Navigation assistance data and route planning for drones

• US 10,163,357 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2016
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Venkatraman, Sai Pradeep, Do, Ju-Yong, Srivastava, Aditya Narain, Gao, Weihua, Werner, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Elchanti, Hussein
• Application Number:
  US15/246,170
• Publication Number:
  US 20180061251A1
• Time in Patent Office: 853 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/02 characterised by special use
• 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 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• 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 5/006 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 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for determining a flight route for a flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are presented. The flight-specific route for the UAV is determined dynamically during the flight or in advance before the flight, using navigation assistance data that includes flight-specific navigation assistance data for a plurality of geographic zones determined based on flight-specific information. The flight-specific navigation assistance data includes flight-specific ranking data for the plurality of geographic zones that can be used by the UAV or a server to determine the flight route.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

requesting, by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), navigation assistance data for a flight from a server, wherein the requesting includes sending flight-specific information to the server;

receiving, by the UAV, the navigation assistance data from the server, wherein;

the navigation assistance data includes flight-specific ranking data for each zone of a plurality of geographic zones, the flight-specific ranking data including an order of preference of the plurality of geographic zones; and

the flight-specific ranking data for each zone is determined based on the flight-specific information;

determining, by the UAV, a flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones based on the flight-specific ranking data for each zone of the plurality of geographic zones; and

using, by the UAV, the determined flight route for navigation during the flight.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flight-specific information includes a privilege of an operator of the UAV or a privilege of the UAV.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the flight-specific information includes characteristics of the UAV.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristics of the UAV includes at least one of a UAV type, range capability, speed capability, height capability, communication capability, physical dimension, or payload of the UAV.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigation assistance data includes one or more types of navigation assistance data selected from physical obstacles, permitted zones, hazard information, prohibited areas, permission requirements, height limits, speed limits, air traffic information, weather conditions, charging stations, parking spots, and safe landing spots.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the navigation assistance data includes, for each zone of the plurality of geographic zones, flight-specific ranking data for each type of the one or more types of navigation assistance data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the flight-specific ranking data for a zone of the plurality of geographic zones is a weighted sum of the flight-specific ranking data for each type of the one or more types of navigation assistance data for the zone.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of geographic zones includes only geographic zones near a current location of the UAV.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting, by the UAV, real-time UAV observed data during the flight; and

sending, by the UAV, the real-time UAV observed data to the server during the flight.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones includes selecting the flight route from a plurality of possible flight routes based on a sum of the flight-specific ranking data for geographic zones in each of the plurality of possible flight routes.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the flight route for the flight includes determining the flight route in real time during the flight.

12. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

a wireless communication subsystem; and

a processing unit communicatively coupled with the wireless communication subsystem, the processing unit configured to;

request, via the wireless communication subsystem, navigation assistance data for a flight from a server, wherein the requesting includes sending flight-specific information to the server;

receive, via the wireless communication subsystem, the navigation assistance data from the server, wherein;

the navigation assistance data includes flight-specific ranking data for each zone of a plurality of geographic zones, the flight-specific ranking data including an order of preference of the plurality of geographic zones; and

the flight-specific ranking data for each zone is determined based on the flight-specific information;

determine a flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones based on the flight-specific ranking data for each zone of the plurality of geographic zones; and

use the determined flight route for navigation during the flight.

13. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the flight-specific information includes a privilege of an operator of the UAV or a privilege of the UAV.

14. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the flight-specific information includes at least one of a UAV type, range capability, speed capability, height capability, communication capability, physical dimension, or payload of the UAV.

15. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the navigation assistance data includes one or more types of navigation assistance data selected from physical obstacles, permitted zones, hazard information, prohibited areas, permission requirements, height limits, speed limits, air traffic information, weather conditions, charging stations, parking spots, and safe landing spots.

16. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

collect, using one or more sensors, real-time UAV observed data during the flight; and

send, via the wireless communication subsystem, the real-time UAV observed data to the server during the flight.

17. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones by selecting the flight route from a plurality of possible flight routes based on a sum of the flight-specific ranking data for geographic zones in each of the plurality of possible flight routes.

18. The UAV of claim 12, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the flight route for the flight in real time during the flight.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including machine-readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to:

request, via a wireless communication subsystem, navigation assistance data for a flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a server, wherein the requesting includes sending flight-specific information to the server;

receive, via the wireless communication subsystem, the navigation assistance data from the server, wherein;

the navigation assistance data includes flight-specific ranking data for each zone of a plurality of geographic zones, the flight-specific ranking data including an order of preference of the plurality of geographic zones; and

the flight-specific ranking data for each zone is determined based on the flight-specific information;

determine a flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones based on the flight-specific ranking data for each zone of the plurality of geographic zones; and

use the determined flight route for navigation during the flight.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the flight-specific information includes a privilege of an operator of the UAV or a privilege of the UAV.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the flight-specific information includes at least one of a UAV type, range capability, speed capability, height capability, communication capability, physical dimension, or payload of the UAV.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the navigation assistance data includes one or more types of navigation assistance data selected from physical obstacles, permitted zones, hazard information, prohibited areas, permission requirements, height limits, speed limits, air traffic information, weather conditions, charging stations, parking spots, and safe landing spots.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to:

collect, using one or more sensors, real-time UAV observed data during the flight; and

send, via the wireless communication subsystem, the real-time UAV observed data to the server during the flight.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein determining the flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones includes selecting the flight route from a plurality of possible flight routes based on a sum of the flight-specific ranking data for geographic zones in each of the plurality of possible flight routes.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein determining the flight route for the flight includes determining the flight route in real time during the flight.

26. An apparatus comprising:

means for requesting navigation assistance data for a flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a server, wherein the requesting includes sending flight-specific information to the server;

means for receiving the navigation assistance data from the server, wherein;

the navigation assistance data includes flight-specific ranking data for each zone of a plurality of geographic zones, the flight-specific ranking data including an order of preference of the plurality of geographic zones; and

the flight-specific ranking data for each zone is determined based on the flight-specific information; and

means for determining a flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones based on the flight-specific ranking data for each zone of the plurality of geographic zones; and

means for using the determined flight route for navigation during the flight.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the flight-specific information includes a privilege of an operator of the UAV or a privilege of the UAV.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the flight-specific information includes at least one of a UAV type, range capability, speed capability, height capability, communication capability, physical dimension, or payload of the UAV.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the navigation assistance data includes one or more types of navigation assistance data selected from physical obstacles, permitted zones, hazard information, prohibited areas, permission requirements, height limits, speed limits, air traffic information, weather conditions, charging stations, parking spots, and safe landing spots.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein determining the flight route for the flight through the plurality of geographic zones includes selecting the flight route from a plurality of possible flight routes based on a sum of the flight-specific ranking data for geographic zones in each of the plurality of possible flight routes.