Dynamic selection of unmanned aerial vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10089890-B2
Application number	US-201715441519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2017
Priority date	May 20, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

A device receives a request for a flight path from a first location to a second location in a region, and calculates the flight path based on the request and based on one or more of weather information, air traffic information, obstacle information, regulatory information, or historical information associated with the region. The device determines required capabilities for the flight path based on the request, and selects, from multiple UAVs, a particular UAV based on the required capabilities for the flight path and based on a ranking of the multiple UAVs. The device generates flight path instructions for the flight path, and provides the flight path instructions to the particular UAV to permit the particular UAV to travel from the first location to the second location via the flight path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
calculating, by a device, a flight path from a first geographical location to a second geographical location associated with a geographical region,
the flight path being calculated based on regulatory information associated with the geographical region,
the regulatory information including identification of a restricted region within the geographical region;

determining, by the device, a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities for the flight path;
selecting, by the device, a particular unmanned aerial vehicle, from a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, based on:
the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities, and
a ranking of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles; and

providing, by the device, flight path instructions to the particular unmanned aerial vehicle,
the flight path instructions including instructions which avoid the restricted region, and
the particular unmanned aerial vehicle using the flight path instructions to travel from the first geographical location to the second geographical location via the flight path.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the restricted region comprises a no-fly zone.

3. The method of claim 2 , where the no-fly zone is associated with a government building.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving feedback from the particular unmanned aerial vehicle while the particular unmanned aerial vehicle is traveling along the flight path,
the feedback including at least one of:
visual information,
temperature information, or
wind condition information;

determining, based on the feedback, whether to modify the flight path to obtain a modified flight path; and
providing the modified flight path to the particular unmanned aerial vehicle when the flight path is modified.

5. The method of claim 4 , where the feedback indicates a possibility of the particular unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with an obstacle; and
where determining whether to modify the flight path comprises:
determining to modify the flight path to avoid the obstacle.

6. The method of claim 5 , where the obstacle includes at least one of:
a building,
another unmanned aerial vehicle, or
an airplane.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a score for each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles based on a plurality of respective weights assigned to each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities,
the ranking of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles being based on the score for each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
calculate a flight path from a first geographical location to a second geographical location associated with a geographical region,
the flight path being calculated based on regulatory information associated with the geographical region,
the regulatory information including identification of a restricted region within the geographical region;

determine a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities for the flight path;
select a particular unmanned aerial vehicle, from a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, based on:
the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities, and
a ranking of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles; and

provide flight path instructions to the particular unmanned aerial vehicle,
the flight path instructions including instructions which avoid the restricted region, and
the particular unmanned aerial vehicle using the flight path instructions to travel from the first geographical location to the second geographical location via the flight path.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , where the restricted region comprises a no-fly zone.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , where the no-fly zone is associated with a government building.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
receive feedback from the particular unmanned aerial vehicle while the particular unmanned aerial vehicle is traveling along the flight path, the feedback including at least one of:
visual information,
temperature information, or
wind condition information;

determine, based on the feedback, whether to modify the flight path to obtain a modified flight path; and
provide the modified flight path to the particular unmanned aerial vehicle when the flight path is modified.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , where the feedback indicates a possibility of the particular unmanned aerial vehicle colliding with an obstacle; and
where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to determine whether to modify the flight path, cause the one or more processors to:
determine to modify the flight path to avoid the obstacle.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , where the obstacle includes at least one of:
a building,
another unmanned aerial vehicle, or
an airplane.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a score for each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles based on a plurality of respective weights assigned to each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities,
the ranking of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles being based on the score for each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles.

15. A device, comprising:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to:
calculate a flight path from a first geographical location to a second geographical location associated with a geographical region,
the flight path being calculated based on regulatory information associated with the geographical region,
the regulatory information including identification of a restricted region within the geographical region;

determine a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities for the flight path;
select a particular unmanned aerial vehicle, from a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, based on:
the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities, and
a ranking of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles; and

provide flight path instructions to the particular unmanned aerial vehicle,
the flight path instructions including instructions which avoid the restricted region, and
the particular unmanned aerial vehicle using the flight path instructions to travel from the first geographical location to the second geographical location via the flight path.

16. The device of claim 15 , where the restricted region comprises a no-fly zone.

17. The device of claim 16 , where the no-fly zone is associated with a government building.

18. The device of claim 15 , where the one or more processors are further to:
receive feedback from the particular unmanned aerial vehicle while the particular unmanned aerial vehicle is traveling along the flight path, the feedback including at least one of:
visual information,
temperature information, or
wind condition information;

determine, based on the feedback, whether to modify the flight path to obta

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Ubhi Gurpreet
• Srivastava Ashok N
• Pasko Douglas M
• Batla Hani
• Kantor Igor

Classifications

• B64U2101/60

  for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons · CPC title

• B64U2201/00

  UAVs characterised by their flight controls · CPC title

• B64C2201/042

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• G08G5/0034

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G5/006

  Physics · mapped topic