Aerial vehicle and orientation detection method using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11946771-B2
Application number	US-202016837415-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2020
Priority date	Apr 1, 2020
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

An aerial vehicle including a body, a first ranging device, a second ranging device and a controller is provided. The first ranging device is disposed on the body and is configured to detect a first distance between the first ranging device and the reflector. The second ranging device is disposed on the body and is configured to detect a second distance between the second ranging device and the reflector. The controller is configured to obtain an included angle between a direction of the body and the reflector according to the first distance and the second distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aerial vehicle, comprising:
a body:
a first ranging device disposed on the body and configured to detect a first distance between the first ranging device and a surface of a reflector;
a second ranging device disposed on the body and configured to detect a second distance between the second ranging device and the surface of the reflector; and
a controller configured to obtain an included angle between a direction of the body and the reflector according to the first distance and the second distance;
wherein the reflector is a physical reflector;
wherein the first ranging device has a first signal emission surface, and the second ranging device has a second signal emission surface: a first angle is formed between a first normal direction of the first signal emission surface and a second normal direction of the second signal emission surface, and a second angle is formed between the first normal direction of the first signal emission surface and the direction: the controller is further configured to:
obtain the included angle between the direction and the reflector according to the first distance, the second distance, the first angle and the second angle, wherein the second distance, the direction of the body and the surface of the reflector form a triangle.

2. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the body has a first reference plane parallel to the direction; the first signal emission surface and the second signal emission surface overlap the first reference plane.

3. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the body has a longitudinal axis and a second reference plane, the direction is parallel to the longitudinal axis, and extending of the second reference plane passes through the first signal emission surface, the second signal emission surface and the longitudinal axis;
wherein the direction is a flight direction of the aerial vehicle.

4. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the second signal emission surface is perpendicular to the first signal emission surface.

5. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the direction is a flight direction of the aerial vehicle.

6. The aerial vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the first angle is 90°, and the second angle is 45°.

7. The aerial vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the body has a first reference plane passing through an intersection of the first normal direction and the second normal direction and parallel to the direction.

8. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an angular velocity detector configured to detect an angular velocity of the body;
wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine whether the included angle with numerical mutation exists in a plurality of included angles within a time interval;
determine whether an angular velocity of the body has changed;
filter off the included angle with numerical mutation if the included angle with numerical mutation exists in the included angles and the angular velocity of the body remains unchanged.

9. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an angular velocity detector configured to detect an angular velocity of the body;
wherein the controller is further configured to:
obtain a plurality of distance differences between a plurality of first distances and a plurality of the second distances within a time interval;
determine whether the distance difference with numerical mutation exists in the distance differences;
determine whether an angular velocity of the body has changed;
filter off the distance difference with the numerical mutation if the distance difference with the numerical mutation exists in the distance differences and the angular velocity of the body remains unchanged.

10. The aerial vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the first ranging device is located in front of the second ranging device;
wherein the body comprises a front end and a rear end, the first ranging device is closer to the front end than the second ranging device.

11. A direction detecting method, comprising:
detecting a first distance between the first ranging device and a surface of a reflector by a first ranging device of an aerial vehicle, wherein the reflector is a physical reflector;
detecting a second distance between a second ranging device and the surface of the reflector by the second ranging device of the aerial vehicle; and
obtaining an included angle between a direction of a body of the aerial vehicle and the reflector by a controller of the aerial vehicle according to the first distance and the second distance;
wherein the first ranging device has a first signal emission surface, and the second ranging device has a second signal emission surface; a first angle is formed between a first normal direction of the first signal emission surface and a second normal direction of the second signal emission surface, and a second angle is formed between the first normal direction of the first signal emission surface and the direction;
wherein obtaining the included angle between the direction of the body of the aerial vehicle and the reflector by the controller of the aerial vehicle according to the first distance and the second distance comprising:
obtain the included angle between the direction and the reflector according to the first distance, the second distance, the first angle and the second angle, wherein the second distance, the direction of the body and the surface of the reflector form a triangle by the controller.

12. The direction detecting method according to claim 11 , wherein the body has a first reference plane parallel to the direction; the first signal emission surface and the second signal emission surface overlap the first reference plane.

13. The direction detecting method according to claim 11 , wherein the body has a longitudinal axis and a second reference plane, the direction is parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the extending of the second reference plane passes through the first signal emission surface, the second signal emission surface and the longitudinal axis;
wherein the direction is a flight direction of the aerial vehicle.

14. The direction detecting method according to claim 11 , wherein the second signal emission surface is perpendicular to the first signal emission surface.

15. The direction detecting method according to claim 11 , wherein in obtaining the included angle between the direction of the body of the aerial vehicle and the reflector by the controller of the aerial vehicle according to the first distance and the second distance, the direction is a flight direction of the aerial vehicle.

16. The direction detecting method according to claim 15 , wherein the first angle is 90°, and the second angle is 45°.

17. The direction detecting method according to claim 15 , wherein the body has a first reference plane passing through an intersection of the first normal direction and the second normal direction and parallel to the direction.

18. The direction detecting method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
detecting an angular velocity of the body by an angular velocity detector of the aerial vehicle;
determining, by the controller, whether within a time interval the included angle with numerical mutation exists in a plurality of included angles;
determining, by the controller, whether an angular velocity of the body has changed; and
filtering off the included angle with the numerical mutation by the controller if the included angle with the numerical mu

Assignees

• Ind Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Tai Yuan-Chu
• Wu Chung-Hsien
• Wang yu-kai

Classifications

• B64U2101/70

  for use inside enclosed spaces, e.g. in buildings or in vehicles · CPC title

• B64U20/80

  Arrangement of on-board electronics, e.g. avionics systems or wiring · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• G01C3/18 Primary

  with one observation point at each end of the base (G01C3/20 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B64D43/00

  Arrangements or adaptations of instruments · CPC title