Unmanned vehicle proximity warning system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10345441-B2
Application number	US-201615247555-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2016
Priority date	Aug 25, 2016
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A traffic control system is described that comprises a transceiver configured to receive a first signal comprising location data indicating a location of an unmanned vehicle (UV). The traffic control system further comprises a processor configured to determine a location of a second vehicle and determine a course of the second vehicle. The processor is further configured to cause, based on determining the location of the second vehicle and the course of the second vehicle, the transceiver to transmit a second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A traffic control system comprising:
a transceiver configured to:
transmit weather radar signals, wherein a frequency of the transmitted weather radar signals is in a weather radar frequency band;
receive reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals; and
receive a first signal, wherein a frequency of the first signal is in the weather radar frequency band; and

a processor configured to:
determine a location of an unmanned vehicle (UV) based on the first signal received by the transceiver;
determine a location of a second vehicle;
determine a course of the second vehicle; and
cause, based on the location of the UV, the location of the second vehicle and the course of the second vehicle, the transceiver to transmit a second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle.

2. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:
transmit the weather radar signals in a weather radar mode;
receive the reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals in the weather radar mode;
detect weather conditions in the weather radar mode based on the reflections of the weather radar signals; and
detect the UV in an unmanned vehicle proximity warning system mode.

3. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the weather radar frequency band comprises frequencies between eight gigahertz and twelve gigahertz.

4. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein:
the second vehicle comprises the system;
the processor is further configured to determine a speed of the second vehicle; and
the processor is configured to cause the transceiver to:
transmit the second signal to the UV based on determining the speed of the second vehicle; and
transmit the location data to a base station or a satellite.

5. The traffic control system of claim 1 ,
wherein a base station comprises the system; and
wherein the processor is further configured to cause the transceiver to transmit the location data to a third vehicle.

6. The traffic control system of claim 1 , further comprising a display device, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the display device to present an indication of the location of the UV.

7. The traffic control system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the user interface to generate an alert based on the location of the UV and the course of the second vehicle.

8. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the transceiver to transmit the second signal directing the UV to return to a home location of the UV.

9. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a latitude of the UV, a longitude of the UV, an altitude of the UV, a speed of the UV, and a telemetry network of the UV based on the first signal received by the transceiver.

10. The traffic control system of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a course of the UV based on the first signal received by the transceiver.

11. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to:
transmit weather radar signals; and
receive reflected weather radar signals indicating a reflectivity of an area in a space surrounding the second vehicle,
wherein the processor is configured to determine weather conditions for the area based on the reflected weather radar signals.

12. The traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the first signal comprises a reflection of the transmitted weather radar signals off of the UV and the reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals include the first signal.

13. A method for controlling an unmanned vehicle (UV) comprising:
transmitting weather radar signals, wherein a frequency of the transmitted weather radar signals is in a weather radar frequency band;
receiving reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals;
receiving a first signal, wherein a frequency of the first signal is in the weather radar frequency band;
determining a location of the UV based on the first signal received by the transceiver;
determining a location of a second vehicle;
determining a course of the second vehicle; and
transmitting, based on the location of the UV, the location of the second vehicle and the course of the second vehicle, a second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
transmitting the weather radar signals in a weather radar mode;
receiving the reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals in the weather radar mode:
detecting weather conditions in the weather radar mode based on the reflections of the weather radar signals; and
detecting the UV in an unmanned vehicle proximity warning system mode.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein transmitting the second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle comprises transmitting the second signal directing the UV to return to a home location of the UV.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining a latitude of the UV based on the first signal;
determining a longitude of the UV based on the first signal;
determining an altitude of the UV based on the first signal;
determining a speed of the UV based on the first signal; and
determining a telemetry network of the UV based on the first signal.

17. A device comprising a computer-readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon, configured to be executable by processing circuitry for causing the processing circuitry to:
cause a transceiver to transmit weather radar signals, wherein a frequency of the weather radar signals is in a weather radar frequency band;
determine a location of an unmanned vehicle (UV) based on a first signal received by the transceiver, wherein a frequency of the first signal is in the weather radar frequency band;
determine a location of a second vehicle;
determine a course of the second vehicle; and
cause the transceiver to transmit, based on the location of the UV, the location of the second vehicle and the course of the second vehicle, a second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processing circuitry to:
cause the transceiver to transmit the weather radar signals in a weather radar mode;
detect weather conditions in the weather radar mode based on reflections of the weather radar signals received by the transceiver; and
detect the UV in an unmanned vehicle proximity warning system mode.

19. The device of claim 17 , wherein the instructions to cause the transceiver to transmit the second signal to the UV directing the UV to avoid the course of the second vehicle comprise instructions to cause the transceiver to transmit the second signal directing the UV to return to a home location of the UV.

20. The device of claim 17 , wherein the first signal comprises a reflection of the transmitted weather radar signals off of the UV and the reflections of the transmitted weather radar signals include the first signal.

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Batra Ajay
• Sundararaj Laveen Vikram
• Ebsv Charan

Classifications

• G01S13/933

  of aircraft or spacecraft · CPC title

• H04B1/38

  Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving · CPC title

• G01S5/0289

  of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks · CPC title

• G01S13/953

  mounted on aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/0069

  Physics · mapped topic