (L direction). In other words, the image display device 220 is provided with a total of 49 display devices 222, 222, .... The number of display devices 222 is not limited to this and can be set arbitrarily. In addition, the number of display devices arranged in the first direction (H direction) and the number of display devices arranged in the second direction (L direction) may be different from each other.

The display devices 222, 222, ... are also positioned so that there is a predetermined gap between adjacent display devices 222, 222. This is to allow wind (air) to pass between the display devices 222, 222 while the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is flying, and to allow wind (wind for generating lift) from the rotors 212, 212, ... to pass when the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is ascending (ascending in the state shown in FIG. 3).

Each display device 222 includes a display panel equipped with multiple LED elements (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as LEDs) not shown, a circuit board that controls the light emission of each LED element, and the like. In other words, each display device 222, 222, ... is configured to display an image according to image information (image information to be displayed on the display panel) transmitted from the management server 30 and received by the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. In this embodiment, high-brightness LEDs are used as the LEDs, and the displayed image can be viewed (e.g., from the ground) not only at night but also during the day. In addition, the brightness may be changed according to the surrounding brightness. It is also possible to use organic EL (organic electro-luminescence) instead of LEDs.

The pivot mechanism 230 pivotally attaches the image display device 220 to the aircraft body 210, and includes two pivot arms 231L, 231R and a pair of link mechanisms 232L, 232R that connect the image display device 220 to the aircraft body 210.

Each of the pivot arms 231L, 231R connects the first frame member 223a of the image display device 220 to the front frame member 210a of the aircraft body 210. Servo motors (rotation position adjustment actuators in this invention) 233L, 233R are built into the connection parts of the pivot arms 231L, 231R with the front frame member 210a, and the image display device 220 can be rotated with respect to the aircraft body 210 by operating the servo motors 233L, 233R to rotate the pivot arms 231L, 231R relative to the front frame member 210a. For example, the stators of the servo motors 233L, 233R are connected to the front frame member 210a, and the rotors are connected to the pivot arms 231L, 231R, respectively. In addition, by adjusting the rotational positions of the servo motors 233L and 233R, it is possible to set the rotational position of the image display device 220 relative to the aircraft body 210 (the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 relative to the aircraft body 210) to any position.

Each link mechanism 232L, 232R is composed of a left link mechanism 232L and a right link mechanism 232R. The left link mechanism 232L is composed of a first link 232La, one end of which is rotatably connected to the left frame material 210c of the aircraft body 210, and a second link 232Lb, one end of which is rotatably connected to the first part 225La of the frame 225L for the left link of the image display device 220, and the other ends of these links are connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other. Similarly, the right link mechanism 232R is composed of a first link 232Ra, one end of which is rotatably connected to the right frame material 210d of the aircraft body 210, and a second link 232Rb, one end of which is rotatably connected to the first part 225Ra of the frame 225R for the right link of the image display device 220, and the other ends of these links are connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other. When the image display device 220 rotates relative to the aircraft body 210 by the operation of the servo motors 233L and 233R, the first link 232La (232Ra) and the second link 232Lb (232Rb) of each link mechanism 232L and 232R rotate relatively to stabilize the rotational movement of the image display device 220. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the image display device 220 rotates relative to the aircraft body 210 and assumes a horizontal position. In this case, the image display device 220 is located below the aircraft body 210, and the extension direction of the image display device 220 and the extension direction of the aircraft body 210 are parallel to each other, and the angle formed by the extension direction of the first link 232La (232Ra) and the extension direction of the second link 232Lb (232Rb) of each link mechanism 232L and 232R is the smallest. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the image display device 220 has rotated relative to the aircraft body 210 and is in a vertical position. In this case, the extension direction of the image display device 220 and the extension direction of the aircraft body 210 are perpendicular to each other, and the extension direction of the first link 232La (232Ra) and the extension direction of the second link 232Lb (232Rb) of each link mechanism 232L, 232R are on the same straight line.

As described above, the aerial image display system 10 according to this embodiment displays images in the air using a group of unmanned aerial vehicles consisting of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, .... For this reason, a parking space is required to land (standby) the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... before the start of a flight or after the end of a flight. In the conventional technology, each unmanned aerial vehicle was parked in a state where it had landed on the ground. For this reason, a parking space equivalent to the size of the unmanned aerial vehicle in a plan view was required for each unmanned aerial vehicle. In other words, as the number of unmanned aerial vehicles increases, a parking space large enough to accommodate the number of unmanned aerial vehicles is required. For example, when parking dozens or more unmanned aerial vehicles, a vast parking space is required, which poses a major problem in terms of practicality.

In this embodiment, a stack structure is provided that makes it possible to reduce the parking space required when parking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ....

This stack structure is a structure for stacking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... one above the other and waiting. Figure 5 is a side view showing the stacked state of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, .... In the stacked state as shown in Figure 5, the image display device 220 rotates relative to the aircraft body 210 and assumes a horizontal position (the position shown in Figure 3), and in this state the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... are stacked one above the other. This stack structure is described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stack structure includes multiple receiving platforms (stacking support means) 226, 226, ... and near-infrared cameras (light detection means) 227, 227, ... provided on the outer frame 223 of the image display device 220.

The receiving stands 226, 226, ... are arranged in the middle of the longitudinal direction of each of the frame members 223a to 223d of the outer frame 223 so as to protrude in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (upward when the image display device 220 is in a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3: upward perpendicular to each of the first direction H and the second direction L). Each receiving stand 226, 226, ... has a pillar portion 226a extending vertically in the state shown in FIG. 3, and a receiving portion 226b provided on the upper part of the pillar portion 226a.

The height dimension of the pillar portion 226a is set so that the upper end position of the pillar portion 226a is located above the upper end position of the aircraft body 210 in the state shown in FIG. 3 (when the image display device 220 is in a horizontal position).

The receiving portion 226b is configured in a V-shape by a pair of wires 226c, 226c that are inclined in opposite directions toward the top in the state shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, the wires 226c, 226c of the receiving tables 226, 226 provided on the first frame member 223a and the second frame member 223b are inclined in opposite directions toward the top in the second direction (L direction). Also, the wires 226c, 226c of the receiving tables 226, 226 provided on the third frame member 223c and the fourth frame member 223d are inclined in opposite directions toward the top in the first direction (H direction).

Also, an LED (projector) 226d that emits near-infrared rays upward is provided at the connection between the pillar 226a and the receiving part 226b (the bottom of the receiving part 226b). Specifically, the LED 226d is housed in a recess provided in the center of the receiving part 226b. The arrangement of the LED 226d is not limited to this, and it may be arranged so as to protrude from the center of the receiving part 226b.

On the other hand, the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... are disposed in the middle of the longitudinal direction of each of the frame members 223a to 223d of the outer frame 223, facing in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (facing downward when the image display device 220 is in a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3). In other words, they are disposed so as to detect near-infrared rays from below. Specifically, the near-infrared camera 227 is housed in a recess provided on the underside of each of the frame members 223a to 223d. The arrangement of the near-infrared camera 227 is not limited to this, and it may be disposed so as to protrude from the underside of each of the frame members 223a to 223d. In this way, the position of the receiving platform 226 and the position of the near-infrared camera 227 are the same in each frame member 223a to 223d, the receiving platform 226 has the function of receiving the outer frame 223 of another unmanned aerial vehicle 20 descending from above and the function of emitting near-infrared rays upward, and the near-infrared camera 227 has the function of detecting near-infrared rays below. This corresponds to the configuration referred to in the present invention in which "light detection means capable of detecting light from a projector are provided at each position of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle facing the position of each projector when it is assumed that the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is placed above the lower unmanned aerial vehicle without any misalignment."

Therefore, when the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight lands above the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 already parked at the parking area and the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 are superimposed on each other, the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight detect the near-infrared rays emitted from the LEDs 226d, 226d, ... of the parked unmanned aerial vehicle 20, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is descended while maintaining the state in which all the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... detect the near-infrared rays, thereby making it possible to superimpose the descending unmanned aerial vehicle 20 on the parked unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (superimposing without positional misalignment in a plan view). In other words, the outer frame 223 (the mounting portion in this invention) of the image display device 220 of the descending unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is received by the receiving portion 226b of the receiving stand 226 of the parked unmanned aerial vehicle 20, making it possible to superimpose them. In this way, by descending the unmanned aerial vehicles 20 one after the other so that they overlap, it is possible to stack multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... one on top of the other, as shown in Figure 5, making it possible to reduce the area required for a parking area.

- Unmanned aerial vehicle control system -
Next, a control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 will be described. The control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 described below is one example, and the control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 according to the present invention is not limited to the following. The unmanned aerial vehicle 20 receives information related to the flight path, information for image display, and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 from the management server 30, and is controlled to fly along a predetermined flight path, and the image display on the image display device 220 and the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 are controlled.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, the control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 includes a position and attitude sensor 21, a communication unit 22, a memory unit 23, and a control unit 24.

(position and orientation sensor)
The position/attitude sensor 21 is a sensor for acquiring the current position and attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. The position/attitude sensor 21 includes, for example, a receiver for receiving radio waves (navigation signals) transmitted from navigation satellites (artificial satellites) such as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), an acceleration sensor for measuring acceleration, an electronic compass for measuring orientation, and a gyro sensor for measuring angular velocity. Specifically, in the position/attitude sensor 21, the receiver receives navigation signals transmitted from a plurality of navigation satellites and outputs them to the control unit 24, and also outputs measurement signals by the electronic compass and the gyro sensor to the control unit 24. Based on these signals, the control unit 24 calculates the current position and attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. In particular, in this embodiment, positioning is performed by RTK (Real Time Kinematic) to improve the detection accuracy of the current position of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. Note that, as a means for acquiring information for obtaining the current position and attitude, a laser scanner and an air pressure sensor may be used instead of the receiver.

(Communications Department)
The communication unit 22 is a communication module for communicating with the management server 30. As described above, information related to the flight path, information for image display, and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 are transmitted from the management server 30, and the communication unit 22 receives this information and outputs it to the control unit 24. In addition, the communication unit 22 outputs each piece of information on the current position and attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 calculated as described above to the management server 30.

(Memory unit)
The storage unit 23 is an information storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD). The storage unit 23 stores various programs and various data, and inputs and outputs the information between the storage unit 23 and the control unit 24. The various data includes information used in each process of the control unit 24, such as position and attitude information, route information, etc.

The position and attitude information is a history of the current position and attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 acquired by the position and attitude sensor 21, which is cyclically stored at predetermined time intervals. The route information is information received from the management server 30 and stored in the memory unit 23, and is information regarding the flight route along which the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is planned to move. Specifically, it is information that associates a coordinate sequence (x, y, z) on the flight route with the time, speed, and acceleration at each position (coordinate).

(Control Unit)
The control unit 24 is a computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and reads out programs and data from the storage unit 23. The control unit 24 includes a position and attitude calculation unit 241, a flight control unit 242, an image display control unit 243, a rotation position control unit 244, and a stack control unit 245 as functional units in accordance with the programs.

The position/attitude calculation unit 241 calculates the current position and attitude of the unmanned flying object 20 in the flight space from the output of the position/attitude sensor 21, and stores it as position/attitude information. In addition, the position/attitude calculation unit 241, for example, calculates the latitude, longitude, and altitude from the navigation signal output from the position/attitude sensor 21, and converts it to a position in the coordinate system of the flight space using a conversion rule stored in advance. Furthermore, the position/attitude calculation unit 241 calculates the current attitude in the coordinate system of the flight space from the measurement signals of the acceleration sensor and gyro sensor output from the position/attitude sensor 21. Note that the position/attitude calculation unit 241 may calculate the direction in the coordinate system of the flight space from the measurement signal of the electronic compass output from the position/attitude sensor 21, and calculate the current attitude using further measurement signals from other sensors. Note that the position/attitude calculation unit 241 transmits the current position to the management server 30 via the communication unit 22 each time it calculates the current position.

The flight control unit 242 refers to the route information (information related to the flight route received from the management server 30) and the position/attitude information, and controls the rotational speed of each motor 211, 211, ... so that the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 moves following the flight route described in the route information. Specifically, the flight control unit 242 controls the rotational speed of each motor 211, 211, ... so that the error between the position (coordinates) at the current time described in the route information and the current position described in the position/attitude information is reduced. In addition, the flight control unit 242 calculates the current speed and acceleration of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 based on the position/attitude information, and controls the rotational speed of each motor 211, 211, ... so that the error between these values and the speed and acceleration at the current time described in the route information is reduced.

The image display control unit 243 controls the image display on the display surface of the image display device 220 according to the image information received by the communication unit 22 from the management server 30. In other words, the management server 30 manages images corresponding to the position and time of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 for each of the display devices 222, 222, ... of the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., and transmits information relating the position and time to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... The image display control unit 243 then controls the image display so that images synchronized based on the accurate PPS (Pulse Per Second) signal of the GNSS are displayed on each of the display devices 222, 222, ... of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ....

The rotation position control unit 244 operates the servo motors 233L, 233R to control the rotation position of the image display device 220 according to information on the rotation position of the image display device 220 corresponding to the flight position received by the communication unit 22 from the management server 30. In other words, the management server 30 is aware of the flight position of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... during flight, calculates the rotation position of the image display device 220 that provides the highest visibility from the ground at this flight position, and transmits this rotation position information from the communication unit 31 to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... For example, when each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... is flying at a position where the elevation angle is 45° as seen by people (spectators) on the ground at an event, information (rotation position information) for controlling the rotational position of the image display device 220 so that the display surface of the image display device 220 is facing 45° downward from the horizontal as shown in Figure 2 is transmitted to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., and the rotational position control unit 244 in each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... operates the servo motors 233L, 233R in accordance with the received rotational position information to control the rotational position of the image display device 220. In addition, when each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... is flying at a relatively low position relatively far from people on the ground, information for controlling the rotational position of the image display device 220 so that the display surface of the image display device 220 is vertical as shown in Figure 4 is transmitted to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., and the rotational position control unit 244 in each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... operates the servo motors 233L, 233R in accordance with the received rotational position information to control the rotational position of the image display device 220.

The stack control unit 245 controls the flight state of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight when the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight lands above the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 already parked at the parking area and the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 are superimposed on each other. The near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... are connected to this stack control unit 245 by signal lines, and detection signals of near-infrared rays (near-infrared rays irradiated from the LED 226d of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20) on the lower side are input from each near-infrared camera 227, 227, .... The stack control unit 245 controls each motor 211, 211, ... to descend the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 while maintaining a state in which it has received near-infrared detection signals from all the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ..., thereby making it possible to superimpose the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 on the parked unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (superimposing them without positional misalignment in a plan view).

- Management server control system -
Next, the control system of the management server 30 will be described. The control system of the management server 30 described below is an example, and the control system of the management server 30 according to the present invention is not limited to the following. The management server 30 determines the target position to which each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... flies, and obtains a flight path from the current position to the target position based on the information of the current position received from each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ..., and transmits the information of the flight path to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, .... In addition, as described above, the management server 30 also transmits information for image display and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, .... FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the control system of the management server 30. As shown in FIG. 7, the control system of the management server 30 includes a communication unit 31, a memory unit 32, and a control unit 33.

(Communications Department)
The communication unit 31 is a communication module for communicating with the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. This communication unit 31 transmits information related to the flight path, information for image display, and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ...

(Memory unit)
The storage unit 32 is an information storage device such as a HDD. The storage unit 32 stores various programs and various data, and inputs and outputs the information between the storage unit 32 and the control unit 33. The various data include information used for each process of the control unit 33, such as position information, spatial information, aircraft information, route information, image information, and rotation position information.

The location information is information that indicates the current location and target location of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. When information on the current location is received from the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, it is stored in association with the identifier (aircraft ID) of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. In addition, when a target location for a certain unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is set, the target location is stored in association with the aircraft ID of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20.

The spatial information is information that represents the three-dimensional structure of the flight space. In this embodiment, the spatial information is information that represents the structure of obstacles in the flight space by dividing the flight space into multiple voxels (unit spaces) as a voxel space. The spatial information is set and stored in advance by the system administrator.

The aircraft information is information indicating the characteristics (performance) of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... The aircraft information is set and stored in advance by the system administrator. Specifically, the aircraft information is information that associates the aircraft ID of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... with characteristic values (aircraft weight, size, maximum speed, maximum acceleration, and maximum jerk).

The route information is information about the flight path of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... Specifically, the route information is stored in association with the aircraft ID of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, coordinate values (x, y, z) on the route, and values of the passing time, speed, acceleration, jerk, and amount of change in jerk at those coordinate values.

The image information is information about the image to be displayed on each display device 222, 222, ... mounted on each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., and is information associated with the position and time of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ....

The rotational position information is information for controlling the rotational position of the image display device 220 in each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., and is information that associates the position and attitude of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... with the rotational angle position of the servo motors 233L, 233R.

(Control Unit)
The control unit 33 is a computer equipped with a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and reads out programs and data from the storage unit 32. The control unit 33 is equipped with a target position setting unit 331, a path calculation unit 332, an image information extraction unit 333, and a rotation position calculation unit 334 as functional units in accordance with the programs.

The target position setting unit 331 sets the target position of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... and stores it in the memory unit 32 as position information in association with the vehicle ID. For example, when an image is displayed while moving through the air, the target position is set so that the flight position becomes a specified target position at a predetermined time.

The route calculation unit 332 performs an individual route calculation process that calculates a flight route from the current position of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... to the target position, and stores the calculated route as route information in the memory unit 32. This stored route information is transmitted from the communication unit 31 to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ..., and the flight of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... is controlled (controlled by the flight control unit 242) in accordance with this information.

The image information extraction unit 333 extracts from the memory unit 32 image information to be displayed on the image display device 220 of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... from the multiple image information stored in the memory unit 32, and transmits the image information to the communication unit 31. The communication unit 31 transmits this image information to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ....

The rotational position calculation unit 334 extracts from the memory unit 32 rotational position information corresponding to the position and attitude of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... from the multiple rotational position information (information on the rotational position of the image display device 220) stored in the memory unit 32, and transmits it to the communication unit 31. The communication unit 31 transmits this rotational position information to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ....

<Aerial image display operation>
Next, the aerial image display operation by the aerial image display system 10 composed of a group of unmanned aerial vehicles, which is a collection of unmanned aerial vehicles 20 configured as described above, and a management server 30 will be described.

First, when multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... are waiting (parked) at an aircraft apron, the stack structure described above is used to stack the multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... vertically. For example, when 60 unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... are waiting, if six are stacked in a group, there will be 10 groups of stacked unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... at the aircraft apron.

When a flight instruction signal is transmitted from the management server 30, this signal is received by the communication unit 22 of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... When each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... receives this flight instruction signal, lift is generated as the rotor 212 rotates with the operation of the motor 211, and the stacked unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... begin flying (ascending) in order from the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 located at the top.

Each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... in flight receives information on the flight path transmitted from the management server 30. Then, according to the information on the flight path, the flight control unit 242 controls the rotation speed of each motor 211, and each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... stops (hover) at a predetermined flight position. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... flies with the image display devices 220, 220, ... adjacent to each other (each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... is lined up in the horizontal and vertical directions), information for image display and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 are transmitted from the management server 30 to each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... Each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... performs image display control to display images on each display device 222, 222, ... according to this information, and operates servo motors 233L, 233R to control the rotational position of the image display device 220. As a result, images are displayed on each display surface with the display surfaces of the image display devices 220, 220, ... of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... flying in coordinated control next to each other, resulting in a series of images being displayed across these multiple display surfaces (see Figure 8). This makes it possible to display large images in the air, and highly visible images are displayed in the air.

<Stack operation>
Next, a stacking operation using the above-mentioned stack structure will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 9 and the stacking operation explanatory diagram of Fig. 10. This stacking operation is an operation for placing the equipment frame 221 (more specifically, the outer frame 223) of another unmanned aerial vehicle (unmanned aerial vehicle in flight) 20 on the upper side of each of the cradles 226, 226, ... of an unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that has already landed.

First, in step ST1, when the aerial image display operation is completed and return route information to the parking space is input from the management server 30, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 flies toward a predetermined return position in the parking space (a position above the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that has already landed), and in step ST2, hovers above this return position. FIG. 10(a) shows an example of the positional relationship between the outer frame 223 and near-infrared camera 227 of the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in this hovering state, and the pedestal 226 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that has already landed. In this state, in step ST3, it is determined whether all the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... have detected near-infrared rays. This determination is made by determining whether near-infrared detection signals are transmitted from all the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... to the stack control unit 245. When an unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight is located directly above an unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that has already landed and their positions in the direction of rotation around the vertical axis are the same, all of the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... will detect near-infrared rays.

When all of the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... have detected near-infrared rays, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight is deemed to be in a position where it can overlap with the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 below (the unmanned aerial vehicle that has already landed) (it is in a position where it can be placed without any misalignment), and descent control to descend the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is started in step ST4.

On the other hand, if at least some of the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... are unable to detect near-infrared rays, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight is not in a position where it can overlap with the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 below, so a NO judgment is made in step ST3 and the process moves to step ST5. Figure 10(b) shows an example of the positional relationship between the outer frame 223 and near-infrared camera 227 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight and the pedestal 226 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that has already landed in this case. In the state shown in Figure 10(b), the outer frame 223 and near-infrared camera 227 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in flight are shifted to the left, so the near-infrared camera 227 is unable to detect near-infrared rays.

In step ST5, each motor 211, 211, ... is controlled to correct the horizontal position of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 moves horizontally and rotates about its vertical axis. This operation continues until a YES judgment is made in step ST3 (until all near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... detect near-infrared rays; for example, until the state shown in Figure 10 (a) is reached).

When descent control (ST4) is initiated with all near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... detecting near-infrared rays, in step ST6 it is determined whether the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 has been placed on the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (whether the outer frame 223 has been placed on the support pedestal 226). This determination can be made using a means for measuring the distance between the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, or a switch that is pressed in when the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 come into contact with each other.

If the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 has not yet been placed on the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 and a NO judgment is made in step ST6, the process returns to step ST3 and the operations of steps ST3 to ST6 described above are repeated.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10(c), when the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is placed on the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 and a YES judgment is made in step ST6, the stacking operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is completed. If a stacking operation is subsequently performed on another unmanned aerial vehicle 20, the above-described operation is repeated for this unmanned aerial vehicle 20.

As mentioned above, the wires 226c, 226c of the receiving portion 226b are inclined in opposite directions toward the top. Therefore, even if the positional accuracy (horizontal positional accuracy) of the descending unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is not sufficiently obtained as shown in FIG. 10(d), if the outer frame 223 fits between the upper ends of the pair of wires 226c, 226c of the receiving portion 226b (between the upper ends of the V-shape), the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 can be placed without misalignment by the guide (guide by the inclined surface) of the wires 226c (see the arrow in FIG. 10(d)). Therefore, high accuracy is not required for the positional accuracy of the descending unmanned aerial vehicle 20, and the burden of information processing on the control system when controlling the descent can be reduced.

In the above description, information for image display is received from the management server 30, and the image is displayed on the image display device 220. However, it is also possible to transmit an image (such as a photograph or a hand-drawn picture) on the screen of a smartphone, tablet terminal, or the like on the ground to the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, and display the image on the image display device 220.

Effects of the embodiment
As described above, in this embodiment, the platform 226 is provided on which another unmanned aerial vehicle (descending unmanned aerial vehicle) 20 can be placed in the landing state. Therefore, the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 can be kept waiting in a vertically stacked state, and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... can be parked in a parking space for one vehicle. As a result, the parking space required when parking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... can be reduced.

In addition, in this embodiment, the near-infrared cameras 227, 227, ... mounted on the upper unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (in flight) maintain a state of detecting near-infrared rays from the LED 226d of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (that has already landed), while the stack control unit 245 controls the descent of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. This makes it possible to overlap the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 without misalignment, and allows the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 to be stably overlapped one above the other.

In addition, in this embodiment, the support point of the receiving portion 226b of the receiving platform 226, which the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 contacts when the upper unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is placed on the receiving platform 226, is located above the upper end position of the aerial vehicle body (its own aerial vehicle body) 210. This makes it possible to suppress interference between the aerial vehicle bodies 210, 210 of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, and makes it possible to stably stack each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20 one on top of the other.

<Modification 1>
Next, a first modified example will be described. In this modified example, the configuration of the receiving stand 226 is different from that of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the configuration of the receiving stand 226 will be mainly described here.

Figure 11 is a diagram for explaining the stacking operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in this modified example. As shown in this Figure 11 (a), in the receiving platform 226 in this example, each wire 226c, 226c is freely rotatable around a horizontal axis with respect to the column portion 226a. In addition, each wire 226c, 226c in this embodiment has an inclined portion 226e, 226e that inclines in opposite directions toward the top in the state shown in Figure 11 (a), and a vertical portion 226f, 226f that extends vertically from the upper end of the inclined portion 226e, 226e. In addition, a rotating shaft of a motor (not shown) is connected to the rotating shaft of each wire 226c, 226c, and the wires 226c, 226c rotate in opposite directions with the rotation of the rotating shaft of the motor to perform opening and closing operations (see the arrow in Figure 11 (a)). This constitutes the gripping mechanism referred to in the present invention (a gripping mechanism that grips another unmanned aerial vehicle when the other unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on it).

In the stacking operation in this example, as shown in FIG. 11(b), when the flying unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is placed on the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 (the outer frame 223 is placed on the receiving platform 226), the motor is activated and the wires 226c, 226c rotate in a direction approaching each other. As a result, the receiving platform 226 of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is in a state of gripping the upper unmanned aerial vehicle 20.

The effects of this example will be described. Simply stacking multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... makes it difficult to transport these unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... simultaneously. For example, it is difficult to simultaneously transport multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... onto a truck for transport to another location. In contrast, with the configuration of this example, the stacked unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 can be connected together as a unit by rotating each of the wires 226c, 226c, making it easy to transport multiple unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20 simultaneously.

<Modification 2>
Next, a description will be given of Modification 2. In this modification, the configuration of the image display device 220 differs from that of the embodiment described above. Therefore, the differences from the embodiment described above will be mainly described here.

Figure 12 is a view equivalent to Figure 2 for this modified example. Figure 13 is a view equivalent to Figure 3 for this modified example. Figure 14 is a view equivalent to Figure 4 for this modified example. As shown in these figures, the image display device 220 in the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 of this modified example is equipped with a transmissive screen 228 and an image projection device (projector) 229.

The translucent screen 228 is made of a mesh material (mesh screen; so-called amid screen) in which multiple wires (resin or metal wires) are arranged in a lattice pattern, and is attached to the frame-shaped device frame 221 of the image display device 220. The device frame 221 in this example does not include the vertical frame 224. A transparent screen made of transparent resin may be used as the translucent screen 228. The image display device 220 equipped with this translucent screen 228 is rotatably attached to the aircraft body 210 via a rotation mechanism 230, similar to the embodiment described above.

The image projection device 229 is for projecting an image from the rear side of the translucent screen 228, and is supported by the device frame 221 of the image display device 220 to project an image toward the rear of the translucent screen 228. Therefore, even if the image projection device 229 rotates due to the operation of the rotation mechanism 230 (operation of the servo motors 233L and 233R) and the translucent screen 228 also rotates relative to the flying object main body 210, the positional relationship between the translucent screen 228 and the image projection device 229 remains unchanged, and the image projection device 229 can project an image toward the rear of the translucent screen 228. In this embodiment, the image projection device 229 is supported by the receiving base 226, but the support structure of the image projection device 229 is not limited to this, and the image projection device 229 may be supported by the device frame 221 of the image display device 220 by multiple arms (not shown). In addition, instead of the image projection device 229, the device that projects an image onto the transmissive screen 228 may be a device that displays a color image on the transmissive screen 228 by scanning an RGB laser beam.

The unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in this example also has a stack structure similar to that of the previously described embodiment. In other words, it is configured with a plurality of receiving platforms (stacking support means) 226, 226, ... and near-infrared cameras (light detection means) 227, 227, ... provided on the outer frame 223 of the image display device 220. These configurations and stacking operations are the same as those in the previously described embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted here. Also, the configuration of the receiving platform 226 can be that of the previously described variant 1.

The rest of the configuration is similar to that of the previously described embodiment.

The control operation of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... during the aerial image display operation in the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 according to this embodiment is the same as in the previously described embodiment. That is, information related to the flight path, information for image display, and information for controlling the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 are received from the management server 30, and the unmanned aerial vehicle is controlled to fly along a predetermined flight path, while the image display on the image display device 220 and the rotational attitude of the image display device 220 are controlled. Then, when displaying an image, an image projected from the image projection device 229 toward the back surface of the translucent screen 228 is displayed on the display surface of the translucent screen 228, and an image is displayed in the air.

In addition, because the transparent screen 228 is a mesh screen, wind (air) can pass through, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is less affected by wind during flight. As flight becomes more stable, the image displayed in the air can be stabilized (reducing shaking of the image in the air), and the image can be displayed in the air with high visibility.

In addition, in this example, it is possible to display a single image projected from the image projection device 229 on the entire display surface of the image display device 220. Therefore, compared to a case in which the display surface is divided into multiple regions and images displayed individually in each region are synchronized, the processing load for this image synchronization can be eliminated, the control for image display can be simplified, and the load on the control system can be reduced.

<Modification 3>
Next, a description will be given of Modification 3. In this modification, the configuration of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is different from that of the embodiment described above. Therefore, the differences from the embodiment described above will be mainly described here.

Figure 15 is a diagram equivalent to Figure 6 in this modified example (a block diagram showing the control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20). The unmanned aerial vehicle 20 according to this embodiment is provided with an image information storage unit 23a and a rotational position information storage unit 23b in the storage unit 23. The image information storage unit 23a stores information on the image to be displayed on the image display device 220 in advance. The rotational position information storage unit 23b stores information on the rotational position of the image display device 220 according to the flight position and flight attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 in advance.

In the aerial image display operation, the image display control unit 243 reads image information from the image information storage unit 23a and controls the image display on the display surface of the image display device 220. The configuration for performing this image display may be that of the above embodiment or that of the above modification example 2. In addition, the rotation position control unit 244 reads information on the rotation position of the image display device 220 corresponding to the current flight position and flight attitude of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 from the rotation position information storage unit 23b, and operates the servo motors 233L and 233R to control the rotation position of the image display device 220.

In this manner, when each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ... stores image information and controls the image display on the display surface of each image display device 220, 220, ..., the image display control unit 243 performs image display control so that images synchronized based on the accurate PPS signal of the GNSS are displayed on each display device 222, 222, ... of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, ....

For this reason, in this modified example, no transmission or reception of image information or rotational position information is performed between the management server 30 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20. This makes it possible to simplify the overall system configuration for displaying images in the air. In addition, the amount of information communicated between the management server 30 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 can be reduced, making it possible to stabilize communication. In other words, when only information related to the flight path is communicated between the management server 30 and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20, for example, it is possible to stabilize the communication of information.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and each of the modifications, and all modifications and applications encompassed within the scope of the claims and equivalents thereto are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment and each of the above modified examples, a V-shaped receiving portion 226b is provided at the upper end of the receiving platform 226, allowing the upper unmanned aerial vehicle 20 to be placed thereon. The present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to adopt a U-shaped or arc-shaped receiving portion that is open at the top. In other words, various configurations can be adopted as a configuration allowing the upper unmanned aerial vehicle 20 to be placed thereon.

In addition, in the above embodiment and each of the above modified examples, all of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... constituting the unmanned aerial vehicle pair or group of unmanned aerial vehicles have the same configuration. In other words, all of the unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... are equipped with a cradle 226 and a near-infrared camera 227. The present invention is not limited to this, and a set of unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... that are superimposed on each other may be specified in advance, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 located at the bottom and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 located at the top of the set of unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, ... may be specified in advance (by identifying them by aircraft ID, etc.), and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 located at the bottom may not be equipped with a near-infrared camera 227, and the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 located at the top may not be equipped with a cradle 226.

In addition, in the above embodiment and each of the above modified examples, the present invention has been described as being applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle 20 that is equipped with an image display device 220 and displays images in the air. The present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to unmanned aerial vehicles 20 used for other purposes (e.g., ground observation, cargo transportation, pesticide spraying, etc.).

In addition, in the above embodiment and each of the above modified examples, a series of images are displayed in the air by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles consisting of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, .... The present invention is not limited to this, and images may be displayed in the air by only one unmanned aerial vehicle 20.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the multiple display devices 222, 222, ... are arranged inside the outer frame 223, but the display devices 222, 222, ... may also be arranged outside the outer frame 223. This makes it possible to reduce the gap between the display devices 222, 222 of adjacent unmanned aerial vehicles 20, 20, and display clearer images in the air.

The image display device 220 of the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 may not be equipped with the display device 222 in the above-mentioned embodiment or the image projection device 229 in the above-mentioned modified example, but may be equipped with only a screen (e.g., a reflective screen, etc.), and a scanning laser illuminator (image illuminator) may be installed on the ground, and an image may be displayed in the air by projecting an image from this scanning laser illuminator onto the screen of each image display device 220, 220, ... of each unmanned aerial vehicle 20, 20, .... One example of a usage form of such an aerial image display system 10 is to project an image (such as a photograph or a handwritten picture) on the screen of a smartphone or tablet terminal on the ground from the scanning laser illuminator onto a group of unmanned aerial vehicles, thereby displaying an enlarged image in the air.

The present invention can be applied to unmanned aerial vehicles that can be placed on standby in a stacked state.

20 Unmanned aerial vehicle 210 Aerial vehicle body 212 Rotor (rotor)
220 Image display device 221 Device frame 223 Outer frame (mounting section)
226 Support table (stack support means)
226b Receiving portion 226c Wire 226d LED (projector)
227 Near-infrared camera (light detection means)
233L, 233R Servo motor (rotation position adjustment actuator)
245 Stack control unit

Claims (7)

An unmanned aerial vehicle that has an aircraft body and a rotor and flies with the rotation of the rotor,
A stacking support means for allowing other unmanned aerial vehicles to be placed on the landing position ;
an image display device that is rotatably attached to the aircraft body and has a display surface that displays an image;
a rotation position adjustment actuator that adjusts a rotation position of the image display device relative to the aircraft body to change an orientation of the display screen;
the overlapping support means is provided so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to an extension direction of the image display device,
This unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized in that, when the aircraft is in a landing state, the operation of the rotational position adjustment actuator causes the image display device to be parallel to the aircraft body, and the overlapping support means extends upward from the image display device . 2. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1,
The overlapping support means of the unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized in that the contact support point at which the other unmanned aerial vehicle abuts when placed on the unmanned aerial vehicle is located above the upper end position of the aircraft body. In the unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1 or 2,
Equipped with a frame-shaped frame,
The overlapping support means is disposed at a plurality of locations along an extension direction of an outer edge of the frame,
An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized in that each of the overlapping support means is configured to have a frame-shaped frame provided on one of the other unmanned aerial vehicles placed on it. In the unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, 2 or 3,
An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized in that, when the aircraft is in a landing state, the upper end of the overlapping support means is provided with a V-shaped receiving portion consisting of a pair of wires that incline upward in opposite directions. In the unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized in that the overlapping support means is equipped with a gripping mechanism that grips the other unmanned aerial vehicle when the other unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on it. A pair of unmanned aerial vehicles, each of which has an aircraft body and a rotor, is composed of a lower unmanned aerial vehicle and an upper unmanned aerial vehicle which are stacked one on top of the other in a landing state,
The lower unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a stacking support means that enables the upper unmanned aerial vehicle to be placed thereon in a landing state,
The upper unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a placement portion that can be placed on the stacking support means,
Floodlights that emit light vertically upward in a landing state are provided at multiple locations on the lower unmanned aerial vehicle,
a light detection means capable of detecting light from the light projectors is provided at each position of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle opposite the position of each of the light projectors when the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is placed on the upper side of the lower unmanned aerial vehicle without any misalignment;
An unmanned aerial vehicle pair, characterized in that the upper unmanned aerial vehicle is provided with a stack control unit that controls the rotation of the rotor of the upper unmanned aerial vehicle so that it descends toward the lower unmanned aerial vehicle while maintaining each of the light detection means detecting light from the spotlight. A group of unmanned aerial vehicles comprising a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles each having an aerial vehicle body and a rotor and flying in accordance with the rotation of the rotor,
Each of the unmanned aerial vehicles includes:
A stacking support means for allowing other unmanned aerial vehicles to be placed on the landing position;
A placement section that can be placed on the stacking support means of the unmanned aerial vehicle located below;
Floodlights are provided at a plurality of locations and emit light vertically upward in a landing state;
a light detection means provided vertically below each of the light projectors and capable of detecting light irradiated from the light projector of an unmanned aerial vehicle located below;
A group of unmanned aerial vehicles, characterized in that it is provided with a stack control unit that controls the rotation of the rotor blades so that each of the light detection means maintains a state in which it detects light from the spotlight of the unmanned aerial vehicle located below, while descending toward the unmanned aerial vehicle located below.

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