RU2681278C1 - Method and navigation system of passenger drone in mountains - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: navigation; computer engineering.SUBSTANCE: this technical solution relates to the field of unmanned navigation in computing, and in particular to systems and methods for navigating passenger drones in mountainous terrain. Method for navigating a passenger drone in mountainous terrain is proposed, in which a map of the mountainous terrain loaded in the memory of at least one passenger drone with a set of sensors is obtained, then, signals are transmitted in real time by means of a set of active RFID tags, including information about their location with reference to the terrain topography, to at least one passenger drone. Signals from active radio tags located at an accessible distance of the receiver of the passenger drone is received by means of the receiver of the passenger drone, the positioning of at least one drone on the basis of a map of mountainous terrain, signals of active RFID tags and data from a set of passenger drone sensors is carried out by means of a data processing device, the signal levels of all radio tags are measured at each point of the digital map, the radio tag closest to the drone receiver is determined, for which the signal levels are measured, and the location of the passenger drone as the average value of the nearest coordinates of the radio tags is determined. After that, at least one route of at least one passenger drone is formed based on the positioning determined in the previous step, and the positioning and routes of the other drones are taken into account.EFFECT: increased accuracy and speed of navigation of the passenger drone in the mountains.10 cl, 5 dwg

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[001] This technical solution generally relates to the field of unmanned navigation in computing, and in particular to systems and methods for navigating passenger drones in mountainous areas.

BACKGROUND

[002] Currently, each ski resort for the convenience of athletes and amateurs has special equipment - a ski lift. With it, tourists can climb to the top of the mountain, as well as go down from it. This saves time for developing skiing, snowboarding and sledding skills. It should be noted that the ski lifts are of several types: air (in them a tourist climbs a mountain while sitting on a bench, or in a booth that moves along a cable with a separation from the earth's surface); ground (a skier or snowboarder glides on the surface of the earth, holding his hands with his mount, or sitting on a special plate).

[003] However, the big disadvantage of the lifts known from the prior art is that they are limited along the route, and move from point to point along the same route. This feature of the lifts brings great inconvenience to people who are engaged in so-called freeriding (snowboarding or downhill skiing outside the prepared tracks) and are forced to mainly ride along the prepared tracks. Additionally, avalanche people searching for people during avalanches are forced to search for people by walking to the avalanche site, losing time that could save a human life.

[004] Currently, technologies related to passenger drones are becoming available to a wide market and do not require human intervention. All machine learning algorithms, sensors, and security systems can equally well be used for passenger drones. Compared to automobiles, drones encounter far fewer obstacles in their way and at the same time have much more options for preventing accidents. The flying passenger drone is lightweight, compact in size and can be remotely controlled.

[005] However, the positioning of a passenger drone in a mountainous area is complicated by the high variability of the terrain due to snow. It’s quite difficult to navigate, drawing up maps of the terrain on the basis of images on white snow, and the presence of snowdrifts, forest awards on rocky terrain adds to the complexity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[006] This technical solution is aimed at eliminating the disadvantages inherent in solutions known from the prior art.

[007] The technical task, or, in other words, the technical problem solved in this technical solution, is the implementation of the method and system for navigating a passenger drone in a mountainous area.

[008] The technical result achieved by solving the above technical problem is to increase the accuracy and speed of navigation of a passenger drone in a mountainous area.

[009] An additional technical result is to increase the safety of navigation of a passenger drone in a mountainous area due to synchronization between several passenger drones.

[0010] The technical result is achieved by implementing a method for navigating a passenger drone in a mountainous area, in which a mountainous terrain map is loaded in the memory of at least one passenger drone having a set of sensors; transmit in real time through a set of active RFID tags signals including information about their location with reference to the topography of the terrain to at least one passenger drone; receive signals from active RFID tags located at an accessible distance of the receiver of the passenger drone through the receiver of the passenger drone; at least one drone is positioned based on a map of the highlands, active RFID signals, and sensor drone sensor set data by a data processing device; at least one route of at least one passenger drone is formed based on the positioning determined in the previous step, and the positioning and routes of other drones are taken into account.

[0011] In some embodiments, the active RFID tag is a GPS beacon and / or iBeacon beacon.

[0012] In some embodiments, the drone has a camera and / or lidar and / or sonar.

[0013] In some embodiments of the invention, when forming a map of the highlands based on active RFID signals, the data processing device is located on a passenger drone.

[0014] In some embodiments, when processing a map of the highlands based on active RFID signals, the data processing device is located remotely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The features and advantages of this technical solution will become apparent from the following detailed description and the attached

drawings in which:

[0016] In FIG. 1 shows an example implementation of a method for navigating a passenger drone in a mountainous area in the form of a flowchart;

[0017] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a passenger drone;

[0018] FIG. 3 shows an example implementation of a navigation system for a passenger drone in a mountainous area;

[0019] In FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a radio tag emitting signals for positioning a drone;

[0020] In FIG. 5 shows an example of a drone positioning by triangulation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] This technical solution can be implemented on a computer or other data processing device, in the form of an automated system or computer-readable medium containing instructions for performing the above method.

[0022] The technical solution can be implemented in the form of a distributed computer system, the components of which are cloud or local servers.

[0023] In this solution, a system is understood to mean a computer system or an automated system (AS), a computer (electronic computer), CNC (numerical control), PLC (programmable logic controller), a computerized control system, and any other devices capable of performing a given, clearly defined sequence of computational operations (actions, instructions).

[0024] An instruction processing device is understood to mean an electronic unit or an integrated circuit (microprocessor) executing machine instructions (programs).

[0025] The command processing device reads and executes machine instructions (programs) from one or more data storage devices. Storage devices may include, but are not limited to, hard disks (HDDs), flash memory, ROM (read only memory), solid state drives (SSDs), optical drives, and cloud storage.

[0026] A program is a sequence of instructions for execution by a computer control device or an instruction processing device.

[0027] A drone (from the English drone - “drone”) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

[0028] Digital map (digital terrain map) is a digital terrain model created by digitizing cartographic sources, photogrammetric processing of remote sensing data, and digital recording.

[0029] This invention can be used not only for skiers, but also for lifting ordinary people, for example, in a chalet on top of a mountain, tourists on mountain trails, etc.

[0030] A method for navigating a passenger drone in a mountainous area, shown as a flowchart in FIG. 1 includes the following steps.

[0031] Step 101: receive a map of the highlands loaded in the memory of at least one passenger drone having a set of sensors.

[0032] A passenger drone or, in other words, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which is shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the implementation may include the following various options for passenger seats: passengers sit side by side or sequentially one after another. The drone’s cabin can contain an additional adjacent luggage compartment, which can be either open (for example, ski or snowboard compartments) or closed. This additional compartment can be used when tilting / turning the drone to fasten baggage, securing the baggage with belts that have the appropriate function to ensure the safety of baggage. The location of passenger seats is designed so that each passenger has access to the exit.

[0033] The passenger drone shown in FIG. 2 can be made of carbon fiber, which makes the drone lightweight and at the same time incredibly durable.

[0034] A passenger drone may include the following set of sensors:

• MEMS sensors and inertial sensor modules,

• environmental sensors,

• proximity sensors,

• sub-GHz wireless transceivers, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules,

• Chips for global positioning systems (GPS / Galileo / Glonass / Beidou2 / QZSS).

[0035] The passenger drone due to the presence on board the passenger has errors in the distribution of weight and variation in engine characteristics. This leads to the fact that during the flight the drone may deviate from the equilibrium position. Compensation of these deviations is carried out by changing the engine thrust, but such a solution requires accurate determination of roll, pitch and yaw. Inertial sensor modules and MEMS sensors are used to measure the listed angular coordinates. Inertial sensor modules can be a combination of, for example, a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope (some models of passenger drones also include a 3-axis magnetometer). This combination is ideal for a passenger drone. The 6-axis or 9-axis inertial sensor module can be performed with a wide range of measurements (for example, ± 2 / ± 4 / ± 8 / ± 16 g for the accelerometer and ± 125 / ± 245 / ± 500 / ± 1000 / ± 2000 ° / s for the gyroscope) and minimum consumption: 0.65 mA in the active state and only 4.5 μA in sleep mode. The inertial sensor module can be configured to generate interrupt signals for events: free fall detection; orientation changes along one of the six axes; single or double vibration detection; by the presence or absence of movement.

[0036] Information on the state of environmental parameters is important to ensure the safety of a passenger drone. A combination humidity and temperature sensor may be used in the present invention. Its main advantages are high bit depth for both sensors (16 bits), small dimensions (2 × 2 × 0.9 mm), excellent accuracy and low consumption. The supply current at a sampling frequency of 1 Hz is only 2 μA, and in sleep mode drops to 0.5 μA.

[0037] The distance sensing sensor contained in the passenger drone determines the distance to the object from the propagation time of the light flux from the transmitter to the receiver. The closer the subject, the less time it takes for the light to travel the distance. Moreover, its amplitude does not play a decisive role. As a result, the sensor is able not only to determine the presence or absence of an object, but also to measure the distance to it, regardless of the light loss due to absorption and scattering. This leads to the fact that the list of detected movements is expanding significantly. The sensor for determining the distance to the object is a complete system, including a proximity sensor (Proximity sensor), ambient light sensor (Ambient Light Sensor), emitter (light source), RAM and ROM, microcontroller. This sensor is able to determine the distance to objects with high accuracy regardless of the characteristics of the object, as well as measure illumination in a wide dynamic range. The IR emitter creates powerful single light pulses. On the one hand, this allows you to determine the time of flight with high accuracy, and on the other, it increases the maximum measured distance.

[0038] The distance sensing sensor may use seven measurement modes:

[0039] Range Single-shot;

[0040] single illumination measurements (ALS single-shot);

[0041] Range Continuous Measurements;

[0042] continuous light measurements (ALS continuous);

[0043] continuous distance measurements and single light measurements (Range continuous and ALS single-shot);

[0044] single distance measurements and continuous light measurements (Range single-shot and ALS continuous);

[0045] continuous distance and light measurements (Range Continuous and ALS Continuous).

[0046] Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules are complete systems for building wireless network nodes with support for the TCP / IP stack, server functions, and SSI / TLS security protocols. Moreover, all data transfer protocols are built-in and do not require additional complex configuration.

[0047] In some embodiments, a gyro stabilization thermal imaging sensor is used. The sensor provides the most accurate measurement of the temperature of the environment and the individual objects that it is pointed at, which makes it useful for analytics and telemetry. The thermal imaging sensor reveals details that cannot be seen with the naked eye, sending the drone an image for analysis that reflects even slight temperature changes. This allows you to use this sensor when detecting damage to equipment or buildings, the location of missing people and when solving other tasks. For the best effect, a passenger drone can contain two suspensions at once: one with a thermal imaging sensor, and the second with a conventional camera.

[0048] The highland map received on the passenger drone is a digital terrain map that can be stored in a special format accepted in the RPS. RPS includes auxiliary programs for converting digital cards from the MAPINFO and PLANET formats to the RPS format.

[0049] A digital map may include the following components: a set of raster map sheets containing, for each point, information about altitude and type of terrain; a set of vector files describing linear objects: rivers, roads, power lines, etc .; a set of files with inscriptions placed on the map: names of settlements, rivers, objects, etc .; map description: sheet size, scale, coordinates of the map sheets, type of projection in which the map was received.

[0050] In some embodiments, the digital map of the area is three-dimensional. Also, in this invention, the use of various digital classifiers is allowed, which allow combining, within a single window of an electronic digital map of a mountainous area, data of various subjects located in various memory locations. In some embodiments of the invention, the composition of the layers, objects and attributes, the formation of the palette and fonts, the creation and editing of the appearance of the legend for 2D and 3D display of spatial data is preliminarily used in the data processing device. To visualize spatial data using the unified OGC WFS protocols, the classifier integrates with the spatial data scheme in the XSD format. In some embodiments, a digital terrain map may be displayed in a graphical user interface on a display in a passenger drone.

[0051] The memory of the passenger drone may be configured to store various types of data to support the operation of the drone. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating in the drone, user contact information, address book data, messages, images, videos, etc. The memory may be implemented in the form of any type of non-volatile memory, non-volatile memory or a combination thereof, for example, Static Random Access Memory (RAM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM) Storage Device (ROM), Permanent Storage Device (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic and whether an optical disk.

[0052] Step 102: transmit signals in real time through a set of active RFID tags, including information about their location with reference to the topography of at least one passenger drone.

[0053] Any RFID-based solution consists of three main components:

[0054] - radio tag - a means of marking monitored objects;

[0055] a reader and writer for such RFID tags;

[0056] - server and client software installed, for example, directly on a passenger drone, which decrypts the information received from readers and presents it in a format suitable for control systems.

[0057] In this technical solution, a RFID tag mounted on objects in a mountainous area and a reader (sometimes the term “reader or reader, reader” is used in the prior art) mounted on a drone comprise an antenna and a microcircuit in which the receiver, transmitter and memory are located with information about the data of each RFID tag.

[0058] In some embodiments, the RFID tag 310 may be mounted on towers of an overhead power line in a mountainous area, as shown in FIG. 3, on trees, gatehouses, stone elements, etc. The method of attaching RFID tags to these objects can also be any well-known in the art.

[0059] Each RFID tag 400, as shown in FIG. 4 may include: an antenna 410, an impedance modulator 420, an RF current rectifier 430, and an electronic circuit 440 with a random signal generator providing a random repetition period of a readable RFID code 400. An antenna 410, a modulator 420, and a rectifier 430 are connected in parallel. The output of the rectifier 430 is connected to the input of the electronic circuit 440, and its control output is connected to the control input of the modulator 420.

[0060] The microcircuit 440 contains all of the aforementioned electronic components of the RF tag necessary for its operation. For example, an EM4123 chip (EM Microelectronic-Marin SA) can be used.

[0061] The impedance modulator 420 of the microcircuit 440 is a variable resistor whose resistance changes in time with the magnitude of the control code signal of the electronic circuit. The modulator 420 can be connected in parallel with the input of the microcircuit 440, therefore, a change in its resistance leads to a change in the impedance of the microcircuit and, consequently, to a change in the reflection coefficient of the signal from the antenna 410 per cycle with the voltage of the identification signal of the RF tag 400. As a modulator 420, a field-effect transistor with insulated shutter.

[0062] An RF signal rectifier 430 is designed to power an electronic circuit 440 and has an RF signal input and a DC signal output. It can be performed, for example, based on semiconductor diodes with a Schottky barrier.

[0063] The electronic tag 440 of the RFID tag 400 may include a RFID code reading signal generator with a random repetition period by which an anti-collision protocol is implemented, i.e. Collisions resolved - superposition of signals from different RFID tags. According to the ALOHA method [K. Finkenzeller. RFID technology. Reference manual / trans. with him. - M .: Dodeka-XXI, 2010, p. 238], the random delay of repeated messages - response signals of each RFID tag, ensures the correct reading of its code identification signals. The electronic circuit 440 may be performed based on a microcontroller and non-volatile memory.

[0064] A lithium battery CR2450 may be used as the power source of the RFID tag. It has a high capacity with relatively small overall dimensions. When using a CR2450 battery with a capacity of 600 mAh, the total operating time of the RF tag is about two years. The battery has an output voltage of 3 volts and is designed for small values of the output current, 2 mA, above which the battery capacity starts to drop sharply. The transceiver is powered by a voltage of 5 V, and the peak current consumption can be up to 45 mA. Given these factors, a special electrical circuit is used to power the RFID tag. In this scheme, capacitors are used that allow you to accumulate charge in the pauses between sending data and providing the necessary values of the output current current at the time of transmission.

[0065] In some embodiments, the RFID tag 400 may be active or passive. RFID tags are read in the field of electromagnetic waves, as shown in FIG. 3, which are emitted by a transceiver antenna of a reader mounted on the drone 300, in the direction of the RFID tags.

[0066] If the RFID tag is passive, the reader signal activates the RFID tag at a predetermined distance from it. When reading the RFID signal, the reader’s antenna emits a radio signal of a certain frequency, which is received by the RFID antenna. The energy of the radio signal is enough to power the transmitter of the RFID tag and transfer the contents of the RFID memory to the reader. Since the exchange of information between the reader and the RFID tag occurs over the air, direct visibility between them is not required. In this technical solution, the RFID tag can be a miniature copper antenna circuit with a microcircuit soldered to it, which is usually built into the case from a suitable grade of plastic, metal, wood, etc. In some embodiments, the RFID electronics are attached to a thin polyethylene ring or glued to a polyethylene terephthalate film. As is known from the prior art, in order to send a response to a reader, a passive RFID tag must first energize its circuits with the energy of the reader's radio signal. To reduce the response time, they use RFID tags, which can emit radio pulses with the required frequency as a “beacon” so that the reader mounted on the drone, catching them right away, could send a read request.

[0067] In other embodiments, active RFID tags are used. Active RFID tags differ from passive ones in that they contain a lithium battery, which provides additional power to the integrated circuit. Thus, they receive and transmit information at a noticeably greater range than passive ones. The operating frequency ranges of active RFID tags can be as follows: 10 ... 15 MHz; 850 ... 950 MHz; 2.45 GHz. The memory of such a RFID tag reaches 2 MB, and the methods of writing and reading data are similar to passive RFID tags. The service life depends on the battery life and is approximately 3 ... 10 years. The operating temperature range is usually -30 ... + 50 ° C. Active RFID tags can be used with the same readers as passive ones. In addition, their work in the presence of electromagnetic interference from power electrical equipment for obvious reasons is more stable than passive RFID tags.

[0068] In some embodiments of the invention, the RFID tag may be placed inside another object, such as a box or lining of a power transmission pole. Additionally, the RFID tag can be disguised as environmental elements.

[0069] Before installing the RFID tag on the identification object, the RFID tag is programmed. Identification information is recorded in any known manner in a code generator.

[0070] The RFID tags are pre-installed in the mountains at a distance from each other not exceeding the transmission-reception range of the signal from the RFID tag to the passenger drone.

[0071] Step 103: Receive signals from active RFID tags located at an accessible distance of the passenger drone receiver via the passenger drone receiver.

[0072] The reader is a combination of a transmitter and a receiver equipped with an antenna, a demodulator and a decoder of a signal received from a RF tag and an interface with a data processing device. The reader antenna emits radio signals that activate the RFID tag and receive a response RF signal from it. Antennas vary in size and shape and can be integrated in any place of the passenger drone, the most convenient for reading signals from RFID tags, for example on the bottom of the drone. In some embodiments, several readers are located on the drone. Readers operate continuously when reading a large number of RFID tags. However, if continuous reading is not necessary, they are turned on only by a command that followed automatically from the drone software or from the operator. To expand the working area of the detection of RFID tags, a system of several antennas connected to one reader, which is controlled by software, can be used.

[0073] The drone reader picks up the RFID signal of the RFID tag, after which the reader connects to the RFID tag, which contains a link with information to the drone's database, which displays information about this object, and its coordinates. When reading this RFID tag, the following fields are obtained:

[0074] - object code, its type;

[0075] - the coordinates of this object.

[0076] In some embodiments of the invention, geographic coordinates include latitude, longitude, and altitude. The geographic coordinates of the same point can be expressed in different formats. Depending on whether minutes and seconds are represented as values from 0 to 60 or from 0 to 100 (decimal fractions).

[0077] The coordinate format can be used as follows: DD degrees, MM - minutes, SS - seconds, if minutes and seconds are represented as decimal fractions, then DD.DDDD is used. For example:

[0078] DD MM SS: 50 ° 40 '45' 'E, 40 50' 30 '' N - Degrees, minutes, seconds

[0079] DD MMMMM: 50 ° 40.75 'E, 40 50.5' N - Degrees, decimal minutes

[0080] DD.DDDDD: 50.67916 East, 40.841666 North - Decimal degrees.

[0081] An example of different forms of recording the same coordinates:

[0082] 21.36214, -157.95341

[0083] N21.36214, W157.95341

[0084] 21.36214 ° N, 157.95341 ° W

[0085] 21 ° 21.728'N, 157 ° 57.205'W

[0086] 21 ° 21'43.7``N, 157 ° 57'12.3''W

[0087] Reading data from the RFID tag occurs automatically as soon as the RFID tag falls within the range of the aircraft’s antenna. Burns, dirt, high or low temperature or aggressive media, cardboard or plastic packaging are not an obstacle for it.

[0088] When using radio frequency identification technology, the available distance for signal exchange can be in the range of 5 m to 3000 m). If the upper limit of the acceptable range from at least one RF tag is exceeded, the passenger drone can automatically connect to the global positioning system.

[0089] In some embodiments, the data from the RFID tag is encrypted with a public key cryptographic algorithm, for example, RSA, DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm), Elgamal (El-Gamal cipher system), Diffie-Hellman, etc., without limitation.

[0090] In some embodiments, a sonar and / or radar located on the bottom of a passenger drone can be used to determine the distance to objects. Sonar (a device for determining the range by the acoustic method) and radar (a device for determining the range by the radar method) work according to one principle, determining the location of distant objects. In both cases, invisible waves are sent, which are reflected from solid objects in the path. The time required to return the reflected waves to the point from which they were directed indicates at what distance the objects are.

[0091] In the radar, a certain type of light waves — radio waves — is used to localize objects. Like all light waves, the radio wave propagates in a straight line with a constant speed of light - 299,274 km / s. In sonar, sound waves are used to localize objects. These waves also propagate in a straight line, but with different speeds. The propagation velocity of sound waves depends on the medium through which they pass. The sound is formed due to the vibration of the object, as a result of which the surrounding molecules begin to vibrate - thus, the sound waves acquire a kind of chain reaction.

[0092] Step 104: at least one drone is positioned based on a highland map, active RFID signals, and passenger drone sensor set data by a data processing device.

[0093] Positioning is carried out in real time. The distance from the RFID tag to the drone’s receiver with fixed coordinates is determined by the angle of direction to the Angle of arrival (AOA) RFID tags, by the time of arrival of the Time of arrival (ToA) signal, or by the propagation time of the signal from the RFID tag to the Time-of-flight (ToF) receiver.

[0094] In some embodiments, positioning is based on triangulation, as shown in FIG. 5. Triangulation uses geometric knowledge to obtain the location of the drone. The location of the passenger drone can be determined either on the basis of a certain distance to the fixed known locations of the RFID tags, or on the basis of the angle of the received signal from RFID tags. In FIG. Figure 5 shows how to get the location of a passenger drone based on information about the distance to the RFID tag and the angle of arrival of the signal. Suppose we have RFID tags A, B, and C that are fixed in known positions. In case (a), as shown in FIG. 5, if the distance of the passenger drone from all three RFID tags is known, the location of the point of the passenger drone can be expressed as the intersection of three circles. For case (b), if the angle of arrival of signals to a location point of a passenger drone located at a certain height above the surface or the angle of a point of a passenger drone to RFIDs is known, one can easily obtain the location of a passenger drone point by the intersection of three vectors, as well as its height. The only problem is how to get the distance or angle from the user's point to the RFID tags.

[0095] In this technical solution, triangulation can be used based on the angle of arrival of RFID signals. This is a method of obtaining the angle of a received signal from known RFID tags to obtain the location of a passenger drone. The signal angle can be easily obtained if the passenger drone and RFID tags use directional antenna technology.

[0096] Time-based triangulation may also be used, which is one of the methods using distance to perform triangulation. The assumption of time-based triangulation is that the time used from the tag to the point of the passenger drone can be used to determine the distance between two points, namely between the tag and the drone. Since the speed of the wireless signal is known, it is approximately equal to the speed of light in air. There are two types of methods for time-based triangulation: ToA (signal arrival time) and TDoA (difference in signal arrival time).

[0097] The ToA method directly measures the time it takes for a data packet to be used to transmit from a passenger drone to a radio tag or vice versa. A passenger drone can transmit a packet with a timestamp. The RFID tag can easily get the arrival time of the signal from the drone. However, this method assumes that the time on the RFID tag and the passenger drone are the same. To satisfy this assumption, RFID tags and passenger drones must accurately synchronize their time, which is very difficult to achieve in reality.

[0098] The TDoA method is similar to the ToA method, however, to use it, you only need to synchronize the RFID tags. Even if the transmission time of the data packets is unknown, the RFID tags may have different hyperbolic curves for different estimated transmission times. In this case, different hyperbolic curves can be assumed for different estimated transmission times of data packets. And curves intersecting at one point should be the correct transmission time, and this point indicates the possible location of the passenger drone.

[0099] Also, in this technical solution, the method of radio imprints is used, which is based on the constructed map of signal levels on a digital map in mountainous areas, and does not require the use of radio signal propagation models. In order to determine the location by this method, a database is created containing information on signal levels in various parts of the digital map of the highlands. The signal level map should consist of real coordinates and the signal levels associated with these values from available active RFID tags. The location of the passenger drone can be estimated by measuring the level of RFID signals, and searching for exact matches in the database or the point closest to the receiver for which the signal levels are measured. This method provides high accuracy in determining the location of a passenger drone, but it requires a signal map to be kept up to date.

[001] To calculate the location of a passenger drone, the method uses pre-collected data on signal strength values in each territorial unit. Each territorial unit corresponds to an m-dimensional vector (m = 20) of real numbers (FingerPrint) - the signal strengths of the corresponding m RF tags. When determining the location of a passenger drone, the signal strength m of RFID tags is taken from it, the m-dimensional vector q is built, and then the database is searched for the closest vectors to the vector q. The location of the passenger drone is defined as the average value of the coordinates of the territorial units corresponding to the nearest vectors to q. The fingerprint method is described in detail in the prior art, for example, here: Honkavirta V. "Location fingerprinting methods in wireless local area networks". M.Sc. thesis, Tampere University of Technology, November 2008.

[002] In some embodiments, during non-flying weather, an additional sonar or radar that is located on the passenger drone is used to position. A visual positioning sensor may also be used. In fact, this is a video camera that analyzes the surface under the drone in real time.

[003] In some embodiments, global positioning systems, such as GPS (NAVSTAR), GLONASS, or Galileo, may be used to improve positioning accuracy.

[004] Step 105: at least one route of the at least one passenger drone is formed based on the positioning determined in the previous step, and the positioning and routes of other drones are taken into account.

[005] All located active RFID tags have known coordinates, which makes it possible to position passenger drones relative to them. Thus, the coordinate system for all passenger drones is a single one. Knowing your coordinates and the coordinates of another passenger drone, you can lay a route towards another passenger drone or, taking into account its route, lay a disjoint route.

[006] Thus, the problem arises of determining the coordinates of other passenger drones in its own coordinate system of a single passenger drone. This task allows you to synchronize the movement of several or groups of passenger drones in real time to prevent their collision.

[007] In this technical solution, a swarm algorithm, for example a particle swarm method, can be used to synchronize passenger drones with each other.

[008] All system agents in the terminology of swarm algorithms, which are passenger drones, fulfill the following conditions:

[009] - All agents must avoid crossing with the agents surrounding them;

[0010] - Each particle must adjust its speed in accordance with the speeds of the particles surrounding it;

[0011] - Each agent should try to maintain a sufficiently small distance between itself and the agents surrounding it.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, there are two passenger drones in the system. The first object (base object) is an object that determines the location of the second object in its own coordinate system. The second object (target object) is an object whose coordinates must be determined in the coordinate system of the base object.

[0013] The solution to the problem of determining the coordinates of a moving object in

own coordinate system of the base object, if only the distances between objects are known, measured at consecutive moments of time, it is known from the prior art and is obvious to a specialist.

[0014] Similarly, coordinates are determined, routes of any number of passenger drones are formed, and problems associated with the interaction of the base object with these target objects are solved.

[0015] In some embodiments of the invention, a passenger drone can fly along a route manually adjusted by a user on a graphical user interface of a passenger drone.

[0016] The routing of a user's passenger drone can be carried out at predetermined points of the user, or along the ski track, or along the safest places in the event of a fall, etc.

[0017] In some embodiments of the invention, so-called "motion graphs" are used to increase accuracy — some probable trajectories of movement of passenger drones. Using such an algorithm significantly improves positioning accuracy. In this solution, a wide arsenal of trajectory calculation algorithms can be used: ToF (Time-of-Flight); RSSi (Received Signal Strength Indicator - by signal strength from RFID tags); IMU (Inertial Movement Unit - electronic motion recorder), as well as an effective set of sensors: three-axis accelerometer; triaxial gyroscope; three-axis magnetometer of a passenger drone.

[0018] In some embodiments of the invention, two types of wireless network topology can be used: point-to-point (p2p) and / or point-to-multipoint (p2p). The point in this context can be understood as a passenger drone, the topology of a wireless network implies the construction of a bridge between Wi-Fi access points. To form a wireless bridge and transfer data between drones, each passenger drone must additionally contain a receiving and transmitting antenna.

[0019] For the wireless bridge between drones to work correctly, the distance must correspond to the radius of the Fresnel zone, which is determined by the following formula:

[0020] where R is the radius of the Fresnel zone, m

[0021] S - distance to the desired calculation point, from the first antenna, km

[0022] D is the distance to the desired calculation point, from the second antenna, km

[0023] f is the frequency, GHz.

[0024] To organize the topology of a point-to-multipoint network, they can be used in conjunction with RF tags, for example, in one housing, optionally Wi-Fi access points. Ubiquiti access points of the NanoBeam, PowerBeam, NanoBridge and PowerBridge series can be used, which have a high-performance radio part with high power (up to 28 dBm) and parabolic WiFi antennas focusing the radio signal into a narrow beam, which allows achieving a connection range of up to 15 km or more in direct line of sight between devices. An analogue can be AirGrid access points, which, with similar characteristics, have less windage, since the reflectors of their WiFi antennas have a lattice shape. The use of AirGrid is highly recommended in places with high wind load, for example, in mountainous areas. When using a wireless WiFi bridge, there is the possibility of an uninterrupted exchange of information between passenger drones at a sufficiently large distance, which can also be used for positioning drones.

[0025] This wireless Wi-Fi bridge can operate at a frequency of 5 GHz (unlike most WiFi equipment operating at a frequency of 2.4 GHz), therefore, interference with data transmission is not affected.

[0026] A mountain drone passenger navigation system may include a passenger drone containing engine drivers (FSC), a Flight Control Unit (FCU), an inertia IMU, a radio transmitter, a power module, and a navigation module.

[0027] To control the engines of a passenger drone, a device is needed that converts low-power control signals into currents sufficient to control the motors. Such a device is called an engine driver (FSC). In the prior art, there are quite a lot of very different schemes for controlling electric motors. They differ both in power and in the elemental base on which they are made. In this technical solution, a microcircuit called L293D can be used and is one of the most common microcircuits designed for this purpose. L293D contains two drivers at once for controlling low-power electric motors (four independent channels combined in two pairs). It has two pairs of inputs for control signals and two pairs of outputs for connecting electric motors. In addition, the L293D has two inputs for enabling each of the drivers. These inputs are used to control the rotation speed of electric motors using a pulse-width modulated signal (PWM). This microcircuit combines a full-fledged controller, a three-phase driver, analog peripherals (comparators, ADCs, op-amps) and power circuits (LDO 12V, DC / DC). The microcircuit can work with voltages up to 45 V and is an ideal solution for creating ultra-compact electric motor drivers.

[0028] Flight control unit (FCU) determines flight stability. The control board can be pre-programmed, resulting in a control system that operates under the supervision of an operator or autonomously. With the help of a loop, it connects to each motor, engine driver, and sends a control signal (a programmed command) to it. The more signals a board can process, the more maneuvers a passenger drone can perform. A set of sensors for the passenger drone is also connected to the control board. Accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, data from RFID tags transmit to it their readings, which it should process. Here, feedback is also formed with the remote operator and / or the passenger, who is the operator, through a transmitter mounted on the housing.

[0029] Lithium-based batteries, in particular lithium polymer (Li-Pol), can be used as the power supply module (s). A distinctive feature of lithium batteries designed to power a passenger drone is their ability to high current output, which is expressed by the value of "C", a multiple of the battery capacity. For passenger drones, batteries with a current output of at least 15 ... 25C are needed. In this invention, a series of batteries LP / HC can be used, which has a current efficiency of up to 15 ... 20 ° C, and the series LP / HD - 20C. For example, an LP1042126HD battery with a capacity of 5 Ah is capable of long-term operation on a load with a consumption current of up to 100 A.

[0030] As a radio transmitter, a SPIRIT1 universal transmitter operating in the frequency ranges of 169/315/433/868/915 MHz and providing a transmission speed of up to 500 kbps can be used. The transmitter power for SPIRIT1 reaches 16 dBm, and the receiver sensitivity is 118 dBm Also SPIRI1T is characterized by small dimensions (2 × 2 mm) and low consumption. Also, a passenger drone can include a Wi-Fi module, which is a complete system for building wireless network nodes with support for the TCP / IP stack, server functions and SSI / TLS security protocols.

[0031] The methods described herein, actions for their implementation, and various embodiments and variations of these methods and actions, individually or in combination, can be determined in accordance with computer-readable instructions material embodied on one or more computer-readable media for example, on non-volatile recording media, memory elements on integrated circuits, or a combination thereof. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a data processing device. By way of example, but not limitation, computer-readable media may include computer storage devices and media used in communication. Computer storage devices contain volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any way or technology for storing information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage devices include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other technology storage media, CD-ROMs, digital versatile disks (DVDs) or other optical storage devices, magnetic tapes, magnetic tape, magnetic storage devices disks or other magnetic storage devices, other types of volatile and non-volatile storage devices, any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and to which the computer can receive up to stupa, and any suitable combination of the above.

[0032] Computer-readable instructions executed on one or more computer-readable media may define instructions, for example, as part of one or more programs that, when executed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform one or more of the functions described herein, and / or various embodiments, variations, and combinations thereof. Computer-readable media on which such instructions are implemented may reside on one or more of the components of any of the systems described herein, may be distributed across one or more of these components, and may be in transition between them. Various aspects of the invention can be implemented in a programmable environment (for example, documents created in HTML, XML, or another format that, when viewed in a browser program window, perform aspects of a graphical user interface (GUI) or perform other functions). Various aspects of the invention may be implemented as programmed and unprogrammed elements, or as any combination thereof.

[0033] Computer-readable media can be portable so that instructions stored on them can be downloaded to any suitable computer system resource to implement the aspects of the present invention discussed herein. In addition, it should be understood that the instructions stored on a computer-readable medium described above are not limited to instructions implemented as part of an application program running on a main data processing device; rather, instructions can be implemented like any type of machine code (eg, software or micro-instruction) that can be used to program the processor to implement the aspects of the present invention discussed above.

[0034] Various embodiments according to the invention may be implemented on one or more computer systems. For example, various aspects of the invention can be implemented as specialized software running in a universal computer system, for example, a device capable of operating in a wireless system, and / or on a peripheral device. A computer system may include a processor connected to one or more storage devices, such as a disk drive, a storage device, or another device for storing data. A storage device is typically used to store programs and data while the computer system is operating. The components of a computer system can be connected by a combining mechanism, which can contain one or more data buses (for example, between components that are integrated inside the same machine), and / or networks (for example, between components that reside on separate discrete machines) . A computer system also includes one or more input devices, for example, a keyboard, mouse, trackball, microphone, touch screen, and one or more output devices, for example, a printing device, a display screen, a speaker. In addition, the computer system may contain one or more interfaces that connect the computer system to the communication network (additionally or as an alternative to the pooling mechanism).

[0035] The network may be any suitable type of network, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), intranet, Internet, or any combination thereof. For illustrative purposes, this example shows a limited number of devices. Devices can join the network through one or more servers, routers, access modules, gateways, network address translation devices, or through any suitable combination thereof.

[0036] It should be understood that the invention is not limited to its implementation on any particular system or group of systems. It should also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular distributed architecture, network, or communication protocol.

[0037] From some of the embodiments of the invention described herein, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above described embodiment is merely an illustration and not a limitation, and is presented by way of example only. Numerous modifications and other embodiments are within the scope of conventional means adopted in the art and are considered to fall within the scope of the invention. The above description and drawings are by way of example only. In particular, although many of the examples presented here contain specific combinations of a method, action, or system elements, it should be understood that these actions and these elements can be combined in other ways to accomplish the same goals. The actions, elements and features discussed in connection with only one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.

Claims (23)

1. A method for navigating a passenger drone in a mountainous area, comprising the following steps: • receive a mountain map loaded in the memory of at least one passenger drone with a set of sensors; • transmit signals in real time through a set of active RFID tags, including information about their location with reference to the topography of the area, to at least one passenger drone; • receive signals from active RFID tags located at an accessible distance from the receiver of the passenger drone through the receiver of a passenger drone; • positioning of at least one drone based on a map of the highlands, signals of active RFID tags and data from a set of sensors of a passenger drone via a data processing device,

measure the signal levels of all RFID tags at each point on the digital map where it is installed;

determining the closest RFID tag to the drone receiver for which signal levels have been measured;

determine the location of the passenger drone as the average value of the nearest coordinates of the RFID tags; • form at least one route of at least one passenger drone based on the positioning determined in the previous step, and take into account the positioning and routes of other drones. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the active RFID tag is a GPS beacon and / or iBeacon beacon and / or RFID tag. 3. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that the drone has a camera, and / or lidar, and / or sonar. 4. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when forming a map of the highlands based on signals from active RFID tags, the data processing device is on the passenger drone. 5. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when forming a map of the highlands based on signals from active RFID tags, the data processing device is located remotely. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that when forming the routes of passenger drones, a swarm algorithm is used to synchronize passenger drones with each other. 7. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when positioning passenger drones use GPS, and / or GLONASS, and / or Galileo. 8. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when positioning passenger drones use the method of radio fingerprints. 9. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when positioning passenger drones, the distance from the RFID tag to the drone's receiver is determined by the direction angle to the RFID tags, and / or by the signal arrival time, and / or by the signal propagation time from the RFID tag to the receiver. 10. The navigation system of a passenger drone in the highlands, including the following components: • at least one passenger drone, configured to receive signals from at least one RF tag located at an accessible distance of the receiver by the receiver; • at least one RFID tag, configured to transmit signals including information about its location with reference to the topography of the terrain, at least one passenger drone; • a data processing device configured to

positioning of at least one drone based on a map of the highlands, signals of active RFID tags and data from a set of sensors of a passenger drone by means of a data processing device;

the formation of at least one route of at least one passenger drone based on the positioning determined in the previous step, and taking into account the positioning and routes of other drones

Images