KR20170047029A

KR20170047029A - Recharging apparatus for Unmanned Aircraft

Info

Publication number: KR20170047029A
Application number: KR1020150147415A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 정태성
Original assignee: 주식회사 크룩스이앤티
Priority date: 2015-10-22
Filing date: 2015-10-22
Publication date: 2017-05-04

Abstract

The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for charging an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a power receiving coil through wireless power transmission, the apparatus having a charging area accessible to an unmanned aerial receiving coil, A base unit having a power transmission coil; And a control unit including a power supply unit for supplying power to the power transmission coil and a control unit for controlling power supply to the power supply unit.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a recharging apparatus for unmanned aircraft,

The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle charging device, and more particularly, to a charging device for charging an unmanned aerial vehicle by supplying power for charging by wireless power transmission to a battery inside the unmanned air vehicle, The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus.

Generally, unmanned aircraft refers to a vehicle that is controlled by a pilot located at a remote location, or automatically controlled by a control command preset by an internal GPS or controller installed therein.

Such unmanned aerial vehicles are utilized for various purposes such as broadcasting, military information collection, weather observation, broadcasting, entertainment, industrial, environmental monitoring, and the like.

Recently, a propeller driven unmanned aerial vehicle using an electric motor has been widely used. Such an electric power-driven unmanned aerial vehicle utilizes a battery power provided therein to supply a power source for the flight and a power source for the controller.

Electric power powered unmanned aerial vehicles have limited time to supply electric power through the battery, so if the power source falls below a predetermined level or when the airplane is over a certain period of time, the battery must be replaced or charged.

However, in the case of the method of replacing the battery, the worker has to perform the battery replacement work, so that there has been a limit in that the labor input for the battery replacement must be performed.

On the other hand, in the case of a method of charging a battery by wire, an operator has to connect an external power supply line to the power supply connector of the battery, so that there is a limit in that a labor input for battery replacement is also required.

In view of this point, there has been proposed a conventional technique in which a terminal coupling structure for power supply is improved. For example, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1489641 (Jan. 29, 2015) discloses a charging terminal portion formed on a body of a flight device and a charging terminal portion formed on a flight device holder for supporting the flight device, A battery non-desorbing automatic charging device is disclosed.

However, since the conventional art requires a physical contact between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the charging device, when the foreign matter adheres to the terminal connection portion due to long-term use, electricity can not be normally supplied. Also, There is a risk of electric short circuit if moisture is adhered to the outer surface of the charging apparatus including the battery.

Therefore, the conventional art has a limitation in that it is difficult to install and use for a long period of time in an outdoor area that is directly exposed to foreign matter or moisture.

Korean Patent No. 10-1489641 (Jan. 29, 2015)

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supplying power for charging a battery in an unmanned air vehicle, the method comprising: And an object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus configured to be able to perform the above-

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for charging an unmanned air vehicle having a power receiving coil through a wireless power transmission, the apparatus having a charging region accessible by a power receiving coil of a unmanned air vehicle, A base unit having a transmission coil capable of wireless power transmission to a coil; And a control unit including a power supply unit for supplying power to the power transmission coil and a control unit for controlling power supply to the power supply unit.

Preferably, the charging area of the base unit comprises a planar area in which the unmanned aerial vehicle can land, and at least one of the transmission coils is disposed in a planar area so that power transmission is possible.

Preferably, the control unit controls the power supply unit to supply power to the power transmission coil when it is determined that the power reception coil of the unmanned air vehicle has reached the rechargeable position.

The present invention has an advantage that charging power can be supplied to the unmanned aerial vehicle without battery replacement or physical electrical terminal connection.

In particular, since the electrical contact is not exposed to the outside of the charging device, the present invention can provide a strong use condition against foreign matter and moisture, and can be installed and used for a long time in an outdoor exposure environment.

1 is a schematic diagram of an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of a base unit of an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control point of an unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining a charging process between the unmanned aerial vehicle charging device and the unmanned aerial vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention may be embodied in many other forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are to be considered in all respects as merely illustrative and not restrictive.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms.

The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, .

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", "having", and the like are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, components, Steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in order that the present invention may be easily understood by those skilled in the art. .

The unmanned aerial vehicle 300 of the present embodiment may be a vertical takeoff and landing type unmanned aerial vehicle having a main body 320, a propeller 310, a leg frame 332, and a seat frame 330, for example. In FIG. 1, a quad-copter type unmanned aerial vehicle is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

A battery (not shown), a GPS (not shown), a controller (not shown), and a signal transmission / reception unit (not shown) may be installed in the body 320 of the UAV 300.

For example, the power receiving coil 334 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 may be installed inside the seating frame 330 as illustrated in FIG. 4, Not shown).

The unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus of the present embodiment includes a charging area accessible to the power receiving coil 334 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 and a power transmitting coil 310 having a transmission coil 110 capable of transmitting power wirelessly to the power receiving coil 334 Unit 100 as shown in FIG. Wireless power transmission may be understood as a non-contact power transmission from another viewpoint.

For example, the wireless power transmission of the present embodiment can be achieved by a magnetic induction method or a magnetic resonance method. For example, charging can be performed in a state where the seat frame 330 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 equipped with the power receiver coil 334 is landed on the charging area of the base unit 100. When charging is performed in the landing state, a magnetic induction method can be applied as a preferable example. The magnetic induction method is a short-distance charging technique in which electric power transmission is performed in a state in which the power receiving coil and the power transmitting coil are located within approximately 1 cm, and is suitable for charging the unmanned object 300 in a landing state.

Preferably, the charging area of the base unit 100 includes a planar area where the unmanned flying vehicle 300 can land, and at least one of the power transmission coils 110 is capable of power transmission in the planar area It is spoken.

4, the base unit 100 may have a structure in which a plurality of power receiving coils 334 are disposed in an inner space formed by the upper plate portion 102 and the lower plate portion 104.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, it is preferable that a plurality of transmission coils 110 are arranged in a lattice form so as to cover the entire area of the base unit 100. Reference numeral 112 in FIG. 3 denotes a feeder for supplying power to the power transmission coil 110.

The unmanned aerial vehicle charging apparatus of the present embodiment includes a control unit 200 having a power supply unit 210 for supplying power to the power transmission coil 110 and a control unit 220 for controlling power supply of the power supply unit 210 ).

The control unit 200 may further include a signal transmission / reception unit 230, a high frequency power generation unit 240, a charge power detection unit 250, and a coil drive circuit unit 260.

The signal transmitting and receiving unit 230 provides a control signal transmitting and receiving function with a control device (not shown) or the unmanned air vehicle 300 located at a remote place.

The high frequency power generating unit 240 converts the power supplied from the power supply unit 210 into a high frequency alternating current required for wireless power transmission and supplies a high frequency alternating current to the power transmission coil 110 through the coil driving circuit unit 260. [ So that wireless power transmission to the power reception coil 334 can be performed. In this process, the power transmission coil 110 and the power reception coil 334 can achieve a magnetic coupling state for wireless power transmission. For example, the power supply unit 210 supplies power from the external power supply 10, converts the current and voltage into necessary currents and voltages, and provides a power on / off function. The external power supply 10 may be, for example, a 220V AC commercial power supply.

The charging power detecting unit 250 may detect the intensity of the charging power transmitted through the transmission coil 110 and the power receiving coil 334 magnetically coupled to each other and transmit the detection result to the controller 220. The control unit 220 determines whether normal charging is being performed between the power transmission coil 110 and the power reception coil 334 and controls the emergency control such as stopping the power supply of the power transmission coil 110 when it is determined that the power is abnormally charged .

The coil drive circuit unit 260 functions to apply the high frequency alternating current generated by the high frequency power generating unit 240 to the power transmission coil 110. In particular, when a plurality of power transmission coils 110 are disposed, the coil drive circuit 260 receives a control command from the controller 220 and selectively applies a high frequency alternating current to the power transmission coil 110 at a specific position It is possible.

For example, the control unit 220 receives the landing position data of the unmanned air vehicle 300 from position sensing means (not shown) separately installed in the base unit 100, and transmits the high frequency AC current Can be controlled.

The control unit 200 controls the power supply unit 210 to supply power to the power transmission coil 110 when the power reception coil 334 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 has reached the rechargeable position .

Whether or not the power receiving coil 334 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 has reached the rechargeable position can be determined from the position sensing means (not shown) separately provided in the base unit 100, The vertical direction, the vertical direction, the height, and the like. The position sensing means (not shown) may be constructed using a known optical sensor, a magnetic sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, or the like. When it is confirmed that the power reception coil 334 of the unmanned air vehicle 300 has reached the rechargeable position, charging for the unmanned air vehicle 300 can be started.

As another example, charging initiation of the unmanned aerial vehicle 300 may be performed by transmitting and receiving a charging start signal between the unmanned air vehicle 300 and the control unit 200 of the unmanned vehicle charging apparatus. The transmission and reception of the charging start signal may be performed between a signal transmission and reception unit (not shown) of the unmanned air vehicle 300 and a signal transmission and reception unit 230 of the control unit 200.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other obvious modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the appended claims to cover many such variations.

10: Power supply
100: Base unit
110: Power transmission coil
200: control unit
210: Power supply
220:
300: unmanned vehicle
334: Suspension coil

Claims

1. An apparatus for charging a unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a power reception coil through wireless power transmission,
A base unit having a charging region in which a receiving coil of an unmanned aerial vehicle is accessible and having a transmission coil capable of wireless power transmission to the receiving coil; And
And a control unit including a power supply unit for supplying electric power to the power transmission coil and a control unit for controlling power supply of the power supply unit.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the charging area of the base unit comprises a planar area on which the unmanned aerial vehicle can land,
Wherein at least one of the power transmission coils is disposed in a planar area in such a manner that electric power can be transmitted toward the upper side.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit comprises:
Wherein the controller controls the power supply unit to supply electric power to the power transmission coil when it is determined that the power reception coil of the unmanned air vehicle has reached the chargeable position.