Non-intrusive unmanned entity inspection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10629009-B2
Application number	US-201815961924-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2018
Priority date	Apr 25, 2018
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

An unmanned vehicle is identified. One or more specifications of the unmanned vehicle are retrieved in response to the identification. A first characteristic of the unmanned vehicle is observed. The observed first characteristic is compared to the retrieved specifications. A compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle is determined. The determination is based on the comparison.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: a processor identifying an unmanned vehicle,
wherein the identifying is performed based on comparing an image of the unmanned vehicle to one or more images of unmanned vehicle;
retrieving, in response to identifying the unmanned vehicle, one or more specifications of the identified unmanned vehicle;
observing a first characteristic of the unmanned vehicle;
comparing the observed first characteristic to the retrieved specifications;
determining, based on the comparison, a compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compliance standard is also based on a deterioration factor of the unmanned vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining an age of one or more components of the unmanned vehicle; and
determining, based on the obtained age of the one or more components of the unmanned vehicle, a deterioration factor of the unmanned vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a first component of the one or more components is a battery of the unmanned vehicle and the age is a number of charge cycles of the battery.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a first component of the one or more components is a motor of the unmanned vehicle and the age is the number of hours the motor has been used.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining, based on the retrieved one or more specifications, a communication system of the identified unmanned vehicle; and
instructing, based on the determined communication system, the unmanned vehicle to perform the first characteristic.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first characteristic of the unmanned vehicle is an externally and non-intrusively determinable characteristic.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the externally and non-intrusively determinable characteristic is selected from the group consisting of thermal, Hall effect, and sound.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first characteristic is the unmanned vehicle moving through an obstacle course.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first characteristic is the unmanned vehicle moving in a first direction and subsequently moving in a second direction, and wherein the compliance standard is based on how quickly the unmanned vehicle changes from moving in the first direction to moving in the second direction.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compliance standard is based on the noise level of the unmanned vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compliance standard is further based on an image and wherein the first characteristic is the unmanned vehicle capturing the image and wherein the observing the first characteristic includes inspecting one or more attributes of the image, and wherein the method further comprises:
presenting a subject to the unmanned vehicle for capture by a camera of the unmanned vehicle; and
receiving the image captured by the camera of the unmanned vehicle.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more specifications includes previous observations of the unmanned vehicle, and wherein the method comprises:
generating a relationship between the observed first characteristic and the determined compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle; and
updating the specification with the generated relationship.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination is based on a second comparison, and wherein the method further comprises:
observing a second action of the unmanned vehicle; and
comparing the observed second action to the retrieved specification.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination of the compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle is the unmanned vehicle being non-compliant with the one or more specifications.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
instructing, based on the determination of the unmanned vehicle being non-compliant, the unmanned vehicle to operate in a reduced functionality mode.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
flagging the unmanned vehicle as non-compliant.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:
instructing the unmanned vehicle to broadcast that the unmanned vehicle is non-compliant with the one or more specifications.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
instructing the unmanned vehicle to move to a repair facility.

19. A system comprising:
a memory, the memory including one or more computer readable program instructions; and
a processor, the processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor in response to reading the one or more program instructions, configured to:
identify an unmanned vehicle, wherein the identifying is performed based on comparing an image of the unmanned vehicle to one or more images of unmanned vehicle;
retrieve, in response to identifying the unmanned vehicle, one or more specifications of the identified unmanned vehicle;
observe a first characteristic of the unmanned vehicle;
compare the observed first characteristic to the retrieved specifications; and
determine, based on the comparison, a compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle.

20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to:
identify an unmanned vehicle, wherein the identifying is performed based on comparing an image of the unmanned vehicle to one or more images of unmanned vehicle;
retrieve, in response to identifying the unmanned vehicle, one or more specifications of the identified unmanned vehicle;
observe a first characteristic of the unmanned vehicle;
compare the observed first characteristic to the retrieved specifications; and
determine, based on the comparison, a compliance standard of the unmanned vehicle.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Chan Yuk L
• Tedesco Eileen P
• Gilbertson Kyle
• Hogerty Daniel F
• Clevenger Lawrence A
• Briggs Benjamin D

Classifications

• G06T7/0008

  checking presence/absence · CPC title

• B60L58/16

  responding to battery ageing, e.g. to the number of charging cycles or the state of health [SoH] · CPC title

• G07C5/0808 Primary

  Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005) · CPC title

• G05D1/0055

  with safety arrangements · CPC title

• B60L3/12 Primary

  Recording operating variables {; Monitoring of operating variables} · CPC title