CN118753553A - A protection device and method for preventing a drone from failing and falling, and a drone - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a protection device, a protection method and a drone for a drone failure and fall, aiming to improve the safety of the drone in the event of an accidental failure, and to protect the safety of the photovoltaic panel under the drone. The protection device includes the following three main components: a parachute opening component, a buffer component and a processor. The processor is used to perform real-time failure and fall detection during the flight of the drone to judge and determine the operation of the parachute opening component and the buffer component. When the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component increases air resistance by opening the parachute, thereby providing additional buoyancy for the drone and slowing down its falling speed. The buffer component is used to deploy an air cushion at the bottom of the drone, which can further reduce the impact force between the drone and the photovoltaic panel when the drone falls, provide a buffering effect, protect the photovoltaic panel from being damaged by the drone, and also protect the drone and its internal equipment from being damaged by the drone.

Description

A protection device and method for preventing a drone from failing and falling, and a drone

Technical Field

The present invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle equipment, and in particular relates to a protection device and a protection method for a failure-falling unmanned aerial vehicle and a unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background Art

With the rapid growth of global energy demand and increasing concern about carbon emissions, offshore photovoltaic power stations have attracted much attention as a sustainable energy solution, and the investment and construction of offshore photovoltaic power stations are growing rapidly. Photovoltaic power generation has become a key indicator for measuring the benefits of photovoltaic power stations, and operation and maintenance play an increasingly important role in improving the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic power stations and reducing the levelized cost of electricity.

At present, manual inspection of offshore photovoltaic power stations is extremely difficult, and automatic inspection by drones has become the best solution to improve inspection efficiency. Although drone inspections have brought convenience, existing drones are prone to failure and fall due to power failure, circuit failure, etc., and the failed drones will fall from high altitude into the sea; or the failed drones will fall from high altitude onto the photovoltaic panels, causing damage to the photovoltaic panels, and the drones may further fall from the photovoltaic panels into the sea.

Whether the drone fails and falls into the sea, or falls from a high altitude onto the photovoltaic panels, it directly increases the operating costs of the photovoltaic power station and greatly affects the inspection efficiency.

Summary of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a protection device, a protection method and a drone for preventing a drone from failing and falling.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is implemented according to the following technical solutions:

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a protection device for a drone failure fall, the protection device comprising:

A parachute opening component, wherein the parachute opening component includes a parachute, and the parachute opening component is used to provide buoyancy for the drone;

A buffer component, wherein the buffer component includes an air cushion, and the air cushion is deployed at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the air cushion;

A processor is connected to the parachute opening component and the buffer component respectively, and the processor is used to control the parachute opening component and the buffer component to work according to sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides a first specific implementation of the first aspect, specifically, the umbrella opening component includes:

The deployment mechanism comprises a compressed gas cylinder, an electric valve and a push rod; the electric valve is connected to the gas path between the compressed gas cylinder and the push rod;

The electric valve can be controlled by the processor to open a compressed gas cylinder, and the compressed air discharged from the compressed gas cylinder pushes a push rod, so as to push the parachute out of the drone through the push rod.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides a second specific implementation of the first aspect, specifically, the buffer component includes:

A distance sensor is used to detect the distance between the bottom of the drone and obstacles;

An inflation mechanism, the inflation mechanism comprising a compressed gas cylinder and a first electric one-way valve, the first electric one-way valve being connected to an air path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the air cushion;

The processor controls the first electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the distance information of the distance sensor, so as to inject gas into the air cushion through the compressed gas cylinder.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides three specific implementations of the first aspect. Specifically, the protection device includes:

A floating component, wherein the floating component includes a plurality of air bags, and the floating component is configured to deploy the plurality of air bags at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the plurality of air bags, and the deployed plurality of air bags are arranged around the air cushion;

A water immersion sensor, the water immersion sensor is used to output water immersion information by detecting when the drone touches water;

A processor is connected to the floating component, and the processor is used to control the floating component to work according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides a fourth specific implementation of the first aspect, specifically, a water absorbent is connected to the lower surface of the floating airbag, and the water absorbent is used to increase the weight of the floating airbag by absorbing water.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides a fifth specific implementation manner of the first aspect, specifically, the water absorbent member is made of a flexible high water absorbent material.

In combination with the first aspect, the present invention further provides a sixth specific implementation of the first aspect, specifically, the floating component includes:

An inflation mechanism, the inflation mechanism comprising a compressed gas cylinder and a second electric one-way valve, the second electric one-way valve being connected in an air path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the plurality of airbags;

The processor controls the second electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor, so as to inject gas into the multiple airbags through the compressed gas cylinder.

In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a method for protecting a drone from failure and falling, the method being implemented based on a drone failure and falling protection device described in the first aspect and the first to sixth specific embodiments of the first aspect, the method comprising:

Acquiring sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone;

If the sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone indicates that the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component and the buffer component are controlled to operate.

In combination with the second aspect, the present invention also provides a first specific implementation scheme of the second aspect, specifically, the flight status information includes abnormal descent speed or downward acceleration; the sensor information includes detection information of the distance sensor and/or water immersion sensor.

In a third aspect, the present invention further provides a drone, comprising a drone failure falling protection device as described in the first aspect and the first to sixth specific implementations of the first aspect.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

The present invention provides a protection device for a drone failure falling, comprising a parachute opening component, a buffer component and a processor. The parachute opening component comprises a parachute, and the parachute opening component is used to provide buoyancy for the drone through the parachute. The buffer component comprises an air cushion, and the air cushion is deployed at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the air cushion. The processor is connected to the parachute opening component and the buffer component respectively, and the processor is used to control the operation of the parachute opening component and the buffer component according to the sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone.

The present invention provides a protection device, which is intended to improve the safety of a drone in the event of an unexpected failure, and to protect the safety of a photovoltaic panel under the drone. The protection device includes the following three main components: a parachute opening component, a buffer component, and a processor. The processor is used to perform real-time failure and fall detection during the flight of the drone to judge and determine the operation of the parachute opening component and the buffer component. When the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component increases air resistance by opening the parachute, providing additional buoyancy for the drone, thereby slowing down its falling speed. The buffer component is used to deploy an air cushion at the bottom of the drone, which can further reduce the impact force between the drone and the photovoltaic panel when it falls, provide a buffering effect, protect the photovoltaic panel from being damaged by the drone, and also protect the drone and its internal equipment from being damaged by the drone.

The present invention also has the following advantages:

(1) Safe and reliable: The dual protection of the parachute opening component and the buffer component can significantly reduce the impact force and damage of the drone when it fails and falls.

(2) Intelligent control: The processor can intelligently determine whether the protection device needs to be activated based on the relevant information of the drone, thereby improving the accuracy and reliability of the protection device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The specific embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the assembly of the protection device of the present invention on a drone;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the air cushion of the buffer component of the present invention;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the unfolding of the umbrella opening component and the buffer component of the present invention;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the expansion of the buffer component and the floating component of the present invention;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the bottom water absorbing member of the floating component of the present invention;

FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for protecting a drone from failure and falling according to the present invention;

In the figure:

10- Drones;

20-parachute opening parts, 21-parachute;

30- cushioning component, 31- air cushion;

40- floating component, 41- air bag, 42- water absorbing component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

It should be noted that when a component is said to be "fixed to" another component, it can be directly on the other component or there can be a central component. When a component is said to be "connected to" another component, it can be directly connected to the other component or there can be a central component at the same time.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs. The terms used herein in the specification of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. The term "and/or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, some embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

Regarding the current status of drone inspections of offshore photovoltaic power stations, although drone inspections have brought convenience, existing drone inspections of photovoltaic power stations have the following problems:

(1) Battery problem: Currently, most inspection drones rely on batteries for power supply, but the battery power supply is limited, and the flight time is maintained at about 30 minutes. Running out of power may cause the drone to lose control and fall.

(ii) False battery phenomenon: Inaccurate battery charge display may cause the flight control system or operator to misjudge the flight time, increasing the risk of falling.

In the technology of safe landing and recovery of drones, in order to solve the problem of drone power failure, existing drones generally use low-battery emergency return, or forced landing procedures, or parachute recovery. Among them, parachute recovery is a technology that uses a parachute to reduce the flight speed of the drone and achieve a soft landing. However, these measures have limitations in the application of offshore photovoltaic power stations. Emergency landing and return procedures are difficult to implement in complex water surfaces and photovoltaic panel arrays, and cannot reliably and effectively protect drones from impact damage and water damage. After the power of the drone fails, it may fall and hit the photovoltaic panel, causing physical damage to the photovoltaic panel. And because photovoltaic panels are often connected in pieces, damage to one photovoltaic panel may affect the entire row or the entire photovoltaic line, causing economic losses to the offshore photovoltaic power station and also posing safety hazards.

To this end, the present invention provides a protection device, which is intended to improve the safety of drones in the event of accidental failure, and to protect the safety of photovoltaic panels under the drone. The protection device includes the following three main components: a parachute opening component, a buffer component, and a processor. The processor is used to perform real-time failure and fall detection during the flight of the drone to judge and determine the operation of the parachute opening component and the buffer component. When the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component increases air resistance by opening the parachute, providing additional buoyancy for the drone, thereby slowing down its falling speed. The buffer component is used to deploy an air cushion at the bottom of the drone, which can further reduce the impact force between the drone and the photovoltaic panel when it falls, provide a buffering effect, protect the photovoltaic panel from being damaged by the drone, and also protect the drone and its internal equipment from being damaged by the drone.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 , a preferred structure of a protection device for a drone failure falling according to the present invention is shown.

As shown in Figure 1, the protection device includes a parachute opening component, a buffer component and a processor. The protection device is applied to the UAV and is an additional device carried by the UAV, which needs to be installed in the fuselage, frame or landing gear of the UAV for matching use.

Specifically, the drone described in the present invention can be a fixed-wing drone, a rotary-wing drone, an unmanned airship, a paraglider drone, or a flapping-wing drone. The present invention does not limit the type of drone to which the protective device is applied. In the drone inspection scene of an offshore photovoltaic power station, multi-rotor drones are mostly used. For this reason, the present invention preferably takes the application of the protective device in a multi-rotor drone as an example for further explanation.

As shown in Figure 1, a multi-rotor drone is a special unmanned rotorcraft with three or more rotor shafts. A multi-rotor drone includes a fuselage, multiple arms connected to the fuselage, and rotor assemblies mounted on the arms. The bottom of the fuselage is generally equipped with a landing gear, and the fuselage is equipped with the drone's battery, circuit hardware, etc.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , the parachute opening component includes a parachute, and the parachute opening component is used to provide buoyancy for the drone through the parachute.

In a specific implementation example, the parachute opening component is installed on the top of the drone. Taking a multi-rotor drone as an example, the parachute opening component is set on the top of the drone fuselage, staggered with the arm on which the rotor is installed, to avoid the parachute from contacting and entangled with the rotor when it is deployed.

In one example, the parachute opening component includes an unfolding mechanism, which includes a compressed gas cylinder, an electric valve and a push rod; the electric valve is connected to the air path between the compressed gas cylinder and the push rod. The electric valve can be controlled by the processor to open the compressed gas cylinder, and the compressed air discharged from the compressed gas cylinder pushes the push rod, so as to push the parachute out of the drone through the push rod.

In the present invention, the parachute opening component is a parachute shooting mechanism, which ejects the parachute outside the drone by launching the parachute, and then the parachute is deployed to provide buoyancy for the drone. In the present invention, the gas circuit refers to the connecting pipeline from the compressed gas cylinder (gas source) to the device terminal; for example, the gas circuit between the compressed gas cylinder and the push rod refers to the gas pipeline connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the push rod, and the compressed gas cylinder can deliver compressed air to the push rod to promote the push rod operation. Components such as compressed gas cylinders, electric valves, and gas pipelines can be installed on the fuselage of the drone.

In a specific implementation, the fuselage of the multi-rotor drone is provided with a groove structure for embedding the parachute opening component. The parachute opening component also includes an umbrella shooting tube, and the push rod and the parachute are installed inside the tube cavity of the umbrella shooting tube and are arranged in an upper and lower distribution. The tube mouth of the umbrella shooting tube has an elastic opening and closing cover, which normally covers the tube cavity of the umbrella shooting tube. The opening and closing cover can be opened by applying a force from the inside of the tube cavity of the umbrella shooting tube. The compressed gas cylinder of the deployment mechanism is connected to the umbrella shooting tube through a gas pipeline, and the push rod is limited and movably connected in the umbrella shooting tube. The push rod is like a piston, which can move along the depth direction of the tube cavity of the umbrella shooting tube, but cannot leave the umbrella shooting tube.

The principle of the parachute opening component is: the processor controls the electric valve to open, and then the compressed gas cylinder will output compressed air to the end of the parachute shooting tube, the expanding gas will push the push rod to move upward along the tube cavity, and push the parachute bag (the form of the parachute after storage) upward, so that the parachute bag has a certain movement speed to rush out of the opening and closing cover of the parachute shooting tube. After leaving the parachute shooting tube, the parachute bag flies over the vortex area above the drone under the action of inertia and aerodynamic force and opens, and pulls out the connecting rope in turn (the connecting rope fixes the parachute to the drone), etc., to realize the opening of the parachute.

In actual application scenarios, the compressed gas cylinder will quickly release gas, driving the parachute to quickly deploy in 0.5-1 second, greatly slowing down the descent speed of the drone. In a preferred implementation, the parachute is conical, and the diameter of the parachute is about twice the width of the drone body to ensure sufficient landing resistance. The parachute opening component using the parachute shooting mechanism has the advantages of small additional mass, simple logic, reliable function, and easy use and maintenance.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the buffer component includes an air cushion, and the air cushion is deployed at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the air cushion.

In one implementation, the buffer component can be started together with the parachute opening component, and the processor controls the operation synchronously, that is, the air cushion of the buffer component is opened when the parachute is opened.

In another preferred embodiment, the buffer component includes a distance sensor and an inflation mechanism. The distance sensor is used to detect the distance information between the bottom of the drone and the obstacle. The inflation mechanism includes a compressed gas cylinder and a first electric one-way valve, and the first electric one-way valve is connected to the gas path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the air cushion. The processor controls the first electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the distance information of the distance sensor, so as to inject gas into the air cushion through the compressed gas cylinder.

In a specific implementation, the buffer component includes an air cushion storage box, which is fixed to the bottom of the drone landing gear. When the air cushion is inflated, the air cushion will extend from the air cushion storage box and expand rapidly. A buffer air cushion is formed at the bottom of the drone. In a preferred implementation, the bottom of the drone is provided with a buffer component having two air cushions, which are respectively located on the tripods acting on the two landing gears.

In a specific implementation, the air cushion is in a flat rectangular shape after being unfolded, and the unfolded area of the two air cushions covers the entire fuselage of the drone. In the present invention, the air cushion has excellent cushioning properties, is easy to fold and carry, and is suitable for complex environments. It is well applied to the soft landing of the drone, and can prevent the drone from hitting the surface of the photovoltaic panel and causing physical damage when it falls.

In a specific implementation, the air cushion can be a closed air cushion, that is, the air cushion has only one inflation port. Since the closed air cushion does not have an exhaust hole, it cannot dissipate energy by exhausting gas during the landing cushioning process of the drone. Therefore, the closed air cushion mainly dissipates the kinetic energy of the cushioning system by compressing the gas in the air cushion, rubbing against the landing surface, and repeatedly rebounding the cushioning system during the cushioning process, thereby playing a cushioning role. The air cushion is a flat rectangular shape, which can well diffuse the impact force of landing to avoid excessive concentration.

The design of closed air cushion + electric one-way valve can keep the air cushion inflated state. When the drone softly lands on the photovoltaic panel, the photovoltaic panel has a certain tilt angle, and the drone may fall further from the photovoltaic panel into the water. The closed air cushion can provide the drone with initial self-floating ability when falling into the water.

The principle of the buffer component is as follows: the buffer component is triggered by the distance sensor. The distance sensor monitors the distance between the bottom of the drone and the obstacle (photovoltaic panel) in real time. When the distance sensor detects that the distance is less than the preset distance (preferably 3m), the processor obtains the distance information of the distance sensor and makes a real-time judgment, instructing the electric one-way valve to start inflating the air cushion. The compressed gas cylinder will output compressed air to the air cushion, and when the air cushion is inflated, it will break through the air cushion storage box and unfold at the bottom of the drone until it is fully opened.

In a preferred implementation, the distance sensor can be awakened after the parachute opening component is activated to save energy.

In the present invention, by adopting the preferred combination of air cushion + parachute, the parachute can provide a preliminary buffering effect to slow down the descent speed of the drone, and under the action of the parachute, the bottom of the drone is kept facing downward. After the air cushion is deployed, it absorbs the energy generated by the drone impacting the photovoltaic panel, thereby reducing the descent speed of the drone. The drone touches the ground smoothly and achieves a soft landing on the photovoltaic panel.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the protection device of the present invention includes a floating component and a water immersion sensor. The floating component includes a plurality of air bags, and the floating component injects gas into the plurality of air bags so that the plurality of air bags are deployed at the bottom of the drone, and the deployed plurality of air bags are arranged around the air cushion.

In a specific implementation, the floating component includes:

An inflation mechanism, the inflation mechanism comprising a compressed gas cylinder and a second electric one-way valve, the second electric one-way valve being connected in an air path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the plurality of airbags;

The processor controls the second electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor, so as to inject gas into the multiple airbags through the compressed gas cylinder.

In a specific implementation, the floating component includes an airbag storage box, which is fixed under the arm of the drone and arranged above and below the rotor assembly. When the airbag is inflated, the airbag will extend from the airbag storage box and expand rapidly, forming an airbag for floating at the bottom of the drone.

In a specific implementation, the airbag is in the shape of a balloon after being deployed. The number of airbags can be set according to the number of rotor assemblies and distributed as evenly as possible on the drone. The purpose of using the multiple airbags deployed around the air cushion is to form a combined airbag to better provide a stable floating performance for the drone after falling into the sea. The combination of the air cushion + multiple airbags can increase the contact area between the drone and the water surface, keep the drone above the air cushion and airbags, and ensure that the drone does not touch the water as much as possible.

In the present invention, the water immersion sensor is used to output water immersion information by detecting when the drone touches the water. Specifically, a number of water immersion sensors can be installed on the landing gear of the drone, and when the drone falls directly on the water, the floating component can be activated. Another part of the water immersion sensor adopts a wireless communication design, which can be connected to the lower surface of the air cushion. When the air cushion is fully deployed, this part of the water immersion sensor is located on the lower surface of the air cushion, that is, the bottom of the drone. At this time, when the drone falls from the photovoltaic panel to the sea surface, the lower surface of the air cushion will come into contact with the sea water, and then the water immersion sensor will be triggered.

In a preferred embodiment, the water immersion sensor can also be arranged at the outermost side of the arm. It is understandable that the water immersion sensor is preferably arranged at a part of the drone that is likely to first contact the water surface.

In the present invention, the processor is connected to the floating component, and the processor is used to control the floating component to work according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor. This method can determine whether to trigger the airbag according to the actual situation of the drone, and when the drone does not fall on the sea, it will not be triggered by mistake.

The principle of the floating component is as follows: the floating component is triggered by a water sensor. The water sensor monitors in real time whether the drone is in contact with water. When the water sensor detects water, the processor obtains the water information of the water sensor and makes a real-time judgment, instructing the second electric one-way valve to start inflating multiple airbags. The compressed gas cylinder will output compressed air to multiple airbags. When the airbags are inflated, they will break through the airbag storage box and unfold at the bottom of the drone until they are fully opened, and multiple airbags surround the air cushion.

In a specific implementation, the buffer component and the floating component can use the same compressed gas cylinder, or can use independent compressed gas cylinders to form the inflation gas circuit. When the same compressed gas cylinder is used, the gas circuits of the buffer component and the floating component can be connected to the compressed gas cylinder through a tap. The first electric one-way valve of the buffer component and the second one-way valve of the floating component each control their own gas circuit.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, a water absorbing member is connected to the lower surface of the floating airbag, and the water absorbing member is used to increase the weight of the floating airbag by absorbing water. The water absorbing member is made of a flexible high water-absorbent material.

The airbag of the floating component and the water-absorbing part on the airbag are used to stabilize the overall center of gravity of the drone, keep the drone above the air cushion, and float stably on the water surface.

In a preferred implementation, the highly absorbent material may be a highly absorbent resin, which is a polymer with a certain degree of cross-linking, and can quickly absorb water hundreds of times greater than its own weight to form a gel, and the gel can still retain water without separation under a certain pressure. For example, the highly absorbent resin can be made into a film and attached to the surface of the airbag, which can absorb and lock water hundreds of times its own weight.

It is understandable that when the water-absorbing parts of the multiple airbags absorb enough water, the mass of the floating component of the entire protective device becomes larger, the performance of resisting sea waves is improved, and it is not easy to flip over and cause the drone to wade.

In the present invention, a combined airbag is formed by an air cushion and an airbag, which is mainly composed of an inner air cushion and an outer airbag. Both the inner air cushion and the outer airbag are closed airbags, which can reliably and effectively prevent the drone from wading in contact with the sea surface.

In the present invention, the processor can be composed of several single-chip microcomputers. The single-chip microcomputer is the core component of the system control, and its internal integration includes microprocessor, ROM, RAM memory, clock, timer/counter, I/O port, interrupt and other resources. The processor can be directly deployed on the hardware of the flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The processor is preferably connected to the parachute opening component, buffer component and floating component in a wired manner. For example, STC89C52RC single-chip microcomputer.

Embodiment 2

Based on the drone failure falling protection device in the first embodiment, the second embodiment of the present invention further provides a protection method based on the drone failure falling protection device. As shown in the flow diagram of FIG6 , the protection method of the present invention includes:

S100: Acquire sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone.

Optionally, the flight status information of the drone includes abnormal descent speed or downward acceleration, that is, any one or any two of the above three types of information. The power status information of the drone is information about whether the power is off. Further, if the power is off, the information is the duration of the power off.

It is understandable that the parachute opening parts can be operated by monitoring the descent speed of the drone. Because the photovoltaic inspection drone is a very stable flying machine, not a high-speed machine such as a flying drone, it descends very smoothly during normal descent, and the maximum descent speed is not high. However, when the power fails and the free fall occurs, the descent speed is very fast. The power failure can be judged by whether it is close to the free fall speed.

S200: If the sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone indicates that the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component and the buffer component are controlled to operate.

In another preferred implementation, if the sensor information of the drone indicates that the drone hits the photovoltaic panel, the buffer component is controlled to operate.

In a preferred implementation, the method further comprises:

S300: If the sensor information of the drone indicates that the drone is immersed in water, control the floating component to operate.

In the present invention, the sensor information includes detection information of a distance sensor and/or a water immersion sensor. The processor controls the first electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the distance information of the distance sensor, so as to inject gas into the air cushion through the compressed gas cylinder. The processor controls the second electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor, so as to inject gas into the multiple air bags through the compressed gas cylinder.

Embodiment 3

The third embodiment provides a drone, which is equipped with the drone failure and fall protection device in the first embodiment, and the processor of the drone can execute the protection method in the second embodiment.

Based on the above embodiments 1 to 3, the present invention provides a specific application scenario example of a protection device and a protection method for a drone failure fall:

The entire offshore photovoltaic power station is built on the water surface and consists of rows of photovoltaic panels. There is a gap between adjacent rows of photovoltaic panels. The drone flies 30 meters above the photovoltaic panels to perform inspection tasks. When the drone was performing the photovoltaic panel inspection task on the water, a power failure suddenly occurred and it could not continue to fly. The drone could not save the current altitude and began to fall from the current position. At this time, the processor on the drone determined that the power system failed by detecting the flight status information and/or power status information, and then triggered the emergency program deployed on the processor.

Furthermore, the processor sends a command to the deployment mechanism of the parachute opening component of the drone's protective device, and the compressed gas cylinder quickly releases gas, ejecting the parachute, causing the parachute to deploy rapidly within 0.5-1 second, greatly slowing down the drone's descent speed.

Furthermore, the distance sensor at the bottom of the drone is awakened and enters the working state, monitoring the distance between the drone and the surface of the photovoltaic panel in real time. When the distance value is detected to be less than 3 meters, the processor immediately instructs the first electric one-way valve of the buffer component to open the compressed gas cylinder. High-pressure gas is quickly injected into the air cushion, which expands instantly to form two thick air cushion buffer layers. When the drone finally touches the surface of the photovoltaic panel, the air cushion successfully absorbs the impact force and avoids serious damage to the photovoltaic panel and the drone.

Furthermore, because the photovoltaic panels are tilted at a certain angle, the drone continues to slide down from the photovoltaic panels. When it finally touches the water surface, the wading sensor located under the inflatable cushion detects the water and immediately outputs wading information to the processor.

Furthermore, the processor instructs the floating components to inflate, causing multiple airbags to swell to increase the buoyancy of the drone. At the same time, the absorbent parts at the bottom of the airbags use highly absorbent materials to quickly absorb water, allowing the drone to finally float stably and safely above the water surface, waiting for relevant personnel to come and recover it.

The entire drone emergency rescue process is as follows:

S1000: When the power of the water photovoltaic inspection drone fails, the parachute opening component is activated to open the parachute;

S2000: When the drone lands at a preset distance, that is, when the drone is close to the photovoltaic panel, the buffer component is triggered to open the air cushion to reduce the impact force;

S3000: When the bottom of the drone encounters water, the airbags in the floating components are triggered to keep the drone floating stably and waiting for rescue.

The entire process is completed automatically by the drone's sensors, processors, etc., which effectively protects the photovoltaic panels from damage caused by severe impacts, avoids damage to the drone, and improves the safety and reliability of the drone during photovoltaic inspection operations on water.

The protection device and method for preventing a drone from failing and falling as described in this embodiment and other structures of the drone refer to the prior art.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Therefore, any modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiment according to the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the technical solution of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A protection device for a drone failure fall, characterized in that the protection device comprises: A parachute opening component, wherein the parachute opening component includes a parachute, and the parachute opening component is used to provide buoyancy for the drone; A buffer component, wherein the buffer component includes an air cushion, and the air cushion is deployed at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the air cushion; A processor is connected to the parachute opening component and the buffer component respectively, and the processor is used to control the parachute opening component and the buffer component to work according to sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone. 2. The protection device for a drone failure fall according to claim 1, characterized in that the parachute opening component comprises: The deployment mechanism comprises a compressed gas cylinder, an electric valve and a push rod; the electric valve is connected to the gas path between the compressed gas cylinder and the push rod; The electric valve can be controlled by the processor to open a compressed gas cylinder, and the compressed air discharged from the compressed gas cylinder pushes a push rod, so as to push the parachute out of the drone through the push rod. 3. The protection device for a drone failure fall according to claim 1, characterized in that the buffer component comprises: A distance sensor is used to detect the distance between the bottom of the drone and obstacles; An inflation mechanism, the inflation mechanism comprising a compressed gas cylinder and a first electric one-way valve, the first electric one-way valve being connected to an air path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the air cushion; The processor controls the first electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the distance information of the distance sensor, so as to inject gas into the air cushion through the compressed gas cylinder. 4. A protection device for a drone failure fall according to claim 1, characterized in that the protection device comprises: A floating component, wherein the floating component includes a plurality of air bags, wherein the floating component is configured to deploy the plurality of air bags at the bottom of the drone by injecting gas into the plurality of air bags, and the deployed plurality of air bags are arranged around the air cushion; A water immersion sensor, the water immersion sensor is used to output water immersion information by detecting when the drone touches water; A processor is connected to the floating component, and the processor is used to control the floating component to work according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor. 5. The protection device for a drone falling due to failure according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The lower surface of the floating airbag is connected with a water absorbing member, and the water absorbing member is used to increase the weight of the floating airbag by absorbing water. 6. The protection device for a drone falling due to failure according to claim 5 is characterized by: The water absorbing member is made of a flexible high water absorbing material. 7. The protection device for a drone failure fall according to claim 4, characterized in that the floating component comprises: An inflation mechanism, the inflation mechanism comprising a compressed gas cylinder and a second electric one-way valve, the second electric one-way valve being connected in an air path connecting the compressed gas cylinder and the plurality of airbags; The processor controls the second electric one-way valve to open the gas path according to the water immersion information of the water immersion sensor, so as to inject gas into the multiple airbags through the compressed gas cylinder. 8. A method for protecting a drone from failure and falling, characterized in that the method is implemented based on a drone failure and falling protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and the method comprises: Acquiring sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone; If the sensor information, flight status information and/or power status information of the drone indicates that the drone fails and falls, the parachute opening component and the buffer component are controlled to operate. 9. The method for protecting a drone from failure and fall according to claim 8, characterized in that: The flight status information includes abnormal descent speed or downward acceleration; The sensor information includes detection information of a distance sensor and/or a water immersion sensor. 10. A drone, characterized by comprising a drone failure fall protection device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.