Autonomously landing an unmanned aerial vehicle

• US 9,429,953 B1
• Filed: 08/25/2015
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skycatch, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Skycatch, Inc.
• Inventors: Miller, Samuel Giles, Sanz, Christian, Sirang, Behrooze, Noorani, Jonathan Shyaun
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US14/835,510
• Time in Patent Office: 371 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/16, 701/18
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/00 Beacons or beacon systems transmitting signals having a characteristic or characteristics capable of being detected by non-directional receivers and defining directions, positions, or position lines fixed relatively to the beacon transmitters; Receivers co-operating therewith position fixing by co-ordinating a plurality of determinations of direction or position lines G01S5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/042 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/01 Satellite radio beacon positioning systems transmitting time-stamped messages, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System], GLONASS [Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System] or GALILEO
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/15 Aircraft landing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/03 Airborne
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for enabling autonomous landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle. For example, systems and methods described herein enable autonomous landing of the unmanned aerial vehicle by providing an unmanned aerial vehicle ground station with various guidance systems for guiding the autonomous landing. In some embodiments, the guidance systems enable autonomous landing by providing one or more LEDs. In other embodiments, the guidance systems enable autonomous landing by providing various types of transmitted energy waves. In at least one embodiment, the guidance systems enable autonomous landing by providing a two-stage landing system that includes two or more types of transmitted energy.

Claims

1. A method of autonomously landing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

guiding an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) toward an energy field transmitted from a ground station, wherein guiding the UAV toward the energy field comprises using a global positioning system (GPS) to control the UAV, and wherein the energy field comprises light energy waves transmitted from at least two light emitting sources located on the ground station;

detecting, by a computing device, the UAV entered the energy field transmitted from the ground station;

transitioning from using the GPS to control the UAV to using the energy field to control the UAV;

determining, by the computing device on the UAV, one or more characteristics of the energy field; and

based on the one or more characteristics of the energy field, guiding the UAV to a landing site of the ground station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy field further comprises energy waves from one of the following energy wave types:

radio frequency or electromagnetic.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein detecting the UAV entered the energy field comprises using a camera located on the UAV to detect at least one of the light energy waves from the at least two light emitting sources located on the ground station.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

generating, using the camera, a digital image that depicts two light spots corresponding to the at least two light emitting sources located on the ground station from the perspective of the UAV;

measuring a distance between the two light spots depicted within the digital image to determine the one or more characteristics of the energy field; and

calculating an altitude of the UAV based on the measured distance between the two light spots depicted within the digital image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein guiding the UAV to the landing site of the ground station comprises using the calculated altitude to determine a rate of decent of the UAV toward the landing site of the ground station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy field comprises a first energy field and a second energy field, and wherein guiding the UAV to the landing site of the ground station further comprises:

using the first energy field to guide the UAV to the landing site of the ground station during a first phase of a landing sequence, wherein the first energy field comprises a first type of energy wave;

detecting the second energy field that at least partially overlaps with the first energy field, wherein the second energy field comprises a second type of energy wave; and

using the second energy field to guide the UAV to the landing site of the ground station during a second phase of the landing sequence.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first type of energy wave is a radio frequency energy wave.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein transitioning from using the GPS to control the UAV to using the energy field to control the UAV comprises:

determining a first position of the UAV based on the GPS;

determining a second position of the UAV based on the energy field;

comparing the first position to the second position to determine an offset representing the difference between the first position and the second position;

applying the offset to a determined current position of the UAV based on using the energy field; and

decreasing the offset to zero over a defined period of time.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a valid state, wherein the valid state indicates that the UAV is positioned along a decent path within the energy field.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the valid state comprises determining that each of a plurality of sensors located on the UAV detect the same intensity of the energy field.

11. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

a main body;

a plurality of rotors positioned about the main body to power the movement of the UAV while in flight;

one or more sensors capable of detecting an energy field; and

a computing device communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors and the plurality of rotors, wherein the computing device;

receives input from the one or more sensors representative of a detected energy field emitted from a ground station, wherein the energy field comprises light energy waves transmitted from at least two light emitting sources located on the ground station;

determines one or more characteristics of the detected energy field; and

based on the one or more characteristics of the detected energy field, provides a control output to one or more of the plurality of rotors to guide the movement of the UAV onto a landing site of the ground station.

12. The UAV as recited in claim 11, wherein the energy field further comprises energy waves from one of the following energy wave types:

radio frequency or electromagnetic.

13. The UAV as recited in claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more of a camera or an energy sensor.

14. The UAV as recited in claim 11, wherein the computing device further:

determines a first intensity of the detected energy field corresponding to a first sensor of the one or more sensors;

determines a second intensity of the detected energy field corresponding to a second sensor of the one or more sensors; and

wherein providing the control output to one or more of the plurality of rotors to guide the movement of the UAV onto a landing site of the ground station comprises comparing the first intensity to the second intensity to determine the control output.

15. The UAV as recited in claim 14, wherein the computing device further determines the control output to move the UAV to a position within the energy field such that the first intensity corresponding to the first sensor matches the second intensity corresponding to the second sensor.

16. A system for landing an aerial vehicle, comprising:

a ground unit, comprising;

a landing site having a recess; and

one or more energy transmitters that produce an energy field extending upward from the landing site, wherein the energy field comprises light energy waves transmitted from at least two light emitting sources located on the ground unit;

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising;

a landing base that geometrically corresponds to the recess of the landing site;

one or more sensors capable of detecting the energy field produced from the one or more energy transmitters of the ground unit; and

a computing device communicatively coupled to the one or more sensors, wherein the computing device;

receives input from the one or more sensors related to the energy field;

determines one or more characteristics of the energy field based on the received input; and

based on the one or more characteristics of the detected energy field, provides a control output to guide the movement of the UAV into the recess of the landing site.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the recess of the landing site comprises a conical shape.

18. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the computing device further comprises determining, based on the one or more characteristics of the detected energy field, the landing base is at least partially within the recess of the landing site.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the computing device further cuts power to a plurality of rotors on the UAV upon determining the landing base is at least partially within the recess of the landing site.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein cutting the power to the plurality of rotors causes the landing base to interact with the recess of the landing site and secure the UAV at the landing site of the ground unit.