Incremental Position-Based Guidance For A UAV

• US 20110046817A1
• Filed: 08/18/2009
• Published: 02/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Brown, Philip, Hamke, Eric, Trujillo, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,515,596 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/101 specially adapted for aircraft

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method and system for flying a ducted-fan aerial vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The method includes receiving a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution. The method further includes determining actual flight instructions for the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle based on (i) the received flight plan, (ii) a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, and (iii) an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples. The method further includes sending the actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle configured to implement one or more portions of the actual flight instructions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, wherein each waypoint has a corresponding activity to be performed by a ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

determining actual flight instructions for the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle based on (i) the received flight plan, (ii) a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, and (iii) an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

sending the actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle configured to implement one or more portions of the actual flight instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the activities to be performed by the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle at a waypoint comprise one or more of (i) taking off from the waypoint, (ii) flying by the waypoint, (iii) hovering near the waypoint, (iv) flying over the waypoint, or (v) landing at the waypoint.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of (i) an acceleration segment, (ii) a cruise segment, (iii) a deceleration segment, (iv) a begin turn segment, and (v) an end turn segment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises solving for a position and velocity as a function of time for the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an error message when the received flight plan would cause the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle to exceed one or more of the operating parameters by a predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the actual flight instructions are sent from a ground control station associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle to a processor on the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the actual flight instructions are sent from a central processor on the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle to one or more other processors on the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an adjusted flight plan, wherein the adjusted flight plan is an alteration of an original flight plan.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an adjusted flight plan, wherein the adjusted flight plan comprises a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, wherein each waypoint has a corresponding activity to be performed by a ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

determining adjusted actual flight instructions for the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle based on (i) the received adjusted flight plan, (ii) the predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, and (iii) a second iterative analysis of a second plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple of the second plurality of ordered triples comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

sending the adjusted actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle configured to implement one or more portions of the adjusted actual flight instructions.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle comprises sending a first set of actual flight instructions to at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle and a second set of actual flight instructions to the at least one processor of the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle.

12. A ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

a processor configured to;

(1) receive a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, wherein each waypoint has a corresponding activity to be performed by the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

(2) determine actual flight instructions based on (i) the received flight plan, (ii) a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, and (iii) an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

(3) execute the actual flight instructions.

13. The ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 12, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of (i) an acceleration segment, (ii) a cruise segment, (iii) a deceleration segment, (iv) a begin turn segment, and (v) an end turn segment.

14. The ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 12, wherein the predetermined set of associated operating parameters comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions determined by the processor do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

15. The ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 12, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises solving for a position and velocity as a function of time based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

16. A ground control station for a ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, the ground control station comprising:

a processor configured to;

(1) receive a flight plan comprising a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints in an order of execution, wherein each waypoint has a corresponding activity to be performed by the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle at the waypoint;

(2) determine actual flight instructions based on (i) the received flight plan, (ii) a predetermined set of operating parameters associated with the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle, and (iii) an iterative analysis of a plurality of ordered triples, wherein each ordered triple comprises a most recent prior waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, a next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity, and a waypoint after the next waypoint and its corresponding waypoint activity; and

(3) initiate transmission of the actual flight instructions to the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle.

17. The ground control station of claim 16, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises determining, for each path segment of the plurality of path segments connecting the plurality of waypoints, at least one of (i) an acceleration segment, (ii) a cruise segment, (iii) a deceleration segment, (iv) a begin turn segment, and (v) an end turn segment.

18. The ground control station of claim 16, wherein the predetermined set of associated operating parameters comprises a maximum acceleration parameter, a maximum deceleration parameter, a maximum velocity parameter, and a minimum turn radius parameter, and wherein the actual flight instructions determined by the processor do not exceed any of the operating parameters.

19. The ground control station of claim 16, wherein determining actual flight instructions comprises solving for a position and velocity as a function of time based on the received flight plan, the predetermined set of operating parameters, and the iterative analysis of the plurality of ordered triples.

20. The ground control station of claim 16, further comprising generating an error message when the received flight plan would cause the ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicle to exceed one or more of the operating parameters by a predetermined threshold.