Charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles and method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9855852-B2
Application number	US-201615051483-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 26, 2015
Publication date	Jan 2, 2018
Grant date	Jan 2, 2018

Abstract

A charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles and a charging method thereof. The charging apparatus includes: a transmit coil provided to a charging station and generating a magnetic field; a reception coil generating induced electromotive force according to variation of magnetic flux of the transmit coil; a reception coil adjuster adjusting at least one of an inclination and an orientation of the reception coil; and a controller controlling at least one of the inclination and the orientation of the reception coil by controlling the reception coil adjuster according to magnitude of the induced electromotive force generated in the reception coil by the magnetic field generated in the transmit coil.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles, comprising:
a reception coil generating induced electromotive force according to variation of magnetic flux of a transmit coil which is provided to a charging station and generates a magnetic field;
a reception coil adjuster adjusting at least one of an inclination and an orientation of the reception coil;
a controller controlling at least one of the inclination and the orientation of the reception coil by controlling the reception coil adjuster according to magnitude of the induced electromotive force generated in the reception coil by the magnetic field generated in the transmit coil; and
a plurality of magnetic flux detectors measuring a magnetic flux generated in the transmit coil and being arranged around the reception coil;
wherein the controller controls the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to land after moving the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to a location at which magnitudes of the magnetic fluxes detected by the magnetic flux detectors are within a preset range of deviation.

2. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the reception adjuster such that the induced electromotive force generated in the reception coil reaches a maximum value.

3. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1 ,
wherein the magnetic flux detectors sense a magnetic flux pattern based on the measured magnetic flux,
wherein the controller recognizes the charging station based on the magnetic flux pattern sensed by the magnetic flux detectors.

4. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 3 , wherein the magnetic flux detectors are provided to a lower side of the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

5. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1 , wherein the magnetic flux detectors are radially arranged around the reception coil.

6. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a GPS receiver receiving a GPS signal from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite to detect positional coordinates of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
wherein the controller controls the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to the charging station based on positional coordinates of the charging station and the positional coordinates detected by the GPS receiver.

7. A charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles, comprising:
a reception coil generating induced electromotive force according to variation of magnetic flux of a transmit coil which is provided to a charging station and generates a magnetic field;
a plurality of magnetic flux detectors measuring a magnetic flux generated in the transmit coil and sensing a magnetic flux pattern based on the measured magnetic flux; and
a controller recognizing a charging station based on the magnetic flux pattern sensed by the magnetic flux detectors,
wherein the magnetic flux detectors are arranged around the reception coil;
wherein the controller controls the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to land after moving the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to a location at which magnitudes of the magnetic fluxes detected by the magnetic flux detectors are within a preset range of deviation.

8. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 7 , wherein the magnetic flux detectors are radially arranged about the reception coil.

9. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 7 , wherein the magnetic flux detectors are provided to a lower side of the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

10. The charging apparatus for unmanned aerial vehicles according to claim 7 , further comprising:
a GPS receiver receiving a GPS signal from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite to detect positional coordinates of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
wherein the controller controls the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to the charging station based on positional coordinates of the charging station and the positional coordinates detected by the GPS receiver.

11. A charging method of an unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:
measuring, by magnetic flux detectors, a magnetic flux generated in a transmit coil of a charging station, and sensing a magnetic flux pattern based on the measured magnetic flux;
recognizing, by a controller, the charging station based on the magnetic flux pattern sensed by the magnetic flux detectors, and controlling a body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to land through a drive module; and
generating, by a reception coil, induced electromotive force according to variation of the magnetic flux of the transmit coil to charge a battery,
wherein in the step of controlling the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to land through the drive module, the controller controls the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to land after moving the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to a location at which magnitudes of the magnetic fluxes detected by the magnetic flux detectors are within a preset range of deviation.

12. The charging method of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, by a GPS receiver, a GPS signal from a GPS satellite to detect positional coordinates of the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
wherein the controller controls the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to the charging station based on the positional coordinates detected by the GPS receiver through a drive module, followed by recognizing the charging station based on the magnetic flux patterns sensed by the magnetic flux detectors.

13. The charging method of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein in the step of charging the battery, the controller adjusts at least one of an inclination and an orientation of the reception coil through a reception coil adjuster such that the induced electromotive force generated by the reception coil reaches a maximum value.

14. The charging method of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 11 , further comprising:
controlling, by the controller, the body of the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to the positional coordinates of the charging station through the drive module based on the positional coordinates detected by a GPS receiver.

Assignees

• Korea Railroad Res Institute

Inventors

• Cho In Ho
• Jung Shin Myung
• Kwon Yong Jang
• Lee Byung Song

Classifications

• G01S19/14

  specially adapted for specific applications · CPC title

• Y02T90/16

  Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60L53/36

  by positioning the vehicle · CPC title

• H02J50/90

  involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment · CPC title