Unmanned vehicle (UV) control system

• US 9,567,077 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2015
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Liongosari, Edy S., Barsamian, Paul, Richards, Brian, Kim, Sang-Ik, Fenney, Robert, Mullan, Pramila, Negm, Walid, Mui, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOUIE, WAE LENNY
• Application Number:
  US14/619,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20150234387A1
• Time in Patent Office: 734 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/3, 701/23, 701/450, 342/13, 342/16
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• 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 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information

Abstract

Unmanned vehicle (UV) control may include receiving a UV work order and generating a mission request based on the UV work order. The mission request may identify an objective of a mission, assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission. The assigned UV may be controlled according to the assigned first movement plan, and communication data may be received from the assigned sensor. The communication data may be analyzed to identify an event related to the mission. The identified event and the first movement plan may be analyzed to assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission.

Claims

1. An unmanned vehicle (UV) control system comprising:

a fleet and mission operations controller, executed by at least one hardware processor, to receive a UV work order and to generate a mission request based on the UV work order, the mission request identifying an objective of a mission, assigning a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assigning a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;

a mission controller, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to

control the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan, and

receive communication data from the assigned sensor, wherein the communication data includes telemetry data and video stream data; and

an event detector, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to

receive the communication data that includes the telemetry data and the video stream data,

combine the telemetry data and the video stream data,

analyze the combined telemetry data and the video stream data to identify an event related to the mission, and

forward the identified event to the fleet and mission operations controller to

analyze the identified event and the first movement plan, and

assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan,

wherein the mission controller is to control the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan, and

wherein the fleet and mission operations controller and the event detector are hosted in an off-site facility relative to the assigned UV.

2. The UV control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a compliance evaluator, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to

determine whether the mission request is compliant with at least one of regulations and safety parameters, and

in response to a determination that the mission request is compliant with the at least one of regulations and safety parameters, forward the mission request to the mission controller.

3. The UV control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a compliance evaluator, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to

determine whether the assigned UV and a UV operation crew associated with the mission request is compliant with at least one of regulations and safety parameters, and

in response to a determination that the assigned UV and the UV operation crew associated with the mission request is compliant with the at least one of regulations and safety parameters, forward the mission request to the mission controller.

4. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the fleet of UVs includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

5. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the sensors include video cameras, gas detectors, infrared (IR) cameras, and pressure sensors.

6. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein

the first movement plan includes predefined way points and alternate points for the UV based on the identified objective of the mission, and

the second movement plan includes at least one different predefined way point from the predefined way points and at least one different alternate point from the alternate points for the UV based on the analysis of the identified event to meet the identified objective of the mission.

7. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein

the sensor includes a video camera, and

the mission controller is to

generate a real-time display from the video camera,

receive instructions to modify movement of the UV based on an analysis of the real-time display from the video camera, and

modify movement of the UV based on the received instructions.

8. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the UV is an autonomous UV.

9. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak or an intruder related to a pipeline.

10. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the event detector is to

analyze the communication data to identify the event related to a pipeline, and

generate instructions for preventative actions with respect to the pipeline based on the identification of the event.

11. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the mission controller is to

analyze the event to determine a severity level of the event, and

generate a real-time display related to the event, wherein the real-time display includes a characterization of a type and the severity level of the event.

12. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the event detector is to combine the telemetry data and the video stream data by

determining a number of frames per second for the video stream data,

determining, from the telemetry data, a time and a location associated with the video stream data, and

generating a meta tag for each of the frames of the video stream data, wherein the meta tag includes the time and the location associated with the video stream data.

13. The UV control system according to claim 1, wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak by

converting the video stream data from red, green, and blue (RGB) into corresponding hue-saturation-values (HSVs) to adjust for variations in lighting conditions and shadows,

defining lower and upper bounds of the HSVs based on a type of material associated with the potential leak,

analyzing, based on the defined lower and upper bounds, each video frame associated with the video stream data to overlay shapes on each of the video frames associated with the video stream data, and

applying parameter constraints to determine whether an area of a video frame associated with the overlayed shapes represents the potential leak.

14. A method for unmanned vehicle (UV) control, the method comprising:

generating, by a fleet and mission operations controller that is executed by at least one hardware processor, a mission request to

identify an objective of a mission,

assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and

assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;

controlling, by a mission controller that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan;

receiving, by an event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, communication data that includes telemetry data and video stream data;

analyzing, by the event detector, the communication data from the assigned sensor by combining the telemetry data and the video stream data to identify an event related to the mission;

analyzing, by the fleet and mission operations controller, the identified event and the first movement plan;

assigning, by the fleet and mission operations controller, a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan; and

controlling, by the mission controller, the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan.

15. The method for UV control according to claim 14, wherein analyzing, by the event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the communication data from the assigned sensor by combining the telemetry data and the video stream data to identify the event related to the mission further comprises:

analyzing, by the event detector, the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak or an intruder related to a pipeline.

16. The method for UV control according to claim 14, further comprising:

determining, by a compliance evaluator that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, whether the mission request is compliant with regulations, and

in response to a determination that the mission request is compliant with regulations, forwarding, from the compliance evaluator, the mission request to the mission controller.

17. The method for UV control according to claim 14, further comprising:

generating, by the mission controller, a real-time display related to the event, wherein the real-time display includes a characterization of a type and a severity level of the event.

18. The method for UV control according to claim 14, further comprising:

analyzing, by the event detector, the communication data to identify the event related to a pipeline, and

generating, by the event detector, instructions for preventative actions with respect to the pipeline based on the identification of the event.

19. The method for UV control according to claim 14, wherein the sensor includes a video camera, the method further comprises:

generating, by the mission controller, a real-time display from the video camera,

receiving, by the mission controller, instructions to modify movement of the UV based on an analysis of the real-time display from the video camera, and

modifying, by the mission controller, movement of the UV based on the received instructions.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon machine readable instructions for UV control, the machine readable instructions when executed cause at least one hardware processor to:

receive, at a mission controller that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, a mission request that

identifies an objective of a mission,

assigns a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and

assigns a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;

control, by the mission controller, the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan;

receive, by an event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, communication data that includes telemetry data and video stream data;

analyze, by the event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the communication data from the assigned sensor by combining the telemetry data and the video stream data to identify an event related to the mission;

analyze, by a fleet and mission operations controller, the identified event and the first movement plan; and

receive, at the mission controller, a second movement plan for the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan.