Apparatus for use on unmanned vehicles
First Claim
1. A method performed by an apparatus, mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload, the payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, able to be activated, the method comprising:
- receiving an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle, said activation instruction comprising an indication of a time that the activation instruction was sent from the entity to the unmanned vehicle;
determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process, said validation process comprising determining that the activation instruction is valid only when a time period between the time that the activation instruction was sent and a time that the validation process is performed is less than a pre-determined threshold; and
in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, and a method performed by the apparatus, are disclosed wherein the apparatus can be mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload. The payload can be mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, is able to be activated. The method can include receiving an activation instruction from an entity remote from the unmanned vehicle; determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process; and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload. In response to determining that the received activation instruction is not valid, activation of the payload may be prevented or opposed.
62 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method performed by an apparatus, mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload, the payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, able to be activated, the method comprising:
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receiving an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle, said activation instruction comprising an indication of a time that the activation instruction was sent from the entity to the unmanned vehicle; determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process, said validation process comprising determining that the activation instruction is valid only when a time period between the time that the activation instruction was sent and a time that the validation process is performed is less than a pre-determined threshold; and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus configured for mounting on an unmanned vehicle, said apparatus being configured to act upon a payload, said payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle said apparatus comprising:
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a sequencer, wherein, under an action of the sequencer, the payload is able to be activated a transceiver arranged to communicate with the sequencer and receive an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle; and a weapons system arranged to communicate with the sequencer, to determine whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process, and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, to activate the payload; wherein; the activation instruction comprises an indication of a time that the activation instruction was sent from the entity to the unmanned vehicle; and the validation process comprises determining that the activation instruction is valid only when a time period between the time that the activation instruction was sent and a time that the validation process is performed is less than a pre-determined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory storage medium readable by a computing device, said computing device being cooperative with an apparatus, mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload, the payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, able to be activated, said storage medium comprising code recorded thereupon that is operable on said computing device so as to cause said apparatus to execute steps including:
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receiving an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle, said activation instruction comprising an indication of a time that the activation instruction was sent from the entity to the unmanned vehicle; determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process, said validation process comprising determining that the activation instruction is valid only when a time period between the time that the activation instruction was sent and a time that the validation process is performed is less than a pre-determined threshold; and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload.
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20. A computing device cooperative with an apparatus mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload, the payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, able to be activated, said computing device comprising a non-transitory, machine readable storage medium containing code recorded thereupon that is operable on said computing device so as to cause said apparatus to execute steps including:
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receiving an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle, said activation instruction comprising an indication of a time that the activation instruction was sent from the entity to the unmanned vehicle; determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process, said validation process comprising determining that the activation instruction is valid only when a time period between the time that the activation instruction was sent and a time that the validation process is performed is less than a pre-determined threshold; and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload.
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21. A method performed by an apparatus, mounted on an unmanned vehicle and arranged to act upon a payload, the payload being mounted on the unmanned vehicle and, under an action of the apparatus, being able to be activated, the method comprising:
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receiving an activation instruction from an entity, the entity being remote from the unmanned vehicle; determining whether or not the received activation instruction is valid by performing a validation process; and in response to determining that the received activation instruction is valid, activating the payload; wherein; the apparatus includes, or has access to, validation information; the validation process comprises comparing the received activation instruction to the validation information; the activation instruction comprises an activation code; and the validation information is a validation code, the validation code being stored in the apparatus.
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Specification