Patent Revealed: Gree Can Expand UAV Control System

Gree invented an expandable drone control system and solution, which eliminates the one-to-one signal transmission relationship between the controller and the drone in the traditional drone system. When the communication range of the drone exceeds the drone system, the signal can be transmitted with the help of other drones within the communication range, thereby achieving signal continuation.

In recent years, drones have gradually played an increasingly important role in people's lives. From drone transportation, drone aerial photography to drone aerial performances, people's imagination of the sky has been greatly satisfied with the help of drones as a flying carrier.

During the use of the drone system, the drone equipment works under the control of the wireless signal sent by the control end. However, since the wireless signal will attenuate with the increase of distance, the control end of the drone equipment has a certain distance limit.

The shortcoming of drone equipment is that it cannot exceed the control distance range of the control terminal, but for purposes such as filming, disaster relief, and environmental surveys, drones need to work at a longer distance. At present, the maximum direct control distance of most civilian small drones is less than 10 kilometers, which is not suitable for the above purposes. On the other hand, it is often difficult to control them using mobile networks or other communication methods that rely on ground fixed relay facilities in the use environment.

To this end, Gree applied for an invention patent entitled "UAV control method, device and equipment" (application number: 202011104866.9) on October 15, 2020, and the applicant was Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances Co., Ltd.

This patent invents a system and solution that can expand the communication range of drones. Based on the relevant information currently available, let us take a look at this drone system.

As shown in the figure above, this is a flowchart for controlling drones invented in the patent. First, the system monitors the connection status of the first drone. If it detects that the drone is disconnected, it will immediately detect whether other drones are within the communication range of the control end. If a second drone can be detected within the range, the system will establish a connection and communicate with the second drone, and select it as the signal relay drone for the first drone.

Such a solution plays a role in signal continuation. Because during the flight of a drone, due to the inertia of movement, it is easy for the drone to accidentally fly out of the signal receiving area. At this time, other drones within its communication range can send signals to control the first drone to fly back to its signal receiving range to avoid accidents, as shown in the figure below.

The drone system includes a first control terminal K1 and a first drone W1 that is controlled accordingly. The maximum communication range of the control terminal is FK1. Next to K1 is another control terminal K2 that controls the drone W2 and has a communication range of FK2. As shown in the figure, the first drone is outside the maximum communication range of the first control terminal and cannot be controlled.

Therefore, the first control end selects the second drone that is farthest from the control end among the drones that can communicate with the first drone within the range as the relay drone, and relays the signal to control the first drone. 

As shown in the figure above, it is a connection diagram of this drone control method. The relay drone W2 communicates with multiple control terminals and corresponding multiple drones. In this way, by eliminating the one-to-one communication between the controller and the drone, the signal can be forwarded, thereby increasing the movement range of the drone, allowing the drone to move beyond the communication range of the controller, and also expanding the use scenarios of the drone.

The above is the expandable drone control system and solution invented by Gree. This solution eliminates the one-to-one signal transmission relationship between the controller and the drone in the traditional drone system. When the communication range of the drone exceeds the drone system, it can use other drones within the communication range to transmit signals. In theory, in this way, the signal sent by the controller can be transmitted to a very far place. The expansion of the drone communication range will also expand the business scope of the drone and bring more convenience to users.