Ground control point assignment and determination system
First Claim
1. A method implemented by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:
- receiving information describing a flight plan for implementation, the flight plan specifying geographic locations in a real-world area assigned as ground control points, each geographic location being associated with a waypoint to which the UAV is to navigate and perform an operation to designate a surface of the geographic location as being a ground control point;
performing, for a particular waypoint, an operation to designate a surface associated with the particular waypoint as being a ground control point, the operation comprising;
navigating the UAV at a first altitude to the particular waypoint,descending towards the surface, and placing a physical marker carried by the UAV onto the surface thereby creating an identifiable mark on the surface, such that the physical marker is aerially identifiable as a ground control point in one or more images obtained during a subsequent flight plan to perform a job, anddetermining location information of the identifiable mark; and
providing the determined location information to an outside system for storage as being associated with a ground control point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for ground control point assignment and determination. One of the methods includes receiving information describing a flight plan for the UAV to implement, the flight plan identifying one or more waypoints associated with geographic locations assigned as ground control points. A first waypoint identified in the flight plan is traveled to, and an action to designate a surface at the associated geographic location is designated as a ground control point. Location information associated with the designated surface is stored. The stored location information is provided to an outside system for storage.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method implemented by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising one or more processors, the method comprising:
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receiving information describing a flight plan for implementation, the flight plan specifying geographic locations in a real-world area assigned as ground control points, each geographic location being associated with a waypoint to which the UAV is to navigate and perform an operation to designate a surface of the geographic location as being a ground control point; performing, for a particular waypoint, an operation to designate a surface associated with the particular waypoint as being a ground control point, the operation comprising; navigating the UAV at a first altitude to the particular waypoint, descending towards the surface, and placing a physical marker carried by the UAV onto the surface thereby creating an identifiable mark on the surface, such that the physical marker is aerially identifiable as a ground control point in one or more images obtained during a subsequent flight plan to perform a job, and determining location information of the identifiable mark; and providing the determined location information to an outside system for storage as being associated with a ground control point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system comprising one or more processors, and a computer storage media storing instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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receiving information describing a flight plan for implementation, the flight plan specifying geographic locations in a real-world area assigned as ground control points, each geographic location being associated with a waypoint to which the UAV is to navigate and perform an operation to designate a surface of the geographic location as being a ground control point; performing, for a particular waypoint, an operation to designate a surface associated with the particular waypoint as being a ground control point, the operation comprising; navigating the UAV at a first altitude to the particular waypoint, descending towards the surface, and placing a physical marker carried by the UAV onto the surface thereby creating an identifiable mark on the surface, such that the physical marker is aerially identifiable as a ground control point in one or more images obtained during a subsequent flight plan to perform a job, and determining location information of the identifiable mark; and providing the determined location information to an outside system for storage as being associated with a ground control point. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions that when executed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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receiving information describing a flight plan for implementation, the flight plan specifying geographic locations in a real-world area assigned as ground control points, each geographic location being associated with a waypoint to which the UAV is to navigate and perform an operation to designate a surface of the geographic location as being a ground control point; performing, for a particular waypoint, an operation to designate a surface associated with the particular waypoint as being a ground control point, the operation comprising; navigating the UAV at a first altitude to the particular waypoint, descending towards the surface, and placing a physical marker carried by the UAV onto the surface thereby creating an identifiable mark on the surface, such that the physical marker is aerially identifiable as a ground control point in one or more images obtained during a subsequent flight plan to perform a job, and determining location information of the identifiable mark; and providing the determined location information to an outside system for storage as being associated with a ground control point. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification