METHOD FOR ALLOWING MISSIONS OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES, IN PARTICULAR IN NON-SEGREGATED AIR SPACES

• US 20140163852A1
• Filed: 07/27/2012
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: S.I.Sv.El. Societa' Italiana Per Lo Sviluppo Dell'Elettronica S.P.A. (Fineur International S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Csp-Innovazione Nelle Ict Scarl, Sisvel Technology S.r.l. (Fineur International S.A.)
• Inventors: Borri, Roberto, Scarafia, Simone, Ricchiuti, Ferdinando, Torrero, Livio
• Granted Patent: US 9,613,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/120
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0022 characterised by the communication link data switching networks in general H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• 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 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/30 Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy

Abstract

A method for allowing missions of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in particular in non-segregated air space, includes the steps of: prearranging a flight plan by an operator of an unmanned aerial vehicle; verifying, by a management and control body, that the flight plan is compatible with other flight plans of other aerial vehicles, and, if necessary, modifying the flight plan so as to prevent any collisions with the other aerial vehicles, wherein the following steps are carried out: encrypting the flight plan, by the management and control body, with a private key of the management and control body, so as to obtain an encrypted flight plan; encoding the encrypted flight plan with a public key of the unmanned aerial vehicle for which the flight plan is intended, so as to obtain an encrypted and encoded flight plan.

Claims

1. A method for allowing missions of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in particular in non-segregated air space, comprising the steps of:

prearranging a flight plan by an operator of an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein

an air traffic management and control body encrypts said flight plan with a private key of said air traffic management and control body, so as to obtain an encrypted flight plan, and

said encrypted flight plan is encoded with a public key of the unmanned aerial vehicle for which said fight plan is intended, so as to obtain an encrypted and encoded flight plan.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said encrypted and encoded flight plan is decoded, by means of a device of said unmanned aerial vehicle, with a private key of said aerial vehicle, so as to obtain said encrypted flight plan, and said encrypted flight plan is then decrypted with a public key of said management and control body, so as to obtain said flight plan.

3. The method according to claim 2, comprising the step of storing the data relating to the mission carried out by said aerial vehicle into a memory of said device.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising the step of verifying, by said air traffic management and control body, that said mission complies with the flight plan authorized by said management and control body.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said flight plan comprises at least:

geographic coordinates of the points flown over by the vehicle during said mission;

times of said mission;

vehicle profile.

12. The device according to claim 5, further comprising:

said geographic coordinates comprising GPS coordinates;

said times of said mission comprising the times of stopping over a point in order to take a photograph or to collect data from a sensor; and

said vehicle profile comprising data relating to type, dimensions, weight, cruise speed, maximum turning angle.

6. A device adapted to be installed on board an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

an interface adapted to receive a document comprising the data of a flight plan encrypted and encoded by an air traffic management and control body;

a control unit,

wherein said control unit comprises means for decoding said encrypted and encoded flight plan through a private key of said vehicle, so as to obtain an encrypted flight plan, and for authenticating said encrypted flight plan through a public key of said air traffic management and control body, so as to obtain a flight plan which can be used by said vehicle.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein said device further comprises a module for detecting vehicle position data and a non-volatile memory, and wherein said control unit stores the mission data in real time.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein said data detection module comprises at least one GNSS module for obtaining the vehicle position data through satellite signals.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein said data detection module comprises a module of inertial motion sensors which, by co-operating with said GNSS module for obtaining the vehicle position data through satellite signals, allows locating with more accuracy the path followed by the vehicle during the mission.

10. The device according to claim 6, wherein the data stored in said memory are only accessible to the air traffic management and control body.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein said data stored in said memory are accessible for a time period defined by said air traffic management and control body.

13. The device according to claim 6, wherein said control unit comprises a microprocessor.

14. The device according to claim 10, wherein the data stored in said memory are only accessible to the air traffic management and control body through a set of access permissions.