Autonomous vehicle security

• US 10,023,151 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2016
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Samadani, Ramin, Salajegheh, Mastooreh, Chao, Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Garcia, Carlos E
• Application Number:
  US15/262,451
• Publication Number:
  US 20180072265A1
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23, 340 51, 340 52, 340 521, 340 53, 340 58, 340 582
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6893 Cars
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/04 responsive to presence or absence of the driver, e.g. to weight or lack thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/08 responsive to conditions relating to the cargo, e.g. overload
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/26 Incapacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 7/005 Unmanned ground vehicles, i.e. robotic, remote controlled or autonomous, mobile platforms carrying equipment for performing a military or police role, e.g. weapon systems or reconnaissance sensors F41H11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/59 inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00174 Electronically operated locks; Circuits therefor; Nonmechanical keys therefor, e.g. passive or active electrical keys or other data carriers without mechanical keys mechanical locks with electric permutation E05B49/00; arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Various implementations include unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) and methods for providing security for a UAV. In various implementations, a processor of the UAV may receive sensor data from a plurality of UAV sensors about an object in contact with the UAV. The processor may determine an authorization threshold based on the received sensor data. The processor may determine whether the object is authorized based on the received sensor data and the determined authorization threshold.

Claims

1. A method of providing security for an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV), comprising:

receiving real-time sensor data from a plurality of UAV sensors about at least one physical characteristic of a cargo object in contact with the UAV;

determining an authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data, wherein the authorization threshold is dynamically determined based on the at least one physical characteristic of the cargo object; and

determining whether the cargo object is authorized based on the received real-time sensor data and the determined authorization threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a recognized object; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the cargo object is a recognized object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a previously authorized object; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the cargo object is a previously authorized object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is a known person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is a known person.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is in an unusual position; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is in an unusual position.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the UAV is traveling a known path; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the UAV is traveling the known path.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the UAV deviates from a path; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the UAV deviates from the path.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing information about the cargo object in response to determining that the cargo object is authorized.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an indication that the cargo object is unauthorized in response to determining that the cargo object is not authorized.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an action to perform when the cargo object is not authorized; and

performing the determined action.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining whether an authorization of an unauthorized cargo object is received; and

determining the action to perform in response to determining that the authorization of the unauthorized cargo object is not received.

13. An unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a plurality of sensors; and

a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors and configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving real-time sensor data from the plurality of sensors about at least one physical characteristic of a cargo object in contact with the UAV;

determining an authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data, wherein the authorization threshold is dynamically determined based on the at least one physical characteristic of the cargo object; and

determining whether the cargo object is authorized based on the received real-time sensor data and the determined authorization threshold.

14. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a recognized object; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the cargo object is a recognized object.

15. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a previously authorized object; and

determining the authorization threshold based on whether the cargo object is a previously authorized object.

16. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is a known person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is a known person.

17. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person.

18. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is in an unusual position; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is in an unusual position.

19. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the UAV is traveling a known path; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the UAV is traveling the known path.

20. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the UAV deviates from a path; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the UAV deviates from the path.

21. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

storing information about the cargo object in response to determining that the cargo object is authorized.

22. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

generating an indication that the cargo object is unauthorized in response to determining that the cargo object is not authorized.

23. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining an action to perform when the cargo object is not authorized; and

performing the determined action.

24. The UAV of claim 23, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether an authorization of an unauthorized cargo object is received; and

determining the action to perform in response to determining that the authorization of the unauthorized cargo object is not received.

25. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) to perform operations for providing security comprising:

receiving real-time sensor data from a plurality of UAV sensors about at least one physical characteristic of a cargo object in contact with the UAV;

determining an authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data, wherein the authorization threshold is dynamically determined based on the at least one physical characteristic of the cargo object; and

determining whether the cargo object is authorized based on the received real-time sensor data and the determined authorization threshold.

26. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor of the UAV to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a recognized object; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the cargo object is a recognized object.

27. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor of the UAV to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether the cargo object is a previously authorized object; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the object is a previously authorized object.

28. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor of the UAV to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is a known person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is a known person.

29. The non-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause the processor of the UAV to perform operations such that determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on the received real-time sensor data comprises:

determining whether a person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person; and

determining the authorization threshold for the cargo object based on whether the person in the UAV is an alive, willing, and conscious person.

30. An unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV), comprising:

means for receiving real-time sensor data from a plurality of UAV sensors about at least one physical characteristic of a cargo object in contact with the UAV;

means for determining an authorization threshold for the cargo object based on received real-time sensor data, wherein the authorization threshold is dynamically determined based on the at least one physical characteristic of the cargo object; and

means for determining whether the cargo object is authorized based on the received real-time sensor data and the determined authorization threshold.