Method and system of collecting data using unmanned vehicles having releasable data storage devices

• US 20070131754A1
• Filed: 12/12/2005
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brandon, Frank
• Application Number:
  US11/301,193
• Publication Number:
  US 20070131754A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for gathering data with unmanned vehicles (UMVs) in a specific area, storing gathered data on one or more RFID devices or some other data storage devices, and releasing these devices holding stored data for subsequent detection and analysis of the stored data by another system. In one embodiment, an RFID-enabled UMV system of the present invention is configured to collect data using a plurality of RFID tags and to release the RFID tags with the stored data in selected locations. An RFID tag analysis system is configured to obtain and analyze the data stored in the released RFID devices. Analysis of the stored data can be performed in a variety of ways, including manual analysis, analysis by an RFID reader, computer processing of the data, or any other desired analysis of the data. Alternative data storage devices include non-volatile memory devices that can store data, be released by the UMV, and be later processed by other systems.

Claims

1. An unmanned vehicle configured to collect data, comprising:

one or more releasable data storage devices coupled to the unmanned vehicle, each releasable storage device being configured to store data collected by the unmanned vehicle; and

a release system configured to release the releasable data storage devices from the unmanned vehicle.

2. The unmanned vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data storage devices comprise programmable non-volatile memory devices.

3. The unmanned vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data storage devices comprise radio frequency identification (RFID) devices.

4. The unmanned vehicle of claim 3, wherein each RFID device comprising antenna circuitry coupled to an integrated circuit.

5. The unmanned vehicle of claim 3, further comprising sensor circuitry configured to collect environmental data through an external data collection input, and further comprising data collection and control circuitry configured to receive data from the sensor circuitry and to store data on the releasable RFID devices.

6. The unmanned vehicle of claim 5, further comprising drive and navigation control system configured to control positioning of the unmanned vehicle and configured to provide control data to the data collection and control circuitry and to the release system.

7. The unmanned vehicle of claim 6, further comprising wheels or robotic legs that are configured to provide mobility for the unmanned vehicle.

8. A system for obtaining data from a target environment, comprising:

a plurality of unmanned vehicles each being configured to collect data, each unmanned vehicle comprising;

one or more releasable data storage devices coupled to the unmanned vehicle, each releasable storage device being configured to store data collected by the unmanned vehicle; and

a release system configured to release the releasable data storage devices from the unmanned vehicle; and

an reader system configured to obtain data from the storage devices and to process the data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the data storage devices comprise radio frequency identification (RFID) devices.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the RFID devices comprise passive RFID devices that are energized by an interrogating signal.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the reader system comprises a single reader system.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the unmanned vehicles each include a reader system.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein each unmanned vehicle comprises global positioning system (GPS) receiver circuitry and wherein data from the GPS receiver circuitry is utilized to determine a location at which to drop one or more data storage devices.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the reader system is further configured to identify a location for at least one released RFID device.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein the unmanned vehicles are configured to have a programmed course and are configured to alter the programmed course based on information received from other unmanned vehicles in a target area through released data storage devices.

16. A method for obtaining data from a target environment, comprising:

deploying at least one unmanned vehicle having one or more releasable data storage devices;

gathering data from said target environment with the unmanned vehicle;

storing the data on at least one of the releasable data storage devices;

releasing from the unmanned vehicle one or more releasable data storage devices having stored data;

obtaining data from the released data storage device; and

analyzing the data.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying a location for at least one released data storage device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the data storage devices comprise radio frequency identification (RFID) devices.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising energizing the passive RFID devices with an interrogating signal to obtain data from the passive RFHD devices.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising obtaining data from the released data storage devices using one or more additional unmanned vehicles.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the deploying step comprises deploying a plurality of unmanned vehicles having one or more releasable data storage devices and wherein a plurality of releasable data storage devices are released from the unmanned vehicles.