Drone swarm for increased cargo capacity

• US 10,324,462 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2016
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Jassowski, Michael A, Thirunahari, Ashwin S
• Primary Examiner(s): Patton, Spencer D
• Application Number:
  US15/395,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20180188724A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/08 the articles being load-carrying devices
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/22 Taking-up articles from earth's surface
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/64 for parcel delivery or retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/102 adapted for flying in formations
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0008 with other aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft

Abstract

Systems and methods may use a drone swarm to increase cargo capacity. A drone swarm may include a networked drone system or two or more drones, such as a parent drone and a child drone. A method may include receiving support component balance information captured by an inertial measurement unit on the support component supported by a parent drone, adjusting movement of the parent drone according to a control system using the support component balance information, receiving an indication of a low battery in a drone in the networked drone system, the indication including an identification of a replacement drone to replace the drone with the low battery in the networked drone system, and sending a reconfiguration command to at least one child drone to incorporate the replacement drone in the networked drone system.

Claims

1. A networked drone system, the networked drone system comprising:

a support platform including;

an inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to;

capture support platform balance information; and

transmit the support platform balance information;

a plurality of drones configured to support and move the support platform, the plurality of drones including;

a parent drone controllable by a remote control device, the parent drone configured to receive the support platform balance information from the IMU; and

at least one child drone; and

a replacement drone configured to join the plurality of drones during flight, the replacement drone configured to support and move the support platform.

2. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the replacement drone is configured to join when the at least one child drone has a low battery.

3. The networked drone system of claim 2, wherein the at least one child drone is configured to leave the plurality of drones in response to the replacement drone joining the plurality of drones.

4. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein an orientation of the plurality of drones is reconfigurable with respect to the support platform in response to the replacement drone joining the plurality of drones.

5. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein in response to the replacement drone joining the plurality of drones, the parent drone is configured to leave the plurality of drones, and in response to the parent drone leaving the plurality of drones, the replacement drone or the at least one child drone is configured to be controllable by the remote control device.

6. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the IMU is configured to transmit the support platform balance information to all drones in the plurality of drones.

7. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the IMU is configured to transmit the support platform balance information to only the parent drone, and wherein the parent drone is configured to communicate the support platform balance information to remaining drones in the plurality of drones.

8. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the IMU is configured to transmit the support platform balance information wirelessly to the parent drone.

9. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the IMU is configured to transmit the support platform balance information along a wire within a support cable to the parent drone.

10. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the support platform balance information includes a yaw, a pitch, and a roll of the support platform.

11. The networked drone system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of drones are configured to compensate for changes in the yaw, the pitch, or the roll of the support platform using a control system, the control system to separately control each drone in the plurality of drones.

12. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the support platform is configured to carry a package for remote delivery.

13. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the at least one child drone includes at least two child drones, and the at least two child drones and the parent drone are configured to dynamically support the support platform.

14. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the parent drone is configured to receive a movement command from the remote control device causing the parent drone to move while maintaining support of the support platform.

15. The networked drone system of claim 1, wherein the at least one child drone is configured to maintain a specified distance from the parent drone.

16. A method for using a networked drone system to support and move a support component, the method comprising:

receiving, at a parent drone, support component balance information captured by an inertial measurement unit on the support component supported by the parent drone;

adjusting movement of the parent drone according to a control system using the support component balance information;

receiving, at the parent drone, a movement command from a remote control device;

moving the support component according to the movement command using the parent drone;

causing, in response to movement of the parent drone, at least one child drone to support the support component and to move;

receiving, at the parent drone, an indication of a low battery in an indicated drone in the networked drone system, the indication including an identification of a replacement drone to replace the drone with the low battery in the networked drone system; and

sending a reconfiguration command to the at least one child drone to incorporate the replacement drone in the networked drone system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reconfiguration command includes:

a first operation to configure drones in the networked drone system in a first arrangement that includes the indicated drone with the low battery and the replacement drone; and

a second operation to configure drones in the networked drone system in a second arrangement that includes the replacement drone without the indicated drone with the low battery, after the indicated drone with the low battery is removed from the networked drone system.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the indicated drone with the low battery is the parent drone and the replacement drone becomes a replacement parent drone after the parent drone is removed from the networked drone system.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising causing the indicated drone with the low battery to return to a recharging station after being removed from the networked drone system.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising causing the at least one child drone to maintain a specified distance from the parent drone.

21. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions for using a parent drone in a networked drone system to support and move a support component, which when executed by the parent drone, cause the parent drone to:

process support component balance information captured by an inertial measurement unit on the support component supported by the parent drone;

adjust movement of the parent drone according to a control system using the support component balance information;

process a movement command from a remote control device;

move the support component according to the movement command using the parent drone;

causing, in response to movement of the parent drone, at least one child drone to support the support component and to move;

process an indication of a low battery in an indicated drone in the networked drone system, the indication including an identification of a replacement drone to replace the indicated drone with the low battery in the networked drone system; and

send a reconfiguration command to the at least one child drone to incorporate the replacement drone in the networked drone system.

22. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the reconfiguration command includes:

a first operation to configure drones in the networked drone system in a first arrangement that includes the indicated drone with the low battery and the replacement drone; and

a second operation to configure drones in the networked drone system in a second arrangement that includes the replacement drone without the indicated drone with the low battery, after the indicated drone with the low battery is removed from the networked drone system.

23. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the indicated drone with the low battery is the parent drone and the replacement drone becomes a replacement drone after the parent drone is removed from the networked drone system.

24. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further cause the parent drone to cause the indicated drone with the low battery to return to a recharging station after being removed from the networked drone system.

25. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions further cause the parent drone to cause the at least one child drone to maintain a specified distance from the parent drone.