Search

RU-2861462-C1 - GROUP CONTROL SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES OF MULTI-POSITION RADAR MONITORING SYSTEM

RU2861462C1RU 2861462 C1RU2861462 C1RU 2861462C1RU-2861462-C1

Abstract

FIELD: military equipment. SUBSTANCE: group control system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of a multi-position radar monitoring system comprises ground equipment, airborne equipment of a leading UAV, airborne equipment of at least one following UAV. The ground equipment includes an operator's workstation, a UAV flight mode control unit, an airborne radar station (ARS) control unit, a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a radar frame (RF) processing unit. The airborne equipment of each UAV in the group, both the leading UAV and the following UAVs, includes a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a navigation unit, a UAV motion control unit, active and passive components of the ARS, a synchronisation unit, and a computer. The airborne equipment of each following UAV additionally includes a group trajectory control unit using artificial intelligence elements. EFFECT: high-precision formation and maintenance of the formation of a group of UAVs acting as ARS carriers. 2 cl, 2 dwg

Inventors

  • Kokutin Sergei Nikolaevich
  • Muslimov Tagir Zabirovich
  • Kalinnikov Vladislav Valerevich
  • Sharifullin Emil Irekovich

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20251007

Claims (18)

  1. 1. A complex for group control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of a multi-position radar monitoring system, including ground equipment, on-board equipment of the leading UAV, on-board equipment of at least one slave UAV, and characterized in that:
  2. the ground equipment includes an operator's workstation, a control unit for the UAV flight modes and an on-board radar station (ARS) control unit connected to it by two-way communications, as well as a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a radar frame processing unit (RFP), and is designed with the ability to generate, send and modify control commands for each UAV in the group, generate, send and modify control commands for the RFP installed on each UAV in the group, as well as to process the RFP received from the on-board equipment of each UAV in the group;
  3. wherein the UAV flight mode control unit and the radar control unit are designed with the capability of coordinated operation to ensure coordinated algorithms for maintaining UAV flight trajectories and controlling the radar operating parameters,
  4. wherein the RLC processing unit is configured to unpack compressed RLCs received by ground equipment via a wireless communication channel, and subsequently process the RLCs using neural network algorithms, including combining RLCs and intelligent analysis of the combined RLCs in accordance with the target task,
  5. The onboard equipment of each UAV in the group, both the lead UAV and the slave UAV, includes a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a navigation unit, a UAV movement control unit, active and passive components of the radar, a synchronization unit, a computer, and provides:
  6. receiving control commands from ground equipment,
  7. exchange of navigation data to ensure group trajectory control,
  8. control of the UAV movement for stabilization, change of flight stages and execution of the UAV flight mission,
  9. performing radar surveys by emitting probing signals by active components of the radar and recording echo signals by passive components of the radar,
  10. synchronization of the radar during radar surveying based on the use of an additional reference communication channel between the on-board equipment of the leading and slave UAVs along the line of sight, implemented using the side lobe of the antenna pattern of the active components of the radar,
  11. generation of radar data and its transmission via wireless communication channels to ground equipment,
  12. in order to ensure the formation and maintenance of the formation of the UAV group during the flight:
  13. the onboard equipment of each slave UAV includes a group trajectory control unit that uses elements of artificial intelligence to evaluate and compensate for the impact of a set of disturbances and uncertainties on the efficiency of forming and maintaining the formation of a group of UAVs,
  14. the passive component of the radar of each slave UAV is designed with the ability to calculate the relative distance between UAVs using a separate communication channel between radars, formed along the line of sight by using the side lobe of the radar antenna pattern or by installing additional directional radar antennas,
  15. wherein the computer is configured to generate a radar complex based on the decomposition of the full synthetic aperture into overlapping sub-apertures,
  16. wherein the active component of the radar is configured to generate and emit a unique marked signal for the unambiguous identification of the transmitting position that emitted the initial probing pulse recorded on the passive component of the radar in the form of an echo signal,
  17. wherein the synchronization unit is configured to compensate in real time for the phase error in the echo signals received by the passive component of the radar of each UAV.
  18. 2. The complex according to paragraph 1, characterized in that when creating a multi-position system with three or more radars, the on-board equipment includes on-board equipment of additional slave UAVs, in which the passive components of the radar receive echo signals from the same area of the earth's surface from additional angles, with a greater or lesser base value between the active and passive components of the radar, with a greater or lesser flight altitude relative to the active component of the radar.

Description

AREA OF TECHNOLOGY The invention relates to the field of group control of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for radar monitoring. PRIOR ART Currently, small airborne radars (ARs) are widely used as UAS payloads. These radars are designed for terrain mapping and the detection and recognition of objects of interest. Single-position radars have limitations in speed, accuracy, and the completeness of radar data acquisition, as they cannot generate radar frames (RFs) directly in the direction of the radar carrier's flight. They also have difficulties detecting and recognizing small and camouflaged ground objects, as well as classifying low-intensity underlying surfaces, and they obtain information about the observed scene from only one angle. To improve radar performance, bistatic or multistatic designs are used, in which the active component (one or more transmitters) and the passive component (one or more receivers) are spatially separated (1). Such systems enable the rapid detection of targets by generating a radar pattern in the forward viewing zone, provide increased spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio, are capable of obtaining more complete information in the radio shadow area by using multi-angle information, and, consequently, have improved capabilities for recognizing ground objects and classifying underlying surfaces. However, the implementation of such systems based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is associated with the following difficulties and limitations: - the need to implement optimal trajectory control of a group of radar carriers for the precise formation and dynamic maintenance of their formation, including in unfavorable weather conditions; - significant computational costs for processing and merging large volumes of radar data, which requires efficient distribution of resources in a multi-position system; - the need to ensure stable and reliable communication between ground and on-board UAS equipment, taking into account the generation of significant volumes of “raw” radar data on board the UAS; - the requirement for increased accuracy in measuring the relative position of radar carriers, which cannot be provided by receivers of radio signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS); - the need to ensure high-precision time and phase synchronization between active and passive components of the radar, located in space. A control system for a group of small aircraft-type UAVs (2) is known. It consists of a ground station that monitors the UAV group's flight status and transmits operator commands. Onboard equipment for each UAV includes a GNSS receiver, wireless modems for establishing a communications network with other UAVs and the ground station, an onboard computer, an autopilot, and a visible and infrared sensor control module. This system implements hybrid UAV formation control, including a master-slave approach based on an induced route followed by the slave UAVs. Trajectory control tasks for the UAV group, such as global trajectory planning, formation management, and target tracking, are performed using the onboard computer. In contrast to (2), the system claimed in the invention utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) elements to evaluate and compensate for the impact of a combination of disturbances and uncertainties on the effectiveness of group trajectory control, thereby increasing the accuracy of formation and maintenance of UAV formations by optimizing the quality of maintaining specified trajectories in real time. Furthermore, the system described in (2) is designed to detect and recognize targets based on optical sensors, while the claimed invention, which utilizes the "master-slave" principle, utilizes compact radars for this purpose. Trajectory control of these radar carriers is a significantly more complex task due to the increased requirements for the accuracy of formation and maintenance of strictly specified geometry between radar carriers during flight, ensuring phase, temporal, and spatial synchronization of the radars under wind conditions and other adverse factors. A system for controlling a group of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is known, consisting of a master UAV and multiple slave UAVs (US20230058405A1, published 23.02.2023) (3), which includes a ground station and onboard equipment for each UAV, wherein the master UAV is connected via a communications network to both the ground station and each of the slave UAVs. The ground station uses navigation data received from the master UAV to determine its position in space, which is then used to generate formation data for the UAV group. From the ground station, formation data for the UAV group is transmitted via the communications network to the master UAV and multiple slave UAVs. Control of the UAV group is performed onboard the lead UAV or at a ground station, with one of the proposed options involving continuous correction of the follower UAV trajectories based on navigation data from the lead UAV or