Waypoint directory in air traffic control systems for unmanned aerial vehicles

• US 10,157,548 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2016
• Issued: 12/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Metal Raptor Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Etak Systems, Llc
• Inventors: Priest, Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): MOYER, DALE S
• Application Number:
  US15/338,559
• Publication Number:
  US 20170358225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 778 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/90 Launching from or landing on platforms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• 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 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• 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 waypoint management method for an Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) includes communicating with a plurality of UAVs via one or more wireless networks comprising at least one cellular network; receiving updates related to an obstruction status of each of a plurality of waypoints from the plurality of UAVs, wherein the plurality of waypoints are defined over a geographic region under control of the ATC system; and managing flight paths, landing, and take-off of the plurality of UAVs in the geographic region based on the obstruction status of each of the plurality of waypoints.

Claims

1. A waypoint management method for an Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the waypoint management method comprising:

communicating with a plurality of UAVs via one or more wireless networks comprising at least one cellular network;

receiving updates related to an obstruction status of each of a plurality of waypoints from the plurality of UAVs, wherein the plurality of waypoints are defined over a geographic region under control of the ATC system; and

managing flight paths, landing, and take-off of the plurality of UAVs in the geographic region based on the obstruction status of each of the plurality of waypoints,

wherein the plurality of waypoints each comprise a latitude and longitude coordinate defining a point about which an area is defined for covering a portion of the geographic region,

wherein a size of the area is based on whether the area covers an urban region, a suburban region, and a rural region in the geographic area, wherein the size is smaller for the urban region than for the suburban region and the rural region, and wherein the size is smaller for the suburban region than for the rural region.

2. The waypoint management method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of waypoints comprise an altitude range set based on flight altitudes of the plurality of UAVs.

3. The waypoint management method of claim 1, wherein the ATC system comprises an obstruction database comprising a data structure for each of the plurality of waypoints defining a unique identifier of a location and the obstruction status, and wherein the obstruction status comprises one of clear, obstructed, and unknown.

4. The waypoint management method of claim 3, further comprising:

updating the obstruction status for each of the plurality of waypoints in the obstruction database based on the received updates.

5. The waypoint management method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining the flight paths based on specifying two or more waypoints of the plurality of waypoints.

6. The waypoint management method of claim 5, wherein a flight path is defined by one of:

specifying a start waypoint and an end waypoint and allowing a UAV to locally determine a path therebetween; and

specifying a start waypoint and an end waypoint and a plurality of intermediate waypoints between the start waypoint and the end waypoint.

7. The waypoint management method of claim 1, further comprising:

scoring each UAV'"'"'s updates for the plurality of waypoints to determine reliability and accuracy of the updates.

8. An Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using waypoint management, the ATC system comprising:

a network interface and one or more processors communicatively coupled to one another, wherein the network interface is communicatively coupled to a plurality of UAVs via one or more wireless networks;

an obstruction database comprising a data structure for each of the plurality of waypoints defining a unique identifier of a location and the obstruction status, and wherein the obstruction status comprises one of clear, obstructed, and unknown; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to

communicate with a plurality of UAVs via one or more wireless networks comprising at least one cellular network;

receive updates related to an obstruction status of each of a plurality of waypoints from the plurality of UAVs, wherein the plurality of waypoints are defined over a geographic region under control of the ATC system; and

manage flight paths, landing, and take-off of the plurality of UAVs in the geographic region based on the obstruction status of each of the plurality of waypoints.

9. The ATC system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of waypoints each comprise a latitude and longitude coordinate defining a point about which an area is defined for covering a portion of the geographic region.

10. The ATC system of claim 9, wherein a size of the area is based on whether the area covers an urban region, a suburban region, and a rural region in the geographic area, wherein the size is smaller for the urban region than for the suburban region and the rural region, and wherein the size is smaller for the suburban region than for the rural region.

11. The ATC system of claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of waypoints comprise an altitude range set based on flight altitudes of the plurality of UAVs.

12. The ATC system of claim 8, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to

update the obstruction status for each of the plurality of waypoints in the obstruction database based on the received updates.

13. The ATC system of claim 8, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to

define the flight paths based on specifying two or more waypoints of the plurality of waypoints.

14. The ATC system of claim 13, wherein a flight path is defined by one of:

specifying a start waypoint and an end waypoint and allowing a UAV to locally determine a path therebetween; and

specifying a start waypoint and an end waypoint and a plurality of intermediate waypoints between the start waypoint and the end waypoint.

15. The ATC system of claim 8, wherein the memory storing instructions that, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to

score each UAV'"'"'s updates for the plurality of waypoints to determine reliability and accuracy of the updates.

16. A waypoint management method for an Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the waypoint management method comprising:

communicating with a plurality of UAVs via one or more wireless networks comprising at least one cellular network;

receiving updates related to an obstruction status of each of a plurality of waypoints from the plurality of UAVs, wherein the plurality of waypoints are defined over a geographic region under control of the ATC system;

managing flight paths, landing, and take-off of the plurality of UAVs in the geographic region based on the obstruction status of each of the plurality of waypoints; and

scoring each UAV'"'"'s updates for the plurality of waypoints to determine reliability and accuracy of the updates.

17. The waypoint management method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of waypoints each comprise a latitude and longitude coordinate defining a point about which an area is defined for covering a portion of the geographic region.

18. The waypoint management method of claim 16, wherein a size of the area is based on whether the area covers an urban region, a suburban region, and a rural region in the geographic area, wherein the size is smaller for the urban region than for the suburban region and the rural region, and wherein the size is smaller for the suburban region than for the rural region.

19. The waypoint management method of claim 16, wherein the ATC system comprises an obstruction database comprising a data structure for each of the plurality of waypoints defining a unique identifier of a location and the obstruction status, and wherein the obstruction status comprises one of clear, obstructed, and unknown.