Multi-part navigation process by an unmanned aerial vehicle for navigation

• US 9,823,654 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2016
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wing Aviation LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: X Development LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Peeters, Eric, Teller, Eric, Patrick, William Graham
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, YUEN H
• Application Number:
  US15/082,205
• Publication Number:
  US 20160217695A1
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 19/00 Aircraft control not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/00 UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/57 for bringing emergency supplies to persons or animals in danger, e.g. ropes or life vests
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/00 UAVs characterised by their flight controls
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/104 using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/299 Rotor guards ducted or shrouded rotors B64U30/26; guards used as ground propulsion B64U60/60
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/882 for altimeters measuring height using barometric means G01C5/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/935 for terrain-avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/93 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/00 Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/12 Target-seeking control
• 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 1/247 using signals provided by artificial sources external to the vehicle, e.g. navigation beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/248 generated by satellites, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/667 : Delivering or retrieving payloads
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2105/55 : for emergency activities, e.g. search and rescue, traffic accidents or fire fighting
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2107/17 : Spaces with priority for humans, e.g. populated areas, pedestrian ways, parks or beaches
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2109/22 : with fixed wings
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2111/30 : Radio signals
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 : specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft

Abstract

Embodiments described herein may relate to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigating to a target in order to provide medical support. An illustrative method involves a UAV (a) determining an approximate target location associated with a target, (b) using a first navigation process to navigate the UAV to the approximate target location, where the first navigation process generates flight-control signals based on the approximate target location, (c) making a determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location, and (d) in response to the determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location, using a second navigation process to navigate the UAV to the target, wherein the second navigation process generates flight-control signals based on real-time localization of the target.

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

at least one distance-sensing system comprising at least one of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system or a laser detection and ranging (LaDAR) system;

a navigation module comprising program instructions stored in data storage and executable by at least one processor to provide both a first and a second navigation process to generate flight-control signals for a UAV, wherein the first navigation process generates first flight-control signals based on a predetermined location of a target, and wherein the second navigation process generates second flight-control signals based on a real-time localization process that locates the target in real-time; and

a control system comprising program instructions stored in data storage and executable by at least one processor to;

use the at least one distance-sensing system to generate environmental data indicative of distance to each of one or more objects in an environment of the UAV;

determine an approximate target location associated with the target;

use the first navigation process to navigate the UAV from a remote location to the approximate target location of the target;

make a determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target;

in response to the determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target, switch to use of the second navigation process to locate, and navigate the UAV to, a position hovering above the target;

use the environmental data to detect and avoid obstacles while hovering over the target; and

determine that the UAV is positioned above the target and responsively operate a winch system to lower a payload from the UAV to the target.

2. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the approximate target location comprises a geographic location of a remote device, wherein the remote device is associated with the target.

3. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the first navigation process generates the first flight-control commands based on predetermined waypoints that provide a route to the approximate target location.

4. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the real-time localization process comprises at least one of:

(a) an environment-sensing localization process and (b) a beacon-sensing localization process.

5. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the real-time localization process comprises a beacon-sensing localization process to locate and navigate to a source of a beacon signal, wherein the source is a remote device that is associated with the target.

6. The UAV of claim 5, wherein the beacon-sensing localization process comprises:

detecting the beacon signal;

determining a security key that is encoded in the beacon signal; and

determining whether or not the security key matches a predefined security key for the target, wherein navigation to the source of the beacon signal is conditioned upon the security key matching a predefined security key for the target.

7. The UAV of claim 6, wherein the predefined security key was generated and sent to the remote device in response to a request for medical support made by the remote device.

8. A method comprising:

determining, by a computing system of a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an approximate target location associated with a target, wherein the computing system comprises at least one processor;

using, by the computing system, a first navigation process to navigate the UAV from a remote location to the approximate target location of the target, wherein the first navigation process generates first flight-control signals based on the approximate target location of a target;

operating at least one distance-sensing system to generate environmental data indicative of distance to objects in an environment of the UAV, wherein the at least one distance-sensing system comprises at least one of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system or a laser detection and ranging (LaDAR) system;

making, by the computing system, a determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target;

in response to the determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target, using, by the computing system, a second navigation process to navigate the UAV to a position hovering above the target, wherein the second navigation process generates second flight-control signals based on real-time localization of the target;

using, by the computing system, the environmental data as a basis for detecting and avoiding obstacles while hovering over the target; and

determining, by the computing system, that the UAV is positioned above the target and responsively operating a winch system to lower a payload from the UAV to the target.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the real-time localization process comprises at least one of:

(a) an environment-sensing localization process and (b) a beacon-sensing localization process.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the real-time localization process comprises a beacon-sensing localization process for locating and navigating to a source of a beacon signal, wherein the beacon-sensing localization process comprises:

detecting the beacon signal;

determining a security key that is encoded in the beacon signal; and

determining whether or not the security key matches a predefined security key for the target, wherein navigation to the source of the beacon signal is conditioned upon the security key matching a predefined security key for the target.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the second navigation process comprises:

using an autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target;

if a predetermined period of time has elapsed without locating the target, then;

determining that the autonomous real-time localization is unsuccessful; and

responsively implementing a fallback process to locate and navigate to the target; and

if the predetermined period of time has not elapsed, then continuing to use the autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the fallback process comprises at least one of:

(a) causing the UAV to switch to a remote-control mode where the UAV is controllable by a remote computing system and (b) causing the UAV to switch to a local-assistance mode where the UAV seeks local assistance.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions that are executable by at least one processor to cause a computing device to perform functions comprising:

determining an approximate target location associated with a target;

using a first navigation process to navigate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from a remote location to the approximate target location of the target, wherein the first navigation process generates first flight-control signals based on the approximate target location of the target;

operating at least one distance-sensing system to generate environmental data indicative of distance to objects in an environment of the UAV, wherein the at least one distance-sensing system comprises at least one of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system or a laser detection and ranging (LaDAR) system;

making a determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target;

in response to the determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target, using a second navigation process to navigate the UAV to a position hovering over the target, wherein the second navigation process generates second flight-control signals based on real-time localization of the target;

using the environmental data as a basis for detecting and avoiding obstacles while hovering over the target; and

determining that the UAV is positioned over the target and responsively operating a winch system to lower a payload from the UAV to the target.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the real-time localization process comprises at least one of:

(a) an environment-sensing localization process and (b) a beacon-sensing localization process.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the real-time localization process comprises a beacon-sensing localization process for locating and navigating to a source of a beacon signal, wherein the beacon-sensing localization process comprises:

detecting the beacon signal;

determining a security key that is encoded in the beacon signal; and

determining whether or not the security key matches a predefined security key for the target, wherein navigation to the source of the beacon signal is conditioned upon the security key matching a predefined security key for the target.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second navigation process comprises:

using an autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target;

if a predetermined period of time has elapsed without locating the target, then;

determining that the autonomous real-time localization is unsuccessful; and

responsively implementing a fallback process to locate and navigate to the target; and

if the predetermined period of time has not elapsed, then continuing to use the autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the fallback process comprises at least one of:

(a) causing the UAV to switch to a remote-control mode in which the UAV is controllable by a remote computing system and (b) causing the UAV to switch to a local-assistance mode in which the UAV seeks local assistance.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the second navigation process comprises:

using an autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target, wherein the UAV moves through a search area while using the autonomous real-time localization process, and wherein the search area is determined based on the approximate target location;

if the UAV has covered the entire search area without locating the target, then;

determining that the autonomous real-time localization is unsuccessful; and

responsively implementing a fallback process to locate and navigate to the target; and

if the UAV has not covered the entire search area without locating the target, then using an autonomous real-time localization process in an effort to locate the target.

19. A method comprising:

determining, by a computing system of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an approximate target location associated with a target, wherein the computing system comprises at least one processor;

using, by the computing system, a first navigation process to navigate the UAV from a remote location to the approximate target location of the target, wherein the first navigation process generates first flight-control signals based on the approximate target location of a target;

operating at least one distance-sensing system to generate environmental data indicative of distance to objects in an environment of the UAV, wherein the at least one distance-sensing system comprises at least one of a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system or a laser detection and ranging (LaDAR) system;

either;

(a) making a determination, by the computing system, that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target or (b) receiving, by the computing system, local target-location data that is usable to navigate to the target;

in response to either (a) or (b), using, by the computing system, a second navigation process to navigate the UAV to a position hovering over the target, wherein the second navigation process generates second flight-control signals based on real-time localization of the target;

using the environmental data as a basis for detecting and avoiding obstacles while hovering over the target; and

determining that the UAV is positioned over the target and responsively operate a winch system to lower a payload from the UAV to the target.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the real-time localization comprises using the local target-location data to generate the second flight-control signals to navigate to the target.

21. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

one or more ultrasonic sensors;

a navigation module comprising program instructions stored in data storage and executable by at least one processor to provide both a first and a second navigation process to generate flight-control signals for a UAV, wherein the first navigation process generates first flight-control signals based on a predetermined location of a target, and wherein the second navigation process generates second flight-control signals based on a real-time localization process that locates the target in real-time; and

a control system comprising program instructions stored in data storage and executable by at least one processor to;

use the one or more ultrasonic sensors as a basis to generate environmental data indicative of one or more objects in an environment of the UAV;

determine an approximate target location associated with the target;

use the first navigation process to navigate the UAV from a remote location to the approximate target location of the target;

make a determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target;

in response to the determination that the UAV is located at the approximate target location of the target, switch to use of the second navigation process to locate, and navigate the UAV to, a position hovering above the target;

use the environmental data to detect and avoid obstacles while hovering over the target; and

determine that the UAV is positioned above the target and responsively operate a winch system to lower a payload from the UAV to the target.

22. The UAV of claim 21, wherein the environmental data comprises an indication of distance to a nearby object, wherein the distance is based on a time interval between transmission of a sound and detection of a corresponding echo by the one or more ultrasonic sensors.