Unmanned aerial vehicle management system

• US 10,395,543 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2017
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zipline International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zipline International Inc.
• Inventors: Chambers, Andrew, Wade, Bryan, Drula, Catalin, Halley, David, Napolskikh, Igor, Wyrobek, Keenan, Rinaudo, Keller, Brake, Nicholas, Oksenhorn, Ryan, Patterson, Ryan, Hetzler, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Smith-Stewart, Demetra R
• Application Number:
  US15/659,735
• Publication Number:
  US 20170337827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 762 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/00 UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/20 for use as communications relays, e.g. high-altitude platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/31 for surveillance
• 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 2201/10 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: G05D 1/1064 specially adapted for avoiding collisions with other aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/003 Flight plan management
• 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

Abstract

An Unmanned Aerial System configured to receive a request from a user and fulfill that request using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The Unmanned Aerial System selects a distribution center that is within range of the user, and deploys a suitable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to fulfill the request from that distribution center. The Unmanned Aerial System is configured to provide real-time information about the flight route to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle during its flight, and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is configured to dynamically update its mission based on information received from the Unmanned Aerial System.

Claims

1. A system for fulfilling a request from a user, comprising a computer server, the computer server configured to:

receive a service request from a remote client device operated by the user, the service request specifying a destination site;

select a distribution center based on the destination site; and

send at least a portion of the service request to the distribution center;

wherein, at least one of the computer server and the distribution center generate mission data that is communicated to an unmanned aerial vehicle; and

the mission data configures the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate to the destination site.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the mission data communicated to the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a skymap, the skymap comprising information about one or more flight corridors; and

the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to navigate to the destination site using the one or more flight corridors.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to:

compute a traversal cost for each of a plurality of flight corridors; and

determine a lowest cost route to the destination site using the computed traversal cost for each of the plurality of flight corridors.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the computer server is further configured to select the distribution center based on a distance between the distribution center and the destination site.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein:

the service request further comprises information specifying a requested payload type;

the distribution center comprises an inventory indicating an availability of the requested payload type; and

the computer server is further configured to select the distribution center based on the availability of the requested payload type.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer server is further configured to:

cause a displayable representation of the geographic area to be displayed on the remote client device operated by the user; and

receive at least one route refinement selection from the remote client device operated by the user.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to:

receive route information based on the at least one route refinement selection; and

generate a route to the destination location based on the route information.

8. In a computer system, a method for fulfilling a request from a user, comprising:

receiving a service request from a remote client device operated by the user, the service request specifying a destination site;

selecting a distribution center based on the destination site;

sending at least a portion of the service request to the distribution center;

generating mission data that configures the unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate to the destination site; and

communicating the mission data to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the mission data communicated to the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a skymap, the skymap comprising information about one or more flight corridors; and

the unmanned aerial vehicle is further configured to navigate to the destination site using the one or more flight corridors.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

computing a traversal cost for each of a plurality of flight corridors; and

determining a lowest cost route to the destination site using the computed traversal cost for each of the plurality of flight corridors.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting the distribution center based on the distance of the distribution center from the destination site.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the service request further comprises information specifying a requested payload type;

the distribution center comprises an inventory indicating an availability of the requested payload type; and

the method further comprises selecting the distribution center based on the availability of the requested payload type.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving terrain data for a geographic area;

generating a displayable representation of the geographic area;

sending the displayable representation of the geographic area to the remote client device operated by the user; and

receiving at least one route refinement selection from the remote client device operated by the user.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

generating a route to the destination location based on the at least one route refinement selection.

15. In a computer system, a method for determining a route for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

receiving a service request from a user operating a remote client device, the service request specifying a destination site within a geographic area, the geographic area associated with stored terrain data in a terrain map database;

generating a displayable representation of the geographic area based on the stored terrain data;

sending the displayable representation of the geographic area to the remote client device;

receiving at least one route refinement selection from the remote client device; and

generating a route within the geographic area for the unmanned aerial vehicle using the at least one route refinement selection from the remote client device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the route refinement selection comprises a point, and generating a route within the geographic area comprises refining a location of the destination site.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the route refinement selection comprises a trajectory, and generating a route within the geographic area comprises incorporating the trajectory into a flight path.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

validating the route refinement selection to ensure that an error will not be introduced into the route.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein validating the route refinement selection further comprises:

checking the route refinement selection against the stored terrain data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein checking the route refinement selection against the stored terrain data further comprises:

confirming that a geometry of the route refinement selection does not intersect geometries of objects or terrain in the terrain map database.