Systems and methods for monitoring unmanned vehicles

• US 10,217,002 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2016
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chan, Yuk L., Gilberston, Kyle E., Hogerty, Daniel F., Tedesco, Eileen P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Liew, Alex Kok S
• Application Number:
  US15/228,399
• Publication Number:
  US 20180039838A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/02 characterised by special use
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/00 Type of UAV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• 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: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10032 Satellite or aerial image; Remote sensing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30232 Surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30241 Trajectory
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30248 Vehicle exterior or interior
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/74 involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/08 Detecting or categorising vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/10 Recognition assisted with metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/04 using optical or ultrasonic detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 : Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06

Abstract

Aspects relate to methods, systems, and devices for monitoring unmanned vehicles. Methods include receiving, by a processor, a captured image of an observed unmanned vehicle, the captured image including measured data, comparing the measured data with an unmanned vehicle database, determining a status of the observed unmanned vehicle, and generating an indicator regarding the status of the observed unmanned vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for monitoring unmanned aerial vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a captured image of an observed unmanned aerial vehicle, the captured image including measured data;

comparing the measured data with an unmanned aerial vehicle database, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database comprises unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information;

determining that a status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle is authorized or unauthorized based at least in part on the comparison; and

generating a report, which is indicative of the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being authorized or unauthorized, in accordance with the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being determined to be authorized or unauthorized, respectively,

wherein;

the measured data comprises a measured distance and a measured angle,

the method further comprises determining a location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle from the measured distance and the measured angle,

the comparing comprises comparing the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle with unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information of an unmanned aerial vehicle database, and

the determining of the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle as being authorized or unauthorized is based on the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being consistent or inconsistent with the unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and the registered routing information, respectively.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising capturing the captured image of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle with an image capture device.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database further comprises unmanned aerial vehicle registration information, ownership and/or operator information.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the processor is a processor of a smartphone.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the processor is a processor of a security camera.

6. A computer program product for monitoring unmanned aerial vehicles, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

receive, by a processor, a captured image of a location where an unmanned aerial vehicle is expected, the captured image including measured data;

compare the measured data with an unmanned aerial vehicle database wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database comprises unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information;

determine if an unmanned aerial vehicle is supposed to be and is within the captured image; and

generate an indicator of the unmanned aerial vehicle being authorized based on the determination indicating that the unmanned aerial vehicle should be and is within the captured image or that the unmanned aerial vehicle is unauthorized based on the determination indicating that the unmanned aerial vehicle should be but is not within the captured image or should not be but is within the captured image,

wherein;

the measured data comprises a measured distance and a measured angle,

the method further comprises determining a location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle from the measured distance and the measured angle,

the comparing comprises comparing the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle with unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information of an unmanned aerial vehicle database, and

the determining of the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle as being authorized or unauthorized is based on the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being consistent or inconsistent with the unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and the registered routing information, respectively.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, the program instructions executable by the processor are further configured to cause the processor to capture the captured image of the location with an image capture device.

8. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database further comprises unmanned aerial vehicle registration information ownership and/or operator information.

9. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein, when the determination is that an unmanned aerial vehicle should be within the captured image, and no unmanned is determined to be within the captured image, the program instructions executable by the processor are further configured to generate a report of a missing unmanned aerial vehicle.

10. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the processor is a processor of a smartphone.

11. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the processor is a processor of a security camera.

12. A system to monitor and police unmanned aerial vehicles comprising:

a memory having computer readable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions comprising;

receiving, by the processor, a captured image of an observed unmanned aerial vehicle, the captured image including measured data;

comparing the measured data with an unmanned aerial vehicle database wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database comprises unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information;

determining that a status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle is authorized or unauthorized based at least in part on the comparison; and

generating a report, which is indicative of the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being authorized or unauthorized, in accordance with the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being determined to be authorized or unauthorized, respectively,

wherein;

the measured data comprises a measured distance and a measured angle,

the method further comprises determining a location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle from the measured distance and the measured angle,

the comparing comprises comparing the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle with unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and registered routing information of an unmanned aerial vehicle database, and

the determining of the status of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle as being authorized or unauthorized is based on the location of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle being consistent or inconsistent with the unmanned aerial vehicle identification information and the registered routing information, respectively.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an image capture device configured to capture the captured image of the observed unmanned aerial vehicle.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising a remote resource containing the unmanned aerial vehicle database, wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle database comprises unmanned aerial vehicle identification information, registration information, registered routing information, ownership and/or operator information.