SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, VEHICLE CONTROL, AND/OR CONTINGENCY PLANNING

• US 20190033862A1
• Filed: 07/25/2018
• Published: 01/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SkyRyse, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SkyRyse, Inc.
• Inventors: Groden, Mark, Adler, Mitch, Reeves, Jonathan, Harell, Nur, Ward, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 10,535,272 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/16 actuated automatically, e.g. responsive to gust detectors
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/57 automatic or condition responsive, e.g. responsive to rotor speed, torque or thrust
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 17/80 in association with aircraft, e.g. for braking thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 19/02 Rotary-wing parachutes
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 25/00 Emergency apparatus or devices, not otherwise provided for parachutes B64D17/00, B64D19/00; jettisoning of fuel tanks or fuel per se B64D37/00; specially adapted for protection against criminal attack, e.g. anti-hijacking systems B64D45/0015 ; safety belts or body harnesses in general A62B35/00; safety belts or body harnesses for land vehicles B60R22/00; jettisonable parts of fuselage facilitating emergency escape B64C
• 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: G05D 1/0055 with safety arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0072 to counteract a motor failure
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/105 specially adapted for unpowered flight, e.g. glider, parachuting, forced landing parachutes per se B64D17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/106 Change initiated in response to external conditions, e.g. avoidance of elevated terrain or of no-fly zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/227 Handing over between remote control and on-board control; Handing over between remote control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/46 Control of position or course in three dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/461 for unpowered vehicles, e.g. gliders or parachutes
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/606 Compensating for or utilising external environmental conditions, e.g. wind or water currents station keeping G05D1/611
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/617 Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/854 in response to motor or actuator failures
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0056 : in an emergency situation, e.g. hijacking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0086 : for monitoring terrain radar or analogous systems specially adapted for terrain avoidance G01S13/935
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 : for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 : Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

A method, preferably including: sampling inputs, determining aircraft conditions, and/or acting based on the aircraft conditions. A method, preferably including: sampling inputs, determining input reliability, determining guidance, and/or controlling aircraft operation. A method, preferably including: operating the vehicle, planning for contingencies, detecting undesired flight conditions, and/or reacting to undesired flight conditions. A system, preferably an aircraft such as a rotorcraft, configured to implement the method.

Claims

1. A method of aircraft operation, comprising, while autonomously controlling an aircraft to fly:

determining safety information associated with a region of airspace;

based on the safety information, an aircraft location of the aircraft, and a destination of the aircraft, determining a safety corridor within the region, the safety corridor comprising the aircraft location;

at a first sensor of the aircraft, sampling a first set of sensor data;

at a second sensor of the aircraft, sampling a second set of sensor data;

at a first processor of the aircraft, based on the first set of sensor data, determining primary guidance for aircraft control, wherein the primary guidance is associated with aircraft traversal to a first location outside the safety corridor;

at a second processor of the aircraft, based on the second set of sensor data, determining auxiliary guidance for aircraft control, wherein the auxiliary guidance is associated with aircraft traversal to a second location within the safety corridor; and

based on the first location being outside the safety corridor and the second location being within the safety corridor, autonomously controlling the aircraft based on the auxiliary guidance, comprising controlling the aircraft to fly substantially to the second location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the safety corridor is determined based further on a terrain map indicative of a terrain feature; and

the first location is less than a minimum distance from the terrain feature.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the safety information comprises air traffic information indicative of a second aircraft traversing a path; and

the first location is less than a minimum distance from the path.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first set of sensor data is not indicative of the second aircraft.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a set of emergency landing zones, wherein the safety corridor is determined based further on the set of emergency landing zones, such that, for all space within the safety corridor, at least one emergency landing zone of the set is accessible to the aircraft via deadstick landing.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the set of emergency landing zones comprises, for each emergency landing zone of the set:

based on a terrain map and historical weather data, predicting a terrain saturation state of the emergency landing zone; and

based on the terrain saturation state, determining that the emergency landing zone is acceptable for emergency landing of the aircraft.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising, after controlling the aircraft to fly substantially to the second location:

selecting an emergency landing zone of the set; and

autonomously controlling the aircraft to land within the emergency landing zone.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, while autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly, determining occupant state data associated with an occupant within the aircraft, wherein the safety corridor is determined based further on the occupant state data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the occupant state data comprises medical state data.

10. A method of aircraft operation, comprising, at an aircraft, while autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly:

at a first set of sensors of the aircraft, sampling a first set of sensor data, wherein the first set of sensors comprises a first sensor of a first sensor type;

substantially concurrent with sampling the first set of sensor data, at a second set of sensors of the aircraft, sampling a second set of sensor data, wherein;

the second set of sensors comprises a second sensor of a second sensor type different than the first sensor type; and

the second set of sensors does not comprise the first sensor;

based on the first set of sensor data, determining primary guidance for aircraft control;

based on the second set of sensor data, determining auxiliary guidance for aircraft control;

based on the second set of sensor data, determining that the primary guidance is undesirable; and

in response to determining that the primary guidance is undesirable, controlling the aircraft based on the auxiliary guidance and not based on the primary guidance.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the aircraft contains a living human.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the first sensor is operable to measure a characteristic;

the second sensor is not operable to measure the characteristic; and

the method further comprises determining the characteristic based on the second set of sensor data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the characteristic based on the second set of sensor data comprises regressing the characteristic onto the second set of sensor data.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the characteristic is a rotational speed of a rotor of the aircraft;

the first sensor is a rotor speed sensor;

the second sensor is selected from the group consisting of;

an accelerometer, a strain gauge, and a microphone.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the first set of sensor data comprises a measurement of a first rotational speed below a minimum threshold; and

the second set of sensor data is indicative of a second rotational speed above the minimum threshold.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the first sensor is an aircraft speed sensor and the second sensor is a strain gauge.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the first sensor is a time-of-flight sensor and the second sensor is a camera.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising, at the aircraft, while autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly:

before determining that the primary guidance is undesirable, operating the aircraft in a normal flight mode; and

in response to determining that the primary guidance is undesirable, operating the aircraft in a conservative flight mode.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising, substantially concurrent with sampling the first set of sensor data, at a third set of sensors of the aircraft, sampling a third set of sensor data, wherein:

the third set of sensors does not comprise the first sensor; and

determining that the primary guidance is undesirable is performed based further on the third set of sensor data.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising, while autonomously controlling the aircraft to fly:

determining safety information associated with a region of airspace; and

based on the safety information, an aircraft location of the aircraft, and a destination of the aircraft, determining a safety corridor within the region, the safety corridor comprising the aircraft location;

wherein the auxiliary guidance is associated with aircraft traversal within the safety corridor.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining that the primary guidance is associated with aircraft traversal outside the safety corridor;

wherein determining that the primary guidance is undesirable is based further on determining that the primary guidance is associated with aircraft traversal outside the safety corridor.