WO2019156264A1 - One-hand remote control device for operating drone - Google Patents

Abstract

A one-hand remote control device for operating a drone comprises: a body part; an operation part tilting or rotating in place with respect to a hinge shaft formed to protrude at the upper portion of the body part, thereby operating drones such that each drone can move horizontally and rotate in place; an input part formed on the upper surface of the operation part and controlled such that the drone can move vertically; and a control unit for transmitting a control signal for the drone on the basis of a variable resistor having a resistance value that varies according to the tilting direction and the rotating direction of the operation part.

Description

One-hand remote control to control drones

The present invention relates to a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone.

Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are aircraft that do not board people but fly by radio. Multicopter drones were first developed for military use, but they are widely used for shooting in broadcasting, etc. due to the convenience of transportation and storage, and drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) have recently been commercialized.

In particular, the drone is light and easy to carry, quick and economical, and is used for aerial photography and low-altitude reconnaissance search. In addition, the drone has been used in various fields such as photographing in a location that is difficult for humans to access with a camera, or carrying an object on a drone and moving it to another place. In addition, much research is being conducted to use drones in disaster disaster monitoring and logistics transportation.

In recent years, drones have been in the spotlight for leisure sports, such as carrying by general users and taking aerial shots using a camera. Such drones are lighter, smaller, and more compact than conventional ones.

Since drones are unmanned aerial vehicles, they are usually operated by receiving radio signals from users on the ground. To date, most drones are operated by manual operation, which requires human intervention.

However, a conventional drone controller is generally operated by a user grasping with two hands. As such, the controller has become a high barrier to entry due to the difficulty of operation. For this reason, the types of drones sold are divided into introductory, intermediate, and high-end models. In addition, the drone users have a problem that must spend a lot of time to control the drone for the skillful control of the drone.

However, as the field of application of drones extends to leisure sports and the like, there is a need for a drone controller that can be operated more easily and intuitively by those who are not trained in drone manipulation.

Some embodiments of the present invention have an object to provide a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone that can be manipulated with one hand and improved the convenience of steering.

However, the technical problem to be achieved by the present embodiment is not limited to the technical problems as described above, and further technical problems may exist.

As a technical means for achieving the above technical problem, a one-hand remote control device for controlling a drone according to an aspect of the present invention body portion; A control unit capable of manipulating horizontal movement and in-situ rotation of the drone, respectively, by tilting or rotating in place about a hinge axis formed to protrude from the upper portion of the body part; An input unit formed on an upper surface of the control unit and configured to vertically move the drone; And a controller configured to transmit a control signal of the drone based on the variable resistor whose resistance value is changed according to the tilting direction and the rotation direction of the control unit.

 According to any one of the problem solving means of the present invention described above, it is possible to provide a one-handed remote control device capable of various operations with one hand and improved convenience of steering.

1 is a perspective view of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an exploded view of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic view illustrating a hinge axis of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 and 5 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the one-handed remote control device for controlling the drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another element in between. . In addition, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, which means that it may further include other components, except to exclude other components, unless specifically stated otherwise, one or more other features It is to be understood that the present disclosure does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

1 is a perspective view of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an exploded view of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic view illustrating a hinge axis of a one-handed remote control device for controlling a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 and 5 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the one-handed remote control device for controlling the drone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the one-handed remote control device for controlling the drone of the present invention is a drone by tilting or rotating in place relative to the hinge portion formed to protrude on the body portion 10, the upper portion of the body portion 10, Is formed on the upper surface of the control unit 20, the control unit 20 to enable the horizontal movement and in-situ rotation of the respectively, the input unit 30 and the control unit 20 to enable the vertical movement of the drone, respectively And a controller (not shown) that transmits a control signal of the drone based on a variable resistor whose resistance value is changed in accordance with a tilting direction and a rotation direction of the controller. As a result, the horizontal and vertical movement of the drone can be controlled by one hand, thereby improving convenience.

Referring to FIG. 2, the body portion 10 includes a first housing 11 having an accommodation space and a second housing 12 covering an upper end of the first housing 11. In this case, a button portion 13, a hinge shaft support 14, a bracket 15, a support 16, a ring member 17, and a printed circuit board 18 may be mounted in the accommodation space of the first housing 11. Can be.

In detail, the first housing 11 has a ring member 17 through which the hinge shaft 24 penetrates, and a lower end of the hinge shaft 24 is fixed to the hinge shaft 24. The hinge shaft support 14, the bracket 15 on which the lower end of the hinge shaft support 14 is mounted, and the support 16 disposed between the bracket 15 and the ring member 17 are accommodated. do.

In addition, the body portion 10 is fixed to one side of the bracket 15, is disposed on the printed circuit board 18, the printed circuit board 18 including one or more interface terminals for transmitting and receiving data with the external device And at least one communication module 40 connected to the button unit 13 and the printed circuit board 18 to turn on / off the power of the remote control device.

Here, the first housing 11 may be formed with a terminal insertion opening for allowing the introduction of an external device into the interface terminal on one surface, and a module insertion opening through which the communication module 40 passes. In addition, the second housing 12 may have a hinge insertion hole 121 through which the hinge shaft 24 penetrates, and a button insertion hole through which the button portion 13 protrudes. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the button part 13 includes a first button 131 and a second button 132 that are formed to protrude from upper surfaces of both ends, respectively. For example, the user may turn on / off the power of the remote control device by pressing the first button 131, and turn on / off power of the drone by pressing the second button 132.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the control unit 20 may include a rotation sensor. The rotation sensor is coupled to the first member 241 and the first member 241 and the elastic member (not shown) mounted on the hinge shaft 24, so as to be relatively rotatable with respect to the hinge shaft 24. And a second member 221 mounted to the case of the steering unit 20 formed to surround the shaft 24. The first member 241 and the second member 242 perform the function of a variable resistor. The resistance value is changed according to the clockwise / counterclockwise movement of the second member 221 with respect to the first member 241, and an angle of the rotation direction of the control unit 20 may be recognized based on the movement. That is, in the rotation direction, it is possible to recognize in which direction the second member 221 rotates based on the first member 241 to recognize whether the steering unit 20 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise. In addition, as the resistance value is changed, the voltage value applied to the variable resistor is changed, and the rotation angle can be recognized according to the degree of the changed voltage value.

For example, when the control unit 20 is rotated to the right (clockwise) or to the left (counterclockwise) with respect to the hinge axis 24, the controller may control the second member 221 to the first member 241. After detecting the in-situ rotational direction of the control unit 20 according to the variable resistance of each differently generated, generates a right or left in-situ rotation control command signal and transmits the in-situ rotation control command signal to the drone through the communication module 40. Can be. For example, when the second member 221 is returned to the initial position by the elastic member, it may or may not transmit a rotation control command signal returning to the initial position to the drone rotated to the right or left.

As a further embodiment, the second member 221 may be returned to its initial position by an elastic member (eg, a spring). Although not shown in the drawings, the elastic member may be installed to connect the second member 221 and the first member 241 or may be installed to connect the case of the steering unit 20 and the hinge shaft 24. . Due to the influence of the elastic member, if the user releases the hand holding the control unit 20 after rotating the control unit 20, the control unit 20 may be rotated to return to its original position. If the elastic member does not exist, the user may not accurately recognize and return the reference position (an angular position of 0 °) before rotating in place, and may have a considerable difficulty in controlling the drone.

In addition, the one-hand remote control device of the present invention may further include a pair of position sensors 25 arranged to be perpendicular to each other on a horizontal plane.

The position sensor 25 senses the front / rear / left / right directions of the hinge shaft 24, and a resistance value with respect to the tilting direction of the control unit 20 may be changed based on the sensing value. As a further embodiment, the position sensor 25 may be a sensor having the same shape or function as the above-described rotation sensor.

Specifically, a pair of position sensors 25 may be provided in the body portion 10, where one of the pair of position sensors 25 is spaced apart from the hinge axis 24 and the other one Are spaced apart from each other based on the hinge axis 24. Each position sensor 25 may be disposed to have an angle of 90 ° to each other. Each position sensor 25 causes a change in resistance value by the tilted angle as the hinge shaft 24 is tilted (tilts in a specific direction) and is applied to the position sensor 25 in accordance with the change in resistance value. The voltage value changes, and the tilt angle can be determined based on the voltage value at this time. At this time, one position sensor 25 may recognize the angle of the front / rear direction, the other position sensor 25 may recognize the angle of the left / right direction. On the other hand, the position sensor 25 may recognize only the tilting direction, it may also recognize the tilting direction and angle. If the tilt angle is recognized, the horizontal movement control command signal may be generated such that the tilt angle is proportional to the drone's movement distance.

For example, when the control unit 20 is inclined in at least one of front / rear / left / right directions, the control unit may be configured by two position sensors 25 disposed to be perpendicular to each other. After detecting the tilting direction, a front / rear / left / right horizontal movement control command signal may be generated, and the horizontal movement control command signal may be transmitted to the drone through the communication module 40.

For example, when the user rotates the control unit 20 to the right (clockwise) and tilts to the right, the controller generates a right horizontal movement control command signal and a right (clockwise) in-situ rotation control command signal to the drone. Can transmit As such, the user may control the horizontal movement including the horizontal movement and the in-situ rotation of the drone with only one hand using the control unit 20.

Again, referring to FIG. 2, the control unit 20 includes a first half case 21 and a second half case 22 formed to surround the hinge shaft 24, and the first and second half cases ( The upper ends of the 21 and 22 may be formed to have an opening so that the lower end of the input unit 30 is inserted and the upper surface of the input unit 30 is exposed.

Specifically, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the first half case 21 may include a plurality of insertion holes 211 for fixing to the second half case 22 with the screws 23. Similarly, a fixing hole may be formed in the second half case 22 at a position corresponding to the insertion hole 211 of the first half case 21. At this time, the insertion hole 211 may be positioned at the corners of the respective circumferences and the upper center of the hinge shaft 24 so that the first and second half cases 21 and 22 are firmly coupled. As shown in FIG. 4, the depth of the insertion hole 211 positioned in the upper side of the hinge shaft 24 among the plurality of insertion holes 211 may be the largest.

The second half case 22 is such that when the user places the thumb of one hand on the upper surface of the input unit 30 and surrounds the side surface of the control unit 20 with the remaining fingers of one hand, the remaining fingers have a grip. The grip part 222 protruding in a curved shape toward the outside may be formed.

The input unit 30 has a main body 32 and a hole through which the main body 32 penetrates are formed in the center according to the rolling motion of the ball 321 rotatably mounted therein, and the control unit It may include a top cover 31 formed to cover the opening of the (20).

Specifically, the upper end of the body 32 and the ball 321 mounted therein may be connected via a roller. For example, when the user inputs to move the upper end of the body 32 upward, the ball 321 rotates downward, and when the user inputs to move downward, the ball 321 is configured to rotate upwards. Can be. However, since such a structure is generally used in the related art, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

For example, when the main body 32 is input to move upward, an upper altitude control command is generated, and when the main body 32 is input to move downward, a lower altitude movement control command may occur. have. That is, the controller detects the lower rotation of the ball 321 to generate an upper altitude movement control command signal, and detects the upper rotation of the ball 321 to generate a lower altitude movement control command signal to generate the communication module 40. This allows the drone to send up / down altitude movement control command signals. In this way, the user can control the vertical (altitude) movement of the drone with only one thumb through the input unit 30.

In addition, the input unit 30 may be coupled to have a specific slope on top of the first and second half cases 21 and 22. Specifically, the upper surface of the input unit 30 is when the user puts the thumb of one hand on the upper surface of the input unit 30 and surrounds the side of the control unit 20 with the remaining fingers of one hand, the thumb is It may be formed at an inclination according to the mounting direction. To this end, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper cover 31 of the input unit 30 may be provided with a latching portion to catch a seating portion formed in the openings of the first and second half cases 21 and 22. At this time, the seating portion formed in the first half case 21 may be formed at a lower height of the seating portion formed in the second half case 22 so that the top cover 31 is inclined at a specific inclination. In addition, as shown in Figure 2, the upper end of the main body 32 is protruded through the hole of the upper cover 31, the insertion formed in a tubular shape on the bottom plate of the main body 32 and the lower surface of the upper cover 31. The input unit 30 may be assembled by screwing to penetrate the hole. As a result, the user may control the drone in a comfortable posture with the thumb of one hand on the upper surface of the input unit 30.

On the other hand, the control unit 20 may be formed to be restored to the initial state perpendicular to the body portion 10 when no external force is applied. For example, an elastic part (not shown) made of a material having elasticity such as spring and rubber may be provided at a portion where the control unit 20 and the body part 10 contact each other. As a result, when no force is applied after the control unit 20 is tilted or rotated in place, the control unit 20 may be restored to an initial state perpendicular to the body unit 10. However, since such a structure is generally used in the related art, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In a further embodiment, by connecting two one-hand remote control devices of the present invention, one is set to generate a camera motion control signal for controlling the operation of the camera, and the other is a drone motion control signal for controlling the operation of the drone. Can be set to occur. In this case, by simply operating the mode selection (for example, simple button operation) included in each one-hand remote control device, it is possible to set different control signals to the camera / drone.

Specifically, the memory of each one-handed remote control device can store programs for various modes. The selection of the mode can be made in a variety of ways. For example, the mode may be changed at the press of a button, or when an additional one-handed remote controller is connected with an existing one-handed remote controller, the connected device may be automatically set to the camera mode later.

In addition, the two one-hand remote control devices may be connected to each other through wireless communication. It may be set to transmit the control signal to the same drone as it is connected to each other via wireless communication.

Control of the control unit 20 of the one-hand remote control device may generate a different control signal for each mode. For example, in the drone control mode, the above-described control signal is generated by the above-described operation, and in the camera control mode, the front / rear / left / right operations of the control unit 20 may be performed by the front / rear / A tilt command signal in a left / right direction may be generated, and an operation in a specific direction of the input unit 30 may generate a zoom in / zoom out command signal of the camera.

In addition, if the one-hand remote control device for controlling the camera and a terminal having a display (for example, a smartphone) are connected to each other, the one-hand remote control device receives a video signal from the drone's camera to the terminal. By transmitting immediately, it is also possible to provide a camera image currently being shot to the terminal in real time. The user can control the operation of the camera while viewing the camera image in real time.

Therefore, the one-hand remote control apparatus of the present invention places the thumb of one hand of the user on the input unit 30, while holding the control unit 20 with the other fingers of one hand, the horizontal and vertical movement of the drone Because it can be intuitively controlled, anyone can easily control the drone compared to the conventional two-handed drone controller.

The foregoing description of the present invention is intended for illustration, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the above description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

Claims (9)

A one-hand remote control device for controlling drones, Body portion; A control unit capable of manipulating the horizontal movement and the in-situ rotation of the drone by tilting or in-situ rotating about a hinge axis formed to protrude from the upper portion of the body; An input unit formed on an upper surface of the control unit and configured to vertically move the drone; And And a control unit which transmits a control signal of the drone based on a variable resistance whose resistance value is changed according to a tilting direction and a rotation direction of the control unit. The method of claim 1, The body portion A first housing having an accommodation space and a second housing covering an upper end of the first housing, In the first housing, A ring member through which the hinge shaft passes; A hinge shaft support part positioned on an upper portion of the ring member and fixing a lower end of the hinge shaft, the hinge shaft support being configured to tilt the hinge shaft; A bracket to which the lower end of the hinge shaft support is mounted; And The support disposed between the bracket and the ring member is accommodated, one-hand remote control device. The method of claim 2, The body portion A printed circuit board fixed to one side of the bracket, the printed circuit board including one or more interface terminals for transmitting and receiving data with an external device; A button unit disposed on an upper portion of the printed circuit board to turn on / off power of the remote control device; And At least one communication module connected to the printed circuit board, The first housing is formed with a terminal insertion port to allow the introduction of the external device to the interface terminal on one surface, the module insertion hole through which the communication module is formed on the other surface, The second housing is a hinge insertion port through which the hinge shaft penetrates and a button insertion port through which the button portion is protruded. The method of claim 1, Further comprising a pair of position sensors arranged to be perpendicular to each other on a horizontal plane, The distance of one of the pair of position sensors spaced apart from the hinge axis and the distance of the other spaced from the hinge axis are the same, The position sensor senses the front, rear, left and right directions of the hinge axis, and the resistance value for the tilting direction of the control unit is changed based on the sensing value, one-hand remote control device. The method of claim 1, The control unit A first member mounted to the hinge shaft; And A second member coupled to the first member and an elastic member, the second member being mounted to a case of the steering unit formed to surround the hinge shaft so as to be rotatable relative to the hinge shaft, The resistance value with respect to the direction of rotation of the control unit is changed according to the movement of the second member clockwise / counterclockwise relative to the first member. The method of claim 1, The control unit Comprising a first half case and a second half case formed to surround the hinge axis, the upper end of the first and second half cases are formed to have an opening so that the lower end of the input portion is inserted, the upper surface of the input portion is exposed One hand remote control device. The method of claim 6, The second half case When the user puts the thumb of one hand on the upper surface of the input unit and surrounds the side of the control unit with the remaining fingers of the one hand, the remaining fingers include a grip portion projecting outward in a curved shape to have a grip One hand remote control device. The method of claim 1, The input unit A main body formed to be operable in at least two directions according to the rolling motion of the ball rotatably mounted therein; And A hole through which the main body penetrates, and includes a top cover formed to cover the opening of the control unit. The method of claim 8, The control unit One-hand remote control device for generating an altitude change command signal according to the input position for the front / rear direction of the user input to the input unit to each of the drones.

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