Computer aided dispatch of drones

• US 10,319,243 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2015
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kreiner, Barrett M., Rozanski, III, Thomas, Radice, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Odeh, Nadeem
• Application Number:
  US14/954,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20170154536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 701 2, 701 3
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/00 UAVs characterised by their flight controls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 5/0043 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 5/0069 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

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to implement computer aided dispatch of drones are disclosed. Example drone dispatching methods disclosed herein include transmitting a flight plan for a drone to a flight control platform, the flight plan based on a first location associated with a service request. Disclosed example methods also include, in response to receiving a message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a first communication session between the flight control platform and a flight control unit of the drone to permit remote piloting of the drone. Disclosed example methods further include, in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a second communication session to exchange multimedia data between the flight control platform and a drone observation platform separate from the flight control platform.

Claims

1. A drone dispatching method comprising:

transmitting a flight plan for a drone to a flight control platform associated with a first operator for piloting the drone, the flight plan based on a first location associated with a service request;

in response to receiving a message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating, with a processor, a first communication session between the flight control platform and a flight control unit of the drone to permit remote piloting of the drone;

selecting a drone observation platform associated with a second operator based on a subject matter qualification associated with the second operator and descriptive information included in the service request;

in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating, with the processor, a second communication session to exchange multimedia data between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform separate from the flight control platform; and

piloting, using the flight control unit, the drone to the first location based on the flight plan.

2. The method of claim 1, further including initiating a third communication session between the drone observation platform and a payload unit of the drone, the third communication session to convey sensor data from the payload unit to the drone observation platform and to further convey control data from the drone observation platform to the payload unit to control operation of the payload unit.

3. The method of claim 2, further including blocking data from being exchanged between the drone observation platform and the flight control unit of the drone via the third communication session to prevent the remote piloting of the drone via the drone observation platform.

4. The method of claim 3, further including activating the blocking of data from being exchanged between the drone observation platform and the flight control unit of the drone via the third communication session in response to a command received from the flight control platform.

5. The method of claim 1, further including adding a communication device to the second communication session to exchange at least a portion of the multimedia data among the flight control platform, the drone observation platform and the communication device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform via the second communication session includes:

voice data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform; and

graphical data transmitted from the flight control platform to the drone observation platform, the graphical data based on sensor data received by the flight control platform from a payload unit of the drone via the first communication session.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the drone is a first drone included in a fleet of drones, the first drone is located at a second location, and further including:

receiving the service request from a computer aided dispatch system, the service request identifying the first location and including the descriptive information;

selecting the first drone from the fleet of drones based on the descriptive information and a distance between the first location and the second location; and

invoking a mapping application to determine the flight plan to route the first drone from the second location to the first location.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the drone observation platform is a first drone observation platform of a plurality of different observation platforms, and further including:

selecting the first drone observation platform from the plurality of different observation platforms based on the descriptive information,

wherein the first operator and the second operator are at different locations.

9. The method of claim 1, further including, in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, transmitting the flight plan to a computing platform associated with a governmental agency.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

transmitting a flight plan for a drone to a flight control platform associated with a first operator for piloting the drone, the flight plan based on a first location associated with a service request;

in response to receiving a message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a first communication session between the flight control platform and a flight control unit of the drone to permit remote piloting of the drone;

selecting a drone observation platform associated with a second operator based on a subject matter qualification associated with the second operator and descriptive information included in the service request;

in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a second communication session to exchange multimedia data between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform separate from the flight control platform; and

enabling piloting, using the flight control unit, the drone to the first location based on the flight plan.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further include initiating a third communication session between the drone observation platform and a payload unit of the drone, the third communication session to convey sensor data from the payload unit to the drone observation platform and to further convey control data from the drone observation platform to the payload unit to control operation of the payload unit.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further include, in response to a command received from the flight control platform, blocking data from being exchanged between the drone observation platform and the flight control unit of the drone via the third communication session to prevent the remote piloting of the drone via the drone observation platform.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further include adding a communication device to the second communication session to exchange at least a portion of the multimedia data among the flight control platform, the drone observation platform and the communication device.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the multimedia data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform via the second communication session includes:

voice data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform; and

graphical data transmitted from the flight control platform to the drone observation platform, the graphical data based on sensor data received by the flight control platform from a payload unit of the drone via the first communication session.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further include, in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, transmitting the flight plan to a computing platform associated with a governmental agency.

16. An apparatus for drone deployment, the apparatus comprising:

a memory including computer readable instructions; and

a processor to execute the computer readable instructions to perform operations including;

transmitting a flight plan for a drone to a flight control platform associated with a first operator for piloting the drone, the flight plan based on a first location associated with a service request;

in response to receiving a message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a first communication session between the flight control platform and a flight control unit of the drone to permit remote piloting of the drone;

selecting a drone observation platform associated with a second operator based on a subject matter qualification associated with the second operator and descriptive information included in the service request;

in response to receiving the message from the flight control platform indicating the flight plan is approved, initiating a second communication session to exchange multimedia data between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform separate from the flight control platform; and

enabling piloting, using the flight control unit, the drone to the first location based on the flight plan.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operations further include initiating a third communication session between the drone observation platform and a payload unit of the drone, the third communication session to convey sensor data from the payload unit to the drone observation platform and to further convey control data from the drone observation platform to the payload unit to control operation of the payload unit.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the operations further include, in response to a command received from the flight control platform, blocking data from being exchanged between the drone observation platform and the flight control unit of the drone via the third communication session to prevent the remote piloting of the drone via the drone observation platform.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operations further include adding a communication device to the second communication session to exchange at least a portion of the multimedia data among the flight control platform, the drone observation platform and the communication device.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the multimedia data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform via the second communication session includes:

voice data exchanged between the flight control platform and the drone observation platform; and

graphical data transmitted from the flight control platform to the drone observation platform, the graphical data based on sensor data received by the flight control platform from a payload unit of the drone via the first communication session.