Indoor drone flight awareness system

• US 9,939,810 B1
• Filed: 04/15/2016
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HL Acquisition, Inc.
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Matheson, Cory, Farnsworth, Anthony Scott, Swain, Kathleen L., Allen, Michael J., Ethington, Benjamin, Newmark, Jordan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Caschera, Antonio A
• Application Number:
  US15/130,632
• Time in Patent Office: 725 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/20 for use as communications relays, e.g. high-altitude platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/31 for surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/70 for use inside enclosed spaces, e.g. in buildings or in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0004 Gaseous mixtures, e.g. polluted air
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0044 by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0094 involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/02 Control of position or course in two dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/163 Real estate management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/12 Synchronisation between the display unit and other units, e.g. other display units, video-disc players
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/37 Details of the operation on graphic patterns G09G5/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services

Abstract

Unmanned vehicles can be terrestrial, aerial, nautical, or multi-mode. Unmanned vehicles may be used to survey a property in response to or in anticipation of damage to the property. For example, an unmanned vehicle may analyze information about the property and based on the information provide graphics and information associated with the surveying of the property.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

providing instructions for navigation of at least one unmanned vehicle to gather information about a structure at a location,

wherein the information comprises sensor information gathered by at least one sensor of the at least one unmanned vehicle, and

wherein the unmanned vehicle conducts a virtual knock before entering at least one area of the structure;

analyzing information regarding the structure at the location; and

based on at least a portion of the analyzed information, providing instructions to a secondary device to display a graphic indicative of a condition of the location.

2. The device of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

generating a heat map that is indicative of the condition of the structure at the location wherein the heat map is a graphical representation of data based on the information and represented as colors; and

navigating the at least one unmanned vehicle based on the colors of the heat map.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises a progress of a mission of an unmanned vehicle.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises a damaged state of the location.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the secondary device is proximate to the structure at the location.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the virtual knock comprises sending a text to a mobile device to gain access to the area.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is located on the at least one unmanned vehicle.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises an indication of presence of gas.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises areas to avoid during a weather event.

10. An unmanned vehicle comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

navigating the unmanned vehicle to gather information about a structure at a location,

wherein the information comprises sensor information gathered by at least one sensor of the unmanned vehicle, and

wherein the unmanned vehicle conducts a virtual knock before entering at least one area of the structure;

analyzing information regarding the structure at the location; and

based on at least a portion of the analyzed information, providing instructions to a secondary device to display a graphic indicative of a condition of the location.

11. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises a heat map.

12. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises a progress of a mission of the unmanned vehicle.

13. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises a damaged state of the location.

14. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, the operations further comprising receiving information from other data sources to use for a mission of the unmanned vehicle.

15. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, the operations further comprising:

generating a heat map that is indicative of the condition of the structure at the location wherein the heat map is a graphical representation of data based on the information and represented as colors; and

navigating the unmanned vehicle based on the colors of the heat map.

16. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the virtual knock comprises sending a text to a mobile device to gain access to the area.

17. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the virtual knock comprises sending a text to a mobile device to gain access to the area, wherein the mobile device is proximate to the structure at the location.

18. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises an indication of presence of gas.

19. The unmanned vehicle of claim 10, wherein the graphic indicative of the condition of the structure at the location comprises areas to avoid during a weather event.