Method and system for providing an aerial display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11077942-B2
Application number	US-201615762804-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2016
Priority date	Sep 23, 2015
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

A method for providing an air display comprising a multiplicity of unmanned aircraft comprising: automatic loading of mission data of a plurality of unmanned aircraft into the data store of an unmanned aircraft via the ground station by means of the first data connection, querying and storing identifiers, GPS data, and the system status from a plurality of the multiplicity of unmanned aircraft by the control unit by means of the first or second data connection, calculating the flight paths for the plurality of unmanned aircraft based on the GPS data and the first target positions of the respective unmanned aircraft by means of the control unit in real time, assigning flight path numbers to a plurality of the unmanned aircraft by the control unit by means of the first or second data connection, and independent and synchronized performance of the entire mission by the unmanned aircraft after the launch.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system configured to provide an air display, the system comprising:
a plurality of unmanned aircraft, each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft comprises a lighting source, a data store, and an identifier,
a ground station configured to communicate with the plurality of unmanned aircraft via a first data connection, and
a control unit configured to perform mission control and fleet control, wherein:
the control unit is communicatively coupled to the ground station and is configured to indirectly communicate with the plurality of unmanned aircraft via the ground station and the first data connection,
the control unit is configured to communicate directly with the plurality of unmanned aircraft via a second data connection,
the ground station is configured to automatically load, via the first data connection, mission data comprising a plurality of flight path numbers and a plurality of keyframe positions corresponding to a portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft into the data store of each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft, each flight path number and keyframe position of the mission data corresponding to a different unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft,
the control unit is configured to query and store the identifiers, GPS data, and a status of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft,
the control unit is configured to calculate flight paths for each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft based on the GPS data and a first target position of each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft,
the control unit is configured to assign flight path numbers to each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of the unmanned aircraft, and
each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft are configured to perform independent and synchronized performance of a mission after launch based on a corresponding assigned flight path number and the mission data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to assign a launch time to each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft before the launch.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein an unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the control unit communicate via the first data connection when the unmanned aircraft is in physical contact with the ground station and each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the control unit communicate via the second data connection when the unmanned aircraft is separated from the ground station.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of unmanned aircraft is configured to send status data to the control unit via the second data connection at defined time intervals.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to provide trigger signals for the synchronization of the air display with other elements to the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft after launch.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein during physical contact between an unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the ground station, the ground station is configured to charge a rechargeable battery of the unmanned aircraft.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first data connection between the ground station and an unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft is disconnected by lifting the unmanned aircraft.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to specify a descent rate and a GPS target coordinate to cause a landing of an unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft.

9. A system for providing an air display, comprising:
a plurality of unmanned aircraft, each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft comprises a lighting source, a data store, and an identifier,
a control unit configured to perform mission control and fleet control, and
a base station configured to provide a data connection between the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the control unit, wherein:
the ground station is configured to automatically load, via the data connection, data comprising a plurality of flight path numbers and a plurality of keyframe positions corresponding to a portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft into the data stores of each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft, each flight path number and keyframe position of the mission data corresponding to a different unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft,
each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft stores the plurality of flight path numbers and the plurality of keyframe positions corresponding to the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft in the data store of the corresponding unmanned aircraft, and
each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft is configured to perform independent and synchronized performance of a mission after launch based on a corresponding assigned flight path number and the plurality of flight path numbers and the plurality of keyframe positions corresponding to the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of flight path numbers and the plurality of keyframe positions corresponding to the portion of the plurality of the unmanned aircraft comprises mission data.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein each unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft comprises a rechargeable battery charged by physical contact of the corresponding unmanned aircraft with the ground station.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein a first data connection is configured to be provided upon physical contact between an unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the ground station.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein a first data connection is provided by means of an optical connection between the plurality of unmanned aircraft and the ground station.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the control unit is configured to:
determine, during the mission, an unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft is a defective unmanned aircraft,
determine the identifier of the defective unmanned aircraft, and
assign a flight path number to another unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft based on the identifier of the defective unmanned aircraft, wherein the another unmanned aircraft of the plurality of unmanned aircraft is configured to adopt the flight path of the defective unmanned aircraft during the mission.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the control unit is configured to calculate for and assign to each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft a launch time and an optimal flight path to a corresponding keystone frame position, wherein the launch times and the optimal flight paths are based on GPS data indicating a current position of each unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft such that unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft that are further away from corresponding keystone frame positions are assigned earlier launch times than unmanned aircraft of the portion of the plurality of unmanned aircraft that are closer to corresponding keystone frame positions.

Assignees

• Intel Deutschland Gmbh

Inventors

• Achtelik Michael
• Doth Klaus
• Gurdan Daniel
• Stumpf Jan
• Gurdan Tobias
• Luetzenburger Markus

Classifications

• B64U80/00

  Transport or storage specially adapted for UAVs · CPC title

• B64U2201/102

  adapted for flying in formations · CPC title

• B64U50/37

  Charging when not in flight · CPC title

• B64U2101/24

  for use as flying displays, e.g. advertising or billboards · CPC title

• B64C2201/143

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic