Unmanned aircraft, and method and system for navigation

Abstract

An unmanned aircraft navigation system includes a controller and at least one measurement component coupled to the controller. The at least one measurement component includes at least two sensors with one of the at least two sensors being redundant sensor for another one of the at least two sensors. The at least one measurement component is configured to provides data measured by the at least two sensors to the controller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An unmanned aircraft navigation system comprising:
 a controller; and   at least one measurement component coupled to the controller, the at least one measurement component including at least two sensors with one of the at least two sensors being redundant sensor for another one of the at least two sensors, and the at least one measurement component being configured to provides data measured by the at least two sensors to the controller.   
     
     
         2 . The navigation system of  claim 2 , wherein a data communication between the at least one measurement module and the control is effected via a CAN communication bus. 
     
     
         3 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one measurement component includes an inertia measurement component. 
     
     
         4 . The navigation system of  claim 3 , wherein the inertial measurement component includes at least one of an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The navigation system of  claim 3 , wherein the inertia measurement component is embedded in the controller. 
     
     
         6 . The navigation system of  claim 3 , wherein a data communication between the inertia measurement component and the controller is effected via a serial interface. 
     
     
         7 . The navigation system of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the at least one measurement component further includes another measurement component; and   a data communication between the inertial measurement component and the another measurement module is effected via a CAN communication bus.   
     
     
         8 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one measurement component includes a positioning component configured to obtain a geographical position of the unmanned aircraft. 
     
     
         9 . The navigation system of  claim 8 , wherein the positioning component includes at least one of a GPS sensor or a BeiDou positioning sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one measurement component includes a magnetic sensing component configured to sense a geomagnetic field to determine a direction. 
     
     
         11 . The navigation system of  claim 10 , wherein the magnetic sensing component includes a compass sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a visual component coupled to the controller.   
     
     
         13 . The navigation system of  claim 12 , wherein the visual component includes a monocular component or a binocular component. 
     
     
         14 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a carrier signal differential component coupled to the controller.   
     
     
         15 . The navigation system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one measurement component includes at least two measurement components each including at least one sensor; and   the at least one sensor of one of the at least two measurement components provides a redundancy support for the at least one sensor of another one of the at least two measurement components.   
     
     
         16 . An unmanned aircraft comprising:
 a navigation system including:
 a controller; and 
 at least one measurement component coupled to the controller, the at least one measurement component including at least two sensors with one of the at least two sensors being redundant sensor for another one of the at least two sensors, and the at least one measurement component being configured to provide data measured by the at least two sensors to the controller. 
   
     
     
         17 . A method for navigation of an unmanned aircraft comprising:
 receiving, by a controller, data from at least one measurement component, the at least one measurement component including at least two sensors with one of the at least two sensors being redundant sensor for another one of the at least two sensors, and the at least one measurement component being configured to provide the data measured by the at least two sensors to the controller; and   effecting, by the controller, a navigation based upon the received data.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein effecting, by the controller, the navigation based upon the received data includes:
 selecting, by the controller, the data measured by one of the at least two sensors in an optimal operation state, from among the data received from the at least one measurement component; and   effecting the navigation using the selected data and data from another measurement module.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the at least one measurement component includes at least two measurement components, one of the at least two measurement components including the redundant sensor; and   effecting, by the controller, the navigation based upon the received data includes:
 selecting, by the controller, the data measured by a sensor in a stable operation state from among the data received from the one of the at least two measurement components that includes the redundant sensor; and 
 effecting the navigation using the selected data and the data from another one of the at least two measurement components. 
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the data from the at least one measurement component includes the data measured by one of the at least two sensors that is in an optimal operation state or the data measured by one of the at least two sensors that is in a most stable operation state; and   effecting, by the controller, the navigation based upon the received data includes effecting, by the controller, the navigation based upon the data from each of the at least one measurement component.