Unmanned aerial vehicle, method and apparatus for filtering in ranging of the same, and ranging method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017269207-A1
Application number	US-201715610763-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 1, 2017
Priority date	Oct 22, 2015
Publication date	Sep 21, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for filtering in ranging of a UAV is provided, which is based on a characteristic that velocities of the UAV change continuously during a moving process. A current velocity of the UAV is obtained via seeking difference of distances measured by the sensor, then a variance of continuous velocities is calculated and it is determined whether a current distance is valid according to the variance. The general process of the method is as follows. First, initial distances measured by the sonar sensor are acquired, secondly, it is determined whether a new distance is valid according to the initial distances, if the new distance satisfies a curtain condition, the new distance is considered to be valid and the initial distances are updated; if the new distance does not satisfy the curtain condition, a distance is estimated and used as the current distance and the initial distances are maintained.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for filtering in ranging of an unmanned aerial vehicle UAV, performed in at least one computing device and comprising:
acquiring N continuous distances of the UAV based on a sonar sensor; determining a first distance buffer queue and a first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances, wherein, N is an integer greater than 2; filtering a current distance of the UAV measured based on the sonar sensor, according to the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue to obtain an actual distance of the UAV.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein, determining the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances comprises:
obtaining N−1 moving velocities according to the N distances and calculating a difference level value of the N−1 moving velocities; when each distance is valid according to the difference level value, constituting the first distance buffer queue based on the N distances and constituting the first moving velocity buffer queue based on the N−1 moving velocities.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein, the difference level value comprises a variance, and determining the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances comprises:
S 11 , finding derivatives of the N continuous distances with respect to time to obtain N−1 moving velocities of the UAV, wherein the N continuous distances are measured in a preset time duration; S 12 , calculating a variance of the N−1 moving velocities; S 14 , when the variance is less than or equal to the first preset value, constituting the first distance buffer queue based on the N distances and constituting the first moving velocity buffer queue based on the N−1 moving velocities.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein, filtering the current distance of the UAV measured based on the sonar ranging method according to the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue to obtain the actual distance of the UAV comprises:
S 21 , moving the first distance in the first distance buffer queue out, and executing acts S 11 to S 12 according to the remained N−1 distances and the current distance; S 22 , determining whether the current variance calculated is less than or equal to a second preset value; S 23 , when the current variance calculated is less than or equal to the second preset value, replacing the first distance in the first distance buffer queue by the current distance so as to update the first distance buffer queue, and taking the current distance as the actual distance of the UAV.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein, after act S 22 , the method further comprises:
S 24 , when the current variance calculated is greater than the second preset value, moving the N th distance in the first distance buffer queue out, and executing acts S 11 and S 12 according to the remained N−1 distances and the current distance; and determining whether the current variance calculated is less than or equal to the second preset value; S 25 , when the current variance calculated is less than or equal to the second preset value, replacing the N th distance in the first distance buffer queue by the current distance so as to update the first distance buffer queue, and taking the current distance as the actual distance of the UAV.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein, after act S 24 , the method further comprises:
S 26 , when the current variance calculated is greater than the second preset value, adding the current distance into a second buffer queue, and when the number of distances in the second buffer queue comes to N, finding derivatives of the second buffer queue with respect to time to obtain N−1 new moving velocities and calculating a variance of the N−1 new moving velocities; when the variance of the N−1 new moving velocities is less than or equal to the second preset value, replacing the first distance buffer queue by the second buffer queue, and taking the current distance as the actual distance of the UAV.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein, after act S 26 , the method further comprises:
S 27 , when the variance of the N−1 new moving velocities is greater than the second preset value, ignoring the current distance, and calculating an estimate value of a current position of the UAV according to a distance and a velocity measured last time, and taking the estimate value of the current position as the actual distance of the UAV.

8 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein, the first preset value is determined according to a maximum acceleration of the UAV.

9 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein, the second preset value is twice as much as the first preset value.

10 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein, before act S 11 , the method further comprises:
measuring M continuous distances based on the sonar sensor, wherein, M is greater than N; extracting N greatest distances from the M distances, and obtaining the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue according to the N greatest distances.

11 . An unmanned aerial vehicle UAV, comprising:
a sonar sensor; a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire N continuous distances of the UAV based on the sonar sensor; determine an first distance buffer queue and an first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances, wherein, N is an integer greater than 2; and filter a current distance of the UAV measured based on the sonar sensor according to the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue to obtain an actual distance of the UAV.

12 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances by acts of:
obtaining N−1 moving velocities according to the N distances and calculating a difference level value of the N−1 moving velocities; when each distance is valid according to the difference level value, constituting the first distance buffer queue based on the N distances and constituting the first moving velocity buffer queue based on the N−1 moving velocities.

13 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 12 , wherein the difference level value comprises a variance, and the processor is configured to determine the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue of the UAV according to the N distances by acts of:
S 11 , finding derivatives of the N continuous distances with respect to time to obtain N−1 moving velocities of the UAV, wherein the N continuous distances are measured in a preset time duration; S 12 , calculating a variance of the N−1 moving velocities; S 14 , when the variance is less than or equal to the first preset value, constituting the first distance buffer queue based on the N distances and constituting the first moving velocity buffer queue based on the N−1 moving velocities.

14 . The unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to filter the current distance of the UAV measured based on the sonar ranging method according to the first distance buffer queue and the first moving velocity buffer queue to obtain the actual distance of the UAV by acts of:
S 21 , moving the first distance in the first distance buffer queu

Assignees

• Guangzhou Xaircraft Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chen Yousheng

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• G01S15/08 Primary

  Systems for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S15/46) · CPC title

• G01S7/52

  of systems according to group G01S15/00 · CPC title

• G01C21/12

  executed aboard the object being navigated; Dead reckoning · CPC title

• G01S15/60

  wherein the transmitter and receiver are mounted on the moving object, e.g. for determining ground speed, drift angle, ground track · CPC title