SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PAYLOAD DISPERSION USING UAVS

• US 20180356841A1
• Filed: 11/23/2016
• Published: 12/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Almog Rescuesystems, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Almog Rescue Systems, Ltd.
• Inventors: ZILBERSTEIN, Ariel, GRAFF, Udi
• Granted Patent: US 10,401,873 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 3/0242 by spraying extinguishants from the aircraft spraying from aircraft in general B64D1/16
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/16 Dropping or releasing powdered, liquid, or gaseous matter, e.g. for fire-fighting jettisoning fuel B64D37/26
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0015 Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 5/00 Aircraft transported by aircraft, e.g. for release or reberthing during flight flying units formed by separate aircraft B64C37/02
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/102 adapted for flying in formations
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/20 for releasing or capturing UAVs in flight by another aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/82 Airborne vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00

Abstract

According to some examples of the presently disclosed subject matter there is provided a system and method for deploying a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by an airborne carrier aircraft for dispersing payload material, each UAV comprising at least one container containing payload material and being configured to disperse the payload material at a designated dispersion area in an event site.

Claims

1. A payload dispersion system, comprising:

a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) each comprising at least one container containing payload material and configured to fly to a designated dispersion area in an event site and disperse the payload material at the designated dispersion area;

wherein one or more of the plurality of UAVs comprise at least one sensor device configured to detect situation awareness data from the event site surroundings;

a computerized device configured to;

receive from at least one UAV of the plurality of UAVs a first data detected by a first respective sensor onboard the at least one UAV, wherein the first data is detected during a first time period;

receive from at least one other UAV of the plurality of UAVs a second data detected by a second sensor onboard the at least one other UAV, wherein the second data is detected during a second time period;

determine whether a change exists between the first data and the second data;

wherein the first time period is later than the second time period and wherein payload material is dispersed at the designated dispersion area by one or more of the plurality of UAVs during a time between the first time period and the second time period; and

generate output data including performance feedback indicative of the effect of the dispersed payload on the event site, the performance feedback being related to the determined change.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the computerized device is further configured to transmit to at least one user device the output data.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one user device, wherein the computerized device is configured to transmit the performance feedback to the at least one user device and display the performance feedback on a display screen of the at least one user device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computerized device is configured responsive to the performance feedback to provide updates to deployment parameters.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the user device is configured to receive input data comprising instructions for updating the deployment parameters and transmit the input data to the computerized device.

6. The system of claim 1,

wherein the computerized device is configured to process the performance feedback and to autonomously update the deployment parameters based on the performance feedback.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the event site includes a dispersion area comprising one or more segments segments, and wherein the computerized device is configured to assign one or more UAVs from the plurality of UAVs to each of the one or more segments, based on the required payload capacity;

and

wherein the computerized device is further configured to determine performance feedback pertaining to a given segment based on data detected by sensors on-board the one or more UAVs assigned to the given segment.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the computerized device is configured to update a required payload capacity assigned to the given segment based on the performance feedback pertaining to the given segment.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein each UAV of the plurality of UAVs comprises a payload dispersion unit and is configured to autonomously direct the UAV to the designated dispersion point and operate the payload dispersion unit for dispersion of the payload at the designated dispersion point.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of UAVs are deployed from an airborne carrier aircraft, and wherein the computerized device is a command and control unit mountable on the aircraft.

11. A system for deploying a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for dispersing payload material, each of the plurality of UAVs comprising at least one container containing payload material and configured to fly to a designated dispersion point in an event site and disperse the payload material at the designated dispersion point;

and wherein one or more of the plurality of UAVs comprise at least one sensor device configured to detect situation awareness data from the event site surroundings;

the system comprising a computerized device configured to;

receive from at least one UAV of the plurality of UAVs a first data detected by a first respective sensor onboard the at least one UAV, wherein the first data is detected during a first time period;

receive from at least one other UAV of the plurality of UAVs a second data detected by a second sensor onboard the at least one other UAV, wherein the second data is detected during a second time period;

determine whether a change exists between the first data and the second data;

wherein the first time period is later than the second time period and wherein payload material is dispersed over the event site by one or more of the plurality of UAVs during a time between the first time period and the second time period; and

generate output data including performance feedback indicative of the effect of the dispersed payload on the event site, the performance feedback being related to the determined change.

12. A method of deploying a cloud of unmanned aerial vehicles for dispersing payload material, the method comprising:

deploying a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) wherein each UAV of the plurality of UAVs comprises at least one container containing payload material and configured to fly to a designated dispersion point in an event site and disperse the payload material at the designated dispersion point; and

wherein one or more of the plurality of UAVs comprise at least one sensor device configured to detect situation awareness data from the event site surroundings;

operating a computerized device for;

receiving from at least one UAV of the plurality of UAVs a first data detected by a first respective sensor onboard the at least one UAV, wherein the first data is detected during a first time period;

receiving from at least one other UAV of the plurality of UAVs a second data detected by a second sensor onboard the at least one other UAV, wherein the second data is detected during a second time period;

determining whether a change exists between the first data and the second data;

wherein the first time period is later than the second time period and wherein payload material is dispersed over the event site by one or more of the plurality of UAVs during a time between the first time period and the second time period; and

generating to a user device output data including performance feedback indicative of the effect of the dispersed payload on the event site, the performance feedback being related to the determined change.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

transmitting the performance feedback to one or more user devices capable of displaying the performance feedback on a display screen.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising responsive to the performance feedback, providing updates to deployment parameters.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising receiving input data comprising instructions for updating the deployment parameters and transmitting the input data to one or more UAVs.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising processing the performance feedback and autonomously updating the deployment parameters based on the performance feedback.

17. The method of claim 12,

wherein the event site include a dispersion area comprising one or more segments, the method further comprising:

assigning one or more UAVs from the plurality of UAVs to each segment, based on the required payload capacity; and

determining performance feedback pertaining to a given segment based on data detected by sensors on-board the one or more UAVs assigned to the given segment.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising updating a required payload capacity assigned to the given segment based on the performance feedback pertaining to the given segment.

19. The method of claim 12 further comprising deploying the plurality of UAVs from an airborne carrier aircraft, and wherein the computerized device is a command and control unit mountable on the aircraft.

20. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps of a method of deploying a cloud of unmanned aerial vehicles for dispersing payload material, the method comprising:

deploying a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) wherein each UAV of the plurality of UAVs comprises at least one container containing payload material and configured to fly to a designated dispersion point in an event site and disperse the payload material at the designated dispersion point; and

wherein one or more of the plurality of UAVs comprise at least one sensor device configured to detect situation awareness data from the event site surroundings;

operating a computerized device for;

receiving from at least one UAV of the plurality of UAVs a first data detected by a first respective sensor onboard the at least one UAV, wherein the first data is detected during a first time period;

receiving from at least one other UAV of the plurality of UAVs a second data detected by a second sensor onboard the at least one other UAV, wherein the second data is detected during a second time period;

determining whether a change exists between the first data and the second data;

wherein the first time period is later than the second time period and wherein payload material is dispersed over the event site by one or more of the plurality of UAVs during a time between the first time period and the second time period; and

generating output data including performance feedback indicative of the effect of the dispersed payload on the event site, the performance feedback being related to the determined change.

21-84. -84. (canceled)