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Unmanned aerial vehicle and method for safely landing an unmanned aerial vehicle

  • US 10,319,246 B2
  • Filed: 09/29/2016
  • Issued: 06/11/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2015
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:

  • a lift and propulsion system; and

    a flight control system with;

    a flight control unit;

    a navigation system;

    a communication system; and

    an actuator system;

    wherein the flight control unit is configured for calculating, based on data from the navigation system and/or data of a ground control station configured to control and/or monitor the aerial vehicle, control commands and supplying the control commands to the actuator system for actuating the lift and propulsion system;

    further comprising a monitoring unit configured to monitor the communication system to determine whether all communication links of a multiplicity of communication links between the aerial vehicle and the ground control station are interrupted; and

    wherein the monitoring unit is configured to select, in response to determining an interruption on all communication links of the multiplicity of communication links, a suitable landing site based on stored data and in accordance with defined rules for landing site selection, wherein the stored data includes current flight conditions data and nearby landing sites data, and wherein the stored data and the defined rules for landing site selection are mirrored on the ground control station, and wherein the monitoring unit is configured to cause the flight control unit to land the aerial vehicle safely at the selected landing site, andwherein the flight control unit is configured for determining a flight route to the selected landing site, wherein determination of the flight route is carried out according to defined rules for flight route determination, and wherein the defined rules for flight route determination are mirrored on the ground control station with the stored data and the defined rules for landing site selection and the ground control station is configured determine the same flight route and the same selected landing site as determined by the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to determining an interruption on all communication links of the multiplicity of communication links.

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