Systems and methods for drone tracking of airborne materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10065739-B2
Application number	US-201514745992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2015
Priority date	Jun 22, 2015
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle may be used to monitor and/or track airborne material in a plume. The unmanned aerial vehicle may be configured to eject a tracer material into the plume. The unmanned aerial vehicle may include a sensor for detecting the tracer material. The sensor may detect the position, the velocity, the concentration, amount reacted, etc. of the tracer material. The unmanned aerial vehicle and/or a remote vehicle or facility may include an electromagnetic radiation emitter to irradiate the tracer material. The sensor may measure the interactions of the electromagnetic radiation with the tracer material. The unmanned aerial vehicle and/or a remote system may determine characteristics of the plume and/or a substance of interest based on measurements by the sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle for monitoring airborne materials in a plume, the vehicle comprising:
a tracer dispenser that ejects tracer materials;
a sensor that detects:
a substance of interest within a plume, and
the ejected tracer material; and

a control unit in operable communication with the sensor and the tracer, the control unit configured to:
pilot the unmanned aerial vehicle alongside the plume,
instruct the tracer dispenser to eject the tracer material into the plume based on the sensor detecting a first concentration of the substance of interest greater than a pre-defined threshold within the plume, wherein one or more properties of the ejected tracer material change in response to the substance of interest within the plume,

monitor the ejected tracer materials for which the one or more properties changed in response to the substance of interest within the plume,
compute a concentration of the substance of interest in the plume based on information from the sensor detections of the ejected tracer material for which the one or more properties changed in response the substance of interest, and
evaluate the computed concentration of the substance of interest based on information from the sensor detections of the ejected tracer material in the plume, the evaluation used to characterize the substance of interest and the plume.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the tracer material comprises radio frequency retroreflectors.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the tracer material comprises optical retroreflectors.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the tracer material comprises chaff.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein prior to instructing the tracer dispenser to eject the tracer material, the control unit is configured to:
determine a gradient of the concentration of the substance of interest in the plume;
analyze the gradient of the concentration and determine a path of increasing concentration of the substance of interest in the plume; and
pilot the vehicle along the path of increasing concentration of the substance of interest.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to:
determine a gradient of the concentration of the substance of interest in the plume;
analyze the gradient of the concentration and determine a maximum concentration of the substance of interest to identify a source of the plume; and
pilot the vehicle alongside the source of the plume.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a propeller and a jet, wherein the sensor is positioned downstream of the at least one of the propeller and the jet.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a spectrometer.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a radiation detector.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises an image sensor.

11. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to measure a differential absorption.

12. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a light emitter, wherein the sensor is configured to measure light received by the light emitter.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor also measures light coming from a light emitter associated with a second unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the second unmanned aerial vehicle is positioned at a different location with respect to the unmanned aerial vehicle and the plume so that light from the light emitter that passes through a stabilized optic of the second unmanned aerial vehicle and the plume is received then by the sensor.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect a pollutant.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the pollutant is selected from the group consisting of methane, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the tracer dispenser to eject additional tracer material.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine from sensor measurements that additional tracer material should be ejected, and wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the tracer dispenser to eject the additional tracer material in response to the determination.

18. The vehicle of claim 16 , further comprising a transceiver configured to receive an indication that additional tracer material should be ejected, wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the tracer dispenser to eject the additional tracer material in response to the indication.

19. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the additional tracer material comprises a same material as the ejected tracer material.

20. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the additional tracer material comprises a different material from the ejected tracer material.

21. A method for monitoring airborne materials in a plume, the method comprising:
piloting an unmanned aerial vehicle alongside a plume;
detecting a substance of interest within the plume;
instructing the tracer dispenser to eject the tracer material into the plume based on the sensor detecting a concentration of the substance of interest greater than a pre-defined threshold within the plume, wherein one or more properties of the ejected tracer material change in response to the substance of interest within the plume;
monitoring the ejected tracer material for which the one or more properties changed in response to the substance of interest within the plume;
computing a concentration of the substance of interest in the plume based on information from the sensor detections of the ejected tracer material for which the one or more properties changed in response to the substance of interest; and
evaluating the computed concentration of the substance of interest based on information from the sensor detections of the ejected tracer material in the plume, the evaluation used to characterize the substance of interest and the plume.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the tracer material comprises radio frequency retroreflectors.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the tracer material comprises optical retroreflectors.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the tracer material comprises chaff.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein prior to causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to eject tracer material into the plume, the method comprises:
determining a gradient of the concentration of the substance of interest in the plume;
analyzing the gradient of the concentration and determining a path of increasing concentration of the substance of interest in the plume; and
piloting the vehicle along the path of increasing concentration of the substance of interest.

26. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
determining a gradient of the concentration of the substance of interest in the plume;
analyzing the gradient of the concentration and determining a maximum concentration of the substance of interest to identify a source of the plume; and
piloting the vehicle alongside the source of the plume.

27. The method of claim 21 , wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises at least one of a propeller and a jet, and wherein monitoring the ejected tracer material comprises detecting the tracer material downstream of the at least one of the propeller and the jet.

28. The method of claim 21 , wherein monitoring the ejected tracer material comprises monitoring

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Duesterhoft Paul
• Duncan William David
• Hyde Roderick A
• Kare Jordin T
• Leuthardt Eric C
• Pan Tony S
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• B64U2101/00

  UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64B1/00

  Lighter-than-air aircraft · CPC title

• B64D1/16

  Dropping or releasing powdered, liquid, or gaseous matter, e.g. for fire-fighting (jettisoning fuel B64D37/26) · CPC title

• B64D1/00 Primary

  Dropping, ejecting, releasing or receiving articles, liquids, or the like, in flight (refuelling during flight B64D39/00; launching apparatus for projecting projectiles or missiles F41F1/00, F41F7/00; rocket or torpedo launchers F41F3/00; weapon sights or aiming F41G) · CPC title