Unmanned vehicle (UV) control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10031529-B2
Application number	US-201615394359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2016
Priority date	Feb 14, 2014
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

Unmanned vehicle (UV) control may include receiving a UV work order and generating a mission request based on the UV work order. The mission request may identify an objective of a mission, assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission. The assigned UV may be controlled according to the assigned first movement plan, and communication data may be received from the assigned sensor. The communication data may be analyzed to identify an event related to the mission. The identified event and the first movement plan may be analyzed to assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned vehicle (UV) control system comprising:
a fleet and mission operations controller, executed by at least one hardware processor, to receive a UV work order and to generate a mission request based on the UV work order, the mission request identifying an objective of a mission, assigning a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and assigning a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission, wherein the first movement plan includes predefined way points and alternate points for the UV based on the identified objective of the mission;
a mission controller, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
control the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan, and
receive communication data from the assigned sensor; and

an event detector, executed by the at least one hardware processor, to
receive the communication data,
analyze the communication data to identify an event related to the mission, and
forward the identified event to the fleet and mission operations controller to
analyze the identified event and the first movement plan, and
assign a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein

the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan, and
the second movement plan includes at least one different predefined way point from the predefined way points and at least one different alternate point from the alternate points for the UV based on the analysis of the identified event to meet the identified objective of the mission, and

wherein the mission controller is to control the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan.

2. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event related to the mission by combining telemetry data and video stream data of the communication data by
determining a number of frames per second for the video stream data,
determining, from the telemetry data, a time and a location associated with the video stream data, and
generating a meta tag for each of the frames of the video stream data, wherein the meta tag includes the time and the location associated with the video stream data.

3. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak by
converting video stream data of the communication data from red, green, and blue (RGB) into corresponding hue-saturation-values (HSVs) to adjust for variations in lighting conditions and shadows,
defining lower and upper bounds of the HSVs based on a type of material associated with the potential leak,
analyzing, based on the defined lower and upper bounds, each video frame associated with the video stream data to overlay shapes on each of the video frames associated with the video stream data, and
applying parameter constraints to determine whether an area of a video frame associated with the overlayed shapes represents the potential leak.

4. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the fleet of UVs includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

5. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes a potential leak by
implementing a cascade-of-rejecters model that includes a concatenation of a plurality of classifiers to analyze different features associated with the communication data, and
identifying the event that includes a potential leak based on a determination of whether the different features associated with the communication data pass all of the plurality of classifiers within the cascade-of-rejecters model.

6. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein
the sensor includes a video camera, and
the mission controller is to
generate a real-time display from the video camera,
receive instructions to modify movement of the UV based on an analysis of the real-time display from the video camera, and
modify movement of the UV based on the received instructions.

7. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes an intruder related to a pipeline by accounting for a proportional increase in a dimension associated with a person based on whether the person is moving towards the pipeline or moving away from the pipeline.

8. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to analyze the communication data to identify the event that includes an intruder related to a pipeline by accounting for a decrease in probability of a position of a person transitioning to a next position within a specified time period when a dimensional difference in two positions associated with the person is above a specified threshold.

9. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the event detector is to
analyze the communication data to identify the event related to a pipeline, and
generate instructions for preventative actions with respect to the pipeline based on the identification of the event.

10. The UV control system according to claim 1 , wherein the mission controller is to
analyze the event to determine a severity level of the event, and
generate a real-time display related to the event, wherein the real-time display includes a characterization of a type and the severity level of the event.

11. A method for unmanned vehicle (UV) control, the method comprising:
generating, by a fleet and mission operations controller that is executed by at least one hardware processor, a mission request to
identify an objective of a mission,
assign a UV and a sensor to the mission from a fleet of UVs and sensors, and
assign a first movement plan to the mission based on the identified objective of the mission;

controlling, by a mission controller that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, the assigned UV according to the assigned first movement plan;
receiving, by an event detector that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, communication data;
analyzing, by the event detector, the communication data from the assigned sensor to identify an event that includes a potential leak or an intruder related to a pipeline;
analyzing, by the fleet and mission operations controller, the identified event and the first movement plan;
assigning, by the fleet and mission operations controller, a second movement plan to the mission based on the analysis of the identified event and the first movement plan to meet the identified objective of the mission, wherein the second movement plan is different than the first movement plan; and
controlling, by the mission controller, the assigned UV according to the assigned second movement plan.

12. The method for UV control according to claim 11 , further comprising:
determining, by a compliance evaluator that is executed by the at least one hardware processor, whether the mission request is compliant with regulations, and
in response to a determination that the mission request is compliant with regulations, forwarding, from the compliance evaluator, the mission request to the mission controller.

13. The method for UV control according to claim 11 , further comprising:
generating, by the mission controller, a real-time display related to the event, wherein the real-time display includes a characterization of a type and a severity level of

Assignees

• Accenture Global Services Ltd

Inventors

• Mullan Pramila
• Negm Walid
• Liongosari Edy S
• Barsamian Paul
• Richards Brian
• Kim Sang-Ik
• Mui Michael
• Fenney Robert

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title