Systems and methods for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) tactical tracking and mission data acquisition
First Claim
1. A system for providing integrated display inputs for tracking of small unmanned aircraft flight operations, comprising:
- a control station for controlling flight operation of a small unmanned aircraft;
an information extraction module associated with the control station for the small unmanned aircraft that is programmed toextract information regarding a planned route of flight for the small unmanned aircraft and an actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft substantially in real time from the control station, andforward the extracted information to other system components; and
an aircraft information server that is located remotely from a plurality of control stations, and is in wireless communication with one or more of the plurality of control stations, the aircraft information server being programmed toreceive the information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft forwarded from the information extraction module associated with information extraction modules associated with one or more of the plurality of control stations,translate the received extracted information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft to a format that provides a graphical representation of the planned route of flight and the actual position of the small unmanned aircraft for integrated display on one or more remote display devices of one or more end users, andtransmit the translated information to the one or more remote display devices for graphical depiction of the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position as an integrated display on the one or more remote display devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided to support accommodating safe integration of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) into the National Airspace Structure in the United States. A specifically-tailored service is provided to address a change of paradigm from aircraft-based avionics/capabilities to a ground-based solution centered on the sUAS control station that is typically employed to manage an sUAS mission and/or flight. Appropriate software, server and system components are integrated into an interactive, easy-to-use, web-based tool that provides interested parties with real-time, graphical flight-following information to acquire position information regarding an sUAS platform from the control console for the sUAS platform. The acquired position information is forwarded to a separate server that can augment and provide graphical display of the sUAS intended route of flight (flight planned route). The acquired position information for the sUAS is converted to a format commonly used by aviation and air traffic control systems.
45 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for providing integrated display inputs for tracking of small unmanned aircraft flight operations, comprising:
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a control station for controlling flight operation of a small unmanned aircraft; an information extraction module associated with the control station for the small unmanned aircraft that is programmed to extract information regarding a planned route of flight for the small unmanned aircraft and an actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft substantially in real time from the control station, and forward the extracted information to other system components; and an aircraft information server that is located remotely from a plurality of control stations, and is in wireless communication with one or more of the plurality of control stations, the aircraft information server being programmed to receive the information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft forwarded from the information extraction module associated with information extraction modules associated with one or more of the plurality of control stations, translate the received extracted information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft to a format that provides a graphical representation of the planned route of flight and the actual position of the small unmanned aircraft for integrated display on one or more remote display devices of one or more end users, and transmit the translated information to the one or more remote display devices for graphical depiction of the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position as an integrated display on the one or more remote display devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16)
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9. A method for providing integrated display inputs for tracking small unmanned aircraft flight operations, comprising:
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extracting information regarding a planned route of flight for a small unmanned aircraft and an actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft substantially in real time from a control station that is used for controlling operations of the small unmanned aircraft; receiving the extracted information with a processor in a remote aircraft information server in wireless communication with a plurality of control stations; translating the received extracted information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft in the aircraft information server to a format that provides a graphical representation of the planned route of flight and the actual position of the small unmanned aircraft for integrated display on one or more display devices of one or more end users that are remotely located from the aircraft information server; and transmitting the translated information from the aircraft information server to the one or more remote display devices for graphical depiction of the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position as an integrated display on the one or more remote display devices. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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17. A non-transitory computer readable medium on which is stored operating instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute the steps of a method for providing integrated display inputs for tracking of small unmanned aircraft flight operations, the method comprising:
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extracting information regarding a planned route of flight for a small unmanned aircraft and an actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft substantially in real time from a control station that is used for controlling operations of the small unmanned aircraft; receiving the extracted information in a remote aircraft information server in wireless communication with a plurality of control stations; translating the received extracted information regarding the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position for the small unmanned aircraft in the aircraft information server to a format that provides a graphical representation of the planned route of flight and the actual position of the small unmanned aircraft for integrated display on one or more display devices of one or more end users that are remotely located from the aircraft information server; and transmitting the translated information from the aircraft information server to the one or more remote display devices for graphical depiction of the planned route of flight and the actual geographic position as an integrated display on the one or more remote display devices.
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Specification