Drone noise reduction via simultaneous propeller modulation

• US 10,118,692 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2016
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beckman, Brian C., Rolnik, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Application Number:
  US15/255,098
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 11/50 Phase synchronisation between multiple propellers
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 2220/00 Active noise reduction systems
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/001 Vibration damping devices
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/467 Aerodynamic features
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/473 Constructional features
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 31/06 actuated automatically
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 20/20 for noise reduction
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/67 the UAVs comprising tethers for lowering the goods
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 60/50 with landing legs
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• 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

Abstract

Techniques for using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver a payload while generating an expected sound by the UAV during delivery may be provided. For example, during delivery or while in flight, propellers of different sizes that are associated with the UAV may be instructed to modulate at different rotational speeds to thereby generate an expected sound.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, an order to deliver a package associated with an electronic marketplace;

generating, by the computer system, a flight plan that instructs an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver the package based in part on information associated with the order;

generating, by the computer system, a sound profile based in part on one or more sets of propellers that are associated with the UAV, the sound profile identifying an expected sound that corresponds to utilizing the one or more sets of propellers simultaneously during flight of the UAV to generate a noise cancellation effect, a set of propellers of the one or more sets of propellers being a different size than another set of propellers of the one or more sets of propellers;

instructing, by the computer system, the UAV to fly to a location associated with the delivery of the package utilizing the flight plan; and

instructing, by the computer system, modulation of each propeller set of the one or more sets of propellers simultaneously during at least a portion of the flight plan to generate the expected sound by the UAV.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system from the UAV, information indicating that a propeller set of a first size of the one or more sets of propellers of different sizes is malfunctioning; and

instructing, by the computer system, the UAV to update modulation of the one or more sets of propellers to maintain generation of the expected sound based in part on the information.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting, by the computer system and from a user associated with the delivery of the package, for input regarding the expected sound of the UAV during delivery;

updating, by the computer system, the one or more sound profiles based in part on the input from the user; and

instructing, by the computer system, modulation of the one or more sets of propellers simultaneously to alter the expected sound of the UAV during flight.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each propeller set of the one or more sets of propellers comprises a different propeller dressings.

5. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, an order to deliver a package;

instructing, by the computer system, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver the package to a location associated with the order;

instructing, by the computer system, a first sensor associated with the UAV to emit a signal to a surrounding environment of the UAV during flight, the signal emitted within a particular distance around the UAV;

receiving, by the computer system and from a second sensor associated with the UAV, information identifying the signal reflected off the surrounding environment and received by the second sensor;

identifying, by the computer system, a sound propagation of the surrounding environment of the UAV during flight based in part on the information received by the second sensor associated with the UAV; and

instructing, by the computer system, the UAV to fly to the location and modulating one or more sets of propellers that are associated with the UAV simultaneously during at least a portion of the flight to generate an expected sound by the UAV to generate a noise cancellation effect based in part on the identified sound propagation of the surrounding environment, each set of propellers of the one or more sets of propellers being of a different size from another set of propellers of the one or more sets of propellers.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising receiving, by the computer system and from a third sensor associated with the UAV, information that includes a sound generated by the UAV during the flight.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising generating a sound profile for the location based in part on the signal and the information.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying, by the computer system, a band of sound in a sound spectrum that corresponds to the expected sound within the surrounding environment of the UAV during the flight based in part on the received signal; and

updating the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers thereby excluding at least a portion of the identified band of sound from being generated by the one or more sets of propellers during the flight.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instructing the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers is further based in part on a configuration of the one or more sets of propellers with respect to a frame of the UAV.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instructing the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers includes each set of propellers of a particular size modulating at a different rotational speed with respect to another set of propellers of another particular size.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instructing the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers is further based in part on a stage of a flight plan that is utilized by the UAV to fly to the location.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instructing the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers is further based in part on a machine learning algorithm that utilizes the signal received by the first sensor and a configuration of each set of propellers with respect to a frame of the UAV.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the configuration of each set of propellers with respect to the frame of the UAV is identified by an acoustic model that utilizes a sound identified by a user to generate the configuration to produce the expected sound.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein instructing the modulation of the one or more sets of propellers is further based in part on a threshold associated with properties of the package.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the properties of the package include at least one of a type of the package, a weight of the package, a shape of the package, a sound resonance of the package, a material composition of the package, or a storage container for the package.

16. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:

a frame;

a first set of propellers of a first size associated with a propulsion system associated with the frame, the first set of propellers of the first size configured to provide propulsion for the UAV;

a second set of propellers of a second size associated with the propulsion system associated with the frame, the second set of propellers of the second size being in a particular configuration with respect to the first set of propellers of the first size and further configured to provide thrust and directionality in a flight path for the UAV; and

a computing system configured to manage the propulsion system during a flight associated with a delivery of a payload and further configured to instruct the UAV to;

modulate the first set of propellers at a first rotational speed and the second set of propellers at a second rotational speed simultaneously during a flight corresponding to the flight plan so as to generate an expected sound that generates a noise cancellation effect.

17. The UAV of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing system, a sound identified by a user; and

updating, by the computing system, the modulation of the first set of propellers of a first size and the second set of propellers of the second size to mimic the identified sound.

18. The UAV of claim 16, wherein the instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the computer system to at least:

obtain, by the computing system, performance metrics of the first set of propellers of the first size; and

instruct an update to the modulation for the second set of propellers of the second size based in part on the performance metrics.

19. The UAV of claim 16, wherein the second set of propellers of the second size associated with the propulsion system associated with the frame are positioned on the frame with respect to the first set of propellers of the first size to alter a sound resonance associated with the UAV during flight.

20. The UAV of claim 16, wherein instructing the modulation of the first set of propellers of the first size and the second set of propellers of the second size is further based in part on a set of sound metrics, the set of sound metrics including a decibel level, a loudness level, a sharpness level, a roughness level, tonal prominence, and a fluctuation strength of the expected sound.