FLIGHT CONDITION EVALUATION AND PROTECTION FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AND REMOTELY-PILOTED VEHICLES

• US 20160260331A1
• Filed: 02/01/2016
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DTN, LLC (TBG AG)
• Original Assignee: Iteris Incorporated
• Inventors: SALENTINY, DUSTIN M., MEWES, JOHN J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,049,583 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• 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: G05D 1/00 Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0061 for transition from automatic pilot to manual pilot and vice versa
• 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 5/0013 with a ground station
• 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: G08G 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W

Abstract

A framework for combining a weather risk analysis with appropriate operational rules includes a data initialization component, a rules processing component, and one or more weather risk analysis and assessment tools to evaluate a flight condition. The framework applies current, historical, predicted and forecasted weather data to the one or more operational rules governing a mission, a payload, a flight plan, a craft type, and a location of the mission for aircraft such as an unmanned aerial vehicle or remotely-piloted vehicle, and generates advisories based on the evaluation of flight conditions such as a mission compliance status, instructions for operation of unmanned aircraft, and management advisories. The flight condition advisories include either a “fly” advisory or a “no-fly” advisory, and the framework may also provide a mission prioritization and optimization system.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

ingesting, as input data, weather information, mission-specific flight parameters for an unmanned aircraft, and one or more operational rules for the unmanned aircraft, the weather information including at least one of current weather data, historical weather data, predicted weather data, and forecasted weather data for a specific geographic area, the mission-specific flight parameters defining a mission and including one or more of a payload, a flight plan, a craft type, and a geographical location of the mission, and the one or more operational rules at least relating to performance of the mission;

analyzing the input data in a plurality of data processing modules within a computing environment in which the plurality of data processing modules are executed in conjunction with at least one processor, the data processing modules configured to confirm a validity of a flight certificate of mission authorization, and perform a risk assessment for the mission relative to the weather information and the mission-specific flight parameters by

     1) computing one or more mission risk probabilities in a weather-based statistical analysis, and

     2) comparing the weather-based statistical analysis with the operational rules to evaluate a flight condition of the unmanned aircraft for the performance of the mission; and

generating, as output data, one or more of a mission compliance status confirming or denying compliance with the one or more operational rules for the performance of the mission, and at least one operational instruction for the unmanned aircraft.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forecasted whether data includes near-term weather forecasts and extended-range weather forecasts.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the operational instruction is at least one of a fly instruction, a takeoff prevention instruction, a payload instruction, and a recovery interference prevention instruction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the flight condition is at least one of a pre-flight condition, an in-flight condition, and a post-flight condition.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting a flight plan by modifying one or more of the mission-specific flight parameters.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the data processing modules are performed by a device embedded on board the unmanned aircraft.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering a signed authorization certificate to conduct the mission.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating one or more management advisory services from the flight condition evaluation, the one or more advisory services including at least one of an agricultural operations advisory, a regulatory advisory, and a plurality of alerts.

9. A flight advisory system for unmanned aircraft, comprising:

a data ingest and initialization component configured to retrieve, store, and arrange weather information comprised of at least one of current weather data, historical weather data, predicted weather data, and forecasted weather data for a specific geographic area, mission-specific flight parameters defining a mission of an unmanned aircraft and including one or more of a payload, a flight plan, a craft type, and a geographical location of a mission, and one or more operational rules governing mission performance;

a mission analytics component configured to perform a risk assessment for the mission relative to the weather information and the mission-specific flight parameters by

     1) computing one or more mission risk probabilities in a weather-based statistical analysis, and

     2) comparing the weather-based statistical analysis with the operational rules to evaluate a flight condition of the unmanned aircraft for the performance of the mission; and

one or more components configured to generate output data as a flight advisory from the flight condition evaluation that includes a mission compliance status confirming or denying compliance with the one or more operational rules and an operational instruction for the unmanned aircraft.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the operational instruction is at least one of a fly instruction, a takeoff prevention instruction, a payload instruction, and a recovery interference prevention instruction.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the data ingest and initialization component, the mission analytics components, and the one or more components configured to generate output data are performed by a device embedded on the unmanned aircraft.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising a flight control component configured to restrict ground control of the unmanned aircraft in response to an operational instruction.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a flight control component configured to prevent an operator from preventing a return and landing using a predefined recovery path, in response to an operational instruction.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising a flight certification module configured to confirm a flight certificate validity and deliver a signed authorization certificate for the unmanned aircraft to perform the mission.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the data ingest and initialization component, the mission analytics component, and the one or more components configured to generate output data are performed by a device embedded on the unmanned aircraft.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the output data includes one or more management advisory services from the flight condition evaluation, the one or more advisory services including an agricultural operations advisory, a regulatory advisory, and a plurality of alerts.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the forecasted whether data includes near-term weather forecasts and extended-range weather forecasts.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the flight condition is at least one of a pre-flight condition, an in-flight condition, and a post-flight condition.

19. A method of evaluating a flight condition for an unmanned aircraft, comprising:

retrieving and initializing a plurality of inputs, the plurality of inputs including weather information comprised of least one of current weather data, historical weather data, predicted weather data, and forecasted weather data for a specific geographic area, and including mission-specific flight parameters defining a mission of an unmanned aircraft and including one or more of a payload, a flight plan, a craft type, and a geographical location of a mission;

retrieving one or more appropriate operational rules for performing the mission based on the plurality of inputs;

evaluating a flight condition to determine a mission compliance status by applying one or more weather-based statistical analyses using the weather information and the mission-specific flight parameters, and comparing the one or more statistical analyses to the one or more appropriate operational rules in a mission risk assessment, the flight condition comprising at least one of a pre-flight condition, an in-flight condition, and a post-flight condition; and

issuing a flight advisory representing the mission compliance status to at least one of an operator of the unmanned aircraft and to a device embedded on the unmanned aircraft.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising adjusting a flight plan by modifying one or more of the mission-specific flight parameters in response to the mission compliance status.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising confirming a validity of a flight certificate of mission authorization, and delivering a signed authorization certificate to conduct the mission.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the advisory either confirms or denies compliance with the one or more operational rules for the mission.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the advisory is an operational instruction for the unmanned aircraft, the operational instruction comprising at least one of a fly instruction, a takeoff prevention instruction, a payload instruction, and a recovery interference prevention instruction to prevent an operator from preventing the unmanned aircraft from returning and landing using a predefined recovery path.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising issuing a management advisory service from the flight condition evaluation, the additional advisory service including at least one of an agricultural operations advisory, a regulatory advisory, and a plurality of alerts.