CONTEXT-AWARE LANDING ZONE CLASSIFICATION

• US 20160027314A1
• Filed: 07/14/2015
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Stathis, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,892,646 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/10 Rotorcrafts
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/17 Helicopters flying platforms B64U10/13
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/32 for cartography or topography
• 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: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0086 for monitoring terrain radar or analogous systems specially adapted for terrain avoidance G01S13/935
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

According to an aspect, a method of performing context-aware landing zone classification for an aircraft includes accessing a landing zone map, by a context-aware landing zone classification system of the aircraft, to identify potential landing zones. A database on the aircraft includes land cover map data and impervious surface map data. The database is queried to extract context data. The context data include land cover characteristics and impervious surface characteristics associated with locations corresponding to the landing zone map. The context-aware landing zone classification system of the aircraft evaluates the potential landing zones in view of the context data to adjust classifications of the potential landing zones and produce a context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones. The context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones is provided to landing zone selection logic of the aircraft to select a final landing zone.

Claims

1. A method of performing context-aware landing zone classification for an aircraft, the method comprising:

accessing a landing zone map, by a context-aware landing zone classification system of the aircraft, to identify potential landing zones;

querying a database on the aircraft comprising land cover map data and impervious surface map data to extract context data, the context data comprising land cover characteristics and impervious surface characteristics associated with locations corresponding to the landing zone map;

evaluating, by the context-aware landing zone classification system of the aircraft, the potential landing zones in view of the context data to adjust classifications of the potential landing zones and produce a context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones; and

providing the context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones to landing zone selection logic of the aircraft to select a final landing zone.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving perception sensor data indicative of terrain representing the potential landing zones; and

populating the landing zone map based on the perception sensor data.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying features in the perception sensor data; and

establishing initial classifications of the potential landing zones based on the features identified.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the land cover map data comprise land topology characterizations defined over multiple geographic areas.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the impervious surface map data define locations of man-made surfaces over multiple geographic areas.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the potential landing zones further comprises eliminating one or more of the potential landing zones from consideration based on the context data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the potential landing zones further comprises applying the context data as a mask onto the landing zone map and incorporating the mask into a heuristic calculation to determine classification confidence.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving position data for the aircraft;

determining geographic locations of the potential landing zones based on the position data; and

querying the database to extract the context data based on the geographic locations of the potential landing zones.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the aircraft is autonomously controlled during landing based on the final landing zone selected by the landing zone selection logic in response to the context-aware landing zone classification.

10. A system for context-aware landing zone classification for an aircraft, the system comprising:

a processor; and

memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to;

access a landing zone map to identify potential landing zones;

query a database on the aircraft comprising land cover map data and impervious surface map data to extract context data, the context data comprising land cover characteristics and impervious surface characteristics associated with locations corresponding to the landing zone map;

evaluate the potential landing zones in view of the context data to adjust classifications of the potential landing zones and produce a context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones; and

provide the context-aware landing zone classification of the potential landing zones to landing zone selection logic of the aircraft to select a final landing zone.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the landing zone map is populated based on perception sensor data that are received by the system and indicative of terrain representing the potential landing zones.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the land cover map data comprise land topology characterizations defined over multiple geographic areas, and the impervious surface map data define locations of man-made surfaces over multiple geographic areas.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein evaluation of the potential landing zones further comprises elimination of one or more of the potential landing zones from consideration based on the context data.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein evaluation of the potential landing zones further comprises application of the context data as a mask onto the landing zone map and incorporation of the mask into a heuristic calculation to determine classification confidence.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein geographic locations of the potential landing zones are determined based on position data received for the aircraft, and the database is queried to extract the context data based on the geographic locations of the potential landing zones.