IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,280,900
Granted Patent B2
US 12,280,900 · App. 17/632,999 · Granted Apr 22, 2025

Flying body, control method, and program

Inventor: Koichi Hayakawa (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
B64U70/90G05D1/101B64U10/13
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,280,900
App. No.
17/632,999
Granted
Apr 22, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A flying body includes a control unit that acquires inclination information regarding inclination of a landing point and sets a horizontal speed according to the inclination information.

Claims (40)

1. A flying body comprising:

a sensor configured to acquire inclination information regarding an inclination of a landing point; and

a control unit configured to

acquire, from the sensor, the inclination information regarding the inclination of the landing point,

set a horizontal speed of the flying body according to the inclination information, and

control the whole flying body so as to have an attitude substantially equal to the inclination of the landing point at a point located above the landing point before the flying body is grounded.

2. The flying body according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of motors,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control rotation speeds of the plurality of motors so as to have the set horizontal speed.

3. The flying body according to claim 1 ,

wherein the horizontal speed set by the control unit is a speed that becomes approximately 0 at the landing point.

4. The flying body according to claim 3 ,

wherein the horizontal speed is a speed given in a direction of climbing the inclination.

5. The flying body according to claim 1 ,

wherein the control unit controls so as to have the set horizontal speed at the point located above the landing point.

6. The flying body according to claim 5 ,

wherein the point located above the landing point is a point at which a landing operation is started.

7. The flying body according to claim 6 ,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control to raise an airframe of the flying body when at least one of an inclination of the airframe or a ground speed exceeds an allowable range from the point at which the landing operation is started to the landing point.

8. The flying body according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an inclination information acquisition unit configured to acquire the inclination information,

wherein the inclination information acquisition is implemented via at least one processor.

9. The flying body according to claim 8 ,

wherein the inclination information acquisition unit further acquires the inclination information from an external device.

10. The flying body according to claim 1 ,

wherein the sensor includes at least one of an image sensor or a GPS sensor.

11. A control method executed by a control unit implemented via at least one processor, the control method comprising:

acquiring inclination information regarding an inclination of a landing point from a sensor mounted on a flying body;

setting a horizontal speed of the flying body according to the inclination information acquired from the sensor; and

controlling the whole flying body so as to have an attitude substantially equal to the inclination of the landing point at a point located above the landing point before the flying body is grounded.

12. The flying body according to claim 9 ,

wherein the external device is a ground station.

13. A flying body comprising:

a sensor configured to acquire inclination information regarding an inclination of a landing point; and

a control unit configured to

acquire, from the sensor, the inclination information regarding the inclination of the landing point,

set a horizontal speed of the flying body according to the inclination information, and

control the flying body so that an angle between a horizontal plane and a line or a plane formed by connecting at least two propellers of the flying body is substantially equal to the inclination of the landing point at a point located above the landing point.

14. The flying body according to claim 13 ,

wherein the angle is an angle between the horizontal plane and a plane formed by connecting at least three propellers of the flying body.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 4, 2022
From: HAYAKAWA, KOICHI
To: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 058893/0113 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2019-167955 · Sep 17, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220289376A1 · Sep 15, 2022
References Cited (36)
US 7871044B2 · Hursig · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 9934694B2 · Navot · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 9994307B2 · Nguyen · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 10301016B1 · Bondarev · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 10633087B2 · McCullough · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10745115B2 · Kimchi · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20100012776A1 · Hursig · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20120298796A1 · Carreker · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20150014475A1 · Taylor · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160272308A1 · Gentry · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170123435A1 · Myeong · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170274988A1 · Nguyen · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170308099A1 · Kim · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170355453A1 · Kim · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180229833A1 · Kimchi · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20190144108A1 · McCullough · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190144116A1 · Yuan · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20210403146A1 · Atsumi · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20220197308A1 · Wittmaak, Jr. · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220227479A1 · Hayakawa · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230013275A1 · Suzuki · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230103063A1 · Kikuchi · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230312144A1 · Hoshide · 2023 [cited by examiner]
CN 107957728A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 109917812A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
EP 1995174A2 · 2008 [cited by applicant]
JP 2008290704A · 2008 [cited by examiner]
JP 2001328600A · 2011 [cited by applicant]
JP 2015530318A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
JP 2018052341A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
KR 20170120500A · 2017 [cited by examiner]
KR 20180066872A · 2018 [cited by examiner]
RU 2013107108A · 2014 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2014055269A1 · 2014 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2015064767A1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2017098571A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]