Information processing method, unmanned aerial vehicle, and unmanned aerial vehicle control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11656639-B2
Application number	US-202117469317-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2021
Priority date	May 15, 2019
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

An information processing method performed by a computer includes: determining whether a target sound has been recognized; when it is determined that the target sound has been recognized, acquiring positions and sound recording directions of unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring noise-related information regarding noise generated by at least one of the unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring an estimated position of a sound recording target estimated from the target sound; determining at least one of target positions and target sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the positions and the sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information; and outputting, to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of a request for moving to the target position and a request for setting the sound recording direction to the target sound recording direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An information processing method executed by a computer, the information processing method comprising:
determining whether a target sound has been recognized, based on sound data acquired by at least one of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
when it is determined that the target sound has been recognized,
acquiring a position and a sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
acquiring noise-related information regarding noise generated by the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
acquiring an estimated position of a sound recording target that is a source of the target sound, the estimated position being estimated from the target sound;
determining, based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the position and the sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information, at least one of a target position and a target sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles; and
outputting, to each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of a request for moving to the target position and a request for setting the sound recording direction to the target sound recording direction.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the target sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is a direction in which the each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles moves toward the estimated position of the sound recording target, and
the target position of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is a position where the sound recording direction does not overlap a noise area of another one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles estimated from the noise-related information of the other one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles in a state in which the each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles directs the sound recording direction toward the estimated position of the sound recording target.

3. The information processing method according to claim 2 ,
wherein the noise-related information includes rotational speed Information regarding rotational speeds of rotors included in the unmanned aerial vehicle, and
the noise area is estimated based on the rotational speed information and a correspondence relationship between a noise level pre-set for each of the rotational speeds of the rotors included in the unmanned aerial vehicle and a distance from the unmanned aerial vehicle.

4. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the estimated position of the sound recording target is updated based on the target sound obtained from each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles after the outputting of the request.

5. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein an unmanned aerial vehicle other than the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles that has acquired the sound data used to recognize the target sound is caused to preferentially move to the target position or set the sound recording direction to the target sound recording direction, and the unmanned aerial vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle included in the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles.

6. The information processing method according to claim 5 ,
wherein a current position of the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles that has acquired the sound data used to recognize the target sound is determined as the target position of the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, and
a direction in which the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles moves toward the estimated position of the sound recording target is determined as the target sound recording direction of the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles.

7. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles that has a moving speed higher than moving speeds of the other unmanned aerial vehicles is preferentially moved.

8. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the target positions of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles are different from each other, and distances from the target positions of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles to the estimated position of the sound recording target are different from each other.

9. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein the target position of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is a position where a sound obstruction does not overlap the sound recording direction in a state in which the each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles directs the sound recording direction toward the estimated position of the sound recording target.

10. The information processing method according to claim 1 ,
wherein a moving route to the target position of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is determined based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the position and the sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information, and
the moving route of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is a position where a sound obstruction does not overlap the sound recording direction while the each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is moving along the moving route in a state in which the each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles directs the sound recording direction toward the estimated position of the sound recording target.

11. The information processing method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring sound pickup sensitivity for the target sound; and
acquiring the estimated position estimated based on the sound pickup sensitivity.

12. The information processing method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring a frequency of the target sound,
wherein the noise-related information includes a frequency of noise generated by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and
at least one of the target position or the target sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles is determined based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the position and the sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, the noise-related information, and the frequency of the target sound.

13. An unmanned aerial vehicle that is one of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, the unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:
a determiner that determines whether a target sound has been recognized, based on sound data acquired by at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles;
an acquirer that, when the determiner determines that the target sound has been recognized, acquires a position and a sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, noise-related information regarding noise generated by the at least one of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, and an estimated position of a sound recording target that is a source of the target sound, the estimated position being estimated from the target sound;
a decider that decides at least one of a target position and a target sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the position and the sound recording direction of each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information; and
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Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• John Stephen William
• Konishi Kazunobu
• Asai Katsuhiko
• Inoue Kazuo
• Kuhara Shunsuke

Classifications

• B64U2101/55

  for life-saving or rescue operations; for medical use · CPC title

• H04R2499/13

  Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles · CPC title

• H04R1/20

  Arrangements for obtaining desired frequency or directional characteristics (for stereophonic purpose H04R5/00) · CPC title

• G05D1/104 Primary

  involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying (traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00) · CPC title

• G05D1/0094

  involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target · CPC title