Passenger drone collision avoidance via air traffic control over wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11488483-B2
Application number	US-201916716670-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Jun 10, 2016
Publication date	Nov 1, 2022
Grant date	Nov 1, 2022

Abstract

An air traffic control system includes one or more servers each including a network interface, a processor, and memory; and a database communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, wherein the network interface in each of the one or more servers is communicatively coupled to one or more passenger drones via a plurality of wireless networks at least one of which comprises a cellular network; wherein the one or more servers are configured to obtain operational data from a passenger drone, obtain conditions from one or more of the operational data and the database, determine a future flight plan based on the operational data and a flying lane assignment for the passenger drone, determine potential collisions in the future flight plan based on static obstructions and dynamic obstructions, obtained from the database based on the future flight plan, and provide evasive maneuver instructions to the passenger drone.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air traffic control system comprising:
one or more servers each comprising a network interface, a processor, and memory; and
a database communicatively coupled to the one or more servers,
wherein the network interface in each of the one or more servers is communicatively coupled to multiple passenger drones via a plurality of wireless networks at least one of which comprises a cellular network;
wherein the one or more servers are configured to
obtain operational data from a passenger drone,
obtain conditions from one or more of the operational data and the database,
determine a flight plan based on the conditions and a flying lane assignment for the passenger drone,
obtain operational data from at least one other passenger drone,
update the database based on the operational data obtained from the passenger drone and the at least one other passenger drone including a new obstruction identified by the at least one other passenger drone,
determine, during flight of the passenger drone, potential collisions in the flight plan based on the flight plan and the new obstruction, obtained from the updated database and identified by the at least on other passenger drone, the new obstruction
update the flight plan and provide evasive maneuver instructions to the passenger drone based on the determined potential collisions.

2. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the operational data comprises speed, direction, altitude, heading, and location of the passenger drone, and wherein the flight plan is updated based on a size of the passenger drone and the passenger drone speed, direction, and wind load.

3. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to
provide the flying lane assignment to the passenger drone, wherein the flying lane assignment is selected from a plurality of flying lane assignments to maximize collision-free trajectories based on static obstructions.

4. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to
instruct other passenger drones to avoid the passenger drone based on the flight plan.

5. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to
manage ground hold time for a plurality of passenger drones to manage airspace.

6. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the evasive maneuver instructions utilize six degrees of freedom in movement of the passenger drone.

7. The air traffic control system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers are further configured to
store the flight plan in the database along with flight plans for a plurality of passenger drones, for a determination of dynamic obstructions.

8. An air traffic control method comprising:
in one or more servers each comprising a network interface, a processor, and memory; and a database communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, wherein the network interface in each of the one or more servers is communicatively coupled to one or more passenger drones via a plurality of wireless networks at least one of which comprises a cellular network, obtaining operational data from a passenger drone;
obtaining conditions from one or more of the operational data and the database;
determining a flight plan based on the conditions and a flying lane assignment for the passenger drone;
obtaining operational data from at least one other passenger drone;
updating the database based on the operational data obtained from the passenger drone and the at least one other passenger drone including a new obstruction identified by the at least one other passenger drone;
determining, during flight of the passenger drone, potential collisions in the flight plan based on the flight plan and the new obstruction, obtained from the updated database and identified by the at least on other passenger drone, the new obstruction chosen from a static obstruction and a dynamic obstruction; and
updating the flight plan and provide evasive maneuver instructions to the passenger drone based on the determined potential collisions.

9. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , wherein the operational data comprises speed, direction, altitude, heading, and location of the passenger drone, and wherein the flight plan is updated based on a size of the passenger drone and the passenger drone speed, direction, and wind load.

10. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , further comprising
providing the flying lane assignment to the passenger drone, wherein the flying lane assignment is selected from a plurality of flying lane assignments to maximize collision-free trajectories based on static obstructions.

11. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , further comprising
managing ground hold time for a plurality of passenger drones to manage airspace.

12. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , further comprising
instructing other passenger drones to avoid the passenger drone based on the flight plan.

13. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , wherein the evasive maneuver instructions utilize six degrees of freedom in movement of the passenger drone.

14. The air traffic control method of claim 8 , further comprising
storing the flight plan in the database along with flight plans for a plurality of passenger drones, for a determination of dynamic obstructions.

15. A passenger drone comprising:
one or more rotors disposed to a body and configured for flight;
wireless interfaces including hardware and antennas adapted to communicate with a plurality of wireless networks at least one of which comprises a cellular network;
a processor coupled to the wireless interfaces and the one or more rotors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to
monitor operational data during the flight,
provide the operational data to an air traffic control system via the wireless networks, wherein the air traffic control system obtains conditions from one or more of the operational data and a database including operational data obtained from the passenger drone and at least one other passenger drone including a new obstruction identified by the at least one other passenger drone, determines an updated flight plan based on potential collisions determined during the flight based on the flight plan and the new obstruction, obtained from the updated database and identified by the at least one other passenger drone, the new obstruction chosen from a static obstruction and a dynamic obstruction, and
receive an update to the flight plans and evasive maneuver instructions from the air traffic control system based on the determined potential collisions.

16. The passenger drone of claim 14 , wherein the operational data comprises speed, direction, altitude, heading, and location of the passenger drone, and wherein the flight plan is updated based on a size of the passenger drone and the passenger drone speed, direction, and wind load.

17. The passenger drone of claim 14 , wherein the flying lane assignment is provided to the passenger drone by the air traffic control system, wherein the flying lane assignment is selected from a plurality of flying lane assignments to maximize collision-free trajectories based on static obstructions.

18. The passenger drone of claim 14 , wherein the air traffic control system is configured to manage ground hold time for a plurality of passenger drones to manage airspace.

19. The passenger drone of claim 14 , wherein the

Assignees

• Etak Systems Llc
• Metal Raptor Llc

Inventors

• Priest Lee

Classifications

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04W4/90

  Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] · CPC title

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title