Flight control for flight-restricted regions

• US 9,704,408 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2015
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (d/b/a DJI) (iFlight Technology Company Limited)
• Inventors: Yu, Yun, Lin, Canlong, Wang, Mingyu, Song, Jianyu, Chen, Xi, Wang, Tao
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin P
• Application Number:
  US14/815,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20150339931A1
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 701 2, 701 8, 701 10, 701 11, 701 23, 701 26, 701120, 701122, 701411, 701412, 701468, 244 315, 244 76 R, 244183
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/10 Rotorcrafts
• 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: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• 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: G08G 5/0004 Transmission of traffic-related information to or from an aircraft airborne radio transmission systems in general H04B7/185; airborne wireless networks H04W84/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0021 located in the aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices are provided for providing flight response to flight-restricted regions. The location of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) may be compared with a location of a flight-restricted region. If needed a flight-response measure may be taken by the UAV to prevent the UAV from flying in a no-fly zone. Different flight-response measures may be taken based on the distance between the UAV and the flight-restricted region and the rules of a jurisdiction within which the UAV falls.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a flight-restricted region along a boundary, said apparatus comprising:

one or more processors individually or collectively configured to;

acquire data regarding a location of the boundary;

select a plurality of points along the boundary; and

generate a plurality of flight restriction zones along the boundary, wherein each flight restriction zone of the plurality of flight restriction zones (1) includes at least one of the plurality of points along the boundary, and (2) overlaps at least one other flight restriction zone of said plurality of flight restriction zones.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a communication unit operably coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the communication unit is configured to receive the data regarding the location of the boundary.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the boundary is a jurisdictional boundary or an airport boundary.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each flight restriction zone of the plurality of flight restriction zones is associated with instructions for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) within or near the flight restriction zone to take one or more flight response measures.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more flight response measures include preventing the UAV from entering the flight restriction zone.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more flight response measures include sending an alert to a UAV operator.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more flight response measures include causing the UAV to fly beneath a predetermined altitude or set of altitudes while within the flight restriction zone.

9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more flight response measures include causing the UAV to land after or within a predetermined period of time.

10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the instructions may be ignored by an authorized user.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each flight restriction zone encompasses at least two coordinate points A and B and wherein each flight restriction zone is a flight restriction strip comprising a first and second circle, the first circle having a center at point A and the second circle having a center at point B.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each circle has a radius R and the flight restriction strip has a length L equal to the distance between coordinate points A and point B.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising storing data regarding the flight restriction strip in a database, wherein the data comprises three entries R, R+L/2 and (A+B)/2 or is sufficient to recreate the flight restriction zone.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each flight restriction zone is defined by an area encompassed by a first circle and a second circle and lines running tangent to the first and second circle.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of points are spaced regularly along the length of the boundary.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a size or shape of the flight restriction zones are selected based on a shape of the boundary.

4. An apparatus for assessing a flight response of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to a flight-restricted region, said apparatus comprising:

one or more processors individually or collectively configured to;

assess a location of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

assess a location of a flight-restricted region, wherein the flight-restricted region comprises a plurality of flight restriction zones along a boundary, wherein each flight restriction zone of the plurality of flight restriction zones (1) includes one point along the boundary, (2) overlaps at least one other flight restriction zone of said plurality, and (3) is associated with instructions for an unmanned aerial vehicle within or near the flight restriction zone to take one or more flight response measures; and

instruct the unmanned aerial vehicle to take the one or more flight response measures when the unmanned aerial vehicle is within or near the flight restriction zone.

17. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the location of the unmanned aerial vehicle is assessed with aid of a GPS signal at the unmanned aerial vehicle.

18. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each flight restriction zone is defined by an area encompassed by a first circle and a second circle and lines running tangent to the first and second circle.

19. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein a location of the plurality of points are selected based on a shape of the boundary.

20. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more flight response measures are stored in a memory with location information about the plurality of flight restriction zones.

21. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more flight response measures include preventing the UAV from entering the flight restriction zone.

22. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more flight response measures include causing the UAV to fly beneath a predetermined altitude or set of altitudes while within the flight restriction zone.

23. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more flight response measures include causing the UAV to land after or within a predetermined period of time.

24. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the instructions may be ignored by an authorized user.