Precision landing system for unmanned aerial vehicles and utilization thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10913532-B2
Application number	US-201816109495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 22, 2018
Priority date	Aug 22, 2018
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

A precision landing system including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a beacon is provided. A processor of the UAV controls a flight system of the UAV to fly the UAV. The processor detects, via a sensor of the UAV, a signal emitted by a beacon. The processor controls the flight system of the UAV to land on or near the beacon. The processor also energizes one or more electromagnets on a cradle of the UAV to retrieve the beacon.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a beam of light from a beacon, wherein the beacon comprises one or more switches settable by a user to a respective value, wherein a configuration of the one or more switches corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined codes, wherein the beam of light is modulated to indicate one of the plurality of predefined codes;
directing, by the processor, a flight system of the UAV to land the UAV on or near the beacon;
directing, by the processor, one or more electromagnets on a cradle of the UAV to energize to retrieve the beacon; and
directing, by the processor, the flight system of the UAV to fly the UAV attaching the beacon to an area.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein directing the flight system of the UAV to land the UAV on or near the beacon further comprises:
receiving, by the processor, data of a first location where the beacon was deployed;
determining, by the processor, a first area including the first location; and
directing, by the processor, the flight system to fly the UAV to the first area.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein receiving the data of the first location where the beacon was deployed comprises:
reading, by the processor, the data of the first location from a memory of the UAV; or
receiving, by the processor, the data of the first location from an external device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the beam of light from the beacon comprises receiving, by a sensor of the UAV, a beam of infrared (IR) light or visible light emitted by the beacon.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam of light comprises a beam of modulated light that indicates a serial number of the beacon.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam of light includes a code recognizable by the processor of the UAV.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein energizing the one or more electromagnets on the cradle of the UAV to retrieve the beacon comprises energizing the one or more electromagnets on the cradle of the UAV to attract one or more metal components or magnets on the beacon to the one or more electromagnets on the cradle.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
directing, by the processor, the deenergizing the one or more electromagnets on the cradle of the UAV to deploy the beacon to the area.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the area is a first area, and the beacon is a first beacon, the method further comprises:
directing, by the processor, the flight system to fly the UAV attaching a second beacon to a second area; and
directing, by the processor, a deployment of the second beacon carried by the cradle of the UAV to the second area.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein directing the flight system of the UAV to fly the UAV to the second area comprises:
receiving, by the processor, data of a location where the second beacon is to be deployed;
determining, by the processor, the second area including the location; and
directing, by the processor, the flight system to fly the UAV to the second area.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the data of the location comprises:
reading, by the processor, the data of the location from a memory of the UAV; or
receiving, by the processor, the data of the location from an external device.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein deploying the second beacon carried by the cradle of the UAV to the second area comprises deenergizing the one or more electromagnets on the cradle to deploy the second beacon, and wherein the second beacon comprises one or more metal components or magnets attracted to the cradle of the UAV when the one or more electromagnets are energized.

13. A system, comprising:
a beacon deployable by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the beacon comprising:
a light source array capable of emitting a beam of light;
a power circuit capable of powering the light source array;
one or more metal components or magnets used by the UAV to retrieve and deploy the beacon;
a parachute capable of creating a drag or an aerodynamic lift to slow a downward fall of the beacon due to gravity when the beacon is deployed by the UAV; and
one or more switches settable by a user to a respective value;
wherein a configuration of the one or more switches corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined codes, and
wherein the beam of light is modulated to indicate one of the plurality of predefined codes.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the light source array emits a beam of infrared (IR) light, visible light, or both IR light and visible light.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the beam of light comprises a beam of modulated light that indicates a serial number of the beacon.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the beam of light carries a code recognizable by a processor of the UAV.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the beacon further comprises:
a buzzer, a light-emitting diode (LED), or both; and
a button operable by the user to activate the buzzer, the LED, or both.

18. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:
the UAV, the UAV comprising:
a flight system configured to fly the UAV;
a sensor capable of detecting the beam of light emitted by the light source array of the beacon;
a cradle capable of carrying the beacon; and
a processor that controls operations of the flight system, the sensor, and the cradle.

19. A method, comprising:
directing, by a processor of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a flight system of the UAV to fly the UAV to a first area;
directing, by the processor, deployment of a beacon carried by the UAV to the first area wherein the beacon comprises one or more switches settable by a user to a respective value, wherein a configuration of the one or more switches corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined codes, wherein a beam of light emitted by the beacon is modulated to indicate one of the plurality of predefined codes;
receiving, by the processor via a sensor of the UAV, a signal the modulated beam of light emitted by the beacon;
directing, by the processor, the flight system to land the UAV on or near the beacon;
directing, by the processor, one or more electromagnets on a cradle of the UAV to energize to retrieve the beacon; and
directing, by the processor, the flight system of the UAV to fly the UAV attaching the beacon to a second area.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Carthew James
• Singh Aditya

Classifications

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• B64U2201/104

  using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS · CPC title

• B64U70/95

  Means for guiding the landing UAV towards the platform, e.g. lighting means · CPC title

• B64D1/22

  Taking-up articles from earth's surface · CPC title

• G01S1/70

  using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves · CPC title