Control apparatus, aircraft control method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium
A control apparatus includes a decision unit, a destination point determination unit, and an aircraft control unit. The decision unit decides, when an aircraft flies by using a battery unit as a power source, whether a remaining quantity of the battery unit is equal to or less than a reference value. The destination point determination unit estimates, when it is decided that the remaining quantity of the battery unit is equal to or less than the reference value, a location where a light quantity is equal to or more than a reference by using information from various types of sensors mounted on the aircraft. Then, the destination point determination unit determines, as a destination point of the aircraft, the estimated location. The aircraft control unit controls a mechanism of the aircraft so as to move the aircraft to the destination point determined by the destination point determination unit.
1 . A control apparatus for an aircraft including, as a power source, a battery and a photovoltaic apparatus, the control apparatus comprising:
at least one memory configured to store instructions; and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising:
deciding, when the aircraft flies by using the battery as a power source, whether a remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than a reference value;
estimating, when it is decided that the remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than the reference value, a target location where a light quantity is equal to or more than a reference by using optical information and thermal information acquired from sensors mounted on the aircraft;
determining the target location as a temporary destination point where light is available for the photovoltaic apparatus to generate electric power; and
controlling a mechanism of the aircraft so as to move the aircraft to the temporary destination point, wherein
the estimating the target location comprises:
determining a temperature relevant to an image area based on the thermal information,
identifying a type of substance present in the image area based on the optical information, and
estimating the target location based on the determined temperature and a heat balance model corresponding to the identified type of substance.
2 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise causing the aircraft to land on the temporary destination point.
3 . The control apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise:
deciding whether the remaining quantity of the battery exceeds a reference value for flight restart, and
causing, after the aircraft lands on the temporary destination point and when the remaining quantity of the battery exceeds the reference value for flight restart, the aircraft to restart flying.
4 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise causing the aircraft to continue flight on a route by using at least the electric power generated when the aircraft is flying in spatial regions corresponding to the temporary destination point.
5 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise estimating, by using image data, as the optical information, generated by an image sensor among the sensors mounted on the aircraft, the location where the light quantity is equal to or more than the reference.
6 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
acquiring, by using the sensors, location information indicating a location of the aircraft, and
estimating the location where the light quantity is equal to or more than the reference, based on map information including information relating to a shape and a height of a planimetric feature, information indicating a current date and time, and the acquired location information.
7 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the operations further comprise:
deciding, based on information defining a location to be avoided by the aircraft during flight, whether a location estimated as the target location where the light quantity is equal to or more than the reference and the location to be avoided are overlapped with each other at least partially, and
determining the target location as the temporary destination point when it is decided that the target location and the location to be avoided are not overlapped with each other.
8 . The control apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the location to be avoided by the aircraft during flight includes at least any of a location where flight of an aircraft is prohibited and a location where an aircraft cannot stably fly.
9 . An aircraft control method comprising,
by a computer mounted on an aircraft including, as a power source, a battery and a photovoltaic apparatus:
deciding, when the aircraft flies by using the battery as a power source, whether a remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than a reference value;
estimating, when it is decided that the remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than the reference value, a target location where a light quantity is equal to or more than a reference by using optical information and thermal information acquired from sensors mounted on the aircraft;
determining the target location as a temporary destination point where light is available for the photovoltaic apparatus to generate electric power; and
controlling a mechanism of the aircraft so as to move the aircraft to the temporary destination point, wherein
the estimating the target location comprises:
determining a temperature relevant to an image area based on the thermal information,
identifying a type of substance present in the image area based on the optical information, and
estimating the target location based on the determined temperature and a heat balance model corresponding to the identified type of substance.
10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program for causing a computer mounted on an aircraft including, as a power source, a battery and a photovoltaic apparatus to perform operations, the operations comprising:
deciding, when the aircraft flies by using the battery as a power source, whether a remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than a reference value;
estimating, when it is decided that the remaining quantity of the battery is equal to or less than the reference value, a target location where a light quantity is equal to or more than a reference by using optical information and thermal information acquired from sensors mounted on the aircraft;
determining the target location as a temporary destination point where light is available for the photovoltaic apparatus to generate electric power; and
controlling a mechanism of the aircraft so as to move the aircraft to the temporary destination point, wherein
the estimating the target location comprises:
determining a temperature relevant to an image area based on the thermal information,
identifying a type of substance present in the image area based on the optical information, and
estimating the target location based on the determined temperature and a heat balance model corresponding to the identified type of substance.