SPECIALIZED CONTEXTUAL DRONES FOR ANIMAL VIRTUAL FENCES AND HERDING

• US 20180027772A1
• Filed: 07/29/2016
• Published: 02/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gordon, Michael S., Kozloski, James Robert, Kundu, Ashish, Pickover, Clifford A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,820,574 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0029 Crowding gates or barriers
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/023 Anti-evasion devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 29/005 Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 57/00 Appliances for providing, preventing or catching swarms; Drone-catching devices
• CPC Class Codes: B63G 8/001 Underwater vessels adapted for special purposes, e.g. unmanned underwater vessels; Equipment specially adapted therefor, e.g. docking stations self-propelled or direction controlled diving chambers with mechanical link to a base B63C11/42
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/00 UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/31 for surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00

Abstract

Techniques for drone device control are provided. In one example, a computer-implemented method comprises establishing, by a plurality of drone devices respectively operatively coupled to processors and coordinating with one other, a defined region of a defined coordinate space of a geographic area, wherein the defined region is associated with an animal. The computer-implemented method also comprises monitoring, by the plurality of drone devices, a physical relationship between the animal and the defined region. The computer-implemented method can also comprise, in response to identifying that the physical relationship between the animal and the defined region fails to meet a criterion, performing, by the plurality of drone devices, a pattern of operations selected to alter the physical relationship between the animal and the defined region to satisfy the criterion.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

establishing, by a plurality of drone devices respectively operatively coupled to processors and coordinating with one other, a defined region of a defined coordinate space of a geographic area, wherein the defined region is associated with one or more animals; and

monitoring, by the plurality of drone devices, a physical relationship between the animal and the defined region.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to identifying that the physical relationship between an animal of the one or more animals being and the defined region fails to meet a criterion, performing, by the plurality of drone devices, a pattern of operations selected to alter the physical relationship between the animal and the defined region to satisfy the criterion.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations comprises a movement pattern of the plurality of drone devices.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations comprises a visual indication presented by a drone of the plurality of drone devices.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations comprises an audio indication presented by a drone device of the plurality of drone devices.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations comprises a physical stimulation presented by a drone device of the plurality of drone devices.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the monitoring is performed using an instrument coupled to the drone device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the monitoring comprises identifying a defined condition predicted to cause the physical relationship between the animal and the defined region fail to satisfy the criterion.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the defined condition comprises the identification of a predator animal, and the performing the pattern of operations comprises performing an action to drive the predator animal to a defined distance away from the defined coordinate space.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations is selected according to a learning algorithm that learns a behavior of the animal relative to the defined region.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the pattern of operations is selected according to a learning algorithm that learns effectiveness of an operation performed by a drone device of the plurality of drone devices relative to alteration of the physical relationship between the animal and the defined region.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the defined region based on a defined condition to provide a virtual fence around a customizable region.

13. A computer program product for managing one or more virtual boundaries of a defined region, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a drone device to cause the drone device to:

coordinate with at least one other drone device to determine the defined region of a coordinate space of a geographic area, wherein the defined region is associated with one or more animals;

coordinate with the at least one other drone device to monitor the one or more virtual boundaries of the defined region;

determine a violation associated with the one or more virtual boundaries of the defined region;

coordinate with the at least one other drone device to determine one or more actions to perform by the drone device and the at least one other drone device to continue to monitor one or more virtual boundaries of the defined region and mitigate the violation associated with the one or more virtual boundaries of the defined region; and

coordinate with the at least one other drone device to perform the one or more actions.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the violation comprises an animal of the one or more animals being located outside of the defined region and a status associated with the animal indicating that the animal is to be maintained inside the defined region.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the one or more actions comprises using one or more instruments of the drone device to produce one or more stimuli to drive the animal back into the defined region.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the violation comprises of the one or more animals being animal being located inside of the defined region and a status associated with the animal indicating that the animal is to be maintained outside of the defined region.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the one or more actions comprises using one or more instruments of the drone device to produce one or more stimuli to drive the animal out of the defined region.

18. A drone device, comprising:

a memory that stores computer executable components; and

a processor that executes the computer executable components stored in the memory, wherein the computer executable components comprise;

a boundary component that determines a defined region of a coordinate space of a geographic area, wherein the defined region is associated with one or more animals;

a monitoring component that coordinates with at least one other drone device to determine whether a violation associated with a virtual boundary of the defined region has occurred; and

a violation response component that coordinates with the at least one other drone device to determine an action to be performed by the drone device to mitigate the violation.

19. The drone device of claim 18, wherein the violation response component also implements the action to be performed by the drone device.

20. The drone device of claim 18, wherein the violation response component also learns information associated with effectiveness of actions performed to mitigate violations of the virtual boundary of the defined region.