Geographic survey system for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
Inventors
Fisher, Christopher Eugene • Mukherjee, Jason Sidharthadev • LOTT, WILLIAM ARDEN
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Assignees
MemberAeroVironmentAeroVironmentAeroVironment designs, develops, and deploys uncrewed aerial, ground, and loitering munitions systems, as well as advanced autonomy and mission software for defense, security, and exploration applications. The company has a track record of pioneering innovations in robotics, high-altitude platforms, and planetary flight systems, delivering scalable and adaptable technologies for complex and demanding missions across multiple domains.
AeroVironment designs, develops, and deploys uncrewed aerial, ground, and loitering munitions systems, as well as advanced autonomy and mission software for defense, security, and exploration applications. The company has a track record of pioneering innovations in robotics, high-altitude platforms, and planetary flight systems, delivering scalable and adaptable technologies for complex and demanding missions across multiple domains.
Publication Number
US-9880563-B2
Publication Date
2018-01-30
Expiration Date
Abstract
A method of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation, including: receiving from a customer a first data request, the first data request having: a first geographic coverage area; and a refresh rate for the first geographic coverage area; planning a first plurality of flight missions to accomplish the first data request; uploading flight missions data representing the first plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod; and deploying the UAV pod.
Core Innovation
A method of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation includes receiving from a customer a first data request that includes a first geographic coverage area and a refresh rate, planning a first plurality of flight missions to accomplish the first data request, uploading flight missions data representing the first plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod, and deploying the UAV pod. The UAV pod provides flight mission data to a two-rotor VTOL UAV, launches the two-rotor UAV to perform a mission, receives the UAV on the UAV pod, and receives flight survey data obtained from the mission. The method further contemplates transmitting or providing the collected survey data, pre-processing survey data in the UAV or UAV pod, performing data analysis, and providing data analysis to the customer.
The background identifies that aerial geographic survey work for the agricultural and oil industries may be accomplished using UAVs that generally reduce costs, but that desired geographic coverage areas may exceed the operational capabilities of the UAV for any single flight and may be located in remote areas making retrieval of the survey data more difficult between survey flights. The invention addresses a need for extending the operational capabilities of UAVs and facilitating survey data retrieval in remote geographic areas by using a UAV pod that houses a two-rotor VTOL UAV to accomplish multiple autonomous launches, landings and data retrieval missions. The system further contemplates using a plurality of UAV pods and one or more two-rotor UAVs to extend autonomous survey range and coverage between adjacent or non-adjacent geographic survey regions.
Claims Coverage
Three independent claims are identified and fourteen inventive features are extracted below corresponding to the main steps and systems recited in the independent claims.
Receiving a customer data request with geographic coverage area and refresh rate
Receiving from a customer a first data request comprising a first geographic coverage area and a refresh rate for the first geographic coverage area.
Planning a plurality of flight missions to accomplish the data request
Planning a first plurality of flight missions to accomplish the first data request.
Uploading flight missions data into a UAV pod and deploying the UAV pod
Uploading flight missions data representing the first plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod; and deploying the UAV pod.
Two-rotor UAV launch, recovery, and survey data reception by the UAV pod
Providing a two-rotor UAV with flight mission data for one of the first plurality of flight missions from the UAV pod; launching the two-rotor UAV from the UAV pod to perform the mission; receiving the two-rotor UAV on the UAV pod; and receiving in the UAV pod a first flight survey data obtained from the mission.
Receiving a customer data request with geographic coverage area and refresh rate (repeat)
Receiving from a customer a first data request comprising a first geographic coverage area and a refresh rate for the first geographic coverage area as recited in the second independent method claim.
Planning a plurality of flight missions to accomplish the data request (repeat)
Planning a first plurality of flight missions to accomplish the first data request as recited in the second independent method claim.
Uploading flight missions data into a UAV pod and deploying the UAV pod (repeat)
Uploading flight missions data representing the first plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod and deploying the UAV pod as recited in the second independent method claim.
Providing a second two-rotor UAV with mission data from the UAV pod
Providing a second two-rotor UAV with a third flight mission data representing a third one of the first plurality of flight missions from the UAV pod.
Uploading first plurality of flight missions into a first UAV pod
Uploading a first plurality of flight missions into a first UAV pod as recited in the migration method claim.
Deploying the UAV pod and autonomously launching the UAV to perform the missions
Deploying the UAV pod and autonomously launching the UAV from the UAV pod a plurality of times to perform the first plurality of flight missions.
Providing first survey data from the UAV to the first UAV pod
Providing first survey data from the UAV to the UAV pod.
Autonomously migrating the UAV from the first UAV pod to a second UAV pod
Autonomously migrating the UAV from the first UAV pod to a second UAV pod so that migration happens autonomously and without active human intervention.
Receiving a second plurality of flight missions in the second UAV pod and providing them to the UAV
Receiving a second plurality of flight missions in the second UAV pod and providing the UAV with one of the second plurality of flight missions from the second UAV pod.
Autonomous operation from the second UAV pod and second survey data reception
Autonomously launching the UAV from the second UAV pod a plurality of times to perform the second plurality of flight missions and providing a second survey data from the UAV to the second UAV pod, wherein the autonomous migrating and mission operations happen autonomously and without active human intervention.
The independent claims cover methods of receiving customer data requests defining geographic coverage and refresh rate, planning and uploading a plurality of flight missions into a UAV pod, deploying the UAV pod, providing mission data to two-rotor VTOL UAVs, autonomous launch and recovery with flight survey data reception at a UAV pod, provision for multiple UAVs and pods including migration between pods, and transmission and processing of collected survey data.
Stated Advantages
Aerial geographic survey work using UAVs generally reduces costs associated with such activities.
Extends the operational capabilities of UAVs and facilitates survey data retrieval in remote geographic areas.
Enables extended and autonomous survey work through multiple autonomous launches, landings and data retrieval missions using a UAV pod and two-rotor VTOL UAV.
Pre-processing flight survey data reduces transmission bandwidth requirements, which may translate into reduced data transmission costs and time.
A UAV that provides attitudinal control entirely from rotors and lacks aerodynamic control surfaces benefits from a more robust structure by reducing opportunity for damage to control surfaces and may be made lighter and with less complexity.
Documented Applications
Aerial geographic survey work for the agricultural industry.
Aerial geographic survey work for the oil industry.
Measuring roads, buildings, and fields and identifying agricultural progress.
Inspecting infrastructure and urban planning.
Search and rescue, including locating a lost person as an example of an event of interest.
Visual survey of transmission lines or pipelines for oil and gas utility companies.
Providing collected and processed data on a local interface/display at site for local users (for example, informing farmhands of areas that need additional watering).
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