AUGMENTED COMMUNICATION AND POSITIONING USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES
First Claim
1. A system for augmenting wireless communication and satellite positioning for machines at a worksite, the system comprising:
- one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) configured to be remotely operated above an area encompassing the worksite, wherein each of the UAV includes;
a real time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) onboard the UAV configured for determining the position of the UAV relative to a base station located at a known location;
a machine vision module configured for detecting an object on the ground at the worksite; and
the RTK GPS onboard each UAV being configured for determining the global coordinates of the detected object in 3D space using the position of the UAV; and
a flight control module configured to receive information on current position of one or more machines operating at the worksite, and machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements in real-time from the one or more machines, and control flight of at least one UAV to a position where the at least one UAV can augment wireless communication signal and GPS satellite signal connectivity to meet the machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for augmenting wireless communication and satellite positioning for machines at a worksite includes one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) configured to be remotely operated above an area encompassing the worksite. Each of the UAV includes a real time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) onboard the UAV for determining the position of the UAV relative to a base station located at a known location, and a machine vision module for detecting an object on the ground at the worksite. The RTK GPS onboard each UAV determines the global coordinates of the detected object in 3D space using the position of the UAV. A flight control module receives information on current position of one or more machines operating at the worksite, and machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements in real-time from the one or more machines, and controls flight of at least one UAV to a position where the at least one UAV can augment wireless communication signal and GPS satellite signal connectivity to meet the machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for augmenting wireless communication and satellite positioning for machines at a worksite, the system comprising:
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one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) configured to be remotely operated above an area encompassing the worksite, wherein each of the UAV includes; a real time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) onboard the UAV configured for determining the position of the UAV relative to a base station located at a known location; a machine vision module configured for detecting an object on the ground at the worksite; and the RTK GPS onboard each UAV being configured for determining the global coordinates of the detected object in 3D space using the position of the UAV; and a flight control module configured to receive information on current position of one or more machines operating at the worksite, and machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements in real-time from the one or more machines, and control flight of at least one UAV to a position where the at least one UAV can augment wireless communication signal and GPS satellite signal connectivity to meet the machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for augmenting wireless communication and satellite positioning for machines at a worksite, the method comprising:
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remotely operating one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) above an area encompassing the worksite; determining the position of each of the one or more UAV relative to a base station in a known location using a real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) located onboard the UAV; detecting a mobile machine on the ground at the worksite using a machine vision module included onboard at least one of the one or more UAV; determining the global coordinates of the detected mobile machine in 3D space relative to the position of the at least one UAV; receiving at one or more of the UAV information on current machine position and machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements in real-time from one or more detected machines operating at the worksite; and controlling flight of at least one UAV to one or more positions where the at least one UAV can augment wireless communication signal and GPS satellite signal connectivity to meet the machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for use in augmenting wireless communication and satellite positioning for machines at a worksite, the computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors, perform a method comprising:
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remotely operating one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) above an area encompassing the worksite; determining the position of each of the one or more UAV relative to a base station in a known location using a real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) onboard the UAV; detecting a mobile machine on the ground at the worksite using a machine vision module included onboard at least one of the UAV; determining the global coordinates of the detected mobile machine in 3D space relative to the position of the at least one UAV; receiving at one or more of the UAV information on current machine position and machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements in real-time from one or more detected machines operating at the worksite; and controlling flight of the at least one UAV to one or more positions where the at least one UAV can augment wireless communication signal and GPS satellite signal connectivity to meet the machine wireless communication and satellite positioning requirements. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification