UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE BASED SECURITY SYSTEM

• US 20170330466A1
• Filed: 03/30/2017
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orestis Demetriades, Vitalijs Bondarenko
• Original Assignee: Orestis Demetriades, Vitalijs Bondarenko
• Inventors: Demetriades, Orestis, Bondarenko, Vitalijs
• Granted Patent: US 10,204,520 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/31 for surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19613 Recognition of a predetermined image pattern or behaviour pattern indicating theft or intrusion
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1965 the vehicle being an aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• 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: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A method includes defining a flight plan of an unmanned aerial vehicle from a rest location thereof to a destination location within a memory of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and capturing, through one or more sensor(s) communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and a server through a computer network, data related to an environment of a specific location covered by the one or more sensor(s). The method also includes detecting, through a processor associated with the one or more sensor(s) and/or the server, a security breach and/or a security threat at the specific location based on analyzing the captured data, and automatically activating, through the one or more sensor(s) or the server, the flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the security breach and/or the security threat to dispatch the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform additional surveillance of the specific location.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

defining at least one flight plan of an unmanned aerial vehicle from a rest location thereof to a destination location within a memory of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on accessing an Application Programming Interface (API) exposed through a programming toolkit executing on a processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a flight plan of the at least one flight plan being a sequence of operations to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle as part of dispatch thereof to the destination location;

capturing, through at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and a server through a computer network, data related to an environment of a specific location covered by the at least one sensor, the server being at a location remote from the at least one sensor;

detecting, through a processor associated with at least one of;

the at least one sensor and the server, at least one of;

a security breach and a security threat at the specific location based on analyzing the captured data;

automatically activating, through one of;

the at least one sensor and the server, the flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location; and

executing, through the unmanned aerial vehicle, the sequence of operations defined in the flight plan to dispatch the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform additional surveillance of the specific location with regard to the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat in accordance with interpretation of the specific location as the destination location of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the automatic activation of the flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in accordance with the at least one sensor being a surveillance sensor at the specific location, the method comprises:

capturing, through the surveillance sensor communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and the server through the computer network, the data related to the environment of the specific location covered by the surveillance sensor;

automatically activating, through the one of;

the surveillance sensor and the server, the flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location; and

performing, through the unmanned aerial vehicle, the additional surveillance of the specific location utilizing a second at least one sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in accordance with the at least one sensor being part of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the method comprises capturing, through the unmanned aerial vehicle, the data related to the environment of the specific location of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recalling, through the server, the unmanned aerial vehicle back to the rest location thereof following at least one of;

interpreting, through the server, the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat as a false threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

confirming, through the server, the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

automatically activating, through the server, another flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle based on determining, at the server, that paths of the unmanned aerial vehicle covered in the flight plan are untraversable by the unmanned aerial vehicle; and

automatically dispatching, through the server, another unmanned aerial vehicle to the specific location following the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat thereat based on determining non-availability of the unmanned aerial vehicle for the additional surveillance.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dynamically modifying, through the server, the flight plan of the at least one flight plan to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle go beyond the specific location for the additional surveillance.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

alerting, through the server, a security server communicatively coupled to the server through the computer network of the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location.

8. A server comprising:

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions to;

define at least one flight plan of an unmanned aerial vehicle from a rest location thereof to a destination location within a memory of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on accessing an API exposed through a programming toolkit executing on a processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a flight plan of the at least one flight plan being a sequence of operations to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle as part of dispatch thereof to the destination location,

detect at least one of;

a security breach and a security threat at a specific location based on analyzing data captured through at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and the server through a computer network, the captured data being related to an environment of the specific location covered by the at least one sensor, and the server being at a location remote from the at least one sensor;

automatically activate the flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location, and

dispatch the unmanned aerial vehicle to the specific location to perform additional surveillance thereat with regard to the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat based on execution of the flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in accordance with interpretation of the specific location as the destination location of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the automatic activation of the flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

9. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions to detect at least the one of:

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location based on analyzing the data captured through the at least one sensor to determine motion at the specific location.

10. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

recall the unmanned aerial vehicle back to the rest location thereof following at least one of;

interpreting the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat as a false threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

confirming the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

11. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to at least one of:

automatically activate another flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle based on determining that paths of the unmanned aerial vehicle covered in the flight plan are untraversable by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

automatically dispatch another unmanned aerial vehicle to the specific location following the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat thereat based on determining non-availability of the unmanned aerial vehicle for the additional surveillance.

12. The server of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

dynamically modify the flight plan of the at least one flight plan to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle go beyond the specific location for the additional surveillance.

13. The server of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

alert a security server communicatively coupled to the server through the computer network of the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location.

14. A system comprising:

an unmanned aerial vehicle having at least one flight plan from a rest location thereof to a destination location defined within a memory of the unmanned aerial vehicle based on access to an API exposed through a programming toolkit executing on a processor of the unmanned aerial vehicle, a flight plan of the at least one flight plan being a sequence of operations to be performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle as part of dispatch thereof to the destination location;

a server;

at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and the server through a computer network to capture data related to an environment of a specific location covered by the at least one sensor, the server being at a location remote from the at least one sensor; and

a processor associated with at least one of;

the at least one sensor and the server to detect at least one of;

a security breach and a security threat at the specific location based on analyzing the captured data,

wherein one of;

the at least one sensor and the server is configured to automatically activate the flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location, and

wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to execute the sequence of operations defined in the flight plan to dispatch the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform additional surveillance of the specific location with regard to the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat in accordance with interpretation of the specific location as the destination location of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the automatic activation of the flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein, in accordance with the at least one sensor being a surveillance sensor at the specific location:

the surveillance sensor communicatively coupled to the unmanned aerial vehicle and the server through the computer network is configured to capture the data related to the environment of the specific location covered by the surveillance sensor,

the one of;

the surveillance sensor and the server is configured to automatically activate the flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle in response to the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location, and

the unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to perform the additional surveillance of the specific location utilizing a second at least one sensor of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein, in accordance with the at least one sensor being part of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle is configured to capture the data related to the environment of the specific location of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the server is further configured to recall the unmanned aerial vehicle back to the rest location thereof following at least one of;

interpreting the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat as a false threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

confirming the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat based on the additional surveillance performed by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further configured to at least one of:

automatically activate another flight plan of the at least one flight plan on the unmanned aerial vehicle based on determining that paths of the unmanned aerial vehicle covered in the flight plan are untraversable by the unmanned aerial vehicle, and

automatically dispatch another unmanned aerial vehicle to the specific location following the detection of the at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat thereat based on determining non-availability of the unmanned aerial vehicle for the additional surveillance.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the server is further configured to dynamically modify the flight plan of the at least one flight plan to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle go beyond the specific location for the additional surveillance.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein:

the server is further configured to alert a security server communicatively coupled to the server through the computer network of the detected at least one of;

the security breach and the security threat at the specific location.