Method and system for providing route of unmanned air vehicle

• US 10,082,803 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2017
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thinkware Corporation
• Original Assignee: Thinkware Corporation
• Inventors: Ham, Young-Kuk, Han, Tae Kyu
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tan Quang
• Application Number:
  US15/443,514
• Publication Number:
  US 20170248969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 575 Days
• Field of Search: 701 11
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/83 using parachutes, balloons or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/005 altimeters for aircraft G01C5/02, G01C5/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/106 Change initiated in response to external conditions, e.g. avoidance of elevated terrain or of no-fly zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/1064 specially adapted for avoiding collisions with other aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/606 Compensating for or utilising external environmental conditions, e.g. wind or water currents station keeping G05D1/611
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/693 for avoiding collisions between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/81 Handing over between on-board automatic and on-board manual control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0056 in an emergency situation, e.g. hijacking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 : in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0065 : for taking-off
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 : specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 : for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0086 : for monitoring terrain radar or analogous systems specially adapted for terrain avoidance G01S13/935
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 : Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

A method and a system for establishing a route of an unmanned aerial vehicle are provided. The method includes identifying an object from surface scanning data and shaping a space, which facilitates autonomous flight, as a layer, collecting surface image data for a flight path from the shaped layer, and analyzing a change in image resolution according to a distance from the object through the collected surface image data and extracting an altitude value on a flight route.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a flight route of an unmanned aerial vehicle including a camera, the method comprising:

identifying an object from surface scanning data and shaping a space, which facilitates autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, as a layer;

collecting surface image data obtained from the camera for a flight path from the shaped layer; and

analyzing a change in image resolution associated with the surface image data according to a distance from the object by analyzing resolution values of the surface image data varying with the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle and extracting an altitude value on a flight route; and

establishing an optimal flight route of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the extracted altitude value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

correcting a value measured by a radio altitude sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle through route verification from the extracted altitude value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the shaping of the space, which facilitates the autonomous flight, as the layer comprises:

obtaining a point cloud of the object scanned by a surface scanning device loaded into the unmanned aerial vehicle;

identifying the object by analyzing the collected point cloud;

extracting height values of specific points of the object identified using terrain altitude data; and

shaping an area and altitude, which facilitates autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, as the layer on a space by connecting the extracted height values of the specific points of the object.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the obtaining of the point cloud comprises:

obtaining the point cloud of the object onto which a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) pulse is projected via a LiDAR device loaded into the unmanned aerial vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the shaping of the space, which facilitates the autonomous flight, as the layer comprises:

generating a plurality of two-dimensional (2D) layers on the space.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein

a calibration value of the camera is preset at an specific altitude.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting of the surface image data comprises:

verifying spatial geographic information and scanning a safe path for flight; and

generating a flight path by reflecting the safe path, and collecting the surface image data for the flight path.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the correcting of the value measured by the radio altitude sensor comprises:

extracting an altitude value from an object which exists on a route, substituting the altitude value into a route coordinate of the unmanned aerial vehicle at a constant interval, and if the unmanned aerial vehicle arrives at the route coordinate, recognizing a resolution height of an image corresponding to a coordinate which is in contact with the object; and

correcting the value measured by the radio altitude sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the resolution height.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the correcting of the value measured by the radio altitude sensor comprises:

repeatedly collecting the surface image data through autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle and generating or verifying a new route by reflecting the collected surface image data in route control, ground control, and route map data through an analysis of a change in resolution.

10. A system for establishing a flight route of an unmanned aerial vehicle including a camera, the system comprising:

a layer shaping unit configured to identify an object from surface scanning data and shape a space, which facilitates autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, as a layer;

a data collecting unit configured to collect surface image data obtained from the camera for a flight path from the shaped layer; and

an altitude calculating unit configured to analyze a change in image resolution associated with the surface image data according to a distance from the object by analyzing resolution values of the surface image data varying with the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle and extract an altitude value of a flight route coordinate,

wherein an optimal flight route of the unmanned aerial vehicle is established based on the extracted altitude value.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a verification unit configured to correct a value measured by a radio altitude sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle through route verification from the extracted altitude value.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the layer shaping unit comprises:

a collection unit configured to obtain a point cloud of the object scanned by a surface scanning device loaded into the unmanned aerial vehicle;

an identification unit configured to identify the object by analyzing the collected point cloud;

an extraction unit configured to extract height values of specific points of the object identified using terrain altitude data; and

a layer unit configured to shape an area and altitude, which facilitates autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, as the layer on a space by connecting the extracted height values of the specific points of the object.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the data collecting unit verifies spatial geographic information and scans a safe path for flight, generates a flight path by reflecting the safe path and collects the surface image data for the flight path, and a calibration value of the camera is preset at an specific altitude.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the data collecting unit verifies calibration information of an imaging device and verifies flight information recorded in a flight data recorder (FDR) loaded into the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

wherein the altitude calculating unit matches at least one of coordinate, altitude, attitude, and time information from the FDR loaded into the unmanned aerial vehicle with the surface image data and calculates an altitude value on the flight route through distortion correction of an image and the analysis of the change in image resolution with reference to calibration information of the imaging device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the verification unit extracts an altitude value from an object which exists on a route, substitutes the altitude value into a route coordinate of the unmanned aerial vehicle at a constant interval, and if the unmanned aerial vehicle arrives at the route coordinate, recognizes a resolution height of an image corresponding to a coordinate which is in contact with the object and corrects the value measured by the radio altitude sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the resolution height.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the verification unit repeatedly collects the surface image data through autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle and generates or verifies a new route by reflecting the collected surface image data in route control, ground control, and route map data through an analysis of a change in resolution.

17. A method for establishing a flight route of an unmanned aerial vehicle including a camera, the method comprising:

identifying an object from surface scanning data and shaping a space, which facilitates autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, as a layer;

determining way points for generating a route of the unmanned aerial vehicle on the shaped layer;

collecting surface image data obtained from the camera for the way points from the shaped layer;

analyzing a change in image resolution associated with the surface image data according to a distance from the object by analyzing resolution values of the surface image data varying with the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle and extracting altitude values on the way points;

generating flight path information of the unmanned aerial vehicle, including at least one of the shaped layer, the way points, the altitude values, and a flight path which is a line of connecting the way points; and

establishing an optimal flight route of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the generated flight path information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the way points indicates a point of a ground object which exists on the earth'"'"'s surface of a point where the unmanned aerial vehicle performs autonomous flight on the layer or indicates a location where the unmanned aerial vehicle performs a mission.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the generating of the flight path information of the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises:

if it is necessary for the unmanned aerial vehicle to move from a departure layer which is an initially assigned layer to another layer, determining an arrival layer to which the unmanned aerial vehicle will move; and

generating layer movement information for moving from the departure layer to the arrival layer.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the layer movement information comprises at least one of a layer changeable zone, including a way point zone for changing a layer in a route for autonomous flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a layer movement time, a change zone entry time, and a change zone entry angle.